1 It is not possible to interpret grace as a cheap excuse to continue in sin. It sounds to some that we are saying, “Let’s carry on sinning then so that grace may abound.” (In the previous chapter Paul expounds the heart of the gospel by giving us a glimpse of the far-reaching faith of God; even at the risk of being misunderstood by the legalistic mind he does not compromise the message.)

2 How ridiculous is that! How can we be dead and alive to sin at the same time?

3 What are we saying then in baptism, if we are not declaring that we understand our union with Christ in his death?

4 Baptism pictures how we were co-buried together with Christ in his death; then it powerfully illustrates how in God’s mind we were co-raised with Christ into a new lifestyle. (Hos 6:2)

5 We were like seeds planted together in the same soil, to be co-quickened to life. If we were included in his death we are equally included in his resurrection. (2 Cor 5:14 – 17)

6 We perceive that our old lifestyle was co-crucified together with him; this concludes that the vehicle that accommodated sin in us, was scrapped and rendered entirely useless. Our slavery to sin has come to an end.

7 If nothing else stops you from doing something wrong, death certainly does.

8 Faith sees us joined in his death and alive with him in his resurrection.

9 It is plain for all to see that death lost its dominion over Christ in his resurrection; he need not ever die again to prove a further point.

10 His appointment with death was once-off. As far as sin is concerned, he is dead. The reason for his death was to take away the sin of the world; his life now exhibits our union with the life of God. (The Lamb of God took away the sin of the world; efapax, once and for all,  a final testimony, used of what is so done to be of perpetual validity and never needs repetition. This is the final testimony of the fact that sin’s power over us is destroyed. In Hebrews 9:26, “But Jesus did not have to suffer again and again since the fall (or since the foundation) of the world; the single sacrifice of himself in the fulfillment of history now reveals how he has brought sin to naught.” “Christ died once, and faced our judgment! His second appearance (in his resurrection) has nothing to do with sin, but to reveal salvation unto all who eagerly embrace him [Heb 9:28].”)

11 This reasoning is equally relevant to you. Calculate the cross; there can only be one logical conclusion: he died your death; that means you died unto sin, and are now alive unto God. Sin-consciousness can never again feature in your future! You are in Christ Jesus; his Lordship is the authority of this union. (We are not being presumptuous to reason that we are in Christ! “Reckon yourselves therefore dead unto sin” The word, logitsomai, means to make a calculation to which there can only be one logical conclusion. [See Eph 1:4 and 1 Cor 1:30].
“From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That’s what Jesus did.”— The Message)

12 You are under no obligation to sin; it has no further rights to dominate your dead declared body. Therefore let it not entice you to obey its lusts. (Your union with his death broke the association with sin [Col 3:3].)

13 Do not let the members of your body lie around loose and unguarded in the vicinity of unrighteousness, where sin can seize it and use it as a destructive weapon against you; rather place yourself in readiness unto God, like someone resurrected from the dead, present your whole person as a weapon of righteousness. (Thus you are reinforcing God’s grace claim on mankind in Christ; paristemi, to place in readiness in the vicinity of).

14 Sin was your master while the law was your measure; now grace rules. (The law revealed your slavery to sin, now grace reveals your freedom from it.)

15 Being under grace and not under the law most certainly does not mean that you now have a license to sin.

16 As much as you once gave permission to sin to trap you in its spiral of spiritual death and enslave you to its dictates, the obedience that faith ignites now, introduces a new rule, rightness with God; to this we willingly yield ourselves. (Righteousness represents everything that God restored us to—in Christ.)

17 The content of teaching that your heart embraced has set a new standard to become the pattern of your life; the grace of God ended sin’s dominance. (The word, tupos, means form, mold. The Doddrich translation translates it as, “the model of doctrine instructs you as in a mold.”)

18 Sin once called the shots; now righteousness rules.

19 I want to say it as plainly as possible: you willingly offered your faculties to obey sin, you stained your body with unclean acts and allowed lawlessness to gain supremacy in all of your conduct; in exactly the same way, I now encourage you to present your faculties and person to the supremacy of righteousness to find unrestricted expression in your lifestyle.

20 You were sins’ slaves without any obligation to righteousness.

21 I know you are embarrassed now about the things you used to do with your body; I mean was it worth it? What reward or return did you get but spiritual death? Sin is a cul-de-sac. (Sin is the worst thing you can ever do with your life!)

22 Consider your life now; there are no outstanding debts; you owe sin nothing! A life bonded to God yields the sacred expression of his character, and completes in your experience what life was always meant to be. (Lit. The life of the ages, aionios; traditionally translated, “and the end, eternal life”.)

23 The reward of the law is death the gift of grace is life! The bottom line is this: sin employs you like a soldier for its cause and rewards you with death; God gifts you with the highest quality of life all wrapped up in Christ Jesus our Leader. (A soldier puts his life on the line and all he gets in the meantime is a meager ration of dried fish for his effort! opsonion, a soldier’s wage, from opsarion, a piece of dried fish.)

Mirror Bible.