Reflection on Rom 6:13

“And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”

What verse precedes it? “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.”

And what verse follows verse 13? “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”

Chapter six of the Epistle to the Romans expresses a deep truth of our deliverance from sin. Verses 3 and 4 speak about baptism through which we have been immersed in the mystery of Christ’s death, and at the same time have received a new life: “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Verse 6 points out the spiritual reality that the root of evil in us – original sin – the old self – was crucified with Christ. In verse 11, we are told to accept by faith the reality of spiritual death as well as the reality of new life: “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” It calls for a faith which is connected with spiritual struggle. Original sin is in us, but we must not become its slaves. We should live a new life in Christ. This requires that even in our private life we should strive to follow Christ, to let this mind be in us that was also in Him, and to seek and do God’s will. This faith, expressed in the word “logidzesthe”, is a practical faith – not doubting, not discussing with sin and not obeying it, but rooted in God’s truth. This faith knows: It is so! even though it faces a hard spiritual struggle and the reality of original sin which is in us, but we no longer have to obey it or be slaves to it. Furthermore, it is connected with Jesus’ words “Deny yourself” – that means, deny your negative ego, or sin in you. Verse 11 is followed by verse 12: “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.” And verse 13 is the word of life for the following two weeks: “…do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin…”. What does it mean? It calls for steps of practical faith and following Christ. Everyone can gain personal experience from this faith. Naturally, it involves a struggle, a kind of transformation or gradual spiritual operation – we should no longer present our members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin. On the contrary, we should present our members as instruments of righteousness to God. The Greek term “dikaiosiné” means 1) to do the will of God, 2) justification by God from our sins through faith, 3) justice. The Greek term “hopla” means a tool, a weapon. “Ta melé” means members or parts of the human body. What are the parts of our body? Our arms, legs, ears, eyes, tongue, stomach, reproductive organs, but also our mind, will or feelings. All these are dominated by original sin which is the seed of lies and evil in us. Especially our mind and will must be enlightened by the Spirit of God. We must walk in the light of God’s Spirit, cooperate with Him. Our conscience will thus become a more and more perfect instrument of God, and our mind and will, which affect our psyche, will likewise be more and more dominated by God. The darkness of sin will thus be forced out little by little. The power of truth, God’s power, will penetrate even the organs of our body and overcome the dominion of original sin in us. It is a deep mystery which we cannot explain logically to those who have not experienced it so far. So we need to begin to live by faith, to reckon ourselves to be dead to sin and alive to God, and consequently to present our members to God as instruments or weapons of righteousness, or instruments of doing God’s will. Then it will really be true about us: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” (Gal 2:20) Jesus should not only be in us when we receive His Body and Blood in Holy Communion. One truth is that He indeed is in us through the Eucharist, but another truth should follow from it, namely that Jesus should also live and reign in us and be our Lord and our King. He must be glorified in our life, even when we endure suffering, humiliation, imprisonment or even death for His sake. If we have Jesus, in Him we have everything. And when our physical death comes is not the most important thing. The most important thing is that after death we should pass to eternal life, because this life is just a short test. We need to become aware of it ever anew.

Download: Reflection on Rom 6:13