Bible Studies

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INTRODUCTION. Romans chapter 6 is one of the most important passages in the Bible, if not the most important, that shows that Christians are called, enabled, and required to walk with the victory over all sin. This is good news, very good news! God says these things to transform us, by grace through faith, not to condemn us. This chapter is very special to me. God used this passage to show me that I could have the victory over sin when I cried out to Him for help as a very young Christian. I was 26 years old, but I had only been a born-again Christian for a month, or two. When I became a born-again Christian some sin problems were solved automatically, but there was at least one area where temptation increased. When I cried out to God for help, the first thing that He did (that I know of) was to open up Romans chapter 6 to me.

The New Testament makes it very clear that the victory over sin is far from being automatic or always easy. The world, the flesh (the old man) and the devil and his hosts are against us. Also, large segments of the body of Christ have accepted the idea that we cannot have the victory over in this life, so they cannot give you strong support and encouragement. Many will tell you that we will sin daily in thought, in word, and in deed as long as we live in this world.

If we want to adequately understand a passage, we need to study it verse-by-verse and in context with the rest of that book of the Bible and with the rest of the Bible. I have discussed this super-important chapter in a modified verse-by-verse manner on pages 96-104 in my book, "Holiness and Victory Over Sin: Full Salvation Through the Atoning Death of the Lord Jesus Christ" and in a verse-by-verse manner in Article #s 4-6 in my paper "Twenty-Eight Articles on Holiness and Victory Over Sin" that is on my internet site (Google to Karl Kemp Teaching), and the articles are available individually on this Christian article site (click on my name for a listing of my articles on this site). My goal for this rather short article (a short article is different for me) is to present some super-important highlights from Romans chapter 6 while skipping many of the details.

I am using the New American Standard Bible, 1995 edition. I am using double parentheses (( )) instead of footnotes in this paper, since the format here doesn't permit footnotes. I suggest you skip the double parentheses the first time through. They all deal with cross-references to my other writings for further study on those passages.

ROMANS 6:1, 2. "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase [or abound]? (2) May it never be! ["God forbid" (King James Version, KJV)] How shall we who died to sin still live in it?" Shall we continue to sin? God hates sin and He paid an infinite price in the sacrifice of His Son to give us the victory over sin. We are called to be dead to sinning. In the ideal case we would never sin again after we become born-again Christians. Forgiveness is provided when we repent, if we should sin, but we need to put all the emphasis on appropriating God's sanctifying grace by faith to stop sinning.

One reason the apostle Paul emphasized the call, enablement, and requirement for Christians to be dead to sin and to be "slaves to righteousness" (Rom. 6:19; also see 6:18) in his epistle to the Romans was that some were accusing him of presenting a gospel message that set aside the Law of God and made plenty of room for sin. I'll quote Romans 3:8: "And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), 'Let us do evil that good may come'?" Paul hated that false accusation. The gospel that Paul received from heaven fully deals with the sin problem. In Rom. 2:26, 27 and 8:4, for example, the apostle shows that Christians are called, enabled, and required, to fulfill the requirements of God's moral law (but not the ceremonial law of the Old Testament). And in 1 Cor. 7:19 he says, "Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is keeping the commandments of God." ((Romans 2:26-29 are discussed on page 74 of my book, "Holiness and Victory Over Sin" and in my article "The Christian, the Law, and Legalism, Part 2" on this Christian article site.))

In Romans 6:2-6 the apostle showed HOW we died to sin. I'll quote most of ROMANS 6:6, "...our old self ["man"] was crucified with Him [with Christ], in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin." We should no longer have a "body of sin" and be "slaves to sin." According to Paul's gospel, believers have become united with the Lord Jesus Christ in His atoning death, burial, resurrection and ascension. We are called, enabled, and required to be "slaves to righteousness" (Romans 6:19; also see 6:18). Again, this is good news, very good news! Who wants to be a slave of sin, especially in the light of the fact that judgment day is coming? No true Christian wants to sin (rebel) against God! God hates sin!

ROMANS 6:7. "for he who has died is freed from sin." We know what the apostle meant by "he who has died," since he spoke of this death to sin and the old man through union with the Lord Jesus in His atoning death and resurrection in verses 2-6. In the ideal case those who have died to sin and the old man and who have been born again through appropriating the resurrection life of Jesus, being united with Him through faith, will live as "slaves to righteousness" from that time on. We have been resurrected spiritually, and we will be caught up into the fullness of the eternal life and glory of God at the end of this age.

ROMANS 6:11. "Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus." The KJV and NKJV have "reckon" instead of "consider

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