Difficult texts: Romans 6.14

For sin will not be your master, because you are not under law but under grace.

Following Paul’s exposition of Adam and Christ in Romans 5.12–21, chapter 6 of the great epistle turns to the ethical outworking of the believers’ union with Christ. Paul argues that one who has been ‘baptized into Christ Jesus’ (6.3) cannot continue in sin, for they, like the one to whom they are united, have died to sin. As such, those ‘in Christ’ now have a new allegiance, new identity and new king since they are no longer ‘enslaved to sin’ (6.6). Though believers in Christ were formerly dominated by their identification in sin with Adam, sin’s dominion has been broken through co-crucifixion with Christ. In light of the change of identity, believers are to live in ways that properly reflect their union with Christ (6.11).

Within the context of this discussion, Paul makes a somewhat surprising contrast in verse 14. Having repeated his charge that believers not allow sin to have dominion over them, Paul announces the grounds for this: ‘for you are not under law but under grace’. In the context, many readers would have expected Paul to say ‘you are no longer under sin, but under grace’. Indeed, there has been no mention of the law thus far in chapter 6, while Paul’s discussion has repeatedly stressed the breaking of sin’s power over believers. Why would Paul suddenly draw in the law at this point? Placing this verse within the wider context of the letter provides clarity.

There are two primary points to be made. First, though the introduction of law (nomos) at this point in the argument may at first seem strange, careful attention to the narrative undercurrent running throughout Romans sheds considerable light on Paul’s meaning. An attentive reading of Romans will reveal that the Old Testament Adam and Israel stories feature prominently, if subtly, throughout Paul’s argument. When this is properly recognized, a reference to the law in 6.14 is not out of place here. Indeed, the law has turned up in the argument several times, particularly in relation to Paul’s discussion of salvation in Christ. For example, in Romans 3.21–26, which is clearly related to the argument of Romans 5—8, Paul draws together echoes of Adam and Israel in order to communicate that all people, Jew and Gentile alike, are sinners. God makes no distinction (3.22), for ‘all sinned [in Adam] and lack the glory of God’ (3.23). ¹ In that context, Paul says the revelation of God’s righteousness takes place ‘apart from the law’ (chōris nomou). ² The reference to law in 3.21 is most likely a reference to the Sinai covenant. Thus, this new revelation of righteousness is available to those outside the ethnic bounds of that covenant. ³ Likewise, rather than setting the content of the law over against the content of the gospel, Paul in 6.14 says that those in Christ are no longer under the regulations of the Sinai covenant, which had led to a concentration of sinning in Israel. Further, as with the rest of the chapter, this statement should be seen as further expounding on the content of Romans 5.12–21. Here in particular, Paul seems to be building on Romans 5.20, where the law was said to ‘increase sin’. ⁴ Sin entered the world through Adam and spread to all people as all participate in Adam’s failure. Thus, for Paul, being ‘under law’ essentially means the same thing as being ‘in Adam’. ⁵ Those ‘in Christ’ are no longer in this situation as they have been united to his death, crucifying the old self and thereby breaking their union with Adam in sin (6.6).

Second, the placing of ‘grace’ (charis) in opposition to law must also be understood within the narrative argumentation of the epistle. Interestingly, Paul has often referred to grace as something that is received in union with Christ. In Romans 1.5, Christ is the one ‘through whom’ Paul has received grace and apostleship. In 3.24, justification is by grace, which is received ‘through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus’. In 5.2, access to grace is obtained ‘through him’. Finally, the Adam/Christ analogy of 5.12–21 notes several times that as death came through Adam, grace comes through Jesus (5.15, 17, 20, 21). Thus, the attentive reader knows that grace is received through union with Christ, which is the status of the new covenant people of God. Understood in this way, Paul’s notion that those in Christ are no longer under law but under grace serves as a pregnant summation of his argument. The mention of law at this point levels the ground, as it were, by removing any hint of Jewish privilege via the possession of the law. ⁶ Instead, Jew and Gentile stand together as the new covenant people of God. Thus, the contrast is not between the content of the law and the content of grace. Rather, it is a question of identity – with Adam in sin versus with Christ in life.

In sum, while at first the contrast between the status of ‘under law’ and ‘under grace’ may seem out of place, the textual and thematic connections with other sections of the letter clarify Paul’s meaning. Indeed, understood in this way, ‘under law’ carries a much deeper meaning that ‘under sin’ would have intimated. Jewish readers in Rome tempted towards ethnic exclusivity are reminded that a primary identity in the Mosaic law is a primary identity with Adam and sin. Likewise, Gentile readers lack boast-worthy status as they too are caught up in Adam’s sin. Instead, the Church should find unity in their shared identity with the risen Christ. Therefore, they can together reflect the faithfulness of God as they are ‘under grace’, that is, united to Christ.