They called him the Mad Monk of Russia. He was the religious and political confidant of Empress Alexandra of the Romanov family in Russia at the turn of the last century. He justified his profligate lifestyle by grossly misinterpreting Romans 5:20: “Where sin increased, grace increased all the more,” and teaching that the more we sin, the more God’s grace is magnified. Therefore, Rasputin concluded: it is every Christian’s duty . . . to sin. No wonder he was called the Mad Monk of Russia!

Well, Mr. Mad Monk, meet the Apostle Paul, who responds to the egregious slur on grace which says “shall we continue in sin that grace may increase?” by thundering forth, “Let it never be!” (Romans 6:1).

I know that there are not many Rasputins running around today. But there are many Christians who do indeed struggle with sin. You know that you have been freed from sin’s penalty, but you still struggle with its daily power over your life.

Ever feel totally defeated as a Christian when you continually fall back into the habit of a particular sin you have confessed to God a dozen times? “What am I missing,” you wonder. “Why can’t I get the victory over this particular sin?”

It may be the answer you need is in Romans 6:1-14 — because of your permanent union with Christ in salvation, you have been freed from sin’s authority in your life. “Consider yourself to be dead to sin” as Paul says in Romans 6:11 (the first imperative in Romans by the way!).

Paul’s rhetorical question in Romans 6:1 is a logical question in light of Romans 5:20-21. It’s almost like Paul can hear the collective gasp from his Roman readers: “Paul, don’t you know if the Law cannot quell sin, how in the world do you think grace will do it? If you tell people they are under grace and not law, people will use grace to justify their sin! After all, Paul, you do know that sin is fun don’t you? That’s why people do it! We need the law!”

Paul’s responds with the most powerful negative available to him in Greek (mē genoitō), “let it never be!” “may it never occur!”

Paul answers rhetorical question #1 with rhetorical question #2 in v. 2: “How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” What does “died to sin” mean? Notice “sin” is singular, not plural. In Romans 6:1-4, the word sin occurs 10 times, and always in the singular. Paul is not talking about individual sins so much as he is personifying sin as a dictator and tyrant over your life. Read it like this: How shall we who have died to sin’s authority still live in (under) it?”

Romans 6 is every Christian’s obituary. You have died to sin’s authority. But how exactly is that the case and what exactly does that mean for us?

Stay tuned!