Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.
Romans 6:13 NLT
Yielding is an image carried over from the world of matter into the world of the mind. In every case of yielding, there is a pressure meeting with resistance and overcoming it. So, the instruction from this verse to every believer is to present our whole life (especially the body) to God as an instrument unto righteousness.
Righteousness Made Possible
Meanwhile, this is possible because we have been redeemed. We have been translated from the realm of the dead and now possess a new life. Therefore, let us see to it that we do not corrupt this new life by allowing the pressure of this life to overcome us unto yielding ourselves to sin. For if this new life be destroyed what hope is there for eternity?
The writer, Paul explained this concept explicitly. He explained that we were actually dead to sin. And that just as a dead man is insensitive and unresponsive to sin, so also is the man in Christ. This new life that does not and cannot yield unto sin. However, in the earlier verses of this chapter, he revealed an important secret to enjoying the goodies.
We know…
We know that our old self [our human nature without the Holy Spirit] was nailed to the cross with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. For the person who has died [with Christ] has been freed from [the power of] sin.
Romans 6:6-7 AMP
The secret lies in this: “We know…”. And what we know is that our human nature was crucified with Christ Jesus on the cross. This is the Gospel, that Jesus came to this world and bore our sinful nature to the cross, so that we might delivered from the power of sin by believing in Him. Therefore, Paul is reminding us that we are totally free from slavery to sin. But, he also told us that we can now choose who to serve with our body: sin or righteousness.
Meanwhile, we could see that this is a matter of personal conviction. So, permit me to ask you: what do you know? Do you have this personal assurance of your freedom from the power of sin? Unless you know this (by personal experience), yielding unto righteousness will remain impossible.
Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Romans 6:16
In Christ Jesus, we are empowered to be victorious and bear fruits unto righteousness. We must always remember that we are to live for the glory of God and nothing else, not even the praise or acceptance of men. May God help and sustain you so that you will not yield unto sin but unto righteousness, serving Him acceptably till the end. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
