The Reign of Sin
We now come to a further exhortation:"Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye
should obey it in the lusts thereof" (verse 12). The truth underlying this command is that in our
natural state the inward evil principle lords it over us completely. The whole person is carried
away by selfish pursuits and pleasures, and from this bondage the gospel delivers us, bringing us
under a new Master, Jesus the Lord.
To Him we are called to yield ourselves as those who are alive from the dead. We are not free
agents in the sense of being "our own," but we are His who died for us and rose again. We cannot
plan to serve the Lord today or tomorrow as it may suit us. In such matters self has no right to
rule or to decide. We are delivered from its reign, and Christian service is but to give Christ His
own.
Yielding Ourselves and Our Members
From verse 13 we gather that there are two divisions in the act of surrender. The act is to apply
to the person as a whole, and to the various separate powers he possesses. "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."
We have then to present self, that is, to present the entire being, spirit, soul, and body. This we
offer to Him as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable, our reasonable service. The whole entity is
Hi&, and we "yield ourselves to God as those that are alive from the dead."
This act may be called consecration or dedication, or whatever you please. But in fact it
constitutes the heart’s response to the living Lord from the initial stage of its history. Saul of
Tarsus from the dust said, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" In self-abnegation he placed
himself unreservedly at the Master’s disposal. This surrender was, of course, in principle at first,
but he followed on in that attitude of heart, schooling and educating himself physically and
morally to do the will of God in all things, all his members subjugated and working together
harmoniously to this common end.
Justification of Life
The apostle brings in practical righteousness as the outcome of such service as this, "Know ye not
that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether
of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" "Being then made free from sin ye became
the servants of righteousness." "Now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness."
In the previous chapters of this Epistle the apostle treats of that judicial righteousness which we
receive through faith. But the accompanying effect upon the believer is to make his conduct
righteous also. Righteous actions or "works" are the evidence of inward faith. So James instructs
us. He says, "Faith without works is dead," and he refers to the case of Abraham. "Was not
Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?" (James
2:20,21).
Now the patriarch believed God some forty years before the sacrifice of Isaac. It was a settled
thing between God and him. God promised; Abraham believed God; and He counted it to him for
righteousness (Gen. 15:6). But this righteousness of faith was to be demonstrated before men, and
on Mount Moriah Abraham’s life was justified by his actions.
Fruit unto Holiness
"But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto
holiness, and the end everlasting life" (verse 22). Holiness implies separation to the service of
God. The vessels of the tabernacle and of the temple were holy, for they were used exclusively
in the worship of Jehovah. When Belshazzar used them at his revels, the judgment of God fell
upon the impious king.
Believers are holy vessels belonging to God, and placed here in the world for His service. Filled
with Christ, what use may we not be to thirsty souls? The result of our yielding ourselves up as
bondslaves to God will be "fruit unto holiness."
It involves an error to think of holiness only from its negative side; for it implies much more than
the absence of sin. Consideration of this aspect alone leads to a morbid state in which there is
often a long and unavailing struggle to attain to this condition. The whole truth is that holiness is
positive as well as negative. It expresses itself in an absolute devotion to God. The holy are His
instruments. When God takes hold of a man, the divine touch makes him holy.
We are therefore to yield ourselves to God as those that are alive to Him, not keeping back a part
like Ananias and Sapphira, whose devotion was a pretense and abomination to God. Such fruit was
not unto holiness.
Sin’s Wages and God’s Gift
The apostle concludes this section with the weighty declaration, "The wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (verse 23). This is one of the few
instances of the mention of eternal life in the writings of Paul. In John the subject abounds both
in his Gospel and in his Epistles. The two apostles, however, are in no sense in opposition to one
another, but were inspired to record different views of the same blessing of God for man through
His grace.
Paul shows us eternal life in its activities in the justified person_the new life which is in a risen
Saviour. Instead of corruption and death which are the wages of a life of sin, God bestows eternal
life through Jesus Christ. Through the grace of God, we are justified by faith, for Jesus the Lord
was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification; and that great sacrifice made
way for us to be delivered from the bondage in which we were once held to the evil inclinations
of our nature.
This then is the new life which God gives. He has made us free to live to Him and to serve Him
in the name of Jesus Christ.
(From Bible Treasury, Vol. 9N.)