“Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?” Romans 6:2 NLT  

Footsteps #306. As we noted yesterday the very thought that sin could in any conceivable way be pleasing to God or be to His honour absolutely appalled the apostle. He doesn’t even stop to reason with such stupidity. Rather than providing an argument against it, he asks a rhetorical question: “How can one who died to sin still live in it?” 

The answer was obvious! It is impossible for one who has died to sin to continue to live in sin as a way of life. We have previously been dead in sin (Eph2:1) now we are dead to sin. Grace delivers us from the bondage and reign of sin and puts us under the reign of grace. Not being ruled by sin isn’t the same as not having to struggle with it. We live in a fallen broken world.  For the justified believer, sin will still be resident, but it will not be president. In his first letter, the Apostle John said that if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us, but if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1John1:8-9) 

The verb “died” in v2 is in a verb tense that suggests a completed past action. It is referring to when we first accepted Christ and He gave us a new heart and a new mind so that the things we once hated we now love, and the things we once loved we now hate. 

Paul is not saying that converted people never commit acts of sin. Rather, he means that they do not live a life oriented toward sin. When they do sin, of course, the condemning function of the law springs into action and forces them back to the cross, where they receive grace and power. They no longer love sin. Recognising its destructive nature, they want to live the principles of God. But they also know that when they do sin they can turn to the Father, who has abundant grace. 

We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone. It is not a matter of faith plus works, but a faith that works. 377

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