Romans 6:13 – implements of righteousness to God 

Nor yet be presenting your members, as implements of injustice, to Sin, but present yourselves to God as if alive from among the dead, and your members as implements of righteousness to God.

By “your members” Paul is referring to every part of our “mortal body.” But not only the physical body parts, but also the functions associated with them. The ears stand for hearing, the eyes for seeing, the brain for thinking and intelligence, and so on. What Paul teaches is that when we make ourselves available to God “as living from the dead,” our “members” become “implements of righteousness to God.” What does that mean?

That our “members” become weapons suggests strife and conflict. A conflict inherent in the fact that we are actually in a “mortal body”, while we count ourselves as people who have sin and death behind them. That conflict does not have to frustrate us. On the contrary, that is part of it.

That our members become “implements of righteousness to God” means that our bodies and everything we do with them will become marked by “righteousness.” We now know that word. For was it not faith (= confidence) in what God has spoken that He counts for righteousness (4: 3)? 

Delen: