Romans 6:1-8

¹ What should we conclude then? Should we keep sinning so that grace may increase? ² Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it? ³ Or do you not know that those who were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death? ⁴ The conclusion is that we have been buried with him through baptism into death, so that in the same way as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life. ⁵ Because since we have become united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united in a resurrection like his. ⁶ We know that our old man was crucified with him so that the sinful body would no longer dominate us, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷ (For someone who has died has been freed from sin.) ⁸ Now if we died along with Christ, we believe that we will also live along with him.

baptism and the way out

The legalistic mindset that shaped many Jews in Paul’s day treated the law as the pathway out of sin’s grip. Obedience, in their view, functioned like a ladder: climb high enough, and escape the domination of sin. Paul dismantled that assumption with force. The law, though holy and good, was never designed to liberate from sin’s power. When the law stands alone—without the transforming work of Christ—it does not reduce sin but exposes it. The clearer the knowledge of God’s will becomes, the more obvious human failure becomes. Instead of producing holiness, the law highlights guilt, and guilt fuels further rebellion. Sin, left unchecked, rules like a tyrant.

Because of this reality, some might imagine an opposite error: if the law increases sin, and grace covers sin, then perhaps the answer is to rely on atonement while continuing in deliberate disobedience. Paul anticipates that twisted logic and answers with unmistakable intensity: absolutely not. Grace is not a license for sin; it is the power that breaks sin’s rule.

To correct the misunderstanding, Paul directs believers back to the gospel they confessed when they entered the waters of baptism. Baptism was not a mere ritual but a symbolic participation in the death and resurrection of Christ. Being lowered beneath the water mirrored Christ being lowered into death, willingly submitting to the cross. Rising from the water mirrored Christ rising from the grave, breathing again the air of new creation. This act proclaimed that Christ’s victory over sin was not only His own triumph but the believer’s new identity.

Because Christ died to sin and rose to new life, those united with Him share in that same pattern. Life after baptism is not meant to be lived under sin’s dominion. The believer is not a slave returning to an old master but a resurrected person walking in newness of life. Sin may still tempt, but it no longer commands. Its authority has been broken. The gospel calls believers to live as people who have already passed through death and emerged into a different kind of existence—one shaped by Christ’s victory rather than Adam’s fall.

LORD, when sin wants to drag us down, remind us of the time when you raised us up. Remind us that sin no longer dominates us.