Present Yourselves to God

Bible Text: Romans 6:12-14 | Preacher: Alan Conner | Series: 2003, Romans

July 6, 2003                                                                                                                                        Northwest Bible Church

Worship Service                                                                                                                                Alan Conner

Rom. 6:12-14

Present Yourselves to God

 

INTRO

 

 

 

I.  NEGATIVE:  DO NOT PRESENT YOURSELVES TO SIN (Rom. 6:12-13a).

 

Based on the  knowledge about our union with Christ, and considering by faith these facts to be true concerning us, we now must bring it down on a practical level.  We must bring our life into conformity with God’s truth.

 

 

A.  Do not let sin reign in your mortal body (Rom. 6:12).

 

1) Sin wants to reign over you and be your king again.

 

2) The believer is still vulnerable to “seasons of sin.”

 

 

B. Do not present the members of your body to sin (Rom. 6:13a).

 

1) Your “members” include your hand, eyes, tongue, mind, affections of your soul, strength, or all the faculties of the soul and body, etc.

 

2) The “instruments” is used 5 times in the NT and consistently for “weapons”        (John 18:3; Rom. 6:13; 13:12; 2Cor. 6:7; 10:4).

 

3) Do not give your members to sin. Say NO to sin.

 

 

 

II.  POSITIVE:  DO PRESENT YOURSELVES TO GOD (Rom. 6:13b-14).

 

A.  Present yourself to God as those alive from the dead.

 

1) “present” –  paristhmi,  lit. “to stand alongside”

a) to present an offering (Rom.12:1).

b) to present a bride to the bridegroom (2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:27).

c) to present oneself for service (military).

 

2) “alive from the dead” – our presentation must be done with the realization that we are dead to sin and alive to God (Rom. 6:6).  The facts of Rom. 6:1-10 are in view.   The sovereignty of sin has been dethroned.

 

 

B.  Present your members as weapons of righteousness to God.   Use your members to fight for and promote righteousness. HOW SO?

 

1) It requires training (1 Tim. 4:7).

 

2) It requires taking every thought captive to Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).

 

3) It requires putting on the whole armor of God (Eph. 6).

 

4) “Present”  = aorist tense for the whole character of the life.  Each day we must by a conscience choice present our whole selves to God.

 

 

C.  Present yourself to God for righteousness because of God’s promise (Rom. 6:14).

 

1) Sin shall not be master over you.  We once were dead in sin, now we are dead to sin.

 

2) Reason :  We are not under law but under grace.

 

What does it mean that we are “not under law? –  We are no longer under the condemnation of the law (Rom. 8:1), the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13), the penalty of the law (Mt. 25:46), the law as the power of inciting sin (Rom. 7:5, 8; 1 Cor. 15:56), the law as a means of merit for justification (Rom. 3:28), the law in its ceremonial regulations (Hebrews).   To be “under law” means that you are devoid of the Spirit, sin is your master, you are its slave, your works are dead works which cannot save.

 

What does it mean to be “under grace? –   To be under grace means that your life is under the powerful influence of God’s grace which means that the penalty of sin is removed through the blood of Christ in the New Covenant (Rom. 3:21-26), the power of sin is broken (Rom. 6:6) because we have a new nature and are a new creature in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17), sin is not our master (Rom. 6:14), we have the Spirit of God and the life of Christ in us (Rom. 8:9-11), that we are dead to sin and alive to God (Rom. 6:11).  “If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law” (Gal. 5:18).

To be “under grace” guarantees perseverance in sanctification (Jer. 32:40; Jn. 6:39), thus those under grace cannot continue in sin.  God’s grace will conquer all sin in the end, our arrival in heaven is guaranteed.

 

 

CONCLUSION