Sin Rendered Powerless

October 27th, 2024
by Dr. D. Lance Waldie

Oct 21, 2024

Dr. D. Lance Waldie

Romans 6:4-7 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin.

Believers, having “died to sin” and “having been baptized into Christ Jesus” (vv. 2-3), are those who have simply placed their faith in Jesus Christ for their salvation. Baptism in vv. 3-4, however, is not water baptism per se. The term itself means to immerse and is used by Paul here as a metaphor for “believed”—immersing oneself in faith. So, in v. 3, Christians have believed in Christ (“have been baptized into Christ”) and thus absolved of the penalty of sin through His death (“baptized into His death”). In v. 4, believers are “buried with Him through baptism into death” in the sense that burial signifies death. Baptism is thus the ritual act Christians undergo to signify their death and burial to sin. Faith is the core of Paul’s argument, for he has clearly made the point in Romans 3-4 that faith is essential to salvation, not baptism. R. Mounce says, Paul is simply “using the ritual act of baptism as a symbol of the complete redemptive event that finds its effectual cause in the death of Christ and its completion in the faith of those who believe.”

Thankfully, burial is not the end of the Christian’s story. It is merely the beginning, for burial is followed by resurrection! As Christ was raised from the dead after three days to new life, so also are those who place their trust in Him guaranteed to be raised from their old life of sin and rebellion to “newness of life” (v. 4), or better, “a new sphere which is life.” Having been born with Adam’s sin, being dead in their trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1), new believers in Christ are raised from their spiritual deadness and given new life in Christ—a whole new sphere of reality. They now have life to the fullest in the here and now (John 10:10) and the promise of eternal life in the future. Having been “born again” (John 3:3, 5), their way of life now stands in stark contrast to their former way of life apart from Christ—as different as life is from death.

Every Christian, having become united with Jesus Christ “in the likeness of His death” (v. 5), “shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection.” The future tense certainly entails a future resurrection to eternal life after death (cf. Dan. 12:1-2), but in context Paul is referring to a resurrection of new life in the here and now for the Christian—having been set free from the bondage of sin to new life as a Christian. Believers are now free from the lordship of sin!

The hope of every Christian, their firm belief guaranteed to them by God, is that their new resurrected life is predicated on the fact that their own sins were nailed to the cross of Jesus Christ. As “all sinned” in Adam, all those who trust in Christ were “crucified with Him” (v. 6). So, by being born, humanity sinned and will thus die. But by being born again in Christ, each believer has been united with Christ on the cross where the penalty of sin was paid for. Both the penalty and power of sin are now neutralized. This power of sin, that it “might be done away with” (Gr. katargeō) speaks of sin being “reduced to a state of total impotence and inaction.”

In v. 7, “he who has died is freed from sin” means that death no longer has mastery over the Christian. If death fulfills the demands of sin, then dying to sin means that sin has lost its power. Furthermore, death paves the way for resurrection, the victory over death. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? (1 Cor. 15:55). With the old self now rendered powerless, Christians are no longer compelled to sin but are free not to sin.

Food for Thought

If you’re a Christian then your bad habits and sinful addictions are no longer able to control you. You put on a new self and died to your old self when you trusted Christ. Now you are no longer enslaved to sin—to drunkenness, sensuality, filthy talk, and worldly coveting. So why are you letting it rule over you and making excuses? Now if outward behavior reflects the inner man, what does your behavior say about you? In Christ, you can now say no to sin. But without Christ, sin will always have its way with you. Strive therefore to grow in your faith, to love Christ more and more. For those who truly love Jesus Christ will shudder at anything that He hates.