INTRODUCTION
"The transition from one phase of teaching to another at the beginning of this chapter is quite conspicuous. In verses 12-21 of the preceding chapter the argument bearing upon justification had been brought to a climactic conclusion by instituting the parallel between Adam and Christ and on the basis of that parallel demonstrating the contrasts which the superabundance of grace brings into effective and regnant operation. The invariable combinations of sin, condemnation, and death introduced by the sin of Adam, on the one hand, and of righteousness, justification, and life emanating from the grace of God and realized through the mediation of Christ, on the other, have been set forth by way of analogy and contrast as the ruling conceptions in terms of which we are to interpret God's dealings with men. Having brought the basic thesis of the epistle to this climactic conclusion the apostle is now prepared to unfold other elements of that Gospel which is the power of God unto salvation. To speak in general terms, chapter 6 deals with sanctification as the preceding chapters deal with justification. We are not to suppose, however, that this transition means that sanctification can be divorced, either in fact or in the development of its meaning from the justification on which it rests and with which it is inseparably connected. This is evident from the reiterated references to justification in the subsequent chapters and from the way in which sanctification, no less than justification springs from the efficacy of Christ's death and the virtue of His resurrection. If the mediation of Christ is always in the forefront in justification it is likewise in sanctification. The intimacy of the relations between justification and sanctification is made evident by the way in which chapters 5 and 6 are connected. There is no abruptness of transition. The question with which chapter 6 begins arises from the emphasis at the end of chapter 5. If grace superabounds where sins abounds, if the multiplication of transgressions serves to exhibit the lustre of grace, and if the law administered by Moses came in alongside in order that the trespass may abound, the logical inference would seem to be, let us sin all the more in order that God may be glorified in the magnifying of His grace. This is the antinomian distortion of the doctrine of grace and it is also the objection of the legalist to the doctrine of justification apart from works by free grace through faith. It is both the distortion and the objection that the apostle answers in this chapter, and in his answer, he develops the implications of the death and resurrection of Christ."
(Murray, p.211,212)
Verses 1-2
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
What shall we say then? -
This formula is a regular feature of Paul's style in the letter (cf. 3:5; 4:1; 7:7; 8:31; 9:14,30) . The question serves as a transition and enables Paul both to deal with anticipated objections and follow thru on logical inferences from the preceding material. It is, in a sense, an acknowledgement that what has been said may be controversial and that further clarification is necessary to avoid misunderstanding.Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? -
In 5:20 Paul had asserted - But where sin increased, grace increased all the more. The apostle's intent in that verse had been to affirm that even in the era of the law with its radicalization of sin, God did not abandon His people, but poured out His undeserved love upon them all the more in the promise of the Messiah. But a superficial reading of 5:20 does seem to suggest that the increase in grace was the result of the increase in sin. If that is true, isn't it logical to suggest that we ought to sin all the more so that we can increase the manifestation of God's grace. There is a certain twisted logic at work here, as Martin Franzmann notes,But it is a cool, Satanic logic; there is in it the Satanic suggestion that we should exploit God, make His grace serve our selfish will, use His gifts to support us in our rebellion against God. It is the logic which the Tempter used on Jesus: "If you are the Son of God and enjoy a Father's favor, then get some good out of it; eat, insure your risks with His providence, compromise and reign - anything but obey!" (cf. Matthew 4:1-11)
(Franzmann, p.108)Historically, critics of Christianity's grace religion have always objected to the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone. If you remove the co-ercive power of the law, they say, you will destroy the basis for all morality and decency. This view, as the apostle will now demonstrate, represents a fundamental misunderstanding of sanctification.
By no means! -
Paul's denial of the view that the Christian should sin more in order to obtain more grace is most emphatic. The Greek (me genoito) carries the connotation of indignation and repugnance. It is often used in the context of religious horror in the face of blasphemy. Lenski comments:"Perish the thought!" Paul exclaims. There are thoughts and reasonings which in spite of their show of logic are so abominable that the Christian mind instinctively turns from them and refuses even to think them. There are also such thoughts and reasonings outside of Christianity, in all departments of knowledge and of life, that are instinctively rejected by mankind and entertained and acted on only by men who are morbid, slightly unbalanced, badly defective in natural morality, pitifully obsessed by the vicious follies they cannot cast off. Paul's exclamation, "Perish the thought!" is the reaction of a mind that is mentally, spiritually sound, and the apostle utters this exclamation in place of all his readers.
(Lenski, p.388,389)We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
- The thought of continuing to live in sin is unthinkable for the Christian because in Christ We died to sin. The concept of death in this instance serves to indicate a decisive and final break in one's state of being. In Christ we are outside of the realm of sin and beyond the reach of sin's power. When a man dies he ceases to respond to external stimuli. He is no longer subject to physical sensation. He feels neither pain nor pleasure. He cannot be coaxed, threatened or commanded. A corpse is incapable of response or reaction. The sphere in which he once moved is his sphere no longer. The same is true for the Christian in the spiritual realm. Once, we by nature were all subject to the power and dominion of sin. But then, in Christ, we received grace and new life. And everything changed. Dying to sin is not something we have done. It is something that has been done to us. What happened to us makes any further connection with sin impossible. Sin cannot be our life element any longer; it cannot be the compelling impulse of our wills and the controlling bent of our desires as it once was (cf. Colossians 3:7) for dead men have no will and no desires. (Franzmann, p. 109) Origin, the early church father, said it well:To obey the cravings of sin is to be alive to sin; but not to obey the cravings of sin or succumb to its will, this is to die to sin...If then, anyone, chastened by the death of Christ, who died for sinners, repents in all these things...he is truly said to be dead to sin through the death of Christ.
(Fitzmyer, p.433)The idea of dying to sin is an important element in the apostolic teaching of St. Paul. He uses the concept in four different, closely interrelated ways:
(1) the juridical sense: justified Christians have died to sin in the sight of God the judge, when Christ paid the penalty of the law in our place (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:14);
(2) the baptismal sense: in the water of Holy Baptism the Christian personally becomes a participant in the death and resurrection of Jesus and receives the sign and seal of God;
(3) the moral sense: justified Christians are called to freedom from the coercion of the law and to mortify their sinful bodies;
(4) the eschatological sense: for the believer death becomes the gateway to life eternal; on the last day they will be raised to live and reign with Christ forever.
This thought is closely related to the Adam/Christ contrast in the preceding segment. The first man brought sin and death. The second man brings forgiveness and light. Christians are delivered from the dominion of sin and death and restored to righteousness and life. How can we live in it any longer? Living in sin and dying to sin are placed in direct contrast to one another. They are exact opposites. As a corpse has no place in the world of the living, so the Christian has no place in sin's kingdom any longer. Living in sin does not simply refer to committing sins, for every Christian continues to sin throughout his earthly life. Rather, living in sin means to live as though sin still reigned, as if sin continued to dominate and rule in my life. The reference is to a lifestyle or habitual practice, not to individual actions. Sin's power is broken for the believer, this must be evident in life and practice (cf. James 2:14-26; 1 John 3:6,9)
Verses 3-4
Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
Or don't you know? -
The literary device Paul utilizes here is called litotes (an affirmative expressed by a negative of the contrary). By posing the question Paul is indicating his confidence that the Christians in Rome are already well aware of this information about baptism and the Christian life. The appeal is to a well known and familiar tradition within the Christian community. These believers experienced the death to sin in the sacrament of Holy Baptism.All of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus... -
Baptism is the crucial event which unites the child of God with Jesus Christ. The passive verb is particularly significant - all of us who were baptized. Baptism is not essentially human action. It is divine action on our behalf. We are not the active agents. We are the passive recipients of that which God does in the water and Word of the sacrament which He has instituted. Baptism, as the rite of Christian initiation, had been the universal practice of Christianity since our Lord spoke the Great Commission: Go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:19). Already, at this early date, Paul can address the Christians at Rome with the assurance that they are fully aware of Baptism and its significance.That Paul himself at his conversion was baptized and so had his sins washed away is the testimony of Acts 9:18 - Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes and he could see again. He got up and was baptized. Paul would later recall the urgent words of Ananias, who served as God's messenger to blind Saul. Ananias announced: And now, what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on His name. (Acts 22:16) Hence, it comes as no surprise that the apostle now includes himself among the baptized members of the household of God - all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus.
The phrase baptized into Christ Jesus has elicited a great deal of discussion among the commentators. The phrase may be an abbreviation for the more familiar phrase into the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Fitzmyer suggests that the abbreviation is a deliberate theological statement, an image drawn from bookkeeping - to the name, account, of Christ. Baptism would be regarded as establishing Christ's proprietary rights over the baptized person, and the name of the baptized person would be booked in the ledger to the account of Christ. (Fitzmyer, p.433) In any case, the preposition into (Greek - eis) indicates the joining of the believer with Christ Jesus in baptism, the initial movement of introduction or incorporation by which one is born to life in Christ.
Were baptized into his death -
The sacrament of Holy Baptism causes the believer to become an actual participant in the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. When Christ died, we who are baptized died with Him. This is not the language of symbolism but of actual reality. The preposition into (Greek - eis) carries the connotation of movement into something in order to become involved with or part of it. There is a close parallel to this language in Galatians 3:27 which further explains Paul's thought: For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Our involvement in the death of Christ is personal and direct. Martin Franzmann links this thought to the other New Testament passages on the death of Christ and baptism when he writes:We know that we were baptized "into Christ." Our baptism effectually committed us to Him, "clothed us in Him" (Galatians 3:27), incorporated us all in Him (1 Corinthians 12:12-13). One baptism gave us one Lord (Ephesians 4:5). He is the Lord of all in the power of His divine love; that love made His death a "death for all" (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). Therefore, baptism "into Him" is a baptism into His death.
(Franzmann, p. 109)We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death... -
We who have become participants in the death of Christ have also become participants in His burial. The Greek verb in this phrase is synthaptein, a combination of the noun grave (Greek - taphos) and the preposition with (Greek - syn). Thus the word literally means to be placed in the tomb alongside of. Fitzmyer suggests the English compound coburied. It is clear, once again, that the text is not referring to merely symbolic action. Lenski describes the language of this verse as mystical. He explains:What occurred in a physical way in the case of Christ is predicated of us in whom it occurred in a spiritual way, in fact, the two are made one: "entombed were we with him" and this "by means of our baptism in connection with his death"...Here we have no figures or symbols, no verbal beauties, but concentrated facts. Here more is said than that Christ died for us, that God reckoned his death as ours, as though we had died, or even that by baptism and faith all the benefits of his sacrificial death were made personally ours. The spiritual effect in ourselves is at once included. By connecting us with Christ's death baptism so joined us to it that we ourselves died to sin. It was a dying together,, this death of Christ of and of ourselves, a being entombed together as dead. The interval of time vanishes. The difference between Christ's death as sacrificial and vicarious and ours as escape from sin and its dominion is fully conserved."
(Lenski, p. 392,393)Those who rob the sacrament of its regenerative power (John 3:5; Titus 3:5) and reduce baptism to empty symbolism also tend to focus on the method of baptism (namely immersion) as critically significant. They perceive the apostle's point in this verse to be nothing more than symbolism - by being lowered into and then being raised up from the water we are symbolically reenacting the burial and resurrection of Christ. But the language of the text itself does not permit this symbolic view. When Paul asserts that we are buried with Him he is describing the participation of the believer in Christ's own burial, a participation that is mediated by baptism. In the water of baptism, by the power of the divine Word, the believer is actually set alongside Christ Jesus in His tomb (synthaptein). The crucial role of baptism in this entombment is expressed by the Greek preposition dia (through) which is used to express the instrument through which something happens or occurs. Baptism is the means through which God has chosen to accomplish this reality. Once again, Lenski's observations are precisely to the point:
The moment baptism becomes for us what it is, its mode ceases to dominate our thinking. Even in a symbol, we need no picturing, no duplication. A few drops of water symbolize as well as, yea better than, a lake or an ocean. Baptism by immersion and submersion becomes no more symbolic than sprinkling or pouring. But the function of this sacrament is not to picture or to symbolize - whatever of that character we see is minor. Its function is to act as a most effective divine, spiritual means, one that derives its power from connection with Christ and his atoning death, one that effects in us a death to sin and a new life, regeneration (John 3:5; Titus 3:5) or new birth; and thus newness of life forever.
(Lenski, p.393,394)The effective link between baptism, being born again, and new life in Christ is the consistent teaching of the New Testament. Martin Franzmann summarizes as follows:
We know that we were baptized "into Christ." Our baptism effectually committed us to Him, clothed us in Him (1 Corinthians 12:12-13). One baptism gave us all one Lord (Ephesians 4:5). He is the Lord of all in the power of His divine love; that love made His death a death for all (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). Therefore, baptism "into Him" is a baptism into His death. His death was a real human death. His burial makes that plain; all the evangelists are at pains to emphasize the reality of Jesus' death by recording, in considerable detail His burial. Our participation in His death is also full reality; we share His burial through our baptism into His death.
(Franzmann, p. 109)In order that just as Christ was raised from the dead... -
The apostle now defines the purpose of our participation in the death and burial of Christ. The phrase is introduced with the Greek preposition hina (in order that). We share in Christ's death and burial so that we might also share in His resurrection. The agent of Christ's resurrection is described as the glory of God the Father. This is characteristic Old Testament language where the great miracles are typically ascribed to the glory of God (i.e. Exodus 15:7,11; 16:7, 10). The Bible interchangeably asserts that Christ was raised from the dead and that He Himself arose. Both are true and there is no conflict between the two concepts. The Father placed His divine seal of approval upon the sacrificial death of His Son by raising Him to life again, and in so doing God guaranteed the atoning efficacy and sufficiency of that which Christ has done for humankind.The comparison between Christ's resurrection and our new way of life is presented with hosper (just as) - houtos kai (so also) language that was used throughout the Adam/Christ comparison of the preceding chapter. Thus the apostle reminds us that the transformation which takes place within the believer is, in effect, a transition from the old epoch of Adam, under the dominion of sin and death, into the new era of Christ and the reign of righteousness and life. Because of that transition, death could not hold the Lord, and Christ's triumphant resurrection from the grave is the indication that the new age has begun. Baptized believers participate in the resurrection of Christ in the same way that they participate in his death and burial. Paul sounds the same theme elsewhere.
In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism and raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead.
(Colossians 2:11-12)But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved. And god raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms with Christ Jesus in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
(Ephesians 2:4-7)We too may live a new life. -
The result of our participation in the death and resurrection of Christ is a pattern of life that reflects the values of the new age. The Greek text literally says, "that we might take up a new way of walking." The verb walk around (Greek - peripatein) is often used in the Old Testament to describe a lifestyle pattern (cf. Exodus 18:20; 2 Kings 20:3; 22:2; Psalm 86:11; Proverbs 8:20; 28:18).Verses 5-7
If we have been united with Him in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin - because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
If we have been united with Him in His death... -
The colorful language of the text literally says, if we have become grown together with Him (Greek - symphytos). The imagery is horticultural, the young branch is grafted into the tree and grows together with it in organic unity, sustained and nourished by its lifegiving sap. John Calvin explains the image in this way:By these words he not only exhorts us to follow Christ as if we are admonished through baptism to die to our desires by the examples of Christ's death and to be aroused to righteousness by the example of His resurrection, but He also takes hold of something far higher; namely, that through baptism Christ makes us sharers in His death, that we may be engrafted in it. And, just as the twig draws substance and nourishment from the root to which it is grafted, so those who receive baptism with right faith truly feel the effective working of Christ's death in the mortification of their flesh, together with the working of His resurrection in the vivification of their spirit.
(Moo, p. 367)Paul has previously asserted that baptism is the means through which we have become participants in the death of Christ (cf. vs. 4) and he reaffirms that reality now as the foundation for what follows. In the washing of baptism we were grafted into Christ and have been united with Him in His death. Because we have become participants in the death of Christ we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection. Dr. Stoeckhardt explains the apostle's thought in this way:
From this fact follows that we also in baptism are planted together in Christ's resurrection. In Christ death and resurrection are closely connected. Christ is the Crucified and the Resurrected. And he who shares in His death shares also in His resurrection. The new life of the Christians not only has a likeness in the resurrection of Christ but springs and flows from it. In baptism we share in Christ's resurrection and in the new life that He entered at His resurrection. In baptism Christ's new life after the resurrection is planted in us. Hence, we are flesh of His flesh, bone of His bone (Ephesians 5:30). And so, we are born again to a new life. In this manner we Christians received the new life wherein we now live.
(Stoeckhardt, p. 80)The shift in verb tense (we have been united with Him in His death - we will be united with Him in His resurrection) indicates the progressive nature of this reality throughout the life of the believer.
For we know that our old self was crucified with Him... -
Verses 6 & 7 restate and elaborate the basic argument presented in the preceding verses. The phrase For we know introduces this summary. The subject of the sentence is our old self (Greek - o palaios hemon anthropos - literally - our old man). The reference is to that which we once were, the self that belongs to the old age, dominated by sin and subject to wrath. This is our entire being as it existed before regeneration, completely helpless and hopeless. The adjective old is typically used to point back to that former existence. (cf. 1 Corinthians 5:7-8; Colossians 3:9; Ephesians 4:22) In contrast, that which we have become in Christ is called the new man (Ephesians 4:22-24) or the new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:5). Paul here uses the third of the syn verbs in this segment to describe our participation in the events of Christ's death and resurrection (vs. 4 - buried with; vs. 5 - united with). In this instance we participate in the crucifixion itself - synestaurothe (crucified with). Douglas Moo offers this assessment of Paul's thought:The believer who is "crucified with Christ" is as definitely and finally dead as a result of this action as was Christ Himself after His crucifixion. Of course, we must remember what this death means. There is no more a physical, or ontological, death than is our burial with Christ (vs.4) or our "dying to sin" (vs.2). Paul's language throughout is forensic, or positional; by God's act we have been placed in a new position. This position is real
, for what exists in God's sight is surely (ultimately) real, and it carries definite consequences for daily living. (Moo, p. 373)Note the passive voice of the verb was crucified. This is not something that we could ever have done by ourselves. God had to do this and has done it for us.
So that the body of sin might be rendered powerless... -
The purpose of our co-crucifixion is liberation from the domination of sin. The phrase the body of sin parallels the old self in the preceding phrase. The reference is not to the physical body in contrast to the soul, but to the whole person as a part of the fallen world, the human being as a descendant of Adam in bondage to sin and death. The genitive of sin expresses the element which dominates the earth-oriented, natural human person. The verb rendered powerless (Greek - katargeo) means to be released from or to deprive something of its power, to paralyze. The point is that because of our participation in the crucifixion of Christ, we are no longer the helpless tools of sin. Our solidarity with and subservience to the legacy of Adam has been ended. We are no longer slaves to sin. Sin is a master which rules without challenge over natural man. We, however, have been liberated from our slavery to sin by our participation in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ.Once for all the curse of this slavery has been broken since our old man has been crucified. The battle with sin is not completed in baptism but the decisive victory has been won. The sin is dethroned, the new man has taken the place of the old man in us, and now it is our task to prevent the sin from again usurping that throne.
(Lenski, p. 403)Because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. -
The slave who dies can serve his master no longer. By death he has been set free from his slavery. In the same way, our involvement in the death of Christ through baptism has broken the dominion of sin/death in our lives.
Verses 8-10
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over Him. The death He died, He died once to sin for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God.
Now if we died with Christ... -
The death to sin which is the result of our involvement in the death of Christ marks the beginning of a new life in Him. That new life has already begun: If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, look, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17) It will take on final, definitive form only when we live with the Lord in eternity, thus the future tense of the verb (we will also live) in this sentence. In this way, the whole of this life for the believer is suspended between Christ's death and Christ's resurrection.For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead... -
Our faith is founded on facts. All true faith contains definite and explicit knowledge as in the classic definition faith = knowledge + assent + trust. The historical fact of the resurrection is the keystone of Christianity for as Paul contends in 1 Corinthians 15:17 - If Christ has not been raised your faith is futile, you are still in your sins. Here, as previously, the resurrection is ascribed not to Christ Himself, but to God the Father who has triumphantly restored His beloved Son to life again (cf. 4:24; Philippians 2:9-11). The reality of the Christ's resurrection means that he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The resurrection of Jesus meant a final and decisive break with death and all of its fatal power - the end of His humiliation and the beginning of His exaltation. Having humbled Himself to the limitations of earthly existence and submitted to a humiliating death on the cross, Christ is exalted by the Father, and restored to glorious life once again. He is the firstfruits of those that rise ( 1 Corinthians 15:23) and His resurrection signals the beginning of the new era of forgiveness and life. Through sin death became the lord and master of mankind (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:54-57). By His resurrection, Jesus proves that death is can no longer exercise lordship (Greek - kurieuei) over Him. Death is His master no longer.The death He died, He died to sin once for all... -
Christ assumed our sin. He took upon Himself the burden that was ours. God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21). In His death He bore the penalty for the sins of humankind. Thus His death is to sin in the sense that it has a decisive effect upon sin. His death is a unique, definitive event. It can never be repeated. It need never be repeated. He died to sin once for all (Greek - hapax). That reality is demonstrated by Christ's return to life after His death. Hence, as Fitzmyer suggests: Christ was raised from the dead not merely to publicize His good news or to confirm His messianic character, but to introduce human beings into freedom, a new mode of life with a new principle of human activity, the Spirit. (Fitzmyer,, p.438)But the life He lives, He lives to God. -
An irreversible transformation has taken place. We have passed from one era to the next and there is no going back. A reversion to the old condition is no longer possible. The death of Christ is a single event with permanent relevance for all of humanity (Note the aorist tense of the verbs in the preceding phrase). The life He now lives is a continuous, ongoing, unending reality (The Greek verb tense now shifts to the durative present, indicating indefinitely ongoing action). Having vanquished death, Jesus, the God/Man, now lives forever to the glory of God.Verses 11-14
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law but under grace.
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin... -
These verses apply that which has been said of Christ to Christians. The comparison between the death and life of Christ and the attitude of the believer toward his own life is introduced with the phrase In the same way.The powerful verb in this sentence is the Greek logizomai (to count or to be credited to) which figured so prominently in chapter 4's discussion of the justification of Abraham (cf. 4:3-12). Thus we are clearly reminded that the Christian's reckoning himself dead to sin and alive to God is the result of God's having reckoned him to be righteous. This is a strong word used to describe firm conviction that is to be consistently expressed in daily conduct. The language is not theoretical or abstract; it is real and practical. The verb is a present imperative, urging us to view ourselves in this way constantly, throughout our lives.
In 6:2 we were told that we were told that We died to sin. Now the argument concludes as the apostle recalls those words. We are to consider ourselves dead to sin but alive to God. Christ died to sin once for all (vs.10). We became participants in that death through baptism. The object of the imperative in this verse is that we must now continually take this death into account, take it seriously, in our own self-perception. Like Christ, we have died to sin, and as we become ever more aware of that union with Christ, and consciously oriented to Christ, the possibility of returning to the old way of sin's dominion will become ever more remote. This is much more than mere mimicry.
It is not just that they (Christians) are to imitate Christ (because He has died to sin so you too); Christians are also to arm themselves with the mentality that they are dead to sin; for that is what has happened to them in the baptismal experience.
(Fitzmyer, p.438)To be dead to sin is only possible in union with Christ. Hence, to be dead to sin is to be alive to God in Christ Jesus. This phrase in Christ Jesus is St. Paul's characteristic way of describing the union of the believer with the Lord (cf. 8:1; 12:5; 16:3,7,9,10; 1 Thessalonians 2:14; Galatians 1:22; 2:4; 3:28; 5:6; 1 Corinthians 1:2,30; 4:10; 15:18-19; 2 Corinthians 5:17; 12:2; Philippians 1:1; 4:7; Philemon 23). Lenski describes it as a pregnant phrase which denotes a vital spiritual connection (Lenski, p.409). Christians, by faith, are united with the risen and living Lord through the Holy Spirit and thereby share in the vitality of His life in glory.
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal bodies... -
Such an admonition would be worthless and futile were it not for Christ and our participation in His death and resurrection. Now it would be useless to tell sinners not to let this powerful king, sin, reign over them, whether in their mortal bodies or in the rest of their being; sinners could not prevent sin reigning over them. (Lenski, p. 411) One might just as well tell a drowning person simply to swim to shore as to tell a person who is under sin's mastery not to let allow sin to reign. St. Augustine's observation is sadly accurate, for the unregenerate man it is non posse non peccare (It is Not possible not to sin.) The Greek text literally says do not let sin hold sway or rule as a king (Greek - basileueto). That is, of course, not to say that Christians are no longer capable of sin and are required to live holy and sinless lives. The rule of the tyrant has been overthrown; his tyranny has been broken; but that does not prevent this overthrown tyrant from harassing those who have escaped his tyranny. The phrase in your mortal bodies is not merely a reference to the physical body in distinction to the soul. Rather the reference is to the whole person viewed as a part of the world and thus subject to the temptations of sin.The battle is a spiritual one, but it is fought, it is won and lost, in the daily decisions the believer makes about how to use his body. In characterizing the body as "mortal" Paul is reminding us that the same body that has been severed from its servitude to sin is nevertheless a body that still participates in the weakness, suffering, and dissolution of this age...This "mortal body" is, then, the believer's form of existence in this world which still has a part in this age.
(Moo, p. 383)In order to obey its evil desires. -
The noun desires (Greek - epithumias) can be used positively (cf. Philippians 1:23; 1 Thessalonians 2:17). However, in this context refers to desires that are in conflict with the will of God. The NIV is correct in supplying the negative adjective evil. Parallel phrases are: desires of the heart (Romans 1:24), and desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). The reference is not merely physical or sexual desire but to man's craving for and dependency upon the satisfaction of all of his personal, earthly needs - physically, emotionally, intellectually, socially, etc. The basic issue is mastery. Sin seeks to influence and control the sinner. Sin's goal is to achieve (actually to regain) the submission to its reign that results in obedience.Do not offer the parts of your body to sin... - Do not offer
(Greek - mede parastanete) means to put at the disposal of. It is often used of the authority of a slave owner or of a military officer. The point of the verb is the acknowledgement of a superior power and authority to whom the only proper response is submission and obedience. It thus fits perfectly in this discussion of sin as the controlling power in a person's life. As in the preceding phrase, the verb is a present imperative, indicating a command with ongoing, continuous application. As mortal body in verse 12 does not refer merely to the physical, so the parts of your body here not simply mean limbs or physical body organs but rather man's natural capacities. Human faculties or human capabilities are alternate possible translations. Instruments of wickedness (Greek - hopla adikias) might better be translated as weapons of unrighteousness, given the conflict context of the phrase. Wickedness is a general term for all that stands in opposition to the righteousness of God. Those natural capacities and abilities that God has given us are weapons that must no longer be put in the service of the evil master from whom we have been set free.But rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought... -
The verb (parastesate) is repeated in this contrasting phrase. Christians are to put themselves at God's disposal, to submit to His control and to acknowledge His lordship. As men and women who have a share in Christ's death and resurrection we have been brought from death to life. That reality becomes the basis for an actual transformation of who we are and how we live. We who were once dead in sin are now alive to God in Christ Jesus (vs. 11). The human faculties and capabilities which were not to be offered to sin as weapons of unrighteousness are instead to be dedicated to God as instruments of righteousness. The parallel language in these two phrases clearly emphasizes the contrast.For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. -
The issue throughout this section is control - who is the lord of your life. This concluding phrase repeats that emphasis with the verb kyrieusei (to exercise lordship or mastery) from the noun kyrios which means lord or master. (As in the liturgical KyrieEleyson- Lord have mercy!). Fitzmyer aptly translates Sin is not to hold sway over you. Melancthon calls this bold declaration that the lordship of sin is ended dulcissima consolatio (Latin - the sweetest consolation of all). This promise is confirmed by the assurance - You are not under law but under grace. The reference is to the law as the governing principle in religion, the basis of our relationship with God. Any religious system based completely or in part on human effort is law religion no matter what denominational label it carries. Legalism of any sort can never be the Lord of the Christian life. The law cannot free us from sin. Its demands and condemnations only intensify sin's dominion. The curse of the law upon man's imperfection brings death. Those who are under law, dependent upon that which they must do for themselves, will find no escape from damnation and doom. Sin is our master no longer only because of God's undeserved love in Christ. We are not under law but under grace.Grace removes the curse of sin, breaks its dominion, joins us to Christ and God, fills us with spiritual power to trample unrighteousness under foot and to work righteousness...Being subjects to grace is pure blessedness for sinners, for while law comes with threatening demands which we are helpless to fulfill, grace showers upon us not only what we need, but all that it can possibly bestow, even the capacity to receive, and asks no merit or worthiness on our part. (Lenski, p.418)
Verses 15-16
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey - whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
What then? Shall we sin because... -
The question with which the chapter began is now restated in the context of law and grace. Since there is no legal restraint for conduct are we then free to do whatever we want? If you put grace alone in place of the law have you not removed the only barrier against sin and the only means of dealing with sin thereby opening the floodgates to a deluge of sinning? Absolutely not! The response is again most emphatically negative (cf. vs.1, p. 209f.)Don't you know that when you offer yourselves... -
The apostle uses the social institution of slavery to make his point. In the Mediterranean world of Paul's day many people sold themselves into slavery - either permanently or for a specified period of time - as a means of support or to avoid financial disaster. Paul reminds us that no human being is a free agent - either we are slaves to sin and self, or we are slaves to God in Christ. There are no other alternatives. The person who refuses God's lordship in his life does not thereby achieve independence, but becomes instead a slave to sin. That which masquerades as freedom in this world is actually bondage to sin, death, and the power of the devil. Those who live only to gratify their own desires are slaves without recognizing their slavery. Their shackles are forged in the compulsion and futility of their empty lives. The Satanic Father of the Lie has cleverly managed to convince his slaves that their bondage is freedom. The person who is a slave to God in Christ is truly free. But the freedom of the Christian is not freedom to do whatever you choose, but freedom to obey God - willingly, joyfully, naturally. The essence of slavery is the obligation of consistent obedience -You are slaves to the one you obey. If you consistently obey your sinful desires, then you are, in fact, a slave to sin, whether you recognize it or not.The consequence of slavery to sin is death in time and in eternity. The consequence of slavery to godly obedience is righteousness - the divine verdict of justification which leads to life eternal.
Verses 17-18
But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
But thanks be to God... -
As Paul considers all that God has done to set His people free, he injects an expression of gratitude and thanksgiving to God which demonstrates the intensity of the feelings within the apostle's own heart on this subject. He knows from personal experience what it means to once have been lost and then be found. Every human being is by nature a slave to sin. The members of the congregation is Rome could easily recall the time when they lives beneath the brutal tyranny of sin. But, Thanks be to God! that time is past.Though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed... -
The bondage of sin, the cruel taskmaster, is now in the past for the Christians in Rome. It has been replaced with the joyful obedience of those who freely serve the Lord Jesus Christ. The obedience of the Christian is wholehearted (Greek - ek kardias -literally from the heart ). It indicates deeply felt and motivated action from the inmost being in contrast to obedience which is superficial, minimal, or coerced. This is the maximal grace response (How much can I do?) in contrast to the minimal law response (How much do I have to do?). The Christian's wholehearted obedience is attributed to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. Most commentators agree that the reference is to a fixed catechetical formulation or creed used in connection with Holy Baptism already so well established and well known that Paul could refer to it without further explanation. The verb were entrusted (Greek - paradidomi) is frequently used in this way to describe the action of handing down or passing on traditional teaching. Note that this teaching did not come from he Christians in Rome. They did not devise or invent it. It came from God Himself and was merely entrusted to them as a legacy to preserve and pass along.You have been set free from sin and have become slaves... -
There is no possible neutral ground; either you are a slave to sin or a slave to righteousness - no comfortable, compromising in between. Paul drives this point home with the assertion that we have been set free so that we may be enslaved. Through Baptism in Christ Christians have been transferred from the dominion of sin to the dominion of righteousness. They are slaves who have changed ownership; slave who have a new master. This is the first reference to the liberation of the sinner from sin in Romans. This becomes an important theme through the balance of the Epistle (cf. 6:20,22; 7:3; 8:2,21). The Christian life is emancipation from the tyranny of sin. But Biblical freedom is not autonomy(Greek - self-law) or self-direction in the modern sense of the term, which views every individual as free to do whatsoever he or she chooses to do. Biblical freedom is deliverance from the enslaving powers which sought to prevent the human being from becoming what the Creator God had intended him to be. Real freedom can only be experienced in harmonious relationship with the God who is our source (cf. John 8:31-36) The liberty which Christ has purchased for believers under the gospel consists in their yielding obedience unto him, not out of slavish fear, but a childlike love, and willing mind. (Moo, p. 402)Verse 19
I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to ever increasing righteousness.
I put this in human terms because you are weak... -
Paul apologizes for using the inadequate analogy of slavery to describe the believer's relationship to the Lord, but he wants to be sure that this crucial point is clearly understood. The use of examples and illustration from everyday life are a common feature of the apostolic teaching of the New Testament (cf. 3:5; Galatians 3:15; 1 Corinthians 3:1; 9:8). Analogy although helpful is never perfect. That is also true in this instance. Douglas Moo observes:Paul recognizes that his language could be interpreted to mean that Christian experience bears the same marks of degradation, fear, and confinement that were typical of secular slavery. But, while shorn of these characteristics, life in the new realm of righteousness and life does mean that a person is given over to a master who requires absolute and unquestioned obedience; and to make the point, the image of slavery is quite appropriate.
(Moo, p.404)The use of this analogy is explained by the fact that you are weak in your natural selves. The reference is not to a mental or moral weakness unique to the Roman congregation but rather the difficulty common to all sinful human beings in comprehending the truth of God. Sin has produced a weakness of understanding generally and an inherent resistance to spiritual truth particularly (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:16). The NIV appropriately translates the Greek sarx (literally - flesh) as natural selves.
Just as you used to offer the parts of your body... -
The slavery analogy is used again as Paul urges his readers to serve their new master with the same singleminded dedication that they once served their former master. The language here closely resembles vs.13. Before coming the faith you used to offer the parts of your body to impurity and ever increasing wickedness. The two powerful nouns impurity Greek - akatharsia - moral impurity and uncleanness, particularly sexual immorality) and wickedness (Greek - anomia - lawlessness and rebellion) combine to provide a comprehensive picture of the grim reality of sin. Lenski writes:All sin is filthiness even as all sin is lawlessness. We don not have a division of sin into two sections but two aspects of sin. Sin is abominable; it reeks and stinks as does filth; and at the same time it is rebellion, anarchy, a challenge to law. Imagine giving one's own bodily members as slaves to such a power! Too often we hide this horribleness from ourselves and shudder at it only when it reveals itself stark and naked in some fearful crime. Learn from Paul what this tyrant looks like so that you will not extend even a finger to him.
(Lenski, p. 431)Note also the emphasis on the cumulative, progressive nature of sin as ever increasing wickedness. The Greek text literally reads: you have yielded your members as slaves...to wickedness unto wickedness. Sin builds upon itself and reinforcers itself. It is a downhill path that leads to destruction.
So now offer them in slavery to righteousness, leading to holiness. -
The second segment of the contrast closely mirrors the first. Again the slave obediently offers the members of his body to his master without reservation or hesitation. But now instead of impurity the new master is righteousness leading to holiness. The righteousness in question is the right conduct which is demanded by God, the complete opposite of all impurity. The downhill slide of sin's progression is replaced by holiness (Greek - hagiasmos from hagios which means a saint, one who has been made holy). These words are used in the New Testament to designate one who has been singled out, separated from the world and consecrated to God. While the Christian is already holy, as the result of God's decree of justification, he remains a sinner nonetheless (simul justus et peccator) and thus holiness is also a way of life in conformity with the will and character of God toward which the Christian must constantly strive. Serve your new master, Paul urges, with the same singleminded dedication with which you once served you old master. Martin Franzmann summarizes the meaning of what he calls the slave imperative in the text in this way:The man in whom the flesh and the spirit are still at war with each other (cf. Romans 8:12-14; Galatians 5:17), the man who still recognizes in his heart the will of disobedient Adam, the man who still must fight off the claim of sin upon his mortal body - he needs to be told that sonship means obedience for all the sons of God. For this aspect of sonship there is no better or stronger term than "slavery." And so Paul, after he has qualified his use of the image of the slave speaks of the slave imperative; Be good slaves now to righteousness, as singly and as totally devoted to your master as when you were slaves to sin. You devoted your members, all your powers of action, to that service; render that same full-time, whole man service now to righteousness. That former service was one that defiled you, and it exhausted itself in opposition to God; it was dominated by the Satanic will of sin, which is stupid, monstrous, pure negation of all that is divine.
(Franzmann, p.118)This characteristic New Testament approach to Christian living is dramatically different than much of the quick fix, easy multi-step solutions popular in much of the church today. God in Christ has already done it all. He has already provided everything that is necessary for us to live as devoted slaves of our Lord. If we fail to do so it is either because we do not recognize what God has already done or we are simply too sinful and spiritually lazy to do what God has enabled us to do. The lifestyle of the Christian is the result of what God has caused you to be. James Montgomery Boice summarizes the substance of this New Testament approach to sanctification and the Christian life in these six propositions:
1. The teaching about sanctification in verse 19-20, like the teaching in verses 11-13, is an exhoratation. In fact, it is a command.
2. Being an exhortation, the command to offer our bodies to God for His purposes is something we must do. Indeed, it is something we can do...We are now able to obey God, do good works, and live righteous lives.
3. The command to yield the parts of our bodies as instruments of righteousness is based upon something that has already happened to us. That is, something that has already happened, not something that may happen, or will yet happen to us.
4. The New Testament approach to sanctification is therefore to get us to realize our position and act accordingly. The New Testament does not tell us to be what we will become. Rather, it tells us to be what we are.
5. This demand is utterly reasonable. In fact, anything contrary to it is unreasonable. Before we were saved, we served sin; that was consistent and reasonable. But now that we are converted, it is equally reasonable that we should serve God.
6. The failures we have in trying to live a holy life are due almost entirely to our failure to realize these truths or to our laziness or sin failing to apply them to our conduct.
Verses 20-23
When you were slaves to sin you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
When you were slaves to sin... -
The factual reality which is the basis for the preceding command is here repeated. We can and must serve righteousness because God has freed us from sin and made us slaves to righteousness. It this were not true it would be impossible for us to offer the members of our body in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. Before we came to faith in Christ we were completely free from the control of righteousness. The sinner merely disregards the righteousness, turns his nose up at it; he feels elated not to be compelled to do this or that but to be free to throw himself into the vile arms of sin just as he pleases. Well, that is freedom, if one wants to call it by so noble a name. (Lenski, p.432) As Jesus said, No man can serve two masters. (Matthew 6:24). These are mutually exclusive alternatives. As slaves to sin we recognized no obligation to the will and Word of God. We have defiantly chosen to go our own way instead. As slaves to sin we were deaf to God's righteous demands and incapable of responding to them if even we were to hear and respect them. The power to do right and turn from the wrong is simply not present within those who have become slaves to sin.What benefit did you reap at that time... -
Paul demonstrates the negative destructiveness of being free from the control of righteousness by showing the fruits which resulted from that freedom. The NIV translates the Greek karpos (literally - fruit often used in the sense of result or product) as benefit. The translation expresses the sense of the apostle's question well as he urges the Romans to consider whether there were any positive results from their old way of life. The agrarian origin of the word is reflected in the verb reap. From their new perspective as sons and daughters of God in Christ the things which they then did are now cause for shame. The devil has always promised liberation but those who yield to his seduction find only guilt and shame (cf. Genesis 3). The end result, the ultimate destination, the outcome (Greek - telos) of those shameful things is death, and that not merely death in time, but death for all eternity.But now that you have been set free from sin... -
The contrast to the fraudulent freedom from righteousness is now set forth. This is not freedom from righteousness but freedom from sin. The fruit of freedom from righteousness was shameful action which leads to death. The fruit of freedom from sin is holiness the outcome of which is eternal life. This climactic antithesis draws the contrast as clearly as it can be drawn.For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. -
The chapter ends with this powerful summary statement which is one of the best known verses in the Bible. The verse contains three contrasts: 1. the master that is served - sin versus God; 2. the outcome of that service - death versus eternal life; and, 3. the means by which this outcome is attained - a wage earned versus a gift received. The death in the opening phrase is ultimately the eternal death and damnation of the impenitent sinner. However, the specific language of the text suggests more than this ultimate outcome. One who lives in bondage to sin need not wait for eternity to experience the deadly destructiveness of evil. The noun wages (Greek - opsonion) originally referred not to the final mustering out bonus paid at the end of a victorious campaign, but to the ongoing daily food ration (literally - fish ration) provided to a Roman soldier while on active duty. Thus the death which is the wages of sin is not merely a future reality but also one which pertains to the individual's present state. This view is fully consistent Paul's earlier insistence that the wrath of God is now being poured out upon sinful rebellious mankind in the deadly downward spiral of sin's destructiveness. (cf. Romans 1:18-32). In his classic book Whatever Became of Sin?, Dr. Karl Menninger argues that sin is always destructive. He uses the historic seven deadly sins to demonstrate his point: pride destroys realtionships; lust destroys one's personality as it weakens loyalty, undercuts trust, and destroys integrity; gluttony detroys the physical body whether it is overindulgence in food, drink or drugs; anger destorys others whether by actual violence or words alone; sloth destroys opportunity and ambition; envy and greed destory contentment and happiness in life. Sin pays its wages every day in misery, suffering, sorrow, and pain until the account is finally settled once and for all with eternal death. The other side of the contrast is completely different. God does not pay wages for services rendered. He offers a free gift of His undeserved love (Greek - charisma). This gift is given solely by grace, unearned and free. It has been bought and paid for in Christ Jesus our Lord.