Dead to Sin, Alive to God
1What shall we say then? mAre we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2By no means! How can nwe who died to sin still live in it? 3Do you not know that all of us owho have been baptized pinto Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were qburied therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as rChrist was raised from the dead by sthe glory of the Father, we too might walk in tnewness of life.
5For uif we have been united with him in va death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6We know that wour old self1 xwas crucified with him in order that ythe body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7For zone who has died ahas been set free2 from sin. 8Now bif we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9We know that cChrist, being raised from the dead, will never die again; ddeath no longer has dominion over him. 10For the death he died he died to sin, eonce for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11So you also must consider yourselves fdead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12Let not gsin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13hDo not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but ipresent yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14For jsin kwill have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
Slaves to Righteousness
15What then? lAre we to sin mbecause we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16Do you not know that if you present yourselves nto anyone as obedient slaves,3 you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17But othanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the pstandard of teaching to which you were committed, 18and, qhaving been set free from sin, rhave become slaves of righteousness. 19sI am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For tjust as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members uas slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
20vFor when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21wBut what fruit were you getting at that time from the things xof which you are now ashamed? yFor the end of those things is death. 22But now that you zhave been set free from sin and ahave become slaves of God, bthe fruit you get leads to sanctification and cits end, eternal life. 23dFor the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.