What did Paul mean in Romans 6:12 經過, 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, 和魔鬼的國度; 黑暗, 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.
那些, who are born again in Christ and are born of God, are transformed from the darkness into the light and belong to God (哦. 歌羅西書 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; 黑暗, and is a liar and has sinned from the beginning and represents sin, iniquity, 和死亡.
那些, who belong to him through natural birth, shall obey him and walk after the flesh in darkness, 在罪中, and iniquity.
The sons of God and the sons of the devil
小孩子, 不要讓任何人欺騙你: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, 即使他是正義的. 犯罪的人是屬魔鬼的; 因為魔鬼從一開始就犯罪. 為此目的，神的兒子顯現出來, 以便他摧毀魔鬼的作為. 凡從神生的就不犯罪; 因為他的種子仍在他體內: 他不能犯罪, 因為他是由神而生. 神的兒女在此顯明, 和魔鬼的孩子們: 凡不行義的，就不是出於神, 不愛弟兄的人也一樣 (1 約翰 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 (馬修 7:15-19, 路克 6:43-45).
所以, 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 (另請閱讀: God’s Word is settled forever! 和 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 (另請閱讀: 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
因此，不要讓罪在你必死的身體上作王, 叫你們順從它的私慾. 也不要將你們的肢體獻給罪惡，作為不義的工具: 但要將自己降服於神, 就像那些從死裡復活的人一樣, 和你的肢體作為上帝公義的工具. 因為罪惡不會統治你: 因為你們不在律法之下, 但在恩典之下 (羅馬書 6:12-14)
知道這一點, 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 (另請閱讀: Can you use the broken world as an excuse? 和 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 (另請閱讀: 許多牧師正在帶領羊群走向深淵 和 侮辱上帝的錯誤教義).
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
但事實是, that in Christ Jesus you have been made free from sin, 死亡, 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, 力量, 可能, 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 (另請閱讀: 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, 這是罪孽.
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 (另請閱讀: 什麼是光之裝甲? 和 What is the armor of darkness?)
The new creation is not under the law but under grace
那怎麼辦? 我們會犯罪嗎, 因為我們不受法律約束, 但在恩典之下? 上帝禁止. 你不知道嗎, 你們把自己當作僕人來服從, 你們是他的僕人，你們要服從他; 是否犯了至於死的罪, 或順從正義? 但感謝上帝, 你們是罪的奴僕, 但你們從心底服從了交付給你們的教義形式. 然後就脫離了罪孽, 你們成了正義的僕人.
因為你肉體的軟弱，我照人的方式說話: 因為你們使你們的肢體成為污穢的奴僕，成為罪孽的奴僕。; 即使這樣，現在也要讓你們的肢體成為公義的僕人，以致聖潔. 因為當你們還是罪的奴僕時, 你們脫離了正義. 你們當時在那些你們現在感到羞恥的事上有什麼果子呢？? 因為那些事情的結局就是死亡.
但現在已經脫離了罪孽, 並成為神的僕人, 你們已經結出聖潔的果子, 和永生的終結. 因為罪的工價就是死亡; 但神的恩賜是透過我們的主耶穌基督而獲得永生 (羅馬書 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.
所以, 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, 在肉體中統治.
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.
聖經說, 那個每個人, 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. 提圖斯 1:16, 1 約翰 1:5-7; 2:3-6; 3:4-24).
Let sin no longer reign as king, but let Christ; 這個單字, reign as King in your life!
‘成為地球之鹽’
