As Those Alive from the Dead

Romans 6:11-14; 1 Kings 11:1-4


Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,
and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.


Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,
from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the sons of Israel, "You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods." Solomon held fast to these in love.
He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away.
For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.

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In light of Romans 6:13, King Solomon chose to present himself to his own
desires and not as an instrument of righteousness to God. And we can see
the consequences from his decision in 1 Kings 11 -- his heart was turned away
from God.

This message and the pattern applies to every man living on earth, and I must
do all I can to not slip into such a mode. I must excel to present myself as
an instrument of righteousness to God. And since instruments are at the
mercies of its master, I should not try to carry on without first being held
in the hands of God.

Paul's description of as those alive from the dead (Romans 6:13) stands out for me this morning because I need to
live my life every day as the one who is dead to my old self, but has become
aliave again because my heart's desire is to present myself to Him as His
instrument, conforming to His ways and principles.