Verse 1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
The Apostle Paul asks a very good question. The ending of chapter five flows into this first verse in that Paul is clarifying that although grace may abound more than sin, he is not promoting sinning for the purpose of getting more of God’s grace. A paraphrase might be, “Surely you don’t think we are saying that it is OK to continue sinning more and more after conversion so that God’s grace will exist in larger amounts?”
Application: There are churches and congregants today who actually believe that it is alright to sin periodically and/or frequently so that God’s grace will continue to be given to the Christian sinner. This is wrong doctrine as the Apostle Paul goes on to explain in the following verses. Remember that grace is undeserved love from the LORD. Forgiveness is undeserved. Remittance is undeserved. Salvation is undeserved. Protection and provision is undeserved. Eternal life is undeserved. God does what He does for those people willing to follow Him because of His great love for mankind. But His expectations are that His people will cease from sin, be obedient to His commandments, and put Him first in their earthly lives. He is to have the priority.
Verse 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
One cannot be saved from sin and then continue in it without consequences. Just as a physically dead man or woman can no longer participate in the things of this life, so a converted Christian believer can no longer participate in the sins of this life.
Verse 3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
This writer has no idea how many people today, calling themselves Christian, are truly baptized into Jesus Christ and into His death. Notice that the preposition, ‘into’, is used which means “expressing movement or action with the result that someone or something becomes enclosed or surrounded by something else”. So to be “into Jesus Christ” means to be enclosed or surrounded by Him so much so that the Christian becomes at one with Jesus Christ through the presence of His Holy Ghost/Spirit. When does this happen? At the time of water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, not in the name of the titles father, son, and holy spirit. Titles are not names. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 So water baptism is both commanded and necessary for the converted man or woman to be at one with Jesus Christ.
Application: Today’s churches, for the most part, do not baptize a new convert immediately after the convert repents and gives his/her life to Jesus Christ. Some people wait years before being obedient to the command to be baptized, and some never do become baptized. Worse yet, some Christians do not think that baptism is anything more than an outward showing that they are now going to follow Jesus. If this was the case, they would have to be wet all the time so that people who did not attend their baptism would see and understand the sign, which is ridiculous of course. They do not understand that the power to follow Jesus Christ is given to them at the time of baptism. They do not understand that to be Christ-like, they need to follow the example of Christ who was baptized by John the Baptist in the River Jordan. They do not understand that to have their sins remitted (paid for in full), they need to be baptized. “Then Peter said unto them, Repent (die with Christ to sin and the old man), and be baptized (buried with/into Christ Jesus) every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission (payment) of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (rise from the waters of baptism as a new creature in Christ).” Acts 2:38 Baptism, remittance of sins, and receiving the Holy Ghost are connected, plain and simple, and baptism is a necessary act in order to be obedient to the LORD and to receive power from on high.
Verse 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
So when a converted believer is baptized, there is an actual spiritual change that takes place. The old man is changed. Actions change. Thinking changes. Desires change. Relationships change. The believer is now in Christ Jesus and He is in the believer, making the believer a Christian or one who is like Christ Jesus. The Christian no longer has a desire to be like he/she was before repentance and baptism. This is the process of the new birth, being resurrected like Jesus Christ was resurrected, and of becoming a new man/woman. If an individual does not demonstrate a changed character after baptism, something is wrong, usually meaning that repentance was not fully entered into and the individual wants to hold on to some of their old sin nature. Absolute repentance is needed or everything following that is futile.
Application: When coming up from the waters of baptism Scripture refers to this as the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection (baptism): on such the second death (physical death) hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years (an indefinite amount of time).” Revelation 20:6 Resurrection from what? From being dead? How are the living dead? “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23 So people walking about on this Earth without Jesus Christ are the walking dead. Their flesh is physically alive, they work and talk and engage in and with the things of this world, but their soul is dead because of sin and their future is eternity in Hell. At the time of water baptism, the converted individual dies to self through sincere repentance, is buried under the water, and is then resurrected the first time spiritually, becoming an heir of eternal life when the physical body dies because physical death has no power over him/her. It is at the specific time of baptism that a converted believer becomes a Christian because the Holy Ghost/Spirit of Jesus Christ enters into them and they are then like Him, resurrected from spiritual death to be alive evermore. The word, “Christian”, means Christ-like. To be like Him, one has to have His Holy Ghost/Spirit dwelling inside. Thus people are baptized into Christ Jesus and become one with Him and He with them. Be aware that churches are full of believers, but not all believers are Christians. It takes more than just believing that Jesus is God and raising the hand in a church service to signify the desire to follow Him. It takes obedience to the Gospel to make a believer a Christian. A believer has to repent (die to self), be baptized (buried), and be resurrected when coming out of the water and filled with the Spirit of Jesus Christ so that he/she can “walk in newness of life” before he/she is a Christian and like Christ.
Jesus Christ was/is God Almighty. So why did the Apostle Paul state that Jesus was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father? Because there was/is a duality of both flesh and spirit. Jesus was/is fully man because of His body of flesh, and fully God because He chose to clothe His Spirit with a body of flesh so that He could walk among mankind. It was His body of flesh that was raised up from the dead by His Spirit. Scripture teaches that God is Spirit and that no one has seen Him. Why? Because He is invisible to mankind. But by forming and inhabiting a body of flesh, mankind could see God, very God. “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the father, he hath declared him.” John 1:18 “Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?” John 14:9
Verse 5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
When a seed is planted in the ground, it is buried in the dirt and it is not yet a recognizable plant. While in the ground it changes form and become something that will bear flowers and fruit. Likewise, believers when baptized are buried in the water like a seed in the ground and resurrected as a Christian who can be recognized by the fruit (love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, goodness, righteousness, and truth) they produce. This first resurrection produces a Christian servant. When the body physically dies, it is planted in the ground like a seed, but it will be resurrected on the last day when Jesus Christ returns to Earth to gather His people and to judge the wickedness of unbelievers, both those living and those who are dead.
Verses 6-7 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Application: When Jesus was crucified, the body that God chose to dwell in died. God is a Spirit and cannot die, so God did not die. Only the body of flesh He inhabited died. And that body of flesh also rose from the grave in a form that was transformed so that He could appear, disappear, walk through walls, ascend into Heaven, and yet could be touched by the Apostle Thomas.
Jesus had/has no sin, yet He took all of the world’s sins upon Himself when on the cross so that the power of sin would be broken, and those who will could/can be free from the bondage of sin which carries with it a physical and spiritual death sentence. Just as a corpse is not required to pay debts earned during life, so the believer who is baptized and filled with the Spirit of Jesus Christ is free from paying for the debt that is attached to the sins of life. Furthermore, with the indwelling of the Holy Ghost/Spirit the believer then has the power to refrain from sin and serve it no more. Because the old nature (old man) is transformed into a new nature that aligns with the LORD, the believer is free from past sins and dead to getting involved with future sins. If someone claiming to be a Christian does not exhibit a changed character and life, there is something very wrong.
Verses 8-10 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: 9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. 10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Jesus Christ who had no sin came to defeat the Devil and to convict the world of sin. He paid the price, death, for the sins of mankind and rose from the death, defeating the power of death once and for all. When the believer dies to self by obeying the command to repent, is baptized in Jesus’ name, and then filled with the Holy Ghost/Spirit, he rises out of the waters of baptism as one resurrected from the dead. Physical death no longer has power over those who are Christians. The promise of eternal life in Heaven is now real, and physical death is no longer feared as it no longer has dominion in the believer’s life.
Application: Just as Jesus is alive and in Heaven, Christians have the assurance that they will live on in Heaven with Him when their physical body dies. However, while on this Earth, after conversion and obedience to the Gospel, Christians have to live out their remaining physical life as unto the LORD. They have to be like Christ, and the Holy Ghost/Spirit gives them the power to do so. There is no going to church on Sunday and living like a devil the rest of the week. Those who do are not true Christians. Plain and simple.
Verses 11-13 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
Application: Sin starts in the mind. Satan and his fallen angels have the ability to put sinful thoughts in the Christian’s mind and this becomes temptation. The world is full of sin and it is impossible for the Christian not to see, hear, or avoid exposure to sin. Television, internet, radio, and magazine racks in stores are just some of the purveyors of sin. But sin does not get a foothold when the Christian’s mind is focused on Jesus and on His Word. Bible study, prayer, gathering with other Christians, and reading this web site all help to keep the true Christian from giving in to the temptation to sin. The Holy Ghost/Spirit will help the Christian not give in to the lusts of the flesh and the pride of life that causes Christians to fall from the Faith. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee” Isaiah 26:3
Verses 14-16 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. 15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. 16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
As already stated, grace is unmerited love. Before Jesus Christ came to this Earth, people were under the Law, the ten commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai. They were also obligated to follow the law of Moses which was all the statutes and rules that Moses implemented while the Hebrew people were sojourning in the wilderness. This was an impossible task. No man or woman ever kept the Law and only Jesus Christ was able to not only be the giver of the Law, but the keeper of the Law. As such, under the New Covenant, people are under the Law of Grace. When converted, people are forgiven of sins because of the Law of Grace. They are given the gift of the Holy Ghost/Spirit because of the Law of Grace. They are heirs of eternal life in Heaven because of the Law of Grace. Sin no longer has power over them. They no longer like and lust after the things of this world but seek to please Jesus Christ by living righteously and serving Him.
Application: The Apostle Paul was dealing with a wrong doctrine in that some people thought that if grace was such a good thing, than sinning more often would lead to God giving them more of His grace. This thinking is still alive and well in some churches today.
17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. 18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. 19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. 20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. 21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. 22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. 23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6)