Romans

Dead to Sin, Alive with Christ

Then, what should we say? Should we continue sinning so that grace may increase?

Can we live in sin again? Of course not: we are now dead to sin.

Don’t you realize that in baptism, which unites us with Christ, we are all baptized and immersed into his death?

Through this baptism into his death, we are buried with Christ, and just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we begin walking in a new life.

If we have been united with him through dying a death like his, then we will be united with him through a resurrection like his.

We know that our old self was crucified with Christ so that the part of us that was sin might be destroyed, freeing us from slavery to sin.

If we are dead, we are no longer in debt to sin.

But if we have died with Christ, we believe we will also live with him.

We know that Christ, once risen from the dead, will never die again, and death has no more authority over him.

For, by dying, he is dead to sin once and for all, and now, the life he lives is a life with God.

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God, in Christ Jesus.

Freed from Sin, Servants of God

Do not let sin control your mortal bodies; do not submit yourselves to its evil desires,

and do not give your members over to sin as tools for evil. Instead, offer yourselves, as people who have been brought back from death to life, and let the members of your body be as holy tools in the service of God.

Sin will not dominate you again, for you are not under the law but under grace.

I ask again: are we to sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Absolutely not.

If you have surrendered yourselves to someone as his slave, you are to obey the one who commands you, aren’t you? Now, with sin, you face death, and by accepting faith, you follow the right path.

Let us thank God, for after having sin as your master, you have been given to another—the doctrine of faith to which you listen willingly.

And, free from sin, you began to serve true righteousness.

You see that I speak in a very human way, considering that you are not fully mature. There was a time when you allowed your members to be slaves to impurity and disorder, walking in the way of sin; now, convert them into servants of righteousness, leading them toward holiness.

When you were slaves to sin, you did not feel obligated to righteousness;

but what were the results of those actions, of which you are now ashamed? Such things lead to death.

Now, however, you have been freed from sin and serve God. You are bearing fruit and growing in holiness, and the result will be everlasting life.

So, on one side is sin: its reward is death; on the other side is God: He grants us eternal life by grace, through Jesus Christ our Lord.