Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. Romans 6:12-13
Romans 6 is Paul’s exhortation to the Christians in Rome that sin should no longer hold sway over their lives but they should be be alive in Christ. It is also a picture of how the Christian should live in the power of the resurrection. Our faith in what Jesus did in His death, burial, and resurrection is how we are united with Him. It is how we can have the resurrection power in our own lives. We died to our sin, and now we have new life. We are alive from the dead, we need to live in that aliveness.
Set Free
The world has this idea that once someone becomes a believer life is over. How can you enjoy life when someone is bound to the restrictions God puts on their life, the world will ask. This chapter goes on to portray the Christian life has changed from the old way of sin. Jesus sets a person free once they believe in Him. In verse 22, Paul sets this notion straight of not enjoying life from a Christian perspective.
But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. Romans 6:22
The believer, first of all, has been freed from a life of sin, freed from guilt and shame, and freed from the penalty of sin which is death. Which, in all honesty, is what everyone should want. Secondly, the believer becomes a servant of God. This, I believe, is where the world balks at the idea of enslavery. Non-believers tend to think and believe the good life ends at the cross and the Christian life is one of drudgery and misery. Why would anyone willingly follow that lifestyle?
The Benefits of God
But here’s where it gets interesting. Paul goes on to say there are benefits of following Christ. Thirdly, he shows sanctification is a result being of freed from sin and a becoming a servant of God. Sanctification happens when believers live according to God’s design and purpose. Then, lastly and definitely not the least, is the outcome of our choice to follow Jesus, eternity with God.
Unbelievers typically want to continue in the lifestyle they are enjoying and reap the benefits of eternity with God without any change in their living. There are those who profess to be followers of Jesus but their lives show no change in their lifestyle. Neither of these people will enjoy eternity the way they expect. Even if a person changes their lives completely to portray a holy life, without a supernatural act of God, they, too, will not reap the benefits of a loving God.
Read Romans 6 from the first verse to the last. Two interweaving thoughts are evident throughout the entire chapter: the believer is dead to sin and alive in Christ. There’s a lot going on in Romans 6, but after unpacking all the theology, the one thing standing out is how a believer should be living. You were once living in sin, but Jesus brought you to life; now, live like you’re alive. If it’s really true that an unbeliever thinks life ends at the cross of Jesus, then, it’s even more so true that a believer knows life begins at an empty tomb.
Listen to Jeremy Camp’s song Dead Man Walking on YouTube. It will give an new understanding of Romans 6 to the listener. Here’s part of the chorus of that song:
I was a dead man walking Until you loved this dead man walking back to life