Believers Are Dead to Sin, Alive to God

(A)What shall we say then? Are we to (B)continue in sin so that grace may increase? [a](C)Far from it! How shall we who (D)died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been (E)baptized into (F)Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been (G)buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was (H)raised from the dead through the (I)glory of the Father, so we too may walk in (J)newness of life. For (K)if we have become [b]united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be [c]in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our (L)old [d]self was (M)crucified with Him, in order that our (N)body of sin might be [e]done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for (O)the one who has died is [f]freed from sin.

Now (P)if we have died with Christ, we believe that (Q)we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been (R)raised from the dead, [g]is never to die again; (S)death no longer is master over Him. 10 For [h]the death that He died, He died to sin once for all time; but [i]the life that He lives, He lives to [j]God. 11 So you too, consider yourselves to be (T)dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

12 Therefore sin is not to (U)reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on (V)presenting [k]the parts of your body to sin as [l]instruments of unrighteousness; but (W)present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead, and [m]your body’s parts as [n]instruments of righteousness for God. 14 For (X)sin shall not (Y)be master over you, for (Z)you are not under [o]the Law but (AA)under grace.

15 What then? (AB)Are we to sin because we are not under [p]the Law but under grace? [q](AC)Far from it! 16 Do you not (AD)know that the one to whom you present yourselves as (AE)slaves for obedience, you are slaves of that same one whom you obey, either of (AF)sin [r]resulting in death, or of obedience [s]resulting in righteousness? 17 But (AG)thanks be to God that [t]though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that [u](AH)form of teaching to which you were entrusted, 18 and after being (AI)freed from sin, you became slaves to righteousness. 19 (AJ)I am speaking [v]in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just (AK)as you presented [w]the parts of your body as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, [x]resulting in further lawlessness, so now present [y]your body’s parts as slaves to righteousness, [z]resulting in sanctification.

20 For (AL)when you were slaves of sin, you were free in relation to righteousness. 21 Therefore what [aa](AM)benefit were you then [ab]deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is (AN)death. 22 But now having been (AO)freed from sin and (AP)enslaved to God, you [ac]derive your [ad](AQ)benefit, [ae]resulting in sanctification, and (AR)the outcome, eternal life. 23 For the wages of (AS)sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is (AT)eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Believers United to Christ

Or do you not know, (AU)brothers and sisters (for I am speaking to those who know the [af]Law), that the [ag]Law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? For (AV)the married woman is bound by law to her [ah]husband as long as he is alive; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law [ai]concerning the husband. So then, if while her husband is alive she [aj]gives herself to another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress if she [ak]gives herself to another man.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you also were (AW)put to death (AX)in regard to the Law (AY)through the body of Christ, so that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For while we were (AZ)in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were (BA)brought to light by the Law, were at work (BB)in [al]the parts of our body to bear fruit for death. But now we have been (BC)released from the Law, having (BD)died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in (BE)newness of (BF)the [am]Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

(BG)What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? (BH)[an]Far from it! On the contrary, (BI)I would not have come to know sin except [ao]through the Law; for I would not have known about [ap]coveting if the Law had not said, “(BJ)You shall not [aq]covet.” But sin, (BK)taking an opportunity (BL)through the commandment, produced in me [ar]coveting of every kind; for (BM)apart [as]from the Law sin is dead. I was once alive apart [at]from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin came to life, and I died; 10 and this commandment, which was [au](BN)to result in life, proved [av]to result in death for me; 11 for sin, (BO)taking an opportunity (BP)through the commandment, (BQ)deceived me, and through it, killed me. 12 (BR)So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

13 Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? [aw](BS)Far from it! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by bringing about my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.

The Conflict of Serving Two Masters

14 For we know that the Law is (BT)spiritual, but I am (BU)fleshly, (BV)sold [ax](BW)into bondage to sin. 15 For (BX)I do not understand what I am doing; for I am not practicing (BY)what I want to do, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 However, if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with (BZ)the Law, that the Law is good. 17 But now, (CA)no longer am I the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my (CB)flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19 For (CC)the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I do the very thing I do not want, (CD)I am no longer the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me.

21 I find then (CE)the [ay]principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully agree with the law of God [az]in (CF)the inner person, 23 but I see (CG)a different law in [ba]the parts of my body waging war against the (CH)law of my mind, and making me a prisoner [bb]of (CI)the law of sin, the law which is in [bc]my body’s parts. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from [bd](CJ)the body of this (CK)death? 25 (CL)Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh (CM)the law of sin.

Footnotes

  1. Romans 6:2 Lit May it never happen!
  2. Romans 6:5 Or united with the likeness
  3. Romans 6:5 Or with
  4. Romans 6:6 Lit person (Gr anthropos)
  5. Romans 6:6 Or made powerless
  6. Romans 6:7 Or acquitted
  7. Romans 6:9 Lit no longer dies
  8. Romans 6:10 Lit that which He died
  9. Romans 6:10 Lit that which He lives
  10. Romans 6:10 I.e., the Father
  11. Romans 6:13 Lit your parts to sin
  12. Romans 6:13 Or weapons
  13. Romans 6:13 Lit your parts as
  14. Romans 6:13 Or weapons
  15. Romans 6:14 Or law
  16. Romans 6:15 Or law
  17. Romans 6:15 Lit May it never happen!
  18. Romans 6:16 Lit to death
  19. Romans 6:16 Lit to righteousness
  20. Romans 6:17 Lit you were slaves...but you became
  21. Romans 6:17 Or pattern
  22. Romans 6:19 I.e., reluctantly using slavery as an analogy
  23. Romans 6:19 Lit your parts as
  24. Romans 6:19 Lit to lawlessness
  25. Romans 6:19 Lit your parts as
  26. Romans 6:19 Lit to sanctification
  27. Romans 6:21 Lit fruit
  28. Romans 6:21 Lit having
  29. Romans 6:22 Lit have
  30. Romans 6:22 Lit fruit
  31. Romans 6:22 Lit to sanctification
  32. Romans 7:1 Or law
  33. Romans 7:1 Or law
  34. Romans 7:2 Lit living husband; but if
  35. Romans 7:2 Lit of
  36. Romans 7:3 Lit becomes another man’s
  37. Romans 7:3 I.e., in marriage; lit becomes another man’s
  38. Romans 7:5 Lit our parts to bear
  39. Romans 7:6 Or spirit
  40. Romans 7:7 Lit May it never happen!
  41. Romans 7:7 Or through law
  42. Romans 7:7 Or lust
  43. Romans 7:7 Or lust
  44. Romans 7:8 Or lust
  45. Romans 7:8 Or from law
  46. Romans 7:9 Or from law
  47. Romans 7:10 Lit to life
  48. Romans 7:10 Lit to death
  49. Romans 7:13 Lit May it never happen!
  50. Romans 7:14 Lit under sin
  51. Romans 7:21 Lit law
  52. Romans 7:22 Or with respect to
  53. Romans 7:23 Lit my parts waging
  54. Romans 7:23 Lit in
  55. Romans 7:23 Lit my parts
  56. Romans 7:24 Or this body of death

Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

What shall we say, then?(A) Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?(B) By no means! We are those who have died to sin;(C) how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized(D) into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death(E) in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead(F) through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.(G)

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.(H) For we know that our old self(I) was crucified with him(J) so that the body ruled by sin(K) might be done away with,[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin(L) because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.(M)

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.(N) For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead,(O) he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.(P) 10 The death he died, he died to sin(Q) once for all;(R) but the life he lives, he lives to God.

11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin(S) but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign(T) in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness,(U) but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.(V) 14 For sin shall no longer be your master,(W) because you are not under the law,(X) but under grace.(Y)

Slaves to Righteousness

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace?(Z) By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey(AA)—whether you are slaves to sin,(AB) which leads to death,(AC) or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God(AD) that, though you used to be slaves to sin,(AE) you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching(AF) that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin(AG) and have become slaves to righteousness.(AH)

19 I am using an example from everyday life(AI) because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness(AJ) leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin,(AK) you were free from the control of righteousness.(AL) 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!(AM) 22 But now that you have been set free from sin(AN) and have become slaves of God,(AO) the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.(AP) 23 For the wages of sin is death,(AQ) but the gift of God is eternal life(AR) in[b] Christ Jesus our Lord.

Released From the Law, Bound to Christ

Do you not know, brothers and sisters(AS)—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him.(AT) So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress.(AU) But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law(AV) through the body of Christ,(AW) that you might belong to another,(AX) to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For when we were in the realm of the flesh,[c](AY) the sinful passions aroused by the law(AZ) were at work in us,(BA) so that we bore fruit for death.(BB) But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law(BC) so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.(BD)

The Law and Sin

What shall we say, then?(BE) Is the law sinful? Certainly not!(BF) Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law.(BG) For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”[d](BH) But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,(BI) produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead.(BJ) Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life(BK) actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,(BL) deceived me,(BM) and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.(BN)

13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good(BO) to bring about my death,(BP) so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual,(BQ) sold(BR) as a slave to sin.(BS) 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.(BT) 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.(BU) 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.(BV) 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[e](BW) For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.(BX) 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.(BY)

21 So I find this law at work:(BZ) Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being(CA) I delight in God’s law;(CB) 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war(CC) against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin(CD) at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?(CE) 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!(CF)

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law,(CG) but in my sinful nature[f] a slave to the law of sin.(CH)

Footnotes

  1. Romans 6:6 Or be rendered powerless
  2. Romans 6:23 Or through
  3. Romans 7:5 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.
  4. Romans 7:7 Exodus 20:17; Deut. 5:21
  5. Romans 7:18 Or my flesh
  6. Romans 7:25 Or in the flesh