Skip to main content

United to Christ, or the logic of our baptism (Romans 6:1–14)

 Paul begins with a vehement rejection of the notion that God’s grace gives us a license to sin. What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning, so that grace may increase? (1). By no means! (2a). But on what grounds can he be so categorical? At first sight, logic seems to be on the side of the antinomians, since the more we sin, the more opportunity God will have to display his grace. What counter-logic does the apostle propose? Because the first half of Romans 6 is such a tightly packed argument, it may be helpful to outline it in eight steps or stages.

1. We died to sin. This is the foundation fact of Paul’s thesis. How can we live in what we have died to (2)?

2. The way in which we have died to sin is that our baptism united us with Christ in his death (3).

3. Having shared in Christ’s death, God wants us also to share in his resurrection life (4–5).

4. Our former self was crucified with Christ in order that we might be freed from sin’s slavery (6–7).

5. Both the death and the resurrection of Jesus were decisive events: he died to sin once for all, but he lives continuously unto God (8–10).

6. We must realize that we are now what Christ is, namely ‘dead to sin but alive to God’ (11).

7. Being alive from death, we must offer our bodies to God as instruments of righteousness (12–13).

8. Sin shall not be our master, because our position has radically changed from being ‘under law’ to being ‘under grace’. Grace does not encourage sin; it outlaws it (14).

 

Stott, J. R. W. (2001). The message of Romans: God’s good news for the world (pp. 168–169). InterVarsity Press.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NLT N.T. CHRONOLOGICAL READING PLAN (SEPT-OCT)

  SEPTEMBER   September 24 Mark 1:1a, Luke 1:1-4, John 1:1-18, Matthew 1:1-17, Luke 3:23b-38, Luke 1:5-38    September 25 Luke 1:39-80, Matthew 1:18-25, Luke 2:1-40    September 26 Matthew 2:1-23, Luke 2:41-52, Mark 1:1b-8, Matthew 3:1-12, Luke 3:1-18, Mark 1:9-11,  Matthew 3:13-17, Luke 3:21-22    September 27 Mark 1:12-13, Matthew 4:1-11, Luke 4:1-15, John 1:19–2:25    September 28 John 3:1–4:45, Luke 3:19-20    September 29 Mark 1:14-15, Matthew 4:12-17, Luke 3:23a, John 4:46-54, Luke 4:16-30, Mark 1:16-20,  Matthew 4:18-22, Mark 1:21-28, Luke 4:31-37, Mark 1:29-34, Matthew 8:14-17, Luke 4:38-41, Mark 1:35-39, Luke 4:42-44, Matthew 4:23-25    September 30 Luke 5:1-11, Mark 1:40-45, Matthew 8:1-4, Luke 5:12-16, Mark 2:1-12, Matthew 9:1-8, Luke 5:17-26,  Mark 2:13-17, Matthew 9:9-13, Luke 5:27-32, Mark 2:18-22, Matthew 9:14-17, Luke 5:33-39 October    October 1 John 5:1-47, Mark 2:23-28, Matthew 12:1-8, Luke 6:1-5, Mark 3:...
Post a Comment
Read more

THINGS TO ADD TO OUR FAITH

In Second Peter 1:5-9, Peter addresses his readers who are already believers and encourages them to add certain virtues to their faith. These virtues serve as important steps in their spiritual growth and development. Let's look at each step in more detail: (1) Add goodness to faith (1:5): Peter emphasizes that true faith goes beyond mere intellectual belief or affirmation. It should be accompanied by genuine goodness, which involves transparent trust and ready obedience. This means that believers should actively pursue acts of kindness and righteousness, rather than being passive in their faith. (2) Add knowledge to goodness (1:5): While some knowledge is necessary for faith, Peter urges believers to go beyond the basics. He encourages them to deepen their understanding of God's Word and His ways. A growing knowledge of God's truth is stabilizing and motivating, equipping believers to live in accordance with His will. (3) Add self-control to knowledge (1:6): Knowledge a...
Post a Comment
Read more

NOTES ON ROMANS 6 – JOHN STOTT

  NOTES ON ROMANS 6 – JOHN STOTT United to Christ and enslaved to God (6:1–23) The apostle has been painting an idyllic picture of the people of God. Having been justified by faith, they are standing in grace and rejoicing in glory. Having formerly belonged to Adam, the author of sin and death, they now belong to Christ, the author of salvation and life. Although at one point in the history of Israel the law was added to increase sin (5:20a), yet ‘grace increased all the more’ (5:20b), so that ‘grace might reign’ (5:21). It is a splendid vision of the triumph of grace. Against the grim background of human guilt, Paul depicts grace increasing and grace reigning. What was their criticism? It was not just that Paul’s gospel of justification by grace through faith without works seemed to make the doing of good works otiose. Worse than that, it seemed to stimulate people to sin more than ever. For if, in his understanding of Israel’s story, the law led to an increase of sin, and s...
Post a Comment
Read more