Romans 6:1-8
Rom 6:1 (KJV)
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Based upon what Paul has been teaching in the prior chapter, he now states the
big question. Should we continue to sin so that we can show Grace as abounding
greater than sin? The word “continue” in the Greek carries with it the meaning
of “continuing or persisting.” The word “abound” in the Greek carries with it
the meaning of “exceeding or having more than enough.” In other words, do we
exhibit the Grace of God in our lives through the commission of sin? Of course,
that is not how the Grace of God is manifest in the life of the believer. The
Grace of God is manifest in the life of a believer by the avoidance of sin and
the living of a holy life which is commensurate with the true Christian walk. We
must never believe that the commission of sin will ever be a testimony to the
abounding Grace of God.
Rom 6:2 (KJV)
God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
The Grace of God does not propel us to commit sin, rather it makes us dead to
sin. As a Christian, I should have no desire to engage in the things that God
saved me from. If He saved me from being a drunk, then to continue drinking does
not show the Grace of God in my life instead it shows that the Grace of God is
absent in my life and I am still in my sin, subject to eternal damnation.
(Gal 6:14 KJV) But God forbid that I should glory,
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto
me, and I unto the world. Notice the principle of
dying to sin is given in plain detail in this verse. Paul is crucified to the
world and the world is crucified unto him. He is telling us that he is dead to
the things of the world and the pull of the world, which draws billions to sin,
no longer has the magnetic effect it once had simply because he is dead to the
world and he sees the world as dead to the Christian because the world system
holds only temptation and sin for the believer.
Rom 6:3 (KJV)
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were
baptized into his death?
Now this is not speaking of water baptism but the fact that we are baptized into
Christ through the spiritual rebirth. That baptism into Christ affects us by
giving us a death to the things of the world. We read that we were baptized into
His death. When Christ went to the cross, He died for the sins of His Elect but
He also showed us that He died to the things of the world. This thought is
carried from verse 2 concerning the death of the believer to the things which
oppose true Christianity. The baptizing that we receive is a uniting of the
believer into Christ and into the death of the magnetism and performance of sin.
Rom 6:4 (KJV)
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ
was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should
walk in newness of life.
When the believer was baptized into the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, we were
also buried with Him. The word “buried” in the Greek carries with it the meaning
of “being buried together” or “be buried with someone.” The believer has not
only died to sin but with that death came the burial of all the sins they
committed. As a dead body is removed and buried out of the sight of living
people, so the transgressions of the believer are also removed and buried.
(Psa 103:12 KJV) As far as the east is from
the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
Our sins were removed as far as the east is from the west and that is why we
were buried with Christ. He took all of our sins on Himself and when He arose
from the dead on that Sunday morning, since we were buried with Him, we too also
rose on that resurrection Sunday. We did not rise to live in sin again but we
arose to live in newness of life. This means we do not revert to the old life
from which we were killed, buried, and resurrected from. Living a life of sin
does not bring any glory to the Father but living the Christian walk in holiness
brings glory to God because it shows the world His salvation is true.
Rom 6:5 (KJV)
For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we
shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
The word “planted” in this verse carries with it the meaning of “being united.”
As we saw in verse 4, we were buried together with Christ and this verse
emphasizes the fact that we also are a copy of His death, which means that we
are dead to the world of sin which caused the Lord Jesus Christ to go to the
cross to pay for the sins of His Elect. The death of the Lord Jesus is copied in
the life of every believer as that believer becomes dead to the things of the
world. Not only is the death of Christ copied in every believer but when we
receive our resurrected souls at the point of salvation, we receive a copy of
the Lord’s resurrection which will ultimately be seen on the last day. We die to
sin and we are buried but we are resurrected to that newness of life which is
dead to sin.
Rom 6:6 (KJV)
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of
sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Paul now states that since we know that our body of sin was crucified and buried
with the Lord Jesus Christ, we no longer serve sin the way we did before we
became saved. The word “destroyed” in the Greek carries with it the meaning of
“abolish or cease” and even carries a meaning of “nullify.” Sin and its power
are nullified in the life of the believer. When we were unsaved we served sin
because we were under the power of Satan and serving sin was a natural part of
our life. When we became a Christian, we were made dead to sin and therefore sin
was no longer our master.
Rom 6:7 (KJV)
For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Paul now gives a short summation of the past few verses. Those who are dead to
sin are freed from the power of sin. Sin no longer has the same authority as it
once did in our old life. A physically dead servant can no longer serve his
master and those who are dead to sin, through Christ, no longer serve the master
of sin, but we serve Christ. (Col 3:24 KJV)
Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye
serve the Lord Christ.
Rom 6:8 (KJV)
Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with
him:
When the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead, that ended the reign which death
had over the body of Christ. As Christ was physically raised from the dead, so
will all the true believers be raised who died or will die before the return of
the Lord on the last day. We also see this verse as saying that since we are
dead to the world system and Satan’s authority, we now live in spiritual concert
with the Lord Jesus Christ because of salvation.