Present Your Members as Instruments of Righteousness to God! (1)
[Romans 6:12-14]
This is Romans 6:12-14: “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” Apostle Paul, based on his teachings in Romans 6:1-11, discusses how believers in Jesus Christ should live in today's passage from Romans 6:12-14. In other words, Paul, having established that believers who trust in Jesus Christ are dead to sin and alive to God (vv. 1-11), now addresses how they should live in relation to sin and God in verses 12-14. Starting with Romans 6:12-13, Paul focuses on five aspects of how believers, who are alive to God, should live, and I would like to reflect on them: (1) ‘Do not let sin control your mortal body’ (v. 12), (2) ‘Do not obey the lusts of your body’ (v. 12), (3) ‘Do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness’ (v. 13), (4) ‘Present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead’ (v. 13), (5) ‘Offer the members of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness’ (v. 13).
First, ‘Do not let sin control your mortal body’ (v. 12).
Romans 6:12 begins with the phrase: "Therefore, do not let sin control your mortal body ...." The conjunction "Therefore" is used by the Apostle Paul because, as stated in verse 11, believers are considered dead to sin but alive to God in Christ. Hence, he instructs them to prevent sin from reigning over their mortal bodies. Here, the term "mortal body" refers to the physical aspect of believers. Although believers, through God's grace and faith in Jesus Christ, possess eternal life for their souls, their bodies are subject to mortality. Nevertheless, Paul expresses the hope that when the Lord returns, believers' bodies will be transformed into glorious ones, allowing them to meet the Lord face to face.
Even though we, as those who have been born again in Christ Jesus, should not let sin reign in our mortal bodies, there are times when sin can still dominate our bodies. An example of this can be found in the apostle Peter. Peter undoubtedly was a living person in relation to God. How can we know this? He confessed his faith by saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," by the revelation from God the Father in heaven (Mt. 16:16-17). He also believed in the challenging words of Jesus in John 6:53-58, which are difficult to understand without faith, and when Jesus asked the twelve disciples, "Do you also want to go away?" Peter replied, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also, we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Jn. 6:68-69). Thus, Peter was undoubtedly a living person in relation to God. However, despite being alive in God, there were times when sin dominated his body. How do we know this? When Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane and told Peter, along with James and John, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me," Peter could not stay awake and pray for even an hour, being overcome with fatigue (Mt. 26:37-38, 40). Despite his earnest heart, his weak body prevented him from staying awake and praying to avoid falling into temptation (v. 41). As a result, Peter denied Jesus three times during the trial, saying, "I do not know what you are talking about" (v. 70), "I do not know the Man!" (v. 72), and even cursing and swearing, "I do not know the Man!" (v. 74). Thus, despite being alive in relation to God, there were moments when sin dominated Peter's body. At that time, he remembered Jesus' words, went outside, and wept bitterly, repenting (v. 75). In the same way, even though we are alive in relation to God, we are weak, and sin can still dominate our bodies, leading us to sin against God. In those moments, we should, like Peter, recall the words of the Lord and repent.
The apostle Paul, though he stated that we are dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus (Rom. 6:11), referred to our bodies as "dead bodies" (v. 12). However, the death of believers is not the payment for sin [the wages of sin (v. 23)]. The reason is that as those in Christ, there is no condemnation for us (8:1). Since God has already resolved the issue of our sins in Jesus Christ, the death of our bodies is not the price of sin. Therefore, the Bible refers to the death of saints as 'sleep.' For example, in Acts 7:60, when Stephen died, the Bible says he "fell asleep." Also, in 1 Corinthians 15:20, referring to the dead, the Bible says "those who have fallen asleep." In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-15, the Bible refers to those who died in Christ as "asleep" (v. 13), "those who sleep in Jesus" (v. 14), and "asleep" (v. 15). In this way, those who die in Jesus (the deceased) pass through the gates of heaven. As an example, when Jesus was on the cross, He told a thief crucified next to Him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise" (Lk. 23:43). In this way, Jesus went to Paradise with that thief when He died on the cross.
Therefore, for us saints who are alive to God in Christ Jesus (Rom. 6:1), it is good whether we live or die. In fact, the apostle Paul said in Philippians 1:21, "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." He mentioned that being with Christ in death is far better than staying in this world (v. 23). However, he chose to remain in this world for the progress and joy in faith of the Philippians (vv. 24-25). In this way, whether alive or dead, we should always magnify Christ in our bodies (v. 20). We should exalt Christ whether we live or die (v. 20).