These are the five life changing things I learned from reading Romans 6.

Five life changing things I learned from reading Romans 6

Five life changing things I learned from reading Romans 6.

We can learn a lot from simply reading the bible. The book of Romans, the letter Paul wrote to the church in Rome, contains lots of valuable ideas (called theology). If we read this chapter we will see five life changing things that can change our lives. There is a lot more in there, but this is what I got.

One, “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.” Romans 6:4

Paul is saying our sins are buried with Jesus when Jesus on the cross. When Jesus was raised, we overcame our sinful flesh. In verse 3 we see that when we are baptized our past sin is destroyed by Jesus, and when He was raised, we were raised to a new life in Jesus. Simply put, our past sins are now dead and cannot control us. That is real freedom!

Two, “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him” Romans 6:8

We will live with Jesus, not only in heaven, but in this life too. Just as Jesus spent time on this earth, we do too. Just as He lived to do His father's will, we should as well (John 4:34, 5:30, 6:37-39). The message of the gospel is not only about dying and going to heaven, but it is about what we do for Jesus in this life. Death and sin no longer control us! This life we live on earth is important!

Three, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts” Romans 6:12

We still must choose to follow Jesus. The difference between following Jesus and following the world is one of freedom. Jesus gives us the choice to follow Him or not. The worldly system does not let us choose.

When we chose to live by following Jesus, we also chose to stop the reign of sin in our bodies. Even though we still may sin, it does not control us. By faith we can repent and turn away from sin; we no longer dwell in it. We have had a change of residence!

Four, “Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?” Romans 6:16

The point about freedom is reinforced here. If we follow the ways of this world we become slaves to the sin of this world. That is not freedom! If we make the choice for Jesus, we escape the slavery of sin.

Five, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23

Wages? What we earn by following sin is death. But there is nothing we can do to earn the life Jesus offers us. We must, by faith, accept it. That is living by faith (Rom 1:17, Hab 2:4; Gal 3:11; Heb 10:38). We are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). Jesus earned our salvation, and He willingly gives it to us.

This is not an in-depth study of Romans 6, but it is what I learned from reading it. We are saved by what Jesus has done, by what He offers to us. If we accept His gift, if we allow God to end our slavery to sin, we become a new people, a people who can spread the message of the gospel and the love and mercy of God. And that is good news!