TO LIVE, WE MUST DIE

What shall we say then?

Shall we go on Sinning

So that Grace may increase?

By no means!

WE DIED TO SIN;

How can we live in ti any longer?

Or don't you know

That All of Us who were Baptized INTO Christ Jesus

Were Baptized INTO His Death?

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.

IF WE HAVE BEEN UNITED WITH HIM IN HIS DEATH,

We will Certainly also be United with Him

In His Resurrection.

For we know that our Old Self was Crucified with Him

So that the body of Sin might be Rendered Powerless,

That we should No Longer be Slaves to Sin--

BECAUSE ANYONE WHO HAS DIED

HAS BEEN FREED FROM SIN.

NOW IF WE DIED WITH CHRIST,

We believe that we will also Live with Him.

For we know that since Christ was Raised from the Dead,

He cannot Die Again;

DEATH NO LONGER HAS MASTERY OVER HIM.

THE DEATH HE DIED,

HE DIED TO SIN ONCE FOR ALL;

But the Life He lives, He lives to God.

In the same way,

COUNT YOURSELVES DEAD TO SIN

BUT ALIVE TO GOD IN CHRIST JESUS.

Therefore do not let Sin Reign in you Mortal Body

So that you Obey its Evil Desires.

DO NOT OFFER THE PARTS OF YOUR BODY TO SIN,

As Instruments of Wickedness,

BUT RATHER OFFER YOURSELVES TO GOD,

AS THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN BROUGHT FROM DEATH TO LIFE;

And Offer the Parts of your Body to Him

As Instruments of Righteousness.

FOR SIN SHALL NOT BE YOUR MASTER,

Because you are Not Under Law, but Under Grace.

What then?

SHALL WE SIN BECAUSE WE ARE NOT UNDER LAW

BUT UNDER GRACE?

By no means!

DON'T YOU KNOW

That when you Offer yourselves to someone

To Obey him as Slaves

(Satan and his Demonic Horde),

YOU ARE SLAVES TO THE ONE WHOM YOU OBEY

(As the Whole World is a Slave to Satan,

Who Rules the World, 1 John 5:19)--

Whether you are Slaves to Sin,

WHICH LEADS TO DEATH,

Or to Obedience,

Which leads to Righteousness?

But thanks be to God that,

Though you Used to be Slaves to Sin

(As everyone without Christ is a Slave to Sin),

You Wholeheartedly Obeyed the Form of Teaching

To which you were Entrusted.

YOU HAVE BEEN SET FREE FROM SIN

AND HAVE BECOME SLAVES TO RIGHTEOUSNESS.

I put this in Human Terms

Because you are Weak in your Natural Selves.

Just as you Used to Offer the Parts of your Body

IN SLAVERY TO IMPURITY

AND TO EVERY INCREASING WICKEDNESS

(As does everyone in the World without Christ),

So Now Offer them in Slavery to Righteousness

Leading to Holiness.

WHEN YOU WERE SLAVES TO SIN

(As the Whole World is a Slave to Sin),

You were Free from the Control of Righteousness.

WHAT BENEFIT DID YOU REAP AT THAT TIME

FROM THE THINGS YOU ARE NOW ASHAMED OF?

THOSE THINGS RESULT IN DEATH!

But now that you have been Set Free from Sin

And have become Slaves to God,

The Benefit you Reap leads to Holiness,

And the Result is Eternal LIFE.

FOR THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH,

BUT THE GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE

IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD.

(Romans 6)

We live in a World that has Refused to Love the Truth

(2 Thessalonians 2:10)

And for this reason Eternal Death Awaits the World

And those who are of the World.

But those of us who have Died to Sin

And to the Heart-set and Mind-set of the World,

The World Ruled by Satan and his Demonic Horde,

WE SHALL LIVE, IN CHRIST, FOREVER.