Daily Devotion

“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body... He says not, Let it not be; but, Let it not reign. So long as sin must be in your members, let its reigning power at least be taken away, let not its demands be obeyed. ... Let the inward ruler keep possession of the citadel, because it stands there under a greater ruler, and is certain of assistance.”

Augustine · Tractates on the Gospel of John, 41.12

Scripture

Romans 6:11–14 Therefore consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. So do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you may obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourself to God as those who have been raised from the dead, and each part of yourself as an instrument of righteousness. Sin will not be your master, for you are not under the law but under grace.

Reflection

Paul doesn't first command us "not to sin," but rather reminds us of who we already are—dead to sin, alive to God. Many spiritual failures don't stem from a lack of knowledge about what to do, but from forgetting that we no longer belong to the power of sin.However, the statement "Sin should not reign" also reveals a crucial truth: sin still attempts to ascend the throne. Believers live in a tension—victorious in position, yet still vigilant in experience. Grace is not indulgence, but power; it doesn't allow us to relax our struggle, but gives us the freedom to offer ourselves again. Daily spiritual life is, in essence, repeatedly surrendering sovereignty to the Lord who has already triumphed for us.