How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
—Romans 6:2
In the first section of the epistle to the Romans, Paul had expounded the great doctrine of justification by faith. (See Romans 1:16–5:11.) After having done this, Paul proceeded in the second section to unfold the related doctrine of the new life by faith in Christ. (See Romans 5:12–8:39.) Using Adam as an illustration of Christ, Paul taught that, just as we all died in Adam and his death reigns in our natures, so those who believe in Christ actually died to sin in Him, were set free from it, and became partakers of the new holy life of Christ.
Paul asked, “How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” In these words we have the deep spiritual truth that our death to sin in Christ delivers us from its power, so that we no longer can or need to live in it. The secret of true and full holiness is to live, by faith and in the power of the Holy Spirit, with the knowledge that you are dead to sin.
In expounding this truth, Paul reminded the Romans that they were baptized into the death of Christ. “Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death.…we have been planted together in the likeness of His death.…our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed” (Romans 6:4–6)—rendered void and powerless. Take time to quietly ask for the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Ponder these words until this truth masters you: you are indeed dead to sin in Christ Jesus. As you grow in the consciousness of your union with the crucified Christ, you will experience that the power of His life in you has made you free from the power of sin.
Romans 6 is one of the most blessed portions of the New Testament of our Lord Jesus, teaching us that our “old man” (verse 6)—the old nature that is in us—was actually crucified with Him, so that we no longer need to be in bondage to sin. But remember, only as the Holy Spirit makes Christ’s death a reality within us will we know—not by force of argument or conviction, but in the reality of the power of a divine life—that we are indeed dead to sin. It only requires the continual living in Christ Jesus.