God Has Freed Us from Sin

Introduction

Have you ever wondered: If God already loves and forgives us completely, does it really matter how we live? Today we hear the Apostle Paul ask that very same question in Romans 6, and his answer brings better news than we might expect.

Let’s read Romans 6:1b–11 (NRSVUE):

“Should we continue in sin in order that grace may increase? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, so we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

The bottom line today is this: God has freed us from sin. In Christ Jesus, our old self has been crucified, and we have been raised to walk in newness of life. This is not a self-help plan—it is a declaration of what God has already done for us.

Expository Walkthrough

1. Grace Is Not a License to Keep Sinning

Paul begins with a sharp question: “Should we continue in sin in order that grace may increase?” His answer is emphatic: “By no means!”

Sin is any way of living that pulls us—and others—away from the love, healing, and flourishing life God desires for us. Grace is not a free pass to keep doing damage to ourselves or others. Grace is God’s powerful rescue from what is ruining us.

We do not continue in sin—not to prove ourselves or avoid punishment—but because something decisive has already happened to us in Christ. We have died to sin. “How can we who died to sin go on living in it?” (Romans 6:2). Sin no longer owns us. Our relationship to it has fundamentally changed.

2. We Died and Rose with Christ

How is this possible? Through our union with Jesus.

“Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead… so we also might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3–4).

Because of the Incarnation—God becoming human in Jesus—Christ assumed our humanity and united us to himself. In a stunning mystery, his death becomes our death, his burial our burial, and his resurrection our resurrection. Baptism is the visible sign and seal of this reality: going under the water pictures dying and being buried with Christ; coming up pictures rising with him to new life.

“We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, so we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin” (Romans 6:6–7).

The old self was not slowly improved or carefully managed—it was crucified. Finished. Put to death.

3. We Are Now Alive to God and Called to Newness of Life

Because we died with Christ, we also live with him. Christ “died to sin once for all,” and now “the life he lives, he lives to God” (Romans 6:10). The same is true for us.

The Holy Spirit is at work in us, producing the fruit of new life—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and self-control. We no longer live under the old patterns, shame, fear, or slavery to sin. The prison door is open. The chains are broken. Freedom is already ours in Christ.

This new life is not something we create or earn. Like a lamp that cannot shine without electricity, we receive power from the Source. The same resurrection power that raised Jesus is at work in us.

Conclusion

So what should we do with this good news? Paul gives us a clear instruction: “Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11). Count it as true. See yourself this way. Wake up every day to this new reality.

My encouragement to you this week:

• Remember who you are in Christ.
• When old patterns tempt you, remind yourself: “That’s not who I am anymore—I died to that, and I am alive to God.”
• Share this freedom with someone else. Hold up the mirror of the gospel for a friend and say, “Look—this is who you really are in Christ.”

Closing Prayer

Gracious God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—thank you that in Jesus you have done for us what we could never do for ourselves. You have freed us from sin. The old self is dead. We are alive in you. Help us to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to you. By your Spirit, grow in us the fruit of new life. May we walk in the freedom and love of Christ for your glory and the good of our neighbors. In the name of Jesus, our risen Lord, Amen.

You are free. Live like it. God has freed us from sin.

Click on link to see original sermon: https://equipper.gci.org/2026/05/sermon-for-june-21-2026-proper-7