Romans 6:11,12 - A great answer to a stupid question

6:11

We now get the answer to the “stupid question” - should we go on sinning? We should count ourselves dead to sin. Sin makes demands upon us, insisting that we give in to its temptations and act according to its ways. What is our response to be? To count ourselves dead to sin. A tyrant can make as many demands as he likes of a dead person, he will get no response. No matter how powerful the tyrant is, no matter what power he used to have over the slave, once the slave is dead he has no power left. We should consider ourselves in the same position with regard to sin. We count ourselves as dead to sin. We do not listen to it, do not pay any heed to it.

Instead we consider ourselves alive to God in Christ Jesus. We listen to Him, we respond to Him, we seek to please Him and follow His ways.

6:12

It is in this chapter that we get the first commands or instructions from Paul. In verse 11 we had “count yourselves ...”, now we get “do not let  sin reign in your mortal body”. The gospel is all about what God has done through Jesus Christ. How He has justified us. How He has conquered death. How He has given us new life. But all this is to enable us to be a people who can obey Him, who can live Christlike lives. Instead of being people who are slaves to sin, we become people who are free to serve. And we have to take action. We have to choose, we have to make decisions. The flesh still makes demands upon us, it still has evil desires. But now we are able to do battle and to win. We will not suddenly become sinless, any such teaching is wrong and leads down a blind alley. But step by step we can gain the victory, we can take territory in our lives.