"I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified (1 Corinthians 9:27)”. Disciplining the body is very key in the life of a believer if one is to live a victorious life over sin.
Left unchecked, your flesh will try to run you over, take charge of your emotions, and promote laziness in your life. It will tell you that you’ve done too much; that you’ve already done more than anyone else; that you don’t need to do any more than you’ve already done; and that you’re not as appreciated as you ought to be. Your flesh will advise you to kick back, take it easy, and cut yourself some slack. It will scream that if anyone deserves to do nothing for a while, it’s you.
Your flesh always tries to take everything to an extreme. If you allow it to control you, it will carry you into a state of laziness that sedates your whole outlook and destroys your productivity. You’ll lose your joy, hope, victory — even your very reason for living. In the end, you’ll become weak, powerless, and devoid of the desire or energy to pursue anything, let alone the high calling God has for your life.
When your flesh rises up and tempts you to be slothful about your dream, your business, or your relationship with God, what should you do? Or when your flesh coaxes you into believing you are too poor, too stupid, too ugly, too uninteresting, or too “run of the mill” to be used by God, how should you respond?
Should you cry and complain that you’re just not as talented as others? Should you grieve that you’re not as skinny as someone else? Should you whimper that you weren’t born into a more prestigious family? Should you lament that you were never able to finish your education? Will your complaining put a degree on your wall?
It’s time to tell the flesh to shut its loud mouth! Then grab hold of the power of God to change you and the way you are thinking. As long as you allow that rank, stinking flesh to produce a “poor me” mentality, you will not make any significant contribution to the world. And that’s such a pity because God wants to use you! Instead of letting the flesh rule you, it is time for you to do as the apostle Paul ordered in Romans 6:11 when he said, “Likewise reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
The word “reckon” comes from the Greek word logidzomai, which means to consider, to think, to deem, to regard, or to count something as done. This means the verse could be translated, “Once and for all, deem yourselves to be dead to sin.…” But it is important to note that the Greek tense means this reckoning must be done on a continual basis. With this in mind, it could be translated, “Once and for all, deem yourself dead to sin. After that, keep it up! Keep counting yourself as one who has died to sin….”
The word “dead” comes from the word nekros, which is the Greek word for a human corpse. It is the picture of an actual dead person, whose lifeless body has no heartbeat and no breath in his lungs. This person is declared clinically dead; he is now a corpse. By using the word nekros, Paul tells us that we are to deem ourselves as dead — non-responsive to sin. We are to be just as non-responsive to sin as a dead person is to life. Dead people don’t respond to anything because they are dead.
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Romans 6:11 can be interpreted as follows:
“Once and for all, deem yourself dead to sin. After that, keep it up! You have to keep counting yourself as one who has died to sin.…”
As Paul says in Romans 6:11, it is time for you to reckon, deem, consider, regard, and count as a done fact that you are dead to sin and to its lying insinuations! To continually count yourself dead to sin, you may have to speak to yourself often and take authority over your flesh. Command your flesh to shut its mouth, and remind yourself that the flesh lost its power at the Cross and no longer has the right to rule and reign in your life.
Reckon yourself dead to sin” means to actively consider yourself as no longer controlled by sin, because of your union with Christ. It’s about recognizing that Christ’s sacrifice has freed you from sin’s power and penalty, and then living in accordance with that truth. It’s not a passive state, but an active choice to not yield to sin’s temptations. This is a decision you deliberately make. We should never allow our flesh to dominate us. Instead the Spirit should take over and once we are born again, the rest of our Christian life is learning to walk in the spirit.
As born again people, we are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17) and from the moment we receive Christ, we have to start basing our thoughts, actions, and identity on who you are in Christ. The Word of God is very clear that “when we walk in the Spirit, we shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16-18). Each and every day of our life the battle lies in whether you will be dominated by our flesh or our spirit. Our victory in silencing our flesh, is determined by the degree to which we are walking in the Spirit. There is daily a conflict between spirit and flesh.
It is in our best interest to ensure that we silence the flesh. The Bible is also very clear that they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:8). Living after the flesh brings all forms of death. “Therefore brethren we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if you liv after the flesh, you shall die, but if you live through the Spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live” (Romans 8:12-13).
You don’t have to allow the flesh to lord itself over you any longer. You don’t have to let your flesh and emotions give you the run-around. Instead of focusing on what you can’t do, it’s time to start thinking about what you can do when you become yielded to the Spirit of God.
That’s why Paul went on to say that you must now start looking at yourself as one who is “…alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” You see, sin is no longer your master; now you are the servant of Jesus Christ! When your body, mind, and emotions are submitted to Him, you cease to be a slave to your body and emotions. Instead, your body and emotions become your servant — instruments of righteousness to help you achieve the dreams God has put in your heart.
The only way you and I will ever accomplish what we were born to do is to put aside the lies of the enemy; tell our lazy, complaining flesh to keep its mouth shut; take charge of our emotions; and yield ourselves as instruments unto God. Then as we start speaking the truth of God’s Word, drawing upon His power that works in us and through us to do His will, we’ll start seeing supernatural results and achievements!
God has something awesome for you to do. Absolutely nothing can keep you from doing what He has put in your heart — not your education, status in society, political affiliation, or physical appearance. None of these factors will have any impact on God’s call on your life.
The one factor that does impact God’s ability to use you is your own obedience to Him. Your heart must be willing. You must take authority over the flesh that would take you down a lazy path. And you must yield your body to God’s Spirit as an instrument of righteousness. That’s when you’ll find yourself on the path that leads to being used by God!
