Romans ~ Part 16

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As I’ve stressed in my previous post, our journey to comprehend the profound significance of Sha’ul’s Letter to the Romans is not just a study but a crucial cornerstone of our faith.

Freedom from Sin ~ Part 1

In a society where negativity prevails, Romans 6:1-11 calls you to be a light in the darkness. This week, actively seek to be a source of encouragement to others in public life. Whether complimenting a stranger, helping someone in need, or simply offering a listening ear, your kind gestures can create positivity. Perhaps set a goal to perform three random acts of kindness this week and share your experience on social media, prompting others to consider how they can add light to their communities, too.

Grace Is No Excuse to Sin

6 ¹ So then, are we to say, “Let’s keep on sinning, so that there can be more grace”? ² Heaven forbid! How can we, who have died to sin, still live in it?

These verses, reiterating what was said in Romans 3:5–8, introduce the theme of chapters 6–8 and are Sha’ul’s answer to all who accuse the Brit Hadasah of offering “cheap grace.” He is more radical than those who merely encourage us to subdue our sinful impulses, for he asserts that our old self and its sinful inclinations have died by being united with the Messiah (vv. 3–6). Dead people do not sin; rather, the dead are “cleared from sin” (v. 7). Chapters 6–8 explore how Believers are to make these truths real in their own lives. On Heaven forbid! Here and at v. 15, see Romans 3:4.

³ Don’t you know that those of us who have been Immersed into the Messiah Yeshua have been Immersed into his death? ⁴ Through immersion into his death we were buried with him; so that just as, through the glory of the Father, the Messiah was raised from the dead, likewise we too might live a new life.

Immersed translates a form of the Greek word “baptizô,” usually transliterated “baptized.” The root meaning of “baptizô” is “dip, soak, immerse” into a liquid so that what is dipped takes on qualities of what it has been dipped in—such as cloth in dye or leather in tanning solution. This is why being Immersed into the Messiah is equated with being united with him (v. 5). These verses support the case that immersion is the preferred form of baptism since baptism is compared here with burial, and burial resembles immersion but does not resemble pouring or sprinkling. [I was sprinkled as an infant but later decided to be immersed. The baptisms I performed were all by immersion.]

Be Dead to Sin

⁵ For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we will also be united with Him in a resurrection like His. ⁶ We know that our old self was put to death on the execution-stake with Him, so that the entire body of our sinful propensities might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷ For someone who has died has been cleared from sin.

Literally, “For the one having died has been justified [or “declared innocent”] from the sin.” The deathbed confession in the Siddur (Jewish Prayer Book) includes the words, “May my death be an atonement for all the sins, iniquities, and transgressions of which I have been guilty against you.” Sha’ul draws on the Jewish tradition that says an individual’s death atones for his sin. He applies it by affirming that our union with the Messiah and His death (vv. 3–6) means that we have effectively died: in union with the Messiah’s death, we died, and that atones for our sin.

 

 

⁸ Now, since we died with the Messiah, we trust that we will also live with Him.

As life is stronger than death, how much more do we trust that we will also live with him!

⁹ We know that the Messiah has been raised from the dead, never to die again; death has no authority over him.

Never to die again. Yeshua raised people from the dead, as did Elijah and Elisha, but they all died again. Yeshua’s resurrection is the firstfruits of a new creation (1 Corinthians 15:20, 23), in which Believers have a share (2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 6:15, Ya’akov 1:18), a new creation from which death has been eliminated (1 Corinthians 15:50–57, Revelation 20:14, 21:4).

¹⁰ For His death was a unique event that need not be repeated, but His life, He keeps on living for God.

Yeshua underwent an irreversible transformation in His death and resurrection. Believers also undergo an irreversible transformation: We die to the “old self” (v. 6) at conversion and live as new creatures after that (2 Corinthians 5:17). Like Yeshua, the Believer lives to God.

¹¹ In the same way, consider yourselves to be dead to sin but alive for God by your union with the Messiah Yeshua. ^[1]

This is the first command in the book of Romans!

Our next post will continue with the theme: Freedom from Sin.

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^[1] Romans 6:1–11.