Romans 6:12-14 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 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. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. Romans 5-8 is a complete picture of our life as a believer. The advantages of being declared right and having become a co-heir with Christ comprise the first part of this section. We have seen in chapter 5 that not only are we deemed righteous but we have also gained peace with God. We have assurance that God provides to us in time of need, and we know that we will reign with him. In Chapter 6 we are provided reason and incentive to not live under the sin system. In Chapter 6:1-10, we have information that we are identified with Christ. In particular, we are identified with His death. The reason He died was for our sins. The life lived apart from Christ prior to this understanding has been crucified with Him because it was for that rebellion and enmity that He died. Therefore, in verse 11 we have our first command. We need to remember Paul s method of communication first he provides doctrine, then he provides the instructions based upon what has been discussed. In verse 11 we saw that the first instruction was not an action to be performed but a way of thinking (an ought of thought). This is the beginning of the most common question among believers: what now? Most organizations will make a list: 1) read your Bible every day, 2) pray, 3) go to church, 4) witness What is the problem? This list is not delineated anywhere in the Bible. All of these are good, but what happens is that the Christian life becomes mechanical and based upon a four-point list. This is not Biblical. In Romans there are guidelines and we need to understand them carefully. In verse 11, the first command in this section is to think this way: You consider yourselves indeed dead to the sin (the sin system), being ones who are living in regards to (concerning) God in Christ Jesus. The second half of the verse is not an imperative but a participle. This supports the main verb consider. The first instruction is not a do but an attempt to augment the way we think. We must come to an understanding and believe that each of us as individuals is dead to the sin system. You do not have to act in a rebellious, purposefully sinful way. When faced with a decision to either do right or to do what is wrong, we must be fully persuaded that we are released from the necessity to sin.
If I have a problem with this understanding, I must purposefully review the Scriptures, challenging the way I think about this truth, in order to change my mind. This does not mean that I will not sin, but it means that I must be convinced that I am not a slave to sin, the sin nature, the sin system. We also reviewed the fact that we must replace the negative thought with the positive thought. That is why it is important to understand that the second half of the verse is a restatement of truth. Think this way: we are dead to sin, because we are ones who are living in regards to God in Christ Jesus. How do we consider ourselves dead to the sin? By dwelling upon the truth. Now we can move on to the next section (12-14). This section is not thought but of action. There are some common words (the sin, living, dead, etc.), but the verb changes in verse 12 and 13. In verse 11 the verb is think or consider, but in the next section the verb is let reign, and in verse 13 the verb is present. In verse 12 the first word is a negative particle with a present imperative. This creates an emphatic command stop letting the sin reign. The word for let reign is βασιλεύω basileuō (bah-sih-loo -oh) and means to rule, to function as king, to have authority over. Notice it does not say do no sin. Why does Paul not simply say do not sin? Jumping ahead to Romans 7:18-21, there is a conflict of natures within Paul and consequently within each believer. Not sinning in general is impossible. It is possible to not commit certain sins, but that does not satisfy God. We know that not sinning is not possible until we are saved from this body of death. So what does it mean to stop letting the sin system have authority? 1. Do not focus on sin, do not be persuaded that we must give in to sin 2. Stop living by rules, do not subject yourselves to a rule system that only increases rebellion The reason we are looking at the sin system or a system that enhances sin is because there is a definite article with sin. We must also address the prepositional phrase in your mortal body. The word mortal is θνητός thnētos (thnay-tahs ) and is the adjective form for the verb to die. It is only found in Romans and in the two letters to the Corinthians (Romans 8:11; 1 st Corinthians 15:53-54; 2 nd Corinthians 4:11; 5:4). The word means to be destined to die. Our bodies are either going to die or be transformed. While in this body of death and sin, we are to know that Christ died so that we have the potential to not serve this body of sin. In verse 11, we have the correct mental attitude; in verse 12, we have the proper volition. We should have no doubt that we are free from the sin system, and we should make the right choice to stop letting sin reign in our bodies that are destined to change anyway. This echoes the statement in Matthew 6:24 We are going to be subservient to either God or to sin.
The rest of verse 12 states so that you obey its lusts. This is not translated with the full intent represented. The phrase is literally for the to obey the desire of it. The articular infinitive in this situation indicates at the same time as the action of the main verb. When a person is letting the sin reign in their mortal body, obedience to its (the body s) desires will occur. When we find ourselves hearing and responding to the desires of the flesh we should recognize that we have subjected ourselves to the authority of the sin system. Verse 13 reiterates this principle with a different verb and a different way of explaining the instruction. The verb in both the first and second parts of this verse is παρίστημι paristēmi (pah-rih -stay-mee). In the active voice, this verb means to place beside, be shown, present, or give oneself over to. In the passive or middle voice, this indicates an approach, or to stand in the presence of. In Romans both the active and passive/middle understandings are in use. Active Romans 6:13,16,19; 12:1 Passive Romans 14:10 The active voice in Romans seems to always be in context of serving, dedication, or sacrifice. So this verse doesn t indicate that we allow or merely permit sin; rather that when we obey the lust of the flesh we have actually devoted (sacrificed) ourselves to the sin from which we were saved. This is the same devotion, the same sacrifice we are supposed to do as our reasonable service. Instruments is used two times in this verse; the word is ὅπλον hoplon (hahp -lawn). This word means a tool of warfare. This can be clearly seen in the other usages in the New Testament (John 18:3; Romans 13:12; 2 nd Corinthians 6:7; 10:4). In the well-known passage of Ephesians 6:10-17, the word is πανοπλία panoplia (pahn-ahp-lee -ah) the complete tools of warfare. In Romans 6:13 and in review of the other passages, we can easily see that what we are dealing with is not a simple matter of doing right or wrong. This is war. What is being described here is when we submit to the sin we are committing warfare treason; we are fighting for the other side. The solution is to put down the weapons of unrighteousness and instead dedicate ourselves to God. It is important to make some observations here. 1) Notice there is no neutrality. Unlike human conflict, we are either fighting on the winning side or we are fighting on the losing side. We are either dedicated to God or we are dedicated to the sin. 2) Paul is talking to believers. This is not a test of position but a call to volition. A dedication is a continual action (Present Active Imperative).
The second portion of verse 13 is a command (appeal to volition) followed by a restatement of truth. But (alla) present, dedicate, give yourself over to God. This is the command and, just as the conjunction indicates, this stands in direct contrast with the previous. The reason is because of who we are positionally. The restatement is because the word and grammatical form for those alive is the same from verse 11. This is the verb ζάω zaō (zah-oh) in the Present Participle form as being ones who are alive (living ones). Paul also adds ek nekros (from among dead). This phrase should remind us that not only were we spiritually dead and brought to life but also the fact that we have died with Jesus and live today in regards to His resurrection. The final portion of verse 13 speaks of having the weapons of righteousness. What has not yet been discussed is that our weapons are not sin and acts of righteousness but rather our members, flesh of our body. Verse 12 states to not let sin rule in our mortal body. Paul then indicates that our flesh is what is used in this war. We will either use this flesh in a godly way or we will submit to the sin. The spiritual life is primarily a battle over minds (verse 11), but then we must make the right decisions to put thought (doctrine, truth) into daily practice the ought of thought and the ought of volition. First we need to change our minds then we need to change our actions. Not only are we told what we should do, but we have been given the why and the how. Finally in verse 14 we have sin shall not be master over you. Master over is κυριεύω kurieuō (koo-reeyou -oh) which is the verb for Lord, to act as one having legal rights or authority over another. This speaks of that which has a control over those that are lesser (political, military, etc.). The verb is in the Future Active Indicative, so the natural assumption is that eventually sin will not have any rule over you. Sin will be wiped out and will therefore not be master over anyone. But there is the possibility that this is volitional or an imperative future (Matthew 5:21; Luke 1:13). This is evidenced by the tone of the paragraph as well as the rest of the sentence. The gar introduces the reason for the statement. The reason sin shall not rule over you is because you are not under law. The problem I have with this is that verb is not in the 2 nd person plural, but is in the 3 rd person singular. Sin will not rule over you. How can a future indicative be commanded to sin? Therefore, I am convinced that this is not an imperative but an allusion to the absolute nature of sin and death. Why submit to sin now when we know that sin and death will be done away with?
Concerning the gar, what we have is a compound reason statement. The first portion has a gar and the second portion has a gar. Because sin shall not be master over you and because you are not under law but under grace. This last statement needs to be evaluated as well. Rules increase sin and therefore if we submit to rules we are placing ourselves under that which increases sin and rebellion (Romans 5:20). But also we can look at this with a dispensational understanding. Remember the lessons from chapter 5 and the death system, the law system. We learned that God does not deal with believers the same way He did prior to Jesus sacrifice. Prior to that, believers had to sacrifice to ensure a temporal covering for sin as a representation of the sacrifice God Himself would provide. Now that Jesus has come, we are not under that law system we are under the grace system. This is why legalism has no standing. Legalism is the belief that we do to get from God (salvation, forgiveness, blessings, anything). Grace system is that our actions are predicated on the fact that we already have everything, therefore serve Him who loves, saved, and provides for you as children of God.