Romans 6:1-7 Notes...

1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?  4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,  6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.—Romans 6:1-7

Vs 1:  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?

Paul anticipates here that some would erroneously interpret his statement in 5:20: 

But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,

saying, if God loves to forgive, why not give him more to forgive?  Maybe Paul even knew people like this in Corinth where he was staying, who used this line of reasoning to justify their sin because if forgiveness is guaranteed, they could then sin as much as they wanted.  

Vs 2:  Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

Paul’s emphatic answer is no! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Deciding ahead of time to try to get the better of God shows that the person doing it does not understand the seriousness of sin nor does he fathom the indescribable gift we have in Jesus, who paid for our sin on the cross at Calvary.

  

“Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son; “ye were bought at a price,” and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us.”—Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Praying that the more we spend time meditating on the truth found in God’s word, the more we will resist sin and in so doing increase our appreciation for his grace.  

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.

4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin.—Hebrews 12:1-4

Vs 3:  Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?

When we are baptized...immersed or buried with Christ, our old man dies along with our old way of life.  We are raised to our new life with Christ. Remembering that our old way of life is now dead helps us to resist sin. We can now choose NOT to sin by treating the desires of our old man as dead.  Our new self has the privilege of the indwelling Christ empowering him and living through him. 

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.—Colossians 3:1-4

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20, ESV)

Verse 4: Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

When we are baptized...immersed or buried with Christ, our old man dies along with our old way of life.  We are raised to our new life with Christ. Remembering that our old way of life is now dead helps us to resist sin. We can now choose NOT to sin by treating the desires of our old man as dead.  Our new self has the privilege of the indwelling Christ empowering him and living through him. 

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.—Colossians 3:1-3

Verse 5:  For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,

This verse explains that since we have been united (grown together) with Christ in a spiritual death, we will also be united with Him in a physical resurrection like the one He experienced. In other words, we will also come back to life after we die physically instead of staying in the grave. 

that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,—Philippians 3:10

knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and our will present us with you.—2 Corinthians 4:14

Verse 6:  knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

I liked this explanation from the bibleref site...

“Paul began this chapter by asking if believers in Jesus—those who have been saved through their faith—should go on sinning to somehow increase God's grace. He said no, but then he backed up to explain some things about what happened to us when we trusted in Christ for our salvation from sin. For one thing, we died with Christ, in a spiritual sense, and then we were resurrected spiritually to new life.

Now Paul adds a new layer of understanding to what exactly happened to us when we died spiritually with Christ. He writes that we also experienced a crucifixion. Our "old self," the one that existed in sin and self-reliance before we were in Christ, was spiritually crucified in the same way that Christ was physically crucified on the cross. In response to our faith, God mysteriously, powerfully put to death our old self that was under the rule and power of sin. 

When the old self was crucified, the "body of sin" was brought to nothing or done away with. Paul pictures sin as having a body, as an entity that controlled us before we were in Christ. Now that sin's body has been removed in the spiritual crucifixion of our old self, however, sin is not in charge of us any longer. We were slaves to sin, and we have now been freed from its power and authority in our lives. 

Does that mean we don't want to do sinful things anymore? Paul will show that the "want" to sin remains. The requirement to sin is gone, however. We can never be compelled to sin again, because Christ has rescued us from that slave owner. Now we can only volunteer to sin. This is consistent with other New Testament passages, which describe a saved person's life as imperfect (1 John 1:9–10), but not marked by pervasive, deliberate sins (Galatians 5:19–24; 1 John 3:6–9).”

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20, ESV)

Verse 7:  For he who has died has been freed from sin.

Someone who has died cannot come back and sin.  Dead men don’t sin.  According to what I read and understood, the tense of the expression has been freed “indicates a past action that has a continuing effect—we have been freed from sin and will continue to be freed.” We are not yet sinless, but sin no longer has power over us. We are not sinless but we sin less. 😀

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;

9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;

10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.

11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

12 So death is at work in us, but life in you. (2 Corinthians 4:7, ESV)

10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:10, ESV)