Thus consider yourselves also to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:11 WEB    

Paul begins chapter six of his letter to the Romans with two questions. He asks in Romans 6:1, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?  WEB” Of course, Paul answers that Christians should no longer engage in sinful acts. Instead, Paul teaches followers of Christ to see themselves as dead to sin. Baptized into the death of Christ on the cross, Christians die to the flesh and experience rebirth in the Spirit of God. 

Dead to sin, Christians experience new life in Christ free from the oppression of sin, guilt, and shame. United with Christ, sin and death no longer have any power over us. Jesus overcame sin on the cross. Baptized into his death, we share in Christ’s victory over sin. As Christ rose from the grave, he defeated death. Spiritually reborn in Christ and dead to sin, Christians receive eternal life free from the condemnation of sin. 

God’s Grace 

Having received God’s grace, what is a Christian’s relationship to sin and righteousness? Paul writes in Romans 6:12-14, “Therefore don’t let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. Also, do not present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace. WEB”

Finally, Paul poses and answers another rhetorical question in Romans 6:15 saying, “What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under law, but under grace? May it never be! WEB” Dead to sin and alive eternally in Christ, a Christian lives by the word of God. We live in obedience to the will of God.

Yesterday’s Devotional: The Wilderness