The apostle has been telling us in these opening chapters of Romans that we need to get right with God because ‘there is none righteous, not even one.’ He tells us how God has devised a way by which guilty unrighteous sinners might be made right with God.

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe’ (Rom. 3:22). This is the gift of being justified by faith in Christ. In the words of the Heidelberg Catechism Q. 60; ‘God grants and credits to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner, as if I had been perfectly obedient as Christ was obedient for me. All I need to do is to accept this gift of God with a believing heart.

That was the experience of the thief on the Cross, who at the eleventh hour turned to Jesus with the request: ‘Remember me when you come into your kingdom’. Jesus said to him, ‘Today you will be with me in paradise.’ What a day it was for that man! At 9 am he was out of Christ. At 12 noon he was in Christ. At 12 midnight he was with Christ.

Though the man had never been bap­tised, had never been a church mem­ber, had never done a good deed in his life — yet the Lord showed great grace to a great sinner. The man was justified by faith alone, in Christ alone, not because of anything he did. It was all of grace. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones has written:

There is a sense in which the doctrine of justification by faith only is a dangerous doctrine; dangerous, I mean, in the sense that it can be misunder­stood ... True preaching of the gospel of salvation by grace alone always leads to the possibility of this charge being brought against it. There is no better test as to whether a man is really preaching the NT gospel of salvation than this.

He’s absolutely right. When the doctrine of grace is preached, it is wide open to misunderstanding. It may seem unfair; it may seem we’ve gone soft on sin; it may seem we ignore the value of good works; it may seem we’ve gone soft on God’s law.

It appears there were some in Rome who were abusing this doctrine. They said, ‘Shall we go on sinning, so that grace may increase?’ (Rom. 6:1). They reasoned something like this: ‘This doctrine of grace is a wonderful thing; it’s a license to do whatever we want. It’s a win/win situation: the more we sin, the more grace we get; the more fun we have, the more glory God gets. We can do whatever we like because we are a justified people’ ... It may seem logical and natural — but it was wrong! It was an abuse of grace.

This is no mere ancient heresy. It’s still a live issue — especially in the evangeli­cal churches. There is a carelessness and indifference about holiness of life. There is a wilful disregard for the laws and commands of God. The motto is an abuse of verse 14: ‘you are not under law but under grace;’ which they code as ‘if you are under grace, you can live any way you like’. This results in professing Christians who are practically no different to unbeliev­ers except by being a little bit more religious.

Is this acceptable? The apostle re­plies, ‘By no means! God forbid! It is unthinkable. It should not even be suggested! May it never be’! (v. 2). The subject then that Paul addresses in this chapter is sin in the life of the believer. What should a believer’s relationship to sin be? This is a sub­ject which should be of great concern to every Christian, as we learn what it means to be in Christ and as we long to be more like Christ.

Sinclair Ferguson writes,

Romans 6 is one of the most important chapters in the New Testament. A working knowledge of it is essential. Its teach­ing is as fundamental to the Christian life as it is stretching to the Christian’s mind ... Becoming a Christian involves nothing less than a radical deliver­ance from the dominion of sin.

Let’s plot our way through this chapter by asking some basic questions.

Why Does the Christian no Longer Continue in Sin?⤒🔗

Not because we have turned over a new leaf. Not because we have pulled up our socks. Not because we are trying to follow the example of Jesus. Not because we are trying harder. The real reason is because we died to sin and therefore cannot go on living in it. How can we who are Christians, who have died to sin, still live in it? (v. 2).

Martyn Lloyd Jones says, ‘this is the key statement; the key phrase’ in the chapter.

John Murray calls this,

the fundamen­tal premise of the apostle’s thought in this chapter. Everything that follows is an elaboration of this statement.

James Boice says of this verse:

To understand this statement is to under­stand how to live a holy life. And be­cause it is the key to sanctification, I would go so far as to say that Romans 6:2 is the most important verse in the Bible for believers in evangelical churches to understand today.

Note how in verses 2-8 this thought is repeated no less than six times in seven verses:

We died to sin ... all of us who have been baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into His death ... We were therefore buried with Him through bap­tism into death ... We have been united with Him like this in His death ... our old self was crucified with Him ... We died with Christ.

Note that Paul does not say that we ought to die to sin; nor that we are dy­ing to sin; nor that one day we will die to sin — all of which are true.

What he said is this: ‘we died to sin.’ It’s an aorist tense and refers to a com­pleted past action. It’s not something that we have done — but something that has been done to us.

Why then does the Christian no longer continue to sin? Because he/she has died to sin. The old relationship with sin is over. Just as death severs rela­tionships; so our relationship with sin has been severed.

John Stott writes, ‘A born again Chris­tian should no more think of going back to the old life than an adult to his child­hood; a married man to his bachelor­hood; or a discharged prisoner to his prison cell.’ For the Christian there’s no sinful regression; no return to death; no going back. Why? Because we have died to sin.

What Does it Mean to Have Died to Sin?←⤒🔗

Paul does not mean that we are sinless. Neither does he mean that we no longer feel the attraction of sin and temptation. He is not saying that we are immune to sin. Romans 6:12-13 and chapter 7 knock that idea on the head. No — we can’t (yet) claim sinless perfection. (One man did claim sinless perfection to C. H. Spurgeon on one occasion. Spurgeon said that that man became a perfect pain!)

To understand what it means to have died to sin we need to recall the apos­tle’s teaching in 5: 12ff. Paul presents us with 2 representatives — Adam and Christ. ‘These two men have all other men hanging at their girdle strings’ — to use Goodwin’s illustration. Adam was our failed covenant Head and repre­sentative. So long as he represents us we are sinners and alive to sin (5:12). We are mastered by it, addicted to it and powerless to set ourselves free from it. Then something happened when we trusted Christ. We were transferred from one giant to another. We became members of a different people. We changed position. We changed parties. We changed leaders. We changed representatives. We moved from one dominion to another. We now have a new King and are now living in a new kingdom. ‘Through Je­sus Christ we have been delivered from the kingdom of sin and darkness and translated into the kingdom of grace and light’ (Col. 1:13-14).

A personal illustration may help. Until 1997 I was a citizen and resident of the UK. Since that time I have been a resi­dent in Australia. I must now live under the rules of my new country. I am un­der a new government.

Lloyd Jones uses a helpful illustration about the emancipation of slaves in the USA. The Civil War changed the posi­tion of slaves. All slaves, young and old, were given their freedom; but many of the older ones who had en­dured long years of slavery found it hard to understand their new status. They were free; but many couldn’t take it in. When they saw their old master coming near them they began to quake and tremble and wonder if they were going to be sold. Though they were legally free it took them a long time to understand and appreciate that they were now free from him.

So it is with the Christian. We have been set free. We are no longer citi­zens living under the rule of sin. Sin no longer has dominion over us. Sin is not our employer; not our master; not our king; not our owner... We are now living in ‘Graceland.’ We now obey God; He is now our King and Master and owner and employer. As Christians we do not have two masters. We have one mas­ter. Every Christian has died to one and is alive to the other. This doesn’t mean that we obey Him perfectly — but it does mean that the old master has no dominion over us.

How have we Died to Sin?←⤒🔗

This is critical. Paul introduces us here to the doctrine of union with Christ. (Stuart Olyott remarks that, ‘doctrine is a pretty cold word for something so wonderful!’) What does it mean to be united to Christ?

Not only did Christ die for our sins — but we also died with Christ. Not only was Christ raised for our justification — but we were raised with Him. Because of our union with Christ, God consid­ered Christ’s life, death; resurrection and ascension to be ours (see also Eph. 2:6). Look again at and please read verses 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 of Ro­mans 6. What does it mean that ‘we are baptised into Christ’?

A little excursus in verses 3-5 may be helpful. Most commentators confi­dently tell us that baptism here ‘undoubtedly means water baptism.’ However, not all agree e.g. Lloyd Jones, John Murray and James Boice. I don’t believe that water bap­tism is being described here; and further I believe that it is positively unhelpful, distracting and even mis­leading to think of water baptism in these verses! Why do I say this? Because these verses are not about baptism — but about union with Christ. Let me try and explain:

• The analogy used by ‘total immer­sionists’ does not fit the facts. Jesus was not lowered into and covered by the ground, but laid in a tomb. Total immersion has no analogy to crucifixion.
   
• If water baptism is here referred to — it proves too much — such a baptism would require us to believe in baptis­mal regeneration.
   
• If this is water baptism — it means that those of us who have never been totally immersed have not been united to Christ in His death or resur­rection.
   
• If this is water baptism — Paul here assumes that every Christian has been baptized — which is a very big assumption.
   
• There is the current assumption that baptism always means immersion. This is wrong. Consult any standard Greek lexicon and you will discover it can mean a variety of things e.g. to dip; to wash; to bathe; to cleanse; to sprinkle.
   
• Baptism is also used figuratively — e.g. Mark 10:38-39 (and parallels) and 1 Cor. 10:1-2. Here it is clear that the baptism has nothing to do with water at all. Indeed the only people who were immersed were the Egyptians — and they were all drowned. So, here baptism has the meaning of being ‘identified with’ or ‘united with.’

The point Paul is making here is this: Every Christian is baptised into Christ. The baptism is figurative. Every Christian (whether fully im­mersed in water, sprinkled as a child, or not baptised by water at all) is identified with Christ — is united to Christ when he believes in Him. We are united by virtue of the baptism of the Holy Spirit which EVERY Christian has experienced. That (I believe) is the meaning of baptism being described here.

James Philip writes,

The terms ‘in Adam’ and ‘in Christ’ are statements of fact rather than experience ... We do not feel our union with Adam ... It is simply a fact that we stand in organic union with Him and it is this fact that explains the sinfulness of our lives. In the same way, it is our participation in Christ that ex­plains our new life. This is the truth about us, if we are believers; it is fact, not feeling. Paul does not ask us to feel any mystical sensation; he asks us to recognise a truth about ourselves as believers.

How have we died to sin? We have been united to Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection. We have been given new life. We have left the old world and entered a new one united with Christ.

When did we Die to Sin?←⤒🔗

When did this happen? When did you as a Christian die? When did you rise from the dead? When did all this take place? Some will say, ‘at the moment of my conversion, of course’. When we were justified. The moment we became Christians, we died to sin. We moved out of sin’s territory. This was when it became actual in our experience. We could however take it back further. The Scriptures put it like this. If you are a Christian, it is because God was think­ing about you in love before the founda­tion of the world. (Eph.1:4). ‘In God’s thinking, you and Christ are insepara­ble, and this has been the case for as long as God has been God’ (Olyott).

What are the Implications of this Teaching?←⤒🔗

We are called to believe this teaching and to live in the light of it.

• ‘Count yourselves dead to sin’ (v. 11). This is a present continuous imperative; the first imperative (command) in the epistle! This is the first time in the epis­tle that we are told to do something! We are to, ‘reckon; calculate; consider your­selves dead to sin’. If you are a Chris­tian, this is the truth about you. You need to know this. You need to be sure of who you are! We are dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ‘None of us will ever be the people we should be until we get hold of this in our heads’ (Olyott).
   
• ‘Let not sin reign in your mortal bod­ies’ (v. 12). When Satan tempts we say, ‘Get behind me Satan; you are not my Master! I have left your kingdom. You are not my master. I now live under another King. You have no jurisdiction over me’!
   
• Present yourselves to God (v. 13). What am I going to do with my body? What am I going to listen to? What am I going to look at? What am I going to do with my hands? What am I going to say with my tongue? Where am I going to go? Who am I going to walk with?

Answer: I am going to offer all that I am — my eyes, my ears, my hands, my tongue, and my feet — to my Lord Je­sus Christ. For sin shall not have do­minion over me.

The believer’s response should be:

Take my life and let it be conse­crated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my mo­ments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.
Take my voice, and let me sing always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be filled with messages from Thee.
Take my love, my Lord, I pour at thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee. Frances R. Havergal, 1874