Romans 6:1-4 - Just Don't
- Chad Werkhoven
- 1 hour ago
- 4 min read
You don't need a guilt trip. You just need a reminder.
Romans 6:1–4 (NIV)
This week we'll be working our way through this entire chapter.
6 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
Canons of Dordt
Point 5 - Perseverance of the Saints
Article 13 - Assurance No Inducement to Carelessness
The renewed confidence of perseverance
does not produce immorality or lack of concern for godliness in those put back on their feet after a fall,
but it produces a much greater concern to observe carefully the ways of the Lord which he prepared in advance.
They observe these ways in order that
by walking in them they may maintain the assurance of their perseverance,
lest, by their abuse of his fatherly goodness,
the face of the gracious God
(for the godly, looking upon his face is sweeter than life,
but its withdrawal is more bitter than death)
turn away from them again,
with the result that they fall into greater anguish of spirit.
Summary
Paul knew exactly what his readers would be thinking at this point. In the first five chapters of this most magnificent book, Paul masterfully not only laid out man's wretched depravity and sinfulness in no uncertain terms, but also unpacked all the beautiful workings of how Christ's blood atoned for our sin and met our covenant requirements so that we now have peace with God.
The message has been crystal clear: where sin increased, grace increased all the more (Romans 5:20). So it only makes sense to conclude that the more you sin, the more grace you'll receive.
To combat this error, Paul breaks out one of his favorite literary devices: the diatribe, in which he responds to an imaginary interlocuter who asks the question his readers are thinking in order to proactively dismantle the problem before it takes root: Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?
Having set himself up, Paul tees off on his rhetorical question: BY NO MEANS!!! I used every bit of emphasis possible to reflect the sharpness of Paul's repudiation reflected in the original language. The NET Bible translates the answer as absolutely not! The KJV renders it God forbid. Literally translated, Paul's answers your temptation to keep sinning in order to receive more and more grace with the words may [such a thought] never exist.
 Dig Deeper Â
Notice what Paul doesn't do here. He doesn't lay on a good ol' fashioned guilt trip like we deserve for even thinking the thought. After all, our Savior swapped all the trappings of glory to be laid in a borrowed manger as a helpless babe, and life for Him went downhill from there until he hung bleeding in an agonizing death to pay for sins that were not His own. And we have the callous attitude that a few more sins added to the pile won't hurt?
But instead of piling on the guilt, Paul simply reminds you that you've experienced a significant shift in reality: you've died. Specifically, you've died to sin. Paul's next question isn't rhetorical - it's one you need to wrestle with and answer: how can you, as one who's been baptized into Christ's death, live in sin any longer? Of course, there's only one right answer: you can't!
Your baptism into Christ's death brought about an even more significant change in your status. Having died to sin, you've now been raised with Christ through the glory of the Father, so that you too may live a new life.
But Sarx - the enemy that lives within - keeps trying to drag you back from this new life into a life of sin. He lies to you, telling you that a few little sins here and there won't hurt a thing, especially since they've already been paid for. But a few little sins quickly snowball into the monstrous sins we read about a few months ago.
So repent - change your thinking. Don't give quarter to sinful thoughts like the rhetorical question Paul begins this chapter with. Live fully invested in the new life you have in Christ.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father whose glory raised Christ from the dead;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray for the strength and desire to reject the temptation to go on sinning;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Revelation 11
