Jerry C. Brewer
When Paul asked the question of our subject in Romans 6:1, he anticipated an erroneous conclusion that some people might draw from what he had just written in chapter five. In it, Paul showed that God’s grace was efficacious in covering all sin, not just the sin of Adam who violated God’s positive law. One man—Adam—brought death into the world through his one sin, but by the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the grace of God was manifested to justify men from all sins they commit. “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Rom. 5:12). Then, skipping past the parenthetical material contained in Romans 5:13-17, we read the conclusion:
Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 5:18- 21).
The death contemplated in verse 12 is not physical death, for it is conditioned upon the fact that “all have sinned.” This could not mean that infants die a physical death because they have sinned, for they are innocent, and yet they sometimes die. Therefore, we conclude that the death Paul deals with in this verse is spiritual death which occurs when one’s sin separates him from God. This connects with his earlier consideration of the depravity of the Gentile world (Rom. 1:18-32) and his demonstration that the Jews are also guilty before God (Rom. 2-3). It is also further proof of his thesis in Romans 1:16-17 that the Gospel is God’s power to save all men, both Jew and Gentile.
The thrust of Paul’s argument in Romans 5 is that, although through Adam’s one sin death passed upon all who sin, the grace of God manifested in Jesus Christ is efficacious not only to cover Adam’s sin—but all the sins of men. The grace of God is of much wider application to the salvation of the human race than the single sin of Adam was to its destruction. In Adam, men died, but in Christ all are made alive (1 Cor. 15:22). When Adam sinned in the Garden, he died. All since have died because all men since Adam have sinned. We did not and do not inherit the sin of Adam, but all die because “all have sinned.” Hence, God’s grace through Christ’s work is designed to cover not only the sin of Adam, but the sins of all who come to God in obedience.
Now, in considering this argument, some might conclude that if the grace of God is more extensive than Adam’s sin, we ought to sin more for His grace to abound—that abundant sin will produce more abundant grace. That is the philosophy of self-indulgence and one which grips millions of professed believers in Christ in our day. The prevailing notion in the religious world is that God’s grace is equivalent to toleration of sin—that under the law of Moses, God condemned and punished sin, but His grace eliminates all law, and He now tolerates every sin man wants to commit. Thus, the modern answer to Paul’s question is: “Of course! The grace of God will save me regardless of how I live.” Will it?
To get a grip on what Paul has written and what follows in Romans 6, it is necessary to understand that he uses faith and grace as synonyms for the Gospel scheme of redemption. He wrote to the Ephesians that “by grace are ye saved through faith” (Eph. 2:8), yet he said to the Romans that the Gospel is God’s power to save men (Rom. 1:16-17). The Gospel system of justification is one of grace on God’s part and faith on man’s part. So the Gospel—the message of grace and faith—is that which reveals God’s grace and produces obedient faith in those who accept it. It was through the free gift of Christ that God’s grace was manifested to the world, but it is through the faith of man that His grace is applied to our souls. The plan of salvation is singular, but consists of two parts—God’s and man’s.
The Grace of God
So far as God’s grace is concerned, He has done everything He is going to do to bring about our salvation. His plan to save the race of man was purposed from eternity; executed in the birth, life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and coronation of Jesus Christ; and revealed to man by the Holy Spirit through Christ’s apostles in the first century. His purpose was carried out, Christ died once for sin (Heb. 9:27), and everything necessary for man to know about God’s plan of salvation has already been revealed by the Holy Spirit (Jude 3; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; Tit. 2:11-12). Note the past tense of Titus 2:11: “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.” God has completed His work in saving man, His grace has been revealed, and there is nothing more He will do.
As the prime cause of salvation, God willed it according to His eternal purpose (Eph. 3:7-11). As the sacrificial cause of salvation, Christ freely gave Himself for our sins (Rom. 5:6-8). As the procuring cause, His blood purchased us from sin (Acts 20:28; 1 John 2:2; Eph. 1:7). As the revealing cause, the Holy Spirit miraculously guided the apostles into all truth (John 14:26; 16:13) and revealed the mystery—or plan—of salvation through them (Eph. 3:3, 5). As the instrumental cause of salvation, the Gospel, which was revealed by the Spirit, brought life and immortality to light (2 Tim. 1:10) and is God’s power to save. Since God has done all this, that leaves man with the responsibility of availing himself of God’s grace, and that must be done “by faith.”
Man’s Faith
It is by faith that man appropriates the grace of God and receives salvation. That was Paul’s argument in Galatians 3:6 when he said, “Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Notice that Paul does not say, “Abraham believed in God,” but that, “Abraham believed God.” When Moses disobeyed God’s instruction to speak to the rock at Kadesh and struck it twice with his rod, God told him he would not enter Canaan: “And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel” (Num. 20:12). Moses believed in God, but did not believe God. One may profess belief in God, but if one does not obey God, he is an unbeliever and, in this sense, Moses was an unbeliever.
Faith in God is not mere mental assent to His existence, but a willingness to do whatever God says. That is amply illustrated in Hebrews 11. The faith of those worthies listed there was one which moved them to action. “By faith Abel offered” (Heb. 11:4). God told Abel what to offer, and Abel did what God told him, for “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17). Likewise:
By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith (Heb. 11:7).
By His grace (Gen. 6:8) God instructed Noah to build an ark and gave him the specifications for it. By faith, Noah obeyed and built the ark according to God’s instructions and it was said of him, “Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he” (Gen. 6:22). That was acting “by faith.” So it was with Abraham’s faith. He heard God’s voice and acted upon the commands God gave him. Thus, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness” (Gal. 3:6). Faith is doing what God says because God says to do it. No other kind of faith is acceptable to God, and no other kind of faith will make one righteous.
In Galatians 3:6, Paul argues that we have been called to the liberty which is in Christ and no longer serve God as bond slaves, but as sons in the glorious liberty of the Gospel by which God forgives, receives, adopts, and blesses those who answer its call. Even in the liberty of the Gospel there is danger. Not a danger that arises from the Gospel itself, but from the liberty that is ours therein. That danger is the one which we find so rampant in our contemporary world and which Paul addressed in the Roman epistle—the danger of viewing God’s grace under the Gospel as a license to sin.
For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin (Rom. 5:17-6:7).
When a person is baptized into Christ, he is separated from his old life of sin which held him in bondage. He is no longer a servant of sin, but a servant of Christ.
If we keep in mind what Paul had been saying, we will see that to crucify the old man is the same thing as to die to sin. Of himself, Paul said, “I have been crucified with Christ” (Gal. 3:20). Paul the sinner died. What was true of him is true of everyone who becomes a Christian. The old man, the body of sin, is the sinner. Every time a person becomes a Christian, a sinner dies. We die as sinners and are raised up as saints…. We are then no longer the bondservants of sin. When a bondservant, or a slave, dies, he passes from under his master. His master no longer has dominion over him…. If a slave of sin dies to sin, he is free from service to his master. Sin rules him no more (Whiteside 133).
If grace abounds much more than sin, as Paul wrote to the Romans, then the objection might be raised that we ought to sin more that God’s grace might abound much more and be magnified. However, Paul refutes that theory in Romans 6 in drawing a contrast between the servant of sin and the servant of righteousness. Liberty in Christ does not make one free from all restraint. That is the point in Paul’s refutation of that theory:
What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness (Rom. 6:15-18).
The servant of sin is the man who allows sin to have control of his life, but the servant of righteousness is the man who stands in the liberty of the Gospel system of faith. Into his life sin may enter but it does so as an intruder, not as a ruler. The servant of righteousness will control his fleshly lusts through continuing obedience to the Gospel, and not use his liberty as an occasion to sin that grace to abound. Sin is a severe taskmaster which promises great things and may deliver them “for a season,” but in the end the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). The body of sin is destroyed in baptism, and the new man rises to “walk in newness of life.” That life which follows baptism into Christ is new in quality as well as quantity and is to be lived separate from the dominion of sin.
Their number is legion in our postmodern world who teach that the grace of God allows men to continue living in sin and will then usher them one day into heaven. This is one of the most pernicious and dangerous teachings extant in our world. That philosophy equates God’s grace with His toleration of every imaginable sin. Consequently, its conclusion is that the law of Moses demanded right living, but under the system of grace, that is no longer required because we are no longer under any law. That conclusion is the basis for much licentiousness that is practiced by the religious world, and flies in the face of Paul’s statement, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2). The “law of the Spirit of life” is the Gospel—God’s law of grace by which we are delivered from the guilt, dominion, and consequences of sin.
To be in captivity under the law of sin is to be dead spiritually. Hence, this law of sin in our members is also the law of death. Freedom from that law is salvation. But the law of the Spirit of life makes us free from the law of sin and death—that is, it is that by which we are saved. In chapter 1:16, Paul tells us that the gospel is God’s power for saving people. We conclude, therefore, that the law of the Spirit of life is the gospel. This conclusion harmonizes with Paul’s line of reasoning. It would be absurd to think that Paul started in to prove that the gospel is God’s power for saving people, and then reached the conclusion that some other law saves us, or frees us, from sin and spiritual death (Whiteside 168).
There are three laws Paul has under consideration in Romans 8:2-3—the “law of sin and death,” the law of the Spirit of life,” and “the law.” The “law of sin and death” is that which he had just discussed in Romans 7. The “law of the Spirit of life” is the Gospel by which we are saved from the law of sin and death, and “the law” is the law of Moses. In this passage, Paul says we are made free from the law of sin and death by the law of the Spirit of life, or the Gospel—something which the law of Moses could not do. Moses’ law pointed out and condemned sin, but had no provision for forgiveness.
Freedom from the law of the Mosaic dispensation does not mean we are free from all law under the system of grace. Nor does God’s grace permit Christians to continue living in sin. The fact that immediate punishment for sin, such as stoning for adultery under the law of Moses, is not part of the grace system under which we live does not mean God has no law prohibiting adultery. That is made abundantly clear in passages such as 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and Galatians 5:19-21. The grace of God teaches us to live “soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” (Tit. 2:11-12), and a violation of His law of grace will bring eternal punishment. God’s grace does not mean an absence of law or that He tolerates sin, and Christians cannot and must not use their liberty in Christ as an occasion to the flesh.
Self indulgence, or pursuit of fleshly lusts, naturally excludes others. That is the contrast Paul draws in Galatians 5:13 between using our liberty in Christ to indulge self and love of our neighbors. The self centered person who indulges in sin, saying, “God wants me to be happy,” is not one to consider the needs of his neighbor. One of the first and fundamental precepts in following Christ is self-denial. “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23). No man is a follower of Christ who has not first denied his own will and said, “Lord, thy will be done.” Spiritual egocentrism denies the welfare of others and seeks the good of self. That is the appeal of many so-called “Community Churches,” which pander to the “felt needs” of their members. The fun, games, concerts, ski trips, dramas, and other worldly pursuits provided by modern religionists result from an inward, self centered focus. Like Judas, people are asking, “What will ye give me?” instead of following Him who looked outward to fields white unto harvest, and gave His all that we might live. This egocentric Judas syndrome is that which Paul combats in Galatians 5:13 when he says, “but by love serve one another.”
Changes Wrought by the Gospel
Three fundamental changes are wrought in the soul when a man obeys the Gospel of Christ—the love, the practice, and the dominion of sin all cease in the soul of the obedient. In submitting to God’s grace expressed in the Gospel, the heart is changed or purified by faith (Acts 15:9), the life is changed or purified by repentance (2 Cor. 7:10; Mat. 3:7-9; 21:28-29), and the relationship is changed by baptism (Gal. 3:26- 28; Rom. 6:3-5).
The Inner Man
All of these changes take place within the soul of man and are manifested in a changed manner of living. None alter the physical characteristics. It is the soul which is purified and which passes from Satan’s dominion or rule into the kingdom or rule of Christ. Obedience “from the heart” brings about a change of the inner man—a death to sin in all of its aspects—and that is what Paul addresses in answer to the question posed in Romans 6:1. The control which the converted inner man exercises over the flesh is Paul’s subject in Romans 7:25: “So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” The Gospel is God’s law of the mind because it is directed to the mind of man. The change or conversion of the sinner to Christ is a conversion of the soul, an inner change which is wrought by the new birth (John 3:3-5) and issues in a changed life. In the life of the sinner, lusts of the flesh dominate, and the inner man controls and gratifies those. In the life of the Christian, those lusts are put to death by the inner man.
Faith Purifies The Heart
Of the conversion of the Gentiles at the house of Cornelius, Peter said, “And God…put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith” (Acts 15:8-9). The first change brought about by the Gospel is purification of the heart, and all subsequent steps in conversion are inner changes that issue from this one. When the heart is purified by faith, the love of sin is destroyed, the human will, or spirit, submits to the commands of God, and the second change naturally issues from this change of heart.
Repentance Purifies The Life
Repentance is the change in the inner man that issues outwardly in a changed manner of living. Simply put, repentance is a change of mind. That is seen from Jesus’ parable of the two sons. “But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went” (Mat. 21:28-29). Repentance is the difference between will and will not. The son at first said, “I will not,” but later, Jesus said, “he repented and went.” Now, his going to work in his father’s vineyard was not repentance, for it says, “he repented and went.” What, then, constituted repentance on the part of the son? Obviously, it was a change of mind. He changed his mind, then went to work in the vineyard.
Paul explains repentance in these words: “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death” (2 Cor. 7:10). It is obvious from this passage that repentance is not sorrow, for it is “godly sorrow” that leads to repentance. Therefore, connecting Jesus’ parable in Matthew 21 with Paul’s statement here, we have this Bible definition of repentance: “A change of mind that is prompted by godly sorrow and issues in a change of life.” That is exactly what John the Baptist charged the Pharisees who came to his baptism when he told them to “bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance” (Mat. 3:8). The life is changed by repentance when the inner man repents or changes his mind, determines to serve God rather than sin, and in so doing submits to the command of God to be baptized into Christ (Acts 2:38).
Baptism Changes The Relationship
A man may believe in God and in the Deity of Jesus Christ, change his mind toward sin, and determine to live a clean and morally upright life, but until he is baptized into Christ, he remains in Satan’s kingdom and under his dominion. Neither faith nor repentance takes one from Satan’s kingdom and places him into Christ’s, and so long as he remains in Satan’s kingdom, he is under his dominion—even if one lives an upright moral life. Baptism is the consummating act of salvation that destroys a servant of Satan and makes him a servant of Jesus Christ. The love of sin is killed by faith, the practice of sin is killed by repentance, and the dominion of sin is destroyed in baptism. Hence, man becomes a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17), and that is exactly the point Paul made in answer to his question in Romans 6:1, and which he further explains in that chapter.
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin (Rom. 6:1-7).
When a person is baptized into Christ, he is separated from his old life of sin which held him in bondage. He is no longer a servant of sin but a servant of Christ.
If we keep in mind what Paul had been saying, we will see that to crucify the old man is the same thing as to die to sin. Of himself, Paul said, ‘I have been crucified with Christ’ (Gal. 3:20). Paul the sinner died. What was true of him is true of everyone who becomes a Christian. The old man, the body of sin, is the sinner. Every time a person becomes a Christian, a sinner dies. We die as sinners and are raised up as saints…. We are then no longer the bondservants of sin. When a bondservant, or a slave, dies, he passes from under his master. His master no longer has dominion over him…. If a slave of sin dies to sin, he is free from service to his master. Sin rules him no more (Whiteside 133).
The deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage illustrates how we pass from under sin’s dominion to that of Christ. The Israelites had heard Moses, believed him, and changed their minds in following him to the banks of the Red Sea; so we hear, believe, and repent. Although the people of Israel had believed and followed Moses, they remained under Pharaoh’s dominion so long as they remained on the Egyptian side of the Red Sea. If a modern Baptist preacher had been leading them instead of Moses, he would have said, “Now, you folks don’t have to cross over this Red Sea. You’ve already believed; so you’re safe from Pharaoh’s army. Just sit still on the banks of this sea because there’s no way you can be harmed. Being baptized in the cloud and the sea isn’t necessary.” However their deliverance was not complete until they passed through the sea on dry land and were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and the sea (1 Cor. 10:1-2). The waters of the Red Sea separated them from their old life of slavery and placed them under Moses’ leadership where they were free from Pharaoh’s reign. So it is with us. Paul says God “hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son” (Col. 1:13). So long as we believe and repent, yet remain unbaptized, we remain under the dominion of Satan and are citizens of the kingdom of darkness just as surely as Israel remained under the power of the Egyptians until they were separated from them by the waters of the Red Sea. That which saved Israel—their baptism in the cloud and in the sea (1 Cor. 10:2)—was also that which destroyed Pharaoh’s army. So it is with us. When, by faith, we are baptized into Christ (Gal. 3:26-27), we are translated from the bondage of sin into Jesus Christ, the old man of sin is destroyed, and we are free from that former life. To continue in sin after one becomes a Christian is as foolish as Israel’s desire to return to the bondage of Egypt after they had been delivered from it. Baptism is that line of demarcation, a dividing line, between the reign of sin and the reign of righteousness through Jesus Christ.
Have you ever noticed where Satan and his denominational ministers stage their greatest fight against Christ? Why, it is at the waters of baptism. Satan does not mind if one wants to believe Christ is God’s Son. Even the demons believe and tremble (Jam. 2:19). Satan does not mind if one wants to confess that Christ is God’s Son. Even the demons did that (Mark 1:23-24). Neither does Satan mind if one wants to live a morally upright life. Cornelius was such a man (Acts 10:1-2), but Cornelius, who was under Satan’s dominion and in a lost state, was told to “Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter; Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved” (Acts 11:13-14). Denominational preachers will tell people to believe. Some even say they should repent, and others say some kind of confession of faith should be made. However, with few exceptions, they all say baptism is not necessary to salvation, which is where Satan makes his final stand, because he knows that one who is baptized into Christ has passed from his dominion into the dominion of Christ and under His reign, and that is precisely the point Paul makes in answer to his question in Romans 6:1.
God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 6:2-11).
The soul who has been converted to Christ through the Gospel plan of faith, repentance, and baptism has died to sin. Sin no longer reigns in his life. It is dethroned in the heart of the believer, and righteousness is enthroned in its place.
A person is either dead to sin or he is not. If he is dead to sin, he is admonished to so consider himself. If we have not died to sin, we cannot in truth reckon ourselves dead to sin; but the person who is dead to sin should so count himself and act accordingly. We are also to reckon ourselves alive to God in Christ. We are, therefore, to reckon ourselves as both dead and alive—dead to sin and alive to God. Hence, we cannot continue in sin (Whiteside 135).
In Romans 6:12-13, Paul instructs those of us who have been saved by God’s grace to abstain from sin and to submit our bodies as the instruments of righteousness. As our physical members have been used in the past as instruments through which we committed sin, so they are now to be used as instruments of righteousness. While the physical body is not altered in conversion, there is a new use made of it, and that is what Paul addresses in these verses.
The body is a mere instrument to be used by the inner man, the spirit, for good or bad. The spirit is charged not to let sin control the body. Our natural appetites and passions are not evil within themselves. They are God-given and become evil only when they become the master, and thereby lead us into sinful thoughts and deeds. Now, since we died to sin, we are not to allow sin to reestablish its reign in our bodies. We must control the lusts of our bodies, not obey them. The mortal body, the body which must die, must not be allowed to cause spiritual and eternal death. This language shows plainly that when we sin, the members of our body are mere instruments through which the inner man accomplishes its purposes. The instrument used in committing a crime cannot be blamed for the crime. God gave the human being certain appetites and passions for his own preservation and for the perpetuity of the human race; but the purpose to hold them in check, or the plans to gratify them either in a lawful or unlawful way, are formed in the heart. “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Prov. 4:23). Obedience is from the heart. The spirit expresses itself through the body. Not one thing can be done in service to God without the use of the body. Hence, we are commanded to present our “members as instruments of righteousness unto God.” And so also does the spirit sin through the instrumentality of the body. Though committed through the instrumentality of the body, sin comes from the heart. “For from within, out of the heart of men, evil thoughts proceed, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, covetings, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, railing, pride, foolishness: all these things proceed from within, and defile the man” (Mark 7:21-23) (Whiteside 136).
The entirety of Romans 6 is a refutation of the philosophy of self indulgence—continuing in sin that grace may abound. Through the death of Christ and his obedience to the Gospel, the Christian has left the kingdom of Satan and entered the kingdom or dominion of Jesus Christ. His service in either kingdom is a willing service, for Paul asks, “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” (Rom. 6:16). While one remains under Satan’s dominion, he is a bond slave of sin and doomed to eternal death. Freedom from Christ leads to eternal loss, but freedom in Christ brings life. There are only two spiritual kingdoms—Satan’s and Christ’s. Every person on earth is in one or the other, and each of us is there as a result of our free choice. No one is coerced to serve Satan as a sinner. Each subject in his kingdom is there because he has been “drawn away of his own lust, and enticed” (Jam. 1:14). Neither does Christ coerce men to serve Him. Each of His subjects is drawn to Him through his own free will. “Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me” (John 6:45). That is why Paul plainly declares that we are the servants of him whom we choose to obey. We either choose to crucify the old man of sin, or to continue gratifying the lusts of the flesh, but we cannot do both at the same time. We either serve Christ as servants of righteousness or we serve Satan as slaves of sin. He who has been made alive in Christ has died to sin, and he who is alive to sin is dead to Christ.
Conclusion
The person who is converted to Christ is changed. That is what conversion means. We convert wood pulp to paper, crude oil to gasoline, animal skins to leather. When those things are converted, they are no longer the things they once were. They have been changed from their former state into a new one. So it is with the one who is converted to Christ. He is no longer what he once was. He has died to sin and been raised to a new life in Christ Jesus and is no longer dead in trespasses and sins. He is now alive in Christ and Christ is the ruler of his inner life which has been changed, or converted, by obedience to the Gospel. If that man believes he can continue to live as he once did while he was dead in sin, he has not been converted, his inner man has not been changed, and he is still under the dominion of sin. Conversion of the inner man will result in a changed life—one lived by the faith of Christ under the Lordship of the Son of God. The converted soul’s heart has been changed by faith, his life by repentance, and his citizenship by baptism. If he continues to live in and serve sin, none of those inner changes have been wrought, he is unconverted, and still in Satan’s kingdom. No, beloved, we cannot continue in sin, for in obedience to the Gospel we have died to sin. To “continue in sin that grace may abound” is to return as a dog to its vomit and as the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire (2 Pet. 2:21-22).
Works Cited
All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version unless otherwise indicated.
Whiteside, R. L. A New Commentary On Paul’s Letter To The Saints At Rome. Denton, TX: Miss Inys Whiteside, 1945
Reprinted from Great Testament Questions, 29th Annual Bellview Lectures, Pensacola, FL, 2004, Ed. Michael Hatcher.
