Romans 6:12-23

As we continue the roller-coaster ride called The Letter of Paul to the Romans, we come to Romans 6:12-23.

By now, it should be somewhat clear that all the parts of this letter speak to each other, and that they steadily build on each other. The starting place for this exercise, according to the best Biblical scholars, is Romans 1:16 — “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel. It is the saving power of God for everyone who has faith…”.

In this light, Romans 6:12-23 is Paul’s effort to say that the Gospel, having freed us from enslavement to sin, is the power by which “your gains are such as make for holiness, and the end is eternal life” (Romans 6:22).

Take some time to review:

we are justified (set right with God) by faith, as it says in Romans 3:26; the starting place of faith is God, whose promises are sure enough that we can trust them (Romans 4:13-25); when we entrust ourselves to God by faith, we find inner resources to live from suffering to hope (Romans 5:1-11); this does not mean “anything goes, as long as you believe in Jesus”, but rather that sin is no longer in charge of our lives (Romans 6:1-11).

We might then read Romans 6:12-23 as saying, “Go! The sky (or heaven) is the limit for you now!"