Romans 6: Baptism Symbolizes Death to Sin and New Life in Christ
I was in the shop last week cutting dovetails for a drawer. The first pass was fine. The second pass wandered. I looked at the joint and thought about just gluing it and hoping the gap would fill. It would not have. I cut a new piece and started over.
That is the closest I can get to what Paul is describing in Romans 6. Something has to die before something new can take its place. You cannot patch the old piece and call it a new joint. You have to cut it away.
What Does Romans 6 Teach About Baptism
Alright, let's think about it this way. Paul starts the chapter with a question that sounds like somebody was already asking it. If grace gets bigger where sin is bigger, why not keep sinning so grace keeps getting bigger? He does not let the question sit.
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?
Here is what I keep coming back to. Verses 3 and 4 say that being baptized into Christ means being baptized into his death. You go under the water like he went into the grave and come up like he came out. But verse 6 is where Paul gets specific. He says the old man is crucified with him so the body of sin can be destroyed. That is the part I understand when I am standing at the workbench with a chisel in my hand. The old piece has to be cut away completely. Not trimmed or sanded down. Cut away.
I have a piece of walnut in the shop that I have been saving for a year. It has a crack running through one end, and I keep thinking I can work around it. I cannot. At some point I have to cut past the crack or the whole thing will split. Paul is saying the same thing about the old self. You do not work around it. You cut past it.
Meaning of Being a Slave to Sin in Romans 6
Paul uses a word that makes people uncomfortable. He calls it slavery. Verses 16 through 18 draw a line between who you obey and whose servant you are.
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?
Fair enough. The argument is that everybody serves something. The question is not whether you have a master. The question is which one. Before Christ, sin was the default. It was not a conscious choice most of the time. It was just the way things worked. The desires of the flesh led where they led, and the end of that road was death.
After baptism, the ownership changes. The believer is no longer under the dominion of sin. That does not mean the struggle disappears. It means the outcome is no longer in doubt. Sin no longer has the final say.
I wrote about a similar idea in Romans 7: The Law Reveals Sin but Cannot Save; Paul Describes the Inward Struggle. The struggle between the flesh and the spirit continues, but the identity has shifted. You are no longer a slave to sin. You are a servant of righteousness. The same thread runs through Romans 5: Justification by Faith Brings Peace with God, where Paul sets up what grace actually accomplishes.
How to Apply Romans 6 to Overcome Addiction
This is where the chapter gets practical. Paul does not leave the doctrine in the abstract. He tells the reader what to do about it.
Verse 11 is the key.
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Reckon is an accounting term. It means to count something as true. Paul is telling the believer to treat the fact of their death to sin as a settled reality. You do not wait until it feels natural. You count it as done and act on that.
I have a friend who has been sober for twelve years. He told me once that the first year was not about wanting to stop drinking. It was about deciding, every morning, that the decision had already been made. He did not wake up and ask himself whether he would drink that day. He woke up and reminded himself that the question was already settled.
It is the kind of thing you only learn the hard way. You treat the decision as final and refuse to reopen the vote. You do not pretend the desire is gone.
Paul makes the same point in verses 12 and 13. Do not let sin reign in your mortal body. Do not yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness. Yield yourselves to God instead.
I think about this when I am deciding what to do with my hands on a Saturday morning. Do I pick up the phone or pick up the plane? Do I scroll or do I cut? Paul is saying that your hands and your voice and your time are tools. You decide what they are used for.
Difference Between Grace and License to Sin in Romans 6
Paul knew somebody would ask. If grace covers sin, why not sin more so grace covers more? He calls the question absurd. Grace is not a license to sin but the power to stop.
I don't know. I think some people hear "grace" and think it means the rules do not apply anymore. But Paul is saying the opposite. Grace is what makes it possible to keep the rules. It is not a waiver. Grace is the engine.
Paul says in verse 2 that we are dead to sin. A dead person does not keep living the same way. If you have been buried with Christ, you do not climb out of the grave to go back to the same habits. The old life is over.
Verse 22 makes the contrast clear.
But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
The fruit of the new life is holiness. That is the long-term result of the decision made at the baptismal font. It does not happen overnight. It happens one day at a time, one choice at a time, one reckoning at a time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Romans 6 mean that once I am baptized, I will never sin again?
No. Paul acknowledges the struggle with sin throughout his letters. The death to sin refers to a change in ownership and identity. The struggle remains, but the believer is no longer a slave to sin's dominion and has the power through Christ to overcome it.
What does Paul mean by reckoning ourselves dead to sin?
Reckon is a bookkeeping term. It means to count or consider a fact as true. Paul is telling believers to consciously treat the fact of their spiritual death to sin as a settled reality in their daily decision-making. You act like it is true, whether you feel it or not.
How can we be servants of righteousness if we are supposed to be free in Christ?
Paul argues that everyone is a servant to something. Either to sin, which leads to death, or to God, which leads to life. True freedom is not the absence of a master. It is the freedom to choose the right master. Serving Christ is not bondage. It is liberation.
What is the relationship between baptism and the new life Paul describes?
Baptism is the point of transition. It symbolizes the death of the old self and the beginning of the new life in Christ. But the new life is not automatic. It requires daily reckoning and conscious effort to present yourself as an instrument of righteousness.
I glued up that drawer last night. The new dovetails fit. It is a small thing, a drawer nobody will look at twice. But I know the difference between a joint that was patched and a joint that was cut fresh. The fresh one holds.
That is what Paul is describing. The old self is gone and the new one holds.
-- D.