{"id":1585,"date":"2010-03-15T19:23:50","date_gmt":"2010-03-16T01:23:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ministryofgrace.org\/blog\/?p=1585"},"modified":"2010-03-15T19:23:50","modified_gmt":"2010-03-16T01:23:50","slug":"romans-612-whos-your-ruler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/romans-612-whos-your-ruler\/","title":{"rendered":"Romans 6:12 – Who’s Your Ruler?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Romans 6:12<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Truth to Learn<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t let sin take control of your life.<\/p>\n

Behind the Words<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cReign<\/span>\u201d is a word we looked at in the final verse of the previous chapter of Romans. It is basileu\u014d<\/span><\/em>, which means \u201cto be king or to have ruling power over.\u201d It is expressed here in the imperative mood indicating it is a command, \u201cdo not allow sin to rule over your mortal body!\u201d<\/p>\n

The word translated \u201cmortal<\/span>\u201d is thn\u0113tos<\/span><\/em>, which is derived from the verb the\u0113sk\u014d<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cto die.\u201d Hence, thn\u0113tos<\/span><\/em> refers to something which is subject to death.<\/p>\n

\u201cObey<\/span>\u201d is from the Greek word hupakou\u014d<\/span><\/em>, which is made up of hupo<\/span><\/em> (or hypo<\/span><\/em>) meaning \u201cunder\u201d and akou\u014d<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cto hear.\u201d Hence, hupakou\u014d<\/span><\/em> literally means \u201cto hear under.\u201d It is a picture of a disciple listening to, hearing, and obeying the teaching of his or her master.<\/p>\n

The word, \u201clusts<\/span>\u201d is a translation of the Greek word, epithumia<\/span><\/em>, which is made up of epi<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cabove or over\u201d and a form of thumos<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cthe mind.\u201d As we put these together we see it means \u201cto have overly strong thoughts or desires.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meaning Explained<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This verse and the next form a two part summation of what Paul has been saying in the past few verses with some explanation added. He just told us that we should consider ourselves dead to sin, but living to God. Here he tells us what he means by considering, or reckoning, ourselves dead to sin. He says, \u201cDon\u2019t let sin reign in your mortal bodies.\u201d In other words, the way we reckon ourselves dead to sin is to not let it have control. If sin is reigning in our life, it is ruling over us and we are submitting ourselves to it; we are letting it control us. If we are dead to sin, then we are separated from the dominion of sin and we will not live in obedience to it.<\/p>\n

The second half of this verse has been viewed by some Biblical scholars as questionable. They believe that it has been added and was not part of the original letter. Others, and I agree with them, believe that it rightly belongs here since it appears in most reliable manuscripts.<\/p>\n

Paul says that the way we keep sin from reigning in our mortal bodies is by not obeying it in its lusts. God has put desires within us that are necessary for survival, such as the desire to eat, the desire to rest, and the desire to procreate. However, when we allow these thoughts and desires to get so strong that they overcome us and control us, then they become sinful to us. The Apostle John says that these desires (lusts) are not of God but are part of the world system:<\/p>\n

For all that<\/span> is<\/span><\/em> in the world\u2014the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life\u2014is not of the Father but is of the world.<\/span> (1 John 2:16<\/span><\/strong>)<\/p>\n

We should not allow these desires to control us.<\/p>\n

Application<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

If you are living to God through Jesus Christ then you must have control over your sinful desires. Don\u2019t let the world system stir up your desires. Don\u2019t let the world system rule over you. Take control of your life by submitting to God!<\/span><\/p>\n

In God\u2019s service, for His glory,<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"signature\"<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2010 Will Krause. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –<\/p>\n

<\/span>If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, you can call the church phone \"\"(618) 614-3070<\/span><\/span><\/span> and leave a message telling us your name and e-mail address or you can send an e-mail to:\"e-mail<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Romans 6:12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. Truth to Learn Don\u2019t let sin take control of your life. Behind the Words \u201cReign\u201d is a word we looked at in the final verse of the previous chapter of Romans. It is basileu\u014d, which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[705,743,744,110,745,746,692,276,747],"class_list":["post-1585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-basileuo","tag-epithumia","tag-hupakouo","tag-lusts","tag-mortal-body","tag-obey","tag-reign","tag-sin","tag-thnetos"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5geA-pz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1585\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}