Romans · Chapter 6

V. 1. The apostle here sets himself more fully to vindicate his doctrine from the consequence above suggested, Romans 3:7, 8. He had then only in strong terms denied and renounced it: here he removes the very foundation thereof.

Verse 1. Shall we continue in sin] It is very likely that these were the words of a believing Gentile, who-having as yet received but little instruction, for he is but just brought out of his heathen state to believe in Christ Jesus-might imagine, from the manner in which God had magnified his mercy, in blotting out his sin on his simply believing on Christ, that, supposing he even gave way to the evil propensities of his own heart, his transgressions could do him no hurt now that he was in the favour of God. And we need not wonder that a Gentile, just emerging from the deepest darkness, might entertain such thoughts as these; when we find that eighteen centuries after this, persons have appeared in the most Christian countries of Europe, not merely asking such a question, but defending the doctrine with all their might; and asserting in the most unqualified manner, “that believers were under no obligation to keep the moral law of God; that Christ had kept it for them; that his keeping it was imputed to them; and that God, who had exacted it from Him, who was their surety and representative, would not exact it from them, forasmuch as it would be injustice to require two payments for one debt.” These are the Antinomians who once flourished in this land, and whose race is not yet utterly extinct.

Verses 1, 2. What shall we say then — What shall we think of this doctrine? namely, taught in the latter part of the preceding chapter, that where sin abounded grace did much more abound? Does it not follow from thence that we may continue in sin, that grace may abound still more, and may appear more glorious in pardoning and saving us? The apostle here sets himself more fully to vindicate his doctrine from this consequence, suggested Romans 3:7, 8. He had then only, in strong terms, denied and renounced it. Here he removes the very foundation thereof; proceeding to speak of some further benefits (besides those mentioned Romans 5:1, &c.) of justification by faith in Christ, namely, the promoting of holiness, and not of sin, as some might imagine: to which subject his transition is at once easy and elegant. God forbid — That such an unworthy thought as that of continuing in sin should ever arise in our hearts! We have disclaimed such a consequence above, and we most solemnly disclaim it again, and caution all that hear us, against imagining that our doctrine allows any such cursed inferences. For though it is true, that where sin abounds grace does frequently still more abound, yet this is not owing to sin in any degree; which of itself brings death, verse 23; James 1:15; and the more sin, the more punishment; but wholly to the superabounding mercy and love of God in Christ. For how shall we that are dead to sin — By profession, obligation, and communion with Christ our head in his death; or who are freed both from the guilt and the power of it; live any longer therein — In the love and practice of it? Surely it would be the grossest contradiction to our profession, and the obligations we are under to do so: on the contrary, it is apparent that nothing has so great a tendency to animate us to avoid sin, as this doctrine of gospel grace.

Verse 1. Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? The apostle having said, that as sin had abounded by the entrance of the law, so grace had much more abounded by the proclamation of the gospel, proceeds now to rebut the malicious slander of the jews, who had said, as in chap. 3:8, that the christian doctrine encouraged men to do evil that good might come, presuming that God conferred righteousness without renovation of heart. He refutes this calumny, by pressing on believers the most luminous doctrines of purity and holiness, and describes the reign of grace in the full triumph of argument.

1. What… say—This question simply introduces the argument like the opening questions of chapters 3 and 4. Continue in sin—Sin as either an internal mental state, or an external habit or course of action.

Ver. 1. What then shall we say? as in Romans 3:5; 4:1. Shall we infer from Romans 5:20, 21 that we may accomplish God’s purposes by adding to the number of our sins in order that they may show forth the superabundant favour of God? The connection of thought is kept up by the words

grace and multiply. What Paul here suggests was the actual result of his own early hostility to the Gospel: 1 Timothy 1:14.

V. 2. Dead to sin-Freed both from the guilt and from the power of it.

Verse 2. God forbid] mh genoito, Let it not be; by no means; far from it; let not such a thing be mentioned!-Any of these is the meaning of the Greek phrase, which is a strong expression of surprise and disapprobation: and is not properly rendered by our God forbid! for, though this may express the same thing, yet it is not proper to make the sacred NAME so familiar on such occasions.

How shall we, that are dead to sin] The phraseology of this verse is common among Hebrews, Greeks, and Latins. To DIE to a thing or person, is to have nothing to do with it or him; to be totally separated from them: and to live to a thing or person is to be wholly given up to them; to have the most intimate connection with them. So Plautus, Clitell. iii. 1, 16: Nihil mecum tibi, MORTUUS TIBI SUM. I have nothing to do with thee; I am DEAD to thee. Persa, i. 1, 20: Mihi quidem tu jam MORTUUS ERAS, quia te non visitavi. Thou wast DEAD to me because I visited thee not. So Ælian, Var. Hist. iii. 13: oJti filoinotaton eqnov to twn tapurwn, tosouton, wste zhn autouv en oinw, kai to pleiston tou biou en th prov auton omilia katanaliskein, “The Tapyrians are such lovers of wine, that they LIVE in wine; and the principal part of their LIFE is DEVOTED to it.” They live to wine; they are insatiable drunkards. See more examples in Wetstein and Rosenmuller.

Verses 1, 2. What shall we say then — What shall we think of this doctrine? namely, taught in the latter part of the preceding chapter, that where sin abounded grace did much more abound? Does it not follow from thence that we may continue in sin, that grace may abound still more, and may appear more glorious in pardoning and saving us? The apostle here sets himself more fully to vindicate his doctrine from this consequence, suggested Romans 3:7, 8. He had then only, in strong terms, denied and renounced it. Here he removes the very foundation thereof; proceeding to speak of some further benefits (besides those mentioned Romans 5:1, &c.) of justification by faith in Christ, namely, the promoting of holiness, and not of sin, as some might imagine: to which subject his transition is at once easy and elegant. God forbid — That such an unworthy thought as that of continuing in sin should ever arise in our hearts! We have disclaimed such a consequence above, and we most solemnly disclaim it again, and caution all that hear us, against imagining that our doctrine allows any such cursed inferences. For though it is true, that where sin abounds grace does frequently still more abound, yet this is not owing to sin in any degree; which of itself brings death, verse 23; James 1:15; and the more sin, the more punishment; but wholly to the superabounding mercy and love of God in Christ. For how shall we that are dead to sin — By profession, obligation, and communion with Christ our head in his death; or who are freed both from the guilt and the power of it; live any longer therein — In the love and practice of it? Surely it would be the grossest contradiction to our profession, and the obligations we are under to do so: on the contrary, it is apparent that nothing has so great a tendency to animate us to avoid sin, as this doctrine of gospel grace.

2. God forbid—See note on Romans 3:4. Dead to sin—As a corpse is perfectly unsusceptible both in regard to outward things and internal sensations, so should the Christian be insensible both to the external excitements and the internal impulses to sin. Thence the thought of his living in sin that divine grace may be honoured is excluded as a heinous contradiction.

Ver. 2. An emphatic denial, supported by two questions introducing a new and important topic. Thus the questions in Romans 6:1 are stepping-stones to the new teaching in DIV. III., and show that it guards from immoral perversion the teaching of DIV. II. We must not continue in sin, because (Romans 6:1-10) God’s purpose is that we be dead to sin and living for God, and because (Romans 6:15-23) sin is obedience to a master whose purpose is death.

Died to sin: separated from it, as a dead man is completely separated from the environment in which he lived: same phrase in Romans 6:10, 11; Galatians 2:19; 6:14; cp. Colossians 2:20, “died with Christ from the rudiments of the world.” Paul assumes that we are in some sense dead to sin. If he can prove this, he will compel us, by the very meaning of his words, to admit that in the same sense we can no longer live in it.

V. 3. As many as have been baptized into Jesus Christ have been baptized into his death-In baptism we, through faith, are ingrafted into Christ; and we draw new spiritual life from this new root, through his Spirit, who fashions us like unto him, and particularly with regard to his death and resurrection.

Verse 3. Know ye not, &c.] Every man who believes the Christian religion, and receives baptism as the proof that he believes it, and has taken up the profession of it, is bound thereby to a life of righteousness. To be baptized into Christ, is to receive the doctrine of Christ crucified, and to receive baptism as a proof of the genuineness of that faith, and the obligation to live according to its precepts.

Baptized into his death?] That, as Jesus Christ in his crucifixion died completely, so that no spark of the natural or animal life remained in his body, so those who profess his religion should be so completely separated and saved from sin, that they have no more connection with it, nor any more influence from it, than a dead man has with or from his departed spirit.

Verses 3, 4. Know ye not — Can any of you be ignorant of this great and obvious truth, that so many of us as were baptized into Christ — That is, into the profession of the Christian faith; or implanted into and made a part of the mystical body of Christ by baptism, (as eiv Criston seems to imply,) were baptized into his death — Engaged by baptism to be conformed to his death, by dying to sin, as he died for it, and crucifying our flesh with its affections and lusts, as his body was crucified on the cross; and also were made partakers of the benefits thereof, one of which is the mortifying of sin, and all sinful passions. Being baptized into Christ, or ingrafted into him through faith, we draw new spiritual life from this new root, through his Spirit, who fashions us like unto him, and particularly with regard to his death and resurrection. Therefore we are buried with him — Alluding to the ancient manner of baptizing by immersion; by baptism into death — That is, to engage us to die unto sin, and to carry on the mortification and death of it more and more: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory — That is, the glorious power; of the Father, even so we also — In conformity thereto, should rise again by the same power; and should walk in newness of life — As Christ being raised from the dead lives a new life in heaven. From all this it appears, that baptism, the rite of initiation into the Christian Church, is an emblematical representation of our dying to sin, and living to righteousness, in consequence of our union with Christ as members of his body; as also of the malignity of sin, in bringing death upon Christ, (verse 10,) and upon all mankind, and of the efficacy of Christ’s death, in procuring for all pardoning mercy, renewing grace, and future glory; a resurrection both from spiritual and temporal death, to spiritual and eternal life.

3. Baptized into Jesus Christ—Of this self-consecrating act of faith baptism is the external manifestation and profession. The apostle, therefore, holds that our act of baptism consecrates us into Christ, as if our persons mystically became particles and parts incorporated into the holy person of the blessed Jesus, so that we are figured as identified with his body.

Baptized into his death—This same faith, symbolized by baptism, incorporates the points of our history into the most eminent points of Christ’s history. We are made in a manner to die in his death.

Ver. 3. Another question introducing, as something which the readers ought to know, a proof that we are dead to sin.

Baptized: the formal and visible gate into the Christian life. Since Paul has not yet spoken of salvation except through faith, we must understand him to refer here to the baptism of believers: so Galatians 3:27; Colossians 2:12. It was a conspicuous mode of confession, which, together with faith, is a condition of salvation: cp. Romans 10:9. For: see under Romans 1:1.

Baptized for: as in Galatians 3:27; Matthew 28:19; Acts 8:16; 19:5; 1 Corinthians 10:2; 1:13, 15; Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:4. It means that baptism is designed to place the baptized in a new relation to the object named; but does not say exactly what the relation is. We shall learn in Romans 6:5 that this new relation is an inward and spiritual contact with Christ which makes the baptized sharers of His life and moral nature: cp. 1 Corinthians 6:17; Galatians 3:27.

That God designs the justified to be thus united to Christ, Paul further expounds in Romans 6:4-10, by calling attention to those elements in Him which we are to share.

For His death: more exact statement of the new relation to Christ to which baptism has special reference. This recalls Doctrine 2, stated in Romans 3:25; 4:25; 5:9, 10. Paul thus approaches his proof that his readers have died to sin.

V. 4. We are buried with him-Alluding to the ancient manner of baptizing by immersion.

That as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory-Glorious power. Of the Father, so we also, by the same power, should rise again; and as he lives a new life in heaven, so we should walk in newness of life. This, says the apostle, our very baptism represents to us.

Verse 4. We are buried with him by baptism into death] It is probable that the apostle here alludes to the mode of administering baptism by immersion, the whole body being put under the water, which seemed to say, the man is drowned, is dead; and, when he came up out of the water, he seemed to have a resurrection to life; the man is risen again; he is alive! He was, therefore, supposed to throw off his old Gentile state as he threw off his clothes, and to assume a new character, as the baptized generally put on new or fresh garments. I say it is probable that the apostle alludes to this mode of immersion; but it is not absolutely certain that he does so, as some do imagine; for, in the next verse, our being incorporated into Christ by baptism is also denoted by our being planted, or rather, grafted together in the likeness of his death; and Noah’s ark floating upon the water, and sprinkled by the rain from heaven, is a figure corresponding to baptism, 1 Peter 3:20, 21; but neither of these gives us the same idea of the outward form as burying. We must be careful, therefore, not to lay too much stress on such circumstances. Drowning among the ancients was considered the most noble kind of death; some think that the apostle may allude to this. The grand point is, that this baptism represents our death to sin, and our obligation to walk in newness of life: without which, of what use can it or any other rite be?

Raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father] From this we learn, that as it required the glory of the Father, that is, his glorious energy, to raise up from the grave tho dead body of Christ, so it requires the same glorious energy to quicken the dead soul of a sinner, and enable him to walk in newness of life.

Verses 3, 4. Know ye not — Can any of you be ignorant of this great and obvious truth, that so many of us as were baptized into Christ — That is, into the profession of the Christian faith; or implanted into and made a part of the mystical body of Christ by baptism, (as eiv Criston seems to imply,) were baptized into his death — Engaged by baptism to be conformed to his death, by dying to sin, as he died for it, and crucifying our flesh with its affections and lusts, as his body was crucified on the cross; and also were made partakers of the benefits thereof, one of which is the mortifying of sin, and all sinful passions. Being baptized into Christ, or ingrafted into him through faith, we draw new spiritual life from this new root, through his Spirit, who fashions us like unto him, and particularly with regard to his death and resurrection. Therefore we are buried with him — Alluding to the ancient manner of baptizing by immersion; by baptism into death — That is, to engage us to die unto sin, and to carry on the mortification and death of it more and more: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory — That is, the glorious power; of the Father, even so we also — In conformity thereto, should rise again by the same power; and should walk in newness of life — As Christ being raised from the dead lives a new life in heaven. From all this it appears, that baptism, the rite of initiation into the Christian Church, is an emblematical representation of our dying to sin, and living to righteousness, in consequence of our union with Christ as members of his body; as also of the malignity of sin, in bringing death upon Christ, (verse 10,) and upon all mankind, and of the efficacy of Christ’s death, in procuring for all pardoning mercy, renewing grace, and future glory; a resurrection both from spiritual and temporal death, to spiritual and eternal life.

Ver. 4. We are buried with him by baptism into death. The allusion here is to the ancient mode of baptism in warm climates, by dipping the body under water. See Matthew 3:17. We are also said to be risen with Christ to newness of life, by the same glory which raised him from the dead. The principle then of regeneration in our hearts is no other than the divine nature, producing a death to sin, and a life to righteousness. The grand object and design of baptism is to engage us to a life of unspotted purity.

4. Therefore—Since we die, a cognate burial must follow. The faith which precedes baptism produces a death; the holiness which should follow is a newness of life, a resurrection.

Buried… by baptism—Where our regenerating faith is a death, and our sanctified new life is a resurrection, what should be the fitting burial between the two? Obviously, as said in verse 2, our baptism consecrating us into Christ, embodying us into his mystical body the Church, is the burial. Faith insures our mystical death, baptism our mystical burial, sanctification our mystical resurrection.

This mystical burial would be accomplished with equal completeness whether the rite of baptism were performed by affusion or immersion. For,

1. Christ was not buried at all, but temporarily deposited in a new tomb preparatory to burial. 2. A burial is as well symbolized by affusion, picturing the covering over of the body, as by immersion. The amount of water poured upon the body can make no difference; for in Rome, whither this epistle was sent, a handful of dust thrice flung upon a corpse was held to be a legal ritual burial. So in the parallel passage, Colossians 2:11, 12, so minute a rite as circumcision is the figure of an entire “putting off the body of the sins of the flesh.” 3. Immersion, even if it represented burial, does not symbolize the outpoured baptism of the Spirit. Affusion represents both.

Ver. 4. Inference from Romans 6:3.

Buried-with Him: so Colossians 2:11.

If baptism was a baptism for death, i.e. if it symbolized a union with Christ in His death, it was the funeral service of the old life; a formal announcement that the baptized were dead, and a visible removal of them from the world, Jewish or heathen, in which they formerly lived. From the earliest sub-apostolic writings, we learn that immersion was the usual form of baptism. So Epistle of Barnabas Rom. 11: “We go down into the water full of sins and defilement; and we go up bearing fruit in the heart.” To this, probably, Paul here refers. Even the form of their admission to the Church sets forth a spiritual burial and resurrection. But this is a mere allusion: and the argument is complete without it. The hour of his readers’ baptism, in which they ranged themselves formally in the ranks of the persecuted followers of Christ, was no doubt indelibly printed in their memory. Paul here teaches them the significance and purpose of that rite, and the nature of the new life they then formally entered. That immersion was not the only valid mode of baptism, we learn from The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles Rom. 7, where, in reference to baptism, the writer bids, if water be not abundant, to “pour water three times on the head, in the name of Father and Son and Holy Spirit.”

In order that etc.: further purpose to be accomplished by our union with Christ.

Christ not only died but was raised from the dead, among whom He lay. Through the glory of the Father: amid an outshining of the splendour of God manifested in Christ’s rescue from the grave.

Just as Christ etc.: in harmony with the historic fact that Christ’s death was followed by a glorious resurrection, God’s purpose is that we also as well as Christ henceforth live a resurrection life. Of this life, newness (see Romans 7:6) is a conspicuous feature. For the change is so complete that in Christ the old things have passed away or rather are become new: 2 Corinthians 5:17. And, since life is movement, in this newness of life God designs us to walk. This last is a favourite metaphor of Paul: Romans 8:4; 13:13; 14:15; Ephesians 2:2, 10, etc.; also John 8:12; 12:35; 1 John 2:6.

V. 5. For-Surely these two must go together; so that if we are indeed made conformable to his death, we shall also know the power of his resurrection.

Verse 5. For if we have been planted together] sumfutoi gegonamen. Dr. Taylor observes, that our translation does not completely express the apostle’s meaning. ta sumfuta are such plants as grow, the one upon and in the other, deriving sap and nourishment from it, as the mistletoe upon the oak, or the scion upon the stock in which it is grafted. He would therefore translate the words: For if we have been growers together with Christ in the likeness of his death, (or in that which is like his death,) we shall be also growers together with him in the likeness of his resurrection; or in that which is like his resurrection. He reckons it a beautiful metaphor, taken from grafting, or making the scion grow together with a new stock. But if we take the word planted in its usual sense, we shall find it to be a metaphor as beautiful and as expressive as the former. When the seed or plant is inserted in the ground, it derives from that ground all its nourishment, and all those juices by which it becomes developed; by which it increases in size, grows firm, strong, and vigorous; and puts forth its leaves, blossoms, and fruit. The death of Jesus Christ is represented as the cause whence his fruitfulness, as the author of eternal salvation to mankind is derived; and genuine believers in him are represented as being planted in his death, and growing out of it; deriving their growth, vigour, firmness, beauty, and fruitfulness from it. In a word, it is by his death that Jesus Christ redeems a lost world; and it is from that vicarious death that believers derive that pardon and holiness which makes them so happy in themselves, and so useful to others. This sacrificial death is the soil in which they are planted; and from which they derive their life, fruitfulness, and their final glory.

Verses 5-7. For — Surely these two must go together; so that if we have been united to Christ by faith, (to which baptism engages us,) and have been made conformable to his death, by being dead to sin, we shall also know the power of his resurrection, by rising to newness of life. Knowing this — Not in theory merely, but by experience; that our old man — Coeval with our being; our evil nature derived from Adam; the whole system of our former inclinations and dispositions. It is a strong and beautiful expression for that entire depravity and corruption which, by nature, spreads itself over the whole man, leaving no part uninfected. This in a believer is crucified with Christ, mortified, gradually killed by virtue of union with him; the remembrance and consideration of his cross co- operating in the most powerful manner, with all the other motives which the gospel suggests, to destroy our corrupt passions, and former sinful habits, and inspire us with an utter aversion to and detestation of them: that the body of sin — The body belonging to sin, including sinful tempers, words, and works. The apostle personifies sin, after the custom of animated writers, who, to make their discourses lively and affecting, speak of the virtues and vices of which they treat, as so many persons. Corrupt passions and evil actions are the members of the old man, Colossians 3:5. Might be destroyed — Utterly and for ever; that henceforth we should not serve sin — Should be no longer under its power, as we were before we became savingly acquainted with Christ and his gospel. For he that is dead — With Christ; is freed from sin — From the guilt of past, and the power of present sin, as dead men from the commands of their former masters. The original expression, here rendered is freed, is dedikaiwtai, which properly signifies, is justified; that is, he is acquitted and discharged from any further claim which sin might make upon his service. The word as here used implies, that a sense of justification by the cross of Christ is the great means of our delivery from the bondage of sin, as it animates and exercises us to shake off its yoke, and is accompanied with the Spirit of adoption and regeneration, the fruit of which is always liberty, 2 Corinthians 3:17.

5. Planted together—Rather, grown or germinating together, like two fellow slips from the same root.

Ver. 5. Proof that our burial with Christ was designed to lead to a life altogether new.

If: argumentative, as in Romans 6:8; Romans 5:10, etc. United-in-growth: literally growing-together, so that our development corresponds with, and is an organic outflow of, His.

Likeness: as Romans 1:23; 5:14. By union with Him, we undergo a death like His.

On the other hand: alla: a strong adversative particle indicating that the second cause utterly overpowers the first, Same word in Romans 3:31; 5:14; 8:37. “It is true that we suffer a death like His: but this we need not regret; for from it we infer that we shall share a resurrection like His.”

We shall be: probably a rhetorical or logical future. For believers are already living a resurrection life. Same use of the future in Romans 6:8, where the argument of this verse is repeated, after an exposition of the former part of it: cp. Romans 4:24; 5:14, 19.

V. 6. Our old man-Coeval with our being, and as old as the fall; our evil nature; a strong and beautiful expression for that entire depravity and corruption which by nature spreads itself over the whole man, leaving no part uninfected. This in a believer is

crucified with Christ, mortified, gradually killed, by virtue of our union with him.

That the body of sin-All evil tempers, words, and actions, which are the members of the old man, Colossians 3:5, might be destroyed.

Verse 6. Our old man is crucified with him] This seems to be a farther extension of the same metaphor. When a seed is planted in the earth, it appears as if the whole body of it perished. All seeds, as they are commonly termed, are composed of two parts; the germ, which contains the rudiments of the future plant; and the lobes, or body of the seed, which by their decomposition in the ground, become the first nourishment to the extremely fine and delicate roots of the embryo plant, and support it till it is capable of deriving grosser nourishment from the common soil. The body dies that the germ may live. Parables cannot go on all fours; and in metaphors or figures, there is always some one (or more) remarkable property by which the doctrine intended is illustrated. To apply this to the purpose in hand: how is the principle of life which Jesus Christ has implanted in us to be brought into full effect, vigour, and usefulness? By the destruction of the body of sin, our old man, our wicked, corrupt, and fleshly self, is to be crucified; to be as truly slain as Christ was crucified; that our souls may as truly be raised from a death of sin to a life of righteousness, as the body of Christ was raised from the grave, and afterwards ascended to the right hand of God. But how does this part of the metaphor apply to Jesus Christ? Plainly and forcibly. Jesus Christ took on him a body; a body in the likeness of sinful flesh, Romans 8:3; and gave up that body to death; through which death alone an atonement was made for sin, and the way laid open for the vivifying Spirit, to have the fullest access to, and the most powerful operation in, the human heart. Here, the body of Christ dies that he may be a quickening Spirit to mankind. Our body of sin is destroyed by this quickening Spirit, that henceforth we should live unto Him who died and rose again. Thus the metaphor, in all its leading senses, is complete, and applies most forcibly to the subject in question. We find that palaiov anqrwpov, the old man, used here, and in Ephesians 4:22, and Colossians 3:9, is the same as the flesh with its affections and lusts, Galatians 5:24; and the body of the sins of the flesh, Colossians 2:11; and the very same which the Jewish writers term ynwmdqh אדם, Adam hakkadmoni, the old Adam; and which they interpret by [rh rxy yetsar hara, “evil concupiscence,” the same which we mean by indwelling sin, or the infection of our nature, in consequence of the fall. From all which we may learn that the design of God is to counterwork and destroy the very spirit and soul of sin, that we shall no longer serve it, douleuein, no longer be its slaves. Nor shall it any more be capable of performing its essential functions than a dead body can perform the functions of natural life.

Verses 5-7. For — Surely these two must go together; so that if we have been united to Christ by faith, (to which baptism engages us,) and have been made conformable to his death, by being dead to sin, we shall also know the power of his resurrection, by rising to newness of life. Knowing this — Not in theory merely, but by experience; that our old man — Coeval with our being; our evil nature derived from Adam; the whole system of our former inclinations and dispositions. It is a strong and beautiful expression for that entire depravity and corruption which, by nature, spreads itself over the whole man, leaving no part uninfected. This in a believer is crucified with Christ, mortified, gradually killed by virtue of union with him; the remembrance and consideration of his cross co- operating in the most powerful manner, with all the other motives which the gospel suggests, to destroy our corrupt passions, and former sinful habits, and inspire us with an utter aversion to and detestation of them: that the body of sin — The body belonging to sin, including sinful tempers, words, and works. The apostle personifies sin, after the custom of animated writers, who, to make their discourses lively and affecting, speak of the virtues and vices of which they treat, as so many persons. Corrupt passions and evil actions are the members of the old man, Colossians 3:5. Might be destroyed — Utterly and for ever; that henceforth we should not serve sin — Should be no longer under its power, as we were before we became savingly acquainted with Christ and his gospel. For he that is dead — With Christ; is freed from sin — From the guilt of past, and the power of present sin, as dead men from the commands of their former masters. The original expression, here rendered is freed, is dedikaiwtai, which properly signifies, is justified; that is, he is acquitted and discharged from any further claim which sin might make upon his service. The word as here used implies, that a sense of justification by the cross of Christ is the great means of our delivery from the bondage of sin, as it animates and exercises us to shake off its yoke, and is accompanied with the Spirit of adoption and regeneration, the fruit of which is always liberty, 2 Corinthians 3:17.

Ver. 6. Our old man, coëval with the fall, is crucified. See on Colossians 3:9, where the subject is more fully stated.

6. Old man is crucified—Our old man is our unregenerate nature renounced by faith in Christ. The cessation of this unregeneracy finds its image in the crucifixion.

Ver. 6. Collateral explanation of our union with Christ in His death, followed by a statement of its purpose.

Our old man: so Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 3:9: our old self. So complete is the change that Paul says that the man himself is dead. Crucified-together-with: so Galatians 2:20; Matthew 27:44; Mark 15:32; John 19:32: shared with Christ His death on the cross. In what aspect of His death we are to be sharers with Him, we shall learn in Romans 6:10: how we are to become such, we shall learn in Romans 6:11. Paul here asserts that on the cross of Christ not only His life on earth but our own former selves came to an end.

In order that etc.: purpose of this union with Christ in His death. The body of Sin: the sinner’s own body in which (see Romans 6:12, 13) sin has set up its royal throne, whose desires he obeys, and whose members he presents to sin as instruments of unrighteousness. See also Romans 7:5, 23. The importance of the body in Paul’s theology and the subsequent argument here permit no other interpretation. Made-of-no-effect: as in Romans 3:3; 4:14. In former times the indolence, appetites, necessities, and dangers of the body ruled us with an influence we could not resist; and led us into sin. It thus became a body of sin. But, now that our old self has been nailed to the cross of Christ, our body has lost its adverse power.

No longer servants (or slaves: see Romans 1:1) to sin: purpose of this destruction of the power of the body, and ultimate aim of our crucifixion with Christ. In explanation of the words grown-together with the likeness of His death in Romans 6:5, Paul says that we have shared the death of Christ on the cross, in order that our bodies, hitherto organs of sin, may lose their control over us, and in order that thus we may escape from our former bondage to sin.

V. 7. For he that is dead-With Christ.

Is freed from the guilt of past, and from the power of present, sin, as dead men from the commands of their former masters.

Verse 7. He that is dead is freed from sin.] dedikaiwtai, literally, is justified from sin; or, is freed or delivered from it. Does not this simply mean, that the man who has received Christ Jesus by faith, and has been, through believing, made a partaker of the Holy Spirit, has had his old man, all his evil propensities destroyed; so that he is not only justified freely from all sin, but wholly sanctified unto God? The context shows that this is the meaning. Every instance of violence is done to the whole scope and design of the apostle, by the opinion, that “this text is a proof that believers are not fully saved from sin in this life, because only he that is dead is freed from sin.” Then death is his justifier and deliverer! Base and abominable insinuation, highly derogatory to the glory of Christ! Dr. Dodd, in his note on the preceding verse, after some inefficient criticism on the word katarghqh, destroyed, which, he thinks, should be rendered enervated, has the following most unevangelical sentiment: “The body of sin in believers is, indeed, an enfeebled, conquered, and deposed tyrant, and the stroke of death finishes its destruction.” So then, the death of Christ and the influences of the Holy Spirit were only sufficient to depose and enfeeble the tyrant sin; but OUR death must come in to effect his total destruction! Thus our death is, at least partially, our Saviour; and thus, that which was an effect of sin (for sin entered into the world, and death by sin) becomes the means of finally destroying it! That is, the effect of a cause can become so powerful, as to react upon that cause and produce its annihilation! The divinity and philosophy of this sentiment are equally absurd. It is the blood of Christ alone that cleanses from all unrighteousness; and the sanctification of a believer is no more dependent on death than his justification. If it he said, “that believers do not cease from sin till they die;” I have only to say, they are such believers as do not make a proper use of their faith; and what can be said more of the whole herd of transgressors and infidels? They cease to sin, when they cease to breathe. If the Christian religion bring no other privileges than this to its upright followers, well may we ask, wherein doth the wise man differ from the fool, for they have both one end? But the whole Gospel teaches a contrary doctrine.

Verses 5-7. For — Surely these two must go together; so that if we have been united to Christ by faith, (to which baptism engages us,) and have been made conformable to his death, by being dead to sin, we shall also know the power of his resurrection, by rising to newness of life. Knowing this — Not in theory merely, but by experience; that our old man — Coeval with our being; our evil nature derived from Adam; the whole system of our former inclinations and dispositions. It is a strong and beautiful expression for that entire depravity and corruption which, by nature, spreads itself over the whole man, leaving no part uninfected. This in a believer is crucified with Christ, mortified, gradually killed by virtue of union with him; the remembrance and consideration of his cross co- operating in the most powerful manner, with all the other motives which the gospel suggests, to destroy our corrupt passions, and former sinful habits, and inspire us with an utter aversion to and detestation of them: that the body of sin — The body belonging to sin, including sinful tempers, words, and works. The apostle personifies sin, after the custom of animated writers, who, to make their discourses lively and affecting, speak of the virtues and vices of which they treat, as so many persons. Corrupt passions and evil actions are the members of the old man, Colossians 3:5. Might be destroyed — Utterly and for ever; that henceforth we should not serve sin — Should be no longer under its power, as we were before we became savingly acquainted with Christ and his gospel. For he that is dead — With Christ; is freed from sin — From the guilt of past, and the power of present sin, as dead men from the commands of their former masters. The original expression, here rendered is freed, is dedikaiwtai, which properly signifies, is justified; that is, he is acquitted and discharged from any further claim which sin might make upon his service. The word as here used implies, that a sense of justification by the cross of Christ is the great means of our delivery from the bondage of sin, as it animates and exercises us to shake off its yoke, and is accompanied with the Spirit of adoption and regeneration, the fruit of which is always liberty, 2 Corinthians 3:17.

Ver. 7. He that is dead is freed from sin. From all its obligations, and from its condemning power. He in whose heart Christ lives, and grace reigns, is dead to his old habits of sin, as a dead man is to the duties of life. Though this may not be the case with weak believers; yet St. Paul gives the perfect enjoyment of one, who like himself, could say, “I live not, but Christ liveth in me.”

Ver. 7. Explains the foregoing ultimate purpose of our crucifixion with Christ.

He that has died, or, as we should say, is dead: the believer, whom Paul looks upon as not merely dying but dead on the cross. His former life has actually come to an end.

Justified: proclaimed by law free from sin, this being looked at as an adversary at law claiming rights over us. The word thus returns to its simplest meaning, in O.T. and N.T., of judgment in a man’s favour. Cp. Sirach xxvi. 29: “With difficulty will a merchant be saved from wrong-doing: and a huckster will not be justified from sin.” Over a criminal who has been put to death, the law has no further claim. And Paul here argues that in Christ’s death we are dead, and therefore legally free from the master to whose power, for our sins, we were justly surrendered.

V. 8. Dead with Christ-Conformed to his death, by dying to sin.

Verse 8. Now if we be dead with Christ] According to what is stated in the preceding verses. See particularly on the 5th verse. {Romans 6:5}

Verses 8-11. Now if we be dead with Christ — Conformed to his death by dying to sin; we believe that we shall also live with him — We have reason sufficient to assure ourselves that we shall be conformed to him in life too, by living an uninterrupted life of grace here, and glory hereafter; and shall die no more, even as Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more, verse 9. He died unto sin — To atone for and to abolish it; but he liveth unto God — A glorious eternal life, such as we shall live also. Likewise — Outw, so, in correspondence to Christ’s death and life, verses 8, 9, reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin — To be under an indispensable obligation, from duty and gratitude, to die to it, and never more return under its power, or live in the commission of it; but alive unto God — Endued with spiritual life, and thereby enabled to live to the glory of God, in a steady, uniform, and cheerful obedience to his wise, just, and holy commands; through Jesus Christ our Lord — By virtue of his death and resurrection, your union with him by faith, and grace received from him.

8. Dead with Christ—Dead to a world of sin, as Christ was dead to the world of external things. Also live with him—Live in conformity with his character.

Ver. 8.-10. Proof of the latter part, as Romans 6:6, 7 proved the former part, of Romans 6:5.

Died with Christ: crucified with Him, in Romans 6:6. We believe: an assured conviction. It is also faith in God: for our hope of life rests, like Abraham’s faith, on His promise and character. Shall live with Him: logical future as in Romans 6:5: very appropriate here because this life will continue to endless ages.

Knowing that etc.: ground of the assurance just expressed, viz. the deathless life of Christ, raised from the dead.

He dies no more: an unchanging truth, suitably put in the present tense. Of Him, death is no longer lord: recalling the royalty usurped in Romans 5:14, 17, to which even Christ submitted. Of Romans 6:9;-Romans 6:10 is proof Christ’s death on the cross was a death to sin: these last words emphatic. Since death is the end of life, and removes a man absolutely from the environment in which he lived, this phrase can only mean that in some real sense, by His death on the cross, Christ escaped absolutely from all contact with sin; just as by death the martyr escapes from his persecutors and his prison. And this we can understand. In Gethsemane, He groaned under the burden of our sins; after His arrest, He was exposed to the insult and fury of bad men; and during many hours He hung in agony on the cross. All this was painful and shameful, though not defiling, contact with sin. And we know not how much it was aggravated by inward conflict with sin. But at sunset the Sufferer was free: by death He had for ever escaped from all contact with the powers of darkness. In this very real sense, the death which He died, He died to sin. For His death on the cross put an end to the mysterious relation to sin into which for our sakes He entered. Once, or once for all: cp. Hebrews 7:27; 9:12, 26, 28; 10:10. The separation from sin was final. Moreover, though dead, Christ still lives. This is implied in Romans 6:8, we shall live with Him. And the life which He lives, He lives for-God. This last word is the dative of advantage, as in 2 Corinthians 5:15, and five times in 1 Corinthians 6:13. It asserts that, of the life of our Risen Lord, God is the one aim, that His every purpose and effort aims only to accomplish the purposes of God. Such was also His life on earth: John 4:34; 6:38; 17:4. And such doubtless was the life of the pre-incarnate Son of God. Notice here a complete picture of Christ raised from the dead. By His death on the cross He escaped once and for ever from all contact with sin, and He now lives a life of which God is the one and only aim. This is the new life which they who share His escape from sin by His death on the cross expect (Romans 6:8) also to share.

The different renderings of the dative, dead to sin… living for God, are unavoidable. Literally, Paul’s words mean, dead in relation to sin… living in relation to God. But the whole context shows that the relation to sin is separation from it, and the relation to God is devotion to Him. The R.V. rendering dead unto sin but alive unto God is unmeaning. Uniformity is dearly purchased at such a price.

We will now endeavour to rebuild the argument of Romans 6:1-10. Christ lived once under the curse of sin, and in a body subject to death. But He died; and rose from the dead. By dying, He escaped for ever from all painful contact with sin and sinners, and from death, the result of sin: and He now lives a life of unreserved devotion to God. In former days, we were slaves to sin, and were thus exposed to the righteous anger of God. To make our justification consistent with His own justice, God gave Christ to die; and raised Him from the dead in order that He may be the personal Object of justifying faith. God’s purpose is so to unite us to Christ that we may share all that He has and is: and for this end we were united to Him in baptism. We were thus formally joined to One who was by death set free from sin and death, and who was raised by God to a deathless life. Therefore, so far as the purpose of God is accomplished in us, we are dead with Christ. And, if so, all law proclaims us free. We therefore infer that God’s purpose is to set us free from all bondage to our own bodies and to sin. We also infer that God designs us to share the resurrection life of Christ. For we see Him, not only rescued from His enemies by His own death, but living in heaven a life of which God is the only aim. This assures us that God designs us to be united to Christ both in His separation from sin and in His active devotion to God. Therefore, so far as God’s purpose is accomplished in us, we are (Romans 6:2) dead to sin. Consequently, to continue (Romans 6:1) to live in sin, is to resist God’s purpose and to renounce the new life to which baptism was designed to be the visible portal.

In the above argument, we find, stated and assumed without proof but with perfect confidence, and made a basis of important moral teaching, a THIRD FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINE, viz. that God designs the justified to share, so far as creatures can share, by vital union with Christ, all that He has and is, to be like Him by inward contact with Him. This doctrine will meet us again in Romans 6:11; Romans 7:4; 8:1, 17; also in 1 Corinthians 6:17; 2 Corinthians 5:15, 17; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 1:19, 20; 2:5, 6, etc. Similar teaching in John 15:1-8; 17:21, 26; 1 John 2:6, 24, 28; 3:6, 24; 4:17. That this remarkable doctrine is assumed with complete confidence but without proof by the two greatest apostles, men altogether different in temperament and modes of thought and almost unknown to each other, and that by one of them it is expressly attributed to Christ, can be accounted for only on the supposition that, like Justification through Faith and through the Death of Christ, it was in some equivalent form actually taught by Christ. This proof is independent of the apostolic authority of Paul.

Notice that the above argument assumes Paul’s Second Fundamental Doctrine, viz. Justification through the Death of Christ, taught in Romans 3:24-26; 4:25; 5:9, 10. For the only sense in which we can be crucified, dead, and buried with Christ, and thus dead to sin, is that through His death we are saved from sin. Moreover, the conspicuous place of the resurrection of Christ in Romans 6:4, 5, 9 reveals its importance as a link in the chain of salvation, and Paul’s firm confidence that He had actually risen: cp. Romans 1:4. This importance is explained in Romans 4:24, 25, where we read that the faith which justifies is a reliance “on Him who raised Jesus from the dead,” and that He “was raised for our justification.” Thus the argument now before us assumes Paul’s First great Doctrine of Justification through Faith. As we proceed, we shall find that these earlier doctrines imply, as a necessary moral sequence, the new doctrine now before us. Thus each of these three great doctrines implies and confirms and supplements the others.

Verse 9. Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more] So we, believing in Christ Jesus, and having a death unto sin, and a life unto righteousness, should sin no more. If we be risen indeed with Christ, we should seek the things above, and set our affections on things above, and not on the earth. The man who walks in humble, loving obedience, to an indwelling Christ, sin has no more dominion over his soul than death has over the immortal and glorified body of his Redeemer.

Verses 8-11. Now if we be dead with Christ — Conformed to his death by dying to sin; we believe that we shall also live with him — We have reason sufficient to assure ourselves that we shall be conformed to him in life too, by living an uninterrupted life of grace here, and glory hereafter; and shall die no more, even as Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more, verse 9. He died unto sin — To atone for and to abolish it; but he liveth unto God — A glorious eternal life, such as we shall live also. Likewise — Outw, so, in correspondence to Christ’s death and life, verses 8, 9, reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin — To be under an indispensable obligation, from duty and gratitude, to die to it, and never more return under its power, or live in the commission of it; but alive unto God — Endued with spiritual life, and thereby enabled to live to the glory of God, in a steady, uniform, and cheerful obedience to his wise, just, and holy commands; through Jesus Christ our Lord — By virtue of his death and resurrection, your union with him by faith, and grace received from him.

Ver. 8.-10. Proof of the latter part, as Romans 6:6, 7 proved the former part, of Romans 6:5.

Died with Christ: crucified with Him, in Romans 6:6. We believe: an assured conviction. It is also faith in God: for our hope of life rests, like Abraham’s faith, on His promise and character. Shall live with Him: logical future as in Romans 6:5: very appropriate here because this life will continue to endless ages.

Knowing that etc.: ground of the assurance just expressed, viz. the deathless life of Christ, raised from the dead.

He dies no more: an unchanging truth, suitably put in the present tense. Of Him, death is no longer lord: recalling the royalty usurped in Romans 5:14, 17, to which even Christ submitted. Of Romans 6:9;-Romans 6:10 is proof Christ’s death on the cross was a death to sin: these last words emphatic. Since death is the end of life, and removes a man absolutely from the environment in which he lived, this phrase can only mean that in some real sense, by His death on the cross, Christ escaped absolutely from all contact with sin; just as by death the martyr escapes from his persecutors and his prison. And this we can understand. In Gethsemane, He groaned under the burden of our sins; after His arrest, He was exposed to the insult and fury of bad men; and during many hours He hung in agony on the cross. All this was painful and shameful, though not defiling, contact with sin. And we know not how much it was aggravated by inward conflict with sin. But at sunset the Sufferer was free: by death He had for ever escaped from all contact with the powers of darkness. In this very real sense, the death which He died, He died to sin. For His death on the cross put an end to the mysterious relation to sin into which for our sakes He entered. Once, or once for all: cp. Hebrews 7:27; 9:12, 26, 28; 10:10. The separation from sin was final. Moreover, though dead, Christ still lives. This is implied in Romans 6:8, we shall live with Him. And the life which He lives, He lives for-God. This last word is the dative of advantage, as in 2 Corinthians 5:15, and five times in 1 Corinthians 6:13. It asserts that, of the life of our Risen Lord, God is the one aim, that His every purpose and effort aims only to accomplish the purposes of God. Such was also His life on earth: John 4:34; 6:38; 17:4. And such doubtless was the life of the pre-incarnate Son of God. Notice here a complete picture of Christ raised from the dead. By His death on the cross He escaped once and for ever from all contact with sin, and He now lives a life of which God is the one and only aim. This is the new life which they who share His escape from sin by His death on the cross expect (Romans 6:8) also to share.

The different renderings of the dative, dead to sin… living for God, are unavoidable. Literally, Paul’s words mean, dead in relation to sin… living in relation to God. But the whole context shows that the relation to sin is separation from it, and the relation to God is devotion to Him. The R.V. rendering dead unto sin but alive unto God is unmeaning. Uniformity is dearly purchased at such a price.

We will now endeavour to rebuild the argument of Romans 6:1-10. Christ lived once under the curse of sin, and in a body subject to death. But He died; and rose from the dead. By dying, He escaped for ever from all painful contact with sin and sinners, and from death, the result of sin: and He now lives a life of unreserved devotion to God. In former days, we were slaves to sin, and were thus exposed to the righteous anger of God. To make our justification consistent with His own justice, God gave Christ to die; and raised Him from the dead in order that He may be the personal Object of justifying faith. God’s purpose is so to unite us to Christ that we may share all that He has and is: and for this end we were united to Him in baptism. We were thus formally joined to One who was by death set free from sin and death, and who was raised by God to a deathless life. Therefore, so far as the purpose of God is accomplished in us, we are dead with Christ. And, if so, all law proclaims us free. We therefore infer that God’s purpose is to set us free from all bondage to our own bodies and to sin. We also infer that God designs us to share the resurrection life of Christ. For we see Him, not only rescued from His enemies by His own death, but living in heaven a life of which God is the only aim. This assures us that God designs us to be united to Christ both in His separation from sin and in His active devotion to God. Therefore, so far as God’s purpose is accomplished in us, we are (Romans 6:2) dead to sin. Consequently, to continue (Romans 6:1) to live in sin, is to resist God’s purpose and to renounce the new life to which baptism was designed to be the visible portal.

In the above argument, we find, stated and assumed without proof but with perfect confidence, and made a basis of important moral teaching, a THIRD FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINE, viz. that God designs the justified to share, so far as creatures can share, by vital union with Christ, all that He has and is, to be like Him by inward contact with Him. This doctrine will meet us again in Romans 6:11; Romans 7:4; 8:1, 17; also in 1 Corinthians 6:17; 2 Corinthians 5:15, 17; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 1:19, 20; 2:5, 6, etc. Similar teaching in John 15:1-8; 17:21, 26; 1 John 2:6, 24, 28; 3:6, 24; 4:17. That this remarkable doctrine is assumed with complete confidence but without proof by the two greatest apostles, men altogether different in temperament and modes of thought and almost unknown to each other, and that by one of them it is expressly attributed to Christ, can be accounted for only on the supposition that, like Justification through Faith and through the Death of Christ, it was in some equivalent form actually taught by Christ. This proof is independent of the apostolic authority of Paul.

Notice that the above argument assumes Paul’s Second Fundamental Doctrine, viz. Justification through the Death of Christ, taught in Romans 3:24-26; 4:25; 5:9, 10. For the only sense in which we can be crucified, dead, and buried with Christ, and thus dead to sin, is that through His death we are saved from sin. Moreover, the conspicuous place of the resurrection of Christ in Romans 6:4, 5, 9 reveals its importance as a link in the chain of salvation, and Paul’s firm confidence that He had actually risen: cp. Romans 1:4. This importance is explained in Romans 4:24, 25, where we read that the faith which justifies is a reliance “on Him who raised Jesus from the dead,” and that He “was raised for our justification.” Thus the argument now before us assumes Paul’s First great Doctrine of Justification through Faith. As we proceed, we shall find that these earlier doctrines imply, as a necessary moral sequence, the new doctrine now before us. Thus each of these three great doctrines implies and confirms and supplements the others.

V. 10. He died to sin-To atone for and abolish it. He liveth unto God-A glorious eternal life, such as we shall live also.

Verse 10. He died unto sin once] On this clause Rosenmuller speaks thus: “th amartia apeqanen efapax, propter peccatum mortuus est semel, et quidem misera morte. th amartia, i.e. eper thv amartiav, ad expianda peccata; res ipsa docet aliter homines apoqnhskein th amartia, aliter Christum: amat Paulus parallelismum, in quo interpretando multa cautione opus est.” “He died unto sin once: i.e. he died on account of sin, and truly a miserable death. th amartia, is the same as uper thv amartiav, for the expiation of sin. Common sense teaches us that men die to sin in one sense; Christ in another: St. Paul loves parallelisms, in the interpretation of which there is need of much caution.” From the whole scope of the apostle’s discourse it is plain that he considers the death of Christ as a death or sacrifice for sin; a sin-offering: in this sense no man has ever died for sin, or ever can die.

Verses 8-11. Now if we be dead with Christ — Conformed to his death by dying to sin; we believe that we shall also live with him — We have reason sufficient to assure ourselves that we shall be conformed to him in life too, by living an uninterrupted life of grace here, and glory hereafter; and shall die no more, even as Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more, verse 9. He died unto sin — To atone for and to abolish it; but he liveth unto God — A glorious eternal life, such as we shall live also. Likewise — Outw, so, in correspondence to Christ’s death and life, verses 8, 9, reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin — To be under an indispensable obligation, from duty and gratitude, to die to it, and never more return under its power, or live in the commission of it; but alive unto God — Endued with spiritual life, and thereby enabled to live to the glory of God, in a steady, uniform, and cheerful obedience to his wise, just, and holy commands; through Jesus Christ our Lord — By virtue of his death and resurrection, your union with him by faith, and grace received from him.

10. Died unto sin—The death of Christ was the very highest point of the antagonism of holiness against sin. The very highest image, therefore, of the contrariety of Christianity to sin is instanced in the identification of the Christian with the death of Christ. With Christ, in a lower sense, he dies unto sin; with Christ he liveth unto God.

Ver. 8.-10. Proof of the latter part, as Romans 6:6, 7 proved the former part, of Romans 6:5.

Died with Christ: crucified with Him, in Romans 6:6. We believe: an assured conviction. It is also faith in God: for our hope of life rests, like Abraham’s faith, on His promise and character. Shall live with Him: logical future as in Romans 6:5: very appropriate here because this life will continue to endless ages.

Knowing that etc.: ground of the assurance just expressed, viz. the deathless life of Christ, raised from the dead.

He dies no more: an unchanging truth, suitably put in the present tense. Of Him, death is no longer lord: recalling the royalty usurped in Romans 5:14, 17, to which even Christ submitted. Of Romans 6:9;-Romans 6:10 is proof Christ’s death on the cross was a death to sin: these last words emphatic. Since death is the end of life, and removes a man absolutely from the environment in which he lived, this phrase can only mean that in some real sense, by His death on the cross, Christ escaped absolutely from all contact with sin; just as by death the martyr escapes from his persecutors and his prison. And this we can understand. In Gethsemane, He groaned under the burden of our sins; after His arrest, He was exposed to the insult and fury of bad men; and during many hours He hung in agony on the cross. All this was painful and shameful, though not defiling, contact with sin. And we know not how much it was aggravated by inward conflict with sin. But at sunset the Sufferer was free: by death He had for ever escaped from all contact with the powers of darkness. In this very real sense, the death which He died, He died to sin. For His death on the cross put an end to the mysterious relation to sin into which for our sakes He entered. Once, or once for all: cp. Hebrews 7:27; 9:12, 26, 28; 10:10. The separation from sin was final. Moreover, though dead, Christ still lives. This is implied in Romans 6:8, we shall live with Him. And the life which He lives, He lives for-God. This last word is the dative of advantage, as in 2 Corinthians 5:15, and five times in 1 Corinthians 6:13. It asserts that, of the life of our Risen Lord, God is the one aim, that His every purpose and effort aims only to accomplish the purposes of God. Such was also His life on earth: John 4:34; 6:38; 17:4. And such doubtless was the life of the pre-incarnate Son of God. Notice here a complete picture of Christ raised from the dead. By His death on the cross He escaped once and for ever from all contact with sin, and He now lives a life of which God is the one and only aim. This is the new life which they who share His escape from sin by His death on the cross expect (Romans 6:8) also to share.

The different renderings of the dative, dead to sin… living for God, are unavoidable. Literally, Paul’s words mean, dead in relation to sin… living in relation to God. But the whole context shows that the relation to sin is separation from it, and the relation to God is devotion to Him. The R.V. rendering dead unto sin but alive unto God is unmeaning. Uniformity is dearly purchased at such a price.

We will now endeavour to rebuild the argument of Romans 6:1-10. Christ lived once under the curse of sin, and in a body subject to death. But He died; and rose from the dead. By dying, He escaped for ever from all painful contact with sin and sinners, and from death, the result of sin: and He now lives a life of unreserved devotion to God. In former days, we were slaves to sin, and were thus exposed to the righteous anger of God. To make our justification consistent with His own justice, God gave Christ to die; and raised Him from the dead in order that He may be the personal Object of justifying faith. God’s purpose is so to unite us to Christ that we may share all that He has and is: and for this end we were united to Him in baptism. We were thus formally joined to One who was by death set free from sin and death, and who was raised by God to a deathless life. Therefore, so far as the purpose of God is accomplished in us, we are dead with Christ. And, if so, all law proclaims us free. We therefore infer that God’s purpose is to set us free from all bondage to our own bodies and to sin. We also infer that God designs us to share the resurrection life of Christ. For we see Him, not only rescued from His enemies by His own death, but living in heaven a life of which God is the only aim. This assures us that God designs us to be united to Christ both in His separation from sin and in His active devotion to God. Therefore, so far as God’s purpose is accomplished in us, we are (Romans 6:2) dead to sin. Consequently, to continue (Romans 6:1) to live in sin, is to resist God’s purpose and to renounce the new life to which baptism was designed to be the visible portal.

In the above argument, we find, stated and assumed without proof but with perfect confidence, and made a basis of important moral teaching, a THIRD FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINE, viz. that God designs the justified to share, so far as creatures can share, by vital union with Christ, all that He has and is, to be like Him by inward contact with Him. This doctrine will meet us again in Romans 6:11; Romans 7:4; 8:1, 17; also in 1 Corinthians 6:17; 2 Corinthians 5:15, 17; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 1:19, 20; 2:5, 6, etc. Similar teaching in John 15:1-8; 17:21, 26; 1 John 2:6, 24, 28; 3:6, 24; 4:17. That this remarkable doctrine is assumed with complete confidence but without proof by the two greatest apostles, men altogether different in temperament and modes of thought and almost unknown to each other, and that by one of them it is expressly attributed to Christ, can be accounted for only on the supposition that, like Justification through Faith and through the Death of Christ, it was in some equivalent form actually taught by Christ. This proof is independent of the apostolic authority of Paul.

Notice that the above argument assumes Paul’s Second Fundamental Doctrine, viz. Justification through the Death of Christ, taught in Romans 3:24-26; 4:25; 5:9, 10. For the only sense in which we can be crucified, dead, and buried with Christ, and thus dead to sin, is that through His death we are saved from sin. Moreover, the conspicuous place of the resurrection of Christ in Romans 6:4, 5, 9 reveals its importance as a link in the chain of salvation, and Paul’s firm confidence that He had actually risen: cp. Romans 1:4. This importance is explained in Romans 4:24, 25, where we read that the faith which justifies is a reliance “on Him who raised Jesus from the dead,” and that He “was raised for our justification.” Thus the argument now before us assumes Paul’s First great Doctrine of Justification through Faith. As we proceed, we shall find that these earlier doctrines imply, as a necessary moral sequence, the new doctrine now before us. Thus each of these three great doctrines implies and confirms and supplements the others.

Verse 11. Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead] Die as truly unto sin, as he died for sin. Live as truly unto God, as he lives with God. This seems to be the spirit of the apostle’s meaning.

Verses 8-11. Now if we be dead with Christ — Conformed to his death by dying to sin; we believe that we shall also live with him — We have reason sufficient to assure ourselves that we shall be conformed to him in life too, by living an uninterrupted life of grace here, and glory hereafter; and shall die no more, even as Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more, verse 9. He died unto sin — To atone for and to abolish it; but he liveth unto God — A glorious eternal life, such as we shall live also. Likewise — Outw, so, in correspondence to Christ’s death and life, verses 8, 9, reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin — To be under an indispensable obligation, from duty and gratitude, to die to it, and never more return under its power, or live in the commission of it; but alive unto God — Endued with spiritual life, and thereby enabled to live to the glory of God, in a steady, uniform, and cheerful obedience to his wise, just, and holy commands; through Jesus Christ our Lord — By virtue of his death and resurrection, your union with him by faith, and grace received from him.

ROMANS

SECTION 18 — WE SERVE SIN NO MORE

CH. 6:11-14

So also ye, reckon yourselves to be dead to sin but living for God in Christ Jesus. Then let not sin reign as king in your mortal body, in order to obey its desires. Neither present the members of your body, as weapons of unrighteousness, to sin; but present yourselves to God as if living from the dead, and the members of your body, as weapons of righteousness, to God. For of you sin shall not be lord: for ye are not under law but under grace.

In Romans 6:1-10, Paul proved that God wills us to be dead to sin and living a new life: in Romans 6:11-14, he teaches how God’s purpose may be realised in us, and bids us claim its realisation: in Romans 6:15-23, he will go on to prove, by comparison of the old and new, that this realisation is for our highest good.

Ver. 11. Practical application of Romans 6:10.

So also ye: just as Christ once for all died to sin and lives for God, the case of the servants being added to, and corresponding with, that of their Lord. Reckon: a mental calculation, as in Romans 2:3; 3:28. Since, in this case, it results in a rational and assured conviction resting upon the word and character of God, it is the mental process of faith.

Dead to sin: completely delivered from it, as Christ escaped from His enemies by His death on the cross.

Living for God: as Christ lives (Romans 6:10) upon the throne. [The particle men makes these two sides, negative and positive, of the new life distinct objects of thought.]

In Christ Jesus: by inward and spiritual contact and union with Him who once died to sin and ever lives for God. So Romans 6:23; Romans 3:24; 8:1, 2; 12:5; Ephesians 1:3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, etc. Same phrase in a slightly different form in John 6:56; 14:20; 15:2-7; 17:21; 1 John 2:6, 24, 28, etc. It is a conspicuous feature of the teaching of Paul and of John; and represents Christ as the secure refuge and home and vital atmosphere of His servants, in which they are safe and at rest and live. Notice here a double relation to Christ: they are like Him, sharing His death to sin and life of devotion to God; and in Him, their likeness to Him being an outflow of inward and vital contact with Him.

The exhortation of this verse is not, like that in Romans 5:1, merely rhetorical. For it is repeated with evident practical earnestness in Romans 6:12, 13, 15-21, as a needful warning and encouragement. The experience here set forth is thus contrasted with pardon or justification, which the N.T. writers never exhort their readers to claim, but always assume that they already have: cp. Romans 5:9, 10, 11; 1 Corinthians 6:11; Ephesians 1:7; 1 John 2:12. We have here two stages or sides of the new life, closely related but distinct in thought and usually in time. For many venture to believe that God here and now forgives their past sins, and thus by faith obtain forgiveness, who have not yet dared to believe that in Christ’s grave their past life of sin is buried, and that by inward union with Him they will henceforth live a life of unreserved devotion to God.

In this verse, we learn how to obtain this full salvation. viz. by reckoning, at God’s bidding and in reliance upon His promise and His wonder-working power, that what He bids us reckon He will Himself, in the moment of our reckoning and henceforth, work in us by inward contact with Him who Himself died to sin and ever lives for God. This involves the great truth that, whatever God requires us to do and to be, He will work in us through Christ and in Christ. In Romans 8:2-16, we shall learn that this inward union with Christ and new life in Christ is wrought in us by the agency of the Spirit of God.

We come therefore to the cross and to the empty grave of Christ. We remember the sinlessness and the devotion to God of the dead and risen Saviour; and we know that He died in order that we, by spiritual union with Him, may be like Him. Perhaps until this moment we have been defiled and enslaved by sin and only in small part loyal to God. But God bids us reckon ourselves to be sharers of the death and life of Christ. In view of the earnest love and infinite power manifested in the death and resurrection of Christ, we dare not hesitate; and in contradiction to our past experience and to our present sense of utter weakness, we say, In Him I am dead to sin and henceforth living only for God. What we say, we reckon at God’s bidding to be true; and God realises in us, in proportion to our faith, by uniting us to Christ, His own word and our faith. Thousands have thus found by happy experience of the grace and power of God, in a measure unknown to them before, a new life of victory over sin and of loyal devotion to God.

Notice in this verse a FOURTH FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINE viz. that the new life of victory over sin and devotion to God is wrought by God, through faith, in those who believe. This doctrine may be called (see under Romans 6:19) Sanctification through Faith. It is in close harmony with, and a needful supplement to, Justification through Faith. For complete harmony with God, victory over all sin and unreserved devotion to God are as needful as forgiveness: and we are as little able by our own works to obtain the one as the other. When therefore we have learnt that God, who accepts as righteous those that believe, designs them to be sharers of the moral life of Christ, we are prepared to learn that also this new life in Christ is God’s gift to those that believe. This close correspondence and natural inference account for the informal manner in which this fourth doctrine comes before us. It was needless to state it explicitly, or to defend it. For the exposition and defence of justifying faith. In Rom. 4 avails equally for sanctifying faith. Like the faith of Abraham, expounded in Romans 4:17-21, the faith which apprehends the new life in Christ is a reliance upon the word and power of God. Paul’s explicit assertion and abundant defence of faith as the condition of justification give him a right to assume it silently, as he does here, as the condition of sanctification.

Like justifying faith, sanctifying faith is a reliance upon the word and character of God. But they differ in their object-matter. The one accepts and appropriates the promise of pardon for all who believe: the other accepts and appropriates the promise of complete salvation from all sin and of a new life of devotion to God like that of Christ. Moreover, this latter is at once verified by a conscious experience of victory over sin and of felt loyalty to God: and this inward verification verifies also the faith with which we ventured to accept the Gospel of pardon.

V. 12. Let not sin reign even in your mortal body-It must be subject to death, but it need not be subject to sin.

Verse 12. Let not sin therefore reign] This is a prosopopœia, or personification. Sin is represented as a king, ruler, or tyrant, who has the desires of the mind and the members of the body under his control so that by influencing the passions he governs the body. Do not let sin reign, do not let him work; that is, let him have no place, no being in your souls; because, wherever he is he governs, less or more: and indeed sin is not sin without this. How is sin known? By evil influences in the mind, and evil acts in the life. But do not these influences and these acts prove his dominion? Certainly, the very existence of an evil thought to which passion or appetite attaches itself, is a proof that there sin has dominion; for without dominion such passions could not be excited. Wherever sin is felt, there sin has dominion; for sin is sin only as it works in action or passion against God. Sin cannot be a quiescent thing: if it do not work it does not exist.

That ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.] auth en taiv epiqumiaiv autou. This clause is wanting in the most ancient and reputable MSS. and in the principal versions. Griesbach has left it out of his text; and Professor White says, Certissime delenda: “These words should certainly he expunged” they are not necessary to the apostle’s argument; it was enough to say, Let not sin reign in your mortal bodies, that ye should obey it. If it be there it will reign there; and its reign supposes, necessarily, the subjection of that in which it reigns. A king reigns when his laws are enforced, and the people obey them. When there is no executive government there is no reign. There may be a royal shadow there, but there is no king.

Verses 12-14. Let not sin — Any sinful disposition or inclination; therefore — Since you are regenerate and spiritually alive; reign in your mortal body — That is, reign in your soul while it dwells in your body. Many of our sinful inclinations have their seat in the body, and such evil inclinations as are of a more spiritual nature, are always some way more or less turned toward the body. That ye should obey it — Should yield to and be overcome by it; in the lusts thereof — In the irregular or inordinate desires which it excites within you. Neither yield ye your members — The members of your bodies, or the faculties of your minds; the word melh, here used, as also chapter 7:5, signifying both, and indeed every thing in us and belonging to us, which is employed as an instrument in performing the works of the flesh, enumerated Galatians 5:19-21. For some of these do not require the members of the body to their being performed, but are wholly confined in their operation to the mind. Hence, Colossians 3:5, evil desire and covetousness are mentioned among our members upon the earth which we are to mortify. As instruments of unrighteousness — Employed in its service; unto sin — For the committing of it. The original word opla, rendered instruments, properly denotes military weapons; and may be here used to signify, that those who employ their powers, whether of body or mind, or any ability they possess, in the service of sin, do in fact fight for it, and for its master and father, Satan; and the principalities and powers under his command, against God and Christ, and all the company of heaven. But yield yourselves unto God — Your lawful king, governor, and captain: dedicate yourselves, both body and soul, to his service; as those that are alive from the dead — Who, after having been spiritually dead, are quickened and put in possession of spiritual life; that is, are no longer alienated from the life of God, but have vital union with God; not as formerly, carnally minded, which is death, but spiritually minded, which is life and peace, chap. 8:6; no longer under condemnation to the second death, but justified and entitled to eternal life; and your members — All your powers and abilities; as instruments of righteousness — Instruments employed in the promotion of piety and virtue; unto God — For his service and to his glory; or as weapons, to fight his battles, and oppose the designs of your spiritual enemies. For sin shall not have dominion over you — It has no right, and shall not have power to reign over you. The word kurieusei, denotes the government of a master over his slave, and might be rendered, shall not lord it over you. As if he had said, Though it is true sin is strong, and you are weak in yourselves, yet if you faithfully strive against it, looking to God for power from on high, you shall be enabled to conquer. For ye are not under the law — Under a dispensation of terror and bondage, which only shows you your duty, but gives you no power to perform it; and which condemns you for your past violations of it, but offers no pardon to any on their repentance. The Mosaic law seems to be particularly intended, and the propriety of what is here observed is well illustrated, in that view, by the apostle in the next chapter. But his words may well imply also, that we are not so under any law as to be utterly condemned for want of a perfect conformity, or unsinning obedience to it. Not under a dispensation that requires such an obedience, under the penalty of death; which offers no assistance for enabling those who are under it to perform its requisitions, and grants no pardon to any sinner on his repentance. For the apprehension of being under such a dispensation would tend utterly to discourage us in all our attempts to conquer sin, and free ourselves from its power. But under grace — Under the merciful dispensation of the gospel, which offers to all that will accept it, in the way of repentance toward God and faith in Christ, a free and full pardon for all that is past, an entire change of nature, and those continual supplies of grace, which strengthen human weakness, and confer both the will and the power to conquer every besetting sin, and live in the practice of universal holiness and righteousness. For the nature of the grace, that is, of the new gracious covenant, under which we are placed, is such, that it does not require an impossible perfect obedience to the law of Moses, or any law, but the obedience of faith; promising, at the same time, the aids of the Holy Spirit, to enable men to do God’s will sincerely as far as they know it, and offering the pardon of sin to all on condition of repentance and faith in Christ, and in the declarations and promises of the gospel through him. Now under this gracious covenant mankind have been placed ever since the fall; ever since God said, The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head; ever since that time the apostle’s doctrine here, Ye are not under the law, but under grace, has been true of all the posterity of Adam; a doctrine which, instead of weakening the obligation of the law of God, written on men’s hearts, or the moral law in any of its requirements, establishes it in the most effectual manner. See note on Romans 3:31.

Ver. 12. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, for grace has abounded more than sin. The old man is put off with his deeds, the divinity dwells in your hearts, and keeps you in all the grace in which you stand. Therefore while you retain this inward glory of sanctification, you cannot yield your members to be instruments of unrighteousness. The Comforter will abide in your heart, and you will be kept unspotted from the world.

12. Therefore—Inasmuch as death to sin is freedom from sin, be ye free from sin. The apostle now in the paragraph 12-23 develops a train of imageries drawn from servitude, namely, to sin or to holiness; contrasting the service of sin and the deathly results with the service of God, which is freedom emerging into the glorified life.

Sin… reign—Sin assumes to be a king; our mortal body (mortal, as sin has made it so) is his claimed realm; that body’s lusts are the mandates which the false sovereign would have us obey.

Ver. 12. Further exhortation arising out of the exhortation foregoing. Sin reign: as in Romans 5:21.

In your body: as the throne and basis of its royal power. Cp. Revelation 3:21: “sit with Me in My throne.”

Mortal: emphatic, as in Romans 8:11, “your mortal bodies.” That our body is not yet rescued from corruption and is therefore still under the dominion of the foe, is a reason why we should not submit to a power which seeks to dominate us by means of our body.

In order to obey etc.: purpose for which men permit sin to usurp authority over them through their bodies, viz. they wish to gratify, i.e. to obey its desires.

Desire: a definite wish going after an object pleasant or helpful. Same word in Romans 1:24; 7:7, 8; 13:14: cp. “desire of the flesh” in Galatians 5:16, 24; Ephesians 2:3. It is in itself neither good nor bad: see Philippians 1:23, 1 Thessalonians 2:17; Luke 15:16; 16:21; 17:22; 22:15. The moral colour of the desire is reflected on it from the context. Hence the unsuitability of the R.V. rendering lust. But obedience to the desires of the body as a directive principle of action always leads to sin. For the body is the lower side of our nature, is essentially selfish, caring for nothing except itself, and is unconscious of the moral law. It therefore needs to be held in by a strong hand, to be laid (see Romans 6:13) on the altar of God, and to be used for His service. To permit the body to rule, i.e. to make gratification of its appetites, or even its preservation, the end of life, is to permit sin to reign over us as king, and our bodies, already doomed to decay, to become its throne. Against such submission, and such motive, Paul warns his readers.

V. 13. Neither present your members to sin-To corrupt nature, a mere tyrant.

But to God-Your lawful King.

Verse 13. Neither yield ye your members] Do not yield to temptation. It is no sin to be tempted, the sin lies in yielding. While the sin exists only in Satan’s solicitation, it is the devil’s sin, not ours: when we yield, we make the devil’s sin our own: then we ENTER INTO temptation. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Satan himself cannot force you to sin: till he wins over your will, he cannot bring you into subjection. You may be tempted; but yield not to the temptation.

Yield yourselves unto God] Let God have your wills; keep them ever on his side; there they are safe, and there they will be active. Satan cannot force the will, and God will not. Indeed it would cease to be will were it forced by either: it is essential to its being that it be free. And your members as instruments, &c.] Let soul and body be employed in the service of your Maker; let him have your hearts; and with them, your heads, your hands, your feet. Think and devise what is pure; speak what is true, and to the use of edifying; work that which is just and good; and walk steadily in the way that leads to everlasting felicity. Be holy within and holy without.

Verses 12-14. Let not sin — Any sinful disposition or inclination; therefore — Since you are regenerate and spiritually alive; reign in your mortal body — That is, reign in your soul while it dwells in your body. Many of our sinful inclinations have their seat in the body, and such evil inclinations as are of a more spiritual nature, are always some way more or less turned toward the body. That ye should obey it — Should yield to and be overcome by it; in the lusts thereof — In the irregular or inordinate desires which it excites within you. Neither yield ye your members — The members of your bodies, or the faculties of your minds; the word melh, here used, as also chapter 7:5, signifying both, and indeed every thing in us and belonging to us, which is employed as an instrument in performing the works of the flesh, enumerated Galatians 5:19-21. For some of these do not require the members of the body to their being performed, but are wholly confined in their operation to the mind. Hence, Colossians 3:5, evil desire and covetousness are mentioned among our members upon the earth which we are to mortify. As instruments of unrighteousness — Employed in its service; unto sin — For the committing of it. The original word opla, rendered instruments, properly denotes military weapons; and may be here used to signify, that those who employ their powers, whether of body or mind, or any ability they possess, in the service of sin, do in fact fight for it, and for its master and father, Satan; and the principalities and powers under his command, against God and Christ, and all the company of heaven. But yield yourselves unto God — Your lawful king, governor, and captain: dedicate yourselves, both body and soul, to his service; as those that are alive from the dead — Who, after having been spiritually dead, are quickened and put in possession of spiritual life; that is, are no longer alienated from the life of God, but have vital union with God; not as formerly, carnally minded, which is death, but spiritually minded, which is life and peace, chap. 8:6; no longer under condemnation to the second death, but justified and entitled to eternal life; and your members — All your powers and abilities; as instruments of righteousness — Instruments employed in the promotion of piety and virtue; unto God — For his service and to his glory; or as weapons, to fight his battles, and oppose the designs of your spiritual enemies. For sin shall not have dominion over you — It has no right, and shall not have power to reign over you. The word kurieusei, denotes the government of a master over his slave, and might be rendered, shall not lord it over you. As if he had said, Though it is true sin is strong, and you are weak in yourselves, yet if you faithfully strive against it, looking to God for power from on high, you shall be enabled to conquer. For ye are not under the law — Under a dispensation of terror and bondage, which only shows you your duty, but gives you no power to perform it; and which condemns you for your past violations of it, but offers no pardon to any on their repentance. The Mosaic law seems to be particularly intended, and the propriety of what is here observed is well illustrated, in that view, by the apostle in the next chapter. But his words may well imply also, that we are not so under any law as to be utterly condemned for want of a perfect conformity, or unsinning obedience to it. Not under a dispensation that requires such an obedience, under the penalty of death; which offers no assistance for enabling those who are under it to perform its requisitions, and grants no pardon to any sinner on his repentance. For the apprehension of being under such a dispensation would tend utterly to discourage us in all our attempts to conquer sin, and free ourselves from its power. But under grace — Under the merciful dispensation of the gospel, which offers to all that will accept it, in the way of repentance toward God and faith in Christ, a free and full pardon for all that is past, an entire change of nature, and those continual supplies of grace, which strengthen human weakness, and confer both the will and the power to conquer every besetting sin, and live in the practice of universal holiness and righteousness. For the nature of the grace, that is, of the new gracious covenant, under which we are placed, is such, that it does not require an impossible perfect obedience to the law of Moses, or any law, but the obedience of faith; promising, at the same time, the aids of the Holy Spirit, to enable men to do God’s will sincerely as far as they know it, and offering the pardon of sin to all on condition of repentance and faith in Christ, and in the declarations and promises of the gospel through him. Now under this gracious covenant mankind have been placed ever since the fall; ever since God said, The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head; ever since that time the apostle’s doctrine here, Ye are not under the law, but under grace, has been true of all the posterity of Adam; a doctrine which, instead of weakening the obligation of the law of God, written on men’s hearts, or the moral law in any of its requirements, establishes it in the most effectual manner. See note on Romans 3:31.

13. Members as instruments—Our limbs, all the parts and organs of our body, the false king, Sin, would devote as instruments to execute the behests of the lusts. Unto God—The true king. Instruments of righteousness—Instead of lusts. Augustine well says: “Does anger rise? Refuse to give for it your tongue to cursing or your hand to striking. That irrational rage would cease to rise did not sin exist in the members. Abolish its power; let it not have weapons with which it can war against you. It will learn not to rise when it ceases to be allowed arms.”

Ver. 13. Another exhortation, the negative side expounding the practical result of obeying the desires of the body, and the positive side expounding what is involved in “living for God.”

Present: so Romans 6:16, 19; 12:1; cp. Romans 16:2; Colossians 1:22, 28: to place at the disposal of another. Members: the various parts of the body, each with its own faculty: Romans 12:4; 1 Corinthians 12:12, 14, 18, 19; Matthew 5:29, 30, etc. Its looser modern use has led me to render members of your body.

Weapons: instruments for carrying on war: Romans 13:12; 2 Corinthians 6:7; 10:4; John 18:3. Being used for an evil purpose, they are weapons of unrighteousness. To obey the desires of our body, is to place our hands and lips at the disposal of sin to be weapons which it will use in unrighteous war.

Yourselves: the personality behind the bodily powers, given up, not to sin, but to God.

Present yourselves as if living from the dead: looking upon yourselves as if your life had come to an end, as if ye had been laid in, and raised from, the grave, and thus raised from among the dead, and as if now living a resurrection life; and, thus viewing your position, place yourselves at the disposal of God.

And your members etc.: a detail involved in present yourselves. Weapons of righteousness: a marked contrast: our hands and lips given to God to be used by Him in His righteous war. Instead of obeying the desires of our body, and thus permitting sin to erect its throne there and to use our bodily powers for its own ends, Paul bids us place our whole personality at the disposal of God, resolving that henceforth our hands shall do His work, our feet run on His errands, and our lips speak His message, in His conflict against sin. Notice here a new view of Christian duty. God bids us, not merely to avoid sin, but to place ourselves with all we have and are at His disposal for use in the tremendous struggle now going on between good and evil.

V. 14. Sin shall not have dominion over you-It has neither right nor power.

For ye are not under the law-A dispensation of terror and bondage, which only shows sin, without enabling you to conquer it. But under grace-Under the merciful dispensation of the gospel, which brings complete victory over it to every one who is under the powerful influences of the Spirit of Christ.

Verse 14. Sin shall not have dominion over you] God delivers you from it; and if you again become subject to it, it will be the effect of your own choice or negligence.

Ye are not under the law] That law which exacts obedience, without giving power to obey; that condemns every transgression and every unholy thought without providing for the extirpation of evil or the pardon of sin. But under grace.] Ye are under the merciful and beneficent dispensation of the Gospel, that, although it requires the strictest conformity to the will of God, affords sufficient power to be thus conformed; and, in the death of Christ, has provided pardon for all that is past, and grace to help in every time of need.

Verses 12-14. Let not sin — Any sinful disposition or inclination; therefore — Since you are regenerate and spiritually alive; reign in your mortal body — That is, reign in your soul while it dwells in your body. Many of our sinful inclinations have their seat in the body, and such evil inclinations as are of a more spiritual nature, are always some way more or less turned toward the body. That ye should obey it — Should yield to and be overcome by it; in the lusts thereof — In the irregular or inordinate desires which it excites within you. Neither yield ye your members — The members of your bodies, or the faculties of your minds; the word melh, here used, as also chapter 7:5, signifying both, and indeed every thing in us and belonging to us, which is employed as an instrument in performing the works of the flesh, enumerated Galatians 5:19-21. For some of these do not require the members of the body to their being performed, but are wholly confined in their operation to the mind. Hence, Colossians 3:5, evil desire and covetousness are mentioned among our members upon the earth which we are to mortify. As instruments of unrighteousness — Employed in its service; unto sin — For the committing of it. The original word opla, rendered instruments, properly denotes military weapons; and may be here used to signify, that those who employ their powers, whether of body or mind, or any ability they possess, in the service of sin, do in fact fight for it, and for its master and father, Satan; and the principalities and powers under his command, against God and Christ, and all the company of heaven. But yield yourselves unto God — Your lawful king, governor, and captain: dedicate yourselves, both body and soul, to his service; as those that are alive from the dead — Who, after having been spiritually dead, are quickened and put in possession of spiritual life; that is, are no longer alienated from the life of God, but have vital union with God; not as formerly, carnally minded, which is death, but spiritually minded, which is life and peace, chap. 8:6; no longer under condemnation to the second death, but justified and entitled to eternal life; and your members — All your powers and abilities; as instruments of righteousness — Instruments employed in the promotion of piety and virtue; unto God — For his service and to his glory; or as weapons, to fight his battles, and oppose the designs of your spiritual enemies. For sin shall not have dominion over you — It has no right, and shall not have power to reign over you. The word kurieusei, denotes the government of a master over his slave, and might be rendered, shall not lord it over you. As if he had said, Though it is true sin is strong, and you are weak in yourselves, yet if you faithfully strive against it, looking to God for power from on high, you shall be enabled to conquer. For ye are not under the law — Under a dispensation of terror and bondage, which only shows you your duty, but gives you no power to perform it; and which condemns you for your past violations of it, but offers no pardon to any on their repentance. The Mosaic law seems to be particularly intended, and the propriety of what is here observed is well illustrated, in that view, by the apostle in the next chapter. But his words may well imply also, that we are not so under any law as to be utterly condemned for want of a perfect conformity, or unsinning obedience to it. Not under a dispensation that requires such an obedience, under the penalty of death; which offers no assistance for enabling those who are under it to perform its requisitions, and grants no pardon to any sinner on his repentance. For the apprehension of being under such a dispensation would tend utterly to discourage us in all our attempts to conquer sin, and free ourselves from its power. But under grace — Under the merciful dispensation of the gospel, which offers to all that will accept it, in the way of repentance toward God and faith in Christ, a free and full pardon for all that is past, an entire change of nature, and those continual supplies of grace, which strengthen human weakness, and confer both the will and the power to conquer every besetting sin, and live in the practice of universal holiness and righteousness. For the nature of the grace, that is, of the new gracious covenant, under which we are placed, is such, that it does not require an impossible perfect obedience to the law of Moses, or any law, but the obedience of faith; promising, at the same time, the aids of the Holy Spirit, to enable men to do God’s will sincerely as far as they know it, and offering the pardon of sin to all on condition of repentance and faith in Christ, and in the declarations and promises of the gospel through him. Now under this gracious covenant mankind have been placed ever since the fall; ever since God said, The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head; ever since that time the apostle’s doctrine here, Ye are not under the law, but under grace, has been true of all the posterity of Adam; a doctrine which, instead of weakening the obligation of the law of God, written on men’s hearts, or the moral law in any of its requirements, establishes it in the most effectual manner. See note on Romans 3:31.

14. Not under the law—Under the dispensation of Christless law the dominion of sin could never be broken. It would rule and ruin. But under grace emancipation is offered and freedom may be secured. Yet the new freedom consists not in an abolishment of the law, but in the spirit by which the Christian fulfils the law, namely, not under compulsion of the law, but freely and with full purpose of heart. Thus the most perfect obedience to law is a most delightful freedom.

Ver. 14. Encouragement to obey the foregoing exhortation. This last implies complete deliverance from service of sin. And Paul assures us, sin shall not be your lord.

Under law: governed by God on the principle, Do this and live, i.e. treated by Him according to our obedience. Such was God’s relation to Israel under the Old Covenant. Hence the Jews were under law: 1 Corinthians 9:20; Galatians 4:4, 5. Some Christians desired to remain under the same terms: Galatians 4:21. This momentary reference to the Law prepares a way for further teaching about it in Rom. 7.

Under grace: under a method of government determined not by mere justice but by the undeserved favour of God, i.e. under the reign (Romans 5:21) of grace. God makes, not our deserts, but His own goodwill the standard of His treatment of us. Otherwise He would never have given His Son to die for us, or have brought to bear upon us, while in our sins, those influences (see Romans 2:4) which led us to repentance and salvation. Upon the ground that God will treat us, not according to our works, i.e. according to the letter of the Law, but according to His undeserved favour, rest all our hopes of blessing from Him. In Romans 6:11-14, we have the Law and the Gospel of the new life in Christ, what God claims from us and what He is ready to work in us. He claims that we devote to Him and His service our whole personality and all our bodily powers. Incidentally we learn that He who makes this claim is engaged in tremendous conflict, and that He claims our devotion in order that He may use us in His righteous war against sin. Unfortunately we are not free to render to God the devotion He justly claims. For His foe is our lord: we are the fettered slaves of sin, and therefore cannot serve God. Paul bids us look upon ourselves as if we were dead, dead on the cross of Christ and buried in His grave, and thus free from our former bondage; and, though dead, yet living, sharing the life of the Risen One, a life of unreserved loyalty to God.

In obedience to this claim, we now lay, upon the altar consecrated by the blood of Christ, ourselves and all our bodily powers; and we do this in faith, relying upon the promise and power of God that from this moment we shall be free from our old master and shall live by inward contact with Christ a life like His. This consecration and faith are a higher counterpart to the repentance and faith which are the condition of justification.

Verse 15. Shall we sin because we are not under the law] Shall we abuse our high and holy calling because we are not under that law which makes no provision for pardon, but are under that Gospel which has opened the fountain to wash away all sin and defilement? Shall we sin because grace abounds? Shall we do evil that good may come of it? This be far from us!

Verses 15-18. What then are we to infer? Shall we sin — Go on in our transgressions; because we are not under the law — Under the law of Moses, or any mere legal dispensation which forbids sin, but gives no strength against it; but under grace — A dispensation perfectly the reverse, offering pardon to the most guilty, holiness to the most depraved, and strength to the most weak and helpless! God forbid — That we should draw any inference so odious and destructive. Know ye not — Is it necessary to inform you; that to whom ye yield — Greek, paristanete, present yourselves servants to obey his commands, his servants ye are whom ye obey — Not his whose name you may bear, without practically acknowledging his authority; but his to whom ye are in fact obedient, to whom you are subject, and whose will you do. “By the expression, ye present yourselves servants, the apostle taught the Romans, that grace does not destroy human liberty. It was still in their own power to choose whether they would present themselves slaves to sin, or servants to righteousness.” Whether of sin unto death — Which will bring you to eternal death; or of obedience — To God and his gospel; unto righteousness — True and evangelical, and which will certainly be rewarded with eternal life. But God be thanked that ye were — That is, although, or whereas, you were once the servants of sin — A bondage this now passed and gone; ye have now obeyed — Not in profession alone, but from the heart, that form of doctrine which was delivered to you — Greek, eiv on paredoqhte tupon didachv, literally, the model of doctrine into which, as into a mould, you were delivered; for the word tupov, rendered form, among other things, signifies a mould, into which melted metals are poured to receive the form of the mould: and the apostle here represents the gospel doctrine as a mould, into which the Roman believers were delivered, in order to their being formed anew, and conformed to the gospel in all its doctrines, precepts, and promises: and he thanks God, that from the heart, that is, most willingly and sincerely, they had yielded to the forming efficacy of that doctrine, and were made new creatures both in principle and practice. The allusion is not only beautiful, but conveys a very instructive admonition: intimating, that our minds made all pliant and ductile, should be conformed to the nature and design of the gospel, as liquid metals take the figure of the mould into which they are cast. Being then made free from sin — Set at liberty from its power and dominion; ye became servants of righteousness — At once enabled and obliged to lead a life of true piety and exemplary goodness. The word eleuqerwqentev, here rendered being made free, is the word by which the act of giving a slave his liberty was signified, called by the Romans emancipation.

15. Shall we sin—Shall we make the very grace that redeems us from sin the occasion for sin?

ROMANS

SECTION 19 — EXPERIENCE PROVES HOW BAD

IS THE SERVICE OF SIN CH. 6:15-23

What then? Let us sin because we are not under law but under grace? Be it not so. Know ye not that, to whom ye present yourselves servants for obedience, his servants ye are, of him whom ye obey, whether of sin for death or of obedience for righteousness? But thanks to God that ye were servants of sin, but ye obeyed from the heart the type of teaching to which ye were given up. And, having been made free from sin, ye were made servants to righteousness. After the manner of men I speak, because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as ye presented the members of your body, as servants, to uncleanness and to lawlessness, for lawlessness, so now present the members of your body, as servants, to righteousness for sanctification. For, when ye were servants of sin, ye were free in regard of righteousness. What fruit had ye at that time from the things of which ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now, having been made free from sin and having been made servants to God, ye have your fruit, for sanctification; and the end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death: but God’s gift of grace is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The two courses set before us in Romans 6:13, Paul will now further describe, and will thus give good reasons why we should refuse the one and choose the other.

Ver. 15. What then? as in Romans 6:1. Does anyone say, Let us sin because God treats us not on principles of strict law but of undeserved grace? This is another objection, in addition to that in Romans 6:1, to the Gospel. This last reveals the favour of God to our race; and, relying on His favour, some have carelessly run into sin.

Verse 16. To whom ye yield yourselves] Can you suppose that you should continue to be the servants of Christ if ye give way to sin? Is he not the master who exacts the service, and to whom the service is performed? Sin is the service of Satan; righteousness the service of Christ. If ye sin ye are the servants of Satan, and not the servants of God.

The word doulov, which we translate servant, properly signifies slave; and a slave among the Greeks and Romans was considered as his master’s property, and he might dispose of him as he pleased. Under a bad master, the lot of the slave was most oppressive and dreadful; his ease and comfort were never consulted; he was treated worse than a beast; and, in many cases, his life hung on the mere caprice of the master. This state is the state of every poor, miserable sinner; he is the slave of Satan, and his own evil lusts and appetites are his most cruel task-masters. The same word is applied to the servants of Christ, the more forcibly to show that they are their Master’s property; and that, as he is infinitely good and benevolent, therefore his service must be perfect freedom. Indeed, he exacts no obedience from them which he does not turn to their eternal advantage; for this master has no self-interest to secure. See Clarke on “Romans 1:1”.

Verses 15-18. What then are we to infer? Shall we sin — Go on in our transgressions; because we are not under the law — Under the law of Moses, or any mere legal dispensation which forbids sin, but gives no strength against it; but under grace — A dispensation perfectly the reverse, offering pardon to the most guilty, holiness to the most depraved, and strength to the most weak and helpless! God forbid — That we should draw any inference so odious and destructive. Know ye not — Is it necessary to inform you; that to whom ye yield — Greek, paristanete, present yourselves servants to obey his commands, his servants ye are whom ye obey — Not his whose name you may bear, without practically acknowledging his authority; but his to whom ye are in fact obedient, to whom you are subject, and whose will you do. “By the expression, ye present yourselves servants, the apostle taught the Romans, that grace does not destroy human liberty. It was still in their own power to choose whether they would present themselves slaves to sin, or servants to righteousness.” Whether of sin unto death — Which will bring you to eternal death; or of obedience — To God and his gospel; unto righteousness — True and evangelical, and which will certainly be rewarded with eternal life. But God be thanked that ye were — That is, although, or whereas, you were once the servants of sin — A bondage this now passed and gone; ye have now obeyed — Not in profession alone, but from the heart, that form of doctrine which was delivered to you — Greek, eiv on paredoqhte tupon didachv, literally, the model of doctrine into which, as into a mould, you were delivered; for the word tupov, rendered form, among other things, signifies a mould, into which melted metals are poured to receive the form of the mould: and the apostle here represents the gospel doctrine as a mould, into which the Roman believers were delivered, in order to their being formed anew, and conformed to the gospel in all its doctrines, precepts, and promises: and he thanks God, that from the heart, that is, most willingly and sincerely, they had yielded to the forming efficacy of that doctrine, and were made new creatures both in principle and practice. The allusion is not only beautiful, but conveys a very instructive admonition: intimating, that our minds made all pliant and ductile, should be conformed to the nature and design of the gospel, as liquid metals take the figure of the mould into which they are cast. Being then made free from sin — Set at liberty from its power and dominion; ye became servants of righteousness — At once enabled and obliged to lead a life of true piety and exemplary goodness. The word eleuqerwqentev, here rendered being made free, is the word by which the act of giving a slave his liberty was signified, called by the Romans emancipation.

16. His servants ye are—There is no compromise. Serving sin, even under pretext of grace, makes us the genuine slaves of sin even unto death. Serving sin professedly under grace brings us under the terrible penalty of law. So that, then, we are truly not under grace.

Ver. 16. They who thus sin know not what they do.

Present yourselves: thrust prominently forward to recall the same words in Romans 6:13. The natural order would be, Do ye not know that ye are servants of him to whom ye present yourselves etc. This verse implies the universal principle that if we obey a man we so far make ourselves his servants and use our powers to work out his purposes. So Aristotle, Nic. Ethics bk. viii. 11. 6: “The servant (slave) is a living instrument; the instrument, a lifeless servant.” Therefore, before we do the bidding of another, we must inquire who he is and what are his purposes. Servant, or slave: so Romans 1:1: one who acts habitually at the bidding of another, his lord; cp. Matthew 8:9: a cognate verb in Romans 6:6. It was the common word for Greek and Roman slaves: hence the contrast with “made free” in Romans 6:18, 20, 22; cp. 1 Corinthians 7:21, 22; 12:13; Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 6:8; Colossians 3:11; Revelation 6:15. In contrast to a freeman, the slave was compelled to do the bidding of his lord.

For obedience: purpose for which one gives himself up to be. a slave. This is emphasised by the repetition, whom ye obey.

Whether of sin… or of obedience: the only alternative. That to commit sin is to be a slave of sin, Christ solemnly asserts in John 8:34. Death: not of the body, which is not a result of our own sin, but of the whole man: so Romans 6:21, 23; Romans 8:13; Revelation 20:14; cp. Matthew 10:28. It is the “destruction” of Romans 2:12; Philippians 3:19; the final penalty of sin. All sin tends inevitably to death: therefore, in Paul’s personification, they who commit sin may be said to surrender themselves to the abstract principle of sin in order to work out death. On the other hand,

obedience, also personified, tends always to righteousness, i.e. to conformity with the moral law. See under Romans 1:17. This verse implies that the only alternative is either to commit sin and thus work out its constant tendency, death, or to obey God and thus act in harmony with that which the moral law requires.

V. 17. The form of doctrine into which ye have been delivered-Literally it is, The mould into which ye have been delivered; which, as it contains a beautiful allusion, conveys also a very instructive admonition; intimating that our minds, all pliant and ductile, should be conformed to the gospel precepts, as liquid metal, take the figure of the mould into which they are cast.

Verse 17. But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin] This verse should be read thus: But thanks be to God that, although ye were the servants of sin, nevertheless ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine that was delivered unto you; or, that mould of teaching into which ye were cast. The apostle does not thank God that they were sinners; but that, although they were such, they had now received and obeyed the Gospel. The Hebrew phrase, Isaiah 12:1, is exactly the same as that of the apostle here: In that day thou shalt say, I will praise thee, for thou wast angry with me: that is, although thou wast angry with me, thou hast turned away thy wrath, &c.

That form of doctrine] tupon didachv; here Christianity is represented under the notion of a mould, or die, into which they were cast, and from which they took the impression of its excellence. The figure upon this die is the image of God, righteousness and true holiness, which was stamped on their souls in believing the Gospel and receiving the Holy Ghost. The words eiv on paredoqhte tupon refer to the melting of metal; which, when it is liquified, is cast into the mould, that it may receive the impression that is sunk or cut in the mould; and therefore the words may be literally translated, into which mould of doctrine ye have been cast. They were melted down under the preaching of the word, and then were capable of receiving the stamp of its purity.

Verses 15-18. What then are we to infer? Shall we sin — Go on in our transgressions; because we are not under the law — Under the law of Moses, or any mere legal dispensation which forbids sin, but gives no strength against it; but under grace — A dispensation perfectly the reverse, offering pardon to the most guilty, holiness to the most depraved, and strength to the most weak and helpless! God forbid — That we should draw any inference so odious and destructive. Know ye not — Is it necessary to inform you; that to whom ye yield — Greek, paristanete, present yourselves servants to obey his commands, his servants ye are whom ye obey — Not his whose name you may bear, without practically acknowledging his authority; but his to whom ye are in fact obedient, to whom you are subject, and whose will you do. “By the expression, ye present yourselves servants, the apostle taught the Romans, that grace does not destroy human liberty. It was still in their own power to choose whether they would present themselves slaves to sin, or servants to righteousness.” Whether of sin unto death — Which will bring you to eternal death; or of obedience — To God and his gospel; unto righteousness — True and evangelical, and which will certainly be rewarded with eternal life. But God be thanked that ye were — That is, although, or whereas, you were once the servants of sin — A bondage this now passed and gone; ye have now obeyed — Not in profession alone, but from the heart, that form of doctrine which was delivered to you — Greek, eiv on paredoqhte tupon didachv, literally, the model of doctrine into which, as into a mould, you were delivered; for the word tupov, rendered form, among other things, signifies a mould, into which melted metals are poured to receive the form of the mould: and the apostle here represents the gospel doctrine as a mould, into which the Roman believers were delivered, in order to their being formed anew, and conformed to the gospel in all its doctrines, precepts, and promises: and he thanks God, that from the heart, that is, most willingly and sincerely, they had yielded to the forming efficacy of that doctrine, and were made new creatures both in principle and practice. The allusion is not only beautiful, but conveys a very instructive admonition: intimating, that our minds made all pliant and ductile, should be conformed to the nature and design of the gospel, as liquid metals take the figure of the mould into which they are cast. Being then made free from sin — Set at liberty from its power and dominion; ye became servants of righteousness — At once enabled and obliged to lead a life of true piety and exemplary goodness. The word eleuqerwqentev, here rendered being made free, is the word by which the act of giving a slave his liberty was signified, called by the Romans emancipation.

Ver. 17. God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin. Oti hte, that you are no longer, or that you who were the servants of sin, have obeyed from the heart that form, that tupon, type, mould, or form of doctrine which was delivered to you. The mould into which a goldsmith pours his liquid metal, is a beautiful figure to designate the change produced on the heart by the word of truth. Bishop Lowth reads, that whereas ye were the servants of sin, ye have now obeyed.

17. Thanked… ye were—God be thanked that your service of sin is in the past tense, and is now forever over. Form of doctrine—The true doctrine of grace; the opposite of and emancipation from your old service of sin and instalment under the rule of Christ.

Ver. 17. Review of the past, in the light of Romans 6:16, and evoking thanks to God.

Ye were slaves etc.: their former bondage, by its contrast with their present liberty, itself calls forth gratitude.

Type: as in Romans 5:14.

Type of teaching: in outline, like the mark (John 20:25) made by iron on clay. The English word stamp is used in a similar way. Given-up: as in Romans 1:24, 26, 28; 4:25, and especially Acts 14:26. These words imply that the obedience of the Roman Christians was submission to the Gospel in that form in which, by the Providence of God, it had been preached to them. Practically it was the Gospel as preached to Gentiles, (cp. Romans 1:5; Acts 17:30,) in contrast to Jewish perversions; but not in contrast to the teaching of other apostles. For we cannot conceive Paul thanking God that the Romans heard the Gospel from men taught by himself rather than from the disciples of Peter or John. The patriarchs, and the Israelites under Moses and afterwards under the prophets, were handed over to other types of teaching.

V. 18. Being then set free from sin-We may see the apostles method thus far at one view:—

1. Bondage to sin Romans 3:9

2. The knowledge of sin by the law; a sense of God's wrath; inward death Romans 3:20

3. The revelation of the righteousness of God in Christ through the gospel Romans 3:21

4. The centre of all, faith, embracing that righteousness Romans 3:22

5. Justification, whereby God forgives all past sin, and freely accepts the sinner Romans 3:24

6. The gift of the Holy Ghost; a sense of God's love new inward life Romans 5:5, Romans 6:4

7. The free service of righteousness Romans 6:12

Verse 18. Being then made free from sin] eleuqerwqentev is a term that refers to the manumission of a slave. They were redeemed from the slavery of sin, and became the servants of righteousness. Here is another prosopopœia: both sin and righteousness are personified: sin can enjoin no good and profitable work; righteousness can require none that is unjust or injurious.

Verses 15-18. What then are we to infer? Shall we sin — Go on in our transgressions; because we are not under the law — Under the law of Moses, or any mere legal dispensation which forbids sin, but gives no strength against it; but under grace — A dispensation perfectly the reverse, offering pardon to the most guilty, holiness to the most depraved, and strength to the most weak and helpless! God forbid — That we should draw any inference so odious and destructive. Know ye not — Is it necessary to inform you; that to whom ye yield — Greek, paristanete, present yourselves servants to obey his commands, his servants ye are whom ye obey — Not his whose name you may bear, without practically acknowledging his authority; but his to whom ye are in fact obedient, to whom you are subject, and whose will you do. “By the expression, ye present yourselves servants, the apostle taught the Romans, that grace does not destroy human liberty. It was still in their own power to choose whether they would present themselves slaves to sin, or servants to righteousness.” Whether of sin unto death — Which will bring you to eternal death; or of obedience — To God and his gospel; unto righteousness — True and evangelical, and which will certainly be rewarded with eternal life. But God be thanked that ye were — That is, although, or whereas, you were once the servants of sin — A bondage this now passed and gone; ye have now obeyed — Not in profession alone, but from the heart, that form of doctrine which was delivered to you — Greek, eiv on paredoqhte tupon didachv, literally, the model of doctrine into which, as into a mould, you were delivered; for the word tupov, rendered form, among other things, signifies a mould, into which melted metals are poured to receive the form of the mould: and the apostle here represents the gospel doctrine as a mould, into which the Roman believers were delivered, in order to their being formed anew, and conformed to the gospel in all its doctrines, precepts, and promises: and he thanks God, that from the heart, that is, most willingly and sincerely, they had yielded to the forming efficacy of that doctrine, and were made new creatures both in principle and practice. The allusion is not only beautiful, but conveys a very instructive admonition: intimating, that our minds made all pliant and ductile, should be conformed to the nature and design of the gospel, as liquid metals take the figure of the mould into which they are cast. Being then made free from sin — Set at liberty from its power and dominion; ye became servants of righteousness — At once enabled and obliged to lead a life of true piety and exemplary goodness. The word eleuqerwqentev, here rendered being made free, is the word by which the act of giving a slave his liberty was signified, called by the Romans emancipation.

Ver. 18. Further description of the change. Being “dead to sin,” they were made free from sin. Paul here assumes that his readers have made the reckoning to which in Romans 6:11 he exhorted them. Made-servants, literally enslaved, to righteousness: cp. 1 Corinthians 7:22, “the freeman, having been called, is a slave of Christ.” The whole context (see my note) and the sustained contrast of slave and freeman demand some such rendering. We are not hired servants who can leave their master’s employ. For we are Christ’s by creation and ransom; and are therefore bound to Him by a tie we cannot break. Yet we are free: for His service is our delight.

Servants to righteousness: bound by loyalty to Christ to do that which the moral law demands.

V. 19. I speak after the manner of men-Thus it is necessary that the scripture should let itself down to the language of men. Because of the weakness of your flesh-Slowness of understanding flows from the weakness of the flesh, that is, of human nature. As ye have presented your members servants to uncleanness and iniquity unto iniquity, so now present your members servants of righteousness unto holiness-Iniquity (whereof uncleanness is an eminent part) is here opposed to righteousness; and unto iniquity is the opposite of unto holiness. Righteousness here is a conformity to the divine will; holiness, to the whole divine nature. Observe, they who are servants of righteousness go on to holiness; but they who are servants to iniquity get no farther. Righteousness is service, because we live according to the will of another; but liberty, because of our inclination to it, and delight in it. V. 20 When ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness-In all reason, therefore, ye ought now to be free from unrighteousness; to be as uniform and zealous in serving God as ye were in serving the devil.

Verse 19. I speak after the manner of men] This phrase is often used by the Greek writers to signify what was easy to be comprehended; what was ad captum vulgi, level with common understandings, delivered in a popular style; what was different from the high flights of the poets, and the studied sublime obscurity of the philosophers.

Because of the infirmity of your flesh] As if he had said: I make use of metaphors and figures connected with well-known natural things; with your trades and situation in life; because of your inexperience in heavenly things, of which ye are only just beginning to know the nature and the names.

Servants to uncleanness, &c.] These different expressions show how deeply immersed in and enslaved by sin these Gentiles were before their conversion to Christianity. Several of the particulars are given in the first chapter of this epistle.

Verses 19-22. I speak after the manner of men — He seems to mean that his reasoning was taken from the customs of men, and was accommodated to their apprehension; and that he used metaphors and allegories which were well known; because of the infirmity of your flesh — Dulness of apprehension, and weakness of understanding, flow from the infirmity of the flesh; that is, of human nature. Or, as some understand the expression to mean, I recommend a duty to you, suited to human nature; yea, even to the infirmities thereof; that you should do as much for God as you have done for sin, and be as diligent in the service of Christ as you have been in the pursuit of your lusts. For as — In time past, while you were ignorant of the gospel, and many of you the slaves of heathen vice and idolatry; ye yielded your members servants to uncleanness — To various fleshly lusts which defiled you; and to iniquity — Or unrighteousness toward others; unto iniquity — Adding one iniquity to another; even so now — Being enlightened by the gospel to see the evil of such things, and the miserable consequences awaiting them; and being renewed by the influences of divine grace, it is but reasonable that you should be as ready to pursue a pious and virtuous line of conduct, and to do good now, as formerly you were to do evil; and become servants of righteousness unto holiness — Observe, reader, they who are true servants of righteousness, which may here mean a conformity to the divine will, go on to holiness, which implies a conformity to the divine nature. For when ye were the servants of sin — Were under its guilt and power; ye were free from righteousness — You not only had not righteousness enough, but, strictly speaking, had no true righteousness at all; never doing any single action that was truly good, and, on the whole, acceptable to God, because none was performed from such principles as could entitle it to his complete approbation. In all reason, therefore, ye ought now to be free from unrighteousness; to be as uniform and zealous in serving God as you were in serving the devil. What fruit had ye then in those things — Consider, what advantage did you derive from the practices to which you were then habituated, and whereof ye are now ashamed? — The very remembrance of which now gives you pain, and creates in you much remorse and trouble? For the end of those things is death — The word telov, here rendered end, signifies both the end for which a thing is done, and the last issue of it. It is used in the former sense, 1 Peter 1:9; receiving, to telov, the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls; the end or purpose for which ye believed. But its meaning here is, that the punishment of death, to be inflicted on sinners, is the natural consequence, or issue, and reward of their sin.

19. After the manner of men—I illustrate deep spiritual truth by ordinary images drawn from secular life. Infirmity… flesh—Which needs spiritual truth in material shapes. The Roman Christians knew the significance of slavery as a source of illustration, being not only familiar with it, but even being, perhaps, some of themselves slaves. He momentarily apologizes for this sort of illustration, and then pushes it to its final and awful result.

Ver. 19. After the manner of men: cp. Romans 3:5. It might seem improper to describe the servants of Christ by the common term for slaves. But Paul teaches divine truth by the words of common life; and here warns us to distinguish between the outward form and the underlying truth. This warning holds good for the whole Bible: to men God always speaks as men do.

Flesh: see note under Romans 8:11.

Weakness of your flesh: inability to understand, arising from the limitations of bodily life, which always tend to warp our mental vision; and from the peculiar limitations of the Roman Christians. Paul uses a comparison made needful by their only partial emancipation from the intellectual rule of flesh and blood.

Now follows, as a reason for the foregoing warning, an exhortation closely parallel to that in Romans 6:13.

Just as… so now: the past affording a pattern, in an opposite direction, for the present. Instead of “weapons,” as in Romans 6:13, we have here servants, or slaves: used as a neuter adjective.

Uncleanness… lawlessness: further personifications parallel to, and specifying, “sin” in Romans 6:16. They remind us that sin defiles, and forces into antagonism to the Law, those who obey it.

For lawlessness: in order to do that which the Law forbids: parallel to “for death” in Romans 6:16. Sin leads, first to defilement and lawlessness, and then to death.

To righteousness: as in Romans 6:18.

Sanctification: the act of making holy: so Romans 6:22; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 1 Thessalonians 4:3, 4, 7; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Timothy 2:15; Hebrews 12:14; 1 Peter 1:2. See note under Romans 1:7. As claimed by God, all Christians are already objectively holy: so Romans 1:7. Paul now bids his readers to lay their various bodily powers upon the altar of God to do His work in harmony with the moral law, in order that thus they may become subjectively holy: for sanctification. Cp. 1 Corinthians 7:34; 1 Thessalonians 5:23.

Verse 20. Ye were free from righteousness.] These two servitudes are incompatible; if we cannot serve God and Mammon, surely we cannot serve Christ and Satan. We must be either sinners or saints; God’s servants or the devil’s slaves. It cannot be as a good mistaken man has endeavoured to sing:—

“To good and evil equal bent,

I’m both a devil and a saint.”

I know not whether it be possible to paint the utter prevalence of sin in stronger colours than the apostle does here, by saying they were FREE from righteousness. It seems tantamount to that expression in Genesis, Genesis 6:5, where, speaking of the total degeneracy of the human race, the writer says, Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. They were all corrupt; they were altogether abominable: there was none that did good; no, not one.

Verses 19-22. I speak after the manner of men — He seems to mean that his reasoning was taken from the customs of men, and was accommodated to their apprehension; and that he used metaphors and allegories which were well known; because of the infirmity of your flesh — Dulness of apprehension, and weakness of understanding, flow from the infirmity of the flesh; that is, of human nature. Or, as some understand the expression to mean, I recommend a duty to you, suited to human nature; yea, even to the infirmities thereof; that you should do as much for God as you have done for sin, and be as diligent in the service of Christ as you have been in the pursuit of your lusts. For as — In time past, while you were ignorant of the gospel, and many of you the slaves of heathen vice and idolatry; ye yielded your members servants to uncleanness — To various fleshly lusts which defiled you; and to iniquity — Or unrighteousness toward others; unto iniquity — Adding one iniquity to another; even so now — Being enlightened by the gospel to see the evil of such things, and the miserable consequences awaiting them; and being renewed by the influences of divine grace, it is but reasonable that you should be as ready to pursue a pious and virtuous line of conduct, and to do good now, as formerly you were to do evil; and become servants of righteousness unto holiness — Observe, reader, they who are true servants of righteousness, which may here mean a conformity to the divine will, go on to holiness, which implies a conformity to the divine nature. For when ye were the servants of sin — Were under its guilt and power; ye were free from righteousness — You not only had not righteousness enough, but, strictly speaking, had no true righteousness at all; never doing any single action that was truly good, and, on the whole, acceptable to God, because none was performed from such principles as could entitle it to his complete approbation. In all reason, therefore, ye ought now to be free from unrighteousness; to be as uniform and zealous in serving God as you were in serving the devil. What fruit had ye then in those things — Consider, what advantage did you derive from the practices to which you were then habituated, and whereof ye are now ashamed? — The very remembrance of which now gives you pain, and creates in you much remorse and trouble? For the end of those things is death — The word telov, here rendered end, signifies both the end for which a thing is done, and the last issue of it. It is used in the former sense, 1 Peter 1:9; receiving, to telov, the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls; the end or purpose for which ye believed. But its meaning here is, that the punishment of death, to be inflicted on sinners, is the natural consequence, or issue, and reward of their sin.

Ver. 20. When ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. The sense is, ye were aliens to righteousness: by consequence, you are now as free from unrighteousness, as you then were from righteousness.

20. Free from righteousness—They felt themselves released from the divine requirements, being under the opposite master, Sin.

Ver. 20.-22. A comparison of the two kinds of service, based on experience.

Free in regard of righteousness: if there is any bondage in doing right, they were free from it. They have therefore given the service of sin a fair trial.

What fruit? what good result, as an organic outworking of certain actions? See under Romans 1:13. The actions are past, but the shame still remains:

ye are now ashamed. Paul passes in silence over the answer which memory and conscience are compelled to give; and states the reason why his readers reaped no harvest from the fields of shame in which they toiled. The end: the final outworking in which influences attain their goal: so Romans 6:22; 10:4; 1 Corinthians 15:24; 2 Corinthians 11:15; Philippians 3:19. Inasmuch as influences which have attained their full result cease to operate-otherwise they have not attained their full result-the word sometimes connotes the idea of cessation. So Luke 1:33. But the idea of a goal attained is always present. The final outworking of

those things to which Paul refers is death: as in Romans 6:16. His readers gathered no fruit from their former actions: for they trod a path whose end is death.

V. 21. Those things-He speaks of them as afar off.

Verse 21. What fruit had ye then in those things] God designs that every man shall reap benefit by his service. What benefit have ye derived from the service of sin?

Whereof ye are now ashamed?] Ye blush to remember your former life. It was scandalous to yourselves, injurious to others, and highly provoking to God.

The end of those things is death.] Whatever sin may promise of pleasure or advantage, the end to which it necessarily tends is the destruction of body and soul.

Verses 19-22. I speak after the manner of men — He seems to mean that his reasoning was taken from the customs of men, and was accommodated to their apprehension; and that he used metaphors and allegories which were well known; because of the infirmity of your flesh — Dulness of apprehension, and weakness of understanding, flow from the infirmity of the flesh; that is, of human nature. Or, as some understand the expression to mean, I recommend a duty to you, suited to human nature; yea, even to the infirmities thereof; that you should do as much for God as you have done for sin, and be as diligent in the service of Christ as you have been in the pursuit of your lusts. For as — In time past, while you were ignorant of the gospel, and many of you the slaves of heathen vice and idolatry; ye yielded your members servants to uncleanness — To various fleshly lusts which defiled you; and to iniquity — Or unrighteousness toward others; unto iniquity — Adding one iniquity to another; even so now — Being enlightened by the gospel to see the evil of such things, and the miserable consequences awaiting them; and being renewed by the influences of divine grace, it is but reasonable that you should be as ready to pursue a pious and virtuous line of conduct, and to do good now, as formerly you were to do evil; and become servants of righteousness unto holiness — Observe, reader, they who are true servants of righteousness, which may here mean a conformity to the divine will, go on to holiness, which implies a conformity to the divine nature. For when ye were the servants of sin — Were under its guilt and power; ye were free from righteousness — You not only had not righteousness enough, but, strictly speaking, had no true righteousness at all; never doing any single action that was truly good, and, on the whole, acceptable to God, because none was performed from such principles as could entitle it to his complete approbation. In all reason, therefore, ye ought now to be free from unrighteousness; to be as uniform and zealous in serving God as you were in serving the devil. What fruit had ye then in those things — Consider, what advantage did you derive from the practices to which you were then habituated, and whereof ye are now ashamed? — The very remembrance of which now gives you pain, and creates in you much remorse and trouble? For the end of those things is death — The word telov, here rendered end, signifies both the end for which a thing is done, and the last issue of it. It is used in the former sense, 1 Peter 1:9; receiving, to telov, the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls; the end or purpose for which ye believed. But its meaning here is, that the punishment of death, to be inflicted on sinners, is the natural consequence, or issue, and reward of their sin.

21. What fruit—He now appeals to their own experience. What avails could they boast from their freedom from right? The answer is, death.

Ver. 20.-22. A comparison of the two kinds of service, based on experience.

Free in regard of righteousness: if there is any bondage in doing right, they were free from it. They have therefore given the service of sin a fair trial.

What fruit? what good result, as an organic outworking of certain actions? See under Romans 1:13. The actions are past, but the shame still remains:

ye are now ashamed. Paul passes in silence over the answer which memory and conscience are compelled to give; and states the reason why his readers reaped no harvest from the fields of shame in which they toiled. The end: the final outworking in which influences attain their goal: so Romans 6:22; 10:4; 1 Corinthians 15:24; 2 Corinthians 11:15; Philippians 3:19. Inasmuch as influences which have attained their full result cease to operate-otherwise they have not attained their full result-the word sometimes connotes the idea of cessation. So Luke 1:33. But the idea of a goal attained is always present. The final outworking of

those things to which Paul refers is death: as in Romans 6:16. His readers gathered no fruit from their former actions: for they trod a path whose end is death.

Verse 22. But now being made free from sin] As being free from righteousness is the finished character of a sinner, so being made free from sin is the finished character of a genuine Christian. And become servants to God] They were transferred from the service of one master to that of another: they were freed from the slavery of sin, and engaged in the service of God.

Fruit unto holiness] Holiness of heart was the principle; and righteousness of life the fruit.

Verses 19-22. I speak after the manner of men — He seems to mean that his reasoning was taken from the customs of men, and was accommodated to their apprehension; and that he used metaphors and allegories which were well known; because of the infirmity of your flesh — Dulness of apprehension, and weakness of understanding, flow from the infirmity of the flesh; that is, of human nature. Or, as some understand the expression to mean, I recommend a duty to you, suited to human nature; yea, even to the infirmities thereof; that you should do as much for God as you have done for sin, and be as diligent in the service of Christ as you have been in the pursuit of your lusts. For as — In time past, while you were ignorant of the gospel, and many of you the slaves of heathen vice and idolatry; ye yielded your members servants to uncleanness — To various fleshly lusts which defiled you; and to iniquity — Or unrighteousness toward others; unto iniquity — Adding one iniquity to another; even so now — Being enlightened by the gospel to see the evil of such things, and the miserable consequences awaiting them; and being renewed by the influences of divine grace, it is but reasonable that you should be as ready to pursue a pious and virtuous line of conduct, and to do good now, as formerly you were to do evil; and become servants of righteousness unto holiness — Observe, reader, they who are true servants of righteousness, which may here mean a conformity to the divine will, go on to holiness, which implies a conformity to the divine nature. For when ye were the servants of sin — Were under its guilt and power; ye were free from righteousness — You not only had not righteousness enough, but, strictly speaking, had no true righteousness at all; never doing any single action that was truly good, and, on the whole, acceptable to God, because none was performed from such principles as could entitle it to his complete approbation. In all reason, therefore, ye ought now to be free from unrighteousness; to be as uniform and zealous in serving God as you were in serving the devil. What fruit had ye then in those things — Consider, what advantage did you derive from the practices to which you were then habituated, and whereof ye are now ashamed? — The very remembrance of which now gives you pain, and creates in you much remorse and trouble? For the end of those things is death — The word telov, here rendered end, signifies both the end for which a thing is done, and the last issue of it. It is used in the former sense, 1 Peter 1:9; receiving, to telov, the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls; the end or purpose for which ye believed. But its meaning here is, that the punishment of death, to be inflicted on sinners, is the natural consequence, or issue, and reward of their sin.

Ver. 22. But now being made free from sin. While in the flesh we are said to be the servants of sin, and under the law of sin; but now, by a regenerate state, we are made the servants of righteousness. We are married to another, we are quickened with Christ, and alive to God. through him. By consequence, we are no longer debtors to the flesh, to live according to its dictates. There is no occasion to yield to any solicitations of evil concupiscence. This state is called the glorious liberty of the children of God, Romans 8:21, in which the Spirit that dwells in us is the life of the soul, as the soul is the life of the body. The old man is put off with his deeds, and the new man put on; the old man is crucified with his affections and lusts, and the inward man is renewed day by day, with growth and strength, till the believer be altogether like the Saviour. The stony heart is then removed, the law of love is written in the inward parts, and the whole deity dwells in the living temple which his hands have reared. But let all men who have attained to this state of pure and perfect love, watch against a reëntrance of all their former evils.

Ver. 22. Their present position, in joyful contrast to their former fruitless toil.

Having-been-made-free… having-been-made-servants: solemn

repetition, from Romans 6:19.

Ye have your fruit: the good results of your toil are your abiding possession: cp. Philippians 1:22.

For sanctification: as in Romans 6:19: direction and tendency of these good results. They tend towards the devotion of our powers to the service of God.

The end: in conspicuous antithesis to the same words in Romans 6:21. Eternal life: see under Romans 2:7. It recalls Romans 5:21. Notice in solemn contrast, in Romans 6:21, 22, the two poles of N.T. eschatology: death… eternal life.

V. 23. Death-Temporal, spiritual, and eternal.

Is the due wages of sin; but eternal life is the gift of God-The difference is remarkable. Evil works merit the reward they receive: good works do not. The former demand wages: the latter accept a free gift.

Verse 23. For the wages of sin is death] The second death, everlasting perdition. Every sinner earns this by long, sore, and painful service. O! what pains do men take to get to hell! Early and late they toil at sin; and would not Divine justice be in their debt, if it did not pay them their due wages?

But the gift of God is eternal life] A man may MERIT hell, but he cannot MERIT heaven. The apostle does not say that the wages of righteousness is eternal life: no, but that this eternal life, even to the righteous, is to carisma tou qeou, THE gracious GIFT of GOD. And even this gracious gift comes through Jesus Christ our Lord. He alone has procured it; and it is given to all those who find redemption in his blood. A sinner goes to hell because he deserves it; a righteous man goes to heaven because Christ has died for him, and communicated that grace by which his sin is pardoned and his soul made holy. The word oywnia, which we here render wages, signified the daily pay of a Roman soldier. So every sinner has a daily pay, and this pay is death; he has misery because he sins. Sin constitutes hell; the sinner has a hell in his own bosom; all is confusion and disorder where God does not reign: every indulgence of sinful passions increases the disorder, and consequently the misery of a sinner. If men were as much in earnest to get their souls saved as they are to prepare them for perdition, heaven would be highly peopled, and devils would be their own companions. And will not the living lay this to heart?

1. IN the preceding chapter we see the connection that subsists between the doctrines of the Gospel and the practice of Christianity. A doctrine is a teaching, instruction, or information concerning some truth that is to be believed, as essential to our salvation. But all teaching that comes from God, necessarily leads to him. That Christ died for our sins and rose again for our justification, is a glorious doctrine of the Gospel. But this is of no use to him who does not die to sin, rise in the likeness of his resurrection, and walk in newness of life: this is the use that should be made of the doctrine. Every doctrine has its use, and the use of it consists in the practice founded on it. We hear there is a free pardon-we go to God and receive it; we hear that we may be made holy-we apply for the sanctifying Spirit; we hear there is a heaven of glory, into which the righteous alone shall enter-we watch and pray, believe, love, and obey, in order that, when he doth appear, we may be found of him in peace, without spot and blameless. Those are the doctrines; these are the uses or practice founded on those doctrines.

2. It is strange that there should be found a person believing the whole Gospel system, and yet living in sin! SALVATION FROM SIN is the long-continued sound, as it is the spirit and design, of the Gospel. Our Christian name, our baptismal covenant, our profession of faith in Christ, and avowed belief in his word, all call us to this: can it be said that we have any louder calls than these? Our self-interest, as it respects the happiness of a godly life, and the glories of eternal blessedness; the pains and wretchedness of a life of sin, leading to the worm that never dies and the fire that is not quenched; second most powerfully the above calls. Reader, lay these things to heart, and: answer this question to God; How shall I escape, if I neglect so great salvation? And then, as thy conscience shall answer, let thy mind and thy hands begin to act.

ROMANS

Verse 23. For the wages of sin is death — “The word oywnia, rendered wages, properly signifies the food and pay which generals give to their soldiers for their service. By using this term, the apostle shows what sort of pay the usurper, sin, gives to those who serve under his banners. Further, as the sin here spoken of is that which men commit personally, and which they continue in, the death which is the wages of this kind of sin must be death eternal. It is observable, that although in Scripture the expression, eternal life, is often to be met with, we nowhere find eternal joined with death. Yet the punishment of the wicked is said to be eternal. Matthew 25:46;” (Macknight;) as also in many other passages. But the gift of God — Greek, carisma, the free gift, or gift of grace; is eternal life — Or, eternal life is the free gift of God. “The apostle does not call everlasting life oywnia, the wages which God gives to his servants, because they do not merit it by their services, as the slaves of sin merit death by theirs: but he calls it a free gift, or gift of grace; or, as Estius would render the expression, a donative; because, being freely bestowed, it may be compared to the donatives which the Roman generals, of their own good- will, bestowed on their soldiers as a mark of their favour.” We may now see the apostle’s method thus far: — 1st, Bondage to sin, Romans 3:9. 2d, The knowledge of sin by the law, a sense of God’s wrath, inward death, Romans 3:20. 3d, The revelation of the righteousness of God in Christ, through the gospel, Romans 3:21. 4th, The centre of all faith, embracing that righteousness, Romans 3:22. 5th, Justification, whereby God forgives all past sin, and freely accepts the sinner, Romans 3:24. 6th, The gift of the Holy Ghost, a sense of God’s love, new inward life, Romans 5:5; 6:4. 7th, The free service of righteousness, Romans 6:23.

Ver. 23. The wages of sin is death. Some crimes only are capital by the civil law; but all sin, in reference to the divine lawgiver, is death, not only as alienating the soul from the life of God, but in reference also to its infinite demerit. Sin is a hard servitude, the wages more so.

23. Wages of sin—The hire which the master Sin pays to his servants is death. And this death, the antithesis of eternal life, and measured in duration by it, is eternal death, death that knows no resurrection. The reverse, eternal life, the result of the service of Jesus Christ our Lord, is not a wages, but a free and bounteous gift. Sin well earns its reward, and so its reward is wages; but our service does not earn heaven so that heaven is a gratuity.

Ver. 23. Compact restatement of the foregoing contrast.

Wages: so Luke 3:14; 1 Corinthians 9:7; 2 Corinthians 11:8: the common term for the pay and rations of a soldier, thus recalling Romans 6:13. They who serve in the army of sin receive death in return for their service.

Gift-of-grace: recalling the same word in Romans 5:15, 16. Death is the just wages of sin: but eternal life is a gift of the undeserved favour of God.

In Christ Jesus: as in Romans 6:11. Eternal life is ours in virtue of His death and resurrection, and by vital union with the dead and risen One. Our Lord: the Master whom we serve. This addition (contrast Romans 6:11) recalls the idea of service, and the contrast of masters, which run through Romans 6:12-23. In each case, the end is in harmony with the nature of the master obeyed.

The contrast of past and present in Romans 6:16-23 is a very powerful motive for avoiding all sin, and is therefore a complete answer to the question in Romans 6:15. To commit sin, is to place our bodily faculties at the disposal of an unseen power absolutely and actively hostile to God and tending always to death, a murderer from the beginning. On the other hand, the consecration of our faculties to the service of God produces for us good and abiding results culminating in eternal life. To commit sin, and thus to abandon the service of God, because God treats us, not on principles of mere justice, but with undeserved favour, is to destroy ourselves simply because we have power to do so.

CHAPTER VI. deals with one subject, the believer’s relation to his former life of sin, in answer to the question of Romans 6:1. We must not continue in sin in order to work out the gracious purposes of God: for His purpose is that our former life of sin be buried in the grave of Christ and that we henceforth share His resurrection life: Romans 6:2-10. Paul then teaches how this purpose of God may be accomplished in us, viz. by reckoning it to be here and now achieved in us by inward union with Christ; and urges us to claim the fulfilment of this purpose: Romans 6:11-13. To this he encourages us, in Romans 6:14, by pointing to our altered relation to God; and gives, in Romans 6:16-23, a very strong motive for unreserved consecration to the service of God. The chapter concludes with words almost the same as those at the end of Rom. 5. But how vast the progress we have made. Each chapter brings us within view of life eternal. But, as a consequence of the reign of grace through Christ, announced in Rom. 5., we have now an inward and vital union with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection, resulting in complete deliverance from the service of sin and in a life of unreserved devotion to God like that of Christ. In Rom. 5, we had justification, knowledge of God’s love to us, and a joyful hope of glory: we are now sharers of the holy and immortal life of Christ.