Romans Chapter 6

And so we come to chapter six in our journey through Romans. And for those of you who are finding it a bit of a hard slog I would say two things. Firstly at one point St Peter said of St Paul “Just as our brother Paul wrote to you from the wisdom given him there are some things in there which are difficult to understand as there are with the other scriptures”  So do not berate yourselves if you find some of Paul difficult as I do. And if you think we are going on too long please go and have a look at the sermons of Martyn Lloyd-Jones a welsh evangelist who preached verse by verse through Romans from 1955 to 1968. A total of 366 sermons.

One of the things that makes St Paul difficult, and this is partly a problem of the translation from the Greek, is that he uses the same word in different ways. In Romans he talks a lot about Sin and Law. He mentions the word Sin no less than 18 times in this chapter alone.

When he talks about the law he is sometimes referring to Pentateuch or Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament. Sometimes he is talking about the whole Old Testament.

Sometimes the word is used to mean a principle. So Paul can write of the “law of faith”. We can also find within Romans reference to “the law of God” in general, which he often contrast to the law of man. We can see this distinction most clearly in a passage from Matthew 23 where Jesus says

‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practised You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!

Equally when Paul turns to Sin he uses the word in different ways. In a global context he talks of original sin which makes us all capable of sin as we see in verse 10

The death he died he died to sin once for all.

Which is better explained in John where it says that

He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the SINS OF THE WHOLE WORLD.” (1 John 2:2)

And sometimes he refers to individual sin such as v 15

15 What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!

Where he means that now we are baptised into Christ and therefore have our sins forgiven by the grace of Christ can we still commit individual sins.

And of course he says “by no means” because he knows that if we are fully committed to our Christian lives we should not (not could not) but should not commit sin.

One of the problems is the ways in which Paul uses references to life and death. Remember for him heaven was already here on earth. As it says in Matthew 16

Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

2000 years on we have a different viewpoint. But I think the fundamentals of the whole chapter are caught up in verses 5 to 7

5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For whoever has died is freed from sin

So Paul says we have been united with him in a death like his. So what is a death like his? Part of his death is to show that there is a better future, there is life after death but part of it is to show how we get there. His resurrection is because he lived a sinless life lived for others. A life encapsulated in those last minutes on the cross when he forgives the sinners at his side and says that this day they will be with him in heaven. To be united with him in a death like his as Paul puts it is not to die on a cross but to live as he did and wishes us to. It is to live a life of forgiveness and sacrifice for others.

Lets look at v6

6 We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin.

As I said earlier

He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the SINS OF THE WHOLE WORLD.” (1 John 2:2)

That is to say his sacrifice destroyed the body of sin the concept of original sin and freed everyone from slavery to sin. In Jesus time all men were either free or slaves so this was a clear distinction that would have been well understood. For us this means we now have the freedom to deny sin, we are no longer caught up in the concept of original sin we can choose. So finally we turn to v7.

7 For whoever has died is freed from sin

As Paul says earlier

We have been buried with him by baptism into death.

That is through our baptism or acceptance of Jesus we can take up a life of forgiveness and service that mirrors what he died for.

Our old self has died with Christ and so we have been set free from sin! We are no longer under the reign of sin so we should live our life in accordance to this truth. Paul is once again proving the assurance of our salvation. We may not be free from temptation but Christ’s Holy Spirit dwells within us.

Let us pray!

Lord we ask you to help us accept when we have difficulties
Free us to admit our mistakes
Give us the grace to ask for your help
And the wisdom to accept it

Amen