The things concerning Him had an 'end', not merely

a termination, but a goal, something attained and accomplished.  When the

Saviour cried with a loud voice, 'It is finished', the words meant more than

that His sufferings were at last ended; they meant that He had finished the

Work which the Father had given Him to do.  In Romans 6 we stand looking at

that finished Work.  He died for sin, He died to sin, and He rose again, the

Victor over death.  With Him we also died to sin; with Him we rose again

victors over death.  We were buried 'into His death' and so became 'in

Christ'.  And just as surely as He was 'reckoned' (or 'numbered') among the

transgressors, so are we to 'reckon also ourselves' to have died unto sin,

and to be alive unto God in Him.

We now have, for the first time in the epistle, an exhortation:

'Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey

it in the lusts thereof.  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.  For sin shall not have dominion over you: for

ye are not under the law, but under grace' (Rom. 6:12-14).

In these three verses we have three features:

The exhortation negatively: 'Let not'; 'yield not'.

The exhortation positively: 'Yield yourselves and your members'.

The assurance positionally: 'Under grace'.

Dr. Weymouth's rendering in modern speech is suggestive

'Let not sin therefore reign as king in your mortal bodies, causing you

to be in subjection to their cravings; and no longer lend your

faculties as unrighteous weapons (tools or implements) for sin to use.

On the contrary, surrender your very selves to God as living men who

have risen from the dead, and surrender your several faculties to God,

to be used as weapons (tools or implements) to maintain the right'.

In the epistle to the Hebrews, we observe that it is at the point where

doctrinal instruction ends that exhortation begins.  'Having therefore ...

let us ... let us ... let us' (Heb. 10:19-24).  And so it is in Romans 6 as

it must ever be.

The word 'reign' includes in its scope the word 'king', just as

'dominion' carries with it the thought of the 'Lord'.  These verses in Romans

6 refer back to 5:12-21:

Death reigned (Rom. 5:14)

Through Adam.

Sin reigned (5:21)

Grace reigns (5:21)

The Lord

Believers reign (5:17)

Jesus Christ.