Romans 6:1

Romans 6:1 says, What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?  Paul had asked this question before in chapter three, verse eight, as having been falsely proclaimed by some.  We do not need to continue to sin in order to increase the grace of God.  His grace is sufficient for all sin for all time, but it is not a license to sin, and certainly not a call to sin.  As followers of Christ, we are not given time off for bad behavior.  We cannot discount sin as already being paid for and therefore showing more glory to God's mercy if we do sin.  Verse two adds, God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?  Paul again strongly denied this idea.  He said God forbid such thinking, and then asked how we could be dead to sin through Christ and still want to live in sin.  Through Christ, sin has lost it power over us and should have lost its appeal as well.  We are a new creature in Christ.  Verse three continues, Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?  Paul asked if they understood what baptism in Christ meant, and his question applies to followers of Christ today.  Christ's death paid the penalty of sin, and when we accept Him as our Savior, we accept His death for to pay the price for our sins.  This frees us from both the power and penalty of sin.  Verse four states, Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  Paul tells us that since we are baptized into the death of Christ for our sins, and since He was raised to the glory of God, so should we be.  We are to walk in newness of life, no longer allowing sin to rule us.  Though we do not become perfect, we can never say that we are sinning that God's grace might be magnified.  Verse five adds, For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:  Paul tells I believe that when we have been buried, or planted, as followers of Christ in the acceptance of his sacrifice for us, we will also be resurrected as He was.  For us, that means we will have our relationship with God restored when we accept Christ as our Savior and Lord.  Verse six continues, Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.  Through our faith in Christ, sin loses its power over us and we are no longer to serve sin.  The Holy Spirit now indwells us to strengthen and guide us, and through our faith in God we can overcome all temptation.  When we do fail, we are truly without excuse.  Though we do not lose our eternal salvation, we do lose our closeness with God.  Verse seven concludes, For he that is dead is freed from sin.  When we physically die, we can be sure that we are freed from sinning, but even more so, as we accept Christ's death on the cross for our sins, we are spiritually dead to the power of sin.  As long as we maintain our relationship to Christ, we will no longer give in to the power of sin.