Context of Romans
Romans 6 teaches that believers have died with Christ and are no longer slaves to sin, but must now live as slaves to righteousness. Romans 7 shows that the Law reveals sin but cannot overcome the sin nature; only union with Christ and the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit can produce true fruit. The Christian life is the movement from positional righteousness into lived sanctification, where the believer learns to walk in freedom, obedience, and fruitfulness.
Dead to Sin, Alive to God — Romans 6:1–14
Romans 6 begins with the theme of being dead to sin and alive to God.
Christians still wrestle with a sin nature, but they also now have a sin-fighting nature.
Believers have not yet been fully delivered from the “body of death,” so the Christian life must be honestly walked out.
We must not confuse positional righteousness with experiential righteousness.
The believer is positionally righteous in Christ, but that does not mean the nature is completely changed yet.
Sanctification is the process of experiencing righteousness in real life.
The Christian life is an “obedience to faith” that shows what surrender to Jesus as Lord should look like.
Positional and Experiential Righteousness
Boasting Is Excluded
Romans 3 teaches that no one is justified by works of the Law.
Romans 4 shows that Abraham had no right to boast.
Circumcised and uncircumcised believers are united through faith.
All who believe are children of Abraham by faith.
Sin Is No Longer Master
Paul explains that we have died to sin and have been set free from sin.
Sin is no longer in charge of the believer’s life.
The Christian is no longer a slave to sin, but a slave to Christ.
Sin may still happen, but it is no longer the believer’s master; Jesus is now Master.
The Christian participates in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Christ died for our sins, was buried, and was raised; in Romans 6, Paul applies that reality to the believer.
To experience resurrection life, certain things in us must die and be buried.
We must make a clean break with Adam and view ourselves as dead to sin before breaking sinful practices.
Union with Christ
Everyone Serves Something
Paul uses slavery as an analogy everyone in the Roman world would understand.
The main idea is: do not be slaves to sin, but slaves to righteousness.
A slave does not belong to himself; likewise, a Christian must see that he no longer lives for himself.
Everyone is a slave to something.
Worldly Freedom vs. Freedom in Christ
Worldly freedom is described as a mirage because it is really slavery to sin.
The fruit of sin is ugly and leads to death.
True freedom is found in slavery to Christ.
Freedom is a paradox: discipline makes a person more free to become who they are meant to be.
Fruitfulness in Christ
When Christ becomes our Master, real freedom produces fruit.
By the power of the Holy Spirit, believers now desire to produce godly fruit.
Yielding to Jesus as Lord allows this fruit to grow.
Slavery to God is described as self-actualizing: in Christ, the believer becomes the real self.
Romans 7 is framed around the Law and its relationship to sin.
N.T. Wright is quoted to explain that God’s covenant purpose was to draw the sin of the world onto Israel so it could be passed to the Messiah and dealt with once and for all.
Israel was left with the “equipment” used to handle sin: the Law.
Paul explains that believers have died to the Law through the body of Christ so they may belong to the risen Christ.
The Law and the Messiah
Paul uses marriage as an analogy: when a spouse dies, the person is free to be joined to another.
In the same way, believers are no longer joined to the Law but to Jesus Christ.
The purpose of being joined to Christ is fruitfulness.
God hates sin because it stops believers from being fruitful.
Belonging to Another
To be justified means to have peace with God and be in relationship with Him.
God wants the justified believer to be fruitful.
Adoption explains the believer’s relationship to God as Father.
Being a Christian means being fruitful, because Jesus said people are known by their fruit.
Justification and Fruit
Paul teaches that sin took advantage of the Law.
The Law did not bring Israel to life; it revealed death.
Though the Law is holy, just, and good, it also reveals the great distance between humanity and a holy God.
The Law remains a measuring tool, but it cannot fix the sin nature.
The Law Reveals the Problem
The Inner Struggle
Paul speaks in the first person to help his readers see themselves in the struggle.
He describes the struggle of trying to work out salvation without the power of the Holy Spirit, which is impossible.
Moral living alone cannot solve the deeper brokenness inside.
There is an internal chaos and a deep-rooted problem inherited through sin.
The Need for the Spirit
The mind may want to serve God, but the outworking fails if the sin nature has not been dealt with.
The believer needs to be set free from the sin nature and receive the sin-fighting nature.
The Holy Spirit takes up residence in the believer and empowers the putting to death of the deeds of the flesh.
Sanctification is the fruit of justification.
