Articles
A FRESH LOOK AT ROMANS 6
I was raised in the “church of Christ” and obeyed the gospel when I was a teen. Rom. 6:3-4
had been drilled into my mind that we “contact” the blood of Jesus when we are buried with Him
into His death at baptism. I vividly remember as I entered the baptistry that by faith I saw the
water as the blood of Jesus that I was going to trust to wash all my sins away.
I thank God for His providence in allowing me to learn this great truth of the gospel at an
early age. Since that memorable day, I have grown to understand Romans 6 as also powerfully
teaching that when we enter the death of Jesus, we also begin to trust His death as our death to
sin. Paul says in Rom. 6:6, “...knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him that the
body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” Baptism is
God’s way for us by faith to reenact the gospel of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. At
baptism we repent (die to sin), bury the old man of sin into his watery grave and are raised to
walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:3-4). Because we buried the old man of sin into the death of
Jesus, Paul says, “Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in
its lusts.” Instead, we are to reckon (or “count”) ourselves dead to sin (Rom. 6:11-12).
“Dead to sin” does not mean that sin no longer abides in our flesh (read Rom. 7). It also
doesn’t mean that we will no longer commit an occasional sin (1 Jn. 1:8). Paul means that by the
power of God’s grace, those who are in Christ Jesus are no longer “slaves of sin”. We are no
longer under the terrible reign and rule of sin and Satan in our hearts. Christ has set us free from
sin (Rom. 6:18)!
Paul opens this great chapter by asking, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it” (Rom. 6:1)? We were former
“slaves of sin”, but since we came to Jesus, we are now “slaves of righteousness” (Rom. 6:18).
Today, we have a choice to either serve Satan or Christ. Let us never forget, as we make our
choice, that we become slaves to whom we obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of
obedience leading to righteousness (Rom. 6:16).
Ralph Weinhold
Danville (AR) church of Christ
