Romans 6:1-14
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
“You cannot keep birds from flying over your head
but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair” ― Martin Luther
Paul has just explained that grace triumphs over sin. Galatians 5:1, “Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.” NLT.
Now, Paul anticipates an objection to our complete freedom in Christ. It’s not that God’s grace is a license to ignore the law. What if someone told you they would pay all your traffic tickets no questions asked? There would be no penalty for speeding from the law. However, if you crashed because you were free to ignore the laws the impacts of property damage and injury would still apply. Our sin is forgiven, all of it, forever. However, real consequences still apply to our choices.
Paul is trying to describe the Christian’s identity. In Christ, we are dead to sin. We cannot be identified as belonging to sin and are therefore exempt from its requirements and penalties. Rather, we are alive to God in Christ and our identity is secured as belonging to God with the attendant privileges and rewards.
But we still sin. Our knowledge and trust remain incomplete in this life. When we know God perfectly and trust him perfectly our will will never be at odds with God’s will. 1 Corinthians 13:12, “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.”
Our identity in Christ includes resurrection. We have now the life of the Spirit of God given to us as immediately as our ancestor Adam lost it and we will have physical eternal resurrection with Christ.
Being dead to sin but alive to God is a present reality that we can count on. The death that is separation from God has nothing to say to us. The life that is beyond death is our life now and forever.
Since we are free from the dominion of sin we have choice again as Adam did. We can choose because Christ has set us free from slavery to sin. Since God is all knowing and all powerful and He loves us and wants the best for us why would we ever choose to go against his will?
The word instruments can also be rendered, weapons. Our parts, physical, mental, and spiritual can be used to strike a blow for the kingdom of God or against it and the choice in ours. Freedom isn’t free, it cost Jesus his life and it will cost us ours.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.
brotherpayne 