Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
Let not sin rule in the mortal body by obeying its lusts means refusing to be controlled by base passions and refusing to yield the members of the body as tools of wrongdoing, but yielding the self to God as one alive from the dead and the members as tools of rightdoing. This command belongs to baptism into Christ as baptism into His death, burial with Him and rising to walk in new life, with the old self crucified that the body of sin might be destroyed so there is no more service to sin. It calls for reckoning the self dead indeed to sin but alive to God through Jesus Christ, refusing to continue in sin that grace may abound, because sin shall not have dominion since believers are not under law but under grace. Victory in this conflict between right and wrong does not come by fighting evil in finite human strength but through power God is ready to impart, as the will is yielded to Christ and joined to the will of God, so that no hereditary or cultivated habit need enslave those who trust in Him. This rule of sin is refused in practical life when the intelligent will brings appetite and passions under control, bringing the body and its habits including eating and drinking under God's instruction rather than appetite, in temperance and self-denial that glorifies God in body and spirit.
Command and Gospel Setting
The command is that sin is not to reign in the mortal body by obedience to its lusts, which means refusing to be controlled by base passions, and this text alone leaves professed Christians without excuse if they allow such control. With the next verse it forbids yielding the members of the body as instruments of unrighteousness to sin and commands yielding the self to God as one alive from the dead and the members as instruments of righteousness to God. Sin must not rule the mortal body nor lead its desires and members into obedience to sin, and the body's faculties and powers are not to be offered as tools for wrongdoing but are to be offered to God for righteous service. Those who are alive from the dead are thus to give themselves and their faculties to God, with freedom from sin and service to God producing holiness and leading to eternal life.
The prohibition belongs to baptism into Jesus Christ as baptism into His death, burial with Him, and resurrection to walk in newness of life. Those so baptized are planted together in the likeness of His death and resurrection, with the old man crucified that the body of sin might be destroyed so that there is no service to sin, for he that is dead is freed from sin. Baptism pledges belonging to the Lord and living as people dead to sin and raised to new life, united with Christ in His death and raised to live free from sin's rule, offering self and bodily powers to God as instruments of righteousness and seeking the things above with Christ.
It calls for reckoning the self dead indeed to sin but alive to God through Jesus Christ, refusing to continue in sin that grace may abound. As Christ died unto sin once and lives unto God with death having no more dominion over Him, so believers must refuse obedience to bodily lusts and refuse to yield their members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. Sin shall not have dominion because believers are not under law but under grace, and because to whom they yield themselves they become servants whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness. The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The word of God gives plain direct warnings that are enough to enlighten even the most beclouded mind for all who wish to understand it, pointing back to the neglected word. Yet those who serve their own lusts and continue to take pleasure in unrighteousness reject the light despite the vengeance threatened against those who do such things.
Victory Through Christ
The Christian life is a conflict between righteousness and unrighteousness, and victory comes through divine aid as the human will submits to and is joined with the will of God, with each victory helping to restore the image of God in the soul. That victory is not gained by battling evil in finite human strength but through power God is ready to impart, by yielding the will to Christ and uniting the weak, wavering human will to the omnipotent, unwavering will of God. Those trusting in Christ need not be enslaved by any hereditary or cultivated habit or tendency to wrong, and an entire change of life to a pure life of victory over appetite and lust is possible to everyone.
Success requires a heart feeling constant dependence on the Lord Jesus, clinging close to Him and giving self wholly to Him for service, which gives power to become sons of God and power to obtain victory over sin by living the Christ-life. Living that life means working as Christ worked and revealing the purity and holiness He revealed, never glossing over sin and never indulging perverted appetites and passions but uprooting and casting them away, for the children of God are not to be slaves of passion. Their sanctified reason is carefully guarded, their hearts are gladdened by rich promises and bright prospects, and every feature of experience is radiant with brightness and filled with thanksgiving. Refusing sin's rule means giving the self to God now rather than expecting to stop sinning little by little, made possible by Christ's cleansing. Letting Jesus reign instead of sin means resisting sin's control and giving it no place, with the self dying to its sinful course so that Christ may rule in the life.
Sin reigning in the mortal body keeps a person working at cross-purposes with God, and that reign is broken when a person accepts Christ and consecrates the highest spiritual powers to God for the benefit of fellow men. The Holy Spirit was given to call those entrusted higher powers into exercise under Christ's control, so that he who yields to the Spirit's control lays hold of Christ with earnest, definite faith and unquenchable love. His life is bound up with Christ and his religion is freed from selfishness and covetousness as he lays hold of the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour. Jesus reigning in the body cleanses the heart of selfishness and perverse tempers so they do not govern conduct, shaping a life of kindness, humility, and self-control.
The power of self-control is a privilege made possible in Christ, so lack of it shows sin still reigns in the body. By resisting wrong and subduing evil temper, selfishness, and pride a person may rise in moral value and attain Christ's righteousness, since Christ is sufficient for a life directed by His strength, while sin degrades and has no place in heaven. Sin cannot reign in the life of one who loves God supremely with all heart, soul, strength, and mind, since a life conformed to Christ cannot be disobedient to God's commands. Obedience to God is the fruit borne by love, and love to neighbor prevents working ill to him, with the fruit of righteousness sown in peace by peacemakers. God's law lays claim on the whole person with no time excepted, so complete obedience is the only condition that meets its requirement, rewarded in the present life and the life to come, while those who let sin reign and do not continue in all things written in the law are cursed, shall die, shall not see life, and the wrath of God abides on them.
Practical Obedience in Life
Letting sin reign is refused when appetite and passions are brought under the control of the intelligent will, for indulgence weakens understanding and spiritual judgment and exposes a person to further temptation, and temperance belongs to obedience and holiness with body and mind kept devoted to God's service rather than obeying sinful desires. Eating and drinking and all bodily habits are to be brought under God's instruction rather than appetite, so that wrong habits of diet, indulgence of appetite at the expense of health, and intemperance are forms of letting sin reign. Walking in the light, self-denial, intelligence in health principles, and temperance are forms of yielding the self to God as alive from the dead and the members as instruments of righteousness to God, reckoning the self dead indeed to sin but alive to God through Jesus Christ, so that God is glorified in body and spirit. Even advocates of the claims of God's law break the command when they encourage and educate wrong appetites, refusing to heed God's warning and to become intelligent about the human habitation and closing the eyes to light on health. For those living in the last days of this world's history this is a call to advance in reform of table habits for Christ's sake.
There is solemn obligation to keep the spirit pure and the body healthy in order to be a benefit to humanity and to render perfect service to God. The animal nature must not be allowed to predominate over the intellectual and moral powers, and sexual desire must be controlled by sanctified principle. In married life brutal lustful passion that outrages tender sensibilities is forbidden, and indulgence of base passion by husbands and fathers makes families unhappy and brings languor and depression. The body is to be kept from sinful acts and consecrated to God with its members used as instruments of righteousness, for when the body serves lust the mind cannot remain consecrated to God, and preserving a sanctified mind requires keeping the body pure and honoring God's law. The freedom of Christ's followers is not freedom to disregard that law but is experienced by those who obey it.
Resisting bodily appetites belongs to earnest steady effort to live purely and to grow in holiness, requiring temperance in all things and in appetite and the overcoming of established habits that enslave the body. Keeping the spirit pure for the Holy Spirit, obeying God's commandments, and loving God and neighbor are ways of living loyally to God. Bodily appetites and passions can foster intemperance, selfishness, rebellion against God, and failures to love others, so keeping the body under control is part of serving God and resisting sin. That resistance involves self-denial and control of the passions, and learning about sin's bondage and defilement and about salvation and redemption from them.
Sin is not to rule in the mortal bodies of those who have committed themselves body and soul to Christ, so in family life parents are to teach and correct as Christ did and every member of the household is to be brought under God's will and way. To say that passions cannot be overcome by one who names Christ and must depart from iniquity is a terrible admission, for weakness comes from strengthening animal propensities by exercise until they gain ascendancy over the higher powers. Pampering natural appetites destroys principle and the power of self-government and leaves men and women dying spiritually, with lower passions taking the reins and the governing power becoming the servant of corrupt passion and holding the soul in lowest bondage, where sensuality quenches desire for holiness and withers spiritual prosperity.
Those made new in Christ no longer let sin rule their bodily life, and the change appears as practical godliness with grace abiding in the heart producing industry, frugality, and economy. Avarice, dishonesty in trade, overreaching, every kind of dishonesty, covetousness as idolatry, and unkindness of disposition are put away, and in their place the renewed person shows kindness, forbearance, and generosity, thereby confessing Christ dwelling within as the hope of glory. The body and its physical powers are God's gifts to be cared for and used without waste or abuse in trust in the Savior for victory. Lustful passions and lower passions and baser propensities are to be mastered rather than obeyed, and overcoming them is necessary for a life shaped by the Holy Spirit.
Let not sin rule in the mortal body by obeying its lusts means refusing to be controlled by base passions and refusing to yield the members of the body as tools of wrongdoing, but yielding the self to God as one alive from the dead and the members as tools of rightdoing. This command belongs to baptism into Christ as baptism into His death, burial with Him and rising to walk in new life, with the old self crucified that the body of sin might be destroyed so there is no more service to sin. It calls for reckoning the self dead indeed to sin but alive to God through Jesus Christ, refusing to continue in sin that grace may abound, because sin shall not have dominion since believers are not under law but under grace. Victory in this conflict between right and wrong does not come by fighting evil in finite human strength but through power God is ready to impart, as the will is yielded to Christ and joined to the will of God, so that no hereditary or cultivated habit need enslave those who trust in Him. This rule of sin is refused in practical life when the intelligent will brings appetite and passions under control, bringing the body and its habits including eating and drinking under God's instruction rather than appetite, in temperance and self-denial that glorifies God in body and spirit.
Command and Gospel Setting
The command is that sin is not to reign in the mortal body by obedience to its lusts, which means refusing to be controlled by base passions, and this text alone leaves professed Christians without excuse if they allow such control. With the next verse it forbids yielding the members of the body as instruments of unrighteousness to sin and commands yielding the self to God as one alive from the dead and the members as instruments of righteousness to God. Sin must not rule the mortal body nor lead its desires and members into obedience to sin, and the body's faculties and powers are not to be offered as tools for wrongdoing but are to be offered to God for righteous service. Those who are alive from the dead are thus to give themselves and their faculties to God, with freedom from sin and service to God producing holiness and leading to eternal life.
The prohibition belongs to baptism into Jesus Christ as baptism into His death, burial with Him, and resurrection to walk in newness of life. Those so baptized are planted together in the likeness of His death and resurrection, with the old man crucified that the body of sin might be destroyed so that there is no service to sin, for he that is dead is freed from sin. Baptism pledges belonging to the Lord and living as people dead to sin and raised to new life, united with Christ in His death and raised to live free from sin's rule, offering self and bodily powers to God as instruments of righteousness and seeking the things above with Christ.
It calls for reckoning the self dead indeed to sin but alive to God through Jesus Christ, refusing to continue in sin that grace may abound. As Christ died unto sin once and lives unto God with death having no more dominion over Him, so believers must refuse obedience to bodily lusts and refuse to yield their members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. Sin shall not have dominion because believers are not under law but under grace, and because to whom they yield themselves they become servants whether of sin unto death or of obedience unto righteousness. The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The word of God gives plain direct warnings that are enough to enlighten even the most beclouded mind for all who wish to understand it, pointing back to the neglected word. Yet those who serve their own lusts and continue to take pleasure in unrighteousness reject the light despite the vengeance threatened against those who do such things.
Victory Through Christ
The Christian life is a conflict between righteousness and unrighteousness, and victory comes through divine aid as the human will submits to and is joined with the will of God, with each victory helping to restore the image of God in the soul. That victory is not gained by battling evil in finite human strength but through power God is ready to impart, by yielding the will to Christ and uniting the weak, wavering human will to the omnipotent, unwavering will of God. Those trusting in Christ need not be enslaved by any hereditary or cultivated habit or tendency to wrong, and an entire change of life to a pure life of victory over appetite and lust is possible to everyone.
Success requires a heart feeling constant dependence on the Lord Jesus, clinging close to Him and giving self wholly to Him for service, which gives power to become sons of God and power to obtain victory over sin by living the Christ-life. Living that life means working as Christ worked and revealing the purity and holiness He revealed, never glossing over sin and never indulging perverted appetites and passions but uprooting and casting them away, for the children of God are not to be slaves of passion. Their sanctified reason is carefully guarded, their hearts are gladdened by rich promises and bright prospects, and every feature of experience is radiant with brightness and filled with thanksgiving. Refusing sin's rule means giving the self to God now rather than expecting to stop sinning little by little, made possible by Christ's cleansing. Letting Jesus reign instead of sin means resisting sin's control and giving it no place, with the self dying to its sinful course so that Christ may rule in the life.
Sin reigning in the mortal body keeps a person working at cross-purposes with God, and that reign is broken when a person accepts Christ and consecrates the highest spiritual powers to God for the benefit of fellow men. The Holy Spirit was given to call those entrusted higher powers into exercise under Christ's control, so that he who yields to the Spirit's control lays hold of Christ with earnest, definite faith and unquenchable love. His life is bound up with Christ and his religion is freed from selfishness and covetousness as he lays hold of the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour. Jesus reigning in the body cleanses the heart of selfishness and perverse tempers so they do not govern conduct, shaping a life of kindness, humility, and self-control.
The power of self-control is a privilege made possible in Christ, so lack of it shows sin still reigns in the body. By resisting wrong and subduing evil temper, selfishness, and pride a person may rise in moral value and attain Christ's righteousness, since Christ is sufficient for a life directed by His strength, while sin degrades and has no place in heaven. Sin cannot reign in the life of one who loves God supremely with all heart, soul, strength, and mind, since a life conformed to Christ cannot be disobedient to God's commands. Obedience to God is the fruit borne by love, and love to neighbor prevents working ill to him, with the fruit of righteousness sown in peace by peacemakers. God's law lays claim on the whole person with no time excepted, so complete obedience is the only condition that meets its requirement, rewarded in the present life and the life to come, while those who let sin reign and do not continue in all things written in the law are cursed, shall die, shall not see life, and the wrath of God abides on them.
Practical Obedience in Life
Letting sin reign is refused when appetite and passions are brought under the control of the intelligent will, for indulgence weakens understanding and spiritual judgment and exposes a person to further temptation, and temperance belongs to obedience and holiness with body and mind kept devoted to God's service rather than obeying sinful desires. Eating and drinking and all bodily habits are to be brought under God's instruction rather than appetite, so that wrong habits of diet, indulgence of appetite at the expense of health, and intemperance are forms of letting sin reign. Walking in the light, self-denial, intelligence in health principles, and temperance are forms of yielding the self to God as alive from the dead and the members as instruments of righteousness to God, reckoning the self dead indeed to sin but alive to God through Jesus Christ, so that God is glorified in body and spirit. Even advocates of the claims of God's law break the command when they encourage and educate wrong appetites, refusing to heed God's warning and to become intelligent about the human habitation and closing the eyes to light on health. For those living in the last days of this world's history this is a call to advance in reform of table habits for Christ's sake.
There is solemn obligation to keep the spirit pure and the body healthy in order to be a benefit to humanity and to render perfect service to God. The animal nature must not be allowed to predominate over the intellectual and moral powers, and sexual desire must be controlled by sanctified principle. In married life brutal lustful passion that outrages tender sensibilities is forbidden, and indulgence of base passion by husbands and fathers makes families unhappy and brings languor and depression. The body is to be kept from sinful acts and consecrated to God with its members used as instruments of righteousness, for when the body serves lust the mind cannot remain consecrated to God, and preserving a sanctified mind requires keeping the body pure and honoring God's law. The freedom of Christ's followers is not freedom to disregard that law but is experienced by those who obey it.
Resisting bodily appetites belongs to earnest steady effort to live purely and to grow in holiness, requiring temperance in all things and in appetite and the overcoming of established habits that enslave the body. Keeping the spirit pure for the Holy Spirit, obeying God's commandments, and loving God and neighbor are ways of living loyally to God. Bodily appetites and passions can foster intemperance, selfishness, rebellion against God, and failures to love others, so keeping the body under control is part of serving God and resisting sin. That resistance involves self-denial and control of the passions, and learning about sin's bondage and defilement and about salvation and redemption from them.
Sin is not to rule in the mortal bodies of those who have committed themselves body and soul to Christ, so in family life parents are to teach and correct as Christ did and every member of the household is to be brought under God's will and way. To say that passions cannot be overcome by one who names Christ and must depart from iniquity is a terrible admission, for weakness comes from strengthening animal propensities by exercise until they gain ascendancy over the higher powers. Pampering natural appetites destroys principle and the power of self-government and leaves men and women dying spiritually, with lower passions taking the reins and the governing power becoming the servant of corrupt passion and holding the soul in lowest bondage, where sensuality quenches desire for holiness and withers spiritual prosperity.
Those made new in Christ no longer let sin rule their bodily life, and the change appears as practical godliness with grace abiding in the heart producing industry, frugality, and economy. Avarice, dishonesty in trade, overreaching, every kind of dishonesty, covetousness as idolatry, and unkindness of disposition are put away, and in their place the renewed person shows kindness, forbearance, and generosity, thereby confessing Christ dwelling within as the hope of glory. The body and its physical powers are God's gifts to be cared for and used without waste or abuse in trust in the Savior for victory. Lustful passions and lower passions and baser propensities are to be mastered rather than obeyed, and overcoming them is necessary for a life shaped by the Holy Spirit.