“Romans 6”

Monday, February 06, 2017

A proper understanding of God’s grace and mercy will lead people away from sin. There were, in the first century, and there are now, people who conclude that God’s grace is permission to sin. Romans 6 was written to early disciples to show them the error of that kind of logic.

Paul reminds them (and us) that, when we were baptized into the death of Christ, we were raised to walk “in newness of life” (verses 3-4). It is in baptism that we contact the blood of the Savior. Just as He died, was buried and rose again, so too we die to our sins in repentance, are buried with Him in baptism and are raised as new creatures.

In baptism, our old man of sin was crucified with Him, “that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin” (verse 6).

We are, therefore, as followers of Christ, “dead indeed to sin, but alive to God” (verse 11).

His conclusion, then, beginning in verse 12 and continuing through the remainder of Chapter Six, is that sin must not reign in our bodies. We must not present our bodies as slaves of sin, but as instruments of God for righteousness (verse 13).

We were formerly slaves of sin, but have obeyed God from our innermost being (our hearts) and have become His slaves, bondservants of righteousness (verse 17).

And, finally, he tells us that sin will result in eternal condemnation (“death,” verse 23), but that, through God’s free gift, we can enjoy “eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

--Roger Hillis

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