Romans 6:6 - Printer Friendly

ESV: We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

NIV: For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin--

NASB: knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;

CSB: For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be rendered powerless so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin,

NLT: We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.

KJV: 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.

NKJV: knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

Paul began this chapter by asking if believers in Jesus—those who have been saved through their faith—should go on sinning to somehow increase God's grace. He said no, but then he backed up to explain some things about what happened to us when we trusted in Christ for our salvation from sin. For one thing, we died with Christ, in a spiritual sense, and then we were resurrected spiritually to new life. We are not the same spiritually dead people we were before (Ephesians 2:5).

Now Paul adds a new layer of understanding to what exactly happened to us when we died spiritually with Christ. He writes that we also experienced a crucifixion. Our "old self," the one that existed in sin and self-reliance before we were in Christ, was spiritually crucified in the same way that Christ was physically crucified on the cross. In response to our faith, God mysteriously, powerfully put to death our old self that was under the rule and power of sin.

When the old self was crucified, the "body of sin" was brought to nothing or done away with. Paul pictures sin as having a body, as an entity that controlled us before we were in Christ. Now that sin's body has been removed in the spiritual crucifixion of our old self, however, sin is not in charge of us any longer. We were slaves to sin, and we have now been freed from its power and authority in our lives.

Does that mean we don't want to do sinful things anymore? Paul will show that the "want" to sin remains. The requirement to sin is gone, however. We can never be compelled to sin again, because Christ has rescued us from that slave owner. Now we can only volunteer to sin. This is consistent with other New Testament passages, which describe a saved person's life as imperfect (1 John 1:9–10), but not marked by pervasive, deliberate sins (Galatians 5:19–24; 1 John 3:6–9).

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.