In Romans 6 Paul is answering a foolish question that people have always asked when they hear about the freeness of grace: "Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" The short answer—God forbid. Once you understand what Christ has done, that answer makes no sense. Paul points us to baptism as the picture. When we go down into the water, it represents burial with Christ—our old man crucified and put away. When we come up out of the water, it is a picture of resurrection, walking in newness of life. That old man is not the master anymore. Sin is no longer in charge. Grace reigns. This doesn't mean the battle is over—you will still wrestle with the flesh as long as you live. But you don't belong to sin anymore. You have a new Master, Jesus Christ, and He is worthy of your service. Each day you must reckon yourself dead indeed unto sin and alive unto God. Don't let sin reign. Don't yield your body as an instrument of unrighteousness. Yield yourself instead as one alive from the dead, a servant of righteousness. Paul reminds us: sin only pays one wage—death. But God's gift is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. The fruit of sin is shame and destruction, but the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, holiness—is the evidence of that new life. So the gospel does not give us license to sin. It gives us liberty to serve. Christ has bought us, washed us, and made us His own. Now we are called to live like children of the King—sometimes failing, often needing forgiveness, but always under grace, pressing on to walk in newness of life for His glory.
