What did Paul mean in Romans 6:12 by, let not sin therefore reign (reign as king) in your mortal body? What does this mean for the lives of Christians, who have become a new creation through regeneration in Christ?
The light and the darkness
A day is divided into two parts; the light that reigns in the day and the darkness that reigns in the night. The people belong to the day and not to the night. Therefore people live during the day and sleep at night, although there are some exceptions. The light and the darkness both reign on earth.
It’s the same in the spiritual realm, where there are two kingdoms. The Kingdom of God, which is the Kingdom of Light, where Jesus Christ is King and reigns, and the kingdom of the devil; the darkness, where the devil is king (the ruler) and reigns.
Jesus Christ is the Light of the world and is holy and righteous and represents the holiness and righteousness of God and represents life.
Those, who are born again in Christ and are born of God, are transformed from the darkness into the light and belong to God (a.o. Colossians 1:13-14).
They are no longer sons of the devil, but they have become sons of God and shall obey God the Father and His Word and walk holy and righteous after the Spirit in the light.
The devil is not holy and doesn’t belong to God, but is an archangel, who has fallen from his position through his pride and disobedience to God, and has established his own kingdom on earth through his lies and deception.
The devil is the ruler of the world; the darkness, and is a liar and has sinned from the beginning and represents sin, iniquity, and death.
Those, who belong to him through natural birth, shall obey him and walk after the flesh in darkness, in sin, and iniquity.
The sons of God and the sons of the devil
Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother (1 John 3:7-10)
The life of a person proves, who the person belongs to and obeys. Because as Jesus said, you will recognize the tree by its fruits (Matthew 7:15-19, Luke 6:43-45).
Therefore, if someone says, that he or she belongs to God, but lives in sin (persevere in sin), it proves that the person doesn’t belong to God, since the nature has not changed, because the nature of the old man wants to keep sinning and please himself instead of God.
People can have all kinds of opinions and findings and don’t agree with God and therefore change the words of God in such a subtle manner, that it seems that God tolerates everything and accept every lifestyle, but the Word of God; the Truth of God, is settled forever and shall eventually judge everyone according to his works (Read also: God’s Word is settled forever! And Let de Word be your judge).
You can submit to God and His Word and obey the Word or you can reject God through disobedience to His Word (Read also: God from many churches?).
But the grey area, tolerance of sin, and compromising with the world, do not exist in the Kingdom of God, but are imaginations aka lies of people, which derived from a darkened carnal mind.
Let sin no longer reign as king in your mortal body
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace (Romans 6:12-14)
Knowing this, let’s have a look at Romans 6:12, where Paul commanded not to let sin reign (reign as king) in the mortal body.
When does sin reign as king in your life? Sin reigns as king in your life, if you obey the lust of the flesh that goes against the will of God and His Word and Spirit, and you keep doing the works of the flesh, which are the works of unrighteousness.
The lies of a fallen world and the eternal sinner are often cited to embrace and accept sin and serve sin and therefore let sin reign as king in life (Read also: Can you use the broken world as an excuse? and Do you always remain a sinner?).
Instead of Christians obeying the Word and separating themselves from the world and having no fellowship with the works of darkness and don’t do the works of the flesh, but living from their new position in Christ and their new nature and submitting to God and His Word and live after the Spirit, they keep living after the flesh as a sinner.
Why is that? The main reason is false doctrines that are preached from the pulpits. There are many unspiritual people behind the pulpits, who may have a lot of Biblical knowledge and are charismatic and eloquent, but are not born again and don’t have the Holy Spirit abiding in them, and don’t see the Kingdom of God, because they have not entered the Kingdom of God and therefore they can’t represent and bring the Kingdom of God to the people. But they are still the old creation, who belong to the darkness and do the works of darkness and preach lies from their human carnal unrenewed mind (Read also: Many pastors are leading the sheep into the abyss and False doctrines that are an insult to God).
If you constantly keep hearing, that you are poor and that you have no power and that you are a sinner and that you will always remain a sinner, and that it doesn’t matter to God how you live, then you shall always have a victim mentality and live as a prisoner of the devil and a victim of death and sin shall reign as king in your life.
You have been made free from sin in Christ
But the truth is, that in Christ Jesus you have been made free from sin, death, and hell. Jesus Christ has overcome the death. Jesus has broken the covenant between man and death and the agreement between man and hell. Jesus Christ has the keys of hell and death and is glorified and seated above all principality, power, might, and dominion, and every name that is named. If you are born in Christ then you have received all power and all authority in Him to reign over sin and the will of the flesh (Read also: How Jesus broke the covenant with death and the agreement with hell).
If you have been delivered from the power of darkness and death, you shall no longer do the works of darkness and bear the fruit of death, which is sin.
You shall no longer yield your members as instruments (weapons) of unrighteousness unto sin, and you shall no longer walk in uncleanness in disobedience to God (in lawlessness), but you shall yield to God and yield your members as instruments of righteousness unto God and walk holy in obedience to God and bear the fruit of the Spirit (Read also: What is the armor of light? and What is the armor of darkness?)
The new creation is not under the law but under grace
What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:15-23)
If you have become a new creation and your flesh has died in Christ and your spirit is raised from the dead, then you have been made free from sin and death and death shall no longer reign over you, since you are no longer under the law but under grace.
Therefore, if you say that you are no longer under the law but under grace, you shall no longer walk in disobedience to God and His Word in sin, but you shall do what God says in His Word and live in obedience after His will.
If you keep walking after the flesh in disobedience to God and keep doing the works of the flesh, which God revealed in His Word, and therefore persevere in sin, then you have not been made free in Christ from sin and you are not under grace, but you still live under the law, which reigns in the flesh.
A son of God obeys God and does the will of the Word and the Spirit, whereby Christ reigns as King.
A son of the devil obeys the devil, who is the ruler of the world, and does the will of the flesh (the body and mind), whereby sin reigns as king.
Don’t be deceived by the words of people, but believe the words of God, which are the truth.
The Word says, that everyone, who sins (perseveres in sin) doesn’t know God and doesn’t belong to God, but belongs to the devil. Through obedience and righteousness, the sons of God are revealed and through disobedience and sin the sons of the devil are revealed (o.a. Titus 1:16, 1 John 1:5-7; 2:3-6; 3:4-24).
Let sin no longer reign as king, but let Christ; the Word, reign as King in your life!
‘Be the salt of the earth’
