The other, more likely
explanation seeks to interpret the vb. [δικαιοω] not as “free,” but as “justify, acquit” in the genuine
Pauline sense, and [sin], not in the sense demanded above (something like
“obligation to the Torah”), but in its Pauline sense, an act against the will
of God (so Lyonnet, Romains, 89; Cranfield, Romans, 310–11): the
one who has died has lost the very means of sinning, “the body of sin,” so that
one is definitively without sin; one has been freed of the fleshy, sin-prone
body. In either case, a change of status has ensued; the old condition has been
brought to an end in baptism-death, and a new one has begun (Joseph A. Fitzmyer, Romans: A New
Translation with Introduction and Commentary [AYB 33; New Haven: Yale
University Press, 2008], 437)
For Paul, baptism justifies because it is a
real participation in the crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection of
Christ. (Brant Pitre, Michael P. Barber, and John A. Kincaid, Paul A New
Covenant Jew: Rethinking Pauline Theology [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans,
2019], 203)
In their work on Romans 6, Protestants Klyne R. Snodgrass
and Stephen J. Chester render Rom 6:1-7 as follows:
1What shall we say
then? Shall we continue with a relation to sin so that grace might increase all
the more? 2No Way! How can those of us who died in relation to sin
live in it? 3Or are you unaware that we who were baptized into
Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were buried with him
through baptism into death so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead
through the glory of the Father, so we also should live [lit., “walk”] in
newness of life. 5For if we have been united to a death like his,
indeed we will be united to a resurrection like his. 6We know that
our old being was crucified with him so that the body dominated by sin might be
nullified, so that we no longer are enslaved to sin. 7For the one
who died has been acquitted [lit., “justified”] from sin. (Klyne R. Snodgrass
and Stephen J. Chester, Dead to Sin, Alive to God in Christ: Romans 6 For
the Life of the Church [Touchstone Texts; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker
Academic, 2026], 37, comments in square brackets in original)
They offer the following commentary on Rom 6:7 and the use
of δικαιοω, and baptism being the instrumental means of
justification in the above pericope:
The purpose of all this dying, of
course, is living and freedom, no longer being a slave of sin. Later in 6:14
and 7:6 Paul will use the similar language of being under the law and of being
released from the law. The wording in 6:6 and 7:16 is close in that both have a
form of the verb “nullify” (katargeō), have the infinitive “to be a slave” (douleuō), have a form of the word “old”
(palaios/palaiotēs),
and see death as the means of release from bondage. While the thought of death
being the way to freedom may seem odd, it was not odd for Paul. We die in
order to live. Being joined to Christ’s death and resurrection is an
identity changing event, for all relation to a former destructive tyrant is cut
off, and one is free to live in productive and meaningful ways.
That Paul states so clearly in
6:6 that the destruction of the body of sin ends slavery to sin implies that
freedom follows. This is a truth that Paul will state explicitly later in
verses 18 and 22, although there he will carefully define the nature of freedom
from sin by [pairing it with enslavement to righteousness and to God. Here at
6:7 he instead states that “the one who died has been justified [dedikaiōtai] from sin.” Yet English translations
routinely fail to reflect Paul’s choice of verb. Apart from the Revised Version
(1881), it is necessary to go back to the sixteenth century to find an accurate
translation into English. Instead of respecting Paul’s use of the verb “justify,”
most other versions read as if Paul’s use of the verb “justify,” most other
versions read as if Paul here used the verb “free, set free” (eleuthero):
“Whoever has died has been freed from sin.” This reflects what translators feel
would have made sense for Paul to say at this point in his argument. Not what
Paul actually says.
Such translations are
problematic. If a verb that seems to fit the context does not appear,
translators and exegetes should not suppose that Paul unaccountably uses one
verb when he should have used another and should not base their translations
and interpretations on what they believe he ought to have written. Instead,
they should reflect on why the verb that does appear was selected, for Paul’s
use here of the verb “justify” serves two very clear purposes. First, its use
in a location where the announcement of an end to enslavement to sin could have
led smoothly into a discussion of freedom from sin highlights the liberative
dimension of justification. Justification is a legal image, denoting the
acquittal of the one accused, but those acquitted are also set free by the
judge. English readers can miss this dimension of what Paul means by
justification if another verb is used.
Second, the use of “justify” at
6:7 connects justification with baptism. Those baptized into Christ’s death are
those who have been justified from sin. If another verb is used, this
connection between justification and baptism may also be missed by English
readers. In seeking to clarify Paul’s meaning by specifying that those baptized
have been set free from sin, translators have only obscured it. The connection
Paul makes here between justification and baptism matters because it assists
the reader in understanding the work of the cross as it applies to them. Paul
has emphasized that justification does not come through the law but instead takes
place by the grace of God through Christ’s sacrificial death (3:24-25).
Believers have been justified by his blood (5:9). These texts speak powerfully
of divine mercy for human transgressions. To be justified is to be forgiven
(see 4:7-8).
But the truth of Christ’s death
for us is not the whole of what Paul wants to say about justification and the
cross. He also emphasizes the necessity for believers to die with Christ, for Christ’s
saving work not only brings them forgiveness for their sins but also makes
possible their death to sin so that they can walk in newness of life (6:4). Therefore,
Paul can say that Christ “was raised for our justification” (4:25 NRSV).
Liberation from sin is also part of the gift of justification, and Paul
highlights this by saying that those who have died with Christ in baptism have
been justified from sin. The cross and the justifying power of faith in the
saving death of Jesus are ritually embodied in baptism It is no surprise that
Paul’s confidence that believers can have victory over sin is based on their
union with Christ in baptism.
Romans 6:7 thus makes it clear
that justification is a participatory concept. (Klyne R. Snodgrass and Stephen
J. Chester, Dead to Sin, Alive to God in Christ: Romans 6 For the Life of
the Church [Touchstone Texts; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2026], 76-78,
italics in original)