No Dominion

Introduction

Paul taught that while sin, corruption, and condemnation entered humanity through Adam, far greater grace is available through Jesus Christ. However, the apostle clarifies that abundant grace is never a valid excuse to continue living in sin (6:1-2). The reason he gives is that a person who has genuine faith in Christ has died to sin. Paul illustrates this truth through the term “baptized,” which literally means “immersed.” A true believer is fully immersed into Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. By being united with His death, the believer experiences a death to sin; by being united with His resurrection, they are raised to walk in a new life (6:3-4). Furthermore, Paul emphasizes that the old sinful self, inherited under Adam, was crucified together with Christ (6:5-7). Because of this crucifixion, sin no longer exercises dominion over believers. Therefore, those who have faith must consider themselves dead to sin and continually offer their lives to God as active instruments of righteousness.

1. No Dominion

Paul explains that those who died with Christ will also live with Him. He reminds them about the fact that Christ rose from the dead and He will never die again. Death has no dominion over Him because His death dealt with sin, but He now lives to God. His death was once in history and no longer repeatable.

Romans 6:8-10: Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die

2. Dead to Sin

Paul instructs believers to “consider” or “reckon” themselves dead to sin. Believers must believe it, count it as true that they are “dead to sin and alive to God in Christ.” Paul was leading them into a spiritual and mental state; this is not pretension, but a way of living.

Romans 6:11: So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

3. Do Not Let Sin Reign

Paul instructs the Roman believers not to let sin rule their bodies. Moreover, he tells them not to present themselves as “instruments of unrighteousness.” It means that although believers were freed from slavery, they must not revert to it. Conversely, believers must present themselves as “instruments of righteousness.”

Romans 6:12-14: Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for

Application

1. When you feel condemned or enslaved by a recurring sin, the first move is not to try harder; it is to remember whose you are. Let us believe with all our hearts, “I am united to a Christ over whom death and sin have no more dominion.”
2. When an old sin pattern presents itself as though it still has authority over you, consciously say (out loud if it helps), “I am dead to this; it no longer owns me, and I am alive to God in Christ.”
3. Let us take inventory this week of specific "members." That includes our eyes, tongue, time, body, and relationships. Let us reflect on whether we have been presenting them to sin out of habit. Then make a deliberate, practical substitution: present that same member to God for righteousness instead. 3 Douglas J. Moo, The Letter to the Romans, 2nd ed. (Eerdmans, 2018), 409.

Study Guide

1. How does knowing that “death no longer has dominion over” Christ change the way you face a temptation or sin pattern that feels like it has dominion over you? (Ro 6:8-10)
2. What two things, exactly, are believers told to reckon true of themselves, and why might Paul include both rather than just the first? (Ro 6:11)
3. What should a believer do and not do? Explain the mention of law and grace. (Ro 6:12-14)