From Slavery to Slavery

Passage: Romans 6:15-23

In Romans 5:20 Paul makes a famous statement, “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”

No matter how much sin there is, God’s grace is always greater. But Paul knows how quickly our sinful minds will misunderstand his words to promote sin.

Romans 6:1-2 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

We must think of ourselves as dead to sin. We have died with Christ on the cross, and so now we can live in newness of life in Him. Remember we have moved from our justification by faith to our sanctification, which is living out our faith by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit.

As one commentator put it, “To make being ‘under grace’ an excuse for sinning is a sign that one is not really ‘under grace’ at all” (F.F. Bruce). Grace is liberation from sin, not liberation to sin.

Last week we talked about how sin wants to be on the throne of your heart to make us obey it.

So Paul ends this first argument with:

Romans 6:14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

But saying that opens another can of worms.