“Dead to sin and alive to God” — that single line from Romans 6:11 turns out to be the heart of the entire chapter, though when I first started reading I assumed Romans 6 would simply be about the forgiveness of sins. The word sin appears constantly in the opening verses, and the chapter speaks of baptism — surely this is about how our guilt gets washed away. But the more carefully I read, the more I realized the whole chapter is moving toward a single command: to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6 is not really about guilt being forgiven — that was the subject of chapters 3 through 5. It is about being freed from the power of sin, and how that freedom actually takes shape in our daily lives.
“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 6:4 (ESV)
Paul has spent the first five chapters of this letter explaining how a sinful person can be declared righteous before God. Now in chapter 6, the question shifts. If we have been justified, why do we still feel the pull of sin? Why does the old self keep raising its head? And how should we now live? Paul’s answer is striking. He does not tell us to try harder. He places a fact in our hands.
A Fact We Did Not Make
Verse 4 is the foundation of the whole chapter. Here Paul announces something that has already happened: when Christ died, we died with him; when Christ rose, we rose with him. Theologians call this “union with Christ.” From verse 4 through verse 14, Paul keeps circling this same fact from different angles. “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” (v. 6).
Notice what Paul is not saying. He is not saying, “Try harder to break free from sin.” He is saying, “This is what has already happened to you in Christ.” Freedom from sin’s power does not begin with our effort to escape it. It begins with our recognition that, in Christ, the decisive break has already taken place.
This is where Romans 6 touches the heart of the gospel. We are not climbing our way out of sin’s domain one rung at a time. We are being told that the wall has already come down. The whole chapter rests not on our striving but on someone else’s accomplishment.
Reckoning Yourself Dead to Sin and Alive to God
But here a difficulty arises. The fact is the fact, and yet our daily experience so often seems to contradict it. We confess Christ, we are baptized, and still the old patterns pull at us. We fall in the same place we fell yesterday. We catch ourselves wondering, Have I really changed at all? It is precisely at this point that Paul gives his command in verse 11.
“So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” — Romans 6:11 (ESV)
I wanted to sit with the word “consider” here. The Greek is λογίζομαι (logizomai), an accounting term — to calculate, to reckon, to enter into the ledger. It is not about feelings. It is about recognizing an objective fact as it stands on the books.
What is striking is that the same word appears in Romans 4: “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” (4:3). In chapter 4, God reckons the believer as righteous. In chapter 6, we are told to reckon ourselves as dead to sin. There is a quiet correspondence here — what God has entered in his ledger about us, we are now invited to enter in our own.
Why is this command needed? If everything is already true, why must we be told to reckon it? Because our feelings so often betray the facts. Sin feels alive. The old self feels like the rightful owner of the house. And right at that point, Paul says: do not follow your feelings — follow the fact. This is the very first imperative in Romans 6, and it becomes the foundation for everything that follows — “present yourselves to God” (v. 13), “let not sin therefore reign” (v. 12).
There is something I want to be careful about, though. The command to “consider” can easily be misheard as a kind of mental willpower exercise — talking yourself into a reality that is not there. But logizomai does not mean insisting on something untrue. It means recognizing what is already true. We are not manufacturing a new self by force of mind; we are acknowledging the new self Christ has already made. It is still grace, not grit.
Two Roads, Two Destinations
From verse 15 to verse 22, Paul develops the same point through a different metaphor — slavery. Human beings are made to belong to someone. The question is never whether we will be a slave, but whose slave we will be. This echoes a truth that runs throughout Paul’s letters: the human heart never has an empty seat. Either sin owns us, or righteousness does. And these two masters lead to very different destinations.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” — Romans 6:23 (ESV)
The contrast between “wages” and “free gift” is dramatic. The Greek word for wages, ὀψώνια (opsōnia), refers to the payment a worker has earned. Sin acts like an employer who pays exactly what is due — and the wage is death. But what God gives is not a wage at all. It is χάρισμα (charisma) — a gift freely given, never earned. We do not work as slaves of righteousness in order to receive eternal life as payment for our labor. Eternal life is a gift from start to finish.
There is a balance worth keeping here. If verse 23 is read apart from the rest of chapter 6, it can sound like a moral formula — sin and you die, obey and you live. But the eternal life Paul speaks of is “in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Without the foundation of union with Christ in verse 4, verse 23 cannot be rightly understood. This is not a verse about earning life through behavior. It is a declaration of where the new identity in Christ ultimately leads.
Coming Back to Verse 11
Romans 6 is one continuous argument, beginning at verse 4 and ending at verse 23. The fact of union with Christ (v. 4), the recognition of that fact in ourselves (v. 11), the destination of two paths (v. 23). And at the center of this flow stands verse 11.
There are moments when the old habits return, when we trip in the same spot we tripped yesterday, when we ask ourselves whether we have really changed at all. In those moments, what Paul hands us is not a whip to drive us harder. It is a sentence we are meant to say to ourselves: I am dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Speaking the fact to ourselves, refusing to let our feelings have the final word — that, Paul tells us, is the first weapon in the fight.
There is a story told about Martin Luther: when temptation came hard at him, he would write on his desk baptizatus sum — “I have been baptized.” This is exactly the posture of verse 11. Anchoring ourselves not in what we feel but in what has happened to us. The deliverance from sin’s power begins, again and again, right at that point.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What does it mean to consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God? A: The Greek word translated “consider” is logizomai, an accounting term meaning to reckon a fact onto the ledger. To consider yourself dead to sin is not to summon a feeling but to acknowledge what is already true in Christ. It is grace recognized, not willpower exerted.
Q: What does Romans 6:11 mean? A: Romans 6:11 is the first imperative in the chapter and marks the pivot from doctrine to application. After ten verses declaring our union with Christ as fact, Paul commands us to apply that fact to ourselves — to walk each day on the basis of who we already are in Christ.
Q: How does Romans 6 describe freedom from the power of sin? A: Romans 6 teaches that freedom from sin’s power begins not in our effort but in our union with Christ. Because we have been united with him in his death and resurrection, sin’s dominion has already been broken. We live this out by reckoning ourselves dead to sin and presenting ourselves to God as servants of righteousness.
A Prayer to Close This Romans 6 Devotional
Lord, Thank you for showing me again through Romans 6 that freedom from sin does not begin with my effort, but with what has already happened to me in Christ. When the old patterns pull at me and I fall in the same place once more, let me anchor myself not in my feelings but in the fact you have established in your Son. Teach me to reckon myself dead to sin and alive to you, and on that foundation help me walk through this day as a servant of righteousness. Let me remember each morning that eternal life is not the wage of my obedience but the free gift you have given in Christ. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.
About the Author
Each morning I read one chapter of Scripture and reflect on its resonance in daily life. Writing from the perspective of a layperson rather than a trained theologian, I trace how the ancient text still meets us today.
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