"Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God." Romans 6 v 12-13
We now come to the practical experience of this new life in Christ. We still have mortal bodies, and these bodies have cravings, not all of them good. So the lesson of these verses is that we not only must understand what God has done for us, we must fully co-operate with Him in practically dethroning sin in our lives. God will not act unless He has our full co-operation: sin is not dead but we are dead to sin, nevertheless, in a relentless way, it will pursue us until the end of our days. Our mortal bodies, the moment we are saved, become a spiritual warzone, but God is on our side as long as we allow Him free reign.
We must learn what it is to say "no!" The bible abounds with examples where believers must say no to sin.
- Psalm 1v1 "Blessed is the man that walketh NOT in the counsel of the ungodly."
- Romans 12v2 "Be NOT conformed to this world."
- Ephesians 4v17 "Henceforth walk NOT as other Gentiles walk."
- 2nd Corinthians 6v14 "Be ye NOT unequally yoked together with unbelievers."
- Romans 6v12 "Let NOT sin therefore reign in your mortal body."
We must not, in fellowship with God yield in any way to sin. He expands this in verse 13 by referring not only to our mortal bodies, but to our members, which were formerly used as instruments of unrighteousness in obedience to the impulses of sin, but now are to be used for God. Our eyes were used in the pleasures of sin, our minds were used in unrighteousness, our hands, our feet, our tongues, our hearts were given over to a life dominated by sin and this now has changed.
How is it possible for a believer to live for God in this world? The answer is supplied in verse 13 "yield yourselves unto God .... and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God." The clue is in the meaning of the word yield. It is a double barrelled word in the Greek "paristemi, paristano;" this is a military term and is in two parts, one which most of us will understand. The first command is to stand to attention, the second command is present yourself for inspection. It is the picture of the military commander inspecting and approving his troops. Here is the way to pleasing our new commander God, by bringing our self before Him in subjection and by presenting our lives for His inspection and His approval in everything that we do. He not only says yield yourselves to God as your new commander he says present your individual members for inspection and approval. This is how we walk in newness of life. This is how we live lives unto God, under His watchful eye, constantly seeking His approval in everything that we do. When we do this sin cannot touch us. This does not mean sinless perfection, it does mean that we are controlling sin instead of sin controlling us. Provision is made for the few times we will fall under its power.
Living lives like this learning to please God, we learn to repel the onslaughts of sin, and we are enabled to overcome evil with good.
The Egyptian bond woman Hagar learned this lesson in the desert between Kadesh and Bered, at the well Beer-lahai-roi where she said "thou God seest me." If we take this example into the first half of Matthew chapter 6 where the Lord Jesus says three times over "the Father sees in secret.," this is the way to a joyous and victorious life that God intends for everyone of us.
Tomorrow d.v sin shall not have dominion over you.
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