Romans 6:13 Neither yield you your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin: but yield yourselves to God… The apostle has just warned his readers not to surrender their limbs and bodily organs to sin as the conquered surrender their weapons to the conqueror. Now he is pressing upon them to whom they should surrender, not only their limbs and organs, but their whole being, their very selves. We notice that such surrender — I. FULFILS THE SUPREME DUTY OF LIFE. It is surrender — 1. To the rightful Sovereign of the soul. 2. To the loving Father. 3. To the sacrificial Redeemer, and therefore — 4. To the absolute Proprietor of the soul. So that whatever, other duties a man discharges if this surrender is neglected, or defied, he is unloyal, unfilial, a moral felon. II. REALISES THE HIGHEST SATISFACTION OF LIFE. A man may yield labour, time, money to God, and find no satisfaction; but if he yields his very self, the needle has found the magnet, the river has reached the ocean, and there is rest. Why? Because in that surrender — 1. The self contradictions of human hearts are harmonised. The harp of human nature is then in the hand of the Infinite Harpist. 2. The intellect becomes the docile scholar of the True Teacher. "Speak Lord, for Thy servant heareth." 3. Conscience has accepted the Perfect Guide. III. ENSURES THE NOBLEST USEFULNESS OF LIFE. It was this that made Paul what he was. All things answer their highest ends just as they are completely within the realm of law, i.e., just as they are most completely surrendered to God. Conclusion: To those who surrender themselves to God — 1. The enigma of duty is solved. 2. The secret of peace is found. 3. The way to usefulness is discovered. (U. R. Thomas.) Parallel Verses KJV: Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. |
    |