Romans 6

The argument moves from the ontological shift in the believer's status (we are dead to sin) to the practical application of that status in everyday living (we must present ourselves to God).

• We shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection (Romans 6:5)
• We shall also live with him (Romans 6:8)
• Sin shall not have dominion over you (Romans 6:14)
• The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23)

• Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God (Romans 6:11)
• Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body (Romans 6:12)
• Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin (Romans 6:13)
• Yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead (Romans 6:13)
• Yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness (Romans 6:19)

• The end of those things [sin] is death (Romans 6:21)
• The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23)

• The Roman church was comprised of both Jews and Gentiles with varying views on the Law of Moses.
• The term 'baptized' (G907) here refers to the initiation rite of the early church, signifying the believer's identification with Christ's death and resurrection.

• The language of 'slavery' and 'servants' (G1401) was deeply understood in the Roman Empire, where slavery was common and a master held total authority over a slave's actions.
• The concept of 'death' in the ancient world was absolute; one who had died to a master was no longer under that master's legal domain.

• This chapter answers the implication of the conclusion of chapter 5: 'where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.'
• It marks a transition from the 'positional' theology of chapters 1-5 to the 'practical' application in chapters 6-8.

• Paul's argument assumes the truth of Genesis regarding Adam, alluded to here as the source of our identification with the 'old man' (v. 6).
• The passage anticipates the struggle described in Romans 7, while affirming the victory established in Romans 8.

• Reference to baptism echoes the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19) and the early church's practice (Acts 2:38, 8:12).

• ὁ παλαιὸς ἡμῶν ἄνθρωπος (ho palaios hēmōn anthrōpos) - 'Our old man' (v. 6), referring to our former, unregenerate self and its inherited nature from Adam.
• συνθάπτω (synthaptō, G4916) - Literally 'buried together with.' The prefix 'syn-' implies a union, reinforcing that the believer's burial is intrinsically linked to Christ's.
• λογίζομαι (logizomai, related to 'reckon' in v. 11) - To count or calculate; in this context, it is a command to evaluate one's spiritual reality based on the objective truth of union with Christ.
• ὅπλα (hopla, translated 'instruments' or 'weapons' in vv. 13, 19) - Literally military 'weapons' or 'arms', suggesting that the body is a tool used in the spiritual warfare between righteousness and sin.

• The command to 'reckon' (v. 11) is a call to align one's thinking with the objective truth already stated in the previous verses.
• Matthew Henry observes that 'the strongest motives against sin, and to enforce holiness, are here stated' by appealing to the believer's identity in Christ rather than external compulsion.
• There is a persistent debate over the interpretation of 'baptism' here: some view it primarily as a ritual (sacramentalism), while others view it primarily as the spiritual reality of the Holy Spirit's baptism (identification with Christ), which the physical ordinance signifies.

• The extent of the sanctifying work of the Spirit in this life (sinless perfection vs. indwelling struggle) is debated; while Paul asserts sin shall not have dominion (v. 14), he also warns about sin reigning in the mortal body (v. 12), creating a tension between the believer's standing and their experience.