Brand New Man

In the original country song, a wayward cowboy meets a woman, and she rearranges his life. The man who used to close down every bar in town is suddenly home before dark. As far as he's concerned, he's been born again. And honestly, that's a real change — love can do that to a man. But changing a man's habits isn't the same thing as making him new.

But that's not what Paul says happened to the believer. He doesn't say the old self got reformed, rearranged, or redecorated. He says it was crucified. Last week we saw baptism as the picture of that death and resurrection. But a picture is only as good as the reality behind it — and Paul wants us to live in the reality, not just admire the picture.

Paul had just written that where sin increased, grace abounded all the more (Romans 5:20). He anticipates the objection: if grace covers it all anyway, why not keep on sinning? His answer is three words — "By no means!" Not because grace has limits, but because grace has changed our relationship to sin.

That doesn't mean a Christian can never fall into sin. It means we can no longer treat sin as our rightful master. Justification is the legal change that happens when we trust Christ — but Romans 6 shows another fundamental change within us. Sin's dominion has been broken, and the believer walks in new life under the Lordship of Christ.

"We know that our old self was crucified with him." Paul isn't dealing in speculation — he's stating a settled gospel fact. He doesn't point us to the strength of our feelings, but to something Christ has already accomplished. And notice what he doesn't say: the old self wasn't corrected, rehabilitated, or trained into submission. It had to die — so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

A reformed old self is just a cleaner version that still clocks in for its old master. But "one who has died has been set free from sin." Sin may still call his name and pound on his door, but it has no rightful claim on him. Sin cannot command a dead man.

Jesus didn't just die — He rose. And if we've been united with Him in death, we're united with Him in His resurrection. When Jesus raised Jairus's daughter in Luke 8, she was restored to life, but she would one day grow old and face death again. Every healing and every raising in the Gospels came with a clock. The only resurrection that didn't was His own: "Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again."

Christianity isn't just a funeral for the old life; it's the beginning of a new one. We tend to define ourselves by the list of things we don't do. But Paul calls us to consider ourselves "alive to God" — not pretending, but taking seriously what is already true in Christ. Your past doesn't get to tell the whole story of your future.

The cowboy could change his habits, but he couldn't change his master. The free man, though, has some decisions to make. Freedom doesn't mean you'll handle it perfectly — but it does mean you don't have to obey sin anymore. Paul pictures sin as a king who has been overthrown. The cross took its throne, but a deposed king will still walk around issuing orders like nothing happened.

So present yourself to God. The word "instruments" can also mean "weapons" — every part of you will be put to use in somebody's service. And underneath the commands is the promise: "sin will have no dominion over you." It's the same word Paul used of Jesus in verse 9. Death has no dominion over Him; sin has no dominion over you. Grace isn't the reason you keep sinning — grace is the reason sin can't rule you anymore.

Everything new about the cowboy depended on her staying. Everything new about the Christian depends on Jesus — and He will never die again. Your new life is as secure as His. If you're struggling with assurance, your confidence doesn't rest on the strength of your grip on Christ, but on a Savior who always lives to make intercession for you (Hebrews 7:25). The presence of a struggle doesn't mean the absence of new life.

If you belong to Christ but have been listening to the old master lately, tell God the truth about it — He is faithful and just to forgive (1 John 1:9). Present yourself to Him again, and don't fight it alone. And if you've never trusted Christ, stop trying to renovate the old man. You cannot make yourself new. But Jesus can.