Shall We Continue In Sin That Grace May Abound?

Romans 5:19-21 and 6:1-4, “For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

It is important to keep in mind that there were no chapter divisions in the original Word of God. The New Testament was written in all capital letters, in the Koine Greek language. Religious men later added the chapter divisions, to help organize the Scripture. In most cases this is fine and dandy, but if we're not careful we may miss out on the proper and full interpretation of a passage. Such is the case with our text passage of Scripture. To understand chapter 6, we need to go back and also include chapter 5 of Romans. In fact, if you read the above passage of Scripture, you''d never know that there was a chapter break in there somewhere. So keep this truth in mind, and it will greatly enhance your understanding of the Scripture, and make your Bible studies even more interesting! 

The moment that a person gets saved, they become DEAD TO SIN! What does that mean? Well, before someone is saved, God's LAW condemns them, because we are all guilty of breaking God's law (Romans 3:19). Remember, God wrote His Ten Commandments in stone, because we can break them, but we cannot bend or change them! When a person receives Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for their sins, receiving the free gift of God, then we are forever UNDER GRACE, and no longer under the LAW. In that sense, we are dead to sin, because sin no longer has the power to condemn us! 

That is why the dear apostle Paul could proclaim in 1st Corinthians 15:55-56, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.” In other words, dying in one's sins brings the sting of eternal damnation in Hell! But because Jesus paid our sin debt, and the child of God has been redeemed by Jesus' precious blood of the cross, the stinger is gone!!! Death to the saint has NO STING! We have no fear of dying, because we are under God's saving grace! Boy this is good stuff!!! 

Christ Is The End Of The Law For The Believer

That is what it means in Romans 3:4, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” There were approximately 720 laws in the Old Testament (i.e., moral, ceremonial, civil) which a Jew was required to keep to get to Heaven. Since no one has ever perfectly kept the law of God, we all need a perfect Savior instead. That perfect Savior is Jesus Christ! 1st Timothy 4:10, “For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.” 

Romans 10:4 says that CHRIST IS THE END OF THE LAW (for righteousness for every one that believes). This simply means that faith in Jesus Christ is COUNTED in place of a lifetime of perfectly keeping the law. Once a person receives Jesus as their personal Savior, that is the end of the law, as far as trying to keep it to be saved. Faith in Christ fulfills the law 100%! If a man failed to perfectly keep the law, God allowed him to simply place His trust in the Messiah instead, and that person's faith was accepted in place of keeping the law. Romans 4:5, “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” This very same plan of salvation exists today, and this is how we get saved. This has always been, is now, and always will be God's only plan of salvation for humanity. Acts 10:43, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.”

God's Amazing Grace Abounds Over All Sin

Having explained these fundamental truths, now we can make heads and tails out of these beautiful statements in the Scripture: 

Romans 5:20b, “But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:”

Romans 6:1b, “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?”

I love those Bible verses! When a Christian believer sins, we always fall IN GRACE, never FROM GRACE! Only the Christ-rejecter can fall FROM GRACE. Galatians 5:4, “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.” Who is fallen from grace? It is the person who foolishly attempts to be justified BY THE KEEPING OF THE LAW (Romans 3:20). The reason why is obvious, because NO ONE has ever successfully kept the law perfectly. We are all woeful sinners, both by nature and by choice! At salvation our POSITION in Christ is forever settled, solely dependent upon God's faithfulness, as His redeemed child; but our CONDITION in Christ depends solely upon our faithfulness, as we obey God's Commandments day-by-day. 

The main reason I wrote this article is to emphasis the wonderful truth that WHEN WE DO SIN, God's amazing GRACE DOTH MUCH MORE ABOUND. Romans 6:1, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” I love that! I love that! I love that! Paul is saying that the believers CANNOT LOSE SALVATION! When we sin (and we all do every day, whether in dead or thought, sins of commission or commission), God's GRACE ABOUNDS! It is absolutely impossible that any born-again child of God, could ever sin greater than God's grace abounds! This is a remarkable Bible passage teaching the Eternal Security of the believer. 

Paul makes an appeal, that just because we are now UNDER GRACE, doesn't make it okay to live a life of sin. But if we do, GRACE WILL ABOUND! Paul says that just as Christ died and was resurrected, even so should we raise up in newness of life. We are already dead to sin, meaning that sin no longer has any power of us under the law, because we are now under grace instead, and have been freed in Christ Jesus. If we choose to continue living in willful sin, the law has no power over us anymore. In this sense we are dead to sin! Death no longer has any sting! Yet, we are warned that we will still be held accountable by God at the Judgment Seat Of Christ, giving account for the good or bad done in the body (2nd Corinthians 5:9-11). 

“True friendship needs no reciprocation.” —Dr. Jack Hyles