Romans 6:1–3 to 7:1–6 — Dead to Sin and the Law
Clarification:
Paul writes in Romans that the Law exposes sin, and many believers at the time were still trying to follow the Old Covenant laws.
Through Christ’s death and resurrection, we are dead to sin and the Law.
Baptism symbolizes this death and union with Christ. This teaching is descriptive — explaining freedom in Christ — not a command to obey the Old Law.
Romans 6:1–3
KJV:
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?”
NIV:
“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?
By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?”
Context — The Law Produces Sin
Romans 5:20 explains: “The law entered, that sin might increase; but where sin increased, grace increased much more”.
This shows that the Law’s purpose was to reveal sin, not save people.
At the time, many Jewish believers were still trying to live by the Law, including circumcision, dietary rules, and festivals.
Romans 7:1–6 — Dead to the Law
KJV:
“Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.”
NIV:
“Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives?
For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him.
So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.
For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death.
But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.”
“Paul shows that the Law produces sin and that believers are dead to it through Christ — this is explanatory of our freedom, not a call to obey the Old Covenant laws.”
