Dead to Sin
Romans 6:1–14
How can we who died to sin still live in it? Romans 6:2
A reigning monarch is a triumphant monarch. If grace is reigning in us, grace is advancing its conquest over sin. Christians sin. But they are not defeated by sin and they do not continue in it.
Do you understand the absurdity of the objector’s question—“Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound” (v. 1)? If you understand the nature of grace, you will understand that for grace to increase, sin must decrease, not increase. The goal of grace is to destroy and vanquish sin. Therefore, if a person goes on sinning, as the objection suggests, it shows that he or she actually has no part in grace and is not saved.
I give two warnings.
The first is directed particularly to the many people in religious circles who have much head knowledge about doctrine and who suppose, just because they know such things and give mental assent to them, that all is therefore well with their souls, that they are saved. That is not necessarily the case. If you are such a person, I need to warn you that it is not enough for you only to believe these things. Salvation is not mere knowledge. It is a new life. It is union with Christ. Therefore, unless you are turning from sin and going on in righteousness, as you follow after Jesus Christ, you are not saved. It is presumptuous to believe you are. So examine your life. Make sure you are saved. The Bible warns you to “confirm your calling and election” (2 Peter 1:10).
The other warning is to all Christians, and it is in the words of an old Puritan preacher who asked in relation to our passage from Romans: “Is there anyone here who, by his conduct, gives occasion for this objection?” Is your life so careless that an unsaved person looking on might reasonably conclude that this is precisely where the doctrine of justification by grace leads Christians?
If that is the case, correct that impression at once. The writer to whom I was referring says, “It is a lamentable fact that one man who dishonors the gospel by an unholy walk does more injury to the souls of men than ten holy ones can do them good.” I urge you to be part of the solution, part of the ten, rather than part of the problem. Let your life be marked by righteousness, not marred by sin—for your own soul’s good as well as for the good of other people.
Taken from Come to the Waters by James Boice ISBN 9798887790954 used with permission from P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg NJ 08865
Scripture quotations are from the ESV (the Holy Bible English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.