What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Romans 6:1-2
It is always interesting to me to return to the town I grew up in, Canby, Oregon. It arouses feelings of nostalgia…makes me feel sentimental. However, there are a number of things about my return trips which remind me that Canby is no longer my home. First, it is mind-boggling how much that town has changed since my childhood. I can still see the grain silos next to the railroad tracks that ran through the middle of town in my youth—now it’s a strip mall. The two fast food joints in town were Burgerville and Dairy Queen. Now, there’s a Mcdonalds, Carls Jr, Panda Express, even Taco Bell! Today’s Canby is much different than the small town I grew up in. But it isn’t just the changes in Canby, it is the fact that for decades, now, I have made my home elsewhere. Imagine if I failed to come home one evening from the office, at our church in Renton, Washington. My wife, Debbie, would surely text or call to find out where I was. (She used to do this prior to location sharing!) Imagine I replied, “Almost to Canby!” She would think I was one fry short of a happy meal. Canby hasn’t been my home for years. In fact, though Oregon still has a healthy part of my heart (and my allegiances…Go Ducks!), that state hasn’t been my home for decades. Paul’s message in Romans 6 is that sinful selfishness is no longer our home. It used to be. We used to be enslaved to sin, but not anymore. We are now residents of the Kingdom of God, governed by Jesus Christ, our King! Here is home. Naturally, then, when Paul asks, in Romans 6:1-2, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?” His immediate answer is, “By no means! We have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” Paul reminds us that we no longer live under sin’s roof. That’s not our home, anymore. So, Paul asks, “how can we live in it any longer”? What we have here is not merely a theological assertion, but a moral imperative. “How can we live in it any longer” is meant to challenge us, inspire us, move us to action! We must stop living as though sin is our home. It’s not. We cannot live there anymore! Paul’s statement stands in stark contrast to the defeatist attitudes toward sin so prevalent in the church today. We treat sin as a foregone conclusion. But isn’t this the very mentality Paul so forcefully chides? Paul presents a caricature of Christian faith in the person who says, in effect, “O God, what a horrible sinner am I, but how wonderful that my sin makes your grace all the more glorious!” Paul finds this line of thinking absurd, unthinkable, impossible. Paul uses the strongest possible words to negate this deplorable line of thinking. In response to the questions of Romans 6:1, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?” Paul says, in verse 2, “may it never be.” The King James may actually get closer to the strength of Paul’s response, “God forbid.” To Paul, the very idea of continuing in slavery to sin is unconscionable, unthinkable, impossible. Salvation, as is made clear in this third main section of Romans, impacts not only our standing before God and our future hope, it impacts how we live life in the here and now, under the dominion of the Spirit and righteousness, no longer under the dominion of sin and death. How is this possible? As Paul writes in Romans 6:2, “we died to sin.” Theologian Doug Moo provides excellent insight into Paul’s point here when he writes that the word die “connotes a decisive and final break in one’s state of being.” A decisive and final break with sin—that is what happens at salvation. With what result? We simply cannot continue in sin. It would be like a husband divorcing his wife and then expecting to continue to enjoy marriage’s benefits! Our break with sin as the over-arching power in our lives is as decisive as death. To return to a lifestyle characterized by sin is simply untenable for the follower of Jesus. As Paul goes on to say: “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (6:3–4). When we choose to go back to our old home, acting as though sin and selfishness is where we live, we deny the power of what Jesus accomplished through His death on the cross and His resurrection from the grave. We have a new home, in Christ. Previously, we had no choice...selfish sinfulness was in charge. But in Jesus, by the power of His Spirit in us, we are now able to walk in obedience to Him as we learn to walk in relationship with Him. Believer, don’t forget where you live. Don’t forget where your home is. We are subjects of the forever King...and He is our home!
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Dan GannonDan has ministered at Renton Bible Church, with his wife Debbie, since 2003. Archives
June 2022
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