The Righteousness of God: Dead to Sin, Alive to God
If grace abounds over sin (5:20), should we sin more to get more grace? This is a logical but perverse conclusion.
Paul's response: By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
Died to sin
"We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?"
Believers have died to sin. Not dying progressively, but died. Past tense. This is positional truth.
Living in sin contradicts our new identity. We were baptized into Christ Jesus, which means we were baptized into His death.
Baptism signifies union with Christ, particularly His death. To be in Christ is to share in His death. We were buried with Him through baptism into death.
Why? So that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
Union with Christ means sharing His death and resurrection.
The old self crucified
"For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin."
Our old self, our identity in Adam, was crucified with Christ. This breaks sin's dominion.
Done away with does not mean annihilated but rendered powerless. Sin's power is broken, not eradicated.
Anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Death breaks legal claims. A dead person is beyond sin's jurisdiction.
Justification is like dying: it frees us from sin's legal power.
Sin no longer has the right to reign over us.
Count yourselves dead to sin
"In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus."
Count means reckon, consider, acknowledge what is true. This is not pretending but recognizing reality.
We are dead to sin's dominion and alive to God. This is positional truth that we must appropriate.
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Sin no longer has the right to reign, but it still seeks to. We must not let it.
Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness. Instead, offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life.
We choose whom we serve.
Not under law but under grace
"For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace."
Sin's mastery is broken. Under law, sin reigned (using the law to provoke rebellion). Under grace, sin's power is defeated.
Grace does not license sin; it liberates from sin. Freedom from law is not freedom to sin but freedom from sin.
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means!
Two slaveries, two outcomes. You are slaves of the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness.
Obedience reveals mastery.
Slaves to righteousness
"You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness."
Liberation from sin is not autonomy but new servitude. Freedom in Christ is not independence but joyful submission to righteousness.
Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness.
When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. But what benefit did you reap? Things you are now ashamed of. Those things result in death.
Sin's fruit is shame and death.
The gift of God
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Wages implies what is earned. Sin earns death. But eternal life is a gift, not wages.
Grace gives what cannot be earned. The contrast is stark: death is earned, life is given.
Now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.
Eternal life is a gift, not a wage.
Final exhortation
Romans 6 establishes the believer's new identity: dead to sin, alive to God.
We have been united with Christ in His death and resurrection. Our old self was crucified. Sin's dominion is broken.
Do not let sin reign. Do not offer yourselves to sin as instruments of wickedness. Instead, offer yourselves to God as instruments of righteousness.
Grace does not permit lawlessness. It liberates from sin and empowers holiness.
Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. This is not wishful thinking but spiritual reality. Believe it. Live it.
Closing prayer
Father, thank You for uniting us with Christ in His death and resurrection. Thank You for breaking sin's dominion and setting us free. Help us to count ourselves dead to sin but alive to You. May we offer ourselves as instruments of righteousness, not wickedness. In Jesus' name, amen.