Christians dead to sin 1 WHAT shall we say, then? shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. For we that are dead to sin, how shall we live any longer therein? 3 Know you not that all we, who are baptized in Christ Jesus, are baptized in his death? 4 For we are buried together with him by baptism into death; that as Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. 6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin may be destroyed, to the end that we may serve sin no longer. 7 For he that is dead is justified from sin. 8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall live also together with Christ: 9 Knowing that Christ rising again from the dead, dies now no more, death shall no more have dominion over him. 10 For in that he died to sin, he died once; but in that he lives, he lives unto God: 11 So do you also reckon, that you are dead to sin, but alive unto God, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The reign of sin 12 Let no sin therefore reign in your mortal body, so as to obey the lusts thereof. 13 Neither yield your members as instruments of iniquity to sin; but present yourselves to God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of justice unto God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you; for you are not under the law, but under grace.
Slavery to sin 15 What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. 16 Know you not, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are whom you obey, whether it be of sin unto death, or of obedience unto justice. 17 But thanks be to God, that you were the servants of sin, but have obeyed from the heart, unto that form of doctrine, into which you have been delivered. 18 Being then freed from sin, we have been made servants of justice. 19 I am speaking on a human level, because of the infirmity of your flesh. For as you have yielded your members to serve uncleanness and iniquity, unto iniquity; so now yield your members to serve justice, unto sanctification. 20 For when you were the servants of sin, you were free men to justice. 21 What fruit therefore had you then in those things, of which you are now ashamed? For the end of them is death. 22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end life everlasting. 23 For the wages of sin is death. But the grace of God, life everlasting, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Commentary on Romans 6
6:2 dead to sin: Paul says that when we live for sin we were dead in God’s eyes. To sin is to live for sin, and not to sin is to live for God. Therefore when the grace of God through Christ and through faith came upon us, we began to live for God by the spiritual rebirth of baptism, and we died to sin, which is the devil. This is what dying to sin means, to be set free from sin and to become a servant of God. (Ambrosiaster)
6:3 baptized in Christ Jesus: Paul does not mean that the invocation of baptism must be in these words, but that baptism is an image of the death of Christ… The baptism then into Christ means that believers are baptized into Him. We could not believe in Christ if we were not taught confession in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit… But those who were not baptized into the Holy Trinity, these must be baptized again. (St. John of Damascus Orth Faith 4.9) baptized in his death: That is, in the likeness of Christ’s death, for just as he once died in the flesh and lives forever, we having once died to evil through baptism, should always live for doing good; or he says into death because death is the cause of this purification. (Glossa Ordinaria)
6:4 By baptism, men are buried with Christ, that is, conformed to his burial. For just as a buried man is put under the earth, so one being baptized is submerged under water… Yet it must be noted that in the body one dies before he is buried, but in the spiritual order the burial of baptism causes the death of sin, because the sacraments of the New Law bring about what they signify. Hence, since the burial which occurs through baptism is a sign of the death of sin, it produces such a death in the baptized. And this is what he says, namely, that we were buried into death, so that in receiving in ourselves the sign of Christ’s burial we might obtain death to sin. (St. Thomas Aquinas)
6:6 our old man: That is, the inclination and habit of sin, which is from us and not from God. (Interlinear Gloss) crucified with him: Meaning that we were nailed to the cross of Christ because our sins have been fastened upon his cross, that is, blotted out and put to death. (Haimo of Auxerre Gal 2:19) body of sin: This body of sin means either the totality of sin, whose members are fornication, uncleanness, avarice, etc., or else it means our body itself as infected from its very origin by the poison of the ancient serpent. (William of St. Thierry)
6:7 justified from sin: that is, transferred to the state of righteousness. (St. Thomas Aquinas)
6:9-10 So we too shall not fear the second death, if here we have died willingly Rev. 2:11. Or: No longer can you be baptized a second time, because Christ cannot be crucified for you a second time, as he writes to the Hebrews: 'It is impossible that those who have once been enlightened', and so on Heb. 6:4. (Pelagius)
6:12 He does not say: Let not sin be in your mortal body, because as long as our body is mortal, it is not possible for sin not to be in our body, that is, the inclination to sin. But since we have been freed from the kingdom of sin by God, we must struggle in order that sin not recover its dominion now lost in |
our body. And this is what he says: Let not sin reign in your mortal body. This is something about which one must be on his guard, as long as we wear the mortal body: "The corruptible body is a load upon the soul" Wis 9:15. (St. Thomas Aquinas)
6:14 not under the law: Here it should be noted that Paul is not speaking of the Law merely with respect to its ceremonial precepts, but even with respect to moral matters... But the faithful of Christ are under the Law with respect to the moral precepts but not the ceremonial. under grace: This grace, making men freely obey the Law, was not conferred by the sacraments of the Old Law, but Christ’s sacraments conferred it. Consequently, those who submitted themselves to the ceremonies of the Law were not, so far as the power of those sacraments was concerned, under grace but under the Law, unless they happened to obtain grace through faith. But one who submits to Christ’s sacraments obtains grace from his power, so as not to be under the Law but under grace, unless they enslaved themselves to sin through their own fault. (St. Thomas Aquinas)
6:16 We should carefully avoid either a sudden fall into sin or a rash leap into it, because what is done once make for greater pleasure, pleasure demands repetition, repetition creates a habit of the will, habit injects a necessity to servitude. It is within our competence to accept the yoke of servitude if we so desire, but once it has been accepted, we are unable to cast it off when we desire. (William of St. Thierry) sin unto death: leading to greater sin, or to eternal punishment. (Interlinear Gloss)
6:17 that form of doctrine: According to the teaching and example of Christ, who taught one to eliminate not only sins, but also occasions for sins. (Pelagius) Or it is that into which our Creator has led us naturally. This is what he said above, ’They are a law unto themselves, Rom 2:14’ (Ambrosiaster) Or it means Baptism, for he constantly calls Baptism the grace of the Christ. (Ishodad of Merv)
6:19 on a human level: Paul spoke in human terms because they were not yet able to listen entirely 'in divine terms'... Or: I speak in terms befitting human reason so that everyone can agree with me and no one dissent. (Pelagius)
6:23 wages of sin is death: That is, wages owed to the Devil’s army, which are rendered, not granted. The word ’wages’ means payment to be weighed, for in ancient times money used to be weighed out rather than counted, and it would be given from the public treasury to those serving their country as soldiers. And he says the wages of sin is death to show that death was due to sin and not unjustly ascribed to it. (Glossa Ordinaria) the grace of God: Where he could have said and said rightly that eternal life is the wages of justice, Paul preferred to say, ’But the grace of God is eternal life everlasting’, so that we would understand that God leads us to eternal life not by our merits but by His grace. (William of St. Thierry) death: that is, eternal death. life everlasting: that which is only the end for the just. (Interlinear Gloss)
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Catechism Cross-references
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