Grace Reigns in Servants of Righteousness
(Romans 6)
In chapter six, Paul clearly establishes the relationship that the believer has with sin and the conclusion that sin no longer has dominion over the believer and that the believer should not continue in sin. Paul answers the question "Shall we sin?" by asking and answering two similar but different questions:
- Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? (v. 1–14)
- Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? (v. 15–23)
Paul proves by that there is no good reason to sin. There is no scenario where sinning is appropriate or beneficial.
Grace abounds when we walk in the newness of Christ's life (v. 1–14)
Paul teaches that to live in sin if we are dead to sin is impossible. You are either dead to sin or you are alive to sin. When the rescue team checks for vitals, the victim's heart is either pumping blood or his heart has stopped. If we are crucified in Christ, God does not raise again that old carnal man, but God raises us up in newness of life.
The sinner's relationship to sin (v. 1–6)
Paul describes the believers relationship to sin as being "dead" to it.
When are we really saved from sin or dead to it?
Salvation is a complete remedy for the human (body, soul, and spirit). God's plan of salvation does not stop at justification (remedying the believer's relationship to the law), but continues on in sanctification (restoring man's walk with God), which climaxes in perfection (salvation completed). Salvation in the Bible is a word that includes all the redemptive acts and processes of God: predestination, justification, redemption, regeneration, grace, propitiation, imputation, impartation, forgiveness, sanctification, glorification, and perfection. Read Romans 8:29–30.
The New Testament describes Salvation in three tenses: present, past, and future:
| Past | Present | Future |
|---|---|---|
| Have been saved: finished in the past | Are being saved: ongoing process | Shall be saved: to be completed in the future |
| Saved from Sin's Penalty & Guilt: Justified, Forgiven | Saved from Sin's Power: Progressively -> Sanctified, Cleansed | Saved from Sin's Presence: Glorified, Perfected |
| Soul, Body, Spirit | Life, Conversation, Conduct | Completed, Accomplished, Finished |
| 2 Tim. 1:9; Tit. 3:5; Eph. 2:8–9; Luke 7:50; John 5:24; 6:47 | 1 Cor. 1:18 ("being saved"); Phil. 2:12; 2 Cor. 2:15; 1 Cor. 15:2; Eph. 2:5,8; Rom. 6:14; Gal. 2:19,20; 2 Cor. 3:18 | Rom. 5:9; 8:23,24; 13:11; Matt. 10:22 (24:13; Mark 13:13); John 10:9; Rom. 10:13; 1 Cor. 3:15, 5:5; Eph. 1:13,14; 1 Thess. 5:8; Heb. 10:36; 1 Tim. 2:4; 1 Pet. 1:5, 4:18; 1 John 3:2,3; Matt. 25:46; Mark 10:30; Tit. 1:2,3 |
We can find a concise illustration of this in 2 Corinthians 1:10:
2 Corinthians 1:10—Who delivered us [PAST] from so great a death, and doth deliver [PRESENT]: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us [FUTURE];
How do we become dead to sin?
We are: baptized into Christ's death, crucified with Christ, and dead to sin (v. 1–6).
The matter of this death
The believer is "dead to sin" (Rom. 6:2, 11, 7:4, 7:6; Gal. 2:19; Col. 2:20, 3:3).
The meaning of this death
What does it mean to be dead to sin? Or what is the result of being dead to sin? Paul presents to us the picture of death and draws the parallel between Christ's death and resurrection and the spiritual death and resurrection of the believer. Let us consider this parallels of spiritual and physical death:
|We are identified with Christ through His death|| |He died a natural death|We die a spiritual death| |He died FOR the sins of the whole world|We die TO sin| |He died by way of expiation, suffering, satisfying the Holiness of God|We die by way of mortification of the carnal nature, killing the flesh, crucifying the self-life.|
Dead men do not react
Some people say "I am dead to sin," but when difficult times come their flesh cries out. If we are dead then we shouldn't feel anything in regards to the temptation of sin, and we shouldn't react hotly to pressure situations. Dead men don't react and they don't have any feeling.
Dead men do not feed their flesh
A dead man has no need for meat or vegetables. These are sources of sustenance, and a dead man has no life to sustain. The living man eats with the purpose of maintaining life. If we are crucifying the flesh, why would we at the same time fight to keep him alive? Starve that old nature to death, and feed the spirit man.
Dead men do not have life
A man may live a full life filled with drunkenness and all kinds of selfishness and sin, but when he dies, his spirit leaves his body and that body no longer contains life. There rests the same hands that raised the bottle, the same feet that ran quickly to mischief, but now being dead and the spirit gone it is emptied of all evidence of life—good or bad.
Dead men are gone
This death is an end to the believers former relationship to sin. The "old man" is not raised again, but a "new man" is raised in his place. Remember, the main question in this section is, "Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" To understand the language of "death" and "life" that Paul uses, we have to consider what a "binding relationship" is. In our permissive age, it's difficult to conclude that a death must take place for there to be an end to the relationship. Whatever we choose to do with our minds and bodies, there are spiritual laws that govern regardless of our outlook. Two "binding relationships" in the Scripture are:
- Husband and wife (Rom. 7:2; 1 Cor. 7:39)
- The sinner and the law (Rom. 7:4)
This death is an end of the believer's relationship to sin (the old man). Before we were crucified with Christ we were servants (slaves) to sin (Prov. 13:15) and we were dead in sin (Eph. 2:1).
The believer's relationship to sin (v. 6)
We are not the same (Gal. 6:14). We are:
- baptized into Jesus Christ, and therefore are baptized into his death
- buried with him by baptism into death:
- as Christ was raised up from the dead ...so we also should walk in newness of life.
- We have been planted together in the likeness of his death,
- we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
- our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed,
Should we continue in sin? (v. 5, 7–14)
Because we died to sin, we are free from sin (v. 7). Because we died with Christ, we shall live with Him!
Death has no more dominion over Christ (v. 9–10)
We are dead to sin, but alive to God. Death was vanquished and defeated by Christ.
The believer must exercise self-control (v. 11–14)
Being Under Grace is not a license to sin (v. 15–23)
The Story of Grace (v. 15)
The saint is set free from his old master when he is crucified with Christ, but he finds a new master. Lordship of the believer's life belongs to Christ. We are free from sin, but this also means we are bound to righteousness. Sin is the slave trap of Satan, but righteousness is the service of Christ. If ye sin ye are the servants of Satan, and not the servants of God. You cannot serve sin and also be a servant to God.
God's grace is manifested in providing atonement, a covering for sin (the blood of Jesus) (Ephesians 1:7). Grace reigns through righteousness (Romans 5:21). God's grace doesn't help us serve sin, but it enables us to serve God. God's servants are to be sanctified—separated from sin and separated unto God. The grace of God is the divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in the life (Luke 2:40; John 1:14; 1:17; Acts 4:33).
We are either servants to sin or to God (v. 16)
The Christian life is voluntary, but having voluntarily yielded ourselves to God, we are his servants and therefore obligated at servants are to their master.
You were servants to sin, but now are servants of righteousness (v. 17–19)
"Old habits die hard". Having changed our object of servitude from sin and self to God, we must be vigilant in our effort to serve our Master faithfully. We are instructed to do some things:
- Reckon yourself dead to sin, but alive to God (v. 11).
- Let not sin reign in your mortal body (v. 12).
- Yield not your members to sin—not even the smallest member. Do not volunteer the slightest aid to promoting the devil's cause (v. 13).
- Yield yourselves unto God. Sanctify yourself wholly to God (v. 13).
- Remember the shame of sin (v. 21).
What fruit had ye? What is the value of your service? It is the wage you earn. The Christian ought to be ashamed of his old life and service to sin because sin makes a mockery of every man (Eph. 5:12).
Contrasting the results of sin and the results of righteousness (v. 20–23)
| Servants of Sin | Servants of Righteousness |
|---|---|
| Free from righteousness | Free from sin |
| Fruit to be ashamed of | Fruit that Glorifies God, Holiness |
| death | Everlasting life |
| Wages of sin is death | Gift of God is eternal life through: Jesus Christ our LORD. |
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