What does it mean to be dead to sin (Romans 6:11)?

Romans 6:11 says “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” This verse comes in the broader context of Paul’s letter to the Romans, where he is explaining the implications of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. In particular, Romans 6 focuses on the believer’s freedom from sin and new life in Christ.

To be “dead to sin” means that a believer in Christ has died to the power and penalty of sin. Through faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection, the believer’s relationship with sin has been broken. Their old sinful nature which was bound by sin has been crucified with Christ (Romans 6:6). As a result, sin no longer has mastery or dominion over the believer’s life. The chains of sin have been broken and the believer has been set free from slavery to sin.

This death to sin happens at the moment of salvation. When a person puts their faith in Christ, their old self is crucified with Him and their new self comes alive in Him (Romans 6:8-11). This is a fundamental change in identity and status before God. The old sinful person characterized by Adam is gone, and the new person characterized by Christ has come.

Being dead to sin does not mean the believer will never struggle with sin again. But it does mean sin will not reign over them anymore. Before salvation sin had absolute dominion, but after salvation its dominion is broken. Believers now have the power through Christ and the Spirit to resist sin and walk in newness of life (Romans 6:12-14).

Paul goes on to explain in Romans 6-8 that although believers still struggle with sin, they are no longer identified with and characterized by sin. Their core identity is now in Christ, who has set them free from sin. As those alive to God in Christ, believers are now called to live and walk in that new resurrected life (Romans 6:4).

Died with Christ

The key to understanding what it means to be dead to sin is recognizing that it happens through the believer’s union with Christ in His death and resurrection. When Jesus died on the cross, He died to sin once for all (Romans 6:10). He paid the penalty for sin and broke its power. When a person puts their faith in Christ, they spiritually participate in Jesus’ death and resurrection (Romans 6:3-5). The believer is baptized (united) with Christ in His death and resurrection.

Therefore, when Christ died, the believer died with Him. When He rose, the believer rose with Him to new life. This dying and rising with Christ is what frees the believer from slavery to sin. Christ’s victory over sin becomes their victory. The believer can now walk in newness of life because their old self was crucified with Christ.

Romans 6:5-7 – For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.

The believer’s death to sin is not based on their own effort but on Christ’s finished work. It is not something we achieve but something we receive through faith in being united to Christ. Christ’s victory over sin is imputed or credited to the believer.

Freedom from Sin’s Penalty and Power

There are two key aspects of being dead to sin:

1. Dead to the penalty of sin
2. Dead to the power of sin

Because of Christ’s death, sin no longer has the penalty of spiritual death over the believer. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), but Jesus paid that penalty in full through His substitutionary death. With the penalty paid, the condemning power of sin is removed. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). Believers are counted righteous before God and adopted into His family as dearly loved children.

In addition to the penalty, sin’s power and mastery over someone is broken when they are united to Christ is death. Before Christ, sin reigned in death over people who were slaves to it. But through participating in Christ’s death, the believer dies to sin’s power and is freed from this slavery (Romans 6:6-7,17-18). The dominion of the sinful nature is broken. Believers now have the ability through the indwelling Spirit to say “no” to sin and “yes” to righteousness (Romans 6:12-14).

So being dead to sin means the believer is totally free from any penalty or condemnation from sin. And they now have power through Christ to resist sin’s mastery. While sin still dwells in their mortal bodies and seeks to control them, it will not reign over them anymore.

Made Alive to God in Christ

Being dead to sin is only one part of what Paul describes in Romans 6:11. He also says believers are “alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Death to sin is accompanied by new life in Christ. These two realities happen concurrently at salvation but are distinct:

1. Death to sin frees from the penalty and power of sin.
2. New life in Christ enables the believer to now live righteously for God.

Romans 6:8-11 makes this clear by repeatedly pairing these two ideas – dying with Christ and being raised with Christ, death to sin and life to God. Death to sin is negative (freedom from sin) while new life in Christ is positive (empowerment for righteousness).

Because the believer has been united to Christ in His resurrection, they are now alive with resurrection power that enables obedience. Paul describes this as living or walking in “newness of life” (Romans 6:4). The Spirit who raised Jesus from dead now dwells in the believer to empower righteous living.

Romans 8:10-11 – But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

The indwelling Spirit enables transformation as believers obey God’s Word. God grants them repentance leading to life (Acts 11:18). So while death to sin deals with the penalty and power of sin, new resurrection life is positive empowerment to live righteously.

Being alive to God means believers are now able to bear fruit for Him, serving and obeying from the heart (Romans 6:13, 22). Their lives are characterized by righteousness rather than sin.

Summary of Key Points

In summary, here are some key points about what it means to be dead to sin:

• Death to sin happens through spiritual union with Christ in His death and resurrection.
• The believer has died to both the penalty of sin and the power of sin.
• There is no more condemnation for sin, and sin will not reign over the believer.
• This death frees the believer from slavery to obey sin.
• Death to sin is accompanied by new life in Christ, through the resurrection power of the Spirit.
• New life in Christ enables believers to live righteously and bear fruit for God.
• Believers have been fundamentally changed in status and identity as united to Christ.
• Being dead to sin is not perfection or sinlessness, but freedom from slavery to sin.

In summary, being dead to sin means freedom from its penalty and power, while being alive to God means empowerment for righteous living. This happens through the believer’s union with the death and resurrection of Christ by faith. On the cross, Jesus died to sin once for all, and if we have been united to Him in His death, we have died to sin as well. This is a key truth of the Christian life.

Implications of Being Dead to Sin

Understanding these truths should fundamentally shape how a believer sees themselves and lives the Christian life. Here are some key implications:

1. Identity is now in Christ – Believers should see themselves as new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Their core identity is found in Him.
2. Have confidence in victory over sin – While resisting sin, believers can have confidence in Christ’s victory and the Spirit’s empowerment.
3. Strive for holiness – Being dead to sin means striving to live a holy life out of reverence for God (1 Peter 1:14-16).
4. Present yourself to God – Daily present yourself to God as alive from the dead, offering your body as instruments of righteousness (Romans 6:13).
5. Reckon yourself dead to sin – Reckon or consider yourself dead to sin and able to overcome it through Christ (Romans 6:11).
6. Walk in newness of life – Set your mind on Christ and walk in the newness of life you have through Him (Romans 6:4, Colossians 3:1-4).
7. Put on Christlike character – Put off sinful habits and put on Christlike virtues empowered by the Spirit (Ephesians 4:22-24).

In Christ, believers have everything needed to walk in freedom from sin and bear righteous fruit for God. But we must daily walk by faith in what is spiritually true of our union with Him. Understanding these truths will empower the believer to experience victory over sin.

Key Bible Verses

Here are some key Bible verses on being dead to sin and alive to God:

Romans 6:2,7,11 – How can we who died to sin still live in it? For one who has died has been set free from sin… So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Romans 6:4 – We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Romans 6:6 – We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

Romans 6:14 – For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Romans 7:4-6 – Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another…But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.

Galatians 2:19-20 – For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

These verses make it clear that all believers in Jesus have died to sin through their union with Christ. As a result, they now can live a new resurrected life in and through Him by the power of the Holy Spirit.