What did Paul mean in Romans 6:12 deur, 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. Die koninkryk van God, which is the Kingdom of Light, waar Jesus Christus Koning is en regeer, en die koninkryk van die duiwel; die donkerte, 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.
Dié, who are born again in Christ and are born of God, are transformed from the darkness into the light and belong to God (O. Kolossense 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; die donkerte, and is a liar and has sinned from the beginning and represents sin, iniquity, en die dood.
Dié, who belong to him through natural birth, shall obey him and walk after the flesh in darkness, In sonde, and iniquity.
The sons of God and the sons of the devil
Klein kindertjies, laat niemand julle mislei nie: hy wat geregtigheid doen, is regverdig, even as he is righteous. Hy wat sonde doen, is van die duiwel; want die duiwel sondig van die begin af. Vir hierdie doel is die Seun van God geopenbaar, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Elkeen wat uit God gebore is, doen nie sonde nie; for his seed remaineth in him: en hy kan nie sondig nie, want hy is uit God gebore. Hierin is die kinders van God geopenbaar, en die kinders van die duiwel: elkeen wat nie geregtigheid doen nie, is nie uit God nie, ook nie hy wat sy broer nie liefhet nie (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 (Matteus 7:15-19, Lukas 6:43-45).
Daarom, 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 (Lees ook: God se Woord is vir ewig gevestig! En 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 (Lees ook: 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, maar onder genade (Romeine 6:12-14)
Om dit te weet, 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 (Lees ook: Can you use the broken world as an excuse? en Bly jy altyd 'n sondaar?).
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 (Lees ook: Baie herders lei die skape die afgrond in en Valse leerstellings wat 'n belediging vir God is).
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
Maar die waarheid is, that in Christ Jesus you have been made free from sin, dood, en hel. 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, krag, mag, en heerskappy, en elke naam wat genoem word. 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 (Lees ook: Hoe Jesus die verbond met die dood en die ooreenkoms met die hel verbreek het).
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, wat sonde is.
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 (Lees ook: Wat is die wapenrusting van lig? en What is the armor of darkness?)
The new creation is not under the law but under grace
Wat dan? sal ons sondig, omdat ons nie onder die wet is nie, maar onder genade? die Here behoed. Weet julle nie, dit aan wie julle julleself diensknegte oorgee om gehoorsaam te wees, sy dienaars is aan wie julle gehoorsaam is; hetsy van die sonde tot die dood toe, of van gehoorsaamheid aan geregtigheid? Maar God word gedank, dat julle die dienaars van die sonde was, maar julle het uit die hart gehoorsaam aan die vorm van lering wat julle verlos het. Om dan vrygemaak te word van sonde, julle het die dienaars van geregtigheid geword.
Ek spreek na die wyse van mense vanweë die swakheid van julle vlees: want soos julle julle lede diensknegte oorgegee het aan onreinheid en aan ongeregtigheid tot ongeregtigheid; oorgee nou julle lidmate diensknegte aan geregtigheid tot heiligheid. Want toe julle die dienaars van die sonde was, julle was vry van geregtigheid. Watter vrug het julle dan gehad in die dinge waarvan julle julle nou skaam? want die einde van daardie dinge is die dood.
Maar nou word hy vrygemaak van sonde, en word dienaars van God, julle het julle vrugte tot heiligheid, en die einde van die ewige lewe. Want die loon van die sonde is die dood; maar die gawe van God is die ewige lewe deur Jesus Christus, ons Here, (Romeine 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.
Daarom, 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, wat in die vlees heers.
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.
Die Woord sê, 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).
Laat sonde nie meer as koning heers nie, but let Christ; die woord, reign as King in your life!
‘Wees die sout van die aarde’
