Romans 6:1, “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?”

Paul is in the midst of speaking about faith and grace in his letter to the church in Rome. In this verse, he talks about how people attempt to abuse the grace of God by continuing to live a sinful lifestyle. Through the years I have heard remarks about sin and forgiveness that give me chills. I have heard people say that it is easier to get forgiveness than it is to get permission. They use this to justify doing something they know is wrong, but they do it anyway. Their attitude totally ignores how negatively what they are about to do may affect themselves and those around them; they are only interested in getting what they want at the moment.

Even more alarming, I have heard people say they were going to sin right up to the end and then ask God to forgive them just before they die. There obviously is no love for God in a statement like that; again, it comes from a selfish heart that wants to do whatever they want to in life, and not spend eternity in hell when they die. That is an extremely dangerous way to live, especially when you understand that we cannot get saved at a time of our choosing, it must be when we are drawn by the Spirit of God.

In this chapter, Paul likens a true Christian to one who has died and been resurrected into a new life. It’s a born again experience. It is an experience so profound that we are no longer slaves to sin, we have been made righeous in the eyes of God.

Chapter five gives us a beautiful glimpse of God’s grace that can save us from our sins, and then chapter 6 begins by asking us why would we want to continue in sin once we have been saved. Are we supposed to continue in sin, so grace may increase? Understand, this question is being asked to those who have supposedly professed Jesus as Lord.

It is not difficult to understand why sinners do what sinners do, but why do people who profess to be Christians do the same as sinners? The Bible makes it clear that we cannot continue to live in sin and expect to go to heaven when we die. There must be a change.

Paul concludes chapter 6 by saying, “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.” Why would a person choose death over life?