Romans 6:11-14

My prayer today is that you pay attention to God's Word. Please do not forget to do the Martin Luther method of praying where he used these four words: instruction, thanksgiving, confession, and prayer for going through the ten commandments or the Lord's prayer.

Romans 6:11-14 (NIV)
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.
13 Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.
14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

Right now before you make another move, count yourself dead to sin. You may not have experienced this truth to the degree that you should have, but you can experience more of it than you have already. Paul is telling us that we must reckon this truth as a fact of our life and live by faith in that truth. The nitty gritty of this truth is laid out when Paul lets us know we have an active part in this truth. If we are dead to sin then sin must not rule in our life. Righteousness must rule in our life. Our part in this act of faith is to not offer our body as a vehicle to accomplish sin. Our sin does not originate from another person and it does not act out through another person--it is us. We must instead offer our bodies as a vehicle to accomplish His righteousness. This is best done through prayer. You can offer your hands, your feet, your tongue, your whole self in prayer to God to be an instrument for righteousness. Paul, I believe, does this in Romans 12:1-2, when we are encouraged to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. Perhaps, now would be a good time to pray and offer yourself to God as an instrument for righteousness. Before you do that ask God to show you any sin that may be in your life and confess that to Him, then offer yourself to God.



Christ died to save us, not from suffering, but from ourselves; not from injustice, far less than justice, but from being unjust. He died that we might live—but live as he lives, by dying as he died who died to himself.

George Macdonald (1824–1905)