Romans 6:5 - Printer Friendly

ESV: For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

NIV: 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.

NASB: For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,

CSB: For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of his resurrection.

NLT: Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was.

KJV: For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

NKJV: For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,

This passage explains why the idea of salvation by grace through faith is not a license or excuse to sin. Paul has just said a remarkable thing in the previous verse. Those who come to God through faith in Christ experience rebirth on a spiritual level. Through the Holy Spirit, God responds to our faith in Christ by causing us to die with Christ, spiritually, and to be buried in that same spiritual sense. Then we are raised to new spiritual life as He was raised to a new physical life by the Father.

Paul means for us to understand that we are newly alive, spiritually, in Christ. That's not all, though. This verse says that since we have been united with Christ in a spiritual death like this, we will also be united with Him in a physical resurrection like the one He experienced. In other words, we will also come back to life after we die physically instead of staying in the grave (2 Corinthians 4:14).

Romans 6:1–14 explores how Christians should think about and respond to sin now that we are in Christ and our sins are forgiven. In explaining this, Paul reveals new information about what happened when we put our faith in Christ. In a spiritual sense, we died with Him, and to our sin. We were then resurrected to a new spiritual life. Now Paul instructs us to continue remembering that we are no longer slaves to sin. We must not offer our bodies to be used for sin, but we must offer ourselves as instruments of righteousness, instead.

In Romans 6, Paul answers the question of whether Christians should continue to sin. His answer is emphatic: we absolutely should not. First, when we came to God by faith in Jesus, we died to sin. We are not slaves to it any more. Second, what did living for sin ever get us? It led to shame and death. The righteousness given to us for free by God in Christ Jesus leads to becoming like Jesus and to eternal life. We should serve righteousness instead of sin.

After comparing Adam and Christ and what their choices brought into the world, Paul now turns to ask if Christians should continue in sin once they have been saved. He gives several reasons why we must not: we died to sin's power over us; we are now servants to righteousness; and what good did sin ever bring to you, anyway? Paul will transition in Romans 7 to a discussion of what it means to be released from the law of Moses.

The book of Romans is the New Testament's longest, most structured, and most detailed description of Christian theology. Paul lays out the core of the gospel message: salvation by grace alone through faith alone. His intent is to explain the good news of Jesus Christ in accurate and clear terms. As part of this effort, Paul addresses the conflicts between law and grace, between Jews and Gentiles, and between sin and righteousness. As is common in his writing, Paul closes out his letter with a series of practical applications.

Accessed 5/5/2024 12:49:24 PM