Because justification is by grace through faith and the person being saved is changed, he lives to Christ rather than sin. His desire is no longer to please himself or have things his own way. Instead, he desires to please Christ and have things Christ’s way. We are no longer instruments for our sinner heart to use for its unrighteousness. Instead, we are instruments of righteousness for Christ to use. 

We are active participants in our obedience. When we resist the sinner’s heart (entitlement, selfishness, fulfilling of our lusts), we are being sanctified from the heart (from the inside out). This is not a matter of simply willing ourselves not to do things that a certain “Christian” culture deems sinful. This is a matter of evaluating our motivations so that in everything we do, whether we eat or drink, we do it all to the glory of God rather than self (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:31). This process results in our sanctification and, ultimately, eternal life in Christ.

The wages of sin is death. Sin, in this context, is the inward heart. When we present our bodies as slaves to our own entitlement, selfishness, and lusts, the result is death. Many people walk in death, the consequence of their striving for self.

The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. When God grants us eternal life by grace alone, He changes us so that we present our bodies as slaves to Him rather than our sinful hearts.

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