Stand Steadfast against Transgression

Jesu Juva

Romans 6:12-23                                                 

June 21, 2026

Proper 7A                 

 Dear saints of our Savior~

        Let not sin reign in your mortal bodies.  Stand steadfast against sin.  Resist trespass and transgression.  So says Saint Paul, smack dab in the center of Romans chapter six.  And this should come as no surprise.  You expect to hear this kind of thing from the pulpit.  You expect to read words like these in your Bible.  Nearly every sermon highlights the dangerous and deadly effects of sin.

        But today’s epistle reading does far more than just warn against the dangers of sin.  Today’s text is a call to do battle against sin—to actively resist transgression—to stand steadfast against every trespass.  Don’t give up!  Don’t give in!  Don’t let the sin win!  And, certainly, don’t celebrate the sin!  Instead:  Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies.

        Romans chapter six is like a manual for Christian living.  It lays out the plan of life for all those who have been baptized into Christ.  To be baptized is to die and rise again with Jesus.  Baptism transforms you.  The baptized no longer walk in the darkness of sin and death.  We walk in the newness of life.  And in this new life we are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

        And if we are dead to sin, then sin simply cannot be allowed to dominate the lives of the baptized.  This is why it says:  Let not sin reign in your mortal bodies.  Don’t let sin have its way with you.  Sin is not the boss of you.  You are not helpless.  You are not powerless.  You are baptized.  You belong to the body of Christ.  Your body is His temple.  You are one redeemed by Christ the crucified.  Today’s reading from Romans makes this crystal clear:  To know Christ by faith—to be baptized into Christ—is also to be given the power to obey Christ—to walk in the obedience of faith.

        You are called to “fight back.”  Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies.  Don’t roll over and play dead.  When it comes to your sinful passions and your ungodly urges and your cravings and your compulsions—just say no.  Are you baptized into Christ?  Then you are called to continual, constant, resolute denial of every form of unrighteousness.

        Of course, that requires discipline and intentionality and self-denial.  In fact, it requires a kind of “slavery.”  Just as a good first century slave would focus on obeying his master, so must you focus on the holiness that is yours through faith in Christ Jesus.  You are no longer a slave to sin.  Yours is a different kind of servitude—and a different kind of Master.  You are slaves of God—Him you serve with single-minded devotion and discipline.  And this you do, not because you have some commandment-keeping superpower—but because you have experienced His grace.  You know His love, His mercy and compassion.  You are not driven by the Law, but carried along by the grace of God.

        But the church at Rome was infected—infected with the same kind of cool, calculated logic that weakens us and poisons us in our battle against sin.  After all, we believe in the forgiveness of sins.  We believe that Jesus has saved us from our sins.  So, we conclude, why not go on sinning?  If God forgives sins then why not give into a little sinful passion now and then?  There is no fruit so sweet and succulent as forbidden fruit.  Why not sample some of that? (In moderation, of course.)  Why not?

        Sin—on the front end—is always sweet and succulent, alluring and enticing.  It promises every pleasure; but delivers only death.  Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cantata 54 is based on this very idea from Romans chapter six.  The first line of the opening aria is translated this way:  Stand steadfast against the transgression.  It goes on to warn against the “poison,” the “curse,” and the “fatal doom” faced by those who are ensnared and blinded by sin.

        Now, if you were Bach—if you wanted to set that message to music—what would the music sound like?  I think I would have those words of warning sung by a thundering bass in a threatening, minor key full of doom.  But not Bach.  He takes this warning to stand steadfast against sin; and he assigns it to a sultry and sensuous alto voice.  And the entire aria begins with a sweetly pulsating seventh chord—a rich dissonance played on sweet strings that builds and soars and climbs until blissfully resolving into a soothing tonic chord. [Listen . . .]

        Why does Bach wed that stern text about resisting transgression to such a sensuous musical setting?  As a good Lutheran, Bach knew that when sinful passions appear, they don’t appear poisonous.  They don’t appear like zombies or corpses—as deadly, deadening dangers.  They sound like the siren’s song, sweet and sensuous.  And that pulsating seventh chord is a reminder that the assaults of the evil one never let up—that he never surrenders—that he constantly and repeatedly seeks to destroy your faith in a way that seems to you delightfully harmless.

        But hear what Bach’s alto sings.  Take to heart her message:  Stand steadfast against transgression, or its poison will seize you.  She’s calling you to battle.  Gird your loins.  The wages of sin is death, don’t you know?  Resist the sin.  Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies.

        How does sin want to reign over you?  In what part of your life does sin demand to dominate?  Today’s text actually mentions the “members” of your body—members which get hijacked for unrighteousness:  eyes, ears, tongue, hands, etc.  Where is your resistance lacking?  Where is the chink in your armor?  Is sexual immorality your downfall?  Do wrath and rage rule your every reaction?  Are you consumed by jealousy over the success of others? Are you driven by greed and creature comforts?  Or do utter laziness and apathy weigh you down with inaction and sloth?

        Beloved in the Lord, let not sin reign in your mortal bodies!  You are baptized into Christ!  Stand firm against transgression!  You are dead to sin; you are alive to Christ Jesus!  Do not go on sinning so that grace may be cheaply obtained.  But resist the sin with all your might because you have been given a precious and priceless grace—grace upon grace—grace that poured in crimson streams from the wounds of God’s own Son on the cross.  There the wages of your sin were painfully paid out in full against Jesus, your Savior.  And there the free gift of eternal life was secured for you.

        It’s not that you don’t sin, or that you won’t sin.  Perfection will be yours; but not in this mortal life.  But you have indeed been set free from sin—to walk in newness of life.  So live like it.  Let your baptism be your guide.  Let not sin reign in your mortal bodies.

        In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.