Remember from yesterday’s study, “for one who has died has been set free from sin” (Romans 6:7 ESV). If we, therefore, consider ourselves dead to sin then we will not let sin reign in our body, and we will not obey its passions.
To be clear, this “sin reigning in our bodies” is what the world calls “addiction.” Addiction is an unbiblical term that Christians don’t use; we use “slavery to sin,” “bondage to sin” or the “reigning of sin.”
And we are to consider ourselves dead to sin. We are not to let sin reign in us; rather we are to submit to the reign of King Jesus. He is now our new King, and His reign in our lives is a reign of love, peace, joy, and contentment.
Romans 6:13 NIV Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.
Question 4. According to Romans 6:13, what are you specifically told to do with the parts of your body?
“Do not offer any part to sin…offer every part to Him.”
Think for a moment of how Jesus Christ obeyed this truth in the gospel. He “set His face like flint” (Isaiah 50:7) to go to Jerusalem and die for us. He offered His hands and feet to receive nails, His back to be beaten, His beard to be plucked out, His side to be stabbed, His heart to be pierced, His eyes to flow with tears. He offered Himself wholly to God, every part of His body, mind, and spirit given over in complete surrender and obedience to His Father. Think on this for a moment.
Never forget, friend, Jesus suffered all this to save you. He endured it all to set you free. Every wound, every blow, every stripe, every nail He received was because He had you in mind and His heart loved you (Revelation 1:5). He went to the cross, to the grave, to hell and back, because of His love for you, to pay the price for your sin, to rescue you from darkness, to ransom you from sin’s power, and release you from Satan’s kingdom. Never has anyone loved so much, suffered so much, or paid such a costly price, to take you to be with them, like Jesus did.
And then let’s begin to apply the gospel to our own lives. I need to refuse to offer my mind to think impure thoughts, my hands to gratify my flesh or my legs to take me to those places where impurity might happen. Instead, I need to offer my mind to the living God, to my Savior to think on Him. “Whatever is pure, lovely, of good report, think on these things” (Philippians 4:8), and I need to offer every part of myself to God.
Romans 6:14 NIV For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
Question 5. According to Romans 6:14, what would happen if you are “under law,” and what would happen if you are “under grace”?