Written ~ 07-18-2024
Read Romans Chapter Six
Romans 6
For our study today, let’s take a small jump back to Romans 5:12-21. In those verses Paul shares with us the contrast between the very first man, Adam and the Son of Man, Jesus Christ. I think it’s a good passage to include in our study today as we dive into chapter six.
Romans 5:12…
12 “When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.”
The story begins all the way back in Genesis Chapter Three. The serpent, Satan, deceived Eve into eating the fruit from the Tree which God had commanded them not to eat from, some would like to say that it was Eve who sinned first… But in actuality it was Adam. Eve was deceived, but it was Adam who deliberately sinned by taking the fruit he knew was off limits. And by his actions sin entered into the world. Genesis 3:6 says, “The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.” The serpent, in all his shrewdness convinces the woman that whatever the Lord had told them about eating the fruit from this particular tree wasn’t really true. It’s the devil’s nature to cloud our judgement, to make wrong seem right and to turn our eyes from the truth. But it wasn’t until Adam took a bite of that fruit did everything change. Look at verse 3:7, “At that moment their eyes were opened. And they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness…” What moment? The moment Adam took a bite of the fruit. It was in that moment their relationship with Elohim, God, the Creator of all things, was changed. Because of the deliberate sin of Adam, sin entered the world and the curse of death was brought to all people.
Genesis 3:16-19…
16 Then He said to the woman,
“I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy,
and in pain you will give birth.
And you will desire to control your husband,
but he will rule over you.”
17 And to the man He said,
“Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree
whose fruit I commanded you not to eat,
the ground is cursed because of you.
All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.
18 It will grow thorns and thistles for you,
though you will eat of its grains.
19 By the sweat of your brow
will you have food to eat
until you return to the ground
from which you were made.
For you were made from dust,
and to dust you will return.”
Romans 5:15-17…
15 “But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. 16 And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.”
If our Lord Jesus Christ had not come to earth and died for our sins, then rose from the grave we would have been condemned to eternal death because of the sin of Adam and the curse that it held over us. But that’s not how God left things. He sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ to bring redemption to all who believe in His Name.
Romans 5:18-19…
18 “Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. 19 Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.”
You and I have been given this gift. The gift of Salvation. The gift of Eternal Life. Had God not given His Son we would not have the hope that we now experience by accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
Romans 5:21…
21 “So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
When we accept the gift of God’s grace and step out of our sinful nature and into a new life in Jesus, everything changes. We should no longer live in the sin that once controlled our hearts and minds, instead the Holy Spirit transforms the darkness of our hearts into something bright and clean, with a light that shines the image of Christ.
So as we look at the next chapter, Romans 6, we are going to see the constant struggle we can have with sin. Paul is going to keep us on track with a powerful message. But first, it says in Romans 5:20, “God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant.”
Romans 6:1-2…
1 “Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of His wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?”
When blatant sin continues in the heart of a believer, God’s grace covers all of it even when we don’t realize it. Paul is asking here if it’s ok to keep sinning because God’s got us covered whether we clean up our act or not. Paul answers his own question, “…should we keep on sinning…” with, “Of course not!” we need to search our hearts for those things that we don’t want to let go of, when we chose Christ, we died to our sin, and it’s time to get rid of those things that do not line up with the Word of God.
As a new believer, you may have gotten baptized – if you haven’t yet it’s a wonderful testament to your new faith in Christ Jesus and I highly recommend being baptized sooner rather than later. Why? Because of what Paul says next…
Romans 6:3-5…
3 “Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined Him in His death? 4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. 5 Since we have been united with Him in His death, we will also be raised to life as He was.”
So when we have received the gift of Salvation, even though the Grace of God covers all of our sin, that shouldn’t give us free reign to do whatever we want to do. And that’s what Paul is trying to get across in this entire chapter, that even though we live under the Grace of God, we shouldn’t continue living in sin any longer.
Romans 6:6-8…
6 “We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. 8 And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with Him.”
When Christ died and rose again He broke the power of sin and death. Jesus Christ lives for the glory of God! And when we put our faith and trust in Jesus, we too are now living to give glory to the Father. In verse 6:11 it says, “So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.” If you were to be honest with yourself, right now, right at this moment, what sin do you harbor in your heart? What sin do you allow to set up camp in your soul? What sin have you rationalized that its presence isn’t that big of a deal, but it is a constant temptation and you allow your mind to it mull over time and time again? Let’s look at what Paul says about this! Let this SINK IN!
Romans 6:12-14…
12 “Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. 13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. 14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.”
We have new life in Jesus! Sin no longer controls how we think, or the things we say, sin no longer rules over our actions… Romans 6:16… “Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.”
We have a daily choice to live our lives fully on fire for Jesus. Or we can, even under the grace of God, live however we want. But what good does it do to be a Born Again believer and still live under the crushing power of sin? Releasing the chains of sin and death once and for all brings a quality to your life that you just can’t experience without the Lord! Won’t you invite Jesus to be a part of your everything? Would you be ashamed, like Adam and Eve, after doing what God explicitly asked you not to do? If Jesus were to join you in your daily activities, or if He met you within your thoughts…would you be ashamed? God has taken away our shame by giving us a way to Salvation and righteous living.
Romans 6:20-22…
20 “When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. 21 And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. 22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.”
God has given us the Holy Spirit to guide us, He will show us which path leads to holiness. Jesus already paid the price for our sin and therefore crushed the penalty of eternal death. All of us come from a sinful nature and until we step into the light of Jesus, we may not realize that our life without Jesus or our supposed “good life” is enslaved to sin and death. When the illumination of God’s Word pierces an unsaved soul, the results are transformative.
Paul ends this chapter with a verse that is probably well known to many, but the truth of this one statement should not be overlooked. Keep in mind that Paul is writing to Christians, even though we know we have the redemptive power of the Holy Spirit living within us, we can still choose to sin. But the result of sin in our lives only leads to destruction.
Romans 6:23…
23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The wages of sin… this would be the consequence of going against the Word of God. What that looks like is very individual. But hopefully the conviction of the Holy Spirit will lead us back into close fellowship with the Lord, quickly. It should always be our goal to seek the Lord Jesus Christ in everything we do.
My suggestion… if any one of us feels we are trapped in a cycle of sinful behavior, reading this chapter over and over may help remind us that we are longer slaves to sin. It might just be what helps us reach out for Salvation or in the case of the believer to seek repentance for those unrelenting sins and give yourself over to righteous living, once and for all.
Remember what verse 6:13 said…
“…do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God…”
Also keep in mind what verse 6:11 says…
“…you should also consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus…”
You were once dead in your sin, but now you are ALIVE!
~AMEN~