Romans 6.7-The Believer Is Freed From The Tyranny Of The Sin Nature Because He Has Died With Christ
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday June 19, 2008
Romans: Romans 6:7-The Believer is Freed From the Tyranny of the Sin Nature Because He Has Died with Christ
Lesson # 186
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 6:1.
This evening we will study Romans 6:7, which teaches that the believer is freed from the tyranny of the indwelling old Adamic sin nature because he has died with Christ as a result of having been identified with Christ in His physical death through the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 6:1-7, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin for he who has died is freed from sin.”
“For” is the “explanatory” use of the conjunction gar (gavr), which introduces a statement that “explains” Paul’s statement in Romans 6:6.
Romans 6:6, “This we are very familiar with through instruction, namely, that our old man was crucified with Him in order that the sinful body would be deprived of its power with the result that we are no longer in a perpetual state of being slaves to the sin nature.”
In Romans 6:6, Paul teaches that the believer’s old Adamic sin nature was crucified with Christ on the Cross in order that it might be deprived of its power with the result that the believer would no longer be a slave to the sin nature.
Therefore, in Romans 6:7, the conjunction gar introduces a statement that “explains why” the believer is no longer a slave to the sin nature as a result of his sin nature being crucified with Christ.
The believer is no longer a slave to his sin nature as a result of his sin nature being crucified with Christ “because” he has died to the sin nature.
Thus, Paul’s statement in Romans 6:6 is “explaining” the connection between the believer being crucified with Christ and the crucifixion of his sin nature with Christ, namely, he has died to the sin nature.
Romans 6:7, “For he who has died is freed from sin.”
“He who has died” is the verb apothnesko (a)poqnhv|skw) (ap-oth-nace-ko), which refers to the fact that the believer is dead to the sin nature since at the moment of salvation they were identified with Christ in His physical death through the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Paul is speaking of the believer’s identification with Christ in His physical death and not His spiritual death since in context Paul is speaking of the believer being dead to the sin nature, which resides in the genetic structure of the human body.
Christ died physically in order to deprive the indwelling sin nature its power over the justified sinner.
He was raised from the dead to permanently eradicate the indwelling sin nature.
Therefore, Paul is speaking in the context of the believer’s identification with Christ in His physical death and not His spiritual death.
The verb apothnesko denotes that the believer is no longer under the rulership of the sin nature and the headship of Adam.
The fact that the believer is dead to the sin nature refers to the doctrine of “retroactive” positional truth (Romans 6:3-11; Colossians 2:12), which is one of two different aspects related to “positional sanctification” with the other being “current” positional truth.
The former means that when Christ died on the Cross, God views the justified sinner as having died with Christ as well.
The latter means that when Christ was raised from the dead, God views the justified sinners as having been raised from the dead with Christ.
Both are accomplished through the baptism of the Spirit.
Colossians 2:9-14, “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”
Romans 6:7, “For he who has died is freed from sin.”
“Is freed” is the verb dikaioo (dikaiovw) (dik-ah-yo-o), which is used in the context of the justified sinner’s identification with Christ in His physical death, which delivered or freed the justified sinner from the bondage to the old sin nature since the Father considers the justified sinner to have died physically with Christ.
A person who is physically dead can neither be punished for his crimes nor can he obey the will of another.
Just as in Paul’s day a slave who had died was no longer legally accountable to his master or obligated to obey his desires, so it is with the justified sinner who is no longer legally accountable to or obligated to his old master, the indwelling old Adamic sin nature.
Neither, the Law, which condemned sinners before a holy God, nor the old indwelling Adamic sin nature has a claim upon the justified sinner because God considers him or her to have physically died with Christ on the Cross.
Therefore, the fact that God the Father considers the justified sinner as having died physically with Christ means that the justified sinner can not be punished for his sins or as is the case in Romans 6:7, he no longer has the ability to obey the sinful desires of the indwelling old Adamic sin nature.
This is a reference to “retroactive positional truth” meaning that God views the justified sinner as having died physically with Christ on the Cross and thus legally the justified sinner is no longer a slave to the old sin nature.
This does not mean that the believer will never sin again but it does mean that he is no longer obligated to obey the desires of the old Adamic sin nature.
God the Holy Spirit is saying to the justified sinner in Romans 6:7 that you no longer have to obey the desires of the old sin nature, which enslaved you prior to being declared justified through faith in Jesus Christ.
In Romans 6:7, the perfect tense of the verb dikaioo is an “intensive” perfect emphasizing a present state produced by a past action.
Therefore, it is emphasizing the present state of the believer being dead to his indwelling old Adamic sin nature.
This present state was produced by the past action of the Holy Spirit identifying the believer with Christ in His physical death.
The intensive perfect emphasizes the permanent status of the believer who is the beneficiary of this act by the Holy Spirit the moment they trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and that the result of this divine act continues into the present moment and on into eternity!
Romans 6:7, “For he who has died is freed from sin.”
“From sin” is composed of the preposition apo (a)pov), “from” and the articular genitive feminine singular form of the noun hamartia (a(martiva) (ham-ar-tee-ah), “sin.”
The noun hamartia refers again to the sin nature and is being personified as a cruel tyrant or master by the verb dikaioo.
The preposition apo is a marker of separation and dissociation and the noun hamartia functions as a “genitive of separation.”
This indicates that the believer has been “totally and completely separated from” his sin nature in the viewpoint of God as a result of the Spirit identifying him with Christ in His physical death the moment they were declared justified through faith in Christ.
The context also indicates that the expression te hamartia also contains the figure of metonymy where the sin nature is put for the power of the sin nature since in Romans 6:6 Paul teaches that the believer’s old sin nature was crucified with Christ in order that it would be deprived of its power of over the believer.