The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
Romans 5:20-6:7
Last week we came face-to-face with the grace of God. We struggled and strained our human minds to try and grasp the essential truth of the gospel: that God's forgiveness isn't based on what we do or don’t do. It is based on what Christ has done. Now Paul turns to respond to a possible objection to this gospel. If we are forgiven no matter what we do…If God’s grace is big enough to forgive all of our sins…then what’s to stop us from doing whatever we want?! What’s to keep Christians from sinning all the time?
The sad truth is that many of us know people who approach God in this way. (Some of us even do so ourselves.) Have you ever said or thought something like, “Well, I know that God’s going to forgive me so it's okay if I go ahead and do this.” or “I’m never going to be perfect so, I shouldn't try to be.” When we approach sin this way, we’re kind of like a spiritual James Bond. He had a license to kill. We think we have a license to sin. We have our "Get into Heaven Free" card so we can do whatever we want. Right?
Check out Scripture's answer: "By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?" Continuing to live a life of sin is so out of harmony with who we are in Christ that it just doesn’t make any sense. It says that we have “died to sin" and later on we read that "our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been freed from sin." What does all of this mean?
There are at least two ways that sin holds power over us. First, sin holds power over us because it brings death and in so doing it controls our fate (Romans 6:23). Every time and in any form, sowing seeds of sin brings a harvest of pain and death. Second, sin holds power over us because we are addicted to it. We turn to sin because we think it will make us happy or meet our needs, but instead we end up enslaved to a cruel taskmaster.
The above passage of Scripture reminds us that when we became Christians this power that sin had over us was broken in both ways. First, sin doesn’t hold the power of death over us anymore. Paul says that we have already died with Christ. How can our sin bring death upon us if we have already died the death that our sin brings? You can’t kill a person twice. In Christ, we have already paid the penalty for our sin. Second, in Christ we have been set free from slavery to sin. Take it from a man who has been freed from his own addiction to sin, there is freedom in Christ. This doesn’t mean that you will never be tempted. It doesn’t mean that you will never sin again. It means that the sin no longer holds power over you. You are no longer a slave to it.
So now you see why it simply doesn't make any sense for us to continue living in sin. It would be like a butterfly trying to stay in its cocoon. What we have now is so much better than what we had before. So don't take God's amazing grace for granted. Live your life as an offering of gratitude for all He has done for you, and turn any area where sin still holds sway in your life over to Him. He will set you free.
For further reading this week, check out these passages:
- Romans 8: You are not controlled by the sinful nature but by the Spirit.
- Galatians 4:1-20 and Galatians 5: It is for freedom that Christ set you
free!
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