Our Duty as Debtors

The first word of Romans 8:12 points us both backward and forward. It reminds us of what Paul is doing in this monumental chapter of Scripture—showing why there no longer is any condemnation for those who are in Christ (8:1). The apostle showed first that we face no condemnation because we have been delivered from sin’s penalty (8:1–4). He then began to show that we have been freed from sin’s power (8:5–13). He concludes that point with today’s passage, in which he teaches how we should live in light of God’s liberating work.

By the Holy Spirit, God the Father has united us to Christ. The consequences of this divine work are awe-inspiring. We have been delivered from God’s wrath over our sin, we have been given a new nature that is alive to spiritual realities, and we have received the assurance that our bodies someday will be resurrected and glorified, and that we will live with God forever. Because of this great act of divine grace, Paul now argues, we have an obligation. Of course, the obligation is not to our “flesh,” to our sinful natures. After all, what has the flesh ever done for us except cause us to incur God’s displeasure? Instead, though Paul does not say so explicitly in these verses, our obligation is to God, to live for Him by setting our minds on the things of the Spirit rather than the things of me flesh. In light of all He has done for us, we “owe” it to God to live as He commands; that is the least we can do. And we now have some ability to do this, for we are “dead” to sin but alive to God (6:11). However, Paul also adds a caution here—we cannot do it alone; the Spirit’s help is essential. We must put to death the deeds of the body “by the Spirit.”

The apostle also gives us a strong, sobering reminder about the consequences of the lifestyle we choose. “If you live according to the flesh you will die,” he writes, “but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Paul is not saying that Christians who are lax in their duty will suffer spiritual death. Rather, he is distinguishing between believers and unbelievers. Dr. James M. Boice sums up the apostle’s argument well: “Paul is saying that if you live like a non-Christian, dominated by your sinful nature rather than living according to the Holy Spirit, you will perish like a non-Christian—because you are a non-Christian.”