Romans 6:12-14

                                                                 Romans 6:12-14

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

 

Paul continues to talk about how to live a life of sanctification before God.  Since we are identified with Christ, sin has not power over us unless we grant it that power.  We can allow for sin to dominate us or we can resist the power of sin and offer our bodies as instruments of obedience to God.  

 

PREVENT THE REIGN OF SIN: Since we have been crucified with Christ, the power of sin that enslaved us can no longer control us.  We do not need to continue presenting the members of our bodies to be used for sinful activities.  We will either use our bodies for doing what is right or use them for sinful purposes.  We have a choice.  In the past we did not have the ability to choose because we were enslaved.  That has all changed.  Sin no longer reigns over us so we can prevent sin by simply being aware that our bodies are not available for doing unrighteousness.

 

PRESENT THE BODY TO GOD: On the other hand, our bodies need to be presented to God.  We can place our bodies on the altar before the Lord and allow Him to use us as He pleases.  Our lives belong to Him as we have been purchased by the blood of Jesus.  He does not force us to a life of obedience, but He accepts our offering and uses us for His glory.  We are under the grace of God and not bound by a law that only increases our desire to sin.  By His grace our bodies can experience the joy of living as we were created to live.

 

APPLICATION: Sanctification will depend on where we present our bodies.  When we are tempted to sin, we need to make sure that we don’t make our bodies available to follow those urges.  We need to turn from and run away from sin.  When God calls us to an act of obedience like witnessing or serving, we need to use our members in a way that points to His goodness.

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