Romans 6:1b-11 (NRSV)
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Chapter 6What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? Verse 2By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Verse 3Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Verse 4Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. Verse 5For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. Verse 6We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. Verse 7For whoever has died is freed from sin. Verse 8But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. Verse 9We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. Verse 10The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. Verse 11So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Devotion
Paul is doing something quite sophisticated in Romans 6. “Should we continue in sin in order that grace may increase?” His rhetorical question anticipates his rejection of such faulty reasoning. “By no means!” comes his forceful response, and then he continues, “How can we who died to sin go on living in it?” Here he shifts from argument to identity. He is not just correcting behavior; he is reminding believers who they are in Christ.
“Do you not know?” He appeals to what they already share—baptism. “Baptized into Christ” is vivid, participatory language. In baptism we are joined to Christ’s death and life, given a new identity as children of God.
In simple terms, Paul is saying: live as who you are—God’s child. Live not of the world, but in the world, shaped by the grace into which you have been baptized.
Prayer
Gracious God, you have claimed us as your children through our baptism. By your grace, free us from sin and make us alive to you. Help us to live each day in the new life you have given us in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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