Romans 6:11 (ESV): “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

The Greek word for “consider” (logizomai) means to reckon, count as true, or regard as a fact what God has already accomplished in Christ. It is not primarily about striving to become something new, but believing and acting on the reality of your union with Christ’s death and resurrection, especially through baptism.

Reformed Understanding

Reformed theology (e.g., Calvin, R.C. Sproul, Ligonier) emphasizes that believers are definitively dead to sin’s dominion and alive to God through union with Christ. This is a finished reality in justification, worked out progressively in sanctification by the Holy Spirit. You do not achieve this by effort alone; God has done the decisive work.

• Calvin on Romans 6:11: “Take this view of your case — that as Christ once died for the purpose of destroying sin, so you have once died, that in future you may cease from sin; yea, you must daily proceed with that work of mortifying, which is begun in you…”
• R.C. Sproul: Paul commands us to “deem yourself” or “think of yourself as being dead to sin” because Christ died to sin once for all, and now lives to God. Freedom from sin opens the door to holiness and obedience.

Catholic Understanding

Catholic teaching stresses that baptism unites us with Christ’s death and resurrection, imparting sanctifying grace that truly makes us new and frees us from original sin’s guilt while empowering ongoing cooperation with grace against actual sin. “Reckoning” involves living out this baptismal reality through faith, sacraments, and moral effort.

• USCCB on Romans 6: “Through baptism believers share the death of Christ and thereby escape from the grip of sin. Through the resurrection of Christ the power to live anew becomes reality for them…”
• Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) links this to baptism as the sacrament of justification and new life, enabling growth in goodness through virtues and the Holy Spirit.

Practical, Strategic Bullet-Point Steps

These steps integrate the shared emphasis on faith in Christ’s finished work with ongoing obedience. Both traditions affirm the need for daily mortification (putting sin to death) and vivification (living to God).

• Daily Reckoning (Mind Renewal): Start each morning by declaring the truth aloud or in prayer: “I am dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11). Meditate on your baptismal union with Christ’s death and resurrection. Reformed view: Rest in the objective reality God accomplished. Catholic view: Draw on the grace received in baptism. Strategy: Use a journal or app to log 3 truths from Romans 6 each day.
• Know the Theological Foundation: Study Romans 6:1-11 regularly. Understand you have died with Christ (v. 2-8), so sin’s mastery is broken. Reformed: This is forensic and definitive. Catholic: This initiates a real transformation deepened by sacraments. Action: Read a short commentary (e.g., Sproul or a Catholic study Bible) weekly.
• Identify and Starve Temptations: When temptation arises, immediately reckon: “I am dead to this” (e.g., lust, anger, greed). Do not feed it with attention or agreement. Practical: Remove triggers (apps, environments); replace with Scripture or prayer. As one source notes, “As soon as we become aware of a lust, we must reckon ourselves dead to sin.”
• Present Yourself to God (Active Yielding): Follow Romans 6:13 — “Present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.” Reformed: Driven by gratitude for grace. Catholic: Cooperate with infused grace through virtues. Strategy: Daily offer your body/mind in specific ways (e.g., “My eyes for purity, my words for encouragement”).
• Mortify Sin and Pursue Holiness: Actively “put to death” sinful deeds (Colossians 3:5). Use accountability, confession (Reformed: to God/brothers; Catholic: Sacrament of Reconciliation), and community. Both views see this as necessary fruit, not root, of new life. Track progress on 1-2 habitual sins quarterly.
• Live in Community and Sacraments/Means of Grace: Attend worship, receive the Lord’s Supper/Eucharist, pray, and serve. Reformed: Word, sacraments, prayer as means. Catholic: Full sacramental life. Join a small group for mutual encouragement in reckoning this identity.
• Fight Discouragement with Gospel Truth: When you sin, confess quickly (1 John 1:9), then re-reckon your identity — do not let failure redefine you. Strategy: Have a “reset” verse or prayer ready. Martyn Lloyd-Jones and others stress this as present reality, not mere future hope.
• Long-Term Strategy — Habit Formation: Build routines around “alive to God” (worship, service, gratitude). Review progress monthly. Remember: Progress is by the Spirit’s power, not self-will (Romans 8 follows Romans 6).

This “considering” is both a one-time mindset shift at conversion and a daily practice. It leads to freedom and fruitfulness because it roots obedience in what Christ has already done. Both traditions agree: Grace frees us from sin’s dominion for joyful obedience to God.