May 19, 2019 PRESENTING OURSELVES TO GOD
Romans 6:11-13, 19b: “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lust, 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.” “ …so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.”
In these verses, we find two elements that are necessary if we are to live the abundant life that God makes possible through the finished work of Christ. In John 10:10 we are told that “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.’ The first truth, the essential element is that we must “consider” ourselves dead to sin. Consider means to think about carefully, to see it as true, and to reckon it so. If we do not consider ourselves dead to sin, then sin will be master over us; it is only as we die to ourselves that we find power over sin. Not only are we to consider ourselves dead to sin, we are also to consider ourselves “alive to God in Christ Jesus.” These two truths that we are to ‘consider’ or non-optional if we are to experience the life that God makes available to each believer. When we are tempted to sin, we can simply say-or consider- “No, I have died to sin and I am alive unto God” and then walk away or turn from the temptation. Sin is not to reign in our mortal body any longer. Instead of yielding the members of our bodies-that includes our physical body as well as our thought life-as instruments of unrighteousness, we are to present our body as ‘instruments of righteousness.’ These truths are core, the ‘brass tacks’ you might say, of the central truth of the gospel-how the gospel impacts our physical life. It sounds so simple-and it is simple-just to realize that our physical body can be used as instruments of unrighteousness, or they can be used as instruments of righteousness. The ways in which our physical being can be used as instruments of righteousness are innumerable. For example, if because of the presence of Christ in you, you take a meal to one who is ill, or if you speak an encouraging word to someone, those are physical acts of righteousness unto God. It is important to understand that we do not do such things as a means of trying to be righteous, but we do them because we are righteous because Christ lives is us. Many think of the Christian life in terms of it being primarily spiritual-and it is indeed just that, but it is only logical that our spiritual life is to have an impact on our physical life. God is Spirit and we know that Jesus spent much time teaching on the spiritual, but at the same time, as you read the New Testament, you see how the gospel had a powerful direct impact on the natural or physical life-on how believers lived life day by day. Let us remember that if our physical life-the instruments of our bodies-are not reflecting the life of the Spirit that lives in us, then something is amiss. We have the opportunity to present ourselves as dead to sin and alive to God and as instruments of righteousness.
Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
Blessings,
Buddy
Romans 6:11-13, 19b: “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lust, 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.” “ …so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.”
In these verses, we find two elements that are necessary if we are to live the abundant life that God makes possible through the finished work of Christ. In John 10:10 we are told that “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.’ The first truth, the essential element is that we must “consider” ourselves dead to sin. Consider means to think about carefully, to see it as true, and to reckon it so. If we do not consider ourselves dead to sin, then sin will be master over us; it is only as we die to ourselves that we find power over sin. Not only are we to consider ourselves dead to sin, we are also to consider ourselves “alive to God in Christ Jesus.” These two truths that we are to ‘consider’ or non-optional if we are to experience the life that God makes available to each believer. When we are tempted to sin, we can simply say-or consider- “No, I have died to sin and I am alive unto God” and then walk away or turn from the temptation. Sin is not to reign in our mortal body any longer. Instead of yielding the members of our bodies-that includes our physical body as well as our thought life-as instruments of unrighteousness, we are to present our body as ‘instruments of righteousness.’ These truths are core, the ‘brass tacks’ you might say, of the central truth of the gospel-how the gospel impacts our physical life. It sounds so simple-and it is simple-just to realize that our physical body can be used as instruments of unrighteousness, or they can be used as instruments of righteousness. The ways in which our physical being can be used as instruments of righteousness are innumerable. For example, if because of the presence of Christ in you, you take a meal to one who is ill, or if you speak an encouraging word to someone, those are physical acts of righteousness unto God. It is important to understand that we do not do such things as a means of trying to be righteous, but we do them because we are righteous because Christ lives is us. Many think of the Christian life in terms of it being primarily spiritual-and it is indeed just that, but it is only logical that our spiritual life is to have an impact on our physical life. God is Spirit and we know that Jesus spent much time teaching on the spiritual, but at the same time, as you read the New Testament, you see how the gospel had a powerful direct impact on the natural or physical life-on how believers lived life day by day. Let us remember that if our physical life-the instruments of our bodies-are not reflecting the life of the Spirit that lives in us, then something is amiss. We have the opportunity to present ourselves as dead to sin and alive to God and as instruments of righteousness.
Matthew 5:16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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