ESTUDIO DEL CAPÍTULO

Romans 6 — Dead to Sin, Alive to God

Chapter 6 answers the objection that grace permits sin, showing that believers have been united with Christ in His death and resurrection and now serve righteousness.

Escritura

  1. 1.¿Qué, pues, diremos? ¿Perseveraremos en el pecado para que la gracia abunde?What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
  2. 2.En ninguna manera. Porque los que hemos muerto al pecado, ¿cómo viviremos aún en él?God forbid. We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein?
  3. 3.¿O no sabéis que todos los que hemos sido bautizados en Cristo Jesús, hemos sido bautizados en su muerte?Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
  4. 4.Porque somos sepultados juntamente con él para muerte por el bautismo, a fin de que como Cristo resucitó de los muertos por la gloria del Padre, así también nosotros andemos en vida nueva.We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.
  5. 5.Porque si fuimos plantados juntamente con él en la semejanza de su muerte, así también lo seremos en la de su resurrección;For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection;
  6. 6.sabiendo esto, que nuestro viejo hombre fue crucificado juntamente con él, para que el cuerpo del pecado sea destruido, a fin de que no sirvamos más al pecado.knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away, that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin;
  7. 7.Porque el que ha muerto, ha sido justificado del pecado.for he that hath died is justified from sin.
  8. 8.Y si morimos con Cristo, creemos que también viviremos con él;But if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him;
  9. 9.sabiendo que Cristo, habiendo resucitado de los muertos, ya no muere; la muerte no se enseñorea más de él.knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death no more hath dominion over him.
  10. 10.Porque en cuanto murió, al pecado murió una vez por todas; mas en cuanto vive, para Dios vive.For the death that he died, he died unto sin once: but the life that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
  11. 11.Así también vosotros consideraos muertos al pecado, pero vivos para Dios en Cristo Jesús, Señor nuestro.Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus.
  12. 12.No reine, pues, el pecado en vuestro cuerpo mortal, de modo que lo obedezcáis en sus concupiscencias;Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey the lusts thereof:
  13. 13.ni tampoco presentéis vuestros miembros al pecado como instrumentos de iniquidad, sino presentaos vosotros mismos a Dios como vivos de entre los muertos, y vuestros miembros a Dios como instrumentos de justicia.neither present your members unto sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves unto God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
  14. 14.Porque el pecado no se enseñoreará de vosotros; pues no estáis bajo la ley, sino bajo la gracia.For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under law, but under grace.
  15. 15.¿Qué, pues? ¿Pecaremos, porque no estamos bajo la ley, sino bajo la gracia? En ninguna manera.What then? shall we sin, because we are not under law, but under grace? God forbid.
  16. 16.¿No sabéis que si os sometéis a alguien como esclavos para obedecerle, sois esclavos de aquel a quien obedecéis, sea del pecado para muerte, o sea de la obediencia para justicia?Know ye not, that to whom ye present yourselves as servants unto obedience, his servants ye are whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
  17. 17.Pero gracias a Dios, que aunque erais esclavos del pecado, habéis obedecido de corazón a aquella forma de doctrina a la cual fuisteis entregados;But thanks be to God, that, whereas ye were servants of sin, ye became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching whereunto ye were delivered;
  18. 18.y libertados del pecado, vinisteis a ser siervos de la justicia.and being made free from sin, ye became servants of righteousness.
  19. 19.Hablo como humano, por vuestra humana debilidad; que así como para iniquidad presentasteis vuestros miembros para servir a la inmundicia y a la iniquidad, así ahora para santificación presentad vuestros miembros para servir a la justicia.I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye presented your members as servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity, even so now present your members as servants to righteousness unto sanctification.
  20. 20.Porque cuando erais esclavos del pecado, erais libres acerca de la justicia.For when ye were servants of sin, ye were free in regard of righteousness.
  21. 21.¿Pero qué fruto teníais de aquellas cosas de las cuales ahora os avergonzáis? Porque el fin de ellas es muerte.What fruit then had ye at that time in the things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
  22. 22.Mas ahora que habéis sido libertados del pecado y hechos siervos de Dios, tenéis por vuestro fruto la santificación, y como fin, la vida eterna.But now being made free from sin and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal life.
  23. 23.Porque la paga del pecado es muerte, mas la dádiva de Dios es vida eterna en Cristo Jesús Señor nuestro.For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Qué significa este pasaje

Paul begins with a sharp question: should we keep sinning so that grace increases? He rejects the idea outright (vv. 1–2), then grounds the rejection in baptism — being baptized into Christ Jesus means being baptized into His death (v. 3). Baptism is presented not as a ritual exit from a building but as a real identification with Christ's burial, so that, just as Christ was raised by the Father's glory, believers also walk in newness of life (v. 4).

The middle section (vv. 5–14) develops that identification. Our old self was crucified with Christ so that the body of sin might be undone, freeing us from bondage to sin (v. 6). Death to sin and life with Christ are the basis for an accounting of self: reckon yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus (v. 11). Because sin shall not have dominion — we are under grace, not law (v. 14) — the call is to present our members as instruments of righteousness, not of unrighteousness (v. 13).

The final section (vv. 15–23) addresses the slave metaphor. A person is a slave to whichever master they obey — sin leading to death, or obedience leading to righteousness (v. 16). Paul thanks God that the readers have been freed from sin and made servants to God, yielding fruit leading to sanctification and, as its end, eternal life (vv. 17–22). The chapter closes with the famous contrast: the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (v. 23).

Contexto

Romans 6 continues Paul's argument from Romans 5, where he celebrated that where sin abounded, grace abounded even more (5:20). Some had apparently taken this as a license to sin; chapter 6 refutes that by redefining the believer's identity through union with Christ. The chapter belongs to the section of Romans (chapters 5–8) that deals with the believer's new standing and victory over sin. The chapter repeatedly pairs death and life metaphors drawn from Christ's work. Baptism is not the only image; the slave-master picture in verses 16–23 echoes a Jewish and Greco-Roman legal world where one belonged entirely to a lord. The closing verse (v. 23) functions as a summary line tying the whole letter's theme of sin, death, and grace back to the gift of life in Christ.

Palabras clave del original

  • G4916 συνετάφημεν (from συνθάπτω): 'we were buried together with.' Found in Romans 6:4, this compound verb pictures co-burial with Christ, the figurative assimilation of the believer to Christ's death that grounds the argument for newness of life.
  • G0907 ἐβαπτίσθημεν (from βαπτίζω): 'we were baptized.' Used twice in Romans 6:3 to emphasize that baptism is not merely a sign but an entering into — into Christ Jesus and into His death.
  • G1096 γένοιτο (from γίνομαι): 'let it be,' used in the strong negative formula 'God forbid / May it never be' in Romans 6:2 and 6:15 to reject the very suggestion that grace encourages sin.

Versículos relacionados

  • Romans 5:12 Romans 5 introduced death as the consequence that entered through one man. Romans 6 builds on this by showing that through union with the second man, Christ, death becomes the doorway to new life rather than the final verdict.
  • 2 Corinthians 5:17 Where Paul speaks of being 'in Christ' as a new creation, Romans 6 gives the mechanism: the old has been crucified with Christ and the new walks in resurrection life.
  • Galatians 2:20 Galatians 2:20 echoes Romans 6 from the believer's side: 'I have been crucified with Christ.' The same union motif that grounds baptism in Romans 6 is applied personally in Galatians to faith working through love.

Preguntas frecuentes

Does Romans 6 teach that believers cannot sin?

No. Romans 6 teaches that sin must no longer reign and that believers are no longer slaves to sin, but the chapter itself anticipates the continuing struggle and gives repeated imperatives (present yourselves, reckon, obey). It describes a changed master, not sinless perfection in this life.

Is baptism required for salvation according to Romans 6?

Romans 6 uses baptism as the occasion for explaining what has already happened through faith-union with Christ — burial and resurrection. Believers differ on whether baptism is a necessary means or a symbolic picture; the chapter itself emphasizes the realities baptism pictures (death to sin, new life) rather than the rite as such.

How do 'under law' and 'under grace' (v. 14) fit together?

Verse 14 is about lordship, not about the law itself being evil. To be 'under law' in this context means relying on law-keeping to achieve standing before God; to be 'under grace' means relying on Christ's finished work. Paul does not say the law is abolished here; he says it is no longer the governing principle for the believer's relationship to sin.

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