Free From Sin

A wrong idea. In Romans 5 Paul wrote, “Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more” (5:20). Then he asks the question some people would ask next: “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” (6:1). The strongest no. Paul answers, “Certainly not!” (6:2). Grace is not permission to sin. Grace is God's power to change us. Died to sin. “How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” (6:2). A person who trusts Jesus is finished with the old life of sin. You cannot live in a house you have moved out of. A picture you can see. Believers “were buried with Him through baptism into death” (6:4). Baptism is an outside picture of what Jesus has already done inside us. Baptism does not save anyone. Jesus does. In the Bible, people were baptized after they believed. Raised to walk. Christ “was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father” (6:4). In the same way, we “should walk in newness of life” (6:4). Newness of life means a whole new way of living. What we learn. God's grace never makes sin okay. Grace sets us free from sin so we can live for Jesus. If you have trusted Jesus, you can say no to sin today.

The question behind 6:1. Romans 5:20 ends with “where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” Some people turned that into an excuse: if more sin shows off more grace, why stop sinning? Paul answers that idea head-on. “Certainly not!” (6:2). This is Paul's strongest way to say no. Grace that forgives sin is never grace that permits sin. The same grace that pardons us also trains us to say no to ungodliness (Titus 2:11-12). Dead to sin. Paul does not say sin is dead. He says we “died to sin” (6:2). Sin is still around, but believers no longer live under its rule. Death ends a relationship: a person who has died no longer answers to the old master. Baptized into Christ (6:3). To be baptized into Christ means to be joined to Him and to all He has done. When a person trusts Jesus, God unites that person to Jesus' death and resurrection. Water baptism is the public picture of that union. It follows faith and does not cause it: we are saved by grace through faith, “not of works” (Ephesians 2:9). Buried and raised (6:4). A burial shows that a death really happened. Baptism pictures the old life buried with Christ. Then, as Christ “was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father,” believers rise to “walk in newness of life.” This is a new kind of life, not the old life tidied up. Living it out. If you belong to Jesus, sin is your former master, not your owner. When temptation comes, you can answer it with the truth: I died to that, and I live to God now.

Grace is God's kindness that we do not earn. God forgives every sin when we trust Jesus. So some people asked a wrong question. Can we sin more to get more grace? Paul answered, “Certainly not!” That is the strongest no he could say. When you trust Jesus, your old life of sin is over. You do not go on living the old way. Baptism is a picture of this change. It is like being buried with Jesus. Then God raises you up to walk in a new life. Baptism does not save you. Jesus saves you! Baptism shows everyone that you already belong to Him.

God's grace is His kindness. Grace does not mean sin is okay. People who love Jesus say no to sin.

Joined together. “For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection” (6:5). United means joined so closely that what happened to Jesus counts as ours. The old man. “Our old man was crucified with Him” (6:6). The old man is the person you were before Jesus, the self that loved sin. No longer slaves. This happened “that we should no longer be slaves of sin” (6:6). “For he who has died has been freed from sin” (6:7). Alive forever. “Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him” (6:9). Dominion means the power to rule. Once for all. “He died to sin once for all” (6:10). Jesus never needs to die again. His one death paid for sin completely. Count it true. “Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (6:11). Reckon means to count something as true because God says it is true. What we learn. Feelings go up and down, but God's Word stays true. When you are tempted, remember who you are in Jesus: dead to sin and alive to God.

Union with Christ (6:5-8). These verses repeat one idea: what happened to Jesus happened to those who belong to Him. He died, and we died with Him. He was raised, and we shall “live with Him” (6:8). Galatians 2:20 says the same: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” The old man (6:6). This is not your body. It is the person you were in Adam, living for yourself and under sin (Romans 5:12). That self was “crucified with Him.” The “body of sin” being “done away with” means sin's power over the body is broken, not that the body disappears. Freed (6:7). An old master cannot make a dead man work. Death ends the claim. In the same way, our death with Christ ends sin's claim on us. Once for all (6:9-10). Jesus did not come back to the old kind of life. He rose to a life death cannot touch: “Death no longer has dominion over Him.” Hebrews 7:27 says He offered Himself “once for all.” Nothing needs to be added to His death. Reckon (6:11). The Greek word is logizomai (say: lo-GID-zo-my) — to count, to put something on the account because it is true. It is a bookkeeping word. Paul does not tell us to feel dead to sin. He tells us to count on it, because God has made it true in Christ. Living it out. Begin each day by agreeing with God about who you are: dead to sin, alive to Him. Then make the next choice in the light of that truth.

People who trust Jesus are joined to Him. It is like a branch that is joined to a tree. What happened to Jesus counts for them too. Jesus died on the cross. Their old sinful self died with Him. That old self loved to do wrong. Now sin is not their boss anymore. Jesus rose from the dead. He will never die again. Death cannot touch Him now. Everyone who trusts Jesus will live with Him forever. So Paul tells us to count this as true. Think of yourself as dead to sin. You are alive to God because of Jesus. God's Word is true even on days you do not feel it.

Jesus died and is alive again. People who trust Jesus are joined to Him. Sin is not our boss. We are alive to God!

Do not let sin reign. “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body” (6:12). Reign means rule like a king. Sin wants the throne of your life, but it does not belong there. Tools for God. Do not present your members “as instruments of unrighteousness to sin” (6:13). Members means the parts of your body. Instruments means tools. Your hands, eyes, feet and mouth can be tools for wrong or tools for good. Give yourself to God. “Present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead” (6:13). Give God all of you, not just a part. Under grace. “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace” (6:14). The law shows what is right. Grace gives the power to do it. Two masters. “To whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey” (6:16). Everyone serves something. Free and glad. “And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness” (6:18). Righteousness means doing what is right in God's eyes. What we learn. Every day you choose whom to obey. Give your hands, feet and words to Jesus.

Therefore (6:12). The commands come after the facts. Because you died with Christ and live to God, now live like it. God never asks us to earn a new life; He calls us to live out the new life He has given. Reign (6:12). Sin is pictured as a king who wants the throne of your life. The pull is real: sin still tempts the “mortal body,” the body that will one day die. But it has no right to rule. Instruments (6:13). The word can also mean weapons. Your body can be armed for sin or armed for God. Romans 12:1 asks the same thing: “present your bodies a living sacrifice.” Under grace (6:14). Law commands from the outside but cannot change the heart. Grace brings the Holy Spirit, who lives inside every believer and gives power to obey (Romans 8:2). That is why sin “shall not have dominion over you.” Slaves (6:16-18). The Greek word is doulos (say: DOO-loss) — a slave who belongs to a master. Slavery was common in the Roman world, so Paul's readers knew what it meant to belong to someone. There is no third choice: we serve sin, which leads to death, or we serve God, which leads to righteousness. From the heart (6:17). The Roman believers “obeyed from the heart” the teaching they received. Real faith shows up in a changed heart, not only in changed habits. Living it out. Ask which master your choices are serving. Then hand each part of your day to God: your words, your screen time, your friendships.

Paul tells us not to let sin rule our lives. Sin is like a bossy king who wants to be in charge. But Jesus is our King now. Our hands, feet, eyes and mouth are gifts from God. We could use them to do wrong. Or we can give them to God to do good. Everyone obeys someone. If you obey sin, sin becomes your master. People who belong to God obey Him. God set His people free from sin! Now they are glad to serve Him. God's grace gives us the help we need. His grace helps us do what is right.

Sin wants to be the boss. Jesus is our Master now. We serve God with our hands and feet.

Before Jesus. “For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness” (6:20). Being free from doing right is not real freedom at all. Fruit to be ashamed of. “What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death” (6:21). Sin promises fun but leaves shame. Fruit to holiness. “But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life” (6:22). Holiness means belonging to God and becoming more like Him. Wages. “For the wages of sin is death” (6:23). Wages are pay you earn. Sin pays exactly what it promised: death and being separated from God. A gift. “But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (6:23). A gift cannot be earned. God gives it freely because He loves us. In Christ Jesus. The gift comes only through Jesus, who took the wages of our sin when He died on the cross. What we learn. Sin pays death, but God gives life. Thank God for His gift, and turn away from things that bring shame.

Human terms (6:19). Paul says, “I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh.” He uses slavery because everyone in Rome understood it. Before Christ, sin grew worse and worse: “lawlessness leading to more lawlessness.” Now the direction is “righteousness for holiness,” growing more like Jesus. False freedom (6:20). Without Christ, people are “free in regard to righteousness,” free from doing good. That is not freedom but another kind of slavery. Two kinds of fruit (6:21-22). Sin's fruit ends in shame and death. Life with God bears “fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.” Both roads have an end, and the ends are opposite. Wages (6:23). The Greek word is opsōnia (say: op-SOH-nee-ah) — the pay given to a soldier for his service. Sin pays its servants exactly what they have earned. Death here means more than the body dying; it means being separated from God (Romans 5:12). The gift (6:23). Paul does not say the wages of righteousness. He says the gift of God. Eternal life is never paid; it is given. Ephesians 2:8 says the same: “it is the gift of God.” Eternal life. Eternal life lasts forever, but it also begins now. Jesus said eternal life is knowing the true God and Jesus Christ whom He sent (John 17:3). Living it out. Keep the two words side by side: wages and gift. When sin offers you something, remember what it pays. When you fail, run to the Giver, not away from Him.

Before they know Jesus, people live for wrong things. Later they feel ashamed of those things. Sin always ends in death. Death means being cut off from God. But God sets His people free! Now their lives grow good fruit, like love and kindness. Paul compares two things. A wage is pay you earn by working. Sin pays a wage, and the pay is death. A gift is free. You cannot earn a gift. God gives life forever as a free gift. That gift comes through Jesus. Eternal means it never ends.

Sin leads to death. God gives a free gift. His gift is life forever with Jesus. We cannot earn it.

🎉 All Matched!