Are We Dead to Sin?

The apostle Paul followed his explanation of justification by faith in Romans chapter 5, and particularly his assertion that "where sin increased, grace abounded all the more" in 5:20 by asking how we should respond to God's gracious forgiveness of sin. He asks in 6:1 if we should still sin because grace abounds and then answers emphatically no! He explains that we have died to sin because of our identification with Christ. When Jesus died, we died along with Him to our old way of life, and similarly, when Jesus rose from the dead, we rose along with Him to live in a new way, no longer slaves to sin. The struggle we all face is living as freed, former slaves to sin, not obeying our old master because we have power through the Holy Spirit to overcome our enemies: the world, the flesh and the devil.