To be baptized “into Christ” (v. 3) is to be “united with” him (v. 5a), both in “death” (vv. 5b-8a) and in “life” (vv. 8b-10), from having been “enslaved to sin” to being “set free from sin” (vv. 6-7). The slave-free and death-life analogies continue through the rest of the chapter. In baptism, reenacting the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, we obey the gospel (vv. 16-17), the aim of the apostolic mission (1:1, 5, 9, 15-16; 10:15-16; 15:16-20; 16:26).
Jesus died and arose from the dead “once for all,” tasting death for everyone and destroying the devil’s power.1 Accordingly, Jesus Christ is “our Lord” as he is “declared to be the Son of God … by his resurrection from the dead” (1:4). We thus share in the hope of his “resurrection” (5:2, 10) as we look to the future, “we will also live with him.” At the same time, we are “alive to God in Christ Jesus” presently as we “walk in newness of life” (v. 4). “The bodily resurrection lies ahead, but there has already taken place a ‘spiritual’ resurrection (cf. Col. 2:12; Eph. 2:6) that introduces the believer into a new life …”2 This is “eternal life” (vv. 22-23), not just with respect to longevity but in quality both now and in the future (cf. 2:7; 5:21).
Dead to Sin, Alive to God
“So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 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” (Rom. 6:11-13).
“So … also” [οὕτως καί], “drawing an inference from what precedes” (BAGD 597) and serving as “the hinge of the paragraph,”3 Paul charges: “you … must consider”—present (continuous) imperative—“yourselves,” like Christ, “to be”—present (continuous)—“dead” (detached, separate), “indeed”—emphatic affirmation—“to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Note the personal responsibility and effort in the process of sanctification: “Let not …. Do not present …. but present yourselves …”
The reality of being united with Christ is not of our own doing (v. 5) but we make it operative by willing cooperation, an intentional endeavor to conform in obedient faith to the way of life the Lord expects. For the redeemed and sanctified ones submitting to “Christ Jesus our Lord” (v. 23), sin must no longer “reign” as lord and master. Paul uses imagery seemingly borrowed from the customary practice of a free person selling himself into slavery because of debt or other extreme circumstances, surrendering “his right of self-determination” and owing “full allegiance to his master.”4 Paul himself has chosen to be “a slave of Christ Jesus” (1:1).
The general “you” (v. 11) is more specifically described as “your mortal body” (v. 12), alluding to life in the material world, narrowed further to “your members” (v. 13), with which we engage in the affairs of the world (cf. 7:5, 23). The verb “present” (vv. 13, 16, 19) is translated from παριστάνω, which carries the sense of “giving oneself in service to,”5 so not necessarily “to present yourself to a master, but to dedicate yourself entirely in obedience to him.”6
This servitude is a deliberate choice we have control over and to which we are held accountable (cf. 12:1-2). The word “instruments” [ὅπλα] refers generally to “implements” (cf. 13:12) and more particularly to “tools” or “weapons” (cf. John 18:3; 2 Cor. 6:7; 10:4). We have the choice of willingly offering ourselves as “weapons” for “unrighteousness”7 or as “tools” for “righteousness” (vv. 13-20),8 recalling OT prophecies about beating destructive weapons of war into productive farming instruments (Isa. 2:4; Mic. 4:3), or vice versa (Joel 3:10).
Free from Sin’s Dominion
“For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace” (Rom. 6:14). The dominion of sin has been defeated. Most relevant to those of Jewish heritage and those influenced by them, “law” is reintroduced into the discussion (cf. 2:12-27; 3:19-21, 28-31; 4:13-16; 5:13, 20) because it required strict obedience and enabled sin to increase (5:20a), whereas grace offers forgiveness and provides “the will and the power to obey; hence grace breaks the mastery of sin as law could not.”9
While we are “not under law” (i.e., the Law of Moses), we are “under grace,” a subtle reminder that the grace of God is not a license to sin (vv. 1-2) but affords motivation and discipline to live a righteous life free from the mastery of sin.10 Through the “law” sin reinforces its grasp on those under it (5:20-21; 7:1–8:3), but sin loses its grip when divine grace replaces the old law.
--Kevin L. Moore
Endnotes:
1 Heb. 2:9-15; 7:27; 9:12, 26; 10:10.
2 D. J. Moo, Romans 386.
3 D. J. Moo, Romans 354.
4 F. S. Malan, “Bound to Do Right” 127.
5 D. J. Moo, Romans 384.
6 F. S. Malan, “Bound to Do Right” 127.
7 See also Rom. 1:18, 29; 2:8; 3:5; 9:14
8 See also Rom. 1:17; 3:5, 21-26; 4:3-13, 22; 5:17, 21; 8:10; 9:30-31; 10:3-10; 14:17.
9 F. F. Bruce, Romans 132; cf. E. F. Harrison, “Romans” 72.
10 Cf. 1 Cor. 15:9-10, 56-58; Tit. 2:11-12.
Related Posts: No Law, No Transgression (Rom 4:15), Baptism: Death, Burial, Resurrection (Rom 6:1-4), Free from Son (Rom 6:15-23)
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