Who owns your body?

Our culture tells us: My body is mine.Many of the hot topics of the day are all about this:
“What I do in the secret of my own bedroom is my business.”
“A woman has the right to choose what she does with her own body.”
“What I look at on my own screen, in my own time, with my own eyes, is nobody else’s concern.”

But if my body is mine, why do my desires so easily boss me around?

Why do anger, lust, fear, appetite and shame dictate how I feel and act so much of the time?

Does a person addicted to fits of anger really own their own body? Does an alcoholic? A heroin addict?

If you’re trapped in a cycle of porn and shame, then can you honestly say you are in control?

Last week we heard that even faith itself can be twisted into one more thing I do to save myself.

But we even twist Paul’s solution out of shape. Because the Law is written on our hearts, we naturally assume everything must come down to what we do, what we choose, what we deserve, what we control.

So when Paul says, “Your salvation does not belong to you. It belongs to Christ,” the old Adam immediately looks for somewhere else to build his little kingdom.

Fine. Maybe I do not control my salvation. Maybe I do not get to stand before God and say, “Look what I have done.” Maybe faith itself is not my achievement.

But surely my body is mine. Surely my mouth is mine… …my eyes, my desires, my private life.

Back in v. 15 Paul describes that attempt at control like this:

What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace?

If God does not deal with me according to Law, then the old Adam hears that as permission: “Good. Then nobody can tell me what to do. I’m in charge.”

Well, no, and Paul explains why in three points:

1) Your body is never simply yours (v. 19)
2) Sin takes your body and gives you death (vv. 20–21, 23a)
3) God takes your body and gives you life (vv. 22–23b)

So first, 1) Your body is never simply yours

Please look at v. 19:

I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

Paul is simply saying this: you may feel and think you’re in control of your body: but you never are.

And look at what he’s not saying, so we don’t misunderstand: He’s not commanding you to give up control of your body. He’s not saying “Think of your body as belonging to God… …and so make ethical decisions that way.” He’s not saying “If you do such and such you will increasingly get control of your body.”

No, here in Romans 6:19 he’s making this very stark assertion: You don’t own and control your body. Full stop. Either sin is claiming your body as its own, or God has claimed your body as his own.

Do you remember the story of King David and Bathsheba? It goes like this.

David was walking on his veranda, and saw Bathsheba bathing. He called her to him. Slept with her. Got her pregnant. And then killed her husband to avoid being found out.

David was then living in fear, scared of what might happen, until the prophet Nathan challenged him, and God brought forgiveness while the consequences played out.

Now, think about this: Was David in control?

David sees Bathsheba. But his eyes are not neutral. His desire gives orders. His royal power serves his bodily appetite, not his or Bathsheba’s best interests.

This lust leads to adultery. David was responsible for every step. But he wasn’t free. He wasn’t in control. Think about your lust: who owns your body at that moment?

And why did David then commit murder? Because he was in control? Or because his fear took over?

He deceived, manipulated, lied, committed murder, and covered-up.

This is not a man who is in control, and taking ownership of the situation.

How does Paul describe this in v. 19?

you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness

David’s eyes, desire, sexuality, authority, mouth, pen, and military command are all recruited into sin’s service.

Your body is never simply yours

It’s either owned by sin, or it’s owned by God.

You can see the control sin has over you through your body in your own life—think about your compulsions:

Words spoken in anger, you think “I just need to say this.” Only afterwards do you regret it or see the lack of wisdom.

Porn takes control when you think “I just need a break, a rest, there’s too much pressure.” But then afterwards it piles on shame, secrecy, self-disgust.

You overeat when you’re bored, or restless, or tired “I just need this comfort food.” But then afterwards you feel the effects, as your body is unhealthy and your mind becomes sluggish.

A fear of failure, or need to prove yourself, drives a lack of sleep.

An anxiety about the future drives procrastination and laziness.

A compulsion to “prove your point” in your mind drives rumination and resentment.

You don’t own and control your body. Something else owns your body, and uses it to control you.

So really, the question isn’t whether I own my own body… the question is who does—and are they good for me?

That’s what Paul addresses in his second point:

2) Sin takes your body and gives you death

Just look at vv. 20-21:

²⁰ For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. ²¹ But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.

And again, at the beginning of v. 23:

For the wages of sin is death,

So, Paul has dealt with one lie we often believe: that sin is freedom.

Now he addresses another lie that is like it: that sin is good for you.

I remember being told by some friends that they genuinely believed celibacy causes you physical harm.

Your body has urges, compulsions. They exist. And so, to deny them must be damaging for you.

If desire is there, it must be expressed. If appetite is there, it must be satisfied. If anger is there, it must be spoken. If sexuality is there, it must be acted on. If anxiety is there, it must be obeyed.

But Paul asks a devastatingly simple question: What fruit did that give you?

Because sin does indeed partially deliver: a satisfying moment, a way to get ahead, a temporary win, a feeling of release, a few seconds of control.

But then look at the fruit: damaged relationships, secrecy, shame, unhealthy body, duller mind, tired, resentful, bitter people. Sin flowers in delight, but grows into the fruit of death.

Which is why the good news is not that God gives you some advice or technique to take back control of your body, but rather Paul’s third point:

3) God takes your body and gives you life

Please look at v. 22:

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.

And then the end of v. 23:

but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Sin hates your body and lies to you about it.

But God loves your body and tells you the truth about it.

Jesus gave his body so that he could become Lord of your body.

And that’s the Gospel: Not: use your body better so God will give you life.

But rather: Your anger isn’t Lord. Your lust isn’t Lord. Your shame isn’t Lord. Your rumination isn’t Lord. Jesus is Lord.

And what kind of a Lord is he? One who would give everything he is, so that you can enjoy everything he has.

Your body already belongs to this God who gives life freely in Christ. So why would I hand it back to the master who pays death? What benefit am I going to get from that?

This is why Jesus Baptised your body.

In Egypt, Pharaoh owned Israel’s bodies. He used their backs, hands, sweat, wombs, sons, labour and strength.

He took their bodies and gave them death. But God did not free Israel so that they could become re-enslaved in the wilderness.

He freed them so that they would belong to him. Because he is a good Lord, a loving Lord.

That is Romans 6 pattern:

Pharaoh says: “Your bodies are mine for labour and death.”
God says: “No, let my people go, that they may serve me.”

And that is not a harsh slavery. Jesus himself tells you what kind of Lord he is. Matthew 11:

²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

God brought Israel out of Egypt by the blood of a lamb, and the water of the Red Sea.

Their old master was drowned behind them. Now they belonged to the God who rescued them.

That was a difficult experience! It was scary, stressful, hard. But it didn’t earn anything, or achieve anything. God did all of it for them: he parted the Red Sea, drowned Pharaoh’s army.

The blood of Christ flowed for you on the cross, and he poured out its gifts to you in the water of your Baptism.

Living as a baptised Christian isn’t easy.

But it doesn’t earn anything: God is doing it for you.

And what he’s doing is this:

God takes your body and gives you life

How will that God treat me? How will he use my body?

What kind of a Lord will he be?

Well, look at Jesus on the cross and see.

Is that a God who hates your body? No. He took a body for you.

Is that a God who will use your body up and throw it away? No. He gave his body up to death to rescue yours.

Is that a God who tells you lies about your body? No. He tells you the truth: your body was not made for shame, slavery, uncleanness, appetite, fear, or death. Your body was made for life with him.

Sin takes your body by force, and spends it until there is nothing left.

Jesus takes your body by grace, because he has already given his body for you.

Sin takes your body and gives you death.

Jesus gives his body into death, so that your body will live.

That is what kind of Lord Jesus is. That is the kind of Lord who owns you. And that is why it is good news to say: Jesus Christ is Lord.