Romans 6:12

{6} Let not sin therefore {o} reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. (6) An exhortation to contend and strive with corruption and all the effects of it. (o) By reigning Paul means that principal and high rule which no man strives against, and even if anyone does, it is in vain.

Let not sin therefore: q.d. Seeing this is the case, that you are dead to sin, baptized into Christ, are planted together into the likeness of his death, &c., therefore the rather hearken to and obey the following exhortation. By sin he means the sin or corruption of our nature, the same that before he called the old man, and the body of sin. There are remainders thereof in the regenerate; in them it is mortified, but not eradicated; therefore to them this exhortation is not unnecessary. Reign; he doth not say, let it not be or reside, but let it not reign or preside; let it not bear sway or have dominion in you; let it not have the upper hand of the motions of the Spirit of God. In your mortal body; the body (called here a mortal or frail body ) is put by a synecdoche for the whole man; and he the rather makes mention of the body, because the parts and members thereof are the usual instruments of sin. Therefore it follows in the next verse, Neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness. That ye should obey it in the lusts thereof; i.e. that you should obey sin in the lust of the body. The gender of the relative article of the Greek, requires it should be so read and understood. The meaning is not as if lusts were in the body alone, for Christ teacheth the contrary, Matthew 15:19,20 ; but because all sinful lusts do mostly show and manifest themselves in and through the body, Galatians 5:19 .

(12-14) Practical and hortatory consequence. Therefore expel sin, and refuse to obey its evil promptings. Keep your bodies pure and clean. Let them no longer be weapons in the hands of wickedness; let them rather be weapons with which to fight the battle of righteousness and of God. You have every encouragement to do this. For sin shall no longer play the tyrant over you. The stern and gloomy Empire of Law (which only served to heighten the guilt of sin) is over, and in its stead the only power to which you are subject is that of free forgiveness. (12) Mortal.—And therefore at variance with the immortal life just described.

Romans 6:12-14. Let not sin — Any sinful disposition or inclination; therefore — Since you are regenerate and spiritually alive; reign in your mortal body — That is, reign in your soul while it dwells in your body. Many of our sinful inclinations have their seat in the body, and such evil inclinations as are of a more spiritual nature, are always some way more or less turned toward the body. That ye should obey it — Should yield to and be overcome by it; in the lusts thereof — In the irregular or inordinate desires which it excites within you. Neither yield ye your members — The members of your bodies, or the faculties of your minds; the word μελη , here used, as also chapter Romans 7:5 , signifying both, and indeed every thing in us and belonging to us, which is employed as an instrument in performing the works of the flesh, enumerated Galatians 5:19-21 . For some of these do not require the members of the body to their being performed, but are wholly confined in their operation to the mind. Hence, Colossians 3:5 , evil desire and covetousness are mentioned among our members upon the earth which we are to mortify. As instruments of unrighteousness — Employed in its service; unto sin — For the committing of it.

The original word οπλα , rendered instruments, properly denotes military weapons; and may be here used to signify, that those who employ their powers, whether of body or mind, or any ability they possess, in the service of sin, do in fact fight for it, and for its master and father, Satan; and the principalities and powers under his command, against God and Christ, and all the company of heaven. But yield yourselves unto God — Your lawful king, governor, and captain: dedicate yourselves, both body and soul, to his service; as those that are alive from the dead — Who, after having been spiritually dead, are quickened and put in possession of spiritual life; that is, are no longer alienated from the life of God, but have vital union with God; not as formerly, carnally minded, which is death, but spiritually minded, which is life and peace, chap. Romans 8:6 ; no longer under condemnation to the second death, but justified and entitled to eternal life; and your members — All your powers and abilities; as instruments of righteousness — Instruments employed in the promotion of piety and virtue; unto God — For his service and to his glory; or as weapons, to fight his battles, and oppose the designs of your spiritual enemies. For sin shall not have dominion over you — It has no right, and shall not have power to reign over you. The word κυριευσει , denotes the government of a master over his slave, and might be rendered, shall not lord it over you.

Romans 6:12 f. Practical enforcement of Romans 6:1-11 . The inner life is in union with Christ, and the outer (bodily) life must not be inconsistent with it (Weiss). ἐν τῷ θνητῷ ὑμῶν σώματι : the suggestion of θνητὸς is rather that the frail body should be protected against the tyranny of sin, than that sin leads to the death of the body. μηδὲ παριστάνετε … ἀλλὰ παραστήσατε : and do not go on, as you have been doing, putting your members at the service of sin, but put them once for all at the service of God. For the difference between pres. and aor. imper., see Winer, p. 393 f. ὅπλα ἀδικίας : the gen is of quality, cf. Luke 16:8-9 . ὅπλα in the N.T. seems always to mean weapons, not instruments: see 2 Corinthians 10:4 ; 2 Corinthians 10:6-7 , and cf. ὀψώνια , Romans 6:23 . ὡσεὶ ἐκ νεκρῶν ζῶντας : they were really such; the ὡσεὶ signifies that they are to think of themselves as such, and to act accordingly.

Verse 12. - Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey the lusts thereof . (The reading of the Textus Receptus, "obey it in the lusts thereof," has but weak support.) Though our "old man" is conceived of as crucified with Christ - though this is theoretically and potentially our position - yet our actual lives may be at variance with it; for we are still in our present "mortal body," with its lusts remaining; and sin is still a power, not yet destroyed, which may , if we let it, have domination over us still. Regeneration is not regarded as having changed our nature, or eradicated all our evil propensions, but as having introduced into us a higher power - "the power of his resurrection" ( Philippians 3:10 ) - in virtue of which we may resist the attempted domination of sin. But it still rests with us whether we will give our allegiance to sin or to Christ. Οὐ γὰρ τὴν φύσιν η΅λθεν ἀνελεῖν ἀλλὰ τὴν προαίρεσιν διορθῶσαι (Chrysostom). The lusts, obedience to which is equivalent to letting sin reign, are said to be those of our "mortal body," because it is in our present bodily organization that the lusts tempting us to evil rise. But it is not in their soliciting us, but in the will assenting to them, that the sin lies. "Quia non consentimus desideriis pravis in gratia sumus" (Augustine, 'Prop.,' 35). "Cupiditates corporis sunt fomes, peccatum ignis" (Bengel).

The epithet θνητῷ ("mortal") is fitly used as distinguishing our present perishable framework - the earthen vessels in which we have our treasure ( 2 Corinthians 4:7 ) - from our real inward personality, ἔσωθεν ἄνθρωπος ( 2 Corinthians 4:16 ), which is regarded as having risen with Christ, so as to live to God for ever. "Vos enim, viventes, abalienati estis a corpore vestro (cf. Romans 8:10 )" (Bengel). Romans 6:12

Ro 6:12-23. What Practical Use Believers Should Make of Their Death to Sin and Life to God through Union to the Crucified Saviour. Not content with showing that his doctrine has no tendency to relax the obligations to a holy life, the apostle here proceeds to enforce these obligations. 12. Let not sin therefore—as a Master reign—(The reader will observe that wherever in this section the words "Sin," "Obedience," "Righteousness," "Uncleanness," "Iniquity," are figuratively used, to represent a Master, they are here printed in capitals, to make this manifest to the eye, and so save explanation). in your mortal body, that ye should obey it—sin. in the lusts thereof—"the lusts of the body," as the Greek makes evident. (The other reading, perhaps the true one, "that ye should obey the lusts thereof," comes to the same thing). The "body" is here viewed as the instrument by which all the sins of the heart become facts of the outward life, and as itself the seat of the lower appetites; and it is called "our mortal body," probably to remind us how unsuitable is this reign of sin in those who are "alive from the dead." But the reign here meant is the unchecked dominion of sin within us. Its outward acts are next referred to.