Romans 6 Study Notes

6:1-23 Can a justified person live the same way as he did before justification? This was a major question in the debates of the Reformation. If as sin abounded, grace super-abounded, why not commit more sin to receive more grace? Some false teachers in church history have actually argued that you can experience more grace by committing more sin. This chapter explains why this is not possible.

6:2 Paul rejected the invalid inference (v. 1) with the strong expression absolutely not. The New Testament in Modern English by J. B. Phillips aptly translated it, “What a ghastly thought!” Paul argues that believers have died to sin. He does not mean that our sin nature was eliminated at the cross or at the moment of our conversion or baptism. Instead, as he says elsewhere, God “rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves” (Col 1:13). Having experienced such a transfer, dare we go on living in sin?

6:3 In defense of his claim that believers have died to sin, Paul points out that through baptism we were baptized into Christ Jesus and his death. “Christ’s death for sin becomes our death to sin” (Robert H. Mounce).

6:4 Believers are symbolically buried with Christ through baptism and raised with him from the dead in order that we may walk in newness of life. This makes clear the absurdity of the idea that we can “continue in sin so that grace may multiply” (v. 1).

6:5 Though believers have not yet experienced resurrection, we are assured this future reality by the fact that Christ, in whose death we share, has been raised from the dead.

6:6 Our old self (Gk palaios anthropos; lit “old man”) is everything that we were before we became Christians. By contrast, the new self is what we are once we become Christians (Eph 4:22-24; Col 3:9-10). The new self is not perfect. We still sin because we have indwelling sin in our mortal bodies (Rm 7:13-25), but we are in the process of renewal (Eph 4; Col 3). Thus we have the answer to the question about whether a Christian can still live in sin. We cannot live as we once did because the “old self” was crucified with him (Christ). In Christ the believer is a “new creation” (2Co 5:17).

6:7 Sin (personified) has no claim over a dead person and can claim no loyalty from him.

6:8-9 It was because of our sin that death fixed its grip on Jesus, but he arose to live forever. Death no longer rules the believer, for we died with Christ, who no longer dies.

6:10 Jesus went through an irreversible transformation in his death and resurrection. Believers also undergo an irreversible transformation: we die to the “old self” (v. 6) at conversion and thereafter live as new creatures (2Co 5:17). Like Jesus, the believer lives to God.

6:11 This is the first command in the book of Romans.

6:12-13 The believer, as a member of the new kingdom, must not offer any help to the old king (Satan, sin, death) and his kingdom. We are still slaves, but now we have a new Master. Note that Paul continues the personification of sin as a king (complete with a kingdom and subjects) who seeks to extend his rule. There is a spiritual war between these two kingdoms. We must give ourselves as weapons to be used in this warfare on the side of the rightful King. Aiding and abetting the enemy is treason.

6:14 Sin personified has been in view since 5:20-21. Sin is no longer the believer’s ruler. Sin gained its power by using the law, but the Christian is under the rule of grace rather than law.

6:15-23 These verses are another of Paul’s extended analogies. People have a choice about which master they will serve.

6:16 Paul used the figure of slaves. Whoever you obey, you come under his power. Obedience to sin brings death. Sin pays a wage to his subjects, and it is death (cp. v. 23). Obedience to God brings righteousness and the gift of eternal life.

6:17 Paul thanked God for the work of salvation that came to the Roman Christians.

6:18-19 Slavery and redemption are common biblical metaphors for spiritual death and salvation. The Hebrews were once in bondage (literal and spiritual) in Egypt. God broke the bondage so they could come out from Egypt and worship him (Ex 7:16; 12:29-42). Similarly, the Roman Christians were once in spiritual bondage to false gods, but God liberated them so they could be slaves to righteousness.

6:20-23 As slaves of God, believers produce fruit (see Jn 15:1-8). This is the work of sanctification or holiness in their lives, and the final product is eternal life. Lest the figure be misunderstood as a payment for merits earned, eternal life is a gift of God through Christ. One master (sin) pays an earned wage of death; the other master (God) pays in unearned grace, resulting in eternal life (Jn 17:3).