6:1
Paul now deals with more objections, and is seeking to ensure that his readers (that includes us) understand properly. Salvation by grace can seem to present tremendous problems, and they come from various angles. Those who are committed to wanting to live a life pleasing to God can fear that without “rules” people will just sin. Paul’s answer to this one comes mostly in chapter 7 where the essential answer is that with “rules” people will sin, and rules do not stop us being sinners! Sceptics may say that if grace abounds all the more where sin abounds, then the logical conclusion is to sin all the more so that grace abounds all the more. Related to this, someone else may think that it doesn’t matter if we sin, for grace will cover it. These latter two misunderstandings are dealt with in this chapter. The root of the misunderstanding is having no real conception of what salvation means.
6:2
“We who died to sin”. The salvation offered by the gospel is salvation from sin. Jesus came to save us from our sins (Matt 1:21). He did not come so we could be let off from our offences and the associated punishment. Man seeks to live a life independent of God, one where we don’t need God, and we decide what is right and what is wrong. We are hopelessly wrong on both counts. We did not create the universe, it is quite clear that we are not in control of everything. We did not create ourselves. It is just so obviously wrong to imagine that we can live as independent beings. And we see the fruit of man deciding for himself what is right and wrong. This is most obvious today in the areas of sexual morality and gender.
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