返回Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Rom. 6:1. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid.
Rom. 6:2. We died to sin: how then shall we live in it?
The Apostle said that where sin abounded, grace appeared superabundantly. As a result, someone might reason: let us then not cease sinning, so that grace may appear more abundantly. The Apostle refutes such reasoning by expressing himself negatively: "God forbid," as he usually expresses himself about something that is, by common admission, utterly absurd. Then he provides proof: since we died to sin, became dead to it through baptism, so that we should no longer obey it, how then can we still live in it, have an inclination toward it, and obey it? From this we learn that through baptism every believer truly dies to sin, but through his own negligence he "resurrects" himself and immediately comes alive to it, as soon as he unites with it. On the contrary, the diligent person always preserves this deadness in himself and, whatever sin may command him, does not obey it, like a dead man.
Rom. 6:3. Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
Rom. 6:4. We were buried therefore with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
He explains how we died to sin, and says: through baptism. We were baptized into the death of Christ; therefore, we too must die, as He died. For what the cross and the tomb are for Christ, baptism is for us, though in a different respect; because Christ died and rose again in the flesh, while we die to sin and rise again to virtue, so that just as Christ rose from the dead in the flesh "by the glory of the Father," that is, by His own Divinity (for the glory of the Father is the Son), so we too rise by another resurrection, that is, by a new way of life. Thus, when a fornicator becomes chaste, he represents death and resurrection — the death of vice and the resurrection and revival of virtue in the person.
Rom. 6:5. For if we have been united with Him in the likeness of His death, we shall also be united in the likeness of His resurrection,
Rom. 6:6. Knowing this, that our old man has been crucified with Him, so that the body of sin might be destroyed, that we should no longer be slaves to sin;
Rom. 6:7. The one who has died has been freed from sin.
He did not say: partook of the likeness of His death, but says "united," indicating by the word "union" the fruit of Christ's death in us. The body of Christ, buried in the earth, brought forth the fruit of salvation. Since we are buried in water, while Christ in the earth, and moreover we are buried to sin, while He in body, he did not say "death," but "the likeness of death." Therefore we shall also be partakers of the resurrection, inheriting eternal life, as those who have shown forth the resurrection consisting in good works. "Our old man," that is, wickedness, "is crucified with Him," that is, like the body of Christ, is buried in baptism; "that the body of sin might be destroyed," that is, the wickedness composed of various kinds, or our body inclined to sin, which is why he adds: "that we should no longer be slaves to sin." I desire, he says, that the body be dead, not in the sense that it be destroyed, but that it not sin. "For he who has died has been freed from sin." This he says of the whole man. As "he who has died has been freed from sin," that is, has been delivered, is free, so also you, who have been baptized and have died to sin, remain dead.
Rom. 6:8. If we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
Rom. 6:9. Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, no longer dies: death no longer has dominion over Him.
Rom. 6:10. For in that He died, He died once for sin; but in that He lives, He lives for God.
Rom. 6:11. So you also, reckon yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Here, it would seem, there is a repetition of what was said; but in reality there is not. Above, the apostle said that we must always remain dead to sin, and now he reasons about the resurrection of the new life according to God, which we must always have. If through baptism we died with Christ, then we believe that we shall always have the resurrection belonging to us, consisting in the new life, for Christ too, having risen from the dead, lives always and will die no more. "For in that He died, He died unto sin once" means: Christ died for our sin, whereas He Himself was not subject to death. "And in that He lives, He lives unto God," that is, He lives by divine power; for He always lives in the power of God the Father. Since Christ does not die a second time, neither do we die a second time through a second baptism (that is, for us there is no second baptism). Therefore, let us remain in the former, that is, in the death of sin, but in the resurrection of life according to God. And this we received in Christ Jesus, that is, with His help: for He Who raised us when we were still dead will all the more preserve us in life now that we have become alive.
Rom. 6:12. Therefore let not sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.
Wishing to show that we are held in the power of vices not by force and compulsion, but by our own free will, he did not say "let it not tyrannize," but says, "let it not reign," for a kingdom is the lot of those who have will. And by the expression "in your mortal body," he first showed that neither is what is pleasant for the body lasting (for the body is subject to death), so that one ought not to serve the body in its pleasures, nor is what is difficult permanent, so that one ought not to flee from what is sorrowful and from struggles against pleasures; and second, he reminds us that mortality is a consequence of sin, and urges us not to be subservient any longer to sin, as that which causes death.
In what way then does sin reign? If we obey it in its bodily "lusts," so that it is not the body that causes harm by its nature, but obedience to sin. Note the grace of Christ: Adam sinned even though he had a body that was not mortal, yet we conquer sin in a mortal body.
Rom. 6:13. And do not yield your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God, as alive from the dead, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness.
Where are the Manicheans who say that the body is sinful by nature? The body is an instrument, and an instrument is a means for both virtue and vice. Thus a sword serves the warrior as a weapon for the defense of citizens, while for a robber it is a weapon against citizens. "Do not present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness." For whoever sins acts unjustly often toward his neighbor, and always toward himself. "But present yourselves to God," considering what a difference there is between God and sin, and to whom it is better to submit: to sin, which has brought death, or to God, Who has given life. Having said that the members are instruments of unrighteousness, he showed, on the one hand, that the body, as stated above, is not something evil, since it can be an instrument of righteousness, and on the other hand, that a battle has commenced and that we need to be under the command of God and take up arms in defense of our soul.
Rom. 6:14. Sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace.
Before the coming of Christ, he says, your body was easily conquered by sin. At that time there was neither the assisting Spirit nor baptism capable of putting sin to death. Therefore the law too, by prescribing what to do, made no progress. But after the coming of Christ the struggle became easier, which is why the labors required of us, as those who have received greater help, are harder. So then, sin will not have dominion over us if we do not yield to it too much. Now it is not the law, which only gives commandments but renders not the slightest help, but grace, which forgives former sins and strengthens for the future.
Rom. 6:15. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means.
Rom. 6:16. Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, whether slaves of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?
The apostle always proposes such objections, which is why he both raises and resolves them, as he does with the present objection, answering it: "God forbid." Then he proves that it is not difficult for us not to sin. Consider, he urges, in your mind which is better: to be slaves of sin, having surrendered to it of your own will (this is what "you yield" means), and to receive as a reward death, that is, eternal punishment (for the sin of Adam produced bodily and temporal death, but sin committed now subjects a person to eternal death, that is, eternal punishment), or to obey God and receive as a reward righteousness and the blessings that flow from it?
Rom. 6:17. Thanks be to God that you, having formerly been slaves of sin, became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were delivered.
"Thanks be to God." Our deliverance from those evils is not a matter of human strength, but of God's; which is why one must give thanks. Then you became obedient not by compulsion, but by your own heartfelt disposition; therefore do not return to the worse things, from which you withdrew voluntarily. As proof that although they themselves came, yet all this depended also on the grace of God, he added: "you delivered yourselves," that is, you were guided by God to the form of teaching. And what is the form of teaching? To live in a devout and well-ordered manner.
Rom. 6:18. Freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
Rom. 6:19. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
Two, he says, benefits you received from God: you were both freed from such dishonor and became servants of righteousness, which constitutes great glory for you. Then, wishing to say that the Romans should serve God just as they served sin, he remarks beforehand: "I speak after the manner of men," that is, I am presenting something lowly, unworthy of the subject, proportionate to your weakness. For it was fitting to show an incomparably greater measure of service to God than to sin; but because of your weakness, he says, present at least an equal measure. Notice how clearly he showed our voluntary servitude by saying: "now present your members." Of your own accord, he says, making yourselves captives, you subjected yourselves to uncleanness, that is, adultery, fornication, the most shameful deeds, and why do I speak of uncleanness alone — to every kind of "iniquity," and moreover "as servants to iniquity," that is, so as to practice still greater iniquity: for having committed some sin, you did not stop there, but found in that very thing an incentive to further iniquity. Therefore, in the same measure present your members "as servants to righteousness," that is, to every virtue, so as to lead a life in chastity and holiness, and not in the former uncleanness.
Rom. 6:20. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from righteousness.
Rom. 6:21. What fruit did you have then? Such deeds as you are now ashamed of yourselves, because the end of them is death.
When you lived in vices, he says, you were estranged from righteousness; at that time you did not submit to it, you did not at all wish to serve it, and you freed yourselves from it. Therefore now too, serving righteousness, do not submit to sin. And what fruit did you have from impurity? None, except dishonor — and why do I speak of dishonor? You had death as your fruit: "for the end of those things is death," both bodily very often, and spiritual always. But from death you have been delivered by the grace of Christ, and the shame still remains not without benefit; for now you are ashamed of those sins.
Rom. 6:22. But now, having been set free from sin and having become slaves of God, your fruit is holiness, and the end is eternal life.
Rom. 6:23. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The fruit of the works of sin is shame; the fruit of righteousness is sanctification, purity, innocence. The end of the former is death; the end of the latter is eternal life. "For the wages of sin is death." Thus, he says, to you also, who served sin, sin gave "wages" — death. "But the gift of God." He did not say: wages from God, but: "gift." For you did not receive it as a reward or recompense for labors, but all of that came from grace in Christ Jesus: for all was accomplished by Him.
Rom. 6:1. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid.
Rom. 6:2. We died to sin: how then shall we live in it?
The Apostle said that where sin abounded, grace appeared superabundantly. As a result, someone might reason: let us then not cease sinning, so that grace may appear more abundantly. The Apostle refutes such reasoning by expressing himself negatively: "God forbid," as he usually expresses himself about something that is, by common admission, utterly absurd. Then he provides proof: since we died to sin, became dead to it through baptism, so that we should no longer obey it, how then can we still live in it, have an inclination toward it, and obey it? From this we learn that through baptism every believer truly dies to sin, but through his own negligence he "resurrects" himself and immediately comes alive to it, as soon as he unites with it. On the contrary, the diligent person always preserves this deadness in himself and, whatever sin may command him, does not obey it, like a dead man.
Rom. 6:3. Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
Rom. 6:4. We were buried therefore with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
He explains how we died to sin, and says: through baptism. We were baptized into the death of Christ; therefore, we too must die, as He died. For what the cross and the tomb are for Christ, baptism is for us, though in a different respect; because Christ died and rose again in the flesh, while we die to sin and rise again to virtue, so that just as Christ rose from the dead in the flesh "by the glory of the Father," that is, by His own Divinity (for the glory of the Father is the Son), so we too rise by another resurrection, that is, by a new way of life. Thus, when a fornicator becomes chaste, he represents death and resurrection — the death of vice and the resurrection and revival of virtue in the person.
Rom. 6:5. For if we have been united with Him in the likeness of His death, we shall also be united in the likeness of His resurrection,
Rom. 6:6. Knowing this, that our old man has been crucified with Him, so that the body of sin might be destroyed, that we should no longer be slaves to sin;
Rom. 6:7. The one who has died has been freed from sin.
He did not say: partook of the likeness of His death, but says "united," indicating by the word "union" the fruit of Christ's death in us. The body of Christ, buried in the earth, brought forth the fruit of salvation. Since we are buried in water, while Christ in the earth, and moreover we are buried to sin, while He in body, he did not say "death," but "the likeness of death." Therefore we shall also be partakers of the resurrection, inheriting eternal life, as those who have shown forth the resurrection consisting in good works. "Our old man," that is, wickedness, "is crucified with Him," that is, like the body of Christ, is buried in baptism; "that the body of sin might be destroyed," that is, the wickedness composed of various kinds, or our body inclined to sin, which is why he adds: "that we should no longer be slaves to sin." I desire, he says, that the body be dead, not in the sense that it be destroyed, but that it not sin. "For he who has died has been freed from sin." This he says of the whole man. As "he who has died has been freed from sin," that is, has been delivered, is free, so also you, who have been baptized and have died to sin, remain dead.
Rom. 6:8. If we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
Rom. 6:9. Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, no longer dies: death no longer has dominion over Him.
Rom. 6:10. For in that He died, He died once for sin; but in that He lives, He lives for God.
Rom. 6:11. So you also, reckon yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Here, it would seem, there is a repetition of what was said; but in reality there is not. Above, the apostle said that we must always remain dead to sin, and now he reasons about the resurrection of the new life according to God, which we must always have. If through baptism we died with Christ, then we believe that we shall always have the resurrection belonging to us, consisting in the new life, for Christ too, having risen from the dead, lives always and will die no more. "For in that He died, He died unto sin once" means: Christ died for our sin, whereas He Himself was not subject to death. "And in that He lives, He lives unto God," that is, He lives by divine power; for He always lives in the power of God the Father. Since Christ does not die a second time, neither do we die a second time through a second baptism (that is, for us there is no second baptism). Therefore, let us remain in the former, that is, in the death of sin, but in the resurrection of life according to God. And this we received in Christ Jesus, that is, with His help: for He Who raised us when we were still dead will all the more preserve us in life now that we have become alive.
Rom. 6:12. Therefore let not sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.
Wishing to show that we are held in the power of vices not by force and compulsion, but by our own free will, he did not say "let it not tyrannize," but says, "let it not reign," for a kingdom is the lot of those who have will. And by the expression "in your mortal body," he first showed that neither is what is pleasant for the body lasting (for the body is subject to death), so that one ought not to serve the body in its pleasures, nor is what is difficult permanent, so that one ought not to flee from what is sorrowful and from struggles against pleasures; and second, he reminds us that mortality is a consequence of sin, and urges us not to be subservient any longer to sin, as that which causes death.
In what way then does sin reign? If we obey it in its bodily "lusts," so that it is not the body that causes harm by its nature, but obedience to sin. Note the grace of Christ: Adam sinned even though he had a body that was not mortal, yet we conquer sin in a mortal body.
Rom. 6:13. And do not yield your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God, as alive from the dead, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness.
Where are the Manicheans who say that the body is sinful by nature? The body is an instrument, and an instrument is a means for both virtue and vice. Thus a sword serves the warrior as a weapon for the defense of citizens, while for a robber it is a weapon against citizens. "Do not present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness." For whoever sins acts unjustly often toward his neighbor, and always toward himself. "But present yourselves to God," considering what a difference there is between God and sin, and to whom it is better to submit: to sin, which has brought death, or to God, Who has given life. Having said that the members are instruments of unrighteousness, he showed, on the one hand, that the body, as stated above, is not something evil, since it can be an instrument of righteousness, and on the other hand, that a battle has commenced and that we need to be under the command of God and take up arms in defense of our soul.
Rom. 6:14. Sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace.
Before the coming of Christ, he says, your body was easily conquered by sin. At that time there was neither the assisting Spirit nor baptism capable of putting sin to death. Therefore the law too, by prescribing what to do, made no progress. But after the coming of Christ the struggle became easier, which is why the labors required of us, as those who have received greater help, are harder. So then, sin will not have dominion over us if we do not yield to it too much. Now it is not the law, which only gives commandments but renders not the slightest help, but grace, which forgives former sins and strengthens for the future.
Rom. 6:15. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means.
Rom. 6:16. Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, whether slaves of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?
The apostle always proposes such objections, which is why he both raises and resolves them, as he does with the present objection, answering it: "God forbid." Then he proves that it is not difficult for us not to sin. Consider, he urges, in your mind which is better: to be slaves of sin, having surrendered to it of your own will (this is what "you yield" means), and to receive as a reward death, that is, eternal punishment (for the sin of Adam produced bodily and temporal death, but sin committed now subjects a person to eternal death, that is, eternal punishment), or to obey God and receive as a reward righteousness and the blessings that flow from it?
Rom. 6:17. Thanks be to God that you, having formerly been slaves of sin, became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were delivered.
"Thanks be to God." Our deliverance from those evils is not a matter of human strength, but of God's; which is why one must give thanks. Then you became obedient not by compulsion, but by your own heartfelt disposition; therefore do not return to the worse things, from which you withdrew voluntarily. As proof that although they themselves came, yet all this depended also on the grace of God, he added: "you delivered yourselves," that is, you were guided by God to the form of teaching. And what is the form of teaching? To live in a devout and well-ordered manner.
Rom. 6:18. Freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
Rom. 6:19. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
Two, he says, benefits you received from God: you were both freed from such dishonor and became servants of righteousness, which constitutes great glory for you. Then, wishing to say that the Romans should serve God just as they served sin, he remarks beforehand: "I speak after the manner of men," that is, I am presenting something lowly, unworthy of the subject, proportionate to your weakness. For it was fitting to show an incomparably greater measure of service to God than to sin; but because of your weakness, he says, present at least an equal measure. Notice how clearly he showed our voluntary servitude by saying: "now present your members." Of your own accord, he says, making yourselves captives, you subjected yourselves to uncleanness, that is, adultery, fornication, the most shameful deeds, and why do I speak of uncleanness alone — to every kind of "iniquity," and moreover "as servants to iniquity," that is, so as to practice still greater iniquity: for having committed some sin, you did not stop there, but found in that very thing an incentive to further iniquity. Therefore, in the same measure present your members "as servants to righteousness," that is, to every virtue, so as to lead a life in chastity and holiness, and not in the former uncleanness.
Rom. 6:20. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from righteousness.
Rom. 6:21. What fruit did you have then? Such deeds as you are now ashamed of yourselves, because the end of them is death.
When you lived in vices, he says, you were estranged from righteousness; at that time you did not submit to it, you did not at all wish to serve it, and you freed yourselves from it. Therefore now too, serving righteousness, do not submit to sin. And what fruit did you have from impurity? None, except dishonor — and why do I speak of dishonor? You had death as your fruit: "for the end of those things is death," both bodily very often, and spiritual always. But from death you have been delivered by the grace of Christ, and the shame still remains not without benefit; for now you are ashamed of those sins.
Rom. 6:22. But now, having been set free from sin and having become slaves of God, your fruit is holiness, and the end is eternal life.
Rom. 6:23. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The fruit of the works of sin is shame; the fruit of righteousness is sanctification, purity, innocence. The end of the former is death; the end of the latter is eternal life. "For the wages of sin is death." Thus, he says, to you also, who served sin, sin gave "wages" — death. "But the gift of God." He did not say: wages from God, but: "gift." For you did not receive it as a reward or recompense for labors, but all of that came from grace in Christ Jesus: for all was accomplished by Him.