Romans 6.2
The teaching Paul had given in Romans 5.12-19 concerning the believer's identification, first with Adam, and then with Christ, culminated with the great doctrinal statement, "Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom 5.20-21). But, as we have observed in previous articles, Paul assumed there would be an objection from his Jewish readers; "Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" (6.1). Knowing the method of rabbinical reasoning that the Jewish objector would use, Paul assumed they would argue thus: "If my sinful state is the fault of Adam, not myself; and if this condition causes the grace of God to flow out to me; then by continuing in this condition I will cause ever more grace to be given". Now, notice carefully that Paul does not suggest the objector is proposing to continue to sin, that is, flagrantly disobey divine law and lead a debauched life. Remember, Paul is assuming the objection of a sincere Jewish reader who is wrestling with, but not necessarily against, the doctrine of the gospel. The point he is making is not "Shall we continue to commit sins that grace may abound", but "Shall we abide under the mastery of sin (and thus assume we cannot have power over its control in our lives) so that the grace of God might be magnified". Paul's answer to this logical, but morally repugnant, suggestion is "God forbid" or, 'Far be the thought'.
His statement (5.20-21) having provoked an objection (6.1), and his response being "God forbid" (v 2), Paul moves on to the explanation in accordance with the method we have observed in earlier articles. His opening question, "Know ye not …?" (v 3), is rendered more strongly as "Are ye ignorant …?" in the Revised Version. Vincent¹ comments, "The indicative mood presupposes an acquaintance with the moral nature of baptism, and the consequent absurdity in the idea of persisting in sin."
"Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?" (v 3). As we study this important verse we must do so in both its wider, and narrower, contexts. Its wider context will help us understand what is meant by "so many of us", and its narrower context will be of help as we think what is meant by "baptized into Jesus Christ". In the wider context of Paul's argument, he has spoken about "one man" and "all men" (5.12), and "one man, Jesus Christ" (v 15). He has spoken, by inference, of the generations between Adam and Moses, men still subject to death even though the Law had not been given. He makes a further distinction when he says "much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ" (v 17). Who are "they which receive abundance of grace …"? They are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ who have 'actively taken' (the meaning of the word translated "receive") abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness. The sacrifice of the Lord Jesus has made that wonderful grace, and its attendant gift of righteousness, available to all men but, unless it is 'received', that is, 'actively taken', it profits them nothing. Hence, the "so many of us" (6.3) refers to "they which receive abundance of grace …" (5.17). Out from among the race that was corporately ruined when Adam sinned, God in grace has saved those who, by faith, have received the gift of righteousness. At the moment we were saved, we were "baptized into Jesus Christ", a condition that we need to consider next.
Being "baptized into Jesus Christ" is a spiritual condition that is true of every Christian the moment they receive, by faith, the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour. It is referred to as a baptism in the same way as the nation of Israel "were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea" (1 Cor 10.2). The thought in that passage is that the nation became totally identified with Moses, their God-appointed leader, and their future was completely bound up in God's purpose for and through him. Taking that thought back to the Roman epistle, Paul is teaching that, upon believing, the Christian is brought into immediate, and total, identification with Christ. It follows, therefore, that if the Christian is wholly identified with Christ, then he must also be wholly identified with His death. This tremendous doctrine then finds public expression in the believer's baptism in water, the subject of Romans 6.4.
Baptism in water, in the Church age, declares in figure that the one being baptised has first died with Christ, been buried with Him, and now walks with Him in a life that is new not only in time, but in kind. The water baptism of verse 4 is the symbol of the spiritual baptism "into Jesus Christ" in verse 3. The death that we have shared with Christ has not only delivered us from the power of sin as a master but, for the Jewish convert, has also delivered him from the demands of the Law. Turning to the nature of that death, crucifixion, Paul teaches that God has judged man after the flesh, that is, man as he is in Adam, and "the body of sin" has been "destroyed" (v 6). "The body of sin" refers to our physical body, prior to conversion, under the mastery of sin. It was the platform from which sin operated in us. Having died with Christ, sin's mastery has been broken and our bodies are no longer enslaved. The "body of sin", now liberated, has been "destroyed", that is, 'rendered useless' as a base from which sin can operate. Believers need no longer serve sin as a master but, by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, can "yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead …" (v 13). The means by which the believer lives in the good of this weighty doctrine is summed up in three particular words in the section Romans 6.1-14: "Knowing" (vv 6, 9), "reckon" (v 11) and "yield" (v 13). Doctrine expounded imparts the knowledge, but that must then be considered and applied to the life. The result of that 'reckoning' should be a readiness to "yield yourselves unto God" (v 13). Paul's detailed explanation of why we cannot "continue in sin, that grace may abound" concludes with a statement: "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace" (v 14). However, that statement gives rise to another assumed objection:
Romans 6.15
"What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace?" The now familiar response quickly follows; "God forbid". Continuance in sin, in verse 1, speaks of a habitual, continuous state whereas, in verse 15, a single act is in view. Paul supposes the Jewish objector, hearing the pronouncement "ye are not under the law" will associate grace with lawlessness. On this particular point, Kenneth Wuest² quotes Arthur Way's The Pauline Epistles, "The man who thinks he may occasionally sin with impunity since we are not under the uncompromising rule of law, but under the lenient sceptre of grace, simply does not understand grace. Law is uncompromising, but grace is never lenient". Wuest then gives a helpful illustration:
Grace is far stricter than law could ever be. It is a far greater deterrent of evil than law ever was. A number of motorcycle policemen, with their motors tuned up, are a far greater deterrent to speeding than any number of placards along the road indicating the speed limit. The Holy Spirit, indwelling the believer, takes notice of the slightest sin and convicts him of it, whereas the law could act only generally, and then only when the conscience of the individual cooperated with it. Grace not only forgives, but teaches (Titus 2.11-14).
Grace has granted divine life to the person once enslaved by sin, and the believer can now choose to yield his "members as instruments of righteousness unto God" (v 13). That he should choose to do otherwise, and willingly yield himself to his former master, is morally unthinkable. (To be continued …)
¹ M R Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, 1888
² K Wuest, Wuest's Expanded Translation, 1961
