Romans 6 Exegesis -- MN Valley Pr's Conference Paper -- Pr K Hagen -- 4 Mar

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THAT WE MAY WALK IN NEWNESS OF LIFE:

An Exegetical Study of Romans 6

Prepared for the Minnesota River Valley Winter Pastor’s Conference

Lake Benton, MN

4 March 2014

Pastor Kurt Hagen





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“righteousness from God, apart from law…to which the law and the prophets testify.” Chapter

4 further unfolds the righteousness of God, namely that it is by faith – and always has been

(Paul’s citation of father Abraham bears this out amply.) Chapter 5 begins to elaborate the

effects of the righteousness of faith: life and grace in place of condemnation and death, with

Christ as the second Adam who undoes the curse of the Fall into sin. Then we arrive at chapter6.

v.1: Τί οὖν ἐροῦμεν; ἐπιμένωμεν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, ἵνα ἡ χάρις πλεονάσῃ;

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? [NIV11]

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? [ESV]

It’s worth noting that in the closing verses of chapter 5 that St. Paul asserts, in words that have

shored up shaking sinners through the centuries, that “where sin increased, grace increased all

the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousnessto bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (vv.20-21). As he so often does, St. Paul

anticipates the sinful topspin that the flesh, so lazy and loathe to change or give up sin, will put

on this bold message of grace. Therefore he begins chapter 6 with a pre-emptive strike: “What

shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means!”

Τί οὖν ἐροῦμεν; -- Paul is fond of the rhetorical “What if?”, or “What then?”, especially in the

epistle to the Romans, which is the closest thing to a doctrinal treatise he ever produced. These

brief questions often move his argument along and direct his readers’ attention. Here his Τί

οὖν ἐροῦμεν; has almost a challenging air – as if Paul is being especially vigilant that God’sgrace not be abused at just this very point. Almost certainly in the past he had seen the grace of

God turned into a license for immorality, or a slipshod, uncaring attitude toward sin

encouraged by thoughts of grace. Perhaps he had personally witnessed a sinner’s attempts to

justify doing so.

Haven’t we all? Don’t we see that in ourselves, where we pause for just a moment before

pursuing a temptation that passes before our eyes or our minds – and the thought in that

moment of pause is, “God will forgive me anyway”? Lord, have mercy, for the times where

we have treated Your precious grace and favor so cheaply.

ἡ χάρις, τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ – The articles on these nouns help us view grace and sin almost as powers

or forces at work in a person’s life. Paul will show that these are indeed forces in the

Christian’s life, but they have very specific means and places of operation: God’s grace active

in baptism, sin active in our old Adam. These two will be opposed all the way to v.14. At that



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point Paul’s delineation of the victory of grace over sin concludes and he begins to focus more

on the outcome in the Christian’s life.

πλεονάσῃ -- This is a very picturesque word, meaning to overflow, abound, flood out more and

more. Grace abounding is a good thing, but not at the expense of obedience to God oravoidance of sin, as Paul will show.

v.2: μὴ γένοιτο. οἵτινες ἀπεθάνομεν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, πῶς ἔτι ζήσομεν ἐν αὐτῇ;

By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? [NIV11]

By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? [ESV]

μὴ γένοιτο – This optative with the negative conveys a very vehement tone. Paul smacks down

any suggestion that Christians can still entertain sin in their lives in some way, and still be

faithful to the Lord who bought them. Paul reserves this phrase for ideas or suggestions thatare plainly out of bounds, the sorts of things no sane or honest person would even attempt to

argue – for instance, that God’s law can ever be set aside (3:31), or that unrighteousness can

exist with God (9:14). Some things go against the grain of faith to such an extent that they just

do not deserve to be heard. We should feel no compunction about putting our foot down as

forcefully as God’s Word does when we encounter similar things.

ἀπεθάνομεν – This aorist conveys the flat fact, which is all the more awe-inspiring because

Paul asserts it so strongly. This is no mere picture, no symbol, no metaphor. This is the cold,

hard fact – as real as it gets.

v.3: ἢ ἀγνοεῖτε ὅτι, ὅσοι ἐβαπτίσθημεν εἰς Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν, εἰς τὸν θάνατον αὐτοῦ

ἐβαπτίσθημεν;

Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his

death? [NIV11]

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his

death? [ESV]

Paul makes his point even more striking here by the use of a chiasm. By placing ἐβαπτίσθημεν on the outside of the chiasm and Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν right next to τὸν θάνατον αὐτοῦ on its inner

part, he emphasizes Christ’s death. In regard to Paul’s overall thrust in this context about our

being dead to sin, Christ’s death is the most salient point about Him. This is not to downplay

or degrade His active obedience – for His passive obedience would not have had anything to

offer had not His active obedience been perfect and unbroken – but rather Paul’s point will be



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that dying means one is done with sin. Death is a separation – of body and soul, of the one who

dies from those who care for him – and it is no less a separation here, in Paul’s view of things.

The Apostle will develop this idea more in verse 4, and in the verses that follow.

ἀγνοεῖτε – Of course they knew. They had heard from Paul, or other apostles, or others taught by apostles, had taught them. St. Paul is reminding them of something they already had learned

so they deepen and grow in their understanding. This word here has a similar tone to Christ’s

“Have you never read?” that He directs to the Pharisees when they find fault with His

disciples’ eating grain out of the field, for instance (Mark 2:23-28).

ἐβαπτίσθημεν – The passive is hugely significant here. We did not baptize ourselves, nor was

it our idea. Baptism is something that happens to us; it is done by another, by Christ Himself.

As John Chrysostom once observed, “The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, dispenseth all,

while the priest lends his tongue and affords his hand.”1 It is my hand that pours the water on

the one being baptized, and my mouth that speaks the words of the baptismal formula, but it is

Christ’s command and promise that makes baptism sure and certain. His Word makes baptism

what it is, for without the Word we have only ordinary water. Baptism is not a work of man,

but a work of God. Everything important about baptism is accomplished by God, and God

alone. Here the fanatical spirits and those who persist in denying baptism’s power have things

exactly backwards. Baptism is not primarily an act of obedience to God. It is that, for Christ

Himself commanded it (Matt. 28:18-20), but that is not the primary purpose of baptism. It is a

means of grace through which sinners are united with Christ, made holy by His death, and

raised to new life with Him.

St. Paul says “we were baptized.” The first person plural excludes no one in the Christian

church. Plainly Paul assumes that every Christian will be baptized, barring those few

extraordinary circumstances that prevent administering baptism. The normal course of events

for someone who becomes a Christian is that they are baptized – often immediately (e.g. the

jailer of Philippi in Acts 16).

There is no indication that St. Paul means anything here other than applying water in the name

of the Triune God. This is not baptism as metaphor for suffering or initiation. Such uses occur

in Scripture, but this is not one of them. An example of the former is Jesus’ saying that He had

a baptism to undergo, along with casting fire on the earth (Luke 12:49-50). (Any attempt to

treat baptism as a metaphor for initiation that looks to the New Testament for evidence will

1 NPNF vol.XIV, p.326.



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inevitably end up drawing on water baptism, because baptism with water in the name of the

Triune God is the sacrament of initiation. Others may try to view the reference to baptism here

as baptism in or by the Spirit, but this reads into the text something that it does not contain.

Thinking of water baptism and Spirit baptism as separate is a false antithesis. Jesus Himself

explicitly connects the two in John 3:5. Baptism with water is no mere symbol — 1 Pe 3:21,Titus 3:5 (which also mentions the Holy Spirit), Acts 2:38 (which also mentions the Holy Spirit

being given along with water baptism), among many other passages, testify that water baptism in

the name of the Triune God forgives sins, grants eternal life, and effects the inner change from

unbelieving enemy of God to loved and believing child of God. Baptism is most definitely not a

symbol — it’s God’s working in a person’s heart through means He has chosen and promises to

use. The Spirit is given along with water baptism because the Word applied to the sinner along

with the water constitutes baptism, and the Word and the Spirit are never separate. The name of

the Triune God, as well as Jesus’ command to baptize and His promises to grant forgiveness,

life, and salvation to those who are baptized, make baptism the precious and powerful thing that

it is.

Nor is there any indication whatsoever here of an age limit. St. Paul places no asterisks on this

statement, saying, “We were baptized – only those who consented to it,” or, “We were

baptized – only those above the age of seven, or eleven, or who had given their lives to the

Lord Jesus.” He simply says (twice, in fact), “We were baptized.” All of us, from the greatest

to the least, for all need His grace and all can have faith. Christ died for all. He rose for all. He

makes the fruit of His suffering, death, and resurrection available to all in baptism. Those who

withhold baptism from infants and children are violating the express will of the Lord for His

little ones. They would be better off baptizing themselves, in a manner of speaking, with a

millstone around their necks -- right down to the sea floor (Matt 18:6,10).

εἰς Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν – “All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed your selves with

Christ” (Gal 3:27), St. Paul says. To be baptized is to have all of Jesus’ holiness, righteousness,

and perfection for your very own. It covers your sins and your sinfulness so that they are seen

no more. It is no coincidence that the saints in heaven wear white robes (Rev 7:9). Baptism

takes only an instant – a little water applied and a few of God’s words spoken – but its benefit

is as precious as Christ Himself, because it brings Christ Himself. Its effects are eternal. They

begin in time for the one who is baptized, and they never cease into eternity, because they are

based on the Son of God and the redemption He won for us.

v.4: συνετάφημεν οὖν αὐτῷ διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος εἰς τὸν θάνατον, ἵνα ὥσπερ ἠγέρθη

Χριστὸς ἐκ νεκρῶν διὰ τῆς δόξης τοῦ πατρός, οὕτως καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐν καινότητι ζωῆς

περιπατήσωμεν.



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We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was

raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. [NIV11]

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised

from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. [ESV]

The second half of verse 4 sews up St. Paul’s logic beautifully: If we are baptized, we are baptized into Christ’s death. If we are baptized into His death, we are buried with Him. If we

are buried with Him, we rise with Him to new life. Thus, to be baptized into Christ means that

we are raised to newness of life in His name, based on the enduring results of His suffering and

death, by the power of His imperishable resurrection from the dead.

Συνετάφημεv – Paul strengthens our identification with the Christ who died for us with this

word, and in the process he strengthens our faith. So complete is our identification with the

Lord that we shared His tomb, because He shares our humanity. Our being baptized into His

death is not a metaphor, a picture, or a symbol – it is the literal, spiritual reality; so much so, in

fact, that we were buried along with Him too. Spiritual realities are realities too, and no less

real for being unseen. Col 2:12 uses the same word in the same context, discussing baptism.

διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος – This preposition plus the genitive indicates means or instrument,

which fits very well here. Baptism is God’s chosen means to kill our flesh to death and raise us

back to new life. This is the means by which we were buried with Christ – because we are

baptized into Him. We are joined inseparably to Him, and God uses our baptism to accomplish

it.

εἰς τὸν θάνατον – The article on θάνατον is noteworthy. This is the death above all other

deaths, the death which alone pays the infinite debt of sin in the sight of the infinite God –

namely, Christ’s death. For us there is no other death that matters so much – not even our own.

Everyone has a death coming sooner or later, but only Christ’s death atones for sin and grants

life to the believer.

ἠγέρθη – Scripture says that Christ raised Himself from the dead, as well as the Father raising

Him (see John 10:18, “I have authority to take [My life] up again” as an instance of theformer), but the passive fits St. Paul’s line of thought here. He is drawing a comparison

between Christ and us. We do not raise ourselves to newness of life; God does. Thus it is

fitting for Paul to speak of Christ’s being raised, although he could have spoken actively and

still been correct.



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διὰ τῆς δόξης τοῦ πατρός – Again we encounter διὰ + genitive. This signals means or

instrument. The Father’s glory was the way that Christ was raised from the dead, we are told.

In Ephesians 1:19-20 it is God’s mighty power which raised Christ, and yet there is no

contradiction. This is a fitting reminder that God’s essence and attributes are one. His holiness,

His glory, His omnipotence, His knowledge, and so on, are in practice all one, although theymay be distinguished for the sake of clear teaching. “Our God is a consuming fire” (Deut 4:24,

Hebr 12:29). “All His works are done in truth” (Ps 33:4).

οὕτως is a big, dark equals sign between the two halves of St. Paul’s comparison. It is meant to

equate them as closely as their respective meanings will allow.

ἐν καινότητι ζωῆς περιπατήσωμεν – NIV renders this as “we may live a new life”, which is

perfectly serviceable and conveys the meaning sufficiently. However, it lacks some of the

poetry, and certainly some of the concrete imagery, that St. Paul flourishes here. KJV and

those who follow in its train, such as ESV, NASB, NKJV, and even NRSV, render more

literally: “that we may walk in newness of life.” This phrase captures the exhilarating newness

to which we have been called in Christ.

Καινότητι denotes a newness in nature, versus a newness in time (new as succeeding the old).

This is a totally unfamiliar, unexpected, different, and delightful newness – never seen before.

As the advertisers say, it is truly “new and improved!” Life itself is new, because now we are

assured of eternal life in heaven, as well as a completely new and different way of life in this

world! Everything is brand new for us! We have been born again into Him who is the Way, the

Truth, and the Life – nothing compares with that! “He who was seated on the throne said, “I

am making everything new!” (Rev 21:5)

Perhaps, like me, you are longing for the days of summer to return again. One of my favorite

times of the entire year is a still, calm summer’s morning. To inhale the cool air, perfumed

with the scent of morning, unbesmirched by exhaust or noise; to hear nothing but the singing

of the birds greeting the new day, and perhaps a breeze ruffling the leaves; to gaze on the

golden glory of the rising sun–

that distills a peace of mind hard to acquire at any other point

in the day. We too have a new dawn, but it is not the dawn of another day in a sinful world.

Just another morning cannot hold a candle to what we have in Christ. Our dawn is the

Dayspring from on high, the Morning Star who rises in our hearts, as “we, who with unveiled

faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever -increasing

glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Cor 3:18).



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Or we might compare it to opening one’s eyes and inhaling the first deep, conscious breath

after years in a coma. Imagine what your breathing would sound like after you had not been

awake to hear it in years. Imagine how the light would seem to glare into your eyes, and yet

would still be welcome (even the fluorescent lights of a hospital room), because it would

impress on you just how alive and capable you really were again. We have been given life inplace of death by Christ our Lord. We have been united with Him, and we will never be the

same.

Περιπατήσωμεν – To walk is a common metaphor in Scripture for the way one conducts

oneself or lives one’s life. This makes quite a bit of sense, if you think about it. You can tell a

lot about people by the way they walk: whether they are fit or infirm, in a hurry or relaxed,

sorrowful or happy, and so on. Your walk characterizes you, reveals your personality. So it is

with our walk in Christ. The way we approach life, our attitudes, our assumptions, our hopes

and wants and needs – they are all different now that we are baptized into Christ. St. Paul will

speak more passively in the following verses until v.12, where he will once again revisit a

more active conception of the Christian’s life as resisting sin and slaving for righteousness.

This is only fitting. It is who we are now – who Christ has made us. “Since, then, you have

been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right

hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life

is now hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:1-3).

Do we still have that same sense of newness, of renewal, in connection with our baptism? Or is

the news that we have been washed in its cleansing flood old hat by now? How much is the

Small Catechism’s Baptism Fourth a part of our daily lives? If we the shepherds do not think

of it, the odds plummet dramatically that our sheep will also do so. How can we encourage

appreciation for this wonderful gift?

5 εἰ γὰρ σύμφυτοι γεγόναμεν τῷ ὁμοιώματι τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως

ἐσόμεθα·

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. [NIV11]

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. [ESV]

Σύμφυτοι – Etymologically this word denotes a “planting together” or “planting with” (συμ +

φύω), and then figuratively extended it comes to mean “united with, joined with.” One almost

wishes that more translations had opted to retain a more literal meaning here. It fits well with



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St. Paul’s emphasis on burial and resurrection. It also recalls our Lord’s words about the seed

that falls to the ground to produce many seeds (Jn 12:24), as well as St. Paul’s description of

the risen Christ as the “firstfruits of them that slept” (I Cor 15:20). As it stands, “united” is a

perfectly acceptable translation. It expresses the meaning well.

Γεγόναμεν – The perfect tense is noteworthy here. It conveys that the reality which we have been given in the past is still ours now; that the effects of our baptism persist and carry on into

the future, and indeed into eternity.

ὁμοιώματι – St. Paul refers to our being united to the “likeness” of Christ’s death. This is

because Christ’s death has several crucial differences from ours. Christ died for sin that was

not His own; He had no sin to die for. His death was a substitutionary atonement, whereas our

death is the fitting result of sin (Paul will go more into that later in the chapter). Our death

atones for no one and rescues no one, but Christ’s does both for us.

ἀλλὰ -- Lenski calls this ἀλλὰ continuative and climacteric, instead of adversative, which is

how ἀλλὰ is typically translated. That understanding works well in the line of Paul’s thought.

This conjunction leads us on and vaults us up to the higher level of St. Paul’s conclusion,

where he wishes to take us, instead of barring the way and turning us back. And the place that

Paul wishes to direct us is to our participation in Christ’s resurrection.

ἐσόμεθα – This future (always a tense full of hope and promise for the believer) arrives last in

the phrase for emphasis. “But God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me

to himself” (Ps 49:15).

6 τοῦτο γινώσκοντες ὅτι ὁ παλαιὸς ἡμῶν ἄνθρωπος συνεσταυρώθη, ἵνα καταργηθῇ τὸ σῶμα

τῆς ἁμαρτίας, τοῦ μηκέτι δουλεύειν ἡμᾶς τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ·

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 — [NIV11]

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. [ESV]

Γινώσκοντες – γινώσκω is typically used for knowledge gained experientially, what we have

discovered to be true through our own experiences. This fits well here, because we can

experience for ourselves that we are different because we are Christians. The difference may be

felt more strongly or may be more readily apparent in those who come to the faith later in life,

but the difference is there even for those who were baptized into Christ at a few days or weeks

old. We do not approach life with the mindset of the world, but rather with the mind of Christ.



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Our desires, our hopes, our thoughts are all at odds with the world, insofar as they spring from

our new man, not our flesh (for our flesh is in tune with the world and opposed to Christ).

Contrast with εἰδότες in v.9, where the “knowing” is connected with Christ, who “though you

have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in

Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy” (I Pe 1:8-9).

ὁ παλαιὸς ἡμῶν ἄνθρωπος – παλαιὸς denotes old in time, something former, which for those

who are baptized is exactly right. You are not that same person you were after you are

baptized. Now you are in Christ.

συνεσταυρώθη – Paul continues to drive home our identification with Christ. It is as strong as

if we were nailed to the cross with Him. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer

live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who

loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal 2:20). This is a total, radical break with sin and all its blandishments, all its lures, all its compulsions.

καταργηθῇ -- This is a colorful, expressive word. It means to put out of commission, to nullify,

dismantle, bring to nothing. When your favorite pro quarterback carves up the defense for a

long gain or a touchdown, or orchestrates a drive that dismantles the defense, that’s καταργέω.

This is what Christ has done with our sinful nature: made it of none effect, scuttled it, gutted it,

by our incorporation into His mighty death and resurrection.

τὸ σῶμα τῆς ἁμαρτίας – This phrase is a rather Hebraistic way of speaking. We would tend to

say “the sinful body” rather than using a construct idea. “The body of sin” can simply be a

reference to the sinful nature, as Panning, for example, takes it (99). But perhaps more could be

said. The body is necessarily the instrument of sin, because sin lives in us. The corruption of

the sinful nature commandeers the body to carry out its sinful desires. For example, greed and

violence require the use of hands. Foul language, coarse joking, false teaching, and blasphemy

all require the use of tongue, teeth, lips and vocal cords. Feet wander away from God’s house

and into places better not frequented. The Sixth Commandment, too, has its abuses that

necessitate the participation of one’s physical body -- and so on through all the members of the

body. Sin’s poison courses through every element of the human frame, inclining it to disobey

its Creator and actively making use of it in pursuit of sin. Hence St. Paul’s cry at the end of

chapter 7 – “Who will rescue me from this body of death?”

Our world is under the mistaken impression – and perhaps we unwittingly buy into it at times

– that sin is something purely spiritual, as if it doesn’t involve our physical bodies at all. It can



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be convenient to the sinful nature at times to operate with the Gnostic’s assumed divorce

between spiritual and physical. We want to leave our sin in the spiritual realm, where we are

not confronted with its visible effects or its true horror, and go on with our lives in the physical

world, which after all is what we can see and sense. I can get drunk, the sinner reasons, and it

won’t hurt my soul. I can fornicate or steal or break any of the other commandments, and itwon’t affect my eventual destination in eternity. Those who do so forget our Lord’s warning

that “if your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to

lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell” (Matt 5:29). Far

better and more profitable to use the parts of one’s body in service to righteousness, as St. Paul

will go on to discuss later on, especially in vv.12, 19, and 22.

It’s interesting that here St. Paul refers to the “body”, which is, as we know, a unit, and later

he refers to the individual “parts” (μέλη). Here he conceives of the body as the whole, the

totality, the place where sin finds its scope and realm of activity, so he speaks of “the body”.Later as he begins to speak of the numerous lusts or urges sin produces, and the Christian’s

work in resisting them and living for God, he speaks of “parts.”

τοῦ μηκέτι δουλεύειν – The articularized infinite with the genitive denotes purpose – here, a

negated purpose. No more will we serve sin. We are done with that master, and another owns

us now, who has paid for us with His holy, precious blood, and His bitter sufferings and death.

7 ὁ γὰρ ἀποθανὼν δεδικαίωται ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας.

because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. [NIV11]

For one who has died has been set free from sin. [ESV]

ὁ ἀποθανὼν – Many interpret this as does NIV here, that this participle is used in an

impersonal or a general way. A general truism or rule of thumb would then be expressed here,

is the line of thought. While it’s possible to understand the participle this way, we should note

that Paul could have used an indefinite pronoun, but he didn’t. The singular with its article is

striking. It almost sounds as if he’s referring to one specific person who has died. The most

natural and likely candidate for that person would be the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one

whose death atones for the sins of the world. He is the appointed sin-bearer for all who would

be saved. To Him alone the Scriptures direct us as the source of the perfection God demands.

This, coupled with the reference to our dying with Christ in the start of the following verse,

would seem to suggest that the one who died is Christ.



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δεδικαίωται – This is a familiar word in the epistle to the Romans that has a slightly different

shading here. Instead of the forensic declaration of a sinner’s righteousness before God, which

becomes the sinner’s own through trusting in Christ, here this word has more of the idea that

the one having died no longer has to answer for the sin, or is no longer answerable to the sin

(Bruce 131). Again, the identification of Christ as “the one who died” fits here. Christ had toanswer for our sin. This is the heart of His substitutionary atonement, of God’s great exchange.

“God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the

righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21). Jesus suffered the punishment and died the death we

deserved, so that we might go free. But once He laid down His life to pay for the sin of the

world, the debt was paid. He stamped it “paid in full” with His own blood (Jn 19:30). The

burden of sin was left behind for Him. That severance or separation from sin will be crucial to

St. Paul’s argument as he develops its implications for us in the following verses.

8 εἰ δὲ ἀπεθάνομεν σὺν Χριστῷ, πιστεύομεν ὅτι καὶ συζήσομεν αὐτῷ,

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. [NIV11]

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. [ESV]

Πιστεύομεν -- In Paul’s letters πιστεύω often seems to have a creedal or confessional ring to it.

See for example I Thess 4:14, or 1 Cor 15:11. This is not the “Well, I think…” that is aired so

often nowadays, where personal opinion masquerades as God’s inspired Word. This is what the

entire Church believes and confesses, and will believe and confess long after St. Paul, and you

and I, have returned to our dust. The third plural shows that our faith involves both our personal

trust in the gospel, and the content which our trust grabs on to. What the Apostle taught was nothis own idea, not “cleverly invented stories”, but rather a sharply defined body of doctrine that

was to be preserved and held as the content of one’s personal trust. Central to that doctrine –

indeed, to Christianity itself – is the resurrection of Christ from the dead. “If Christ has not been

raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith” (I Cor 15:14).

Συζήσομεν, v.8 – a joyful, ringing affirmation. Note the future – in Scripture that’s a guarantee,

an unbreakable promise. It is as good as done in God’s eyes.

αὐτῷ, v.8 – not only will we live, it will be with Christ. We will be with the One who saved

us, and into whose death and resurrection we are baptized. This will be a very direct, personal,

and intimate being with Him. Nothing will intervene any more – not time, not space; not sin,

guilt, shame, or death, or the lies of the devil. What the apostles were permitted to experience

on that first Easter evening will be ours, and for all eternity. “On the evening of that first day of

the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus

came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them



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his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord” (Jn 20:19-20). “And I

– in righteousness I will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your

likeness” (Ps 17:15).

9 εἰδότες ὅτι Χριστὸς ἐγερθεὶς ἐκ νεκρῶν οὐκέτι ἀποθνῄσκει, θάνατος αὐτοῦ οὐκέτικυριεύει.

For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has

mastery over him. [NIV11]

We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has

dominion over him. [ESV]

Κυριεύει, v.9 – Note the present tense. We were dominated by sin before Christ came, locked

up under the law that condemned us (cf. Gal 3:22-26), afraid of death and tyrannized by the

devil, who holds the power of death and exercises it through the power of the lie anddeception, by enticing us to sin and then accusing us (Hebr 2:14-15).

Death has mastery over every human being, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of

God” (ch 3:23), and “the soul who sins is the one who will die” (Ez 18:4). When death calls,

we go – ready or not, prepared or not. That is why humanity is so afraid of death, and why

people go to such great lengths not to confront the fact of their own mortality. The petition in

the Great Litany that we be delivered from “dying suddenly and unprepared” strikes us as

increasingly prudent and sensible in a world where jetliners fly into skyscrapers, killer viruses

rampage across continents, and lone gunmen stalk into elementary schools and movie theaterskilling as they go.

The reason death is so inevitable is because of sin. St. Paul spent most of chapter 5 homing in

on this very truth. For we who “stand beside the dying”, in the words of Christian Worship ’s

Prayer of the Church for Lent, who comfort those who grieve (yet not as the world grieves) –

to say nothing of the tragedies we ourselves may have endured in our personal lives – nothing

could be clearer than the fact that sin brings death. This ineluctable equation is as rigid as iron,

and just as inescapable. Our corrupt natures have locked the iron shackles of sin onto us, and

the key was thrown away long ago, in the Garden of Eden. It disappeared along with Adam

and Eve into the bushes as they tried in vain to hide from the all-seeing God. All the sinner’s

bravado, all the boasts and bluster and braggadocio, cannot cover this simple fact: that sin

brings death.



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Yet just as clear, if not clearer from the Scriptures and the liturgy, is the fact that Christ has

conquered death in His resurrection from the dead. Why else would the pastor and

worshipper s chant, “Hasten to save me, O God; O Lord, come quickly to help me,” in the

opening versicles of Matins – unless Christ were truly risen from the dead and ready to come

to our aid? Why else would the pastor address the people with, “The Lord be with you,” andthe people respond, “And also with you,” in the service of the Sacrament, if He were not truly

alive? The Holy Communion itself presupposes Christ’s resurrection from the dead, because

how else could He continue to give Himself to us, week after week, century after century, if He

were not truly risen from the dead? “Whenever we eat this bread and drink this cup, we

proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes” (I Cor 11:26), but we also proclaim His

resurrected, gracious, living and forgiving presence among us as well. The Sacrament of the

Altar gives us fresh courage and renews our faith to face our own final walk through the valley

of the shadow of death, because the One who died for us and rose again will not let us walk

down that valley alone. No one can go with us except Him – the Living One, who was dead

and behold, He lives forever and ever. It is this resurrection of Christ that we are baptized into,

which gives baptism its distinctive power and blessing.

10 ὃ γὰρ ἀπέθανεν, τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ ἀπέθανεν ἐφάπαξ· ὃ δὲ ζῇ, ζῇ τῷ θεῷ.

The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. [NIV11]

For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. [ESV]

Paul is setting up the comparison he will drive home in the next verse. He is holding up Christ

as our pattern of dying and living – dying to sin, living to God.

ἐφάπαξ, v.10 – cf. Hebr 7:27, 9:12, 10:10. If there were a Hall of Fame for Greek adverbs,

ἐφάπαξ would certainly be in it. This word gloriously and conclusively nails down the finality

of Christ’s sacrifice – Once! For all! For all time! “It is finished!”

11 οὕτως καὶ ὑμεῖς λογίζεσθε ἑαυτοὺς εἶναι νεκροὺς μὲν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ ζῶντας δὲ τῷ θεῷ ἐν

Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ.

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. [NIV11]

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

Note the balanced μὲν… δὲ construction, which still adds a further clause on the end. It is not

perfectly parallel (which St. Paul was certainly capable of writing), and this is by theological

design. ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ must be there. Our life, our eternal life we possess right now, comes

only from the most intimate connection with our Head, the risen Christ Jesus – and that



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connection only comes through faith. We cannot be living to or for God, in any true or

meaningful sense of the term, without faith in Christ. Period.

Λογίζεσθε – This is the first imperative in the book of Romans. Everything up till now has

been proclamation and declaration – of law, of gospel. Here, St. Paul uses this imperative, anddoes not just flatly say, “you are dead and alive”, because sin still clings to our members. It

sleeps, awaiting the prodding of the law to awaken to snarling, vicious life. The flesh still tries

its level best to deceive you, lie to you, betray you, and in general exert itself to the utmost to

peel you away from God, if that were possible. We are not yet in heaven. Our flesh still clings

to us. Thus Paul says, “Reckon – consider.”

Perfectionism, although a beguiling dream, is nothing more than the setup for failure in this

world, and horror and gnashing of teeth in the next. How can this be? How can sin still live in

Christ’s own, even though they deplore its unwelcome presence in their lives and ferventlywish it would be otherwise? Scripture does not explain this in perhaps just the way we would

like. Still, we do know a number of facts for sure. Our flesh still clings to us in this life.

Christ’s righteousness covers all our sinfulness through faith in Him until the consummation of

our adoption as sons. The mystery of the Christian life, and its hard fact, is that even though we

are baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection, we are still tempted and we still stray –

sometimes even to the point of threatening our salvation. Chapter 7 of Romans still follows

chapter 6. Yet Christ’s promises are still true, including all the promises He has attached to

baptism. His blood shed on Calvary still expunges all your sin. His tomb still stands empty.

Death’s power still lies shattered beneath His pierced feet (Ps 8:6, I Cor 15:23-28, Hebr 2:6-8).

ἑαυτοὺς – Each individually is to adopt this view and order his conduct and thoughts

according to it. This is reality, and we should treat it as such.

νεκροὺς…ζῶντας – Note the pairing of thoughts expressed by an adjective and a present

participle; the first is a state, the other is what you do every day, who you are at every moment

of your existence from this point on. “It is not the dead who praise the LORD, those who go

down to silence; it is we who extol the LORD

, both now and forevermore” (Ps 115:17-18).

12 Μὴ οὖν βασιλευέτω ἡ ἁμαρτία ἐν τῷ θνητῷ ὑμῶν σώματι εἰς τὸ ὑπακούειν ταῖς

ἐπιθυμίαις αὐτοῦ,

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. [NIV11]

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. [ESV]



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Βασιλευέτω, v.12, vs. κυριεύει, v.9 – We are not to let sin rule over us, because Christ is Lord

of both life and death. He has overcome our sins by His faithful testimony, His perfect

obedience and His suffering, death, and resurrection. We easily recognize the roots of these

verbs, which helps make Paul’s language vivid here. Since death no longer lords it over us, we

are not to let sin rule us. “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (Jn 8:36) – and weare free! Let’s live like it! This is St. Paul’s encouragement here. Kings die and are deposed;

the LORD of hosts, the conqueror of sin and death, is not and cannot be conquered. We might

think of Isaiah 14:9-11, which vividly pictures the fall of the king of Babylon, as a picture of

this. Also see Job 12:7-25, which praises God’s mighty ways even over the strong and

powerful of the earth; also see Ps 146:3-10.

ἐπιθυμίαις, v.12 – Strong’s characterizes this word as denoting “the active side of vice”,

which is a helpful picture. This is roaming around, restlessly looking for the next buzz, the next

score, the next hit of a particular chemical, or even the jolt of pleasure or warm glow one feels

in indulging in one’s favorite pet temptation. This is looking for whatever will help fill in the

endless craving that eats away at the soul, and that only, finally, can be truly satisfied by the

triune God. TDNTA describes this word’s semantic range as encompassing the ideas of

“impulse, lust, or anxious self -seeking. It shows us what we really are. Even after the reception

of the Spirit, it remains a real danger.”2 For all of us, and especially those with what might be

termed “addictive personalities”, all we can say to TDNTA’s appraisal of ἐπιθυμία’s power is

“yea and amen.” The power of lust, which can lie dormant and sleeping until awakened by

opportunity or goaded by God’s law, must be reckoned with.

This is precisely why St. Paul is urging us to focus on our baptism in Romans chapter 6. Only

in the resurrection of Christ from the dead, which becomes ours through our baptism into Him

and which justifies us (cf. 4:25), can we find a source of power sufficient to overcome the lust

monsters that besiege us. This is the value of referring to baptism, and in using Romans 6, in

counseling situations. Those who are struggling with besetting sins, especially in the realm of

the 6th Commandment, often feel hopeless. They despair that they will ever be able to deal with

their sin which is threatening to ruin their lives and their salvation, or even to mount an

effective, consistent resistance to it. Such struggling sinners need some light at the end of the

tunnel. They need to hear that they are not powerless, and not because of themselves, but

2 Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament . Grand

Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans. Electronic edition; .



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because of Jesus’ all-powerful resurrection. The message of Romans chapter 6 is that you can

say No to sin, and you can make it stick, if you’re baptized.

13 μηδὲ παριστάνετε τὰ μέλη ὑμῶν ὅπλα ἀδικίας τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, ἀλλὰ παραστήσατε ἑαυτοὺς

τῷ θεῷ ὡσεὶ ἐκ νεκρῶν ζῶντας καὶ τὰ μέλη ὑμῶν ὅπλα δικαιοσύνης τῷ θεῷ.Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer

yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of

yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. [NIV11]

Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to

God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments

for righteousness. [ESV]

Παριστάνετε, v.13 – The general idea of this word is to “be present,” which can be discerned

from its etymology (παρα + ίστημι . Thus the meaning can be “offer” or “put at the disposal

of,” which fits well here.

ὅπλα is an interesting word. It can mean either “tool, implement” or “weapon”, depending on

the context. “Tool” or “implement” fits better here, absent a more specifically military

context. It is similar in idea, though not the same vocable, as the armor of God mentioned in

Ephesians 6:13. There the word is πανοπλίαν, the full armor and weapons of the Roman

soldier, which St. Paul uses to picture God’s arsenal for the Christian life. Here, our own body

parts or members are the ὅπλα. God’s armor is always fuller and more comprehensive than

what we offer to His service.

14 ἁμαρτία γὰρ ὑμῶν οὐ κυριεύσει· οὐ γάρ ἐστε ὑπὸ νόμον ἀλλὰ ὑπὸ χάριν.

For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

[NIV11]

For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. [ESV]

Law and sin go together. Even though the law is good and sin is wicked, their effects are often

reciprocal. They work hand in hand to drag the sinner down. “But sin, seizing the opportunity

afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from

law, sin is dead..when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. For sin, seizing the

opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me

to death” (Rom 7:8-11). “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law” (I Cor 15:56).

We need continually to beware of relying on the law to accomplish what only the gospel can,

namely, growth in sanctification and godliness – or we may end up sabotaging our good

intentions and provoking the very sin we seek to put down.



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15 Τί οὖν; ἁμαρτήσωμεν, ὅτι οὐκ ἐσμὲν ὑπὸ νόμον ἀλλὰ ὑπὸ χάριν; μὴ γένοιτο.

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means!

[NIV11]

What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! [ESV]

Paul revisits the idea of continuing in sin under false pretenses, this time recasting the falsehood

in terms of law and grace. He wants to make sure that this pernicious idea does not reappear even

for a moment in his people’s minds. Many times we, too, have to double back in our catechesis

and preaching and deal with issues we have already dealt with. This should not weary us,

because, as Paul says, “it is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a

safeguard for you” (Phil 3:1).

16 οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι ᾧ παριστάνετε ἑαυτοὺς δούλους εἰς ὑπακοήν, δοῦλοί ἐστε ᾧ ὑπακούετε,

ἤτοι ἁμαρτίας εἰς θάνατον ἢ ὑπακοῆς εἰς δικαιοσύνην;

Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves ofthe one you obey — whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which

leads to righteousness? [NIV11]

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of

the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to

righteousness? [ESV]

There is an element of will present in offering yourself to serve something – at least at first. The

modern view that we are little better than animals, products of conditioning and culture, is

necessarily at odds here. Whether it’s college students engaging in meaningless hookups, or

outwardly respectable church members venting their spleens against their fellow Christians (or

their pastor) behind their backs, sin at first is a choice, until the sinner no longer has a choice.

“Anyone who sins is a slave to sin,” Christ says (Jn 8:34). That is what sin does. It infects. It

spreads. Any sin left to fester for long enough will eventually take over before it kills, much as

cancer does the human body.

17 χάρις δὲ τῷ θεῷ ὅτι ἦτε δοῦλοι τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὑπηκούσατε δὲ ἐκ καρδίας εἰς ὃν

παρεδόθητε τύπον διδαχῆς,

But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your

heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. [NIV11] But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart

to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, [ESV]

Paul’s pastoral heart shines through with χάρις δὲ τῷ θεῷ. He does not regard the Roman

Christians as a hireling regards the sheep – merely a source of income, a paycheck, and not

worth sacrificing for or investing himself in. He was genuinely glad that they embraced God’s



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Word – or rather, were embraced by it (Παρεδόθητε) – and he gave thanks for them. Paul

wanted what was best for his people, and that was that they love and follow God’s Word. We

want no less for the people in our congregations, and for the lost in our communities.

Παρεδόθητε – The passive is somewhat surprising for us. This is not how we would speak. Wetalk of entrusting a teaching to someone, not entrusting the person to the teaching. Yet that is

what has been done with us. God’s Word has captivated our will, our desires, our emotions,

and our affections, so that it permeates our whole being. The Word of God is living and active,

and it “leads us in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake” (Ps 23:3). The Scriptures guide

and defend us, because they are the living voice of God and the Spirit’s sword.

τύπον – This word is used in Scripture in John 20:25 for the nail marks in Christ’s hands,

which highlights its most literal meaning, that of “a mark made as the result of a blow or

pressure; mark, trace.”3 We might think of a dent made by the blacksmith’s hammer, or asilversmith’s trademark stamped into an article of his work. From the idea of a mark left by an

impact or an imprint then comes the figurative extensions of “model, copy, image; form, or

pattern; example.” פעם has a somewhat similar idea behind it in Hebrew, although there the

focus tends to be more on time, not on the pattern or shape presented.) St. Peter refers to the

“elders among you” as τύποi, rendered “examples” in NIV, for instance (5:3).

St. Paul’s use of this word implies a very definite form – that since there is a model or pattern,

what falls outside of that is not valid or not an integral part of what the form conveys. Also,

Paul’s use of this word here reminds us that to alter, change, or tinker with the pattern, the

form, too much can render what one hopes to transmit unrecognizable. Here again the warning

is in place to beware of new theological terminology, or even new and innovative uses for old,

tried-and-true terms. If we lose the “form” of sound doctrine, the τύπον, eventually the

doctrine that those terms express and define will be lost too. In our circles we’ve had to rehash

this topic of words versus content quite energetically as we have grappled with the Bible

translation issue. As always, the best and safest course is to adhere strictly to what we have

been given, and do not depart from it. As the Apostle says, “do not go beyond what is written”

(I Cor 4:6).

At the same time, we cannot allow that form of sound doctrine to denigrate into mindless

sloganeering or a pitching back and forth of empty phrases. Forms must be filled with robust,

life-giving content, or our hearers may risk missing the full impact and importance of the

3 BDAG, s.v. τύπον.



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gospel we are trying to convey. The pastor’s lifelong task of study and growth in the Word –

its words, its phrases, its themes, its vocabulary and way of speaking – ties in here.

Concentrated, rigorous study provides us with the Scriptural content to fill in those doctrinal

terms, and to communicate them to our people in all their intended power, beauty, and

elegance. “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good wayis, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls” (Jer 6:16).

18 ἐλευθερωθέντες δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐδουλώθητε τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ.

You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. [NIV11]

and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. [ESV]

ἐδουλώθητε, v.18 – Often we conceive of slavery as something bad or negative, but here

slavery is given a positive connotation by the direct object τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ. Perhaps our

nation’s historical experience with slavery in the South leading up to the Civil War can colorour perception of Paul’s word choice here. Slavery or servitude in the ancient world could be

more of a mixed bag than we necessarily think about. Being a slave is not so bad if one’s

master is good – and what better master can there be than righteousness – than the One who

“has become for us our righteousness, holiness, and redemption” before God?

Note the passives in this verse, both ἐλευθερωθέντες and ἐδουλώθητε. Our liberation from sin

and death is not something that we accomplished on our own; we did not even assist the Lord

in setting us free. Our only involvement in our own salvation and rebirth was as the object of

God’s love and mercy, which He lavished on us in Christ – to be the ones He acted on through

His Word to call us to faith. “It is He that has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His

people, and the sheep of His pasture” (Ps 100:3). “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and

appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last” (Jn 15:16).

Slavery is a total, even totalitarian, concept. One cannot be sort of a slave, kind of a slave, half

a slave. Either you are or you aren’t. This fact has two implications for us as Christians, one

gospel and one law. When you have become the slave of righteousness, of the Righteous One,

you belong to Him, body and soul entire. You were bought and paid for with the holy, precious

blood of Christ. God spared no expense in purchasing you. You were, and are, more valuable

in His eyes than His only-begotten Son – to the extent that He would give His only Son over to

death and shame for you. You are His, and no one and nothing will ever change that! No one

will ever snatch you out of His hand. His love will never leave you nor forsake you. This is the

gospel implication of our slavery to the Lord.



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The law aspect of our slavery to righteousness is that any sin, any wandering from God, no

matter how trivial in the jaded eyes of the world, is an act of rebellion at its very heart, a

violation of the First Commandment. We do not belong to sin any longer. We belong to God

now. Regardless of its origin in fear or in laziness, in lust or in a moment of anger, our sin says

to God: You are not my Master, my Lord. I prefer another. Whether it’s our own desires, ourfears – in short, our curved-in damnable selfishness – or a different, external master such as

alcohol or drugs, worldly wealth and comfort, or the drug of human opinions, we all prefer a

different master than Christ, when left to our own devices.

We were enslaved by the Lord Jesus to righteousness, for the purpose of righteousness, so that

any unrighteousness on our part is rebellion against the God who justifies the wicked through

faith in His Son, and calls things that are not as though they are. When we sin, we’re not acting

in line with what Christ has made us, and thus we are estranged from ourselves. We are still

sinners, it’s true, but at the same time we are His saints. So we plunge again into the healingwaters of baptism as we confess our sins and take comfort that His mercies are new every

morning, and His compassion on our weakness is unfailing.

Thus we might imagine that our old Adam opens his eyes underneath the baptismal waters,

and for a few brief moments before he dies again for that day he sees Martin Luther’s old

Adam drowning next to him, and yours, and mine – all of Christendom, the whole household

of God, dying to ourselves as merely our sinful selves, the collective weight of our faults and

our foolishness and our rebellion against God, and rising to new life and a new day in Christ.

We all share one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Each of us is made new in Christ. We belong to

Him, and sin will no longer be our master – even if it feels on some days like a very likely

threat that it will. We have a different Master now. We take orders from Him who died and

rose again, and brought us with Him into His kingdom.

v.19: Ἀνθρώπινον λέγω διὰ τὴν ἀσθένειαν τῆς σαρκὸς ὑμῶν. ὥσπερ γὰρ παρεστήσατε τὰ

μέλη ὑμῶν δοῦλα τῇ ἀκαθαρσίᾳ καὶ τῇ ἀνομίᾳ εἰς τὴν ἀνομίαν, οὕτως νῦν παραστήσατε τὰ

μέλη ὑμῶν δοῦλα τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ εἰς ἁγιασμόν.

I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to

offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer

yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. [NIV11]

I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once

presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, sonow present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. [ESV]



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καὶ τῇ ἀνομίᾳ εἰς τὴν ἀνομίαν – Note that Paul used a similar construction in 1:17 (ἐκ

πίστεως εἰς πίστιν, “from/out of faith to faith”). This expresses totality and encourages as

comprehensive or broad a view as we can muster, whether of faith in 1:17 or lawlessness here.

Ἀνθρώπινον – Paul says he is speaking as people commonly talk, in an everyday way (to takea cue from NIV’s somewhat periphrastic translation), in order that they take his point as fully

as possible. He could have talked over their heads, but it was better in his eyes that they

understand God’s will. We do well to imitate that example.

ἀσθένειαν, v.19 – This word may handily be defined as a “lack of confidence or feeling of

inadequacy”, often used in connection with “weakness in judgment”4. The Roman Christians

may have had problems grasping the totality of their life change from slaves of sin to slaves of

righteousness – or they may have had problems accepting it or assenting to it precisely

because they did understand it. Human nature does not want to acknowledge being a slave ofanyone or anything, and a change from one master to another might not have been felt

positively. Thus St. Paul brings in an illustration to help them apply and be glad for their

newfound master, Christ the Lord.

τῆς σαρκὸς ὑμῶν – This is what would resist Paul’s teaching. The new man is glad to be

instructed and wants to carry out God’s will.

ἀκαθαρσίᾳ, v.19 – For other instances of this word, see Gal 5:19, Col 3:5 (which also has a

reference to “parts”, μέλη), Eph 5:3, 1 Thess 4:7, Rom 1:24, and Eph 4:19. ἀκαθαρσίᾳ has a

definite 6th Commandment connotation to it. This is impurity, pollution, uncleanness brought

on by misuse or abuse of God’s gift of sexuality. The sex drive can exert an almost

unbelievable level of pressure and control on people’s will and actions, and although this

varies from person to person, its brute strength is often underestimated – even in a

hypersexualized, crass, profligate culture such as ours.

We as a nation enjoy playing with fire, even though we don’t entirely grasp the nature of what

we’re manipulating. Very often those who promote gross immorality and shameful vices never

seem to stop and ask themselves what society will actually look like when they achieve their

goals. The answer is slavery – slavery to the basest urges of human nature, slavery that

promises pleasure and fun with no strings attached but delivers only isolation, anomie,

alienation, and deep sadness. In a word, ἀκαθαρσίᾳ’s outcome is slavery to sin. Jesus put it

4 BDAG, s.v. ἀσθένειαν.



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most succinctly when He says, “Whoever sins is a slave to sin” (Jn 8:34). Nowhere perhaps is

this more true than in the realm of the Sixth Commandment, for “he who sins sexually sins

against his own body”, as well as the Lord who bought that body along with the soul (I Cor

6:18-20).

When sin’s power is unchecked and it exerts ruthless control in a person’s life, the only

outcome can be death. Has it ever occurred to you to wonder why, with so much prosperity, so

much medical, psychiatric, and psychological help available, and opportunities and devices for

human leisure and amusement perhaps more abundant than at any time in history, that suicide

rates seem to be climbing? Why would this be, unless God were no longer in the picture for an

increasing number of Americans, and everything that promised you security and happiness no

longer does so?

ἁγιασμόν – The –μόν suffix denotes a result or product. A holy or righteous life is what God

desires, the fruit He wishes to see. Our inability to provide it perfectly means we still have

scope for His steadfast grace in our lives. Indeed, our whole lives are a learning that our won

strength is so small, and His so vast – as vast as His love for us.

20 ὅτε γὰρ δοῦλοι ἦτε τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ἐλεύθεροι ἦτε τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ.

When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. [NIV11]

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. [ESV]

Everyone serves someone. Those who think that they can be totally free, their own masters, beholden to no one, are merely fooling themselves. Paul emphasizes that thought again in this

verse. Of course, as Lutherans, this is not a new concept for us. “ No one can serve two masters,”

our Lord points out (Matt 6:24), and Luther echoed that foundational teaching with his great

treastise on The Bondage of the Will . We have an unfree will, both before and after conversion.

The difference is, after conversion we willingly accept and love our servitude to God – for this is

what we were created and redeemed to do.

21 τίνα οὖν καρπὸν εἴχετε τότε; ἐφʼ οἷς νῦν ἐπαισχύνεσθε, τὸ γὰρ τέλος ἐκείνων θάνατος.

What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things

result in death! [NIV11]

But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For

the end of those things is death. [ESV]

Τίνα καρπὸν εἴχετε -- St. Paul bluntly asks what the outcome was – the results, the fruit. Not

what the thrill was, or the buzz, or the high; not what did you hope to gain (namely, all of God’s



25

good gifts, without acknowledging His Word or confessing His Son); not what did the devil

promise you as an easy payout when you followed along with his simple plan (as he tried with

our Lord in Matthew chapter 4) – what did you actually gain.

People are prone to what has been dubbed “magical thinking”. This consists of preferring to

foresee the outcome of something as we would prefer it to be, rather than it actually is. We see

numerous examples of this around us every day. The chronically tardy engage in magical

thinking when they figure that thirty minutes will suffice to drive to work, because they managed

to pull into the parking lot on two wheels at thirty-one minutes once in their lives, when the drive

really takes forty minutes or more. We might think of the young man who’s determined to make

the next young woman he sees the love of his life, regardless of her willingness to be pursued or

caught; or the one who cannot seem to see his own faults and character flaws, or who even

defends them. We engage in magical thinking for ourselves when we judge ourselves by our

intentions, rather than our results, as the rest of the world does. Those of us who minister to

inmates or the incarcerated may be especially familiar with the tropes of magical thinking,although we are mistaken if we consider ourselves personally to be above them.

That’s because magical thinking is part of being human. Sin above all brings this on, in things

human and especially in relation to God. It deludes us to think that we can hold on to our sin and

somehow be holy and righteous in God’s sight. Our sinfulness makes it logical to us that what

pleases the Creator is what we choose to offer Him, rather than what He tells us is good in His

Word. Our self-chosen works stink as highly in God’s nostrils as they are praiseworthy in our old

Adam’s eyes. Our corrupt nature deceives us with the Pharisee’s dream of outward purity and

rectitude while our hearts wander far and wide, indulging in whatever catches our sinful fancy.

To appear upright in the eyes of the world while still giving ourselves permission to live as we please is the ultimate goal of the flesh. Outwardly good is good enough, we reason, and certainly

no one – not even God – can tell us otherwise.

St. Paul wishes to ruthlessly rip away any such delusions here. He lays the question squarely on

them – to borrow a colloquial phrase: “How’s that working out for ya?” Like a splash of cold

water in the face, St. Paul wants the Roman Christians, and us, to be brutally realistic about the

end result of sin. It’s not fun, or a gain in security, status, respect, or anything else positive. The

end result is death. Like an anorexic starlet who is convinced she is getting more fabulous with

every calorie she doesn’t consume, while all the while she starts to resemble more and more a

concentration camp victim, sin leads us on until it finally, inexorably, gives birth to death (cf.

James 1:13-15). This is the progression. There is no way out without Christ.

St. Paul reminds them that that was the road they were on. He says τότε, “then”, implying that

they are not headed for that outcome now. St. Paul does not want them even to consider going

back, or somehow to slide into an unregenerate lifestyle again. The difference between their



26

former and current ways of life is that they have been baptized into Christ. God has intervened

in their lives in a dramatic fashion, rescuing them through their drowning in baptism’s water of

life. Their fruit no longer goes to produce death; now it signifies life instead.

ἐπαισχύνεσθε – Baptism and faith often bring about a revision or revisiting of a person’s past,if they occur later in life. Such a reappraisal or reevaluation can lead a new Christian to

repudiate his or her former ways, and lament or even grieve for previous sins. For those whose

hearts continue to accuse them even after the Holy Spirit has begun to dwell there, the only

cure that will truly salve their guilty conscience and give them the necessary spiritual

perspective is the gospel – what Jesus has done for them, and how He will continue to keep

His promises to them. Central to that message of the gospel becoming the sinner’s personal

hope and trust are the means of grace, among them baptism.

St. Paul, as one gifted with the Spirit and empowered by God for his ministry, knew this abouthuman nature. Baptism affords great comfort and peace for the struggling sinner when its

power and effects are correctly understood. Therefore Paul and the other apostles would often

point Christians back to their baptism as a source of strength and the peace of Christ. For

example, after reeling off a list of those whose sins demonstrate manifest unbelief, Paul has this

to say to the Christians in Corinth: “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed,

you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of

our God” (I Cor 6:11, emphasis added). We, too, were washed with the washing of rebirth and

renewal by the Holy Spirit. We too, have been sanctified and justified, along with all who trust in

Christ. We, too, need to be reminded of that on a daily basis.

As another example of an apostle pointing his flock to their new identity in Christ, take St.

Peter’s words in 1 Pe 4:3: “For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose

to do —living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.” You

have spent enough time, St. Peter gently reminds them. The time to waste one’s life on such

wretchedness is past. That is not who you are now. (Note that in the context of I Pe 4:3, St. Peter

declares that “baptism…now saves you”, 3:21, and then goes on to speak of the Christian’s life

as turning away from sin and living for the will of God, following Christ’s example, in 4:1-2.)

ἐκείνων – One can almost sense St. Paul’s raw disgust and repugnance over sin and its effectsas he spits out this word.

Θάνατος – This word is jammed right up against ἐκείνων for maximum emphasis. There is no

mistaking the ironclad connection between sin and death – not only temporal death, but eternal



27

death in hell is meant here. The parallel phrase in an identical construction at the end of v.22,

ζωὴν αἰώνιον, shows this.

22 νυνὶ δὲ ἐλευθερωθέντες ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας δουλωθέντες δὲ τῷ θεῷ ἔχετε τὸν καρπὸν ὑμῶν

εἰς ἁγιασμόν, τὸ δὲ τέλος ζωὴν αἰώνιον.But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you

reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. [NIV11]

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get

leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. [ESV]

ἐλευθερωθέντες, δουλωθέντες – Note the passives. These impress on us again that conversion

and faith are the work of God the Holy Spirit, “and this not from yourselves…not by works, so

that no one can boast” (Eph 2:8,9). As Luther succinctly puts it in the Small Catechism’s

explanation of the Third Article, “I cannot by my own thinking or choosing believe in Jesus

Christ, my Lord, or come to Him.” We cannot come to the Father on our own. We must be

brought there, like the blind people to whom Christ gave sight, the lame He made to walk, the

lepers He cleansed, those whose demons He drove out, and the dead He raised. All were

utterly stuck in their respective conditions, and no amount of wishing, hoping, or trying was

going to affect that. They all needed Jesus to act on them and help them, for they could not

help themselves – just as we needed Him, and still do.

23 τὰ γὰρ ὀψώνια τῆς ἁμαρτίας θάνατος, τὸ δὲ χάρισμα τοῦ θεοῦ ζωὴ αἰώνιος ἐν Χριστῷ

Ἰησοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. [NIV11]

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

[ESV]

This verse is instantly familiar from frequent use as a proof passage in catechesis and in

preaching. We rightly point to this passage as a wonderfully concise summary of God’s

undeserved love lavished on sinful humanity. It balances humanity’s deadly burden of sin with

God’s openhanded gift of eternal life in Christ. Yet as I think back over the countless times

I’ve heard this passage quoted (or used it myself), I cannot recall a single time where this verse

was connected with the sacrament of baptism. Do we do our catechumens and laypeople a

disservice by emphasizing v.23 apart from the rest of the chapter, severed from its context? We

might be missing out on a valuable opportunity to help our people and catechumens grow in

appreciation of this sacrament if we forget what precedes this verse. In the Arminianized

atmosphere of American Christianity, making a point of linking God’s gift of eternal life in

Christ to baptism is a very valuable testimony. It helps guard us against despising this means



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of God’s grace. Enthusiasm flourishes in the human heart by nature – our own hearts, and our

people’s. Any opportunity we have to put enthusiasm down and refute it should be taken

advantage of. By doing so we place the faith of our people on an objective foundation and

safeguard the simple sheep under our care.

ὀψώνια – Wages are what is due. They are what is right and fair. They need to be paid and

something is not right until they are. Our feverish, driven service to sin netted the wages of

death. Luther often commented that people would work a hundred times harder serving the

devil than they would in serving God. Corrupt human nature is such that it will wear itself out

buying hell and sometimes can scarcely lift a finger in service to God. Despite this, God still

graciously accepts our good works, for the sake of His Son, who washes them in His blood.

For those who do not trust in the Lord Jesus, their wages will be paid out at the end of their

lives – and for eternity.

χάρισμα – Grace is inherently unfair. It consists of getting what you do not deserve: the favor

of God, His approval and love where before you had deserved only wrath and punishment.

Remember that you were “flesh born of flesh”, an “object of wrath”, “without hope and

without God in the world.” Hopelessly mired in a sinful state, we were trapped with no way

out. We were doomed – even if our families were Lutheran, even if we came from a long line

of pastors and church workers, even if we were born into every possible material advantage

from the world’s point of view – we were still doomed. “No one can enter the kingdom of

heaven unless he is born of water and the Spirit” (Jn 3:5). We were pagans – heathens – rank

unbelievers, who hated God, feared Him, resisted Him, and fled Him in our hearts, if not with

the outward motions of our limbs (for those of us baptized as infants). That is what we were.

Our baptism changed all that. Now we are clean, fresh, and pure in God’s sight – clothed in the

righteousness of His only-begotten Son, with whom He is highly pleased, who was baptized to

“fulfill all righteousness” for us at the river Jordan. Like little children just done with bath

time, we are fresh, clean, pure, and holy – wrapped not in a terrycloth towel or robe, but in the

blood and resurrection of our Lord Christ. This precious gift can never be praised too highly or

its benefits over-estimated. Nothing less than eternal life with Christ Himself is its promise,

and the blessing it gives. “Because I live, you also will live” – this promise becomes ours in

baptism.

ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ -- Although this is a common phrase in the New Testament, we do well not

to overlook it. It always calls to mind our status as reborn, justified, beloved children of God

with an active and living trust in Christ. He alone is the payment for our own individual sins.



29

His resurrection guarantees our eternal life in heaven. It always conveys that the Holy Spirit

dwells in us, and that we trust in Christ as our satisfaction before God. It reminds us that our

sins are forgiven for the sake of Christ’s merits, and that the Father lavishes His love and care

on us because we are clothed with His only Son, with whom He is most highly pleased. We

are His temple, His Body, whether awake or asleep.

A bodily reminder is fitting for a sacrament that saves you, body and soul both, by connecting

you to Christ’s bodily resurrection. We are not separate souls and bodies. People are not so

neatly compartmentalized as the Gnostics imagined. We are redeemed both body and soul by

Christ’s physical death, where He underwent the pain of hell for the entire world, and His

bodily resurrection that proclaims that atoning death to be complete. We will emerge from our

graves on the Last Day reunited – body to soul, the Body to its all-glorious Head. These truths

are confessed in the committal rite, but a reminder of them is helpful and instructive for faith

and life at any time.

The sign of the cross provides just such a useful reminder. This time-honored custom is seeing

a modest resurgence in our circles, and this is a good thing. It can easily be incorporated into

catechism instruction. I begin each class with a prayer, and I always say something very

similar to this: “Let’s open our blue catechisms to p.16, Luther’s Evening Prayer. Before we

begin, we’ll have the invocation. You can make the sign of the cross if you wish. This simply

reminds you that you are God’s child, that nothing will ever take you away from Him, and

you’re not ashamed of that fact. If you don’t want to, that’s fine too. No one says you have to.”

Then comes, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”, and there arealways a few who try it out. Not all do, but a few do – and maybe those who don’t will be

more open to it in the future, or more understanding if their fellow WELS Lutherans should

choose to use the sign of the cross on themselves. As Luther observed frequently, we older

people are what we are, but the children of the church are the future. Possibly – just possibly –

if we teach the sign of the cross and its true meaning, the young will get more out of their

baptism. It’s a step in developing a healthy sacramental piety, which is after all our birthright

as Lutheran Christians.

Even if you personally do not practice the sign of the cross or commend its use to your people,

you can still unfold the full, blessed meaning of Romans chapter 6 for your people’s lives – and

I know you do. This chapter deserves frequent, attentive meditation on its truths. I do not think

I shall ever forget the shock I felt while pondering Romans chapter 6 during my seminary

days, and realizing that the baptism that St. Paul explicates and extols so highly – the dying

with Christ, the rising with Him, the complete and utter newness of life that follows the



30

washing with water through the Word – was my baptism too, my personal possession as a gift

from God. Quite honestly, my first thought was, “Wait till everybody else hears about this!” If

you read and meditate on Romans chapter 6, you begin to see what your baptism really means,

every day. It is not a one-time event, completely divorced from the day-to-day grind that you

live in this world. It is how you live the daily grind. As we stand today on the threshold ofLent, we look ahead to another year’s opportunities to connect Christ’s dying and rising with

the lives and eternities of the sheep under our care. May God bless your guidance of His

people in their baptismal vocation of resisting sin and service to Him.

The seas have lifted up, O LORD ,the seas have lifted up their voice;

the seas have lifted up their pounding waves. Mightier than the thunder of the great waters,

mightier than the breakers of the sea —

the LORD on high is mighty.Your statutes stand firm;

holiness adorns your house

for endless days, O LORD.(Psalm 93:3-5)



Bibliography

Bruce, F.F. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: Romans. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids: 1985.

Franzmann, Martin. Concordia Commentary: Romans. Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis:

1968.

Lenski, R.C.H. The Interpretation of St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Augsburg PublishingHouse, Minneapolis: 1961.

Moo, Douglas J. New International Commentary on the New Testament: Romans. Eerdmans,

Grand Rapids: 1996.

Panning, Armin J. The People’s Bible: Romans. Northwestern Publishing House, Milwaukee:

1999.

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, ed. Schaff. Vol XIV: Chrysostom: Homilies on the Gospel of

St. John and Hebrews. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids: 1956.--. Vol. VII: St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Gregory Nazianzen.

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