Grace- The Outlaw

¹ What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ² By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? ³ Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— ⁷ because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. ¹⁰ The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

¹¹ In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³ Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. (Romans 6:1-14)

It is my belief that 'grace' is extremely hard to grasp in today's society. Even if we logically memorize the fanciest definitions of the word, 'grace' is so radical, so countercultural, it is extremely difficult to really internalize the fact that 'grace' isn't even a law. Laws by definition are systems of rules which often legitimate the enforcement of penalties. Grace on the other hand is unmerited divine assistance. So by definition, we Christians live outside the law. Yes, we are outlaws!

However, as outlaws, does that mean that we can use this freedom from the law to 'go on sinning'? Paul's answer is 'By no means!' Paul's argument here makes more sense in the context of his argumentation here in Romans. He has been referring to Adam as the beginning of mankind (sin), and Christ as the head of the church (righteousness), the Christians. By birth we belong to the line of Adam, but by our rebirth in baptism, we belong to Christ. Our old self (with our old sin) dies, and our new self is born into Christ. So, how could we go on living as one of Adam's with man's sinful acts? We can't go back to that old self.

But how is this possible? Without the law for punishment and judgment, how can we live in Christ and without sin? The answer is in v. 14... "For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are no longer under sin but under grace." God's grace gives us power to resist sin, something that the law could not do. Sin is no longer the powerful force impelling us to do one thing or another out of fear of the mostly earthly punishments. Instead, we are empowered by Christ himself to resist sin and offer ourselves to God.

While the law is about our own inability to follow rules; grace is really about God's power. Now that's worth being an outlaw... living above and beyond the law.