Instruments of Righteousness

Instruments of Righteousness 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. Romans 6 v 13 Before we were saved by faith and by grace, the various members of our bodies served as instruments of unrighteousness. The chief of the instruments of sin were our brains or minds, our tongues, our senses and sexual organs. These instruments were prone to yield to temptation and to the enemy of our souls-satan. They were instruments of death,sowing death and reaping death. But, now our ownership has changed. We have been purchased or ransomed by God through His Son Jesus. Now each member of our body has become an instrument of life forever, sowing life and reaping life. Now we are to yield or surrender the various members of our bodies and our spirits to God. He is no longer just God to us but He is Lord. Our minds should be constantly surrendered to the Lord to be filled with His thoughts. In this manner, our hearts or our attitudes and desires are transformed as vehicles of righteousness. Our five senses will be employed in the right manner,not feeding our sinful lusts but only godly desires. Our sexual desires and organs will be sanctified. Our tongues which used to boast of many things will now glorify, praise and thank the Lord. Our tongues will cease lying and abusing others. Very often we find people may be born again but their tongues are not “ born again”, their thoughts and imagination are not born again. We need to examine ourselves honestly and ask if we can write B.A. next to our tongues, brains, hands and legs, sexual organs. It is like a student is promoted to the next class but he or she is still following and studying the syllabus of the previous standard. We are living in the Kingdom of God with the standards of the world. Every member of our bodies need to graduate into the Kingdom of God. When all of the members of our bodies are yielded to the Lord, then the prayer of St Francis Xavier would be fulfilled, “ Lord, make me an instrument of your peace..” The members of our bodies will be used to sow peace, where there is strife and love where there is hatred, where there is distress, hope of salvation. We become true witnesses and evangelists only when we can truly write BA next to every organ of our bodies. Each organ has to be a new creation. It has to have a new purpose and function. It has to work with new methods and principles. It has to be discipled and disciplined. It is to be consecrated and sanctified. If not they will work at cross purposes or at war with the spirit that God has breathed into us when we received Christ as Saviour of our dead lives. Prateep V Philip