Christians have an obligation to live a life of holiness in honor of their God Who is holy (Leviticus 11:44; 1 Peter 1:15-16) and provided a holy sacrifice for their sins in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ.  This is the only reasonable response believers have (Romans 12:1).  Paul wrote of this in the Epistle to the Romans.

Romans 6:11-15 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.  13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.  14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.  15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

Christians are to “reckon” (consider as being) themselves dead to sin.  To be dead to something is to be separated from it and therefore unresponsive to it.  However, believers are alive unto God through Jesus Christ.  We are to be responsive to Him, not the temptations of sin that confront us.

As a result, we cannot “yield” (give up) our bodies to be used in unrighteous acts.  Again, the contrary is true.  We give ourselves up to God for His righteous purposes.  We are reminded in verse 14 the reason why.  We are not under the law, but are under grace.  What does this mean?

The law revealed the sinfulness of mankind (Romans 4:15; 7:7).  It was not a redeeming force, but rather a condemning one.  It is by God’s grace (unmerited favor) that our utter sinfulness is taken away by the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. For this reason, we should live lives consistent with the grace of God, not the condemning work of the law.  As the passage above states, “shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.”