Instruments of Righteousness. Romans 6:12-14 V.12. Living under the law leads to death, in contrast to living by faith in the grace that leads to righteousness and life being lived as it should be to the glory of God. Our union with Christ is through the Spirit. We live here on earth in our physical bodies of flesh, but our spiritual life is in Christ, who is with us the same here as He is in heaven. He is in us on earth and we are in Him in heaven.
It takes personal discipline to live as a Christian successfully. Discipline can be one of the greatest benefits of a believer’s life. It can open to us many things that delight our souls. Living by faith is the way to knowing fulfillment in the pursuit of life’s true goals. When we obey the Lord, instead of grief and bondage, we will find meaning and joy in life. We are already on the winning side.
V.13. It is a fact that we have died to sin and we are now alive in Christ. But the application of that fact to the various members of our body is a matter of our will. "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness." With the mouth confession is made that testifies as to what has happened. Because of this new position in Christ that has freed us from the bondage Adam had placed us under as our representative head, we do have authority and potential control over the instruments of our body. These tools of the flesh do not rule us, we rule them. It is up to us to take control of their potential for good or evil.
How can this be done? By deliberately choosing to obey God and refuse the actions that lead to sin, we assume an attitude that must be taken. Our feelings toward sin are not dead. The old man is attracted by them. By faith, we obey God, who commands us to be dead to sin and alive to the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to know our weaknesses and the things that tempt us. Those things that tempt and attract us, we must remove ourselves from, and stay away from by practicing self-restraint. It is important that believers develop good habits and areas of service for God that fill our "instruments" so the Holy Spirit can give us the power to do God's will.
V.14. We are waiting for the redemption of our bodies but that won't happen until the Lord comes. We cannot permit our bodies to control us. By reckoning ourselves as having died, we live another kind of life where our hands, feet, eyes, ears, and instruments of our bodies are directed to what God has for them to do. This is not really what consecration is but an attitude within our power to take. As we really are positionally in God's sight, is how we are to present ourselves. In particular, the instruments of our bodies are like tools to be used for appropriate purposes. They were used for sin. Now they are instruments to be used for righteousness.
Sin is not our master that uses the law to make its demands and then says blessings will come later if we fulfill its commandments. We are not under that law that would leave us helpless and in permanent bondage because we cannot fulfill it. Our position now is under grace that blesses us first and then empowers us to bring fruit after.