In my last post I highlighted the reality of spiritual warfare and using the example of discouragement pointed out that spiritual victory was found in obeying the scriptural injunction to give thanks in all things to change our feeling state and perspective. Here we will look at a key passage related to spiritual victory.
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. Romans 6:12–14 (NKJV)
Here in Romans 6 Paul directs us to not allow sin to reign in our lives, which assumes we are able to live this out. To facilitate our understanding we look at one more passage which is regularly looked at in relation to spiritual victory.
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 2 Corinthians 10:4–5 (NKJV)
We begin connecting the dots by looking at a key Greek word.
ὅπλον hoplon; a prim. word; a tool, implement, weapon:—armor(1), instruments(2), weapons(3).[1]
The word ‘weapons’ in 2 Corinthians 10:4 is hoplon, it is also the word used twice in Romans 6:13 and translated as ‘instruments.’ An instrument is a tool we can use. A translators note in my bible at Romans 6:13 points out that ‘instruments’ could also be translated as ‘weapons.’ So Paul could have just as easily written ‘instruments’ in 2 Corinthians 10. Now we can bring some things together.
Let me begin with a crude analogy. A hammer is an instrument that can be used to build a house or be handled as a tool to tear things down or a weapon used to harm. The use is determined by the user. In our case we need to see our bodies as both instruments and weapons of righteousness. This encompasses our thoughts, actions and attitudes.
In Romans 6 Paul’s primary point is that we break the dominion of sin over our lives by presenting our bodies to God is ‘instruments of righteousness.’ This echoes the well-known Romans 12:1-2, which Paul comes to later. However, the injunction in 6:13 also follows on the heels of Paul’s teaching on baptism. We need to see the precedent to achieve the outcome.
Paul focuses on the importance and impact of baptism in Romans 6. After explaining how going into the water is like going into the grave and rising to a new life Paul tells us that in Christ, we are called to consider our old life a thing of the past and leave it in the past. He states it this way.
11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:11 (NKJV)
We are to let of the old and focus on the new. We are to see our body as in ‘instrument of righteousness’ set apart for His purposes. This obviously is to impact how we live.
We walk in spiritual victory over temptation and darkness by how we view what He has accomplished in our lives and our identification with His death and resurrection. Over two decades the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, “Become who you are.” This meant I needed to find my identify in Jesus as a new creation. However, the qualifier is that to live out a new creation identity I need to let go of my identity as an old creation. That is the point of baptism in Romans 6. I leave my old identity, habits and views in the grave and rise to walk in newness of life keeping in step with the Spirit and renew my mind based on His word. We may at times revert to our old identity but our call is to reckon the past as dead and gone and focus on our new life in Christ. This is the path to spiritual victory. As Paul put it elsewhere, particularly in verse 6.
4 I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, 5 hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, 6 that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. Philemon 4–6 (NKJV)
Next week we will look at how to apply this in relation to Galatians 5 and the role of repentance.
[1] Robert L. Thomas, New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries : Updated Edition (Anaheim: Foundation Publications, Inc., 1998).
