Romans 6:15 asks whether being under grace instead of the law means we are free to keep sinning, and Paul answers with a firm no. The question is not a casual one: it is the objection a reader might raise after being told that God’s grace is greater than human failure. Paul, the apostle who wrote most of the letter to the Romans, poses the question himself, which makes it a concern he expected his readers to feel.
What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under law, but under grace? May it never be!
Romans 6:15 (WEB)
What Romans 6:15 Means
The verse opens with “What then?”, a phrase Paul uses to introduce an objection he is about to answer. He is anticipating a line of reasoning: if grace has replaced the law as the way we stand before God, perhaps sin no longer matters much. The words “Shall we sin” are the objection stated plainly, and “may it never be” is Paul’s strong rejection of it, an expression of horror rather than a polite disagreement.
What the verse does not do is deny that grace is real or that we are no longer under the law’s condemnation. Paul has just said that sin will not have dominion over believers because they are under grace. The verse asks what follows from that freedom and says that the conclusion of “keep sinning” is unthinkable. It rules out the idea that God’s mercy is a license.
The verse also does not promise that believers will never struggle with sin. Paul’s point is about direction and allegiance, not about a perfect record. The next verses make clear that a person must choose whom to obey, and the rest of the chapter explains that grace frees us to serve righteousness rather than to remain in sin.
The Context of Romans 6:15
Romans was written by Paul to the church in Rome, a mixed community of Jewish and Gentile believers. Chapters 1 through 5 lay out how all people stand under sin and how God justifies them through faith in Christ. By the time we reach chapter 6, Paul has been careful to say that grace does not make the law worthless or God’s justice irrelevant, and some readers had taken that teaching in a dangerous direction.
The verses just before this one speak of sin no longer reigning in the body and of presenting our members to God as instruments of righteousness. The verses just after describe believers as servants of whatever they obey, either of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness. Read in that setting, Romans 6:15 is not a standalone permission slip. It is the pivot in an argument about who we belong to now, and why grace produces obedience rather than indifference.
Key Phrases in Romans 6:15
Romans 6:14
For sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace.
(WEB)
This verse comes just before Romans 6:15 and states the promise that sin will not have dominion over believers. Reading it alongside the question in verse 15 shows that Paul’s freedom is the reason he rejects the idea of continuing in sin.
Romans 6:22
But now, being made free from sin, and having become servants of God, you have your fruit of sanctification, and the result of eternal life.
(WEB)
Here Paul describes being set free from sin and becoming servants of God, with the fruit of holiness and the end of eternal life. It shows the positive goal behind the negative rejection in verse 15.
A Short Prayer From Romans 6:15
Father, thank you that I am not under the condemnation of the law but under your grace. I confess that I sometimes treat your mercy as if it made my choices weightless. Forgive me for those moments, and help me to hate what separates me from you. Teach me to offer myself to you as one alive from the dead, and let my daily choices reflect the freedom you have given. Amen.
