Is it possible to place too much emphasis on faith? Some Christians worry that preaching a gospel of faith will lead to what they describe as “easy believism.” Some in Paul’s day accused him of preaching a gospel where we can “go on sinning so that grace may increase” (v. 1). His response was an emphatic denial (v. 2).

What then will keep a Christian from continuing in sin? Paul says the key to victory over sin is understanding how Christ’s death and resurrection have changed us. He emphasizes two primary effects of faith where the practice of sin is involved. First, those who have believed have “died to sin” because their “old self was crucified with him” (vv. 2, 6). What Paul describes as “our old self” is that part of our nature whose only inclination is bent on sin. It is the “ruling” principle of our nature that causes us to be deceived by and enslaved to sin (see Eph. 4:22). Second, the resurrection of Jesus introduced a new capacity into the believer’s nature that shows itself in several ways. Paul describes it as a freedom from slavery to sin (v. 7) that flows out of new life that we receive from Christ (v. 11) and that places us under the rule of grace rather than Law (v. 14).

In other words, the problem as Paul diagnoses it is not that some people believe too much. It is that they know too little. Their mistake is failing to recognize the full extent of what has been given to them. It is important to note that the critical factor in all of this is not effort but faith. This lifestyle is possible because they “count” or “reckon” themselves to be “dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (v. 11).

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