Romans Chapter 6
Made Safe for Grace
A. The believer under grace and the problem of habitual sin.
Romans 6:1 – “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?”
Paul begins this section with a sharp rhetorical question. After teaching that “where sin abounded, grace abounded much more” in Romans 5:20, he anticipates a possible abuse of that truth. Someone might wrongly conclude that if God’s grace increases when sin increases, then the Christian should sin all the more so that God’s grace may be magnified. This twisted reasoning takes a glorious truth of God’s grace and turns it into a license for immorality.
The question, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” addresses the issue of living in habitual sin. The verb tense indicates a continual lifestyle of sin, not a single act. Paul is speaking about someone who chooses to remain in a pattern of rebellion while attempting to excuse it under the banner of grace.
Some, both in Paul’s day and throughout church history, have embraced such perversions of the gospel. For example, in the early twentieth century, the Russian mystic Gregory Rasputin taught that salvation came through repeated cycles of sin and repentance. He argued that since those who sin most require the most forgiveness, the greater the sin, the greater the grace received. Therefore, he lived in notorious wickedness, claiming it brought him closer to salvation. Rasputin’s heretical view is simply an extreme form of the very objection Paul anticipates here.
In a less extreme sense, the same temptation confronts every believer: is the gospel of grace “safe”? If salvation is entirely the work of God’s grace apart from human works, what will keep people from abusing that grace and living however they please? Some suppose that if our position before God is secure in Christ, then the motivation for holy living disappears. From a human perspective, grace appears dangerous. Legalism, with its rules and threats, seems to provide more control over people’s behavior. Many religious systems reject pure grace for this very reason, choosing instead to bind people under laws and rituals out of fear that grace will be abused.
Yet, grace is not given to encourage sin, but to free us from its power. The idea that grace leads to more sin is a distortion of the gospel. The grace of God does not leave a man in bondage, it transforms him. Titus 2:11–12 declares, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.” Grace is not a permission slip to indulge the flesh, but the divine power that teaches and enables godly living.
Therefore, Paul confronts the false assumption head-on. Grace is never a cloak for wickedness. Jude warned of ungodly men who “turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude 4). Such twisting of God’s mercy is not evidence of understanding grace but of rejecting it.
At the heart of Paul’s question lies the issue of habitual sin. The Christian who has been born again cannot continue in sin as a settled way of life. While believers do stumble and fall, a life that is dominated by sin without repentance reveals an unregenerate heart. First John 3:9 explains, “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.” The meaning here is not that a believer never commits an act of sin, but that he cannot remain in continual, unbroken patterns of rebellion without the Spirit of God convicting and disciplining him.
Thus, Romans 6:1 challenges every believer to examine their response to grace. Do we see grace as permission to sin, or as deliverance from sin? True grace brings us into a new life, and Paul will unfold in the following verses that our union with Christ in His death and resurrection makes it impossible to remain enslaved to the same old life.
A Life of Sin Is Unacceptable
Romans 6:2 – “Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”
Paul answers his own rhetorical question from verse 1 with the strongest possible denial. The phrase “Certainly not!” is emphatic, meaning “Perish the thought!” or “Away with such an idea!” To suggest that grace encourages sin is to completely misunderstand the nature of salvation. For Paul, it is not simply wrong, it is unthinkable.
The reason is given in the second half of the verse: “How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” The new birth brings a decisive break with sin. When a sinner is regenerated by the Spirit of God and placed into Christ, his relationship to sin is permanently changed. Before salvation, Paul describes us as “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). But now, through faith in Christ, we are “dead to sin.” The old man has been crucified with Christ, and thus the believer cannot continue in sin as a settled way of life.
This does not mean that a believer never stumbles or falls into sin. Rather, it means that living in sin is no longer consistent with our identity. Sin no longer defines the believer’s existence. To remain in sin would be like a man lying in a grave after he has been raised from the dead. It is unnatural and unfitting. The very purpose of grace is not to leave us in bondage but to free us from it (Titus 2:11–12).
Baptism as an Illustration of Union with Christ
Romans 6:3–4 – “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
Paul now illustrates this spiritual reality through the imagery of baptism. The phrase “Or do you not know” implies that these are foundational truths that every Christian ought to understand. Baptism is not merely a ritual, but a picture of profound theological truth.
When Paul says, “as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death,” he uses the Greek word baptizō, meaning “to immerse” or “to overwhelm.” In Scripture, baptism is used in different ways. To be baptized in water means to be immersed in water. To be baptized with the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11; Acts 1:5) means to be immersed in the Spirit’s presence and power. To be baptized with suffering (Mark 10:39) means to be immersed in affliction. Here, Paul teaches that the believer is baptized into Christ Himself, immersed in His death and resurrection.
“Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death.” This does not mean that baptism itself accomplishes salvation, but that baptism is the outward picture of what has already taken place spiritually. Going down into the water represents being buried with Christ, while rising out of the water represents being raised with Him in newness of life. The believer is united with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection.
This is why baptism was never treated by Paul as an optional extra, but as the visible confession of the believer’s union with Christ. Yet Paul is clear: baptism itself does not effect regeneration. Without the reality of dying and rising with Christ spiritually, the act of baptism is meaningless. A man could be baptized a thousand times, but if he has not been born again, he remains in his sin.
Paul’s emphasis is on the transformation that occurs: “that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” The resurrection of Christ is not merely an historical event but a living power that transforms believers. Just as Christ’s resurrection was accomplished “by the glory of the Father,” so too the believer’s new life is sustained by that same power. This “newness of life” speaks not only of a future resurrection but of a present reality. The believer has already entered into a new existence, marked by holiness and victory over sin.
Thus, baptism declares publicly that the believer has died with Christ, been buried with Him, and now lives a new life in Him. The old life of sin is over; the new life of grace has begun.
Considering the Implications of Our Death and Resurrection with Christ
Romans 6:5–10 – “For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 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. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.”
Paul begins with the imagery of union. The phrase “united together” carries the idea of being joined as a graft is joined to a tree, where the life of the tree flows into the grafted branch. This close union means that the believer shares in both Christ’s death and His resurrection. As Jesus Himself taught in John 15:4–5, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
Thus, the Christian life is not imitation but participation. Paul longed for this reality when he wrote in Philippians 3:10–11: “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Too many seek the glory of the resurrection without embracing the cross, yet God has ordained both for us.
Paul then states plainly: “our old man was crucified with Him.” The “old man” refers to the person we were in Adam, with a nature bent in rebellion against God. The law could only confront this old man, commanding him to obey but offering no power to change him. Grace, however, does what the law could never do: it crucifies the old man with Christ, putting him to death. As Paul explained elsewhere, “knowing this” is essential (Romans 6:6). We are not asked to feel it or accomplish it, but to believe it as a fact. God Himself has executed the old man at the cross.
In his place, God has created the “new man.” Ephesians 4:24 declares, “and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” Colossians 3:10 adds, “and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.” This new man delights in obedience, longs for holiness, and is empowered by the Spirit.
The purpose of this crucifixion is “that the body of sin might be done away with.” The word Paul uses (katargeō) means “rendered powerless, canceled, or nullified”
Practical Application of Death and Resurrection with Christ
Romans 6:11–12 – “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.”
Paul now moves from principle to practice. Having laid out the theological foundation of our union with Christ in His death and resurrection, he presses upon believers the necessity of living in light of this truth.
“Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin.” The word “reckon” is an accounting term. It means to calculate, to count something as true, to affirm as reality. It does not call the believer to “crucify” the old man—this has already been done through our identification with Christ at the cross. Rather, it calls us to believe God’s declaration, to accept as fact that the old man has been crucified. As the notes explain, this is a present-tense command: keep on reckoning, daily and moment by moment.
Faith reckons what God has accomplished as true, even when our feelings resist.
But Paul does not stop with death. He says, “reckon yourselves to be… alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Death to sin is only half the equation. We are not simply delivered from bondage; we are raised into a new life. Just as Romans 6:4 taught that we now “walk in newness of life,” so verse 11 affirms that the believer lives unto God, alive in Christ Jesus. We are not defined by what we died to, but by the new life in which we now stand.
Paul then applies the truth practically: “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.” This is a command that can only be given to believers. Before salvation, the sinner is free to sin but not free to stop sinning. He is under the tyranny of sin and cannot escape it. But the believer, set free by the crucifixion of the old man and the birth of the new, has a choice. Sin may tempt, but it cannot reign unless we yield to it. As the commentary notes, “the dominion of sin is now your choice. It wasn’t before”
This makes the Christian the only truly free person. The unregenerate man is bound, enslaved, and blind. The regenerate man, indwelt by the Spirit, has been granted both the desire and the power to obey God. The new man instinctively longs to please and honor the Lord, and the believer is called to cooperate with this new nature.
Yet Paul is realistic. Many Christians never experience the freedom Christ purchased. Some, through unbelief, ignorance, or self-reliance, still live as though enslaved. D. L. Moody illustrated this with the story of a freed slave woman after the Civil War who did not know whether she was free. Though Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation, her old master insisted she was not free. She lived in confusion, unsure of her true condition. Many believers are like this—legally free, but practically living as though still bound.
Paul insists that the believer must know his position and reckon it as true. Sin’s reign is broken, Christ’s life is within us, and we must not yield our bodies to sin’s service. As Paul will explain in later verses, our members are to be yielded as instruments of righteousness, not as tools of rebellion.
How to Walk in the Freedom Jesus Has Given Us
Romans 6:13–14 – “And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”
Paul now provides the practical keys for walking in the freedom purchased for us at the cross. Believers have been set free from sin’s dominion, but freedom requires both refusal and surrender—refusal to offer ourselves to sin, and surrender to God.
“And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin.” Paul commands us to stop putting the parts of our body—our eyes, ears, lips, hands, and minds—into the service of sin. The word instruments can also be translated weapons. Every part of our body becomes either a weapon for righteousness or for unrighteousness. David’s hands were once used by God to slay Goliath in righteousness, yet his eyes later became instruments of sin when he gazed upon Bathsheba. The issue is one of allegiance: will we allow our members to be enlisted in the service of rebellion, or consecrate them to the service of the King?
Paul illustrates this truth with the command to “present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead.” This is not a call to neutrality, as though abstaining from sin were enough. The believer must actively present his whole self to God. This recalls the Old Testament priestly consecration, where sacrificial blood was applied to the ear, the thumb, and the toe (Exodus 29:20), signifying that hearing, service, and walk belonged entirely to God. Likewise, the Christian, having been raised with Christ, is obligated to live for Him who gave us new life.
Paul gives the reason for such consecration: “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” Charles Spurgeon noted that these words are a test, a promise, and an encouragement. They test our claim to belong to Christ—if sin continually rules over us without resistance, then we must question whether we have been truly born again. They promise us victory—not that sin is absent, but that it no longer reigns. And they encourage us—sin’s dominion has been broken, and God has set us free to live in holiness.
The contrast between law and grace is critical. The law reveals God’s holy standard, but it cannot deliver us from sin’s power. Grace, however, not only pardons but transforms. Grace reigns through righteousness (Romans 5:21), equipping the believer to walk in freedom. To treat grace as license to sin is to prove one has never truly known grace at all.
Paul’s conclusion is clear: believers are not under law, but under grace. For the Jew in Paul’s day, this was revolutionary. The law was everything—the means of God’s approval and the supposed path to eternal life. But under the New Covenant, grace reigns. This means that the old man is dead, the new man lives, and habitual sin is incompatible with the new life. John affirms this truth: “Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God” (1 John 3:6, 9). This refers not to perfection but to a decisive break with sin as a ruling principle.
Spurgeon described it well: “God has so changed your nature by His grace that when you sin you shall be like a fish on dry land, you shall be out of your element, and long to get into a right state again.” Grace makes sin unnatural for the believer. Just as a butterfly cannot return to crawling as a caterpillar, so the believer cannot make peace with sin once he has been made alive in Christ.
B. The Believer Under Grace and the Problem of Occasional Sin
Romans 6:15 – “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!”
Paul now raises a second question, distinct from the one in Romans 6:1. Earlier he asked if grace encourages a lifestyle of habitual sin; now he anticipates the objection of those who might excuse occasional sin. The reasoning might go like this: if we are not under law but under grace, then surely a little sin here or there will not matter. Since grace abounds, why be concerned about every single failure?
The answer is emphatic: “Certainly not!” Paul uses the same strong denial as before—perish the thought. Grace never excuses sin, whether continual or occasional. The verb tense is significant here. In Romans 6:1, the verb is present subjunctive, implying continuous action—habitual sinning. In Romans 6:15, the verb is aorist subjunctive, pointing to a single act of sin. As Wuest notes, “The verb in verse one is in the present subjunctive, speaking of habitual, continuous action. The verb in verse fifteen is in the aorist subjunctive, referring to a single act.” Even a single act of sin is inconsistent with the freedom of grace.
Romans 6:16–17 – “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.”
Paul lays down a spiritual principle: whatever master you obey, you become its slave. If you yield to sin, you are serving sin. If you yield to obedience, you are serving righteousness. There is no neutral ground. Every person serves a master—whether sin or God. As Jesus Himself said in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” The same principle applies to sin and obedience. One way or another, we will serve somebody.
Paul then reminds the believer of his past and his present: “But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.” The slavery to sin is past tense. Through faith, we have been set free. Notice how Paul describes faith—it is “obedience from the heart.” Genuine faith is never a cold intellectual assent, but a heartfelt trust that leads to action. When the heart believes, the will obeys.
Paul also uses a vivid picture in the phrase “that form of doctrine.” The word “form” (typos) refers to a mold into which molten metal is poured. Just as metal is melted, poured, and shaped into a mold, so the believer has been melted by the conviction of the Spirit and the preaching of the Word, then poured into the mold of God’s truth. The result is conformity to Christ’s image. As Adam Clarke explains, “Christianity is represented under the notion of a mould, or die, into which they were cast, and from which they took the impression of its excellence.” The believer has received the stamp of God’s righteousness and holiness through the gospel.
This truth highlights a crucial reality: faith is not mere intellectual belief, but a transformative power. When God saves, He reshapes. When He delivers, He also conforms. Thus, Paul’s exhortation is simple yet profound: be what you are. You are no longer slaves of sin—do not live like prisoners. You have been stamped with God’s truth—live consistent with that new imprint.
Why Not Occasionally Sin? Because Sin Is Not Our Master
Romans 6:18 – “And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”
Paul gives a simple yet profound answer to the question of occasional sin. Why should we not sin “here and there”? Because sin is no longer our master. The believer has changed allegiance. The chains have been broken, and now a new Master has taken ownership—righteousness itself.
“Having been set free from sin.” This describes a decisive liberation. Before salvation, every man and woman is born in bondage to sin. Jesus Himself said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin” (John 8:34). In our unregenerate state, sin dictated our choices, our desires, and our destiny. But when we were united with Christ in His death and resurrection, the grip of sin was broken. We are no longer under its authority. To say that a Christian must sin is to deny the sufficiency of Christ’s work on the cross.
Freedom, however, does not mean independence. The believer has not been set free to live for self, but set free to live for God. Thus Paul continues: “you became slaves of righteousness.” The imagery of slavery here is intentional. Just as sin once held total dominion over us, now righteousness claims that same place of authority. The Christian is not merely an employee who can choose whether to serve; he is a bondservant whose life is bound to his Master’s will.
Kenneth Wuest describes the word for “slave” in this passage as:
One born into a condition of slavery.
One whose will is swallowed up in the will of another.
One who is bound to the master with bonds that only death can break.
One who serves his master to the disregard of his own interests.
This was once true of us under sin:
We were born into slavery to sin (Psalm 51:5).
Our will was consumed by sinful impulses (Romans 8:7–8).
Only death—our co-crucifixion with Christ—could break those chains.
We served sin to our own destruction, even when we knew its wages were death.
But now, in Christ, the reverse is gloriously true:
We are born again into slavery to righteousness (John 3:3).
Our will is absorbed in God’s will, echoing Jesus’ words, “Not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42).
We are bound to Christ with eternal bonds that even death cannot sever (Romans 8:38–39).
We serve Him gladly, even at the cost of our own interests, because His will has become our joy.
This transformation means that the believer never has to sin again. First John 1:8 warns, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” We still fall because of weakness and the presence of the flesh, but sin is no longer inevitable. God has designed no system in which His children must sin. Each temptation can be resisted in the power of Christ. First Corinthians 10:13 affirms this: “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”
As Wuest explains, “Because of the frailty of man, the Christian at infrequent intervals does yield to the evil nature and sin. But the point is, God has so constituted him, that he need not do so.” The believer is no longer compelled by sin’s power; when we fall, it is by choice, not necessity.
This is why Paul insists on the imagery of slavery. It would be mockery to say to a literal slave, “Do not act like a slave.” But it makes perfect sense to say this to one who has been set free. Christ does not command the impossible; He commands us to live in the freedom He has already purchased. To go back to sin, even occasionally, is to act as though we were still under the whip of the old master. But sin no longer has that authority. We belong to a new Master—righteousness in Christ Jesus.
How to Keep from Enslaving Ourselves
Romans 6:19–23 – “I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Paul continues his teaching by acknowledging the limits of human illustration: “I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh.” He apologizes for using the image of slavery, knowing how degrading it was in Roman society, but it remains one of the most fitting analogies for spiritual bondage and service. Slavery illustrates total ownership and allegiance—first under sin, now under God.
He then calls for action: “For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.” The key word is present. Just as the unbeliever willingly offered his body, mind, and will to impurity, so now the believer must consciously yield them to God for righteousness. Paul’s picture is powerful: once you’ve changed masters, it makes no sense to show up for work at the old employer. To continue obeying sin after being set free by Christ is as absurd as taking orders from a boss you no longer serve.
Paul explains a principle that works both for sin and for righteousness: “lawlessness leading to more lawlessness” versus “righteousness for holiness.” Habits compound over time. Sin builds deeper roots, making escape more difficult, while obedience produces growth in holiness. This is why Paul warns against even occasional compromise: every act strengthens a pattern, and every pattern solidifies into character. The example of four trees—planted at one year, five years, ten years, and fifteen years—shows that the longer something grows, the harder it is to uproot. So it is with sin or holiness.
Paul reminds his readers of the futility of their former life: “For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.” The statement drips with irony. The only “freedom” sin ever provided was freedom from righteousness—freedom from doing what is right. Such “freedom” is nothing more than bondage disguised.
He presses the point further: “What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.” Sin bears fruit, but it is rotten fruit that always ends in death. The momentary pleasure it promises fades, leaving guilt, shame, and destruction in its wake. Faith is required to remember this in the moment of temptation, for feelings often forget what God’s Word declares: the end of sin is always death.
In contrast, Paul celebrates the fruit of grace: “But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.” The believer has been transferred from the old master to the new. Slavery to God does not produce shame but holiness, and its ultimate fruit is everlasting life. Holiness now is the evidence, and eternal life is the reward of this new allegiance.
Paul concludes this section with one of the most succinct summaries of the gospel: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The contrast could not be sharper. Sin pays wages—earned, deserved, and inevitable—death in all its dimensions: spiritual separation from God, physical decay, and eternal judgment. God, on the other hand, does not pay wages but gives a gift—eternal life, freely bestowed through Christ Jesus. Adam Clarke observed: “Every sinner earns this by long, sore, and painful service. O! What pains do men take to get to hell! Early and late they toil at sin; and would not Divine justice be in their debt, if it did not pay them their due wages?”
Thus, Paul’s question from verse 15 is answered. Why not dabble in sin occasionally since we are under grace? Because sin still enslaves, still destroys, still pays its wages in death. Grace has given us a new Master, and it is utterly inappropriate to continue working for the old one. To do so is to deny the radical transformation wrought by salvation.
