We know that our old self was crucified with HimThis phrase emphasizes the certainty of the believer's transformation through Christ's crucifixion. The "old self" refers to the pre-conversion nature, characterized by sin and separation from God. The crucifixion with Christ signifies a spiritual union with His death, symbolizing the believer's death to sin. This concept is rooted in the idea of substitutionary atonement, where Christ's death pays the penalty for sin.
Galatians 2:20 echoes this, stating, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." The crucifixion metaphor also connects to baptism, as seen in
Romans 6:4, where believers are buried with Christ in baptism and raised to new life.
so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless
The "body of sin" refers to the human nature inclined towards sin, often described as the flesh. The rendering of it powerless indicates a decisive break from sin's dominion. This does not imply sinless perfection but a significant shift in the believer's relationship with sin. The Greek term used here can be understood as "nullified" or "made ineffective," suggesting that sin's control is broken. This aligns withColossians 3:9-10, which speaks of putting off the old self and putting on the new self, renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator.
that we should no longer be slaves to sin
This phrase highlights the liberation from sin's bondage, a central theme in Paul's writings. In the Roman context, slavery was a familiar institution, and Paul uses it metaphorically to describe the believer's former state under sin's control. The imagery of slavery underscores the totality of sin's dominion before conversion. However, through Christ's redemptive work, believers are set free, as stated inJohn 8:36, "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." This freedom is not an autonomy to sin but a call to live in righteousness, as further elaborated inRomans 6:18, where believers become "slaves to righteousness."
Persons / Places / Events
1.
Paul the ApostleThe author of the Book of Romans, Paul was a key figure in the early Christian church, known for his missionary journeys and theological teachings.
2.
The Roman ChurchThe recipients of the letter, the Roman Christians were a diverse group of Jewish and Gentile believers living in the capital of the Roman Empire.
3.
Jesus ChristCentral to this passage, Jesus' crucifixion is the event that enables believers to be freed from the power of sin.
4.
The CrucifixionThe event where Jesus was crucified, which is pivotal in Christian theology as the means by which sin is defeated.
5.
The Old SelfRefers to the sinful nature inherent in humanity before accepting Christ, which is symbolically crucified with Him.
Teaching Points
Understanding the Old SelfRecognize that the "old self" refers to our pre-Christian identity, dominated by sin. This understanding is crucial for appreciating the transformation that occurs in Christ.
The Power of the CrossThe crucifixion of Jesus is not just a historical event but a spiritual reality that impacts our daily lives by breaking the power of sin.
Freedom from SinEmbrace the truth that believers are no longer slaves to sin. This freedom should be reflected in our choices and lifestyle.
Living the New LifeActively pursue a life that reflects the new creation we are in Christ, characterized by righteousness and holiness.
Daily RenewalEngage in daily practices that renew our minds and align our lives with the new identity we have in Christ.
Bible Study Questions and Answers
1.What is the meaning of Romans 6:6?
2.How does Romans 6:6 describe our old self and its crucifixion with Christ?
3.What does "no longer be slaves to sin" mean for daily Christian living?
4.How can understanding Romans 6:6 help us resist sin's power in our lives?
5.Which other scriptures reinforce the concept of being freed from sin's bondage?
6.How can we practically live out the truth of Romans 6:6 today?
7.What does "our old self was crucified with Him" mean in Romans 6:6?
8.How does Romans 6:6 relate to the concept of original sin?
9.Does Romans 6:6 imply that Christians no longer sin?
10.What are the top 10 Lessons from Romans 6?
11.What does 'crucify the flesh' mean?
12.Romans 6:2 says believers have “died to sin.” How can someone literally die to sin, and does any historical or scientific evidence support that claim?
13.What does "Christ Lives in Me" signify?
14.What does "Crucified with Christ" signify?What Does Romans 6:6 Mean
We knowPaul begins with confidence. This isn’t hopeful language; it’s settled fact.
•Romans 6:3-4 reminds us that in baptism we were “baptized into His death,” so our certainty rests on what Christ has already done.
•2 Corinthians 5:14 says, “One died for all, therefore all died,” echoing the same shared knowledge.
•1 John 5:20 assures believers, “We know that the Son of God has come,” tying knowledge to the finished work of Jesus.
Because Scripture is true and Christ’s work is complete, believers can anchor their identity in this revealed reality rather than in feelings or circumstances.
that our old self was crucified with HimThe “old self” is the person we were in Adam—defined by sin and separation from God.
•Galatians 2:20 declares, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me,” showing the personal dimension of this shared crucifixion.
•Ephesians 4:22 urges us to “put off your former way of life, your old self,” not as a goal we strive for, but as something already rendered obsolete by the cross.
•Colossians 3:9-10 says we have “taken off the old self with its practices and put on the new self,” highlighting the decisive break that has occurred.
Because our old self died with Jesus, its legal claim on us ended; we are not renovating the old but living from the new.
so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless“Body of sin” refers to sin’s organizing center—its authority over our physical members. The crucifixion of the old self had a purpose: to strip sin of dominion.
•Romans 8:3 explains that God “condemned sin in the flesh” through Christ, dealing a death-blow to its reign.
•Colossians 2:11 speaks of being circumcised “by the circumcision of Christ,” a picture of removing the control of the flesh.
•1 Peter 2:24 adds, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.”
The result is not sinlessness yet, but sin’s power has been broken; it can bark, but it no longer owns the leash.
that we should no longer be slaves to sinFreedom is the practical outcome.
•Romans 6:17-18 celebrates, “You were slaves to sin, but you have obeyed from the heart…having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”
•John 8:36 promises, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
•Galatians 5:1 urges, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free; stand firm, then.”
Living free means:
– Rejecting the lie that sin is irresistible.
– Presenting our bodies to God (Romans 6:13) instead of to sin.
– Walking daily in the Spirit’s power (Galatians 5:16).
Our new Master empowers obedience; slavery to sin is no longer our identity or destiny.
summaryRomans 6:6 teaches a finished, liberating fact: believers know that their old self died with Christ, breaking sin’s authority, so they now live free from its slavery. The cross didn’t merely forgive; it dismantled sin’s rule, enabling a new life of willing, Spirit-empowered obedience.
(6-11) Further description of this process. The Christian's union with the crucified Christ binds him also to crucify or mortify (ascetically) the sinful desires of his body. Thus he is released from the dominion of those desires. But this is not all. Just as Christ passed from the cross to the resurrection, and overcame death once for all, exchanging for it a life wholly dependent upon God; so, too, His followers must consider themselves cut off irrevocably--as if by death itself--from sin, and living with a new life dedicated and devoted to God, through their participation in the death and life of Jesus Christ their Lord.
(6)Our old man.--"Our old self" (Vaughan), as inEphesians 4:22;Ephesians 4:24;Colossians 3:9-10.
The old self, or that congeries of evil habits acquired in the state of heathenism, was, ideally if not actually, mortified and killed in our baptism. This change was wrought by a power brought to bear upon the will through the contemplation of the crucifixion of Christ. Hence, instead of saying simply "mortified," the Apostle writes rather "crucified,"i.e. put to death, not in any way, but speciallythrough the cross.
That the body of sin might be destroyed.--The "body of sin" is the body subject to sin, or that supplies sin with the material on which it works. This substratum of carnal and fleshly desire, the Apostle tells us, is to be ascetically chastened and disciplined until it ceases to be a source of sin.
Verses 6, 7. -
Knowing this (cf.
η} ἀγνοεῖτε, ver. 3),
that our old man was (not
is, as in the Authorized Version)
crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed (or
abolished, or
done away,
καταργήθῃ)
,thathenceforth we should not serve (
δουλεύειν, expressing
bondage, or
slavery; and so throughout the chapter in the word
δοῦλοι, translated "servants")
sin. For he that hath died is freed from sin. The word "crucified" has, of course, reference to the mode of Christ's death into which we were baptized. It does not imply anything further (as some have supposed) as to the manner of our own spiritual dying, such as painfulness or lingering; it merely means that in his death our old man died (cf.
Colossians 2:14,
προφηλώσας αὐτὸ τῷ σταυρῷ). The term "old man" (
παλαὶος ἄνθρωπος) occurs also
Ephesians 4:22;
Colossians 3:9. It denotes man's unregenerate self, when under sin and condemnation; the
καινός or
νεος ἄνθρωπος being his regenerate self. It is, of course, a different conception from that of
ὁἐξω and
ὁ ἔσωθεν ἄνθωππος of
2 Corinthians 4:16. In Ephesians and Colossians the old man is said to be
put away, or
put off, and the new one
put on, as though they were two clothings, or investments, of his personality, determining its character. Here, by a bolder figure, they are viewed as an old self that had died and a new one that had come to life in its place (cf.
2 Corinthians 5:17,
Αἴ τις ἐνΞριστῷ καινὴ κτίσις τὰ ἀρχαῖα παρῆλθεν). The idea of a new man being born into a new life in baptism was already familiar to the Jews in their baptism of proselytes (see Lightfoot, on
John 3.); and our Lord, discoursing to Nicodemus of the new birth, supposes him to understand the figure; but he teaches him that the change thus expressed should be no mere change of profession and habits of life, but a radical inward change, which could only be wrought by the regenerating Spirit. Such a change St. Paul teaches to be signified by Christian baptism; not only deliverance from condemnation through participation in the benefits of the death of Christ, but also the birth or creation of a new self corresponding to his risen body, which will not be, like the old self, under the thraldom of sin. "The body of sin" may be taken as meaning much the same as "our old man;" sin being conceived as embodied in our former selves, and so possessing them and keeping them in bondage. It certainly does not mean simply our bodies as distinct from our souls, so as to imply the idea that the former must be macerated that the latter may live. The asceticism inculcated elsewhere in the New Testament is in no contradiction to the ideal of
mens sana in corpore sano. Our former sin-possessed and sin-dominated personality being now crucified with Christ, dead, and done away with, we are no longer, in our new personality, in slavery to sin, and are both bound and able to renounce it; "for he that hath died is freed [
δεδικαίωται, literally, 'is justified'] from sin." In Scotland, one who is executed is said to be
justified, the idea apparently being that he has satisfied the claims of law. So here '
δεδικαίωται. The word
δουλεύειν, be it observed, in ver. 6 introduces by the way the second figure under which, as above said, the apostle regards his subject, though it is not taken up till ver. 16.
Parallel Commentaries ...
Greek
We knowγινώσκοντες(ginōskontes)Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 1097:A prolonged form of a primary verb; to 'know' in a great variety of applications and with many implications.thatὅτι(hoti)Conjunction
Strong's 3754:Neuter of hostis as conjunction; demonstrative, that; causative, because.ourἡμῶν(hēmōn)Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 1st Person Plural
Strong's 1473:I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.oldπαλαιὸς(palaios)Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3820:Old, ancient, not new or recent. From palai; antique, i.e. Not recent, worn out.selfἄνθρωπος(anthrōpos)Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 444:A man, one of the human race. From aner and ops; man-faced, i.e. A human being.was crucified with [Him]συνεσταυρώθη(synestaurōthē)Verb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 4957:To crucify together with. From sun and stauroo; to impale in company with.so thatἵνα(hina)Conjunction
Strong's 2443:In order that, so that. Probably from the same as the former part of heautou; in order that.theτὸ(to)Article - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3588:The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.bodyσῶμα(sōma)Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4983:Body, flesh; the body of the Church. From sozo; the body, used in a very wide application, literally or figuratively.of sinἁμαρτίας(hamartias)Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 266:From hamartano; a sin.might be rendered powerless,καταργηθῇ(katargēthē)Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Passive - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2673:From kata and argeo; to be entirely idle, literally or figuratively.[that] weἡμᾶς(hēmas)Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative 1st Person Plural
Strong's 1473:I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.{should} no longerμηκέτι(mēketi)Adverb
Strong's 3371:No longer, no more. From me and eti; no further.be slavesδουλεύειν(douleuein)Verb - Present Infinitive Active
Strong's 1398:To be a slave, be subject to, obey, be devoted. From doulos; to be a slave to.to sin.ἁμαρτίᾳ(hamartia)Noun - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 266:From hamartano; a sin.
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NT Letters: Romans 6:6 Knowing this that our old man was (Rom. Ro) 
