Romans 6 the way Paul wrote it:
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 6 the way many Christians want to rewrite it:
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in the law, that legalism may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to the law, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that the old law was crucified with him, that it might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve the law. For he that is dead is freed from the law.
Now if the law be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live without it: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto the law once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto the law, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not the law therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should burdened with obedience to it. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of legalism unto the law: but yield yourselves unto whatever you feel is right, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of your own personal whims. For the law shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the the law, but under grace.
What then? shall we obey the law? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of the law unto death, or of liberty unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were at one time the servants of the law, but ye have from the heart broken free from that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from the law, ye became the servants of liberty.
I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye had yielded your members to legalism and bondage; even so now yield your members servants to liberty unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of the law, ye were legalists. What fruit had ye then in those things that were such a burden? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from the law, and become servants to liberty, ye have your fruit unto situation ethics, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of obeying the law is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Notice that I took the liberty to replace the word “sin” with “law” and made a few other “minor” changes as a contrast to highlight what Paul actually says in this passage: our “old man,” the sinful human nature, was crucified with Christ, not the Law; we have been made free from sin, not from the law.
As we continue reading in Romans 7 we encounter a significant metaphor.
Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. Romans 7:1-4
The usual understanding of these verses is that Christ’s death frees us from the requirements of God’s Law; that careful, strict obedience is not necessary for Christians like it was for the Israelites. This is based on the concept that the “marriage” in Paul’s metaphor is between a person and the Law “until death do us part” and Christ’s death was the death that parted.
Paul is writing to people who were under the Roman legal system and he begins this passage with the assumption that his readers are acquainted with how a legal system works—“I speak to them that know law.” There is no definite article “the” in this phrase in the original Greek. He continues with an example of how the system works—the law regarding marriage.
In Paul’s time, both in the Roman culture and in the Jewish culture, marriage was monogamous. God designed that it should be a permanent union. The law bound those two specific people together for life. If there was a marriage certificate, it could have been considered “The Law” that governed those two people at that time in regard to that marriage. “The Law” (their marriage certificate) stated that neither of them could be married to another person. Death of one spouse terminated that union and annulled that particular law—the Law of their marriage. The surviving spouse was not married to that person anymore and could legally marry someone else. After describing this scenario, Paul says in verse 4, “ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ.”
In God’s legal system, the Torah, given through Moses, there was a provision that was illustrated repeatedly. Under God’s Law, a sacrificial victim was a legal substitute for a sinner. According to that Law, the sinner legally died when the victim died. Paul is referring to this provision when he says, “ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ.” His message is, “According to God’s ‘Constitution,’ you were considered legally dead when Christ died. Therefore, your legal bond to sin has been broken (the first “husband” was the “old man,” the sinful human nature, not the Law) in the same way that the law regarding marriage fidelity to the first partner no longer applies when one spouse dies. You are legally free from that sinful nature and its final destiny—eternal death. Your sinful nature (“the body of sin” Romans 6:6) died when Christ died (“by the body of Christ” Romans 7:6). He gave you new, spiritual life, and now you are free to be “married” to Him and can produce the fruit of righteousness instead of the fruit of sin.” That phrase “dead to the law” means “dead according to the law,” or “legally dead,” rather than “the law is dead.”
This same idea is brought out again in Galatians.
For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:19, 20
When Paul says here, “I through the law am dead to the law, . . . I am crucified with Christ,” he means, “Through the provisions of the law, I legally died when Christ died. My old self was crucified with Him.”
Let’s take Romans 6 at face value just the way Paul wrote it. We are disconnected from sin by Christ’s death. Sin has no legal jurisdiction over us anymore. Now we are free to live for God.