Sin Will Not Have Dominion Over Us

The apostle Paul calls us to present our bodies. That word “present” seems quite simple, but it is a very profound word; in the original Greek it carries the sense of presenting something to the Lord, of bringing something to the Lord.

In chapter 6 of Romans, the apostle Paul says something very interesting. Here in chapter 6, verse 11, he says: “So you also”—that is, we believers—“consider yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” You see, here he puts the call to holiness once again in terms of considering ourselves dead to sin, as though sin has already died to us and we have died to sin; we have no relationship with it.

Then he says: “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body”—do not let sin reign in your mortal body. Do you see the mention of the word “body” here too, as in Romans 12, “present your bodies”? We will talk a little later about what that word “bodies” means. And here in chapter 6, verse 12: “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its lusts.”

Again, he is telling us here that, as children of God, we cannot let sin become our master—another expression Paul uses on several occasions. We cannot let sin become our master, that is, dominate us, govern us, control us, determine our lives, make us live for it and pay attention to everything our bodies demand of us, right?

We children of God are governed neither by the flesh nor by our appetites nor by sin. Christ has freed us from the dictatorship of sin, and now we are free to choose whom we will serve. And obviously, just as we used to serve sin, now we must serve holiness; we must serve the Kingdom of God—we must serve God’s purposes, rather.

No Christian should say, “Oh, I can’t control this. This is just how I am, and I can’t change.” That is a lie from the devil. If we are in Christ, we are free. The Bible says that if the Son sets us free, we are free indeed; it also says that we will know the Truth, and the Truth will set us free. In Christ Jesus we are free from sin, and we are no longer supposed to serve sin or let it govern us.

It says: “Do not let sin reign in our mortal body, so that we obey its lusts”—that is, so that we give free rein to, and satisfy, every impulse and everything sin asks us to do, right?

Right there in verse 13, he continues: “Neither present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness.” Do you see the word “present” here again? He says not to present your members. What are the members? Your arms, your hands, your feet, the organs of your body, your mind, your mouth, your tongue, your eyes, your ears. Do not present any of those parts, the senses of the body, to sin; do not hand them over to sin. Hand them over to whom? To the Father, right? “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God”—not to sin, but to God.

The apostle Paul’s mind, inspired by the Holy Spirit, continues thinking along the same lines there in chapter 6, right? Do not let sin reign over you; do not let it control you. Do not present your members, organs, limbs, and senses to sin as instruments of unrighteousness. Hey, do not let your hands, your feet, your ears, your eyes be used by the devil to do bad things, as instruments of unrighteousness that harm yourself or others, right?

“But present yourselves”—there is that word again in the original Greek, and the infinitive of that word is also paristemi. I have it here in my notes; it says: “to present, hand over, surrender something to someone as their property or for their use; to become an object and come under someone’s control or dominion; to place something at someone’s disposal.” All these ideas are contained in this idea of presenting, right? “Do not present your bodies to sin, but present yourselves to God.”

We have to do that every day of our lives, in a solemn, serious, and unchanging way. We have to present our bodies, our lives, to God “as those alive from the dead, and our members to God as instruments of righteousness.” Do you see here the, let’s say, contrast between instruments of unrighteousness and instruments of righteousness? What are you, what is your body, what is your life, what are your senses—instruments of unrighteousness or instruments of righteousness?

Clearly, we must continually offer our life, every sense, every organ, every member of our being to the Lord, again and again, so that God may take those dimensions of our being and gradually transform them for His glory, for His honor.

We are agents of good. Our bodies are made to serve the Lord, to reflect the holiness of Christ, to advance the interests of the Kingdom, to evangelize, to proclaim God’s Truth, to exemplify His excellent and holy character—not to exemplify the values of the devil or of hell. So let us present our bodies as those alive from the dead, and our members to God as instruments of righteousness.

And I like what Romans 6, verse 14 says: “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” It is like a decisive decree: “Sin is not going to have dominion over you.” He is not saying, “Oh, I wish it would not have dominion,” or “How good it would be if sin…” No, he says: it shall not have dominion. God has declared it so.

People who are without Christ are slaves to sin and the devil. Whoever is in Christ Jesus is free; it is a legal status. So what we have to do is live in that status, live out that condition of freedom God has given us. Do not profess enslavement to sin; instead, profess liberation. Tell yourself: I am free. I do not have to be looking at pornography or committing adultery or entertaining bad thoughts or telling lies or stealing, doing harm, manipulating people, or abusing my wife or my husband and my children.

Say: I am free in Christ Jesus. I have the freedom to live as Christ wants me to live. Sin shall not have dominion over my life. I am not under the law, under the slavery of sin, but now under the Grace of Christ Jesus. What a wonderful passage, clarifying for us again this idea of presenting ourselves and presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice. I hope this is a blessing to you. Pastor Roberto Miranda; may God bless you, and until our next meeting.