All of us who are Christians have been saved by the grace of God. Once we have received our salvation, what then? Romans chapter 6 answers some of the “what then”. “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not!” God’s grace is a wonderful thing. And if each time I sin, God gives me of His grace, then I might foolishly reason that the more I sin the more grace there is and that is a good thing, right? No! That is false reasoning. We should not continue in sin.
“How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” Did you know that you died to sin? Death is the end of life. Since you died to sin, you should no longer live in sin. When did this death to sin occur? “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.” Baptism symbolizes a death like Christ’s death. Just as Christ was crucified and then buried in a tomb, even so in baptism you were buried in water. This indicates that Christian baptism is immersion in water like Christ was buried in the tomb and symbolizes your death to sin.
“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.” Christ didn’t stay in the tomb. After three days and by the power of the Father, He was raised to life and is now with the Father in Heaven. In the same way, you were raised out of the waters of baptism to walk in a newness of life – a life where you do not live in sin.
“For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.” You died to sin. You were buried in baptism. You followed the likeness of His death. You shall also have a resurrection like He was resurrected – both a resurrection to a newness of life here and a resurrection from the grave when He returns to earth again.
“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.” Your old man is the life you previously lived in sin. That life was crucified with Him – it was put to death. The life of sin should be done away with. You previously were a slave to sin and did what your sinful desires told you to do. Now, that slavery to sin has ended.
“For he who has died has been freed from sin.” When a slave dies, he is set free from his master. Even so, he that has died with Christ is freed from the slavery to sin and should no longer live in sin. “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.” Since you died with Christ, He now lives within you. Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Not only does He live within you, but you will live with Him eternally.
“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.” Just as Christ died and lives to God, even so you should consider yourself truly dead to sin but spiritually alive to serve God in Christ Jesus. It may be necessary to remind yourself from time to time that you died to sin and you no longer serve sin or live in sin. You are now a servant of God and receive His grace in your life.
“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.” Do not let sin again become your master or king so that you obey its lustful desires. You died to sin; do not let it reign again in your life. This doesn’t mean that you don’t ever sin again. That is virtually impossible for us who still live in this world. But now, Christ is our Lord and master. By His grace He has saved us. He gives us strength to overcome temptation. We owe everything to Him. We want to do what pleases Him. When we become aware of sin in us, we are sorry for what we have done. Our reaction now will be to confess our sin and repent. God has promised to forgive our sins when we humbly confess our sins (1 John 1:9).
“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.” Don’t give yourself to sin to do unrighteousness. Instead, give yourself to God to do the righteous things that He wants you to do. The members of our bodies can be used for unrighteousness or righteousness. Our mouths can speak lies and curses or they can be used to speak truth and blessings. Our hands can be used for harm and evil or they can be used to help and serve others. Remind yourself again who you have chosen to be your lord and master. Is it sin or is it God and Christ Jesus?
“For sin shall not have dominion over you.” If you are a servant of God, sin shall not have dominion over you to rule you. “For you are not under law but under grace.” The law did not touch the heart. One could attempt to follow the law for fear of penalty and be somewhat successful. But the law incited the desire to rebel against the rules. The heart could be far from God. When you experience God’s grace, it should touch your heart and cause you to love God and desire to please Him and to let Him be your Lord because you want Him to lead you in your life.
I encourage you to see yourself as dead to sin and that you no longer live in sin. Now see Christ as the Lord of your life.