Seventeen times in Romans 6 death is referenced in one way or another—seventeen times in twenty-three verses.
Even the densest of husbands knows that when his wife repeats a word that many times in just a few sentences—OK, more than a few, but let’s say within one conversation—she is trying to make a point.
That’s what Paul is doing. He’s making a point, and the point is that we simply DO. NOT. HAVE. TO. SIN. ANYMORE.
Sin is dead to us. We don’t have to commit whatever sin it is that is our besetting sin (or sins!). The power of sin died on the cross with Jesus, and we are free from it. We have been given a new life, a new hope, a new way.
Sure, we whiff at the game of life and fall back into old habits. Yeah, sin lurks at our door waiting for us so it can trip us up. But we don’t have to fall back into old habits (backslide?!), and we do not have to say yes to sin.
Sin is dead, folks. Quit giving it CPR.