6What should we say then? Should we keep on sinning so that God’s grace can increase? ²Not at all! As far as sin is concerned, we are dead. So how can we keep on sinning? ³All of us were baptized into Christ Jesus. Don’t you know that we were baptized into his death? ⁴By being baptized, we were buried with Christ into his death. Christ has been raised from the dead by the Father’s glory. And like Christ we also can live a new life.

⁵By being baptized, we have been joined with him in his death. We will certainly also be joined with him in his resurrection. ⁶We know that what we used to be was nailed to the cross with him. That happened so our sinful bodies would lose their power. We are no longer slaves of sin. ⁷Those who have died have been set free from sin.

⁸We died with Christ. So we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹We know that Christ was raised from the dead and will never die again. Death doesn’t control him anymore. ¹⁰When he died, he died once and for all time as far as sin is concerned. Now that he lives, he lives as far as God is concerned.

¹¹In the same way, consider yourselves to be dead as far as sin is concerned. Now that you believe in Christ Jesus, consider yourselves to be alive as far as God is concerned.

¹²So don’t let sin rule your body, which is going to die. Don’t obey its evil longings. ¹³Don’t give the parts of your body to serve sin. Don’t let them be used to do evil. Instead, give yourselves to God. You have been brought from death to life. Give the parts of your body to him to do what is right.

¹⁴Sin will not be your master. Law does not rule you. God’s grace has set you free.

Slaves to Right Living

¹⁵What should we say then? Should we sin because we are not ruled by law but by God’s grace? Not at all!

¹⁶Don’t you know that when you give yourselves to obey someone you become that person’s slave? You can be slaves of sin. Then you will die. Or you can be slaves who obey God. Then you will live a godly life. ¹⁷You used to be slaves of sin. But thank God that with your whole heart you obeyed the teachings you were given! ¹⁸You have been set free from sin. You have become slaves to right living.

¹⁹Because you are human, you find this hard to understand. So I have said it in a way that will help you understand it. You used to give the parts of your body to be slaves to unclean living. You were becoming more and more evil. Now give your bodies to be slaves to right living. Then you will become holy.

²⁰Once you were slaves of sin. At that time right living did not control you. ²¹What benefit did you gain from doing the things you are now ashamed of? Those things lead to death!

²²You have been set free from sin. God has made you his slaves. The benefit you gain leads to holy living. And the end result is eternal life. ²³When you sin, the pay you get is death. But God gives you the gift of eternal life because of what Christ Jesus our Lord has done.

An Example From Marriage

7Brothers and sisters, I am speaking to you who know the law. Don’t you know that the law has authority over us only as long as we are alive? ²For example, by law a married woman is joined to her husband as long as he is living. But suppose her husband dies. Then the marriage law no longer applies to her. ³But suppose that married woman gets married again while her husband is still alive. Then she is called a woman who commits adultery. But suppose her husband dies. Then she is free from that law. She is not guilty of adultery even if she marries another man.

⁴My brothers and sisters, when Christ died you also died as far as the law is concerned. Then it became possible for you to belong to him. He was raised from the dead. Now our lives can be useful to God. ⁵Our sinful nature used to control us. The law stirred up sinful longings in our bodies. So the things we did resulted in death.

⁶But now we have died to what used to control us. We have been set free from the law. Now we serve in the new way of the Holy Spirit. We no longer serve in the old way of the written law.

Struggling With Sin

⁷What should we say then? That the law is sin? Not at all! I wouldn’t have known what sin was unless the law had told me. The law said, “Do not want what belongs to other people.” If the law hadn’t said that, I would not have known what it was like to want what belonged to others. ⁸But the commandment gave sin an opportunity. Sin caused me to want all kinds of things that belonged to others. No one can break a law that doesn’t exist.

⁹Before I knew about the law, I was alive. But then the commandment came. Sin came to life, and I died. ¹⁰I found that the commandment that was supposed to bring life actually brought death. ¹¹When the commandment gave sin the opportunity, sin tricked me. It used the commandment to put me to death. ¹²So the law is holy. The commandment also is holy and right and good.

¹³Did what is good cause me to die? Not at all! Sin had to be recognized for what it really is. So it produced death in me through what was good. Because of the commandment, sin became totally sinful.

¹⁴We know that the law is holy. But I am not. I have been sold to be a slave of sin. ¹⁵I don’t understand what I do. I don’t do what I want to do. Instead, I do what I hate to do. ¹⁶I do what I don’t want to do. So I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷As it is, I am no longer the one who does these things. It is sin living in me that does them.

¹⁸I know there is nothing good in my sinful nature. I want to do what is good, but I can’t. ¹⁹I don’t do the good things I want to do. I keep on doing the evil things I don’t want to do. ²⁰I do what I don’t want to do. But I am not really the one who is doing it. It is sin living in me.

²¹Here is the law I find working in me. When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²²Deep inside me I find joy in God’s law. ²³But I see another law working in the parts of my body. It fights against the law of my mind. It makes me a prisoner of the law of sin. That law controls the parts of my body.

²⁴What a terrible failure I am! Who will save me from this sin that brings death to my body? ²⁵I give thanks to God. He will do it through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So in my mind I am a slave to God’s law. But in my sinful nature I am a slave to the law of sin.

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