Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

                                                                                                                 Romans 6:12-14 

Good behavior is often thought of as being synonymous with the Christian life and it should be. But today’s passage gives us some insight on exactly how we, as believers, should battle against sin in our lives.

First, Paul tells us that we are not to allow sin to reign in our body. When someone or something reigns, it exercises the highest level of influence or control. When we allow sin to reign, we are giving our lusts and desires the highest level of influence in our lives. In other words, those desires become the controlling factor in our decision-making.

Secondly, when we allow sin to reign, we are then at the mercy of obeying its lusts. Everyone has a master and lord. Whether it is God or some other person, place, or thing, we all have someone or something in which we bow the knee. That is the object of our worship and becomes the driving force behind our decisions. When sin (no matter what it happens to be) becomes our master, we are then powerless to obey its lusts. This can be sexual lust, greed, anger, gossip, bitterness, hatred, a lack of forgiveness, or just apathy when it comes to our relationship with Jesus Christ.

But thirdly, Paul tells us why we, as believers in Jesus, are not powerless to do battle against these lusts. If we are born again believers in Jesus Christ, we have the power of the Holy Spirit within us to assist us in doing battle against sin. We are, in reality, those who are no longer spiritually dead rather we are spiritually alive. Consider these powerful words regarding our salvation:

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

                                                                                                   2 Corinthians 5:17 

For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

                                                                                                               Colossians 1:13-14

As Christians, we have been rescued. We have been transferred into the kingdom of God. We are now new creations in Jesus equipped to say “no” to the things of the world and to the evil that is so pervasive in our world. This is one of two reasons why we can be victorious over sin in our lives.

But lastly, Paul gives us another reason why we are powerful to do battle against sin. As believers, we are no longer under law rather we are under grace. This goes against human logic regarding good behavior. We might be tempted to believe that the more we stress legalistic, stringent, and difficult demands, the greater adherence we will see to that moral code. The opposite is actually true. The more latitude we are given to move and breathe and live, the more we are likely to be obedient to the One who has given us life.

Many a parent has seen their children become openly rebellious after enduring a demanding, stringent, and difficult childhood. In other words, the more authoritarian our style (whether pastoring, parenting, or instructing), the more we will see a trend away from that which we are trying to convey. “It was for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1). It is that forgiveness, peace, and freedom that comes from knowing Jesus that propels us to avoid sin and to eagerly seek after the things of God. In other words, when the love of God permeates our lives, we gladly want to be where He is and do the things that He does. And when we do fail, we know that forgiveness is readily available. We no longer avoid sin out of a fear of worrying what will happen if we fail rather we joyfully seek godly things because we prefer them over the things of the world. This is what it means to be under grace rather than to be under law.

As Christians, we have the power to keep sin from gaining control over our lives. Yes, we will sin, but we do not bow our knee to that sin nor are we helpless to obey its lusts. We are now new creations in Jesus, living in God’s grace, and are no longer under the law. And because of this, we are more than victorious over the trappings of the world!

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.                                                                                                           

                                                                                                            1 Corinthians 10:13 

…in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

                                                                                                                   Ephesians 6:16