Paul wrote in chapter 5 that “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Romans 5.20).
In Romans 6.1 he asked, “What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound?”
The German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a book called The Cost of Discipleship. In it, he discussed the concept of “cheap grace,” which refers to the idea of accepting God’s grace while continuing to live a life disconnected from God, marked by rebellion and sin.
It seems that Paul’s question is not just hypothetical. Many people believe they are living as friends of God, yet they continue to act as rebels within His kingdom.
He answered both the question and human behavior: “By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it?” (Romans 6.2).
There’s an old preacher joke that talks about many Baptist preacher sermons being against those who drink, smoke, cuss, chew, and go with those who do. The response to that joke is, that if you go by any graveyard, you’ll find out that all those people follow that command.
Paul made it clear that those who have died have died to sin. The real question is: have we experienced a spiritual death that has set us free from the power of sin?
Baptism – Death and Resurrection
Paul used two images to illustrate the death and resurrection of those who follow Christ. The first image relates to baptism.
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his (Romans 6.3-5).
Baptism symbolizes what happens within the human heart. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, God’s Spirit enters our lives and transforms us. We can then say that we are dead to sin and alive in Christ.
Bible scholars often talk about the “already-but-not-yet” aspect of Jesus’ work in the human heart. We are already free from the power of sin, but we have not yet been fully delivered.
A time will come when God will completely transform our inner condition. For now, we know we are free, but we still wrestle with the power of sin.
Crucifixion and Resurrection
By the power of God, when Jesus was crucified, all who entrusted their lives to Him were, in a sense, crucified with Him. This enables us to be dead with Christ and alive to God.
We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin.
For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.
The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6.6-11).
Verse 11 is the key point of application for Christians. We are to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Jesus. The question is, how do we do this?
Dallas Willard uses the acronym V-I-M to explain how we reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to Christ.
- V stands for vision: We read the Gospels and observe how Jesus lived and thought.
- I is for intention: We make a deliberate choice to do something about our lives, deciding to imitate Jesus.
- M stands for means: We utilize various practices like prayer, Bible study, worship, solitude, fasting, and more to help us live a life modeled after Jesus.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross and I discussed this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
Real Voices 