Paul's Letter to Believers in Rome

by David M Pearce

Romans Chapter 6

Dying With Christ

Another question. Can we say that because God’s grace is free, we can sin as much as we like?

Paul’s answer is a strong negative. By no means! When we sought God’s forgiveness for our sins in the water of baptism, we began a complete change of direction in our life. Our old life of sin was left behind.

In effect, when we were baptised, we symbolically died.

As we went under the water, we were figuratively buried in the tomb with Jesus. When we came out of the water afterwards, it was as if we had been brought back to a new life, as happened in reality to Jesus on the third day. He rose to an immortal, never-ending life. We are called to a new way of life, where we depart from sin, as far as we are able.

Tomb

Our watery ‘resurrection’ is a type or pattern of a very real resurrection that will take place at Jesus’ return, if by then we have fallen asleep in death.

Jesus was crucified, leaving his mortal body without life for three days. We were once enslaved to Sin as our master. But death automatically ends any obligations of servitude. So, when we died with Christ in baptism, we were set free from the demands of sin over us.

we now live in hope of being set free from mortality, like Jesus was when he rose again. We have been promised eternal life in his Kingdom.

In summary, answering his opening question, Paul says our new life in Christ means a clean break with our old life as a sinner.

In the days before we heard the gospel, King Sin would order us to obey the impulses of our human nature. He reigned over us. Now we have passed into the sovereignty of God, and we must devote our talents and minds to his service instead.

We have escaped from the rule of Sin. Sin is spotlighted by the Law, which reminds us constantly that we are in breach of God’s commandments, but leaves us as sinners with no remedy for our offences. It is God’s amazing grace alone that can set us free from the burden we carried.

An Exchange of Masters

Paul returns to his original question in verse 1. Does our escape from the burden of the Law mean we can now commit sin with impunity? He repeats his firm ‘No!’

It is all a question of masters. Once we obeyed Sin, and his service brought us to death. Now we are committed to obey God, a service which brings righteousness.

The teachings which the apostles brought to us comprise the orders for the day from our new master. We obey them, not because we will be beaten if we do not, but because our heart drives us on out of love for Jesus. We are now ‘enslaved to righteousness’ (NET).

Paul apologises for having to use this crude analogy to make his point, but he feels it is necessary because some are trying to distort his teaching. Perhaps we could put this opening sentence in brackets.

Before we heard the gospel, we had already handed over our bodies (our ‘members’) to the service of sin. We were heading down the broad way that leads to death. Now we must surrender our minds and our bodily strength to God, and toil upwards, pursuing righteousness. As Paul puts it in 2 Corinthians 10:5, we must ‘take every thought captive to obey Christ’. Sins begin with thoughts. That battleground is where Jesus fought and won.

In our old way of life we felt free. We could indulge in whatever pleasure took our fancy. But that indulgence bore bitter fruit. When a slave became too old to work, he was cast out and replaced with a new one. The fruit of Sin’s service is the yawning grave.

Now that God has set us free from Master Sin and taken us over as his own slaves, we have something to show for our labours. Slaves do not normally get paid. But in God’s service we have been sanctified – set apart with his slave brand upon us to show we belong to him, and now we have before us the joyful prospect of eternal life.

In this beautiful summary the Apostle contrasts the two ways of life, and their outcomes. The payback from Sin is inevitably death. But God’s reward for his obedient servants is eternal life. It is a gift. We cannot earn it. And it comes through the loving sacrifice of Jesus our Lord.

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