Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Romans 6:2

"God forbid. We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein?" — Romans 6:2 (ASV)

Paul begins his discussion by raising an objection and answering it—an objection that grows out of his presentation of justification, especially the teaching that where sin increased, grace increased all the more (5:20). The query is to this effect: “Are we not able, or even obliged, by the logic of justification, to continue on in sin, now that we are Christians, in order to give divine grace as much opportunity as possible to display itself? The more we sin, the more God’s grace will be required to meet the situation; this will in turn contribute the more to his glory.” The apostle shows his horror at such a suggestion: “By no means!” (see also his repudiation of a similar suggestion in 3:8). It is likely that as Paul taught justification by faith, objections of this sort were raised from time to time by those who feared that his teaching would open the door to libertinism by encouraging indifference to the ethical demands of the law. If so, his answer is forged in years of reflection under divine guidance.

His answer is crisp: “We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” He does not say that sin is dead to the Christian; ch. 7 is a sufficient refutation of any such notion. Rather, we died to sin. Nor does Paul here explain when or how we died to sin; instead, his emphasis lies on the logical impossibility of a Christian continuing in a life dominated by sin. Death to sin is not something hoped for by the believer; it is something that has already taken place. It is a simple fact basic to the living of the Christian life.