Romans 6–7

The New Life in Christ

6What should we say then? ^eShould we continue in sin so that grace may multiply? ^f2Absolutely not! ^gHow can we who died to sin ^hstill live in it? ³Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized ⁱinto Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ^j4Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, ^kin order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead ^lby the glory of the Father, ^mso we too may walk in a new way ⁿof life. ^o5For if we have been joined with Him in the likeness of His death, ^pwe will certainly also be ^qin the likeness of His resurrection. ⁶For we know that our old self ^rswas crucified with Him ^tin order that sin’s dominion over the body ^umay be abolished, ^vso that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, ⁷since a person who has died ^wis freed ^xfrom sin’s claims. ^y8Now if we died with Christ, ^zwe believe that we will also live with Him, ⁹because we know that Christ, having been raised from the dead, ^awill not die again. Death no longer rules over Him. ^b10For in light of the fact that He died, He died to sin once for all; but in light of the fact that He lives, He lives to God. ¹¹So, you too consider yourselves dead to sin ^cbut alive to God in Christ Jesus. ^d

¹²Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey ^eits desires. ¹³And do not offer any parts ^fof it to sin ^gas weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, ^hand all the parts ⁱof yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness. ¹⁴For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under law ^jbut under grace. ^k

From Slaves of Sin to Slaves of God

¹⁵What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? ^lAbsolutely not! ^m16Don’t you know that if you offer yourselves to someone ⁿas obedient slaves, ^oyou are slaves of that one you obey ^p—either of sin leading to death ^qor of obedience leading to righteousness? ¹⁷But thank God that, although you used to be slaves of sin, ^ryou obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching you were transferred ^sto, ^t18and having been liberated from sin, ^uyou became enslaved to righteousness. ¹⁹I am using a human analogy ^vwbecause of the weakness of your flesh. ^xFor just as you offered the parts ^yof yourselves as slaves to moral impurity, and to greater and greater lawlessness, so now offer them as slaves to righteousness, which results in sanctification. ²⁰For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from allegiance to righteousness. ^za21So what fruit was produced ^bthen from the things you are now ashamed of? ^cFor the end of those things is death. ^d22But now, since you have been liberated from sin and have become enslaved to God, ^eyou have your fruit, which results in sanctification ^fg—and the end is eternal life! ^h23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. ⁱ

An Illustration from Marriage

7Since I am speaking to those who understand law, brothers, ^jare you unaware that the law has authority over someone as long as he lives? ²For example, a married woman is legally bound to her husband while he lives. ^kBut if her husband dies, she is released from the law regarding the husband. ³So then, if she gives herself to another man while her husband is living, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law. Then, if she gives herself to another man, she is not an adulteress.

⁴Therefore, my brothers, you also were put to death ^lin relation to the law ^mthrough the crucified body of the Messiah, ⁿso that you may belong to another—to Him who was raised from the dead—that we may bear fruit for God. ⁵For when we were in the flesh, ^opthe sinful passions operated through the law in every part of us ^qrand bore fruit for death. ⁶But now we have been released from the law, since we have died to what held us, so that we may serve in the new way ^sof the Spirit ^tand not in the old letter of the law.

Sin’s Use of the Law

⁷What should we say then? ^uIs the law sin? Absolutely not! ^vOn the contrary, I would not have known sin if it were not for the law. ^wFor example, I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, Do not covet. ^xy8And sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, ^zproduced in me coveting of every kind. For apart from the law sin is dead. ^a9Once I was alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life ¹⁰and I died. The commandment that was meant for life ^bresulted in death for me. ¹¹For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, ^cand through it killed me. ¹²So then, the law is holy, ^dand the commandment is holy and just and good.

The Problem of Sin in Us

¹³Therefore, did what is good cause my death? ^eAbsolutely not! ^fOn the contrary, sin, in order to be recognized as sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment, sin might become sinful beyond measure. ¹⁴For we know that the law is spiritual, ^gbut I am made out of flesh, ^hsold ⁱinto sin’s power. ^j15For I do not understand what I am doing, ^kbecause I do not practice what I want to do, ^lbut I do what I hate. ¹⁶And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good. ¹⁷So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is sin living in me. ¹⁸For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. ^mFor the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it. ¹⁹For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do. ²⁰Now if I do what I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but it is the sin that lives in me. ²¹So I discover this principle: ^noWhen I want to do what is good, evil is with me. ²²For in my inner self ^pI joyfully agree with God’s law. ^q23But I see a different law in the parts of my body, ^rswaging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body. ^t24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this dying body? ^u25I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! ^vwSo then, with my mind I myself am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh, to the law of sin.