In 2011 I was leading a youth group at a local church. Over the course of a year or two, we addressed topical passages of Scripture, followed by an in-depth examination of discipleship, followed finally by an exposition through the book of 1 John. One particular evening, at the conclusion of what I would have thought was a sound, doctrinal exposition of a particular passage, a wise, thought-provoking student asked if I could give an application for the passage. To my surprise, I hadn’t really considered the application, only the doctrinal propositions. My focus was on accuracy, not application, as though the two were mutually exclusive. After that humbling experience, I’ve since learned to think more about application, but not necessarily to the extent of providing it on a spoon, as I still believe the Holy Spirit is the one who makes the individual, and needed, application of Scripture. A faithful teacher should be the conduit through which the truth flows in such a way that allows the application to be easily made, not hindered.
In Romans chapter 6, we needn’t worry about how to apply the doctrinal propositions laid out by the Apostle in verses 1-11 because it is followed up by a strong application in verses 12-14. As is common with Paul, there is a logical consistency with his writings. Chapter 6 is not isolated from chapter 5 (as would be expected because chapter divisions were a much later insert), but is indeed a continuation of the thought. In the fifth chapter, Paul concludes with the familiar statement that where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more. This naturally leads to the question, “Shouldn’t we sin more so that grace would abound more?” In the strongest possible language the Apostle replies, “By No Means!” From this exclamation, chapter 6 proceeds to be a defense of why believers cannot continue in sin on the basis of grace, a defense that is centered on no longer allowing sin to reign in our lives because we are dead to it, therefore no longer slaves to it.
Doctrinally, the focus of Romans 6:1-11 is union with Christ, defined in terms of both His death and resurrection and symbolized by our baptism. Through the union with Christ in His death, our old self or old man, was crucified with Christ such that our body of sin, literally our flesh, would be brought to nothing for the purpose of severing our slavery to sin. Further, union with Christ in His resurrection, though already past, has a future implication of resurrection from the dead. Because of this union, and these transactions, we are exhorted to consider ourselves “dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
Out of this doctrinal proposition, we find an application with at least three parts: an exhortation, a command, and a promise.
The Exhortation
“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.”
Our application is expressly linked to the doctrinal proposition by the use of therefore, though in this particular translation it does not lead the sentence, it is nonetheless linking the sentence with what has already been said. The first order of business in this application is a strong appeal to refuse to allow the rule of sin in our mortal bodies. Literally, this is exhortation says “Do not let sin be king!” There is an implied possibility here, that sin could indeed gain the upper hand and exert mastery over us, not in actuality, but in practice. This is what we are warned against, because as king, sin rules as a taskmaster making us obey its passions, desires, and lusts in our mortal bodies.
This phrase mortal bodies is a reference to our actual, physical bodies, though historically there has been some disagreement on this matter. It includes our hands, feet, eyes, ears, tongues, mouths, sexual organs all of those members that constitute a body that will eventually die. As we will be exhorted later, these members are not to be instruments for unrighteousness. However, collectively they are here called our mortal body in which we are to refuse the kingship of sin. Summarily, there is a king: sin; a subject: our mortal bodies; an obligation: obedience; the command: (sinful) lust or desire. If we allow sin to reign, we are obliged to obey.
The Command
Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
Working out of the previous exhortation, we are carried into a command. In order to combat the obligated obedience to sin, should it be allowed the reign, the Apostle provides a divine command in familiar Do Not language. This mortal body, in which sin desires to set up kingship, consists of members – those which we briefly addressed above – and here we are told not to present them to the service of sin. Our members, if in submission to sin, can become instruments for wickedness, literally weapons for war. Which brings up a question, weapons for what and against whom? As if it were not obvious, they become instruments of sin acting against God. We should consider this more deeply in our war on sin.
As king, sin sounds a call to duty. When it has set up its kingdom, it’s trumpet heralds a call for our members to report to duty, whether they be our eyes, ears, hands or otherwise, to be used as weapons of war for unrighteousness. The heart of the Apostle’s command here is to not allow our members to answer that call, i.e., refuse an “at your service” response to sin. This can only be accomplished if sin is not allowed to rule.
Conversely, we are to answer, “at your service” to God, commending our whole selves to Him. Sin has the power to only bring death, whereas here we see that God not only has the power to bring from death unto life, but He has actually done it, first with Christ and then to those of us who have been united to Christ, in both a death like His and a resurrection like His, all of which is symbolized by our baptism. This simple phrase, those who have been brought from life to death, joins our command here in the application to the doctrinal proposition from the earlier verses (6:1-11), rightly placing the command in subordination to the Gospel. We are commanded not to answer the reveille of sin because of the Gospel, namely the death and resurrection of Christ, but more than that, because of our union with Christ. Instead, we are to present our members as weapons of war for righteousness. Notice here that there is not an implied change of the weapons – still our members, nor of the use – still war, but there is a change of purpose – for righteousness.
The Promise
For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
We now arrive at the promise, linked to the previous statements by the little word, for, followed by a declaration that “sin will have no dominion over you,” which itself is followed by the justification, “you are not under law but under grace.” This particular promise brings up a couple of questions, or at least should. What makes this a promise? How can it be guaranteed? Is it dependent upon some personal action? Why is the law brought into view?
The first observation that needs to be made is the declaration that sin will have no dominion over you. Clearly this statement is issuing a promise. Given the context of the exhortation, do not let sin be king, and the command, do not answer sin’s call to duty with your weapons of war, it would appear that a promise like this is unfounded or at least disjointed. In the previous verses we are presented with the reality that sin actually could reign, therefore the call to action not to let that happen. Why would that action, command or exhortation, even be necessary if sin won’t have dominion over you? In other words, why tell us not to let sin reign if there is a promise that it will not reign anyway? It is seemingly a paradoxical statement.
Practically speaking, verses 12-13 are the working out of our salvation, with fear and trembling. There is an exhortation and a command. These are part and parcel of our sanctification, an ongoing and progressive, divinely-wrought, purification from sin to conform us more to the image of Christ. In this sanctification process, we are prone to sin and could be prone to extended periods of falling into sin. But this is not a reality based on our justification in Christ. In other words, the preceding discourse on the gospel, by the Apostle, going back into chapter 5 (and earlier for that matter) is the grounds for the promise that sin will not have dominion. Sin cannot have dominion because it’s rule has been broken by the death of Christ on the cross and His subsequent resurrection. Our union with Him, by faith alone, ensures that sin’s dominion is broken.
Furthermore, in this promise we see a return to the discussion on law and grace joining us to the previous statement from Romans 5:20-21 that led to this entire discourse in the first place. In essence, the Apostle is saying that if we were still under law, it would magnify sin in our lives thereby establishing the rule and reign of sin, not because the law was bad, but because our flesh would be stirred up by the law to sin, a point that he will elaborate on in the remainder of chapter 6 and all of chapter 7.
In essence the application of Romans 6:12-14 goes like this: Don’t let sin be king and capture your members as weapons for war. Why? Because it’s not an actual king anyway, nor can it be – it’s a pretender to the throne – so stop living like you’re under its rule! The believer’s practical day-to-day sanctification is grounded in the reality of our justification – made right with God by means of our union with Christ in His death and resurrection, no longer under law, but under grace. That is the application of the doctrinal proposition. One without the other is insufficient. It is in this application that we must live daily in our pursuit of holiness, realizing that it is grounded on the reality of having been crucified with Christ, united with Him by faith.
