Dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ
Most people read Romans 6 in the context of a saved person versus an unsaved person. The saved person brings forth righteousness and lives and the unsaved person brings forth unrighteousness that leads to death. Although this statement holds true if correctly understood, the proper context of Romans 6 is that Paul is writing to the believers in the church at Rome. Paul is addressing believers here in Romans and when he talks about unrighteousness and death versus spirit and life it is all in context with believers. So, this chapter (and the ones surrounding it) concern believers and are informing them that if they live in sin, it results in ‘functional’ death, meaning that their life offers no value to God in righteousness. Let me elaborate.
Living in sin does not bring forth any fruit unto God, Rom.7:5. Why? Because the end of those things is death. Do you know what the end of living unto sin is as a believer? It isn’t hell. Romans 6:23 says, "The wages of sin is death." Yes, eternal death to an unbeliever, but to quote that verse about hell is taking it completely out of its context. The end of those things for a believer is functional death. Living after the flesh and serving sin will be of no benefit to you and offer absolutely nothing unto God. You were put in Christ to live unto Him. The things that you used to do, which you are now ashamed of, what fruit did you have in them? Zero. The end of those things is death; they are of no value to God, Rom.6:21.
Our proper response to these verses is to be made free from sin. As Paul writes, "But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life," Rom.6:22. When you bring forth these fruits of life, they are unto holiness, meaning they are things that God values. They are qualities in you that God finds useful to Him. And the end of that fruit is everlasting life. You are made free from sin by first believing that our legal identity before God is that we are dead to sin because God has already accomplished this for us positionally through Christ. Second that you respond as one being alive from the dead, yielding yourself in righteousness unto God, Rom.6:13, by allowing the grace doctrine to renew your mind and influence your obedience to it.
