Chosen for Righteousness

Every choice shapes what we become, and when we offer our lives to God, He chooses us for righteousness. Then, even our ordinary actions can serve His Kingdom purposes.

“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present … your members to God as instruments for righteousness” (Romans 6:12–13).

Paul warned that we have choices about what we do and say, where we go, and what we allow our eyes to see. We can even decide to allow sin to reign in our bodies as when we give in to temptation and obey the lusts of the flesh. But when we do so, we will pay a price and reap what we sow. We won’t experience the blessings of God or the riches of His Kingdom.

Paul urged us not to present “[our] members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness,” using a word for instruments with strong military imagery, often translated weapon or armor. In his Bible dictionary, Marvin Vincent notes that this word was used “in Homer of a ship’s tackle, smith’s tools, implements of war.”

This military background helps us understand that our “members” are not just “instruments” of unrighteousness. They can be weapons. Yes, sin stands beside us and tempts us and can influence our thoughts, actions, and attitudes. But sin also can turn our lives into weapons that can damage and destroy.

Everything changes when we present every part of our lives to God. As J.B. Phillips translates this passage, we can put ourselves “in God’s hands as weapons of good for his own purposes.”

You have many choices. God allows you to decide the path you will take. Present your life to Him as a living sacrifice … a weapon for His Kingdom!

Reflection Question: How are your daily choices shaping whom or what you serve?