Romans 6:13-14 - Back to the Study (Conciliation Series, Part XXIII)

 Part IV: God’s Conciliation, Confirmed

Nor yet be presenting your members, as implements of justice, to Sin, but present yourselves to God as if alive from among the dead, and your members as implements of righteousness to God.

Notice that Paul drops the “be presenting your members” and replaces it with, “present yourselves.” Yes, God’s word is so perfect that even the difference between “present” and “be presenting” matters. The term “be presenting” is in reference to our old conduct, under our old master, Sin. It shows that Sin’s reign would be a continuance, when it must end. But the term “present,” as used here, is a reference to our new Master, our new conduct in Christ. It is the physical reflection of our sanctification toward Him. “Be presenting” is, then, related to time, whereas “present yourselves” is not. “Present yourselves” is permanent, and does not change. His place for us is final, never-ending (6:9.) So also, our conduct is being conformed to reflect this.

 Side note, before we continue: no, how we should be acting in Christ is not the focus here, yet. The purpose for the conduct is being conveyed here, so that when Paul finally reaches the conduct, you want to perform, knowing it is of grace.

Anyway, “present yourselves.” This shows that we are not dealing with our body, but our spirit. Paul gets to the heart of the matter in this. Here’s George Rogers on the matter:

“Presentation of ourselves to God is the only alternative to allowing Sin to reign, Thus holiness is actual deliverance from sinning and an indispensable part of salvation, a fact that those who speak of being “saved and sanctified” need to learn. Too many seem to think that holiness is something extra, something optional, which they may or may not take up as a post-graduate course, and which confers some special distinction. But if God does not possess us, Sin does, for we cannot serve two masters, and there is no third.”

Now, to clarify: this does not mean that we choose to sanctify ourselves through an alleged “free will.” We are never freed from both masters, but are enslaved to one or the other. Sanctification is not a possible conclusion of the evangel, being justification by faith. It is the training montage, and yes, it’s all of God (Rom. 1:16.) As we talked about before, there are three different forms of salvation referenced in Scripture–

1)    The past salvation from the penalty of sin, being called out and constituted just (justification by faith)

2)    The present deliverance from the power of sin, by which we are saved from sinning and attain maturity (sanctification)

3)    The future salvation from the presence of sin when our bodies are changed (our expectation, Rom. 5:2, 1 Thess. 4:13-18.)

Our blessing stems from this. It is the basis by which we are able to “please” God (Rom. 12:1.) The realization that we are wholly His and no other can lay claim over us shines an even further light on His conciliation, or peace toward, the sinner. He doesn’t ask us to “now follow Mosaic law,” or “be perfect or fail.” Such requirements have been proven to be impossible in the flesh. Simply, “choosing not to sin” isn’t some magical gateway to being holy. Why? Because salvation is of God, not of you (Rom. 1:16.) God asks us now to present ourselves to Him. Why else if not for the fact that we are saved by grace, and to display to all that, irrespective of our complete and utter failure, He loves anyway (Rom. 3:26, 5:8)?

To present our spirit, then, is a radical difference and departure from how Christianity perceives this verse, as though we must try our hardest to never sin again. In reality, your spirit – every thought you have, every emotion you feel, every fact you discover, every breath you take, every move you make, every bond you break, every single day, He claims. It is His. His alone. Most importantly, your will is claimed as His. Your will is no longer subject to the will of Sin, but to the will of God, whether it fully feels like it or not. He is dwelling over you now, by His choice.

Do you see how radical this is? It changes everything. You’re no longer bound by Sin! Your flesh is not your end-all-be-all! What a relief! God is not seeking you to serve in obligation, here. He wants you to recognize His grandeur, His scope, and imparts His will to you in effect. In being sanctified, your will is grafted into His (and if you don’t know what that term “grafted” means, I recommend looking up what it means to ‘graft’ a tree branch.) He very lovingly, carefully, plots your direction, pushing you to become exactly what it is you are supposed to be, knowing Him, His will, and His heart. In being sanctified, you are made a vessel that is living to Him.

Fortunately, this makes you less delusional. I know I’m writing things that few others would have the gall to write, lest they sound nutty. But I’m sane, sober, and calm. The reality is that the more you learn of God’s true nature, the less you’re going to sound like a nut job who needs to “save you from hell” on the street corner. To know these things, as a matter of the heart, and to dwell on them, leads us to a submissive and voluntary state of being, in which our Father directs us, and we willingly go, “Not my will, but Yours.”

This means we are as if alive from among the dead. According to Paul, if One died for the sake of all, then consequently, all died (2 Cor. 5:14.) This justifies all from sin (Rom. 6:7.) Yet, not all are currently justified by faith, for not all can currently present themselves as if alive from among the dead, as we are being shown that we can.

Now, to clarify: as-if alive, not literally. Clearly, sin is present in our bodies right now. We cannot freely transcend this bond (because, of course, the only One that would ever choose to remain in said bond is Christ – Phil. 2:8.) The deliverance from this sin is practically shifted, not by repetition, practice, or religious attempts to snuff out the sin in yourself, but in, simply, considering yourself as dead to it, and dwelling on God instead. Operate as if you are in God’s presence, currently! Not in the sense that you “must look your best,” but that you, in dwelling on His grace, can rejoice, considering yourself enslaved to a loving Lord.

Throughout our study through Paul’s evangel, we are going to see this “as if” idea be elaborated on. We are considered “ambassadors” by Paul, which should clarify that we are relaying His message from our ‘home country,’ being the celestials, or on-heavenlies. We are considered as if we are seated at the right hand of God, currently. Our present deliverance from Sin demands that we come to realize this now, and in this, we come to sin less, in naturally dwelling less on it.

In his book, “The Power of the Subconscious Mind,” Joseph Murray (who is not a believer,) says, “You repeat a thought again and again, and after awhile it becomes second nature. That’s prayer, that’s conforming to a higher principle.” (preface, xx.) Now, if a man with a Ph.D. understands this, how much greater our Lord! ‘Repetition’ conforms the mind. Thus, God desires repetition – not the same mindless statements (“cAn i gEt aN AmEN?”) but a living, breathing focus on Him. When you’re focused on yourself, you will never see clearly. But dwell on Him, His words, His revealed will… and your conduct will align like clockwork.

This process is important, set as the middle stage of your salvation. Our expectation fulfilled, the third stage, is not designed to “finally free us from sin,” as some in Christ have framed it, but to reflect the internal completeness that you are delivered into. Your expectation (1 Cor. 15:51-53) is a physical manifestation of what already is, not a complete change in your disposition and character. It is a consummation of your salvation, not the beginning of it. It is the beginning of something new, of course – but not the beginning of salvation.

With all of this considered, Paul distinguishes the members of our body, specifically – we are to present ourselves as if alive from among the dead, but our members cannot do this, because, literally, our members are dying (sorry, peepee. I’ll miss you.) So, they can’t be “alive from among the dead,” then, but they do become implements of righteousness to God. He still claims them, of course (‘holy’ doesn’t exclude your current physical form,) but they are used by Him to display the process of removal from Sin. The presentation of our members as implements of righteousness is not something that will be elaborated on for another six chapters. Romans 12:1 is when the exhortations concerning our faith-obedience begin.

Notice that the physical body is discussed second to your actual, internal self. This is important to note – the physical comes second. God’s goal here is for you to focus on internal matters, instead of dwelling on your external appearance. You can’t do any of Romans 12:1-15:7 properly, in faith, unless you are shifted to dwell on God first. Your adherence to the behavioral side of Romans is not a charge to ‘try and achieve these things,’ but to watch and experience the growth that God takes you through, in growing in your ability to adhere to the charges. You are constituted righteous, in Rom. 3:21-4:25, but here your process of becoming righteous is being described. Your expectation of living in righteousness is yet to come.

For Sin shall not be lording it over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.

Is this not the logical conclusion from everything we’ve been studying so far? What other conclusion could you reach? Sin is no longer Christ’s master (Rom. 6:9.) You were baptized into His death (6:3,) which means you partake of His entombment and resurrection (6:4-8,) thus Sin shall not be your master!

How refreshing. Paul will have more to say concerning this idea throughout the next chapter, but first, let’s take this word by word, because a lot of Christians like to ignore it.

See this? Shall not. It’s not a matter of potentiality, conditionality, or any such idea. It’s certain that Sin shall not be lording itself over you. This is the claim, and the explanation provided is just as fruitful – you are not under law. Paul will have more to say about this throughout the next chapter, and we’ll break it down (there’s one more objection he needs to cover, first, before moving on.) But for now, we are clearly, per the verses studied, not under law. No flesh could be justified in His sight under law (3:20,) so the evangel is apart from law (3:21.) Law’s purpose was to increase offense (5:20,) yet grace is more powerful (5:20.)

The power of law (1 Cor. 15:53) has been nullified by faith (3:22.) The power of law, being Sin, has its course, but Paul has already clarified the extent of her reign (5:21.) We are no longer under, or subject, to it, because we are under grace. Note, really quickly, that this clearly shows that we are not free, no matter what. Humans are enslaved – under something, always. Either one, or the other. Paul will be elaborating on this in the next few verses.

Being under grace ties us back in to the end of Romans 5, where Grace is said to be reigning through righteousness (Rom. 3:21-26.) If we were the worst of the old humanity, and we have been pulled under grace, then the body of Sin has lost its greatest weapons; in contrast, the body of Christ has gained its greatest allies. The contrast here has been strong from the beginning. Grace and sin contrast, thus law and grace contrast – to be under one is not to be under the other (Gal. 1:6.) You can’t say, “I follow some of the law, and grace covers what I can’t follow. James, to the dispersion, makes it clear that to break one law is to break them all (Jam. 2:10.) Clearly, we can’t follow all of them, thus we break all of them. Thus, our spirits can either suffer in law, or be relieved by grace. Blessed be God, Who has positioned us in the “grace” part of the eons.

- GerudoKing