Romans 6:19
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I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to escalating wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
I speak after the manner of men--descending, for illustration, to the level of common affairs. because of the infirmity of your flesh--the weakness of your spiritual apprehension. for as ye have yielded--"as ye yielded," the thing being viewed as now past. your members servants to Uncleanness and to Iniquity unto--the practice of iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to Righteousness unto holiness--rather, "unto (the attainment of) sanctification," as the same word is rendered in Th2 2:13; Co1 1:30; Pe1 1:2 : --that is, "Looking back upon the heartiness with which ye served Sin, and the lengths ye went to be stimulated now to like zeal and like exuberance in the service of a better Master."
Open source ↗The apostle having at large asserted, opened, and proved, the great doctrine of justification by faith, for fear lest any should suck poison out of that sweet flower, and turn that grace of God into wantonness and licentiousness, he, with a like zeal, copiousness of expression, and cogency of argument, presses the absolute necessity of sanctification and a holy life, as the inseparable fruit and companion of justification; for, wherever Jesus Christ is made of God unto any soul righteousness, he is made of God unto that soul sanctification, Co1 1:30. The water and the blood came streaming together out of the pierced side of the dying Jesus. And what God hath thus joined together let not us dare to put asunder.
Open source ↗6:19 Paul uses the Greek word sarx (human nature, or flesh) to refer to the frailty and proneness to sin that characterizes humans. Paul uses the illustration of slavery to show the relationship of the human nature to sin.
Open source ↗Cross-references
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Do not present the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and present the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness.
And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
But if our unrighteousness highlights the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unjust to inflict His wrath on us? I am speaking in human terms.
Brothers, let me put this in human terms. Even a human covenant, once it is ratified, cannot be canceled or amended.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words.
We who are strong ought to bear with the shortcomings of the weak and not to please ourselves.
Do I say this from a human perspective? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing?
Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven works through the whole batch of dough?
See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God, and that no root of bitterness springs up to cause trouble and defile many.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin.