We’re No Longer Ruled by Sin, but Under the Reign of Go

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We’re No Longer Ruled by Sin, but Under the Reign of Go

Romans 6:1-14

Mari Ikeda

Today we will be reading the first half of chapter 6 in the Book of Romans. The first half and the second half of chapter 6 and the first half of chapter 7 are all speaking of a same content but from three different angles, which may give us an impression of it as a little persistent. The reason for this persistence is that Paul, who wrote this letter, was often misunderstood by both the Jew and the Gentile and that he needed to clear up the misunderstanding. We are not unrelated to them for misunderstanding Paul. Let’s read little by little. First, verse 1-2.

A. We remain in sin (1-2)

1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?.

Verse 1 is the question that responds to 5:20, which we read last time, and it says, “Where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” It is indeed a pointless argument, claiming that if grace increases where sin increases, we can sin more so that grace may increase. It’s pointless, but some churches of Paul’s time, such as the church in Corinth, apparently used this argument to justify their immoral life. They were defiant, thinking that if one is saved not by action but by faith alone, they could do anything as long as they had faith.

Although we may not go to that extreme to think that we can do anything if only we had faith, we may become similarly defiant, thinking that we don’t need to change at all as far as we have faith. It is true that we don’t have to change ourselves by our own strength, because it is only by grace that we can be transformed. However, there is a big difference whether or not we acknowledge we need to change. If we don’t acknowledge we need to change as we are already forgiven of our sin, our faith will become just an excuse convenient to ourselves. Accordingly, we will blame others and even God, while we don’t admit our mistakes.

Paul strongly denies this way of thinking. He says that it is impossible for us to remain in sin without any change, as we have already died to sin. Let’s continue to read the text and see what it means. Verse 3-7.

B. Jesus made us new

1. The old “us” died with Jesus (3-7)

Jesus died on the cross to free us from sin. To explain it, Paul uses various ways of saying here.

In verse 6 he says, “Our old self was crucified with Christ.” It means that our old self living in sin died with Jesus on the cross. We are no longer slaves to sin, but instead given the freedom to live in God’s love.

Back in verse 3-4, baptism is talked about. In baptism, we make a motion of sinking in water once and rising up, which signifies that we are with Jesus in His death and resurrection. Although baptism as an action by itself has no power to transform us, it signifies that our old self dies with Jesus so that we are given a new life just as Jesus rose from death.

However, I wonder how many of us can really feel this freedom and new life. We may understand in our mind that our old self has died and that sin no longer controls us, but it is still difficult to feel it in our daily life. It’s because the power of sin still has some influence to us while it can no longer control us. Therefore, we forget God, make ourselves our god, and make other people suffer, even after we decide to believe in Jesus. In that way, our sinful nature has not disappeared. But Paul says that is still ok. Let’s move on to verse 8-11.

3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin — 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

Jesus died on the cross to free us from sin. To explain it, Paul uses various ways of saying here.

2. New life is ours even if it doesn’t feel like reality (8-11)

8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

What is the most important here is the verb “count” in the last verse. This word can be translated also as “consider” or “recognize.” So, if we read verse 11 again, it goes, “In the same way, consider / recognize yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Therefore, it is not an affirmation saying we ARE dead to sin.

This choice of word happens because Paul knew that our sinful nature would not completely disappear. While we believe our old self has died and we are dead to sin, we need to keep facing our sinful nature as long as we live. It’s because our complete release from sin has not been realized yet, although Jesus did set us free from sin. We have to wait until the time when our physical body dies or when Jesus returns to this world before we can be completely set free from sin.

Yet, our new life without being ruled by sin is indeed given to us and it is beginning in us already. The resurrected life of Jesus that is talked about in verse 8-10 is the life taking our new life in advance. Since we were raised from the dead, we cannot die again. It means that the life to live in God’s love is eternal, and it continues eternally even after our physical death. Now, let’s read our last verses today, verse 12-14, and see what it specifically means to live a new life.

C. We are no longer slaves to sin, but servants of God (12-14)

12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

This part sounds very moralistic at first glance as if it’s exhorting us to an ascetic life, but that’s not the case. In these verses, Paul does NOT say that we should no longer sin. The first half of verse 14 says, “Sin shall no longer be your master.” (English translation is easier to understand than Japanese translation for this verse.) It means that Paul is telling us to recall that our master is no longer sin but God. In other words, we are no longer ruled by sin but under the reign of God. This is the fact that will never be shaken again, even if we forget it and make mistakes. Therefore, here, Paul is NOT warning us against committing a sin, but rather he is cheering us up, for sin can no longer control us even though we cannot avoid sin.

In verse 12 it is said, “Do not obey the evil desires of your mortal body.” The desires of our body includes all kinds of our self-centered desires. Unfortunately these desires will not vanish away as long as we live physically, but we have a choice to decide whether we obey them. Only if we have the desire to obey God, God will protect and guide our minds by His Holy Spirit.

Verse 13 says, “Offer every part of yourself to God as an instrument of righteousness.” “Every part of yourself” is the phrase to emphasize our existence as a physical being living in this world. While our sinful nature remains as long as we live in this world physically, we are given this physical body for the purpose of working as an instrument of God in this world. Indeed, our new life means to serve God with all we have as long as we live physically.

The first question today was, “Shall we need to do nothing, since we are already released from sin?” The answer is, “We need to keep making the decision to love God more than ourselves.” We have the nature to go back to the state of slave to sin, even after we are freed from sin. In order to combat it, what we need is to love God more than anyone else and to become His servant.

Do we love God more than anyone else? Are we not swayed by our own desires and other people’s desires? Although we still sometimes get disappointed at ourselves and sometimes hurt by others, we know the One to seek and obey. Let’s put our hope in Jesus’s love to control us and transform us, and to transform this world through us.

(Prayer) Dear God, Creator of us and this world, you know that we are weak and fallible. Help us not chase things that are empty, but help us seek your love and hope that are unshakable. Pour out your Spirit on us. Jesus, by your cross, we can die to our old self. We look forward to a life we live with you eternally beyond our physical death. Please guide our daily walk. Our Lord Jesus, we give you thanks to your great sacrifice and love, and pray this in your name. Amen.

Summary

Because Jesus died on the cross to free us from sin, sin and death no longer have power over us. We struggle to own this reality and feel as though we’re still struggling in sin, but in truth, we are no longer controlled by sin. God is the one who controls our lives and we have been given new life as a friend who abides in him.

For Discussion

1) What is the meaning of baptism in verses 3-4?
2) Is there anything we can do to free ourselves from sin?