Death to Sin

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? “If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin [hatta’t – miss a mark or a way] is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”              Genesis 4:6-7

The above is the first mention of the word "sin" in Scripture, though this principle is clearly referenced in Genesis 3, which explains the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Both the Hebrew and Greek words used most often carry the same sense of missing the mark or way and contradicting God's commands. In Romans 5:12-14, Paul declares that sin entered the world through Adam, bringing with it death to all men. The first five chapters of Romans address Christ's work and His offering for sin and the believer’s position before God; chapters 6-8 define the believer’s experience, his fellowship with God this side of heaven, and his response to the Lord’s sacrifice.  

The consensus is that Paul wrote the letter to the Romans from Corinth, near the end of his third missionary journey. That would mean it was likely written in 57 or 58 AD. One of Paul’s priorities was to present a complete and detailed statement of the gospel message he proclaimed. Paul was eager to preach the gospel to you also who are at Rome (Romans 1:15), and he wanted them to know what it was. As a result, Paul accomplished what Jude desired: to write to you about our common salvation (Jude 3). Romans presents a full and logical picture of the Triune Godhead's plan of salvation for human beings, from its beginning in man's condemnation in sin to its consummation in their sharing eternity in God's presence, conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans represents the process of the believer seeing Jesus as first Savior, then Lord, and the essence of true servanthood 

Romans 5:21 concludes the first five chapters: so that, as sin [hamartia, missing the true end and scope of life in God] reigned in death, so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. In Romans 6:1-2, Paul warned that God’s grace is not sufficient to one who continues in sin so that grace may increase. May it never be! To live in sin intentionally keeps the believer from grace, a place where grace can’t go. Instead, the believer walks in newness of life when he identifies with Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. In doing so, the believer walks by the Spirit so as not to carry out the desires of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please (Galatians 5:17). 

Knowing This

But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.      James 1:14-15

For if [since] we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing [ginosko – experiential knowledge] this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.                            Romans 6:5-7                 

In Romans 6, Paul lays out one of his diatribes on the spiritual realities of salvation (see also Ephesians 1:3-14). The new self is a spiritual reality that becomes experiential as the believer begins to accept these Biblical truths as real and personal, intended for each one who believes, unrestricted by genealogy, ability, accomplishment, or physical appearance. It takes his relationship with God out of the realm of performance and into his frame of reference. The old self, although it still resides in the physical body, no longer needs to be in charge. Competition for control between the new self, governed by the Holy Spirit and the old self, managed by the flesh has been introduced and becomes a current challenge. Slavery to the sin nature is no longer a foregone conclusion, but the evidence of the victory of Calvary. Temptation is not from God, but the efforts of the flesh, in coordination with the world and the devil, are still real, but no longer slave masters.   

Consider Yourselves Dead to Sin

Even so consider [logizomai – conclude, present active imperative] yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present [paristano – place nearby] yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! Do you not know that when you present [paristano – place nearby] yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?                    Romans 6:11-16

Paul now focuses on the believer's faith and mindset. The Greek word logizomai derives from logos, reason or word, and means “the putting together in one’s mind,” accepting a reality not previously understood. My present reality as a believer in Christ is that I am dead to sin and alive to God. The slave masters of my old self have been fired and given a pink slip, unemployed, and the Spirit of Christ has taken over that authority, given my willingness to accept the new sheriff in town, by faith. With faith in the person and work of Christ as my present mindset, I no longer try to live up to any perceived standards imposed on me that define my religiosity. Instead, I have surrendered my life to the leading of the Holy Spirit, thus becoming His slave, and now I am a slave of righteousness.to God. Paul clearly sees two kingdoms: one of light and the other of darkness. Those kingdoms are given authority by whom I put in charge of my life, the life of Christ or the life of the old self. I am able to experience His life since I accept that the life of the Spirit cannot be earned, but received only on the basis of grace, as a free gift. 

Released from the Law 

Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.                            Romans 7:4-6

I was brought up in a society that emphasizes human accomplishment and merit as a means of a successful life. When introduced to a spiritual relationship with God from a religious one, one concerned about religious performance, I brought that same mindset to my newfound relationship with Jesus. This attitude has been so ingrained in me that I could not accept a free gift without some performance to prove worthiness, as if it were earned. But Romans 4:4-5 says Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness. God's righteousness cannot be earned; it must be accepted as a free gift, with no further requirement. When I accept everything God gives me as free, it will produce a sense of gratitude and a desire to serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. The Law could not be fulfilled or completed by me since For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin (Romans 7:14). It is the Lordship of Christ that makes my spirituality a present reality. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit [spiritual] (John 3:6).

The Spirit of Life in Christ

Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.                       Romans 7:24-25

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.                       Romans 8:2-4

Paul wrote Romans 7 and 8 near the end of his ministry, after 25 years of serving God as the Apostle to the Gentiles. He came to understand that he could not accomplish anything for God without Jesus at the center and motivation of everything Paul did. He recognized Jesus Christ (Christos – savior) as Lord (kurios – master), so he served God with his mind, not to fulfill some requirement of the law. He saw that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus as a higher law than the law of sin and death. When the believer realizes and accepts that the Law is fulfilled in us as we walk according to the Holy Spirit, we are no longer slaves to sin but slaves of righteousness. It is the place of true fulfillment in Christ.

Conclusion

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, "FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED." But in all these things [adversities] we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.                          Romans 8:35-39

Paul concludes these three chapters with the answer to this question: Who will separate us from the love of Christ? He first lists seven things that cannot separate the believer from the unconditional (agape) love of God. He was saying that every adversity he faced, it did not separate him from God and His love, but was conforming him to the image of His Son, a holy work of God. He then speaks of ten issues of life that he is convinced cannot and will not divide him from his God. He is saying that there is nothing that will be able to accomplish this, including the believer’s own personal failures.

Until the believer makes Jesus Lord of his life, he relies on his own strength and ability to walk with Jesus successfully in this life. Once lordship is realized, God's work is fulfilled because he operates under the Righteous One, not under his own righteousness. He has found victory over sin.