There are chapters in Scripture that don’t just instruct you—they confront you. They stand in front of your old life, your habits, your wounds, your coping mechanisms, your patterns, your compromises, your fears… and they ask one question:
“Are you staying dead, or are you ready to live?”
Romans 6 is that kind of chapter.
This is the chapter where Paul grabs all of us—every believer who has ever struggled, fought temptation, wrestled with identity, battled doubt, fallen back into old patterns—and he doesn’t shame us. He doesn’t condemn us. He simply reveals a truth so powerful that if you understand it deeply enough, your life cannot stay the same.
Romans 6 is not about improving yourself. It is not about managing sin. It is not about trying harder. It is not about fixing your past.
It is about dying.
And then—finally, fully—living.
Double-spaced, step by step, let’s walk through Romans 6 together in a way that reaches the heart, lifts the spirit, and reshapes the way you see yourself in Christ.
WHAT SHALL WE SAY THEN?
Paul opens the chapter like someone anticipating every excuse we’ve ever used:
“Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?”
In other words:
“If God is so merciful, can’t we just stay the way we are?”
You and I have both seen what happens when people misunderstand grace. They turn it into permission. A license. A loophole. But Paul wasn’t confused. He wasn’t preaching cheap mercy, or soft salvation, or casual Christianity.
He was preaching resurrection.
And resurrection always has a grave behind it.
So Paul answers his own question with a force that shakes every corner of our spiritual lives:
“By no means! We died to sin—how can we live in it any longer?”
We died.
Not “we are dying.”
Not “we should die.”
Not “we will eventually die.”
No.
We died.
Past tense.
Finished.
Final.
Complete.
Romans 6 is not about the death we are aiming for—
it’s about the death that already happened
the day we surrendered to Jesus.
BAPTIZED INTO HIS DEATH
Most believers think of baptism as a ceremony, a moment, an act of obedience—and it is. But Romans 6 strips away the surface and shows us what was happening spiritually in a dimension we couldn’t see with our eyes.
Paul says we were baptized into Christ’s death.
We weren’t sprinkled with improvement.
We weren’t dipped into religious symbolism.
We were buried.
Everything that defined your old life—
every failure
every addiction
every label
every identity that came from pain
every sin you regret
every sin you enjoyed
every sin you hid
every sin that controlled you
every lie you believed
every wound you still carry—
All of it went into that grave with Jesus.
You were lowered into water not to get wet—
but to get free.
You were submerged not to perform an outward ritual—
but to declare that your old life was over.
And when you came up?
You didn’t resurface.
Someone new did.
RAISED TO A NEW LIFE
Paul continues:
“Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
This is the heartbeat of Romans 6.
You are not being improved.
You are being replaced.
Your old life wasn’t upgraded—
it was executed.
Your new life isn’t you trying harder—
it’s Christ living in you.
This is why the gospel is not self-help. This is not a self-improvement journey. This is not “becoming a better version of yourself.”
This is death and resurrection.
And if that feels dramatic—
it’s because it is.
The cross is not poetry; it’s surgery.
Resurrection isn’t metaphor; it’s transfer of ownership.
UNITED WITH HIM IN DEATH AND RESURRECTION
Paul uses a phrase here that is theologically explosive:
“We have been united with Him.”
Not associated.
Not connected.
Not aligned.
Not inspired.
Not influenced.
United.
In Greek, the word means “grown together.”
Like two trees that fuse into one.
Like two branches grafted so deeply that you cannot tell where one ends and the other begins.
This is what salvation really is.
You did not just receive forgiveness.
You received union.
You did not just receive mercy.
You received identity.
You did not just receive grace.
You received resurrection power.
And the more deeply this sinks into your heart, the more you realize:
You are not fighting for freedom—
you are fighting from freedom.
You are not trying to become a new creation—
you already are.
THE OLD SELF WAS CRUCIFIED
Most believers think the old self is something they must kill every day.
Something that keeps rising back up.
Something they must battle constantly.
But Paul does not say your old self is being crucified.
He says it was crucified.
Past tense.
Done.
Finished.
You are not dealing with a living old self—
you are dealing with the memory of one.
A corpse doesn’t have authority.
A corpse cannot command you.
A corpse cannot control you.
A corpse cannot enslave you.
And Paul says:
“So that the body of sin might be rendered powerless.”
Not weakened.
Not reduced.
Not moderated.
Not manageable.
Powerless.
The enemy’s greatest victory is not temptation.
It is convincing you that your old self is still alive.
Your real battle is not with sin—
It is with lies about who you are.
THE ONE WHO HAS DIED IS FREED FROM SIN
Paul then says something that is both simple and earth-shattering:
“The one who has died is freed from sin.”
Why?
Because you cannot enslave a dead person.
You cannot manipulate a dead person.
You cannot accuse a dead person.
You cannot condemn a dead person.
You cannot shame a dead person.
You cannot threaten a dead person.
If you died with Christ, then sin has no legal right to you anymore.
Not because you resist it perfectly—
but because you are no longer the person it had power over.
Sin owned you once.
But that person is gone.
Buried.
Crucified.
Dead.
You are free.
COUNT YOURSELF DEAD TO SIN
Now Paul shifts.
“For the death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God.”
Paul is not telling you to feel dead to sin.
He’s not telling you to act dead to sin.
He’s not telling you to pretend.
He’s telling you to reckon—to believe, to consider, to count as truth—the reality that already exists.
Sanctification is not about becoming what you are not.
It is about believing what God already made you.
You are dead to sin.
Not becoming dead.
Not working on dying.
Not trying to reach death.
Dead.
And alive to God.
Not someday.
Not eventually.
Not gradually.
Now.
DO NOT LET SIN REIGN
Paul then gives an instruction that only makes sense in the context of everything he has already said:
“Do not let sin reign in your mortal body.”
If your old self was alive, this would be a command of impossible pressure.
If you were still your old nature, this would be condemnation.
But Paul is not telling a slave to stop being enslaved.
He is telling a free person to stop acting like a slave.
This is a command rooted in identity, not effort.
You don’t fight to get free.
You fight because you are free.
You do not resist to become righteous.
You resist because you already are.
OFFER YOURSELVES TO GOD
Paul says:
“Offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life.”
Notice he does not say:
“Offer yourselves to God so that you can be brought from death to life.”
No.
You are already alive.
Therefore, act like someone who lives.
Your obedience does not create your identity—
it expresses it.
Your holiness is not your salvation—
it is the overflow of your resurrection.
SIN SHALL NOT BE YOUR MASTER
Paul anchors the whole chapter with one of the most beautiful promises in the New Testament:
“Sin shall not be your master, for you are not under law but under grace.”
Grace is not permission to sin.
Grace is power to live free.
Grace is not God saying, “It’s okay, don’t worry about it.”
Grace is God saying, “That’s not who you are anymore.”
Grace is not lowering the standard.
Grace is raising the dead.
You are not under condemnation.
Not under penalty.
Not under performance.
Not under the pressure of perfection.
You are under grace—
the unearned, unstoppable, resurrecting power of God.
SLAVES TO RIGHTEOUSNESS
Paul now flips the entire narrative:
Before Christ, you were a slave to sin even when you tried to do right.
In Christ, you are a slave to righteousness even when you stumble.
Think about that.
Your old life was ruled by sin—
your new life is ruled by righteousness.
You are not working toward holiness—
holiness is working in you.
You are not forcing transformation—
you are yielding to it.
You are not trying to become righteous—
you have become a vessel righteousness now flows through.
This is not behavior modification.
This is identity revelation.
THE WAGES OF SIN VS. THE GIFT OF GOD
And then comes the most famous line in the chapter:
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Wages are earned.
Gifts are received.
Death is earned.
Life is given.
Sin pays you exactly what you deserve.
God gives you exactly what Jesus deserves.
This is the scandal of the gospel.
The shock of grace.
The divine reversal that no other religion dares to claim:
You don’t work your way into eternal life.
It works its way into you.
ROMANS 6 AND YOUR REAL LIFE
Now let’s bring this into everyday life—right where you live, breathe, struggle, and try again.
Romans 6 is not about pretending to be holy.
It is not about hiding your weaknesses.
It is not about shame.
It is about identity.
Union.
Resurrection.
Newness.
Freedom.
Ownership.
Authority.
When the enemy whispers:
“You’ll never change,”
Romans 6 answers:
“That person is dead.”
When guilt says:
“You’re still the same,”
Romans 6 says:
“You were raised into newness.”
When shame says:
“You don’t deserve freedom,”
Romans 6 says:
“You were freed the moment Christ died.”
When temptation says:
“You can’t resist,”
Romans 6 says:
“Sin is no longer your master.”
When fear says:
“You aren’t good enough,”
Romans 6 says:
“Righteousness owns you now.”
When doubt says:
“You’re failing God,”
Romans 6 says:
“You are alive to Him.”
Everything changes when you stop trying to crucify what is already dead—
and start living from the life Christ already gave you.
ROMANS 6 IS A MIRROR
It doesn’t show you who you were.
It shows you who you are.
Not the old you trying to be righteous—
the resurrected you walking in the identity Christ secured.
Not the broken version trying to get fixed—
the reborn version learning how to live.
Not the sinner trying to become a saint—
the saint learning to shed the habits of a dead life.
Romans 6 is not calling you to try harder.
It is calling you to wake up.
Wake up to identity.
Wake up to freedom.
Wake up to union.
Wake up to resurrection.
Wake up to righteousness.
Wake up to who you are in Christ.
THE REAL QUESTION ROMANS 6 ASKS YOU
Not:
“Are you perfect?”
But:
“Do you know who you are?”
Not:
“Are you trying hard enough?”
But:
“Do you understand what Christ already finished?”
Not:
“Are you worthy?”
But:
“Do you see that the old you is gone?”
Not:
“Will you ever overcome?”
But:
“Why are you fighting battles Jesus already won?”
Romans 6 changes the way you think about the Christian life because it shows you that Christianity is not about behaving differently—
it’s about being someone new.
THE CALL OF ROMANS 6 TODAY
So what is Paul asking us to do?
Believe what is already true.
Walk in what is already yours.
Stop arguing with your transformation.
Stop negotiating with your past.
Stop resurrecting what God buried.
Stop calling yourself what God no longer calls you.
You are dead to sin.
You are alive to God.
Sin is not your master.
Grace is your environment.
Righteousness is your identity.
Resurrection is your reality.
Christ is your life.
And once you see it—
really see it—
you cannot go back.
Romans 6 isn’t information.
It’s revelation.
It’s the chapter that doesn’t just tell you what happened to Jesus—
it tells you what happened to you.
It tells you who you were.
It tells you who you are.
It tells you who you’ll never be again.
It tells you who you will always be now.
And it calls you—
powerfully, quietly, urgently—
to live like the resurrected child of God you already are.
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Douglas Vandergraph
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