I sometimes get lost in all the contrasts Paul uses as he makes his arguments. Do you?
What helps me is to pull out and list the parts he wants me to be and do/or not do. Here’s some of the list from today’s scriptures: We do not go on sinning. We have died to sin. We may live a new life. We are no longer slaves to sin.
Then, Paul exhorts/encourages his readers directly as he changes the pronouns from ‘we’ to ‘you’: Count yourself alive to God in Christ Jesus. Do not let sin reign in your body. Offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life. Offer every part of yourself to God as an instrument of righteousness. You are under grace.
Paul is giving good news. We have power over sin. Jesus’ death freed us from the power of sin which we used to experience. We still live in our human body and can struggle to live in our freedom from the power of sin. But, we can choose to do good and not sin. We are new people in Jesus. “We have a choice whether to allow the body to become an instrument…of unrighteousness or an instrument in service to God.” (Witherington, p. 163).
Today, may we be instruments in service to God…
