Instruments of Righteousness

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.  Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

Romans 6:12-13

After telling us in verse 12 that we should not let “sin reign in our mortal bodies.”  We should not obey sin now that we have, through Jesus Christ, been freed from sin.  Verse 14 continues that thought.

It talks about “our members,” meaning our bodies and our lives.  We should not yield our members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin.  We should, instead, yield ourselves to God as instruments of righteousness.

Which one are we doing today?

How are we living our lives?  What are we living our lives for?  What do we do with ourselves every day?  We are all spending our lives as we live and we are either spending it for ourselves, our flesh, and the Devil by yielding ourselves to sin or we are spending it for the Lord by yielding ourselves to Him to be “instruments of righteousness.”

That should be the goal of every Christian.  We should all want to be “instruments of righteousness.”  We should want God to work in us and through us.  But, in order for that to happen, we are going to have to yield ourselves to Him.  Too many Christians yield themselves to be instruments of unrighteousness.  Too many Christians, while being freed from sin, still want to serve sin.  We need to serve the Lord.  Being saved, we can serve the Lord and we be instruments of righteousness.  And we should be instruments of righteousness.

The question for today is this – are we?

 

Rescue the Perishing (Hymn)

Rescue the Perishing
Fanny Crosby (1869)

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;
Weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen,
Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save.

Refrain
Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.

Though they are slighting Him, still He is waiting,
Waiting the penitent child to receive;
Plead with them earnestly, plead with them gently;
He will forgive if they only believe.

Refrain

Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter,
Feelings lie buried that grace can restore;
Touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness,
Chords that were broken will vibrate once more.

Refrain

Rescue the perishing, duty demands it;
Strength for thy labor the Lord will provide;
Back to the narrow way patiently win them;
Tell the poor wand’rer a Savior has died.

Refrain

The more hymns by Fanny Crosby I write about on this blog, the more convicted I am.  Fanny Crosby was blind and yet accomplished so much for the Lord during her lifetime.  We are still reading about, enjoying, being encouraged by and singing the songs that she wrote well over one hundred years ago.  This hymn is also convicting because it speaks of “rescuing the perishing.”  We should all be witnessing for the Lord and I have a feeling that none of us are doing as well as we could or should.  We can all be doing something for the Lord!

Psalm Saturday (6e)

O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.  Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for I am weak: O Lord, heal me; for my bones are vexed.  My soul is sore vexed: but thou O Lord, how long?  Return, O Lord, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies’ sake.  For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?  I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.  Mine eyes consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies.  Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping.  The Lord hath heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer.  Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed: let them return and be ashamed suddenly.

Psalm 6:1-10

This Psalm of distress and mercy ends with a positive note.  In the last three verses, the Psalmist has his prayers answered.  The Lord has heard his cries and received his prayer.  He has gained victory over his enemies.

When we read the first several verses of the Psalm, we come away thinking that this man is in the depths of despair and will never find his way out.  But we later find out that the Lord heard his prayer and helped him.  The Lord turned his misery into victory.  And He can and will do the same for us.

When we feel despair, we need to react to it the same way this Psalmist did – take it to the Lord and leave it with Him.  He will hear our prayers and He will give us the victory!

Reckon Yourselves Dead to Sin

Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

Romans 6:11-12

This whole chapter has been all about what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross.  When He died on the cross for us, our “old man,” or, our flesh, was crucified there with Him.  And, when our flesh was crucified with Him, we were freed from it’s power over us.  We no longer have to serve sin.  We can now walk in newness of life.  We were slaves to sin and have now been freed.

In light of these truths, we come to verses 11 and 12.  They implore us to live in light of what has been done for us.  They implore us to make use of this great truth in our everyday lives.

We are told to “reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  Positionally, we are dead to sin and alive to God through Jesus.  But we need to put that position into practice.  We need to reckon ourselves to be dead to sin.  We need to reckon ourselves to be alive to God through Jesus.  When sin tempts us, we need to remember that we are dead to that.  We are alive to the Lord.  We can obey Him and we can do His will.

Verse 12 tells us to “let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.”  We, as Christians who have been given victory over sin, should never let sin reign in us.  We were once servants of sin.  But Jesus freed us.  We should never want to go back and serve sin again.  We should serve the Lord Jesus.  How are we doing today?

Death and Life

Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.  For he that is dead is freed from sin.  Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:  Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.  For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

Romans 6:6-10

These verses continue with the theme of Romans chapter 6, which is the relationship of our new life in Christ and our old life in the flesh.  The two could not be farther apart.

This passage tells us that “…if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.”  Because we live with Him and in Him, we have “newness of life.”  This passage also tells us that “…death hath no more dominion over him.”  Jesus Christ conquered death and the grave on the cross.  Death has no more power over Him.  The grave has no power over Him.  In the same way, as we live in Him and walk in our newness of life, sin has no more power over us.  Sin has no more dominion over us.  Jesus conquered our sin for us.  We no longer have to serve it.

Our old man “is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed.”  Our old man is dead.  The new man is alive, but, as the Bible says “…in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.”  Our new life is in Christ.  Our new life is lived “unto God.”

God is everything to us.  Jesus is everything to us.  And, as long as we keep it that way, we will have a wonderful Christian life.  We will avoid sin and we will serve the Saviour.  We have passed from death unto life.  We should live like it!

 

The Old Man

Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

Romans 6:4-6

Romans chapter 6 deals with the issue of our new life in Christ.  We are said to be buried with Him in His death and raised with Him to walk in newness of life.  Verse 6 tells us about the “old man.”  The “old man” in the Scripture is not a reference to a male who happens to be old.  The “old man” in the Scripture refers to our flesh, our natural sinful nature.  That is the “old man.”  The “new man” refers to our new, alive spiritual nature that we receive from the Lord Jesus at salvation.

In this verse, the Bible tells us that “our old man is crucified with him.”  Our flesh was crucified with Jesus on the cross.  It is dead.  The reason for this is “that the body of sin might be destroyed.”  That inborn sinful nature is dead, left on the cross.  And, because of that glorious truth, “henceforth we should not serve sin.”  We don’t have to serve sin any more.  We don’t have to serve our flesh any more.  Before salvation, we were slaves to sin.  We served it and it ruled our lives, whether we realized it or not.  But now, we are freed from that.  Our “old man” has been crucified and we are free.

We know that we no longer have to serve sin.  Are we living in newness of life or are trying to serve sin and our crucified flesh?

Walking in Newness of Life

Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Romans 6:3-4

Romans 6:4 tells us that we are buried with Christ in His death and that we, like Him, have been raised from the dead.  Because of this, the verse tells us that we should “walk in newness of life.”

The imagery here is that, just as Jesus died on the cross and lay in the grave, we were dead in sins.  And, just as He rose from the grave with new life, He gave us  new life.  And, now that we have new life, we should live and walk in that new life.

Jesus was not the same after He rose from the grave.  Before, while He lived on the Earth, he was subject to the same things to which we are subject: hunger, thirst, exhaustion, etc.  But when He rose from the grave, He had “newness of life.”  He ascended to Heaven.  He appeared wherever He wanted to be.  He was different.

While we are not going to be physically different after we are saved, we definitely should be different.  We were dead and are now alive.  That in itself is a major difference.  We have new life and our lives should reflect that.  We should hate sin with a new passion.  We should start showing forth the fruit of the spirit in our lives.  We should start loving people and wanting to help them.  Our attitude should be different and our spirit should be different because our heart is different.

How are we living and walking today?

 

Dead to Sin

What shall we say then?  Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Romans 6:1-3

Verse one of this passage asks the question “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?”  After we are saved by the Lord Jesus, should we keep sinning?  Of course, the answer is no.  We shouldn’t keep sinning.  In fact, we should try to avoid sinning.  We should run away from it as fast as possible.

Verses 2 and 3 carry the idea a little farther.  Both of them give us the idea that we are “dead to sin.”  The unsaved person is lost in his sin.  He has nothing but sin in his life.  But when a person accepts Jesus Christ as their Saviour, they are now “dead to sin” and alive to righteousness.   Now that person doesn’t have to sin.  They are freed from sin.  They are no more slaves to sin.

We are no longer dead to sin, but we are now alive in Jesus Christ.  Our lives are hid in Him.  Our lives should no longer be about us and what we want, but about Him and what He wants.  We should no longer serve sin, but serve the Saviour.  As it says elsewhere in the Scriptures, we should reckon ourselves dead to sin.

Being dead to sin will help us to avoid sin.  We don’t have to worry about sin if we will truly understand that we (along with our pride and sinful desires) are dead.  It is Christ Who is alive in us and through us.  Are we living like we are dead to sin or are we still serving our flesh?

 

Redeemed (Hymn)

Redeemed!
Fanny Crosby (1882)

Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it!
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed through His infinite mercy,
His child and forever I am.

Refrain
Redeemed, redeemed,
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed, redeemed,
His child and forever I am.

Redeemed, and so happy in Jesus,
No language my rapture can tell;
I know that the light of His presence
With me doth continually dwell.

Refrain

I think of my blessed Redeemer,
I think of Him all the day long:
I sing, for I cannot be silent;
His love is the theme of my song.

Refrain

I know there’s a crown that is waiting,
In yonder bright mansion for me,
And soon, with the spirits made perfect,
At home with the Lord I shall be.

Refrain

Fanny Crosby was a wonderful hymn writer and I have written about many of her hymns on this blog.  Here is yet another great example of her work for the Lord.  The first verse sums it up best for me: “Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it!  Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb; Redeemed through His infinite mercy, His child and forever I am.”  I will simply say “amen” to that!

Psalm Saturday (6d)

O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.  Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for I am weak: O Lord, heal me; for my bones are vexed.  My soul is sore vexed: but thou O Lord, how long?  Return, O Lord, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies’ sake.  For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?  I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.  Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies.

Psalm 6:1-7

In verses 6 and 7, the author of this Psalm pours out his heart to God.  He seems to be on the border of despair.  He is apparently exhausted with grief and crying.  His enemies are after him and is “consumed with grief.”  He is having some serious problems.

This passage might seem a little depressing, but it shows us what to do when we have problems, no matter how big or small they might be.  We need to bring them to the Lord and pray about them.  We need to keep bringing them to the Lord and keep trusting in Him.

I pity people who don’t know the Lord.  I don’t know how they get through the tough times.  I don’t know how they deal with grief and despair.  We, as Christians, need to be thankful every day that we know a God who will listen to us and will help us whenever we come to Him.