“as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance.”
to the former lusts
“Lusts” means to greatly desire to do or have something — to long for, to desire very much, to crave. It means to strongly desire to have what belongs to someone else. It carries the idea of engaging in desires that are morally wrong — to covet, to lust (Acts 20.33; Matthew 5.28; Galatians 5.16; 1 Timothy 6.9; 2 Timothy 2.22).
Ephesians 2:1-3 says,
“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.”
In Romans 6:12, the injunction against letting sin reign in our mortal body to obey the lust thereof refers to those evil desires that are ready to express themselves in bodily activity. They are equally the lusts of the flesh (Romans 13:14; Galatians 5:16, 24; Ephesians 2:3; 2 Peter 2:18; 1 John 2:16).
“Lusts” describes the emotions of the soul, the natural tendency towards evil things.
PRINCIPLE:
Every Christian has a proclivity to sin.
APPLICATION:
It is helpful to know that inherent within the Christian is a proclivity to sin. It is the desire that drives the orientation to sin.
Hebrews 12:1 tells us that there are certain sins toward which each Christian aligns himself,
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” God wants us to lay aside the sin that we lean toward.
