Romans 6:2
God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Romans 6:2 in other translations
| BSB | Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer? |
|---|---|
| WEB | May it never be! We who died to sin, how could we live in it any longer? |
| ASV | God forbid. We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein? |
| YLT | let it not be! we who died to the sin--how shall we still live in it? |
| DARBY | Far be the thought. We who have died to sin, how shall we still live in it? |
| BBE | In no way. How may we, who are dead to sin, be living in it any longer? |
| Webster | By no means: how shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? |
What does Romans 6:2 mean?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain
Barnes' Notes
How shall we, etc. This contains a reason of the implied statement of the apostle, that we should not continue in sin. The reason is drawn from the fact, that we are dead in fact to sin. It is impossible for those who are dead to act as if they were alive. It is just as absurd to suppose that a Christian should desire to live in sin, as that a dead man should put forth the actions of life.
That are dead to sin. That is, all Christians. To be dead to a thing is a strong expression denoting that it has no influence over us. A man that is dead is uninfluenced and unaffected by the affairs of this life. He is insensible to sounds, and tastes, and pleasures; to the hum of business, to the voice of friendship, and to all the scenes of commerce, gaiety, and ambition. When it is said, therefore, that a Christian is dead to sin, the sense is, that it has lost its influence over him; he is not subject to it; he is in regard to that, as the man in the grave is to the busy scenes and cares of this life. The expression is not infrequent in the New Testament. Gal 2:19, "For I am dead to the law." Col 3:3, "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." 1Pet 2:24, "Who--bare our sins--that we, being dead to sin," etc. The apostle does not here attempt to prove that Christians are thus dead, nor to state in what way they become so. He assumes the fact without argument. All Christians are thus, in fact, dead to sin. They do not live to sin; nor has sin dominion over them. The expression used here by the apostle is common in all languages. We familiarly speak of a man's being dead to sensual pleasures, to ambition, etc., to denote that they have lost their influence over him.
Live any longer therein. How shall we, who have become sensible of the evil of sin, and who have renounced it by solemn profession, continue to practise it? It is therefore abhorrent to the very nature of the Christian profession. It is remarkable that the apostle did not attempt to argue the question on metaphysical principles. He did not attempt to show by abstruse argument that this consequence did not follow; but he appeals at once to Christian feeling, and shows that the supposition is abhorrent to that. To convince the great mass of men, such an appeal is far better than laboured metaphysical argumentation. All Christians can understand that; but few would comprehend an abstruse speculation. The best way to silence objections is, sometimes, to show that they violate the feelings of all Christians, and that therefore the objection must be wrong.
(g) "dead to sin" Rom 6:6,11, Col 3:3, 1Pet 2:24
Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Romans 6:1-2
The apostle is very full in pressing the necessity of holiness. He does not explain away the free grace of the gospel, but he shows that connexion between justification and holiness are inseparable. Let the thought be abhorred, of continuing in sin that grace may abound. True believers are dead to sin, therefore they ought not to follow it. No man can at the same time be both dead and alive. He is a fool who…
Romans 6:2 in the original Greek
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Cross references for Romans 6:2
- 1 John 3:9
Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
- Colossians 3:3
For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
- 1 Peter 2:24
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
- Romans 7:4
Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
- Galatians 2:19
For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
- Romans 7:6
But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
- 1 Peter 1:14
As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
- 1 Peter 4:1-3
Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:
- Colossians 2:20
Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
- 2 Corinthians 5:14-17
For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
- Psalms 119:104
Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.
- Galatians 6:14
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
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Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Context
- Romans 6:1
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
- Romans 6:2
God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
- Romans 6:3
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Romans 6:2 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | En ninguna manera. Porque los que somos muertos al pecado, ¿cómo viviremos aún en él? |
|---|---|
| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | – Qu’ainsi n’advienne! Nous qui sommes morts au péché, comment vivrons-nous encore dans le péché? |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | Das sei ferne! Wir, die wir der Sünde gestorben sind, wie sollen wir noch in derselben leben? |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | Absit. Qui enim mortui sumus peccato, quomodo adhuc vivemus in illo? |