FREEDOM FROM SIN AND DEATH

Paul (Romans 1-3) describes sin’s universal tyranny over the world, but he does so to set in greater relief the super-abundance of grace. By uniting the Christian to the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection, baptism has put an end to the slavery of sin (Romans 5, 12-21; 6, 6). Death, the inevitable accompaniment of sin, has also been overcome; it has lost its sting (1 Corinth. 15, 56). Christians should no longer be enslaved by fear of it. They still await the redemption of the body (Romans 8, 8), but to some extent “we have passed from death to life” (1 Jn. 3, 13) already to the degree that we live in faith and charity.