Study Content

Romans chapter 6 begins with a question that naturally arises after Paul’s teaching about grace. If God’s grace increases where sin increases, does that mean believers should continue in sin so that grace may abound? Paul answers this idea immediately and strongly.

He declares that such thinking misunderstands what salvation truly means. When a person believes in Christ, they are spiritually united with Him. Paul uses the imagery of baptism to explain this union. Just as Christ died and was buried, the believer’s old life of sin is considered dead.

Through Christ’s resurrection, believers are also raised into a new life. This new life is not simply an improved version of the old one. It is a completely new identity shaped by the life of Christ within them.

Paul explains that the old self was crucified with Christ so that the body of sin might be destroyed. This means that sin no longer has the authority it once held. Before salvation, sin functioned like a master controlling the life of a person. After salvation, that authority is broken.

However, Paul makes it clear that believers must actively live according to this new identity. They are instructed to reckon themselves dead to sin but alive to God through Jesus Christ. This means recognizing the reality of what Christ has accomplished and choosing to live in alignment with it.

Paul also introduces the idea of presenting oneself to God. Every person ultimately serves a master. Before Christ, people serve sin, which leads to death. After Christ, believers are invited to present themselves to God as instruments of righteousness.

The chapter concludes by explaining that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. Sin always produces destruction, but God offers life as a gift through Christ.

Romans chapter 6 teaches that salvation is not simply forgiveness of sin but freedom from its dominion. Believers are called to live in the reality of their new life in Christ, walking in righteousness rather than returning to the patterns of the old life.