Romans 6:13 tells us our body is an instrument, and we choose to use it for righteousness or unrighteousness. The Greek word translated “instrument” there means tool or weapon. What kind of tool or weapon are you? Are you an instrument God holds in His hand to do His will?
Are you a battering ram? The ancients would use a log or some other hard object to break down a wall or door. Have we filled our hearts with the Word to the degree that we can, speaking the truth in love (Eph. 4:15), break down barriers keeping the honest-hearted from God?
Are you a crowbar? Crowbars pry objects apart. There are things we should separate from our thinking and lifestyle. Are we trying to pull away from worldliness (cf. Jas. 4:4)?
Are you a chisel? This is a tool that does meticulous, detail work. Its blade carves or cuts hard materials. Do we have the tenacity and trust needed to use God’s Word and benefit from His providence to remake our lives into the image of Christ (2 Cor. 3:18)?
Are you a level? We live in not only a dishonest world, but a corrupt world. So many call good evil and evil good (cf. Isa. 5:20). Can people find in us a reliable standard of right and wrong, as we reflect the principles of God’s Word? Levels are used to determine whether something is true and as it ought to be.
Are you a plane?
The plane makes rough surfaces smooth by repetitiously moving it back and forth across the surface. All four gospels (Mt. 3:3; Mk. 1:3; Lk. 3:4; Jn. 1:23) speak of John the immerser’s work as making ready the path of the Lord, making His paths straight. We are not a forerunner of Jesus; we follow in His steps (cf. 1 Pt. 2:21). As we do follow Him, we are going to forge a path safe for others to follow (cf. 1 Co. 11:1).
Are you a magnet? A magnet is an object that draws and holds another object disposed toward such attraction. Magnets can be used as tools themselves, but are often made a part of other tools (like hammers and screwdrivers). By living like Jesus, you will draw people to Him.
Paul likes the word found in Romans 6:13 when talking to the Corinthians. He mentions “weapons” of righteousness (2 Co. 6:7) and the “weapons” of our warfare (2 Co. 10:4). In both cases, the tools or weapons are spiritual and figurative, yet with them we can help shape and build up those around us.
— Neal Pollard