Romans 6:1–14 — Shall We Continue in Sin So Grace May Increase?
Paul has just made an astonishing statement:
“Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”
— Romans 5:20
That sounds wonderful.
But it also raises an obvious question.
If more sin results in more grace, why not keep sinning?
Paul anticipates exactly that objection:
“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?”
— Romans 6:1
His answer could hardly be stronger:
“By no means!”
Why not?
Paul does not answer by giving us a list of rules.
Instead, he reminds Christians of something that has already happened to them.
He reminds them of their baptism.
“How Can We Still Live in It?”
Paul writes:
“How can we who died to sin still live in it?”
— Romans 6:2
That is the question controlling this section.
Paul does not say Christians are incapable of sinning. His letters would make little sense if that were true.
He is talking about a changed relationship to sin.
Something happened when these people became Christians that makes continuing to live under sin's rule completely inconsistent with who they now are.
What happened?
Paul tells us.
“All of Us Who Have Been Baptized”
Paul asks:
“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?”
— Romans 6:3
Notice how naturally Paul refers to baptism.
He does not stop to explain what baptism is.
He assumes his Christian readers know because all of them had been baptized.
And Paul says their baptism was:
into Christ Jesus
and:
into His death.
That should make us slow down.
Paul does not describe baptism here as an empty ceremony or merely as a public announcement of something unrelated that happened earlier.
He connects baptism directly with Christ.
And specifically with Christ's death.
Buried With Christ
Paul continues:
“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death…”
— Romans 6:4
The picture becomes even stronger.
Christ died.
Christ was buried.
Christ was raised.
Paul describes the Christian's baptism using that same pattern.
We were baptized into His death.
We were buried with Him.
But burial is not the end of Paul's picture.
Raised to Walk in Newness of Life
Paul continues:
“in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”
— Romans 6:4
Here is the purpose.
Paul is not discussing baptism merely to settle a debate about baptism.
He is explaining why Christians cannot continue living as though sin still owns them.
Christ was raised.
And those united with Christ are to:
“walk in newness of life.”
Baptism points both backward and forward.
Back to the death and burial of the old life.
Forward to a new life with Christ.
United With Him
Paul continues:
“For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”
— Romans 6:5
Notice Paul's language:
with Him
with Him
with Him
Christian salvation is not merely receiving something from Christ.
Paul describes believers as being united with Christ.
His death becomes the pattern of our death to sin.
His resurrection guarantees our resurrection.
And His risen life becomes the pattern for how we live now.
What Happened to the “Old Self”?
Paul says:
“We know that our old self was crucified with him…”
— Romans 6:6
Why?
“in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.”
There is the issue.
Slavery.
Sin has been a master.
But something has happened to the person who has been united with Christ.
The old self was crucified.
The purpose is that we should no longer live as slaves to sin.
Paul is beginning a slavery illustration that he will develop more fully later in the chapter.
Dead With Christ — Living With Christ
Paul writes:
“Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.”
— Romans 6:8
Then he reminds us of something fundamental about Jesus:
“We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.”
— Romans 6:9
Death once claimed Christ.
But Christ defeated death.
It no longer has dominion over Him.
Paul continues:
“For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.”
— Romans 6:10
Then Paul turns the argument toward us.
“So You Also Must Consider Yourselves”
Paul says:
“So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
— Romans 6:11
This is how Christians are to think about themselves.
Dead to sin.
Alive to God.
Not because they have achieved moral perfection.
But because they now belong to Christ.
Their identity has changed.
And because their identity has changed, their behavior must change.
“Let Not Sin Therefore Reign”
Paul now gives a command:
“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.”
— Romans 6:12
Notice something important.
Paul has just said Christians are dead to sin.
Yet he still tells them:
Do not let sin reign.
That means “dead to sin” cannot mean that Christians have lost the ability to sin.
Sin still tries to rule.
Christians must refuse to let it.
Grace does not make our choices meaningless.
Grace changes whom we serve.
What Are You Presenting to God?
Paul continues:
“Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness…”
— Romans 6:13
Our bodies can still be used in the service of sin.
But Paul gives the alternative:
“but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.”
There is the Christian life in a remarkably simple picture.
We have been brought:
from death to life.
Now we present ourselves:
to God.
Grace does not say:
“Nothing you do matters.”
Grace says:
“You belong to someone new.”
“Sin Will Have No Dominion Over You”
Paul ends this section:
“For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.”
— Romans 6:14
That statement can easily be misunderstood if separated from its context.
“Not under law but under grace” does not mean:
“Therefore it doesn't matter how you live.”
Paul has spent the entire paragraph saying exactly the opposite.
Because we are under grace:
Do not let sin reign.
Do not obey its passions.
Do not present yourself to sin.
Present yourself to God.
Grace is not permission to remain under sin's rule.
Grace is what makes freedom from sin's rule possible.
Notice Paul's Answer to the Question
Go back to Paul's opening question:
“Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?”
How does he answer?
Not simply:
“No, because sin is wrong.”
That is true, but Paul's answer goes deeper.
He says, in effect:
How can you live as though nothing happened?
You were baptized into Christ.
You were baptized into His death.
You were buried with Him.
You were raised to walk in newness of life.
Your old self was crucified.
You are no longer to be enslaved to sin.
You are alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Paul's answer to sinful living is rooted in what God has already done in Christ.
What Does Paul Actually Say About Baptism?
Romans 6 has often become a battlefield in arguments about baptism.
That makes it especially important to slow down and simply read Paul's words.
Paul says:
“all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death.”
And:
“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death.”
Whatever theological conclusions we eventually reach, we should begin by allowing those statements to say what they say.
Paul connects baptism with:
Christ
His death
burial
newness of life
and:
union with Christ.
We should not weaken Paul's language simply because it does not fit comfortably into a theological system we already hold.
But neither should we isolate Romans 6 from everything else Paul has said about faith and grace.
The same Paul who has spent chapters emphasizing faith and grace now speaks this way about baptism.
Our task is not to make one passage defeat another.
Our task is to understand how Paul holds them together.
Faith, Grace, and Baptism Are Not Enemies
Sometimes later debates force us to choose between ideas that Paul himself does not treat as enemies.
Romans 3–5 has emphasized:
faith
grace
Christ's blood
Christ's resurrection
God's gift
Then Romans 6 begins:
“all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus…”
Paul apparently sees no contradiction.
That should caution us against creating one.
The question should not be:
“Which verses will I keep?”
It should be:
“How does Paul understand all of these things together?”
And Romans is not finished answering that question.
Read Paul Before Reading a System Into Paul
Paul began Romans 6 with a challenge:
If grace increases where sin increases, why not keep sinning?
His answer is decisive.
Because the Christian has been united with Christ.
Christ died.
Christ was buried.
Christ rose.
And Paul uses baptism to describe our participation in that story.
We were buried with Him through baptism into death:
“in order that…we too might walk in newness of life.”
That last phrase matters.
Paul's concern is not merely whether someone has experienced a religious ceremony.
His concern is whether people who have been united with the risen Christ are now living like people who have been raised to a new life.
Before You Leave
Read Romans 6:1–14 slowly.
Then ask:
What does Paul himself say happened when these Christians were baptized?
Write down every phrase.
Then ask a second question:
Why does Paul bring up baptism when his subject is whether Christians may continue living in sin?
Don't begin with what you have been taught about baptism.
Don't begin with an argument against somebody else's teaching.
Begin with Paul's words.
Then let Paul explain Paul.
TEXT B4 TRADITION
Read First. Conclude Later.
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