Romans Part 20 – Romans 6:12-23
Verse 12-13
• “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body” – Because you are baptized into Christ and are dead to sin. Because of who you are in Christ, your position.
• “that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof” – obeying its desires. Your deadness to sin is a spiritual reality but that does not mean we assume we will not struggle with sin - Rom 7:14-25. This is why you don’t let it reign in your mortal body. Because sin brings death.
• “neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin” – yield=present.
• “yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead” – present yourselves unto God, as someone alive from the dead which is your spiritual reality in Christ – Rom 7:5
• “your members as instruments of righteousness unto God” – Don’t present your physical body as a instrument of unrighteousness but as a instrument of righteousness. This is done by reckoning yourself dead to sin in Christ.
Verse 14-15
• “for sin shall not have dominion over you” – “Shall not” is future tense but this also speaks to the victory you have in Christ.
• “ye are not under the law but under grace” – Under the law you would be condemned for your sin and we know the law shines a light on your sin – Rom 3:19-20. But under grace your sin has been taken care of (spiritually) – Rom 4:24-25, 2Cor 5:21.
• “shall we sin because are not under the law but under grace?” – Similar to Rom 5:21-6:1.
• “God forbid” – By no means. Let never be. When you preach grace you will be accused licentiousness and antinomianism – Rom 3:8.
Verse 16-18
• “know you not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey” – Pretty self explanatory. If you present yourself as someone’s servant they are going to tell you what to do.
• “whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness” – you reap what you sow – Gal 6:7
• “But God be thanked” – 1Thess 5:18, 2Tim 3:16-17, Rom 5:8.
• “ye were the servants of sin” – past tense, speaking to positional truth – 1Cor 6:11,14-15, 2Cor 5:17.
• “ye have obeyed from the heart” – Speaking to their obedience of faith. Ye are made the servants of Christ by faith in the gospel
• “form of doctrine delivered unto you” – 2Tim 1:13, 1Cor 15:3
• “Being made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness” – Again speaking to positional truth. God is who made you free from sin.
Verse 19-21
• “because of the infirmity of your flesh” – Paul is again reminding that we still live in the flesh. Verse 18 is a spiritual reality and verse 19 is a physical reality.
• “as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness, even now yield your members servants to righteousness” - Paul’s wants our behavior to align with our spiritual reality.
• “when ye were” – again speaks to past tense meaning that is not who you are now
• “free from righteousness” – Free – Exempt, unrestrained, not bound by and obligation.
• “vs 21” – No fruit comes from sin and it brings you shame now being in Christ. So why do it? This is Paul’s argument.
Verse 22-23
• “But now” - This means something has changed
• “being made free from sin and become servants to God” – Made free when you trust the gospel.
• “ye have your fruit unto holiness ….. everlasting life” – Another spiritual reality but not yet delivered physically – 2Tim 1:12
• “wages of sin is death… gift of God is eternal life” – This verse reminds us of the contrast between earned wages and an unearned gift – Eph 2:8-9.
