1 W hat shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

What does this mean? Are we to keep on sinning so that God will give us more of His loving-favor?

2 M ay it never be! We who died to sin, how could we live in it any longer?

No, not at all! We are dead to sin. How then can we keep on living in sin?

3 O r don’t you know that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

All of us were baptized to show we belong to Christ. We were baptized first of all to show His death.

4 W e were buried therefore with him through baptism to death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.

We were buried in baptism as Christ was buried in death. As Christ was raised from the dead by the great power of God, so we will have new life also.

5 F or if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be part of his resurrection;

If we have become one with Christ in His death, we will be one with Him in being raised from the dead to new life.

6 k nowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be in bondage to sin.

We know that our old life, our old sinful self, was nailed to the cross with Christ. And so the power of sin that held us was destroyed. Sin is no longer our boss.

7 F or he who has died has been freed from sin.

When a man is dead, he is free from the power of sin.

8 B ut if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him;

And if we have died with Christ, we believe we will live with Him also.

9 k nowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no more has dominion over him!

We know that Christ was raised from the dead. He will never die again. Death has no more power over Him.

10 F or the death that he died, he died to sin one time; but the life that he lives, he lives to God.

He died once but now lives. He died to break the power of sin, and the life He now lives is for God.

11 T hus consider yourselves also to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You must do the same thing! Think of yourselves as dead to the power of sin. But now you have new life because of Jesus Christ our Lord. You are living this new life for God.

12 T herefore don’t let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.

So do not let sin have power over your body here on earth. You must not obey the body and let it do what it wants to do.

13 A lso, do not present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

Do not give any part of your body for sinful use. Instead, give yourself to God as a living person who has been raised from the dead. Give every part of your body to God to do what is right.

14 F or sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace.

Sin must not have power over you. You are not living by the Law. You have life because of God’s loving-favor.

15 W hat then? Shall we sin, because we are not under law, but under grace? May it never be!

What are we to do then? Are we to sin because we have God’s loving-favor and are not living by the Law? No, not at all!

16 D on’t you know that when you present yourselves as servants and obey someone, you are the servants of whomever you obey; whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness?

Do you not know that when you give yourself as a servant to be owned by someone, that one becomes your owner? If you give yourself to sin, the end is death. If you give yourself to God, the end is being right with Him.

17 B ut thanks be to God, that, whereas you were bondservants of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were delivered.

At one time you were held by the power of sin. But now you obey with all your heart the teaching that was given to you. Thank God for this!

18 B eing made free from sin, you became bondservants of righteousness.

You were made free from the power of sin. Being right with God has power over you now.

19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh, for as you presented your members as servants to uncleanness and to wickedness upon wickedness, even so now present your members as servants to righteousness for sanctification.

I speak with words easy to understand because your human thinking is weak. At one time you gave yourselves over to the power of sin. You kept on sinning all the more. Now give yourselves over to being right with God. Set yourself apart for God-like living and to do His work.

20 F or when you were servants of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

When sin had power over your life, you were not right with God.

21 W hat fruit then did you have at that time in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.

What good did you get from the things you are ashamed of now? Those things bring death.

22 B ut now, being made free from sin, and having become servants of God, you have your fruit of sanctification, and the result of eternal life.

But now you are free from the power of sin. You have become a servant for God. Your life is set apart for God-like living. The end is life that lasts forever.

23 F or the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You get what is coming to you when you sin. It is death! But God’s free gift is life that lasts forever. It is given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ.