Romans 6

1. What can we say about all these things? Should we continue to sin to see how far we can push the grace of God?

This would be like laughing at someone while you keep on hurting them and then asking them if they will keep on forgiving you.

2. Never! This would be impossible, because we are dead to sin. If we are dead, then how could we live in sin, for even one minute?

When you gave your life to Christ you became dead to the things of the world. If you keep living in the evil of the world then you must not be dead to the world. You cannot be dead and alive at the same time. If you can keep living this way then you are not living for Christ.

3. Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ were showing that our old lives are dead in the same way that Christ's body died?

Maybe nobody told you that the water of baptism is a grave that you were buried in?

We now live our lives as a man who sees his old self in a grave. The world brings garbage such as money, immoral things, or evil pictures and they are not interesting to us because we are in the grave.

If you see that these things keep coming back to your mind then kill them by telling God, “I am making a decision not to look at them.” You will feel His power. Colossians 3:5

4 – 5

We died and were buried with Him in baptism. So that in the same way that He was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father we also were raised to a new life. If we shared in His death we will also share in His resurrection.

Living men are not buried so since we were buried in baptism, then we are no longer living the old life but a completely new life. God uses the same power of the Spirit that raised Christ to give us the power to live this new life. Romans 8:11

6 – 7

We know that our old self died with Him on the cross and that our sinful body was done away with so that we should no longer be slaves to sin. He that is dead is free from the power of sin.

This does not mean that you do not feel the temptation, but the temptation is no longer in control. Before this, you did not have to power to resist. 1 Corinthians 9:27

8. If we died with Christ, we believe that will will also live with Him.

We are spirits living in a body. Our spirits were dead in evil. When Christ took this evil on Himself then when He died the power of evil died. This means that the evil that was in us now has no power.

When Christ rose from the dead, the power of the Holy Spirit raised Him. The same Spirit gives us power to live this new way.

9 – 10

We know that Christ rose from the dead and is never to die again because death's power over Him is finished. He died because of sin, once but He lives to God forever.

After Jesus paid the penalty, He is free from that penalty. He will never have to die again and it is the same for us.

11. In the same way, think of yourselves as dead to the power of sin, but alive to God through Jesus.

Keep on thinking of your old self as dead and your new self as alive for God's purpose.

12. Do not give sin any permission to have power over your body to make you give it what it wants.

We are being warned not to listen to our old master. When you let sin rule you are like a king's son who would rather be a slave.

When a wise man is tempted he knows that the devil must have found some small hole to enter his life. A wise man sees the roof leaking in one corner of his house and will check the rest of the roof to to see if there are other leaks.

13. And do not offer the members of your body to sin to use as weapons for evil. Offer yourselves to God as someone who is alive from the dead and the members of your body as weapons of good for God's purposes.

Satan can use my body as his tool of destruction, even the look on my face.

When a human eye is taken out it cannot be made to see again by any doctor. In the same way our spiritual eyes cannot be made to see by man, but only by Christ. Spiritual blindness is one of the diseases that Jesus came to cure

14. Because sin has no right to rule over you, you are no longer living under the law but under grace.

You do not tell your boss what to do on the job and the devil is not your boss and has no right to rule over you. On the job you would not listen to someone who is not the boss. Sin does not have to rule over me but I can choose to let it.

15 – 16

Now what should we do? Should we keep on sinning since there is no law to condemn us anymore, because we are living under grace?

Never! Just think what it would mean! You belong to whatever kind of power you choose to obey. You can choose sin, whose reward is death, or you can choose to obey what is right.

When you are tempted take a look at yourself to see how you respond. Do you immediately ask God to help you and search your mind for some Scripture to answer this temptation? Or do you spend time thinking about this temptation and use it as an excuse to entertain it?

17. Thank God that you, who were at one time servants of sin, responded from your hearts to the teaching of Christ when you heard it!

Adam and Eve did two things at the same time: they did not obey God and they offered their hearts (mind, will, and emotions) to Satan.

18. And you were set free from the slavery of sin and you became a servant of what is good.

We are like the bond–servants in the Old Testament who made a decision to stay with their master forever.

"Lord, if there is a job that You want done and You cannot find anyone else to do it, I will do it for you." Lillian Thrasher

19 – 20

I am speaking in human terms so that it will be easier for you to understand. In the past you gave your bodies to evil of your own free will, so now give yourselves to serve what is good and be set–apart for God.

Because when you were slaves to sin you felt yourselves to be free from the good things of God.
You thought you were free from doing what God says but remember the fruit of guilt that you had.

21. But what good did you get from those things that today you are embarrassed about? Everything that happened while you did these things meant only one thing –death.

The devil says, “It is such little sin please do not pay attention to it! Let it be our little secret. I will not let people know about it. You can keep it somewhere in a closet and no one will see it. All I ask is that sometimes you let me enjoy your thoughts about it in secret.”

22. But now that you are free from sin and serving God you do not owe anything to your old sin master. You have the kind of fruit that comes from doing what is good. At the end of your life on this earth there is life forever waiting for you.

You either serve sin or serve God.

23. The payment for sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The payment of sin is like rations. Rations are small amounts of food that are given to control how much you eat. Notice that God does not give us payment but a gift!