Romans 6:1-14
Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ
1What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We 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.
5If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
11In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. 14For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
St. Paul teaches us that God's grace is what saves us...Man sins...We sin regularly...But God is Love, and He loves us...He will forgive us, of our sins, if we believe in Him and have faith...So St. Paul poses the question, since we know that God is full of grace (and will forgive us), why don't we go on sinning, since that is the easy way out and after all, it is our nature...St. Paul answers his own question, by saying "By no means."...
In Genesis 2:16-17, God told Adam you can eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die...So God plainly tells Adam if you eat from this one tree that is a sin, and then you will die...That was the fall of man...We are now dead to sin...The wages of sin are death...
St. Paul tells us, we are now baptized with Jesus...He was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father...Because He died for us on the cross, we now are give a second chance against sin... We too have (like the Son) can have a new life...We are baptized in death, but are born again after our death...Just as Jesus died and was raised to life by the Father, we too now are allowed this (raising from death) by God's grace...Jesus' death and our death unite us...We also will be united by the resurrection...The tents of our bodies will be crucified because of our sins in our death...But we will be raised again, because Jesus frees us from our sins...So, if we have faith, believe that He died for us and our sins to save us, then we can believe that we also will live with Him...Jesus prays for all believers...He prays to the Father that those followers you have given Me, will be with Me where I AM and to see My glory (John 17:24, Jesus Prays For All Believers)...So this is why, if we believe in Him, we also will live with Him...
Jesus died, but was raised from the dead, by His Father...So, if you believe, in the resurrection then Jesus defeated death...He therefore cannot die again...He overcame death...Death has no mastery over Him...The death He died was for us...He died to defeat our sins, once and for all...Our Messiah lives, and lives to do God's will...St. Paul, while on trial, according to Festus (was on trial) because Paul had some dispute with Jews about a dead man named Jesus, who Paul claims is alive (Acts 25:19)...We are in a very small way, when we communicate with non believers, still on trial today...Jesus is (still) alive today...
We struggle with sin everyday...Our bodies sometimes seem to desire sin(s)...Yet sin does not have to rule our lives...Thanks be to God for His grace, since we will sin, through His Son Jesus Christ our LORD...Jesus is our hope that sin will not be the master or our focus in our lives...When Jesus died, our sins were reconciled with sin, through the Father's great grace...