Romans 6:12-18

12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

13 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.

14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

Vs 12.)  “Therefore…” means because of what is true in verses 1-11.  Because we know that sin’s power over us has been destroyed, why let sin control us?  We have a new perspective, a new way to think now, so we do not have to think in the old self centered, sinful way.  Therefore, sin’s power to constantly rule me is ended, but it’s influence to ruin my life is ever present.  

The “mortal body” means the physical body that will someday die.  “Lusts” are not just sex, over-eating and drinking, but also all the other desires of the flesh, like the craving for human admiration, riches, power etc.  Don’t be driven by any of these lusts because we have something much bigger and more important now to live for.

Vs 13.)  Here is our moment by moment choice.  Not only does sin not have to reign (have complete control) over our lives, but we do not have to yield to it for a moment.  The same Greek word translated “yield” here is translated as “present” in Romans 12:1.  “Your members” are your hands, feet, brain and talents.  We can present ourselves to be used by sin or by God, one or the other.  If we yield ourselves to fulfill “the desires of the flesh and of the mind” (Eph 2:1-3), we are “instruments of unrighteousness” to work more sin in the world.  If we find out what God is doing now, and do that, then we become the instruments that He uses to produce righteousness on earth.

 “Those that are alive from the dead” refers to the fact that we have died for sin already when we were immersed (baptized) into Christ’s death (vs 3,4) when we first believed.  So our old sin nature, the old way of thinking, is dead to us (separated from us), and now we can live without it controlling us, just as though we were already physically dead and raised.  Romans 12:1 calls this being a “living sacrifice”, one who has died and yet lives.  (Gal 2:20)  Rom 6:4 calls it walking in “newness of life”.

Vs 14.)  It is very clear here that we are not under God’s law.   Also see Rom 7:6 & 10:4;  Gal 3:24,25;  Eph 2:15. 

Before God’s Spirit indwelt saints (John 7:39), they lived under the law system that regulated the actions of the flesh. (Gal 3:19)  Now our flesh nature is crucified with Christ so we can be free of it. (Rom 6:6,7)  Therefore we are no longer under the law that was made to regulate it.  Now we have been given God’s Spirit, ( I Cor 2:12;  II Cor 1:22 and 3:17) which is the “mind of Christ” (I Cor 2:16), and God tells us to “walk in the Spirit” (Gal 5:16-18).  In other words, find out from God’s word how He thinks, and think that way about life’s situations.  Actions follow thoughts.  God wants us to willingly let His word regulate our inner thinking, instead of just regulating our outward actions.  (Rom 12:2;  II Cor 10:5)  If we think from God’s perspective, we will automatically do the things contained in His law. (Rom 8:4-9;  Eph 4:23,24)  This is the only way we can successfully live a godly life. 

But how does not being under the law make it so that sin has no dominion (power) over us? 

Under the law, sin had power because sin stopped God from blessing Israel.  The law is a “if you obey, then you will get…” system.  If they did not obey, they got curses, not blessings. They got from God what they deserved.  Do we today?  NO.  Remember the meaning of grace?  Grace is undeserved kindness. 

Under the law, God still showed grace in that He often held back His wrath and offered lots of second chances, but the basic principle then was reward for good behavior and punishment for bad.  Since Israel was human, they got many more punishments than rewards!

But now under grace, God “hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Eph 1:3), irregardless of our works. (Eph 2:8,9) That is undeserved blessing, that’s grace.  (Now we just need to learn how to use those blessings!)  Notice that our blessings are spiritual (mentally understood) whereas Israel’s were physical. (Deut 7:12-16) Our future is in heaven, (Eph 2:6) theirs is on earth. (Mat 5:5;  Ez 36:28-30)

The law was like a schoolmaster. (Gal 3:24,25)  Under it, God treated His people as small children.  But now that Christ has come, God treats us as adults. (Gal 4:1-7)  This is called “adoption” in the Bible.  (Rom 8:15)  God no longer commands and punishes, instead He encourages and beseeches, as a father does with an adult son.  (Examples: Rom 12:1;  Eph 5:1,2;  Phil 2:1,2)

As you read through Romans 6, and all of Paul’s letters, notice if there is any mention of God punishing His saints for their sin.  Paul mentions the “fruits” of our decisions and actions a lot, as in Rom 6:21 and Gal 6:7,8, but never says God will reach down and “get you” for sin.  Christ really has paid for it all.  Contrast this with the law program in Deut 28 and Lev 26 where God says,  “And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me; Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.” (Lev 26:27,28)

Under a performance system of reward and punishment, fear of punishment creates anxiety, guilt, and shame.  These lead to a sense of rejection and alienation, (so people try to avoid God, like Adam in Gen 3:1-8), and to self pity causing depression.  To alleviate this in the Old Testament, the Israelites could confess their sin and bring a sacrifice to get God’s forgiveness. (Lev 5:5,6) 

Now under the grace system, what should we do when we sin?  We need to KNOW (vs 3,6,9,16) where we stand with God, RECKON (vs 11) that to be true, and YIELD (vs 13) to God’s way of thinking.  We are already forgiven (Col 2:13;  Rom 8:33), and there is no more sacrifice for sin. (Heb10:18,26)  Our thankfulness should motive us to “yield” to God.  (II Cor 5:14,15;  I Thes 5:15-22)

The law was given to show sin, so it focused on human failures.  Under grace, we focus on Christ’s victory in paying for those failures.  These contrasts between the law and grace programs are summarized in the following table.

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

M. Dent

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