Romans 6:13 - Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.
When we read this verse, we must be keenly aware of what it is really asking of us. The first part of the verse asks us not to allow any part of our bodies to “become an instrument of evil to serve sin.” It is our rationale and our love of symmetry that wants us to make the second part of this verse say “but allow your bodies to be an instrument of good to serve righteousness.” But that isn’t quite what it says. What it says first and foremost is “give yourselves completely to God.” The most important point here is not what good we might do for the sake of righteousness, but rather that we surrender ourselves to the Lord that he might do HIS work through us. What is the difference? It is a significant difference indeed. The former has us as nothing more than “good-deed-doers,” constantly seeking those “works” WE determine as righteous and good. The latter has us surrendered to God first, and doing only that which He would have us do for HIS glory. The former gives us too much credit for our ability to discern what needs doing. The latter gives God the power to direct us in our walk.
Chambers says beautifully what we need to take from this verse:
I cannot save and sanctify myself; I cannot atone for sin; I cannot redeem the world; I cannot make right what is wrong, pure what is impure, holy what is unholy. That is all the sovereign work of God. Have I faith in what Jesus Christ has done? He has made a perfect Atonement, am I in the habit of constantly realizing it? The great need is not to do things, but to believe things (emphasis mine).
When we truly believe what Christ has done for us, the outflow of that inevitably is altered behavior, but we must focus first on this sovereign work of God and allow his work in us to impact our actions. If we simply focus on the behavior aspect without dealing with the issue of our hearts, we are following a legalistic approach to religion and we aren’t saved through legalism, but by grace.
Cat-
ReplyDeleteOooo, that's a good one!! I think we all need to BELIEVE more and DO less.
My bout with anxiety is what finally drove me to say, "OK, Lord! I give up! I can't do this anymore! YOU do it!" and I became totally dependent on Him, to work in my life and sustain me. I tend to be a "do it yourself-er" when it comes to spiritual things--trying to serve and "do" EVERYthing--spinning my wheels, mostly. But it's amazing that, when He gives mes omething to do and I let HIM do it, it works sooo much better and has much better results! The more I stand aside and let him do His thing, the better off I am!
I think it's hard sometimes for us to do what God has called us to do because we feel like we have to folow the status quo and do what everyone else is doing. It takes time and patience to listen to God and do what He says--it's often a slow, methodical process, and frustrating at times...and I often feel like i'm not "doing enough," just because I'm doing different things...and I have to remind myself that HE is in charge and my plans are not my own!
I have a legalistic tendancy...I fight it all the time! So this was a really good reminder. God is all about relationship, not rules.
"If I construct my faith on my experience, I produce that most unscriptural type, an isolated life, my eyes fixed on my own whiteness."
ReplyDeleteWe must not base our faith on ANYTHING other than the redemptive blood of Jesus Christ, shed for the atonement of our sins. If we focus on and crave some ethereal spiritual experience, we take our eyes off God. We tell Him, in essence, that His mere presence isn't good enough. And Jesus minced no words when He said, "An EVIL generation looks for a sign."