AND DO NOT GO ON PRESENTING: mede paristanete (2PPAM): (Ro 6:19; 7:5; 7:23 1Cor 6:15; Col 3:5; Jas 3:5,6; 4:1) Note that several translations translate presenting more graphically or forcefully... Do not continue offering or yielding your bodily members (Amplified) Neither yield ye your members (KJV) Nor must you surrender any part of yourselves to sin (Today's English Version) No longer lend your faculties as unrighteous weapons for Sin to use (Weymouth) You must not let sin have your members for the service of vice (Moffatt) Do not go on presenting - The Greek construction is a present imperative with a negative (mede) which conveys the sense "Stop doing this." The idea is that they are to terminate an action that is already in progress. The New English Bible picks us this sense rendering it you must no longer put its several parts at sin’s disposal Wuest also conveys the sense of the tense... stop putting your members at the disposal of the sinful nature as weapons of unrighteousness Present (3936) (paristemi from para = near, beside + histemi = place, set) literally means to place or set beside or near and hence to place at someone's disposal. Paristemi means to present oneself for service or to put at the service of (sometimes translated "help" Ro 16:2-note) Paristemi is used 41 times in the NT in the NASB - Mt 26:53; Mk. 4:29; 14:47, 69, 70; 15:35, 39; Lk. 1:19; 2:22; 19:24; Jn 18:22; 19:26; Acts 1:3, 10; 4:10, 26; 9:39, 41; 23:2, 4, 24, 33; 24:13; 27:23, 24; Ro 6:13, 16, 19; 12:1; 14:10; 16:2; 1Co 8:8; 2Co 4:14; 11:2; Ep 5:27; Col 1:22, 28; 2Ti 2:15; 4:17 The NAS renders paristemi as bystanders, 5; come, 1; commend, 1; help, 1; present, 11; presented, 4; presenting, 1; prove, 1; provide, 1; put at...disposal, 1; stand before, 2; standing, 1; standing beside, 1; standing nearby, 2; stands, 1; stands here, 1; stood, 2; stood before, 1; stood beside, 2; took their stand, 1. In the Septuagint (LXX - Greek translation of Hebrew OT) paristemi is used as a technical term for the priest’s placing the offering on the altar. There are 65 uses in the LXX - Ge 18:8; 40:4; 45:1; Ex. 9:31; 18:13f, 23; 19:17; 24:13; 34:5; Nu 1:5; 7:2; 11:28; 16:9; 23:3, 15; Dt 1:38; 10:8; 17:12; 18:5, 7; 21:5; Jdg 20:28; 1Sa 4:20; 5:2; 16:21, 22; 22:6, 7; 25:27; 1Ki 1:2; 10:8; 12:6, 8, 10, 32; 17:1; 18:15; 2Ki 3:14; 5:16, 25; 8:11; 2Chr. 6:3; 9:7; Esther 4:5; 8:4; Job 1:6; 2:1; 37:20; Ps 2:2; 5:3; 36:4; 45:9; 50:21; 109:31; Pr 22:29; Is 5:29; 60:10; Je 15:11; 35:19; Da 6:6; 7:10, 13; Ho 9:13; Joel 3:13; Zec 4:14; 6:5. Josephus (Ant., 4, 113) uses this verb paristemi recording that He then slew the sacrifices, and offered (paristemi ) them as burnt offerings, that he might observe some signal of the flight of the Hebrews. Keep in mind the cultural context in which Romans was written. Gentile (and Jewish) citizens of ancient Rome had a firsthand understanding of presenting sacrifices which would have helped them understand the picture of Paul's call to stop presenting themselves to Sin. Modern believers do not have this understanding of a sacrifice and there is a tendency to take this serious call less seriously or with indifference, much to our loss. There will be NO God blessed ministry without a Spirit empowered separation (stop presenting) and consecration (presentation to God)! Before a priest in Israel could minister on behalf of others, he was obliged to present himself in a consecrated condition and the sacrifices he offered were to be without blemish (Mal 1:8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13). Paristemi then conveys the general idea of surrendering or yielding up. In the Old Testament a worshiper would present an unblemished animal sacrifice to God as an expression of worship. Today, God doesn't want us to present dead sacrifices but to present ourselves to Him as living sacrifices. The OT Law demanded sacrifice. The Gospel of Grace invites us to consider the "mercies of God" in and respond accordingly. On the basis of what God has shown us He has done, we are not to look to the Law and respond because we MUST. Instead we look at all God has done in showing us mercies and we respond freely from a grateful heart. With eyes wide open to the mercies of God. (Phillips). Lawrence Richards adds If you ever find it hard to do what you know is the right thing, don't say, "I ought to do this or that" Ought won't help. Instead, think of God's MERCY to you & of Christ's great love. In view of God's MERCY you will want to do right. Paristemi pictures giving something over to another, relinquishing your grip, and not letting go only to take it back! In the present verse Paul is saying stop placing yourselves at the disposal of Sin (personified as an very real and very evil "king"). Instead present yourselves to God. In a similar manner, in Israel the whole burnt offering (a voluntary offering) ascended to God and could never be reclaimed. It belonged to God. And so Paul is not referring to "dedication" as done in so many churches and evangelistic meetings, where individuals come forward to confess sin. The sin problem has already been dealt with by His mercies (Ro 6:1, 2, 3-note). We are presenting a "holy" sacrifice, not a blemished sacrifice. How many times in "dedications" in church do we see the same people coming down again and again, because they are dealing with some besetting sin. That is not what Paul is urging us to do. Greek scholar Marvin Vincent writes that... The original meaning is to place beside, and so commend to the attention. Hence, to set before the mind; present, shew. Paristemi is used in a variety of "presentations" in Scripture: Of presenting the child Jesus in the temple: And when the days for their purification (to cleanse, free from filth - women bearing sons were ceremonially unclean for 40 days or twice that if she bore a daughter) according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him (Jesus) up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (Luke 2:22) Of the Christian presenting himself or herself to God: I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. (Ro 12:1-note). Of God presenting the saved: "that (Christ) might present to Himself (literally "in order that He might Himself present to Himself..." = at one the Agent and the End or Object of the presentation = the Bridegroom presents or sets forth the bride) the church in all her glory, having no spot (stain figuratively in a moral sense) or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless." (Ep 5:27-note) In ancient Greece, a bride—to—be would be taken down to a river to be bathed and ceremonially cleansed from every defilement of her past life. Whatever her life had been before, it was now symbolically purified and she would be presented to her husband marriage without any moral or social blemish—the past was washed away. Of Christ presenting His church: "And we proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete (full-grown, fully initiated, complete, and perfect) in Christ. 29 And for this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me (see note Colossians 1:28-29) Of believers presenting themselves to God as diligent workmen and workwomen: Be diligent (aorist imperative, idea of having zealous persistence to accomplish a particular objective - giving maximum effort to impart God’s truth as completely, clearly and unambiguously as possible) to present (stand alongside of = in context of standing alongside of or before God presenting oneself for inspection in order to be approved by Him) yourself approved (dokimos = favorably passing careful scrutiny and thereby being counted worthy) to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately (orthotomeo = cut straight, used of craftsmen cutting a straight line, farmer plowing straight furrows, mason setting straight line of brick, workmen building a straight road so referred to carefully performing any task) the word of truth." (2Ti 2:15-note) In a second use in his letter to Timothy, Paul encouraged the young disciple with the truth that even though no one stood with him at his first defense... the Lord stood with (paristemi = stood by) me, and strengthened (“Poured power into me” ) me, in order that through (indicates the means of or agent of - Paul was like a conduit of the gospel from God to the Gentiles) me the proclamation (public proclamation might be heralded abroad - the proclamation of the gospel stating the of the redeeming purpose of God in Christ) might be fully accomplished (fulfilled, brought to full measure), and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was delivered (Click study of rhuomai = snatched from danger and drawn to His side) out of the lion's mouth. (2Ti 4:17-note) Consider two general types of OT sacrifices, for reconciliation and for consecration. (Ro 1-11) has taken care of reconciliation (of man to God- Ro 5:10,11-note) and (Ro 12:1ff-note) refers to consecration or presentation to God to do with us as He wills. As alluded to above, implicit in the meaning of paristemi are the ideas of yielding or surrendering because if you place something at the disposal of another, you are in essence surrendering your rights and power to that other entity. Here in the context of Romans 6:13 the "other entity" is not an altar but is the Sin nature we each inherited from Adam. Paul is commanding us to stop putting the members of our body at the disposal of, at the service of the sinful nature. As you come to KNOW as best you can the truth in (Ro 6:1-10) and then make the conscious effort to continually RECKON this true (you accept it as truth) (Ro 6:11-note) and then ACT on it (negatively = not yielding to the old sin nature and positively = yielding to God's Spirit) (Ro 6:12, 13-note), God's Spirit will make this truth more and more real in your life (see note Colossians 1:10 "increasing in the knowledge of God"). Know Reckon Yield These three words are foundational truths that when comprehended and apprehended will lead you into the victorious life Christ has redeemed you to live to His glory. A key word or action is "yield" or "present", an attitude and action which has to do with one's will. Because of the unfathomable riches of the truths we know are now true of our position in Christ (see notes) (Ro 6:1-10), we need to make the choice to accept this truth into our heart (Ro 6:11), which is the bedrock truth that enables us to exercise our will successfully against the old master, Sin (which still resides in our physical bodies). Empowered now by the indwelling Holy Spirit, we can stop yielding our physical bodies (eyes, ears, hands, etc) to the rule and reign of Sin. When the practice of yielding to the God's Spirit (being filled with, controlled by His Spirit) becomes more and more our daily experience, we begin to enter into what some have referred to as the "victorious life". Whatever you choose to call this experiential aspect of our sanctification process, be encouraged that this is God's will for every one of His children and not just for a special group. Do not be surprised to continually experience that in this present life, Sin (the old nature inherited from Adam) will always be a potentially powerful force for the Christian to reckon with. But Sin is no longer master, no longer lord, and it can be resisted. Sin (personified as a "king") has been dethroned but still desires to reign in the believer’s life just as "it" did before salvation. The apostle’s admonition to believers, therefore, is for them to not let sin reign, because it now has no right to reign. Sin now has no power to control a believer unless the believer chooses to obey its lusts. Peter makes a similar appeal writing that because we are “are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession” he urges us “as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul” (1Pe 2:9-note, 1Pe 2:11-note). The moment we were saved, we were transferred from Satan and Sin's kingdom of darkness into the marvelous light of the Kingdom of God and now we are citizens of His kingdom of righteousness. In Romans 6-8 Paul is giving us the template by which we can now live as more than conquerors in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. THE MEMBERS OF YOUR BODY TO SIN: ta mele humon hopla adikias te hamartia: (2Cor 10:4).