Welcome to Chapter 9 of ROW Against the Flow: Instruments of Righteousness. This chapter invites you to consider your identity and role as a chosen instrument in God’s hands—a vessel designed for His purposes of righteousness and grace in a broken world.
Chapter Focus: Embracing Your Calling as an Instrument
In this chapter, you’ll explore how believers are called not only to personal faith but to active participation in God’s mission. Being an “instrument of righteousness” means:
- Living intentionally for God’s glory, allowing Him to work through your life.
- Offering yourself as a tool in the battle against sin and darkness, empowered by the Holy Spirit.
- Aligning your actions, words, and thoughts with God’s will to reflect His character.
- Understanding that your everyday choices contribute to God’s transformative work in the world.
You’ll find encouragement to embrace this calling with humility and courage—knowing that God equips and enables you to serve faithfully, even amid challenges.
Let’s Reflect Together
- What does it mean to you personally to be an “instrument of righteousness”?
- How are you currently aware of God working through your life to make a difference?
- In what areas might God be calling you to greater alignment with His purposes?
- How can close community and reliance on the Spirit help you live out this calling?
Feel free to share your thoughts or stories. Your journey as God’s instrument can inspire others to live purposefully for His kingdom.
What’s Next?
- Continue reading or download the full book to explore more chapters.
- Invite friends or groups to join you in reflection and discussion.
- Keep walking forward, confident that you are shaped for meaningful impact in Christ.
Thank you for stepping into the call to be an instrument of righteousness, rowing faithfully against the current with purpose and hope.
Chapter 9: Instruments of Righteousness
My wife, Heather and I were on a rare weekend away in Los Angeles when we got two calls at the same time interrupting our movie. A woman I was training to follow Jesus had given into urges to binge on alcohol and was in extreme distress leaving dozens of voicemails. We also got a call from our daughter that our son had “borrowed” our car and had jumped an intersection and totaled the vehicle. Heather and I took our respective calls and shook our heads at the crazy circumstances when we finally hung up. We still haven’t finished that movie.
One of these situations was obviously awash in temptation and, while the other one might be as well, it was more of a metaphor for something we do in our lives.
How often do we hand the keys of our soul to our enemy, naively asking him not to cause too much damage?
But unlike my son, who had no intention of harming my car, our spiritual adversary has every intention of wreaking havoc in our lives.
Throughout this book, we’ve explored the reality of spiritual warfare, our authority in Christ, and practical strategies for living out our loyalty to Jesus. In this final chapter, we’ll focus on how to maintain the freedom Christ has won for us, recognizing that our journey is ongoing and requires constant vigilance.
The Battlefield of Human Choice
These verses encapsulate a profound truth about spiritual warfare: it’s not just about unseen battles in heavenly realms, but about how we choose to live our daily lives.
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires, and do not present your members to sin as instruments to be used for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead and your members to God as instruments to be used for righteousness. For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law but under grace. – Romans 6:12-14
We are constantly faced with a choice – will we offer ourselves as instruments of righteousness or unrighteousness?
The war is in the spiritual realm, but it happens on the ground with humans influenced by one Kingdom or the other.
Spiritual warfare isn’t primarily about demons fighting angels with swords in the sky (how would that happen exactly?). It’s about the choices we make every day. When we obey heavenly voices, we become instruments of righteousness. When we heed hellish whispers, we become tools of darkness. While the weapons of our warfare are not about the flesh the battlefield sure is.
The Power of Choice
Many people argue that life isn’t so black and white, that there’s a lot of gray area. While it’s true that situations can be complex, at the core, we’re always choosing to align ourselves either with the Kingdom of light or the kingdom of darkness. There’s no neutral ground in spiritual warfare.
If you have no desire to worship the LORD, choose today whom you will worship, whether it be the gods whom your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But I and my family will worship the LORD! — Joshua 24:15
Every choice we make either moves us closer to being instruments of righteousness or pushes us towards being tools of unrighteousness. When we gossip, we become instruments of division. When we forgive, we become ministers of reconciliation. When we lust, we become tools of moral corruption. When we love sacrificially, we become instruments of God’s grace.
Reclaiming Our Authority
It’s crucial to understand that the enemy has no power over us that we don’t give him.
When we sin, when we harbor bitterness, when we give in to fear or pride, we’re essentially handing over the keys to our lives and inviting the enemy to take control. Let’s look a key verse again.
So submit to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from you. — James 4:7
This reminds us that we have the authority to resist the enemy. We’re not helpless victims in this spiritual battle. We’re empowered children of God, called to stand firm in our faith and actively resist the devil’s schemes.
Breaking Agreements with the Enemy
One of the most crucial aspects of maintaining our freedom is recognizing and breaking any agreements we’ve made with the enemy. These agreements often take the form of lies we’ve believed about ourselves, God, or our circumstances.
Steps to break agreements:
- Identify the lie: Recognize thoughts or beliefs that contradict God’s truth
- Confess and renounce: Admit you’ve believed the lie and reject it
- Replace with truth: Actively choose to believe and declare God’s truth instead
- Take action: Live out the truth in practical ways
Practical Application: R.O.W. in Action
Repent: Confess any agreements you’ve made with the enemy, even unknowingly.
Obey: Choose to act on God’s truth, rejecting the lie in your daily decisions.
Worship: Thank God for His truth and the freedom it brings.
The Power of Testimony
Sharing your story of freedom in Christ is a powerful weapon against the enemy. It not only encourages others but also reinforces your own loyalty to Jesus. Make it a practice to regularly share how God has worked in your life.
But they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die. — Revelation 12:11
One regular practice that I have is to keep a conversation with God going while I am having a conversation with my pre-Christian friend. Truth be told I do this with everyone when I’m in conversation with them. It usually sounds like this, “Jesus, make your move! Jesus, what are you doing in this conversation? Jesus how can I participate with what you are doing?”
Ministers of Reconciliation
More than just being defensive, we are called to gain ground for the Lord. As believers, we’re not just passive observers in this spiritual conflict.
So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away—look, what is new has come!And all these things are from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation. In other words, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting people’s trespasses against them, and he has given us the message of reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His plea through us. We plead with you on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God!” — 2 Corinthians 5:17-20
We’re active participants, called to be ministers of reconciliation; to bring two parties back into peaceful relationship. Our choices, actions, and words can be powerful instruments in God’s hands to bring healing, restoration, and reconciliation to a broken world. We will work more on this in the coming chapters but here is a start.
Practical Steps to Become Instruments of Righteousness
1. Prioritize Daily Time with God
- Engage in regular prayer and Bible study
- Practice spiritual disciplines like fasting and solitude
2. Guard Your Mind and Heart
- Be selective about what you allow into your thoughts
- Fill your mind with God’s truth and cultivate a thankful heart
3. Watch Your Words and Actions
- Speak words that build up and encourage others
- Make choices that align with God’s will, reflecting Christ’s character
4. Cultivate Righteous Relationships
- Stay connected with other believers for support and accountability
- Surround yourself with people who encourage you in righteousness
5. Serve Others and Share Your Story
- Use your gifts to serve others and advance God’s Kingdom
- Look for opportunities to be a minister of reconciliation
- Share your faith to strengthen your own convictions
6. Practice Continual Surrender
- Regularly recommit your life to Christ
- Engage in ongoing spiritual growth and renewal
By consistently applying these steps in community, by His Spirit, we can become more effective instruments of righteousness, actively participating in God’s work of reconciliation in our communities and beyond.
Conclusion
Maintaining freedom in Christ and engaging in spiritual warfare is an active, ongoing process that requires vigilance, commitment, and a continual turning towards God. As we consistently apply the R.O.W. principle (Repent, Obey, Worship), we strengthen our relationship with Christ and our ability to stand firm against the enemy’s schemes.
Remember, the goal isn’t perfection, but progress. There will be times when we stumble, but God’s grace is always sufficient. As we continue to ROW against the flow of this world, we can trust that He who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion (Philippians 1:6).
In this spiritual battle, we’re not just fighting against something, we’re fighting for something. We’re fighting to be instruments of righteousness, to be ministers of reconciliation, to be ambassadors for Christ in a world that desperately needs Him. Every day, we have the choice to hand over the keys of our lives to God or to the enemy.
Let’s choose wisely, offering ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. This is our true and proper worship, and it’s the most powerful way we can engage in spiritual warfare.
Reflection
- What are some specific agreements with the enemy that you need to break in your life?
- How can you incorporate the strategies for spiritual growth into your daily routine?
- What’s a recent testimony of God’s work in your life that you could share with others?
- In what areas of your life might you be unknowingly handing control over to the enemy?
- How can you actively choose to be an instrument of righteousness in your daily life?
- What steps can you take to become a more effective minister of reconciliation in your relationships and community?
Prayer Focus
Heavenly Father, we come before You, recognizing that we are in the midst of a spiritual battle. We confess the times we’ve handed control of our lives over to the enemy through our choices and actions. Forgive us, Lord, and help us to fully grasp the authority we have in Christ.
We ask for Your wisdom and discernment to recognize the subtle ways the enemy tries to influence us. Give us the strength to resist his schemes and the courage to stand firm in our faith.
Lord, we offer ourselves to You as instruments of righteousness. Use us to bring Your light into dark places, Your love into broken relationships, and Your truth into confused minds. Help us to be effective ministers of reconciliation, reflecting Your character in all we do.
Holy Spirit, guide our thoughts, words, and actions. May we be living testimonies of Your transforming power. We pray for opportunities to share the message of reconciliation with those around us.
Father, we thank You for the victory that is already ours in Christ. Help us to live in that victory daily, choosing to align ourselves with Your Kingdom of light. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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Aaron Bauer 