Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Romans 8:12

Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.

12. debtors ] An emphatic word in the verse. Q. d., “We are debtors to the Giver of the Spirit; to the flesh we indeed owe nothing, for its result is death.” The first part of this statement is unexpressed, but obviously in point.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

We are debtors – We owe it as a matter of solemn obligation. This obligation arises,

1. From the fact that the Spirit dwells in us;
2. Because the design of his indwelling is to purify us;
3. Because we are thus recovered from the death of sin to the life of religion; and he who has imparted life, has a right to require that it be spent in his service.

To the flesh – To the corrupt propensities and passions. We are not bound to indulge them because the end of such indulgence is death and ruin; Rom 7:21-22. But we are bound to live to God, and to follow the leadings of his Spirit, for the end is life and peace; Rom 7:22-23. The reason for this is stated in the following verse.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Rom 8:12

Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh to live after the flesh.

The Christian–a debtor

I. How are we to understand this. We are debtors–

1. To all times.

(1) To the past. To such who have preceded us we owe the purity of the Church. Shall we not, in some degree, repay the immense debt of our obligation by seeking to make the future also debtors to us, that our descendants may acknowledge that they owe us thanks for preserving the Scriptures, for maintaining liberty, for glorifying God?

(2) To the present. We are living in a most marvellous age. We have around us appliances for doing good, such as never before. We have a work to do, as great as our forefathers, and, perhaps, far greater.

(3) To the future. Who can tell the fearful consequences to future generations if we now betray our trust? Sow well, for others must reap. You are fountains for coming generations; oh, be careful that your streams are pure.

2. To all classes. There are some that always get well paid for what they do, whose claims, therefore, need no advocacy. I will only mention one class–the poor. Charity to them is a debt, and God requires us to remember the poor. The rich are indebted to them, for while the one hoard wealth the other make it. But in the case of the believing poor, their claim upon us is far more binding. When I think how the poor toil day after day and receive barely enough to keep their souls within their bodies, and how frequently they serve their Church, unhonoured and unrewarded, I cannot but say that we are their debtors in very large degree. We little know how many a blessing the poor mans prayer brings down upon us.

3. To our covenant God; that is the point which swallows up all. I owe nothing to the past, future, rich, poor, compared with what I owe to my God. We are all born Gods creatures, and as such we are debtors to obey Him. When we have broken His commandments we are debtors to His justice, and owe him a vast amount of punishment which we are not able to pay. But in the case of the Christian, Christ has paid the debt. I am a debtor to Gods love, to Gods power, to Gods forgiving mercy, and are we not His sons, and is there not a debt the son owes to the Father which a lifetime of obedience can never remove? Remember again, we are Christs brethren, and there is a debt in brotherhood.

II. What ought we to draw from this doctrine.

1. A lesson of humility. If we be debtors we never ought to be proud.

2. How zealous we should be for our Master! Though we cannot pay all, we can at least acknowledge the debt, and, if we cannot pay Him the principal, yet to give Him some little interest upon the talent which He has lent to us, and those stupendous mercies which He has granted to us. If we all believed this, how much easier it would be to get our Churches into good order! I go to one brother and say, There is such and such an office in the Sabbath school; will you take it? Well, sir, I really work so hard all the week that I cannot. There, you see, that man does not know that he is a debtor. I take him a bill to-morrow morning, and he says, Do you come begging? I say, No; I have brought a bill. Oh, yes, he says, I see; there is the cash. Now that is the way to act. Conclusion: Be just before you are generous, and especially before you are generous to yourselves. Take care that you pay your debts before you spend money upon your pleasures. If it is robbing man to spend the money in pleasure wherewith we ought to pay our debts, it is robbing God if we employ our time, our talents, or our money, in anything but His service, until we feel we have done our share in that service. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

We are not debtors to the flesh

The word flesh may be taken in its physical consideration. There is a debt which every man in a sense does owe unto it. We may be said to be debtors to the flesh, that is, to our bodies, in sundry regards: as to feed them, clothe, and to nourish them. No man ever yet hated his own flesh (Eph 5:29). And there are some kind of people in the world which are scandalously debtors to it: as, for example, your misers and muck-worms, which pinch and straighten themselves even where God has enlarged them; live poor, that they may die rich. And so likewise not only your covetous, but your superstitious persons, which needlessly, and out of a conceit of merit, macerate their flesh, and put a piece of religion in abstaining from such kind of meats, which God had created to be received with thanksgiving of them that believe and know the truth, as it is in 1Ti 4:3. The denial of the flesh, in this sense, is the withholding of a debt from it which is due unto it. Indeed, as to the pampering and inordinate setting out of our bodies, so we are not debtors unto them. A Christian owes his flesh no such special or extraordinary service as this is. And the reasons hereof is taken from the nature and conditions of the body, considered in itself, which, as it is styled in the verse before, is corruptible and mortal. And then, besides, the great impediments which it does cause and contract to the soul, from the inordinate serving of it, whereby it is made so much the more unfit for the duties and exercises of religion, taken in its physical consideration, so far forth as it does denote the body, or outward man. The second is by taking it in the moral. The flesh, that is sin and corruption: and so it seems principally to be understood here in this place. Christians, they are by no means debtors to the fulfilling of their lusts. First, we are not debtors to the flesh, nor have any cause to do service to that, because we have received no answerable benefit from it. A debt it is upon consideration, and does usually and for the most part imply some benefit received. We never got a farthing by sin, any of us, in all our lives. All that we get by sin is nothing but shame and loss. Therefore it is not we that are debtors to it, but it is it, indeed, rather that is a debtor to us, in all those fair promises which it hath some time made unto us, whilst it has performed none. Secondly, as we are not debtors by receipt, so neither are we debtors by promise. That is another way sometimes of coming into debt. Though a man have nothing which he hath received from another, yet if he hath promised him, and bound himself to him, he becomes a debtor to him notwithstanding. There is no man that is a true believer, and that has given up his name to Christ, who has made any promise to sin for the gratifying of it in any particular. Thirdly, there are too many of us who are, as I may say, aforehand with the flesh, in the days of vanity and un-conversion, therefore not debtors to it. If ever they owed anything to it, they have paid it over and over again, and more than enough (1Pe 4:3). Fourthly, we are not debtors to the flesh, because the flesh and we are at absolute enmity and opposition one to another. We have killed and crucified the flesh, as many of us as belong to Christ, therefore we are no longer debtors to it. They that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts (Gal 5:24). Now, therefore, we are not to conceive as if we owed anything to it. Why, thus it is now with us in regard of the flesh. It concerns us all we can to spoil it, and to divest it of that which it has, therefore we are not to think that we should owe anything to it. Fifthly, we are absolutely freed and discharged from the exactions of it. It has no part or share in us, nor anything at all to do with us, therefore we are not debtors to it (Rom 6:23). Those who are regenerate and born again they are made free from sin, and so nothing engaged to the services of it. Sixthly and lastly, we are not debtors to the flesh, because the flesh is not a warrantable creditor for any to be indebted unto. Where there is nothing due, there is no man can be said to be a debtor. Now for the flesh, it is a cheater, and an usurper, and an oppressor. The consideration of this point serves to this purpose: First, to discover to us the sad and miserable condition of all such persons as are out of Christ. There is no man so deeply engaged as that man who is in thraldom to his lusts; and he has all the properties of a sad debtor upon him. First, he is a servant to it; this is the property of a debtor; the borrower is a servant to the lender, as Solomon speaks. He that committeth sin is the servant of sin, so says our Saviour. Why, thus now is every carnal and unregenerate person to his lusts; he is a slave and servant to them, and they lead him whither they please. He that is a debtor to one lust, he shall be a slave to many more with it, which will engage him occasionally from it. Thus he who is a debtor to ambition and pride and vain glory in the world, he is a debtor occasionally to flattery and falsehood and sinful correspondences, for the promoting of such ends to himself. He that is a debtor to covetousness, he is a debtor consequently to cozenage and fraud and oppression, and such causes as these for the satisfying of that humour in him. And he that is a debtor to wantonness and lasciviousness and drunkenness and intemperance, and the like, he is a debtor also to other sins which have an affinity and agreement thereunto. Thus lust is not a single debt, but involves many others besides together with itself, which is a special misery considerable in it. Secondly, another misery in a debtor is that he labours all for another many times and not for himself. He is not only a servant but a drudge. Those that are addicted and given up to such affections as these are, they can have time and leisure for little else but the following of them, whereas in the meantime their inward man it lies waste, and those means which God has appointed for the advancing thereof are neglected accordingly. Thirdly, another inconvenience of debtors is restraint and want of freedom. Lastly, he that is a debtor to sin, he is the worst kind of debtor of all, because the more that he pays to it the more he still comes in debt to a greater Creditor, and runs in arrears with Him, who will be sure at last to call him to a most strict account about it. And so now I have done with the first general part of the text, which is the negative in that which is expressed, We are not debtors to the flesh, to live after the flesh. The second is the affirmative, as that which is implied. But we are debtors to the Spirit, to live after the Spirit. First, for the Creditor: the Spirit. Every Christian is a debtor that is bound and engaged to do this. And first of all, as it denotes the third person in the Trinity, which was spoken of in the verse immediately preceding. Every Christian is a debtor to the Holy Spirit, and that in these respects. First, as the beginner and worker of all grace in him. Secondly, we are engaged to the Spirit, not only as the first beginner, but also as the further increaser of those graces in us which are begun. Thirdly, as our Comforter in afflictions: we are debtors to the Spirit thus. Lastly, as the continual suggester of good thoughts unto us, and restrainer of us from evil. But, secondly, we may take it as denoting the regenerate part in us, in reference to a spiritual life. And thus in this sense are we debtors to the Spirit also. First, we are debtors to the spirit, that is, to the spiritual part in us, in regard of what we have not paid already. There is no man, whoever he be, but he is behind hand, as I may say, to the spirit in this respect. He has not bestowed that time, and pains and endeavour upon his heart, and soul, and spirit as he should, and as it hath become him to do. Secondly, we are debtors to the spirit, in regard of what we ought and are bound to pay unto it, It is a debt which lies upon us to lead a godly and holy life: and that in sundry respects. Thirdly, we are debtors to the Spirit, from the great benefit which does accrue and come to us herefrom, and which we have already had experience of. Let us consider how far we have discharged this debt which we are so much engaged in. Let us cast up our reckonings and see what we have expended answerable to what we have received. Set creditor on one hand and set debtor on the other, as we use to do in other matters. We are debtors to the Spirit, and He will not be put off with such payments as belong rather to the flesh. Were it not a strange thing for a debtor to mistake his true creditor–to run and carry that to one man which belonged rather to another? Why thus it is with many people in regard of their debts for their souls. They are debtors to the Spirit, of their health, of their strength, of their time, of their parts, of their estates, and of all they have. And they offer the payment hereof all to the flesh, What an incongruous thing is this? Therefore I say still, let us be careful to discharge our proper duty in that particular. And to set this so much the more upon us, let us consider these things with ourselves. First, the power of the Creditor. And if we neglect or refuse to pay Him, He knows how to help Himself. No securing or saving themselves from Him who is able to meet with them. Secondly, the strictness of the Creditor. That is another thing considerable likewise. He is one that is exact in His demands, which should make us in our returns to be so likewise. Thirdly, let us further consider to this purpose the great advantage of paying, and the special benefit which comes to us by it, while being debtors to the Spirit we are careful to be payers too. We have a threefold accommodation from it. First, a further entrusting and committing of more unto us. Such debtors as are not careful to pay, there is nobody will trust them with any more. Secondly, further enablement. The more we are careful to pay the more we shall be able to pay. Every new performance is a preparation and disposition to another. To him that thus hath shall be given. Thirdly, peace of conscience and satisfaction and tranquility of mind. Debts they are commonly troublesome, and do much disquiet the minds of those who are entangled with them. (Thomas Horton, D.D.)

A debtor to the flesh

At the time this Epistle was written, and among the people to whom it was addressed, the creditor exercised over the debtor a power which the humanity of modern times has abolished. The unfortunate man who was insolvent was at the mercy of his creditor, and might be treated as he chose. It has long been a question whether, according to the Roman law, the creditors had not the right of cutting the mans body in pieces in proportion to the amount of their claims; and there can be no doubt that the debtors person as well as his property, his family as well as himself, were liable to be apprehended and disposed of; just as we read in the parable, where the king is found ordering that the servant who owed him ten thousand talents should be sold, with his family and all that he had, that payment might be made. In this sense, therefore, the debtor of the flesh would have been a man over whom the flesh had established an absolute power; whose mind as well as body were devoted to its service, and bound to do its will–who, if he laboured, was to labour that he might make provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof; who, if he rested, was to rest that he might indulge it in all its inclinations more freely; who, if he thought, was to be thinking about things to be had in the body, or, if he spoke, was to be speaking of them, and was to show a distaste for thought and conversation of a higher, purer character. There are many who are debtors to the flesh; who acknowledge the obligations, and show no inclination to be released from it. Listen to the voice of the world. Hear how the young are told that they ought to enjoy themselves while they are able, and that no one can condemn them if they do so. Hear how those who are more advanced are told that in dress, furniture, table, amusements, they ought to do what ethers do, and that they ought not to give offence by adopting a more Christian course of life than that which their neighbours lead. And when this language of the world comes to be translated into the words of the text, is it not equivalent with saying, We are debtors to the flesh, to make provision for its indulgence; we are debtors to the flesh for everything we enjoy or desire; and therefore we are bound to do all we can, in order to fulfil its purposes and gratify its wishes? Therefore, as the apostle continues, if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. If you have persuaded yourselves that you must owe to the flesh the happiness you wish for, and if, acting under this impression, that you are debtors to the flesh, you determine to live after the flesh, death will soon come and put an end to all these dreams you have been cherishing; but long before death comes to chill your mirth, long before those rosebuds are withered with which you have been crowning yourselves, a deadness of heart shall come over you, a deadness to all spiritual things, which shall be the pledge and token of eternal death. (H. Raikes, M.A.)

Debtors to the flesh

I. The obligation due to the body. We are in the flesh, and the flesh has claims which rest upon Divine appointment.

1. Observe the form in which the apostle puts the matter. We may be debtors to the flesh, but not to live after it. The duty we owe it is not that of servants to a master, but of a master to his servants. We are debtors in respect to food, medicine, raiment, shelter, temperance and cleanliness. And to those who belong to us after the flesh we are debtors for earthly things; and he that careth not for them is worse than an infidel.

2. Let us go further. Our bodies are the Divine workmanship, and their faculties are of Gods malting and giving. Why? Not that they should run away with us or rule us, but that they should be subject to us.

II. The limit of the obligation. Not to live after the flesh. Men live after the flesh–

1. When the flesh is made the chief object of care, and this we are not obliged to do by any Divine law.

2. When we allow carnal indulgence to interfere with Christian duty.

3. When we decline bodily suffering in the cause and at the call of God.

4. When we are guided by a carnal policy in the conduct of life.

III. The difficulty of the obligation. We shall find the flesh so tyrannical that to keep within the actual limit of obligation is no easy matter. To mortify the deeds of the body thus becomes an important duty. This mortification is evangelical in motive, spiritual in nature, gradual in consummation.

IV. This mortification is at once the test of spirituality of mind and the fruit of the effectual work of the Spirit of God. Salvation is not only a work for us, but in us.

1. The Great Helper. We are not left to ourselves.

2. But a helper implies our own activity.

3. This proclaims the energy and reality of the spiritual life. (Percy Strutt.)

Believers not debtors to the flesh

I. Not from relationship. The flesh is no part of our original nature.

II. Not from gratitude. Its effects upon us have been only evil.

III. Not from duty. It is opposed to God, who commands us to crucify it.

IV. Not from interest. Only misery and death aver to be reaped from it (Gal 6:8). We are debtors to the body, which is Gods creature (Act 27:34; Eph 5:29), but not debtors to the flesh, which is Satans production (Mat 13:38; 1Jn 3:8). We are debtors to the body to satisfy its wants, but not to the flesh to gratify its lusts (Rom 13:14). (T. Robinson, D.D.)

The Christian a debtor not to the flesh, but to the Spirit

You take a wild briar from the hedge, and plant it in your garden; upon that briar you graft the choicest rose, and the result is–what? not two distinct identities, the briar flourishing as a briar, and the rose as a rose, nor the briar being completely absorbed into the rose, but two distinct natures forming one individuality, of which one represents the original individuality of the briar, while the other the imparted nature of the rose. This original individuality is only to be allowed to express itself through the imparted nature. All self-assertion on the part of the original briar stock, as distinct from the new nature engrafted upon it, is to be rigorously repressed. Neglect this process of repression, and the briar may make shoots below the graft; and as these shoots develop themselves the rose nature begins to lose ground, and suffers in foliage and flower, until, if the process be only allowed to go far enough, the rose is extinguished, the old briar is supreme. Yet observe: the briar itself is not repressed; it is allowed to develop itself in accordance with the laws of its own nature, but only through the rose. None of its personal rights or functions are to be interfered with; it is not to be robbed of the enjoyment of full vital vigour; but all this is to go to the production of a flower worthy of your garden, instead of the scanty and quickly-fading bloom of the hedge-rose. What is it that produces the standard rose? Not the rose without the briar; not the briar without the rose, but the rose and the briar united in one. In that standard rose, Christian, behold a picture of thyself if Christ is formed in thee! Thy individuality is not to be repressed; no healthy function of thy nature is to be laid aside. Yet is it necessary that you should be prepared to mortify the deeds of the body, or the old nature may assert itself apart from all reference to the new. Mortify, therefore, your members which are upon the earth. Do you ask how? I reply that the same Spirit which has already introduced the new nature, and united Himself, provides the pruning-knife. We are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. We are debtors, not to the old briar-stock apart from the rose, for what did that ever bear that was worth gathering? what fruit had we but those things whereof we are now ashamed? the end of those things was death. But we are debtors, not only to that God whose sovereign love has made us what we are; not only to that Saviour who has redeemed us from the slavery of sin; not only to that Spirit who has condescended to make our body His temple; but we owe it to our new selves–that self into which the new Adam has been grafted, and wherein the new Adam claims to have His way; we owe it to that sense of harmony which pervades the once distracted elements of our nature; to that calm which has taken the place of our former disquietude; to that joy which has already furnished us with a foretaste of heaven; that we should be true to the instincts of our new life, and to the laws of our renovated nature! To forget this solemn debt is to turn our backs on all that makes life profitable, is to give ourselves over to spiritual bankruptcy; to recognise it and pay it with loyal and grateful devotion, is to secure boundless resources of infinite wealth. If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; and he who dies is stripped of all: If ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live; and he who thus lives, lives in the enjoyment of all. (W. Hay Aitken, M.A.)

The believers obligation

I. The solemn obligation of the children of God. We are debtors; but the flesh is not our creditor. Do we owe anything to sin, the parent of all woe? To Satan–who plotted our temptation and accomplished our downfall? To the world–ensnaring, deceitful, and ruinous? No; to these, the allies of the flesh, we owe nothing but hatred and opposition. And yet the saints of God are debtors.

1. To the Father, for His electing love, His unspeakable gift, His spiritual blessings in Christ.

2. To the Son. He was the active agent in our redemption. He left no path untrodden, no portion of the curse unborne, no sin unatoned, no part of the law uncancelled, nothing for us in the matter of our salvation to do, but simply believe and be saved.

3. To the Holy Spirit, for leading us to Christ; for dwelling in our hearts; for His healing, sanctifying, comforting, and restoring grace; for His influence which no ingratitude has quenched; for His patience which no backsliding has exhausted; for His love which no sin has annihilated. We owe Him the intellect He has renewed, the heart He has sanctified, the body He inhabits, every breath of life He has inspired, and every pulse of love He has awakened.

II. The duty to which that obligation binds them. Holiness, or the mortification of sin, the opposite of living after the flesh, a subject strangely misunderstood to mean a mere maceration or mortification of the body, the mere excision of outward sins, or the destruction of sin altogether. True mortification is–

1. An annulling of the covenant with sin: Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, no union, but rather reprove them. What have I to do any more with idols? The resources of sin must be cut off: Make no provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. Whatever tends to, and terminates in, the sinful gratification of the flesh, is to be relinquished.

2. A crucifixion: They that are Christs have crucified the flesh. Death by the cross is certain, yet lingering.

III. The twofold agency by which the work is accomplished.

1. If ye. The believer is not a cipher in this work. His usefulness, his happiness, his hope of heaven, are all included in it. The work of the Spirit is not, and never was designed to be, a substitute for the personal work of the believer. Work out your own salvation. Let us, then, be cautious of merging human responsibility in Divine influence; of exalting the one at the expense of the other; of cloaking the spirit of slothfulness beneath an apparently jealous regard for the honour of the Holy Ghost. Is no self-effort to be made to dethrone an unlawful habit, to resist a powerful temptation, to dissolve the spell that binds us to a dangerous enchantment, to unwind the chain that makes us the slave of a wrong inclination? Oh, surely, God deals not with us as we deal with a piece of mechanism–but as reasonable, moral, and accountable beings. I drew you with the hands of a man.

2. And it infinitely transcends the mightiest puttings forth of creative power. If ye through the Spirit do mortify.

1. This He does by making us more sensible of the existence of indwelling sin, by deepening our aspirations after holiness, by shedding abroad the love of God in the heart. But above all, by leading us to the Cross, and showing us that, as Christ died for sin, so we must die to sin, and by the self-same instrument too.

2. The Spirit effects it, but through the instrumentality of the Atonement. There must be a personal contact with Jesus. This only is it that draws forth His grace. (A. Winslow, D.D.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 12. Therefore, brethren, c.] Dr. Taylor is of opinion that the apostle having spoken separately, both to Jews and Gentiles, concerning holiness and the obligations to it, now addresses himself to both conjointly, and,

I. Draws the general conclusion from all his arguments upon this subject, Ro 8:12.

II. Proves the validity of their claims to eternal life, Ro 8:14-17.

III. And as the affair of suffering persecution was a great stumbling block to the Jews, and might very much discourage the Gentiles, he introduces it to the best advantage, Ro 8:17, and advances several arguments to fortify their minds under all trials: as –

(1.) That they suffered with Christ

(2.) In order to be glorified with him in a manner which will infinitely compensate all sufferings, Ro 8:17; Ro 8:18.

(3.) All mankind are under various pressures, longing for a better state, Ro 8:19-22.

(4.) Many of the most eminent Christians are in the same distressed condition, Ro 8:23.

(5.) According to the plan of the Gospel, we are to be brought to glory after a course of patience exercised in a variety of trials, Ro 8:24; Ro 8:25.

(6.) The Spirit of God will supply patience to every upright soul under persecution and suffering, Ro 8:26; Ro 8:27.

(7.) All things, even the severest trials, shall work together for their good, Ro 8:28. And this he proves, by giving us a view of the several steps which the wisdom and goodness of God have settled, in order to our complete salvation, Ro 8:29; Ro 8:30. Thence he passes to the affair of our perseverance; concerning which he concludes, from the whole of his preceding arguments, that as we are brought into a state of pardon by the free grace of God, through the death of Christ, who is now our mediator in heaven; no possible cause, providing we continue to love and serve God, shall be able to pervert our minds, or separate us from his love in Christ Jesus, Ro 8:31-39. Therefore, is the grand inference from all that he has been arguing in relation to sanctity of life, both to the Gentiles, chap. 6, and to the Jews, chap. 7, and 8, to this verse, where I suppose he begins to address himself to both, in a body, to the end of the chapter.- Taylor, page 317.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Therefore; this illative particle sends us to the things before delivered: q.d. Seeing we are not in the flesh, but have the Spirit of God dwelling in us; not only sanctifying and enlivening our souls for the present, but raising and quickening our bodies for the time to come;

therefore we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh; i.e. we are not debtors to sin, or the corrupt and sinful nature that is in us; we owe it no service, there is nothing due to it from believers, but blows, and the blue eye that the apostle gave it. The antithesis is omitted, but it is necessarily implied and understood; and that is, that we are debtors to the Spirit, to live and walk after it.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

12, 13. Therefore, brethren, we aredebtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh“Oncewe were sold under sin (Ro 7:14);but now that we have been set free from that hard master and becomeservants to Righteousness (Ro6:22), we owe nothing to the flesh, we disown its unrighteousclaims and are deaf to its imperious demands.” Glorioussentiment!

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Therefore, brethren, we are debtors,…. The appellation, “brethren”, is not used, because they were so by nation or by blood, though many in the church at Rome were Jews; nor merely in a free familiar way of speaking; but rather on account of church membership, and especially because they were in the same spiritual relation to God and Christ: and the use of it by the apostle, shows his great humility and condescension, and his love and affection for them, and is designed to engage their attention and regard to what he was about to say, to them and of them; as that they were “debtors”; which is to be understood of them not as sinners, who as such had been greatly in debt, and had nothing to pay, and were liable to the prison of hell; for no mere creature could ever have paid off their debts; but Christ has done it for them, and in this sense they were not debtors: but they were so as saints, as men freed from condemnation and death; which doctrine of Christian liberty is no licentious one; it does not exempt from obedience, but the more and greater the favours are which such men enjoy, the more obliged they are to be grateful and obey; they are debtors, or trader obligation,

not to the flesh, to corrupt nature,

to live after the flesh, the dictates of that; nor should they be, both on God’s account, since that is enmity to him, and is not subject to his law; and on their own account, because it is an enemy to them, brings reproach on them, and exposes them to death; but though it is not expressed, it is understood, that they are debtors to God; to God the Father, both as the God of nature, and of grace, as their covenant God and Father in Christ, who has blessed them with all spiritual blessings in him; to Christ himself, who has redeemed them by his blood: and to the Spirit of God who is in them, and for what he has been, is, and will be to them.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

We are debtors ( ). See on Gal 5:3; Rom 1:14.

Not to the flesh ( ). Negative goes with preceding verb and , not with the infinitive .

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

1) “Therefore, brethren,” (ara oun, adelphoi) “So then brethren,” – In the light of this, brethren.

2) “We are debtors,” (opheiletai esmen) “We are (exist as) debtors,” have obligations – are under constraining obligations.

3) “Not to the flesh,” (ou te sarki) “Not to or toward the flesh;” we owe the flesh, the old nature, our enemy nothing; 1Co 9:26-27.

4) “To live after the flesh,” (tou kata sarka zen) “To live (of) according to the (nature of) flesh;” or after the pattern of the fleshly, carnal nature, 1Jn 2:15-17; Rom 8:1; Rom 8:3-9.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

12. So then, brethren, etc. This is the conclusion of what has been previously said; for if we are to renounce the flesh, we ought not to consent to it; and if the Spirit ought to reign in us, it is inconsistent not to attend to his bidding. Paul’s sentence is here defective, for he omits the other part of the contrast, — that we are debtors to the Spirit; but the meaning is in no way obscure. (251) This conclusion has the force of an exhortation; for he is ever wont to draw exhortations from his doctrine. So in another place, Eph 4:30, he exhorts us

“

not to grieve the Spirit of God, by whom we have been sealed to the day of redemption:”

he does the same in Gal 5:25,

“

If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

And this is the case, when we renounce carnal lusts, so as to devote ourselves, as those who are bound, to the righteousness of God. Thus indeed we ought to reason, not as some blasphemers are wont to do, who talk idly, and say, — that we must do nothing, because we have no power. But it is as it were to fight against God, when we extinguish the grace offered to us, by contempt and negligence.

(251) He did not mention the other part, says [ Pareus ], “because it was so evident.” Besides, what he had already stated, and what he proceeds to state, are so many evidences of our obligations to live after the Spirit, that it was unnecessary to make such an addition. — Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

Text

Rom. 8:12-15. So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh: Rom. 8:13 for if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the Spirit ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live. Rom. 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Rom. 8:15 For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

REALIZING ROMANS, Rom. 8:12-15

338.

We are indeed debtors to the lost world, (cf. Rom. 1:14-15) and also to the Holy Spirit. What is our debt and how shall we pay it?

339.

There is a call upon us by one who claims we owe him something. Who is it and what is it? We do not owe him a thingnot one minute or one ounce of energy or one cent of money. We often pay what we do not owe.

340.

To live after the flesh is to die. Explain this. Be specific.

341.

By the help of the Holy Spirit we can put to death the deeds of the body. Explain how this takes place.

342.

In what particular manner are we led by the Spirit of God?

343.

Our sonship is revealed in what action? cf. Rom. 8:14.

344.

What spirit is discussed in Rom. 8:15?

345.

Where and when do we cry, Father, father?

Paraphrase

Rom. 8:12-15. Well then, brethren, having such assistances, we are not constrained by the corruptions of our nature to live according to the flesh: we may overcome our evil inclinations.

Rom. 8:13 Wherefore, I say a second time, if ye live according to the lusts of the flesh, ye shall die eternally; but if, through the Spirit of God, (Rom. 8:9) ye put to death the lusts of the body by continually restraining them, ye shall live eternally with God.

Rom. 8:14 Because, in every nation, as many as are habitually guided by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God: they partake of his nature, and are heirs of immortality.

173.

What are two present results of having Christ in us (Rom. 8:8-10)?

174.

What is a yet future result of having the Holy Spirit in us (Rom. 8:11)?

Rom. 8:15 That ye Romans are the sons of God, appears from your dispositions. For ye have not received the spirit of slaves again to serve God from fear; that disposition the law produces; but, through the discovery [revelation] of the mercy of God in the gospel, ye have received the spirit of children, by which in our prayers we call him Father, each in our own language.

Summary

We owe the flesh nothing, that we should live according to its evil inclinations, Besides, to live thus will end in death. But if by aid of the Holy Spirit we put an end to the deeds of the body, we shall live. As many, and no more, as are led by Gods Spirit are his sons; and we have this Spirit, for we received it at our baptism; and in it we now cry to him, calling him Father.

Comment

2.

New Life in Christ. Rom. 8:12-17

a. With the thought of our wonderful deliverance found in Christ comes the thought of the new life in Christ. What responsibilities do we have as we thus live? Our responsibilities are expressed here in the words of Paul: We are debtors. To what are we debtors? We owe nothing to the flesh; we have died out to its bondage. We are debtors to the spirit. We know if we live out the desires of the flesh we will reap the penalty or wages of sin, which is death. But contrariwise, if we, although in the flesh, do not yield to Satans efforts but rather put to death, by the help of Gods Spirit, the suggestions and actions of the flesh we can indeed livelive unto God. Thus our debt is paid to the spirit. Rom. 8:12-14

b. The result of such a life lived after the desires of God through the Spirit is to make us know that we are sons of God. There is no thought here of the Holy Spirit imparting knowledge apart from the word to enable man to be led by the Spirit. God leads us through his Spirit by the Spirits word in the sacred scriptures, and by his Spirits leading in providence. Rom. 8:14

c. The Spirit we received was not a spirit that would lead us into bondage, bringing fear of punishment upon our hearts, like the condition as found under the law, which did truly lead into bondage and fear. But the Holy Spirit is the sign of adoption. He is the seal (Eph. 1:13), the earnest or down payment (2Co. 1:22) of our inheritance. Thus while letting the Holy Spirit have his way and living a life directed by the Spirit we can truly call out to God as Father. Rom. 8:15

175.

Why are we not debtors to the flesh to live after the flesh?

176.

Compare the results of living after the flesh and after the spirit?

177.

How are we led by the Holy Spirit?

178.

Explain Rom. 8:15.

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(12) We are debtors.We are under an obligation. Observe that in the lively sequence of thought the second clause of the antithesis is suppressed, We are under an obligation, not to the flesh (but to the Spirit).

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

(12-17) These verses form a hortatory application of the foregoing, with further development of the idea to live after and in the Spirit.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

12. Debtors We owe not to the flesh obedience to its dictates.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh,’

So, says Paul, we must recognise that we are debtors. We owe it to God to be what we should be and yield our lives to His Spirit. On the other hand we own no debt to the flesh, by pandering to it and in consequence living in accordance with its demands. Indeed it has no rights over us. To ‘live after the flesh’ is to own the right of the flesh to dictate our lives. It is those who happily follow their own desires without recourse to God who ‘live after the flesh’. They are at enmity with God (Rom 8:7). In contrast the true believer’s aim is to follow after the Spirit, looking to God for guidance and help in the way we live. Thus aim and motive are of vital importance. Compare the mind serving the Law of God (Rom 7:25), even though the flesh serves the law of sin.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Spirit of adoption in the Christians:

v. 12. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.

v. 13. for if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

v. 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

v. 15, For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

v. 16. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God;

v. 17. and if children, then heirs; heirs of God and join theirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.

Having pictured the blessed state of the Christians, the apostle now presents an admonition to them in the form of a conclusion: So, then, brethren, debtors we are. All Christians are under a very strong obligation on account of benefits and blessings received. But not to the flesh, to live in accordance with the flesh, as natural man is apt to believe that he owes his flesh the gratification of its desires, that he is obliged to live in accordance with its demands. By this figure of speech the apostle brings out very strongly the implication which he has in mind: We are debtors to the Spirit. For, he argues, if you Christians live in accordance with the flesh, following its dictates and inclinations, then the inevitable consequence, that which is bound to come upon you, is death. The mere fact that a person has embraced the truth in Christ at some time of his life will by no means make him safe for all times. If Christians permit their flesh, their old evil nature, to regain the ascendancy, to govern their life and actions, then there is only one result possible, eternal death. But if the Christians will at all times by the Spirit, through the power of the Holy Ghost in them, put to death the practices, the deceitful doings of the body, as an instrument of evil, then they will live, be preserved for eternal life: holiness, happiness, and everlasting bliss.

This fact, the certainty of the gift of eternal life through the mercy of God, if we remain on the way of righteousness and destroy the deeds of the body, is now proved: For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. Only those that have the Spirit of God are in truth members of Christ. And this Spirit moves, leads, urges the Christians on, all those under this constant and effectual influence of the Spirit being considered sons of God, being made sons of God, in fact, by the work of the Spirit. In and through Christ, whose redemption is imparted to them by the Spirit, they are brought into that intimate relation to God that He is their Father and they are His children by adoption, Gal 3:26. And their state and relation of children is evidenced and proved by the fact that the Spirit is continually leading them in the way of righteousness. This relation to God is also a pleasant relation, one that invites and creates confidence: For not have you received the spirit of bondage again toward fear. Every man by nature leads a life of dread and fear, like that of a slave who fears the anger and punishment of his master. In a measure, the religion of the Old Testament was a religion which stimulated the spirit of bondage, according to which the Jews were always in dread and doubt as to their perfect keeping of the Law. But the Spirit which the believers have received is the Spirit of adoption, that of being made the children of God. The Holy Ghost brings about this relation of the believers toward God, He assures them with the confidence wrought by faith that God has adopted them as His children for the sake of Jesus, and in this confidence they cry out to Him: Abba, Father, the latter word being the translation of the Aramaic word which is in use to this day. It is an earnest cry, a vehement address, full of desire, trust, and faith. Thus the Spirit of God in us, in teaching us to trust in God with simple, childlike faith, gives us a certain, an indubitable witness, a definite proof and certainty, that we are the children of God. It is a conviction which is not found in our own spirit, which no man can have by his own reason and strength, which the Spirit of God alone can and does give. The very fact that this witnessing of the Spirit is entirely independent of our own feelings, of our state of mind at any given time, makes it so certain and reliable that we are dear children of our heavenly Father. But if children, then also heirs. If we are the children of God, then we are also sure of partaking of the inheritance of the saints in light; we are sure of the possession of the inheritance of Christ Himself, with whom we are joint-heirs by the fact of our adoption. As children of God we have a claim to the bliss of heaven, as God has prepared it for His only-begotten Son, for Him that was born out of the fullness of His divine essence. There is only one outward condition which is inevitable: If so be, if only we suffer with Him, in order that we may also be glorified with Him. Christians are partakers of the sufferings of Christ, they are bound to endure afflictions of many kinds for His name’s sake. To attempt to evade these sufferings is equivalent to refusing to bear the cross of Christ, Mar 8:34; Luk 9:23. The bearing of the cross is not an absolute condition, but the inevitable lot of those that are awaiting the glory of eternal bliss, Gal 4:7. And thus the beautiful, comforting doctrine of the adoption of the Christians as children of God, of their inheritance of eternal life, serves to admonish them to die unto the flesh and to live by the Spirit.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Rom 8:12. Therefore, brethren, &c. After the Apostle has separately and distinctly shewn how the affair ofsanctification or obligation to piety and holiness stands under the Gospel, both with regard to Jews and Gentiles, he seems here to address himself to both conjointly. And, I. He draws the general conclusion from all his arguments upon this subject, Rom 8:12 where the phrase , appears to be the grand inference from all that he has been arguing, in relation to sanctity of life. II. He shews the ground on which they may hope for eternal life, Rom 8:14-17. III. And whereas the affair of suffering persecution was a great stumbling-block to the Jew, and might very much discourage the Gentile, he introduces it to the best advantage, Rom 8:17 and advances several arguments to fortify their minds under all trials; as, First, that they suffered with Christ: Secondly, in order to be crucified with him, in a manner which willinfinitelycompensateanypresentsufferings, ver.17,18.Thirdly,Allmankind are under various pressures, longing for a better state, Rom 8:19-22. Fourthly, The most eminent Christians, distinguished by the choicest gifts of heaven, were in the same distressed condition, Rom 8:23. Fifthly, According to the plan of the Gospel, we are to be saved after a course of patience, exercised in a variety of trials, Rom 8:24-25. Sixthly, The Spirit of God will supply patience to every upright soul under persecution and suffering: which will put them into a state highly pleasing to God, Rom 8:26-27. Seventhly, All things, even the severest trials, shall operate together to accomplish the salvation of those who love God, Rom 8:28. This he proves by giving us a view of the several steps which the wisdom and goodness of God have settled, in order to perfect the salvation of the faithful, Rom 8:29-30. Hence, IV. He concludes from the whole of his preceding arguments, that, as we are brought into a state of pardon by the free grace of God, founded upon the death of Christ, who is now our glorious Agent and Intercessor in heaven, no possible cause,supposing we perseveringly love God, (for to such only the Apostle’s observations are applicable,)will be able to pervert our minds; Rom 8:31 to the end.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Rom 8:12 . ] Draws the inference not merely from Rom 8:11 , but from the contents closely in substance bound up together of Rom 8:10-11 . “Since these blissful consequences are conditioned by the Spirit that dwelleth in us, we are not bound to give service to the flesh .” That has not deserved well of us!

] In the lively progress of his argument, Paul leaves the counterpart, , , without direct expression; but it results self-evidently for every reader from Rom 8:13 .

. . ] in order to live carnally . This would be the aim of our relation of debt to the flesh, if such a relation existed; we should have the carnal mode of life for our task . Fritzsche thinks that it belongs to .: “Sumus debitores non carni obligati, nempe debitores vitae ex carnis cupiditatibus instituendae;” so also Winer, p. 306 [E. T. 410]. But in Gal 5:3 Paul couples it with the simple infinitive; as in Soph. Aj . 587, Eur. Rhes . 965. Since he here says , that telic view is all the more to be preferred, by which the contents of the obligation (so Hofmann) is brought out as its destination for us. The idea conveyed by is that of being alive (contrast to dying) according to the rule and standard of , so that is the regulative principle. The more precise and definite idea: carnal bliss (Hofmann), is not expressed. We should note, moreover, with the article (personified), and without it (qualitative), Rom 8:5 .

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

Rom 8:12-17 . Accordingly we are bound not to live carnally, for that brings death; whereas the government of the Spirit, on the other hand, brings life, because we, as moved by the Spirit, are children of God, and as such are sure of the future glory .

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

DISCOURSE: 1867
GODS DWELLING IN US IS A MOTIVE TO HOLINESS

Rom 8:12. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.

IN the Scriptures, privilege and duty are inseparably connected. By this means we are kept at an equal distance from presumptuous confidence and painful servility; and the best feelings of the soul are rendered subservient to our eternal welfare. This observation is verified, as in many other passages [Note: Rom 12:1 and 1Co 6:20. with the two verses preceding the text.], so particularly in that before us; which is a conclusion from very important premises.

We propose to consider,

I.

The grounds of the conclusion

Believers have God himself dwelling in them
[God is here represented as a Triune God [Note: The Father raised Christ: Christ dwells in all believers at the same instant: and the Holy Ghost will raise the saints at the last day. Can any one of these be less than God? Their distinction and equality may be further proved from Mat 28:19. It is observable also that in ver. 9. the Spirit of Christ is called the Spirit of God.]; and he dwells in all his believing people [Note: 2Co 6:16. 1Jn 1:3 and 2Co 13:14. They do not indeed pretend to distinguish the agency of one of these divine persons from that of another (for indeed no one of these persons acts separately from the others) but they exercise faith on the Father, as their protector and governor; on the Son, as their mediator and advocate; and on the Spirit, as their guide and comforter.]. This is a most inestimable privilege to them [Note: Far greater than that mentioned 1Ki 8:27.].]

By means of this they enjoy the richest blessings
[Their souls are quickened from their death in trespasses and sins, and, by a new principle of life infused into them, are enabled to live unto God: and this life they have because of Christs righteousness wrought out for them, and imputed to them. Their bodies also, though doomed to death, as the penalty of sin, will be raised again by that very Spirit who now dwelleth in them: and these shall participate with the soul the glory and felicity of the heavenly world.]

Such being the premises from which the conclusion is drawn, we proceed to consider,

II.

The conclusion itself

We certainly are debtors to the flesh to a certain degree
[The flesh cannot subsist without care and labour; and whatever is necessary for the preservation of life, or the restoration of our health, it is our bounden duty to do.]
But we are not debtors to obey its dictates
[To live after the flesh, must import a consulting of its ease, a complying with its solicitations, a devoting of ourselves to its interests: to this extent we certainly are not debtors to the flesh.]
This may plainly be concluded, as from many other topics, so especially from the foregoing statement
[The privileges vouchsafed to us strongly prohibit a carnal life. Can the Triune God, who dwells in us, be pleased with our living after the flesh? Is not the very intent of his mercies to bring us rather to live after the Spirit? The mercies too which we enjoy by means of those privileges, teach us the same divine lesson. The quickening of our spirit should lead us to mind the things of the Spirit. And the prospect of endless felicity and glory for the body should keep us from seeking its present gratifications to the destruction of its eternal interests. To whomsoever we are debtors, we are not (in this extent at least) debtors to the flesh.]

Infer
1.

How mistaken are the world in their course of life!

[The generality live as if they had nothing to do but to consult the flesh; and when exhorted to mind the concerns of their souls, reply immediately, I must attend to the interests of my body. But in thus opposing the declaration in the text, they will ruin their bodies as well as their souls for ever.]

2.

How unmindful are even good people of their duty and interest!

[The best of men find it difficult to keep under their bodies; and there are seasons when they are apt to yield to sloth or sensual indulgence: but let all remember their obligations and professions, and labour rather to pay what they owe to the Spirit.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.

Ver. 12. Not to the flesh ] We owe the flesh nothing but stripes, nothing but the blue eye that St Paul gave it. It must be mastered and mortified. Drive this Hagar out of doors, when once it grows haughty.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

12, 13. ] So then, brethren, we are (inference from the assurance in the last verse) debtors (we owe fealty: to what or whom, he leaves the reader to supply from Rom 8:11 ), not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh (Chrysostom well explains the qualification, . ., , , , , , , . , . . ., . . . Hom. xiv. p. 576): for if ye live according to the flesh, ye [ must (or,] will , of the certain end of your present course) die ( and . here in their full and pregnant sense, involving body and soul here and hereafter: but not to be understood as excluding the carnal from any resurrection only from that which is truly , any more than the spiritual are exempted from all death, but only from that which is truly ): but if by the Spirit ye slay (abolish, annul) the deeds (hardly as Thol. ‘sensu obscno,’ but as Col 3:9 , the whole course of habits and action which has the flesh for its prompter) of the body (= , but here concrete to give more vivid reality: compare , Gal 5:19 ), ye shall live (not , this Life being no natural consequence of a course of mortifying the deeds of the body, but the gift of God through Christ: and coming therefore in the form of an assurance, ‘ ye shall live ,’ from Christ’s Apostle. On , see above).

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Rom 8:12 f. The blessed condition and hopes of Christians, as described in these last verses, lay them under obligations: to whom, or to what? Not (Rom 8:12 ) to the flesh, to live according to it: to it they owe nothing. If they live after the flesh they are destined to die the final doom in which there is no hope; but if by the spirit ( i.e. , God’s Spirit) they put to death the doings of the body, they shall live the life against which death is powerless. We might have expected instead of , but in the absence of the spirit the body in all it does is only the tool of the flesh: the two are morally equivalent.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rom 8:12-17

12So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh- 13for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

Rom 8:12 “So then” Paul continues to draw out the implications of his presentation of Rom 8:1-11.

“we are under obligation” This is the other side of Christian freedom (cf. Rom 14:1 to Rom 15:13). This is the conclusion drawn from the discussion of sanctification in Rom 8:1-11, which is both positional (indicative) and progressive (imperative, see Special Topic at Rom 6:4). It also clearly shows that believers still must struggle with the old fallen nature (i.e., Rom 6:12; Rom 6:19; Rom 7:7-24; 1Co 6:18-19; Eph 6:10-19). There is a choice to be made (initial faith) and continuing choices to be made (lifestyle faith)!

Rom 8:13 “if” There is series of conditional sentences in Rom 8:9-11; Rom 8:13 (twice), and 17 (twice). They are all first class conditional sentences, which are assumed true from the writer’s point of view or for his literary purposes. Paul assumed his readers in the Roman church were Christians living by the Spirit. But there is a contingency (i.e., human cooperation).

“you are living according to the flesh, you must die” Both verbals in Rom 8:13 are present tense, which speaks of continual action. The Bible reveals three stages of death.

1. spiritual death (cf. Gen 2:17; Gen 3:1-7; Eph 2:1)

2. physical death (cf. Genesis 5)

3. eternal death (cf. Rev 2:11; Rev 20:6; Rev 20:14; Rev 21:8)

The one spoken of in this passage is the spiritual death of Adam (cf. Gen 3:14-19) that resulted in the physical death of the human race (cf. Genesis 5).

Adam’s sin brought death into human experience (cf. Rom 5:12-21). Each of us has chosen to participate in sin volitionally. If we choose to remain in it, it will kill us “eternally” (cf. Rev 20:6; Rev 20:14, “the second death”). As Christians we must die by a faith identification with Christ to sin and self and live to God (cf. Romans 6).

“if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live” Assurance of believers’ salvation is validated or demonstrated by their Christian lifestyle (cf. the NT books of James and 1 John). Believers do not live this new life in their own effort, but by the agency of the Spirit (cf. v.14). However, they must daily yield themselves to His control (cf. Eph 5:17-18; Eph 6:10-18).

In this context “the deeds of the body” are seen as the life of the old sinful age (cf. Gal 5:19-21). This is not a repudiation of the eternality of bodily existence (cf. Rom 8:23), but the contrast between the indwelling Spirit (new age) and the continuing spiritual struggle with sin (old age).

Rom 8:14 “all who are being led by the Spirit of God” This is a present passive participle, which denotes continual guidance from the Spirit. The Spirit woos us to Christ (cf. Joh 6:44; Joh 6:65) and then forms Christ in us (cf. Rom 8:29-30). There is more to Christianity than a decision. It really is an ongoing discipleship (cf. Mat 28:19) that begins with a decision (cf. Rom 10:9-13; Joh 1:12; Joh 3:16). This does not refer to special events, times, or ministries, but daily activities.

“sons of God” This plural phrase was used in the OT for angels and rarely for humans (see Special Topic online at www.freebiblecommentary.org ). The singular was used of Adam, Israel, her King, and the Messiah. Here it refers to all believers (cf. Gal 4:6-7). In Rom 8:14 the Greek term huioi (sons) is used, in Rom 8:16, tekna (children). They are used synonymously in this context. Believers are no longer slaves but family members (cf. Rom 8:15-17; Gal 4:7).

Rom 8:15 “a spirit” This verse, like Rom 8:10, is ambiguous. It can refer to redeemed mankind’s new spirit in Christ or the Holy Spirit. Both are found in Rom 8:16.

There are several places in Paul’s writings where this grammatical construction is used to describe what the Holy Spirit produces in the individual believer.

1. here “not a spirit of slavery,” “a spirit of adoptions, Rom 8:15

2. “a spirit of gentleness,” 1Co 4:21

3. “a spirit of faith (faithfulness), 2Co 4:13

4. “a spirit of wisdom and of revelation,” Eph 1:17

5. “not a spirit of timidity,” 2Ti 1:7

There are several places, especially in 1 Corinthians, where Paul uses pneuma to refer to himself (cf. 1Co 2:11; 5:3,14; 1Co 7:34; 1Co 16:8; and Col 2:5). In this context surely Rom 8:10; Rom 8:15 fit this category best.

“of slavery leading to fear again” The characteristic of the old nature is fear (cf. Heb 2:15). The characteristic of the new nature is described in Rom 8:14-17.

“adoption as sons” Roman law made it very difficult to adopt, but once done, it was permanent (cf. Gal 4:4-6). This metaphor supports the theological truth of the security of the believer (see Special Topic at Rom 5:2). A natural son could be disinherited or even killed, but not an adopted one. This was one of Paul’s favorite familial metaphors to describe salvation (cf. Rom 8:15; Rom 8:23). John and Peter used another familial metaphor, “born again” (cf. Joh 3:3; 1Pe 1:3; 1Pe 1:23). For the full note see Gal 4:5 online at www.freebiblecommentary.org .

“Abba” This Aramaic term was what children called their fathers at home (“daddy” or “papa”). Jesus and the Apostles spoke Aramaic (cf. Mar 5:41; Mar 14:36; 1Co 16:22). Believers can now come to the Holy God by means of the blood of Christ, through the indwelling Spirit with a firm faith and family confidence (cf. Mar 14:36; Gal 4:6). Isn’t it amazing that fallen humanity can call God, Father, and that the eternal Holy One would desire this! See SPECIAL TOPIC: FATHER at Rom 1:7.

Rom 8:16 “The Spirit, Himself” The Greek word for Spirit is neuter, therefore, KJV translated this as “the Spirit, itself,” but the Spirit is a person; He can be grieved (cf. Eph 4:30; 1Th 5:19), so “Himself” is a better translation. See Special Topic: The Personhood of the Spirit at Rom 8:27.

“testifies with our spirits that we are children of God” As noted in Rom 8:13, one aspect of faith assurance is the believers’ changed and changing lives (cf. the NT books of James and 1 John). Another aspect of assurance is that the indwelling Spirit has replaced the fear of God with family love (cf. 1Jn 4:17-18). Note the RSV and NRSV translations and punctuation, “when we cry, Abba! Father! It is the Spirit Himself bearing witness with our spirits that we are children of God” (cf. Gal 4:6). This implies that the assurance comes when believers can call God, Father, by the Spirit.

The internal witness of the Spirit is not audible, but practical.

1. guilt over sin

2. desire to be like Christ

3. desire to be with the family of God

4. hunger for God’s word

5. sense a need to do evangelism

6. sense a need for Christian sacrificial giving

These are the kinds of internal desires that provide a faith evidence of conversion.

Assurance of salvation has been turned into a denominational issue.

1. Roman Catholic theology denies the possibility of assurance in this life but bases confidence in one being a member of the “true” church

2. John Calvin (Reform tradition) based assurance on election (predestination), but one could not know for sure until after this life on Judgment Day

3. John Wesley (Methodist tradition) based assurance on a perfect love (living above known sin)

4. most Baptists have tended to base assurance on the biblical promises of free grace (but ignoring all the warnings and admonitions).

There are two dangers related to the NT paradoxical presentation of Christian assurance.

1. the overemphasis on “once saved, always saved”

2. the overemphasis on human performance in retaining salvation.

Hebrews 6 clearly teaches “once out, always out.” Human effort (good works) does not keep believers saved (cf. Gal 3:1-14). But good works are the goal of the Christian life (cf. Eph 2:10). They are the natural result of meeting God and having the indwelling Spirit. They are evidence of one’s true conversion.

Assurance is not meant to soften the Bible’s call to holiness! Theologically speaking, assurance is based on the character and actions of the Triune God.

1. the Father’s love and mercy

2. the Son’s finished sacrificial work

3. the Spirit’s wooing to Christ and then forming Christ in the repentant believer

The evidence of this salvation is a changed worldview, a changed heart, a changed lifestyle and a changed hope! It cannot be based on a past emotional decision that has no lifestyle evidence (i.e., fruit, cf. Mat 7:15-23; Mat 13:20-22; John 15). Assurance, like salvation, like the Christian life starts with a response to God’s mercy and continues that response throughout life. It is a changed and changing life of faith!

“testifies” This is another syn compound. The Spirit co-witnesses with the believer’s spirit. Paul uses this compound term in Rom 2:15; Rom 8:16; Rom 9:1.

Rom 8:17 “if” There is a series conditional sentences in Rom 8:9-11; Rom 8:13 (twice), and 17 (twice). These are all first class conditional sentences which are assumed true from the author’s perspective or for his literary purposes. Paul assumed his readers in the Roman church were Christian.

In this verse there are three compound words using syn, which means “joint participation with”

1. believers share heirship with Christ

2. believers share sufferings with Christ

3. believers will share glory with Christ

There are more syn compounds in Rom 8:22 (twice), 26,28. Eph 2:5-6 also has three syn compounds which describe the believer’s life in Christ.

“heirs” This is another family metaphor to describing believers (cf. Rom 4:13-14; Rom 9:8; Gal 3:29). See Special Topic following.

SPECIAL TOPIC: BELIEVERS’ INHERITANCE

“fellow heirs” This is another sun compound. Paul coins many of these new terms in Romans 8 to emphasize the shared death and life of Christ and the believers.

1. co-heirs, Rom 8:17

2. co-suffered, Rom 8:17

3. co-glorified, Rom 8:17

NASB, NKJV”if indeed we suffer with Him”

NRSV”if, in fact, we suffer with him”

TEV”for if we share Christ’s sufferings”

NJB”sharing his sufferings”

Suffering is the norm for believers in a fallen world (cf. Mat 5:10-12; Joh 15:18-21; Joh 16:1-2; Joh 17:14; Act 14:22; Rom 5:3-4; Rom 8:17; 2Co 4:16-18; Php 1:29; 1Th 3:3; 2Ti 3:12; Jas 1:2-4; 1Pe 4:12-19). Jesus set the pattern (cf. Heb 5:8). The rest of this chapter develops this theme. See SPECIAL TOPIC: WHY DO CHRISTIANS SUFFER? at Rom 5:3.

“glorified with Him” In John’s writings whenever Jesus talked of His death, He called it “being glorified.” Jesus was glorified by His suffering. Believers, positionally and often experientially, share Jesus’ life events (cf. Romans 6). See Special Topic: Reigning in the Kingdom of God at Rom 5:17-18.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

Therefore = So then.

debtors. Greek. opheiletes, as Rom 1:14; Rom 15:27.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

12, 13.] So then, brethren, we are (inference from the assurance in the last verse) debtors (we owe fealty: to what or whom, he leaves the reader to supply from Rom 8:11), not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh (Chrysostom well explains the qualification, . .,- , , , , , , . , . . ., . . . Hom. xiv. p. 576): for if ye live according to the flesh, ye [must (or,] will, of the certain end of your present course) die ( and . here in their full and pregnant sense, involving body and soul here and hereafter: but not to be understood as excluding the carnal from any resurrection-only from that which is truly ,-any more than the spiritual are exempted from all death, but only from that which is truly ): but if by the Spirit ye slay (abolish, annul) the deeds (hardly as Thol. sensu obscno, but as Col 3:9, the whole course of habits and action which has the flesh for its prompter) of the body (= , but here concrete to give more vivid reality: compare , Gal 5:19), ye shall live (not , this Life being no natural consequence of a course of mortifying the deeds of the body, but the gift of God through Christ: and coming therefore in the form of an assurance, ye shall live, from Christs Apostle. On , see above).

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Rom 8:12. ) we are, we acknowledge and consider ourselves to be. A kind of teaching, which borders on exhortation; (so, we are, is also used in Gal 4:31) and which presupposes men already of their own accord well inclined. A feeling of delight [see ch. Rom 7:22] mitigates the sense of debt. [But what is the condition of carnal men? These are really debtors, and confess themselves to be debtors, as often as they declare that it is not in their power to live spiritually.-V. g.].- , not to the flesh) add, but to the spirit; but this is elegantly left to be understood.- , after the flesh) which endeavours to recall us to bondage.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Rom 8:12

Rom 8:12

So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh:-Since all good comes to us by living after the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, and the law of sin dwelling in the flesh brings evil and death, we are under no obligation to live after the flesh, but are under obligations to God, who has redeemed us, and to ourselves, to live after the Spirit. In following the Spirit we mortify and restrain the deeds of the flesh.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

we are: Rom 6:2-15, Psa 116:16, 1Co 6:19, 1Co 6:20, 1Pe 4:2, 1Pe 4:3

Reciprocal: Rom 1:14 – debtor Rom 8:5 – For they Rom 13:14 – and Gal 5:16 – Walk Gal 5:18 – if 2Pe 2:10 – that

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

THE CHRISTIANS INDEBTEDNESS

Therefore, brethren, we are debtors.

Rom 8:12

The love of Christ is the true philosophers stone. It turns everything to gold. To be a slave in St. Pauls day meant utter bondage and drudgery, and yet the Apostle delighted to call himself the slave of Christ. The condition of a debtor was full of hardship, but St. Paul rings out in joyous triumph, I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians; Therefore, brethren, we are debtors. This indebtedness is not degrading but ennobling, not disheartening but inspiring. It makes the debtors heart glow with thankfulness and honest pride to see the grace, the love, the gentle patient fellowship of the Spirit which make him such a debtor.

Of this indebtedness to God let me say three things:

I. It commences with the enjoyment of free and perfect pardon through Christ.

II. It increases when we receive the full endowment of the Holy Ghost.

III. It is intensified when we look out with the eyes of Christ upon the poverty of a Christless world.

Rev. F. S. Webster.

Illustration

The call for active service is louder than ever. Here at home we have to deplore the inordinate pleasure-seeking, the impious Sabbath-breaking, the widespread betting and gambling, the unrestrained licentiousness and immorality. The old fear of God, and the old godly habits of family worship and the teaching of children by their parents, are being left behind. The forces of evil are very great. The age demands a crusade. We are bound to readjust our whole manner of life in view of the present distress. Even young ladies, the daughters of Shallum, turned bricklayers when the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt. The breaches that sin has made in the national character and in the homes of old England will not be repaired until every Christian realises his responsibility and sets to work with both hands.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

:12

Rom 8:12. Are debtors. Are obligated, but not to the flesh to live after it.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Rom 8:12. Therefore, or, so then, as the phrase is usually translated; here introducing an exhortation based upon the previous statement: because the indwelling of the Spirit involves such glorious results.

We are debtors, not to the flesh. Flesh is here used in the ethical sense; the antithesis is suggested indirectly in Rom 8:13. Not applies to the following clause also: to live after the flesh. The truths of Rom 8:10-11 imply that we are under obligation not to do this, but on the contrary to live after the Spirit. Strictly rendered, this clause is one of design, in order to live after the flesh.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

That is, seeing the Holy Spirit dwelleth in us, quickening our souls for the present, and raising our bodies for time to come, furnishing the one with grace here, and fitting the other for glory hereafter; therefore we ought to live unto God and not to the flesh; we are not debtors to the flesh, to live after the flesh.

Where note, That the word flesh is not to be taken in the physical, but in a moral sense; not in a physical sense, for the body of man; every one is a debtor to his own body, he owes it food and clothing, nourishment and provision; the beast must be fed, though not pampered, lest it kick and throw its rider: But flesh is here to be taken in a moral sense for sin, for the unregenerate and unsanctified part in man; and then the sense is, that no man owes anything to the service and satisfaction of his sinful lusts, and inordinate desires; none of us owe sin, Satan, or the world, an hour’s service; these are not warrantable creditors for any of us to be indebted to.

Learn hence, That believers are not indebted, or owe anything to the flesh, but all to the Spirit; the flesh is a cheater, an usurper, an oppressor; what it calls for, it has no right to demand: but the Spirit is a just creditor, and we are greatly indebted to him, as the author and producer of grace in us, and as he is the preserver and increaser of that grace in us which he has begun.

Oh blessed Spirit! we owe all that we are, and all that we have to thee, all that we have in hand, and all that we have in hope; thou hast a right to all, yea, more than all that we can pay thee, so infinitely are we indebted to thee: But for sin and the flesh, we never promised anything to it, we never got anything by it, nothing but shame and sorrow from it, and, therefore, we are not indebted to it.

Lord, keep us from being debtors to the most cruel and severe creditors in the world, sin and Satan; for the more we are to them, the more we run in arrears with thee, to whose justice we must pay the uttermost farthing.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Rom 8:12-13. Therefore, brethren As if he had said, Since we have received such benefits, and expect still more and greater, we are debtors We are under obligations; not to the flesh Not to our animal appetites and passions; we have formerly given them more than their due, and we owe our natural corruption no service; to live after the flesh The desires and inclinations of which we ought not to follow; but we are under an indispensable obligation to be more and more holy. Or, as Dr. Doddridge paraphrases the verse, Since it is certain the gratifications of the flesh can do nothing for us like that which will be done at the resurrection; and since all present enjoyments are mean and worthless when compared with that; here is a most substantial argument for that mortification and sanctity which the gospel requires. And it necessarily follows that we are debtors to the Spirit, which gives us such exalted hopes, and not unto the flesh, that we should live after the dictates, desires, and appetites thereof. To be a debtor, says Dr. Macknight, is to be under a constraining obligation, Rom 1:14. The apostles meaning is, Since men are under the gracious dispensation of the gospel, which furnishes them with the most powerful assistances for correcting the depravity of their nature, and for performing good actions, they are under no necessity, either moral or physical, to gratify the lusts of the flesh, as they would be, if, in their present weakened state, they had no advantages but what they derived from mere law, the law of Moses, or law of nature. Further, we are under no obligation to live according to the flesh, as it offers no pleasures of any consequence to counterbalance the misery which God will inflict on all who live according to it. For if ye Though professing Christians, and even eminent for a high and distinguishing profession; live after the flesh Be governed by your animal appetites, and corrupt nature; (see on Rom 8:4-9;) ye shall die Shall perish by the sentence of a holy and just God, no less than if you were Jews or heathen. But if ye through the Spirit Through his enlightening, quickening, and sanctifying influences, and the exercise of those graces which by regeneration he has implanted in your souls; do mortify Resist, subdue, and destroy; Gr. , make dead; the deeds of the body Or of the flesh, termed, Gal 5:19, the works of the flesh: and including, not only evil actions, but those carnal affections and inclinations, whence all the corrupt deeds arise, wherein the body or flesh is concerned; ye shall live The life of faith, love, and obedience, more abundantly here, and the life of glory hereafter. Here we have the fourth motive to holiness: the Spirit of God dwelling in believers, to enable them to mortify their corrupt passions and tempers.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Eighteenth Passage (Rom 8:12-17). Freed from Sin and Death, The Christian becomes Son and Heir.

Victory over sin and death once decided by the reign of the Holy Spirit, condemnation is not only taken away, it is replaced by the benediction which is given to us in all its degrees: in the present, the filial state, adoption; in the future, the divine inheritance.

Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)

So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh:

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

12. Then, therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

SECTION 24 THE GUIDANCE OF THE SPIRIT IS A PROOF OF COMING GLORY

CH. 8:12-17

Therefore, brethren, we are debtors-not to the flesh, to live according to flesh. For if ye are living according to flesh, ye will die: but if by the Spirit ye are putting to death the actions of the body ye will live. For, so many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For ye did not receive a spirit of bondage, again for fear; but ye received a Spirit of adoption, in which we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself bears joint-witness with our spirit that we are children of God. But if children, also heirs, heirs of God and joint-heirs of Christ; if, as I assume, we suffer together, in order that we may also be glorified together.

By a practical application in Rom 8:12 and a proof in Rom 8:13-17 of the statement in Rom 8:10-11, Paul will now complete his comparison of a life according to flesh with one according to Spirit. We are bound to the latter because it is a pledge of coming glory.

Rom 8:12. Practical inference from Rom 8:10-11. If Christs presence in us be a proof that our spirit is alive, and if God will raise the bodies of those in whom His Spirit dwells, then are we bound etc.

Debtors: as in Rom 1:14; Rom 13:7-8; Rom 15:27, and especially Gal 5:3. Compare the words owe and ought.

Not to the flesh: opposite course, to which we are under no obligation whatever. The contrast adds force to the exhortation: cp. Rom 6:17.

To live according to flesh: to mind the things of the flesh, to walk according to flesh, to do the actions of the body, in Rom 8:5; Rom 8:4; Rom 8:13. This is the debt which the flesh claims but which we are not bound to pay.

Rom 8:13. Instead of saying what we are bound to do, Paul breaks off the sentence to give a reason why we must not live according to flesh. Similarly, in Rom 5:12; Rom 7:12. The reason given is a summary of Rom 8:6-8.

Ye will die: as in Rom 8:6; Rom 7:24; Rom 7:13; Rom 7:9; Rom 6:21; Rom 6:23.

But if by the Spirit etc.: the course we are bound to pursue. It takes the place of the contrast broken off in Rom 8:12.

By the Spirit: by the help of the Holy Spirit: so Gal 5:5; Gal 5:16; Gal 5:18; Gal 5:25.

Actions: not separate acts, but courses of action: only in Rom 12:4; Col 3:9; Mat 16:27; Luk 23:51; Act 19:18. For a list, see Col 3:5-8.

Actions of the body: such as supply the need, or gratify the desires, of the body, or have this as their ultimate aim.

Body: rather than flesh: for the actions were performed by our individual body. They are different in different men.

Are-putting-to-death: a bold personification: a close parallel in Col 3:5. Experience proves that our past actions, especially often-repeated actions, are a living power in us to-day, urging us on in the path we trod yesterday. This present power of bygone thoughts, words, actions, we call habit. To destroy it, is to put to death the actions of the body. The present tense implies that the destruction is going on day by day; and therefore implies that the evil influence of their past conduct continues even in the justified. It is gradually destroyed, as it was gradually formed, by single acts. Every act of an opposite kind weakens, and so far tends to kill, the influence of our past life.

We have here Pauls first reference to a gradual development of the new life: cp. Col 3:10. Hitherto he has spoken only of changes which have, or ought to have, already taken place. But the destruction of habits is gradual. Our body is already dead, in the sense that through the death of Christ its subjection to sin, and its rule over us, have ceased. But the actions of the body, i.e. the habits of our former life, still strive to regain for the body which begot them its lost dominion. The increasing weakness of these habits is a measure of spiritual growth.

Notice the double contrast. A life according to flesh is the way to death: to put to death the actions of the body is a pledge of life.

Ye-will-live: the eternal life awaiting the servants of Christ. So Rom 5:21; Rom 6:22-23; Rom 8:6; Rom 8:10-11.

Rom 8:14-17. Proof that they will live.

By-the-Spirit: expounding same word in Rom 8:13.

Led by the Spirit: their thoughts, words, actions, guided by Him. That He prompts and enables us to put to death the actions of the body, proves Him to be the Spirit of God. He leads us by opening our eyes to recognise sin and see its hurtfulness, and by giving us moral strength to conquer it; by revealing the will of God and its excellence, and by giving us power to do it.

Sons of God: further explained in Rom 8:15-17, and made the basis of an important argument.

Rom 8:15. Proof that they are sons of God.

Ye: assuming that the readers are among the persons just described.

Did not receive: as usual, the negative side first: cp. 2Ti 1:7.

A spirit of bondage: such as animates slaves. This does not imply that any spirit of bondage actually exists, but merely denies that we have received such. For the characterizing genitive, compare Rom 1:4; Rom 8:2; Rom 11:8; Gal 6:1; Isa 11:2.

For fear: tendency of the spirit which animates slaves. If God gave us such, He would lead us back again to our former state.

But ye received: solemn repetition, stating the actual case.

Adoption: : Greek equivalent for a Roman legal process by which one man took anothers son to be his own son. The adopted son took the name and rank of the adopting father, and with certain limitations stood in the same relation to him as a born son. So Aulus Gellius, bk. v. 19 : Into another mans family, and into the position of children, strangers are received. This Roman legal term is found in N.T. only here and in Rom 8:23; Rom 9:4; Gal 4:5; Eph 1:5; used only by Paul, a Roman citizen. It is specially suitable to describe a change made in accordance with the principles of law.

Spirit of adoption: the Holy Spirit, given to those whom God adopts as sons. [The anarthrous term looks upon Him qualitatively as a Spirit of adoption.]

In whom: under whose influence, we cry. Cp. 1Co 12:3; Mat 22:43.

Abba: Aramaic word for Father: so Gal 4:6; Mar 14:36. Christ spoke frequently to God and of God as Father; and taught us to do the same. Hence the Aramaic word with which He approached God became sacred to His disciples, and passed into the lips even of those who spoke other languages. Similarly, Amen and Hallelujah, Hebrew words.

The word Father is a Greek equivalent for the Aramaic word: as if we said, Amen, so be it.

With this verse compare Gal 4:6. By moving us to cry, the Spirit Himself cries in our hearts: for our cry expresses His thought. He moves us to cry by revealing, through the Gospel, the fatherly love of God: Rom 5:5. We recognise that love, and cry, My Father God. By prompting this cry, the Spirit makes Himself known as a Spirit of adoption. The change from ye received to we cry puts Paul Himself among the adopted sons.

Rom 8:16. Argument of Rom 8:15 in a compact form, showing how it proves the statement in Rom 8:14.

The Spirit itself: A.V. reproducing the Greek neuter, here used. The R.V. reads into Pauls Greek a correct inference from Rom 8:27; 1Co 12:4-6; 2Co 13:13; Joh 16:13; Mat 28:19. So to render, is not translation, but exposition.

Bears-joint-witness-with: same word in Rom 2:15; Rom 9:1, (cp. Heb 2:4,) denoting a confirmation of what another witness has said.

Our spirit cried (Rom 8:15) Abba, Father: and, just as a similar cry from a child is a testimony-though possibly a mistaken one-that he is a son of the man whom he calls Father, so the cry to God of our spirit, the highest part of our being, bears-witness that we are children of God. That this cry was prompted by the Spirit of God, adds His infallible testimony to the testimony of our own spirit, and assures us that our confidence is no delusion. Thus the Spirit Himself confirms the testimony of our spirit. In the order of cause and effect, the witness of Gods Spirit precedes that of our own spirit; for He reveals to us the fatherly love of God, and thus moves us to call Him Father. But, in the order of our thought, our own cry comes first. We are first conscious of our own filial confidence, and then observe that it is wrought in us by the Holy Spirit.

The word witness is a favourite in Greek for whatever affords proof. Compare carefully Joh 5:36; Joh 10:25; Act 14:3; Act 14:17; Act 15:8; Heb 2:4. It is specially used in reference to the Holy Spirit; and is very appropriate here because it is by a voice put into our lips that the Holy Spirit gives proof that we are sons of God.

Rom 8:17. Completion of Pauls proof that (Rom 8:13) if by the Spirit ye put to death the actions of the body, ye will live.

If children, also heirs: inheriting their fathers wealth. This last word, Paul expounds in two directions, in reference to God and to Christ. That by adoption God makes us His sons, implies that we shall be enriched by His wealth, that we shall share the infinite inheritance which belongs to Christ as the Son of God. The words heirs and joint-heirs recall Rom 4:13-14. By adoption we are, not only sons and heirs of God, but brothers of Christ and joint-heirs of His glorious inheritance.

The proof of the assertion in Rom 8:13, ye will live, is now complete. In virtue of His relation to the Father, Christ will live for ever: cp. Joh 5:26; Joh 6:57. Therefore, if we are sharers of His inheritance, we too shall live for ever. And if so, as stated in Rom 8:12, our hope of eternal life binds us to follow the guidance of the Spirit. For to Him we owe our confidence that we are children of God. See a similar argument in Eph 4:30; also Eph 1:13-14; 2Co 1:22.

If, as I assume, etc.: condition on which we are heirs together with Christ. All who suffer because they obey God suffer-together with Christ. For their sufferings, like His arise from the worlds hatred to God, and are endured willingly to advance the purposes for which Christ died. Cp. 2Co 1:5; Col 1:24; 2Ti 2:12; Mar 10:39. These words remind us, as does Rom 5:3, of the persecutions of the early Christians. But in some measure they are true of all servants of Christ: for His service always involves sacrifice.

In order that we may etc.: purpose for which God lays suffering upon us, and a hope which helps us cheerfully to endure it. We gladly accept the cross, that we may wear the crown: so Mat 5:12; Act 5:41.

Glorified: with the splendour, exciting admiration, with which God will crown His servants: so Rom 8:18; Rom 8:21; Rom 8:30; Rom 5:2; 1Co 15:43; 2Co 4:17; Col 1:27, These words complete the picture of our partnership with Christ. [Notice the group of words beginning with -: Rom 6:4-6; Rom 6:8; Rom 8:17; Rom 8:22; Rom 8:26; Rom 8:28-29; Eph 2:5-6; Col 2:11-13; Col 3:1.] We are sharers of His crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection. We must share His sufferings; but we share His sonship, and shall share His heritage of glory.

The ARGUMENT of Rom 8:12-17, we will now rebuild from the premises assumed. Paul assumes that his readers are day by day trampling upon, and thus destroying, their former habits of sin; and that they confidently call God their Father. Their former bondage proves that this victory is from a Helper higher than themselves. That this Helper is within them, and gives victory over sin, proves Him to be the Spirit of God: cp. Mat 12:24-29. Again, we look up to God as our Father, lean upon His strong arm, and in His protection find rest amid the uncertainties and storms of life. This was not always so. In days gone by, although we knew that God loved us, His love had no practical effect on our thoughts, emotions, or life: it now fills us (Rom 5:5) with exultant hope and joy. This contrast of past and present proves that God has put a new spirit within us. Moreover, we find by experience that power over sin and filial confidence in God go together. From this we infer that these have one source, i.e. that both are produced by the Spirit of God. And, if He prompts us to call God our Father, we cannot doubt that we are actually His children. If so, our expectation must be measured by the inheritance of the Firstborn Son, whose brethren we are. We therefore infer with certainty that we shall share Christs immortal life. And, if so, we have the strongest reason for surrendering ourselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, whose presence in us is the source and confirmation of a hope so glorious.

Notice here an argument based upon inward religious experience, To others, such evidence, except so far as it is confirmed by outward conduct, is invalid. But to the man himself it is decisive. For it is matter of direct inward observation. That Paul appeals to it In argument, reveals his confidence that his own experience was shared by his readers. Notice also that his teaching is carefully guarded from perversion. He appeals, not to a mere assurance that we are children of God, but to an assurance accompanied by power over sin. Moreover, the voice of the Spirit within us is but an echo of teaching which we can trace by abundant documentary evidence to the lips of Christ. Thus the testimony of the Spirit is one which we can intelligently weigh and estimate, and for our acceptance of which we can give a reason.

That a life beyond the grave implies resurrection of the body, is assumed in 1Co 15:18-19; 1Co 15:29-32; Luk 20:37 : see my Corinthians p. 287. Assuming this, the argument in Rom 8:12-17 proves the statement in Rom 8:10-11 that God will raise even the bodies of His servants. Paul thus completes the contrast of a life according to flesh and according to the Spirit.

In Rom 8:14; Rom 8:16, they who follow the guidance of the Spirit are called sons and children of God. As created by God in His own image, and therefore sharers of His nature, all men indiscriminately may be so called. But we notice that throughout the N.T. these terms are reserved for the righteous, whose sonship is spoken of as an acquired relation to God: so Gal 3:26; Gal 4:5; Joh 1:12; 1Jn 3:10; Joh 8:42; Joh 8:44. That not all men are sons of God, is implied in Pauls use of the term adoption: for no Roman adopted his own son. The explanation is that by sin we lost our rights as sons, and can regain them only by the adopting mercy of God. A conspicuous and beautiful exception to the above reservation is found in Luk 15:11; Luk 15:24 : cp. also Act 17:28-29. See my New Life in Christ pp. 57-60.

DIVISION III. may from this point be suitably reviewed. In Romans 6, we have the new life in reference to its aim and purpose, viz. God; in Romans 7, in reference to the Law, i.e. the principle that God will treat us according to our deserts; in Romans 8, in reference to its immediate source and motive power, viz. the Spirit of God. In Romans 6, the new life is deliverance from the rule of sin which tends to death, and subjection to the rule of God which tends to life: in Romans 8, it is deliverance from the rule of our own flesh which also tends to death, and submission to the guidance of the Holy Spirit who gives life of spirit and body. The difference results from the teaching of Romans 7. The Law reveals sin as an inward power compelling us, in spite of better desires, to serve sin; and thus proves that in order to live for God we must receive a Spirit stronger than our own spirit, to set us free from the inward rule of sin and to become by His own presence in us the source of a life of which God is the only aim. We are thus prepared to hear (Rom 8:3) that God sent Christ in order that the Holy Spirit may become the guiding principle of our life.

SPIRIT. The word thus rendered denotes breath in Gen 6:17; Gen 7:15; Gen 7:22; Job 27:3; Psa 33:6; etc.; cp. 2Th 2:8. It is also used, by a familiar association of thought, for wind: Isa 40:7; Psa 18:15; Gen 8:1; Num 11:31; Hos 13:15. This explains Joh 3:8.

Since breath is an invariable mark of life, which began with our first breath and will end with our last, the word spirit often denotes the principle of life. So Rev 13:15; Rev 11:11; Luk 8:55; Joh 19:30; Act 7:59; Jas 2:26; Ecc 12:7. Animals, since they breathe and live, have a spirit: Gen 7:15; Gen 7:22; Ecc 3:19; Ecc 3:21. Since life is a condition of intelligence, power, and activity, the word spirit denotes the seat of knowledge, emotion, purpose, and the source of action: 1Co 2:11; Mar 2:8; Luk 1:47; Act 17:16; Act 19:21; Rom 1:9. The spirit is the unseen and immaterial animating principle which gives to the visible and material flesh animated by it life, intelligence, power, and activity.

We frequently read in O.T. of the Spirit of God, of Jehovah, and in N.T. of the Spirit of God and of Christ, the Holy Spirit. Except in a few places noted above, these terms denote the source of a divine influence acting on man from within, and giving him strength, skill, voice, and wisdom altogether beyond his own natural capacity: Jdg 14:6; Jdg 14:19; Jdg 15:14; Jdg 16:20; Exo 31:3; Num 24:2; 1Sa 10:6; 2Sa 23:2; Isa 11:2-3. Men thus became the arm, hand, and voice of God. Since this influence always tends to inspire loyalty to God, its source is called in Psa 51:11; Isa 63:10-11, the Spirit of Holiness; and in Rom 5:5; Rom 9:1; Rom 15:16; Rom 15:19, etc. the Holy Spirit. We find also in 1Sa 16:14-23; Jdg 9:23, an evil spirit of God, i.e. one who works out in men Gods purpose of anger: cp. 1Ki 22:21. Throughout the O.T. the Spirit of God is the source of an inward influence from God, a bearer of the presence, and of all the attributes, of God.

In Rom 5:5, the Holy Spirit reveals to men the love of God manifested in the death of Christ; and in Rom 8:15 puts into their lips a new voice. He gives them moral strength to conquer sin, and is their guide in life: Rom 8:13-14. He makes them to be in heart the people of God, and becomes to them the mainspring of a new life: Rom 2:29; Rom 7:6. He is thus a source of holiness, hope, and joy: Rom 15:16; Rom 15:13; Rom 14:17. He is called the Spirit of Christ, and is a bearer in us of the presence of Christ; and His presence in us is a pledge of immortal life: Rom 8:10-11.

In 1Co 2:11, the Spirit of God is compared to mans own spirit. This analogy will help us to understand the term before us. Just as the spirit (Luk 8:55) given back to Jairus daughter restored to her lifeless form life, consciousness, activity, and development, so the Spirit of God breathed into those who put faith in Christ (Gal 3:14) gives them a deathless life, makes them conscious of the eternal realities, imparts a new spiritual power and activity, and puts into their lips a new song of praise. And, just as our own spirit is altogether different from, and in essential dignity greater than, our body, yet united to it by an all-pervading and mysterious fellowship, so the Spirit of God is in essential dignity infinitely greater than our spirit, yet pervading it by a still more mysterious fellowship.

Notice the connection between the Spirit and the Gospel and Christ. In the historic Christ, God has made Himself manifest before our eyes. The Gospel is the divine light which bears to our mind the image of Christ. The Holy Spirit is the life which enables our mental eye to see the glorious object, moves our lips to praise, and our bodies to bow in worship. Thus the Spirit gives to us a life, intelligence, and power, which are not human but divine.

The Spirit always acts upon us from the inmost chamber of our being, i.e. with the full consent and approbation of whatever is noblest and best within us; in marked contrast to sin, which never secures our highest approbation, and thus betrays its foreign and inferior and hostile origin.

In Rom 8:27, we read that the Spirit intercedes on behalf of saints: see note. This suggests that the Spirit is a person distinct from God, with whom the Spirit intercedes. For without two distinct persons there can be no intercession. This is confirmed by 1Co 12:4-6; 1Co 12:11; 2Co 13:13; Mat 28:19; Rev 1:4-5 and still more clearly in Joh 16:13-14. See my New Life in Christ pp. 306, 308. If we accept the clear and abundant teaching of the N.T. that the Son of God is a divine person distinct from the Father, the above passages and the whole tenor of O.T. and N.T. will compel us to believe that with the Father and the Son is a Third divine Person, the mysterious and blessed Spirit of God.

The word Spirit is used (e.g. Rom 8:26) to distinguish this divine Person from the Father and the Son, who are also (cp. Joh 4:24) essentially spirit, because, in virtue of His essential nature as compared with that of the Father and the Son, He comes into immediate contact with our spirit as the inward source of a higher life and as the moving principle of our thoughts, words, and acts. Moreover, the title holy, which belongs in the highest sense to the Father and the Son, is applied with special frequency to this Third divine Person; because conspicuously, in contrast to every other inward influence, God is the one aim of the influence He constantly exerts. Every moment He comes forth from the Father, in order that He may lead us back to Him: and only so far as we are moved by the Spirit is God the one aim of our purposes and efforts. Hence all human holiness is the mind of the Spirit realised in those to whom He is the soul of their soul and the life of their life.

Gods work in man preparatory to justification is not, in the Bible, attributed to the Holy Spirit. Yet we cannot doubt that He is the Agent by whom God leads men (Rom 2:4) to repentance and (Joh 6:44; Joh 6:65) to Christ. The explanation probably is that the word Spirit is reserved for this divine Person when acting as spirit, i.e. as a life-giving influence acting upon us from within. On those not justified He acts only from without. The Hand of God is upon them: but His life-giving Breath is not yet within them.

ASSURANCE OF JUSTIFICATION. Paul assumes that his readers know that they are justified. In Rom 5:2, he asserts that they have been brought into Gods favour and stand therein, and look forward with joy to future glory. In Rom 5:9-11, he bases an argument on the fact that they have been justified and reconciled and now exult in God. They have experienced a total change in life: Rom 6:17-23; Rom 7:5-6. They are, as led by the Spirit of God, sons of God: Rom 8:13. They have already been saved, and are looking forward to a glory compared with which present afflictions are of no account: Rom 8:24; Rom 8:18. Although many of them are Gentiles, by faith they have obtained righteousness, and have been grafted into the good olive tree: Rom 9:30; Rom 11:17-20. The Holy Spirit, given to them, has made them conscious of Gods love, and taught them to call Him Father: Rom 5:5; Rom 8:15.

The Galatian Christians were, amid many imperfections, sons and heirs of God through faith, the Spirit of the Son crying in their hearts Father: Gal 3:26; Gal 4:6. The Ephesian Christians had the forgiveness of their trespasses, had been saved through faith and made alive, brought near to God and built into the rising walls of the living temple: Eph 1:7; Eph 2:5; Eph 2:8; Eph 2:13; Eph 2:20. When they believed, they were sealed with the Holy Spirit, a pledge of blessings to come: Eph 1:13; Eph 4:30. In his many prayers Paul never asks that his readers sins may be forgiven, nor does he hold out to them a promise of forgiveness. He always assumes that they know that they are forgiven. Contrast the addresses recorded in Act 13:38; Act 26:18; Act 2:38, where salvation is offered to the unsaved.

Similarly in 1Jn 2:12 even the children of the family of God are forgiven. The readers are children of God, in a sense distinguishing them from others: 1Jn 3:2; 1Jn 3:10. They know that they have passed out of death into life, that they are of God, and that they abide in Christ, because God has given them the Spirit: 1Jn 3:14; 1Jn 5:19; 1Jn 3:24; 1Jn 4:13 : cp. 1Jn 5:13. Similarly 1Pe 1:3-8.

This teaching suggests that conscious forgiveness was an ordinary experience in the apostolic Churches: it certainly implies that it is a blessing designed by God for every member of the Church.

How was this assurance obtained? Since it is assumed in Rom 5:2-11, we must seek an answer in Pauls foregoing teaching. Assurance is involved in the nature of justifying faith. For, as we saw in the note under Rom 4:25, this last is an assurance resting upon the promise and power and faithfulness of God that He receives into His favour, in spite of their past sins, all who put faith in Christ. For assurance is matter of immediate consciousness. Consequently, if God receives all who believe, we know that He receives us. Our assurance is derived from and rests upon the promise and character of God, a promise which we have traced by strict historic method to the lips of Him who claimed to be the Son of God and who in proof of this claim was raised from the dead. This firm ground of faith and hope is greatly strengthened by the manifestation, in the death of the Son of God, of the infinite love of God to man. This ground of confidence in God and of assurance of salvation is rational and capable of rational statement. Accordingly, in order to confirm our hope of glory, Paul proves in Rom 5:5-8, by correct human reasoning, from historic fact, how great is Gods love. In other words, the assurance of forgiveness assumed by Paul rests upon the love of God manifested in the death of Him who by resurrection from the dead made good His claim to be the Son of God, this love being apprehended by correct human reasoning. It rests on ground external to us, ground which our best judgment pronounces to be absolutely firm.

Again, Paul teaches in Rom 5:5 that our assurance of Gods love, although resting on well-attested historic fact, is wrought in us by the Holy Spirit; and in Rom 8:15 that the filial cry with which we give utterance to our assurance is the echo of His voice. Similarly, our consciousness of objects around us, while evoked in us by those objects, is conditioned by our life and intelligence. For the inanimate and the irrational are wholly or in great part unconscious of them. Just so, our assurance of future life is evoked in us by facts placed by history before our eyes and by words spoken in our ears, facts and words manifesting the eternal Nature and Purpose of God; and by the Holy Spirit who enables us to understand, and feel the force of the facts and the words. It has thus an historic and logical ground, and a spiritual source. Hence Paul is careful on the one hand to expound the meaning of the facts and the words, and on the other hand to pay homage to the Spirit who through the facts and the words gives us an assurance of future glory.

We can direct for a time our exclusive attention either to the historic and visible ground, or to the spiritual source, of our assurance. When we wish to prove how firm is the foundation on which our hope rests, we go to the cross and the empty grave and the promises. At other times, while resting in peace on this firm ground of hope, we acknowledge that whatever assurance we have of Gods present favour and of future blessedness is wrought in us by the indwelling Spirit. Thus in the Gospel by which God saves us and assures us of salvation we have that mysterious inter-penetration of spirit and form which is co-extensive with life. and especially with human life, as known to us. The spoken and written word is the outward form: the Holy Spirit is the inward and animating principle which pervades the word and gives to it life and power. For He is the Spirit of the Truth: Joh 14:17.

The process of assurance may be thus described. The Gospel proclaims that through the death of Christ God receives into His favour and family all who believe this good news. We have proof (see Diss. i.) that this proclamation is the voice of God. We therefore accept it as true; and venture to believe that God accepts into His favour all who believe it, and therefore ourselves. We thus come consciously into the number of those whose acquittal the Gospel proclaims. In the moment of our faith, God accepts us as righteous, adopts us as sons, and sends forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts. The Spirit opens our mind to understand the meaning of the death of Christ, and thus makes known to us Gods love: and this revealed love assures us that the hope evoked by the promises will not deceive us. We now look up to God as our Father; and we find by happy experience that while we do so we have power to conquer our inveterate habits of sin. This victory we accept as further confirmation of the promise of life eternal.

Fuente: Beet’s Commentary on Selected Books of the New Testament

8:12 {14} Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.

(14) An exhortation to oppress the flesh daily more and more by the power of the Spirit of regeneration, because (he says) you are debtors to God, in that you have received so many benefits from him.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

2. Our new relationship to God 8:12-17

Paul proceeded to apply this truth and then to point out evidence of the believer’s new relationship to God.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

The application of the believer’s condition 8:12-13

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Because of what God has done for us (Rom 8:1-11), believers have an obligation to respond appropriately. However we can only do so with the Spirit’s help. Paul stated only the negative side of our responsibility here. He could have gone on to say ". . . but to God, to live according to the Spirit." He planned to stress that in the verses that follow.

This verse teaches clearly that the believer still has a sinful human nature within him even though he has died with Christ. God does not eradicate the believer’s flesh at conversion. Therefore we must not "live [walk] according to" it. Progressive sanctification is not something the Christian may take or leave. God commanded us to pursue it (cf. Tit 2:12; 2Pe 1:3-11; 2Pe 3:18).

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Chapter 18

HOLINESS BY THE SPIRIT, AND THE GLORIES THAT SHALL FOLLOW

Rom 8:12-25

Now the Apostle goes on to develop these noble premisses into conclusions. How true to himself, and to his Inspirer, is the line he follows! First come the most practical possible of reminders of duty; then, and in profound connection, the inmost experiences of the regenerate soul in both its joy and its sorrow, and the most radiant and far-reaching prospects of glory to come. We listen still, always remembering that this letter from Corinth to Rome is to reach us too, by way of the City. He who moved His servant to send it to Aquila and Herodion had us too in mind, and has now carried out His purpose. It is open in our hands for our faith, love, hope, life today.

St. Paul begins with Holiness viewed as Duty, as Debt. He has led us through our vast treasury of privilege and possession. What are we to do with it? Shall we treat it as a museum, in which we may occasionally observe the mysteries of New Nature, and with more or less learning discourse upon them? Shall we treat it as the unwatchful King of old treated his splendid stores, making them his personal boast, and so betraying them to the very power which one day was to make them all its spoil? No, we are to live upon our Lords magnificent bounty-to His glory, and in His will. We are rich; but it is for Him. We have His talents; and those talents, in respect of His grace, as distinct from His “gifts,” are not one, nor five, nor ten, but ten thousand-for they are Jesus Christ. But we have them all “for Him.” We are free from the law of sin and of death; but we are in perpetual and delightful debt to Him who has freed us. And our debt is-to walk with Him.

“So, brethren, we are debtors.” Thus our new paragraph begins. For a moment he turns to say what we owe “no” debt to; even “the flesh,” the self-life. But it is plain that his main purpose is positive, not negative. He implies in the whole rich context that we are debtors to the Spirit, to the Lord, “to walk Spirit-wise.”

What a salutary thought it is! Too often in the Christian Church the great word Holiness has been practically banished to a supposed almost inaccessible background, to the steeps of a spiritual ambition, to a region where a few might with difficulty climb in the quest, men and women who had “leisure to be good,” or Who perhaps had exceptional instincts for piety. God be thanked, He has at all times kept many consciences alive to the illusion of such a notion; and in our own day, more and more, His mercy brings it home to His children that “this is His will, even the sanctification”-not of some of them, but of all. Far and wide we are reviving to see, as the fathers of our faith saw before us, that whatever else holiness is, it is a sacred and binding “debt.” It is not an ambition; it is a duty. We are bound, every one of us who names the name of Christ, to be holy, to be separate from evil, to walk by the Spirit.

Alas for the misery of indebtedness; when funds fall short! Whether the unhappy debtor examines his affairs, or guiltily ignores their condition, he is-if his conscience is not dead-a haunted man. But when an honourable indebtedness concurs with ample means, then one of the moral pleasures of life is the punctual scrutiny and discharge. “He hath it by him”; and it is his happiness, as it is assuredly his duty, not to “say to his neighbour, Go and come again, and tomorrow I will give”. {Pro 3:28}

Christian brother, partaker of Christ, and of the Spirit, we also owe, to Him who owns. But it is an indebtedness of the happy type. Once we owed, and there was worse than nothing in the purse. Now we owe, and we have Christ in us, by the Holy Ghost, wherewithal to pay. The eternal Neighbour comes to us, with no frowning look, and shows us His holy demand; to live today a life of truth, of purity, of confession of His Name, of unselfish serviceableness, of glad forgiveness, of unbroken patience, of practical sympathy, of the love which seeks not her own. What shall we say? That it is a beautiful ideal, which we should like to realise, and may yet some day seriously attempt? That it is admirable, but impossible? Nay; “we are debtors.” And He who claims has first immeasurably given. We have His Son for our acceptance and our life. His very Spirit is in us. Are not these good resources for a genuine solvency? “Say not, Go and come again; I will pay Thee-tomorrow. Thou hast it by Thee!”

Holiness is beauty. But it is first duty, practical and present, in Jesus Christ our Lord.

So then, brethren, debtors are we-not to the flesh, with a view to living flesh-wise; but to the Spirit-who is now both our law and our power-with a view to living Spirit-wise. For if you are living flesh-wise, you are on the way to die. But if by the Spirit you are doing to death the practices, the stratagems, the machinations, of the body, you will live. Ah, the body is still there, and is still a seat and vehicle of temptation. “It is for the Lord, and the Lord is for it”. {1Co 6:13} It is the temple of the Spirit. Our call is {1Co 6:20} to glorify God in it. But all this, from our point of view, passes from realisation into mere theory, woefully gainsaid by experience, when we let our acceptance in Christ, and our possession in Him of the Almighty Spirit, pass out of use into mere phrase. Say what some men will, we are never for an hour here below exempt from elements and conditions of evil residing not merely around us but within us. There is no stage of life when we can dispense with the power of the Holy Ghost as our victory and deliverance from “the machinations of the body.” And the body is no separate and as it were minor personality. If the mans body “machinates,” it is the man who is the sinner.

But then, thanks be to God, this fact is not the real burthen of the words here. What St. Paul has to say is that the man who has the indwelling Spirit has with him, in him, a divine and all-effectual Counter Agent to the subtlest of his foes. Let him do what we saw him above {Rom 7:7-25} neglecting to do. Let him with conscious purpose, and firm recollection of his wonderful position and possession (so easily forgotten!) call up the eternal Power which is m-deed not himself, though in himself. Let him do this with “habitual” recollection and simplicity. And he shall be “more than conqueror” where he was so miserably defeated. His path shall be as of one who walks over foes who threatened, but who fell, and who die at his feet. It shall be less a struggle than a march, over a battlefield indeed, yet a field of victory so continuous that it shall be as peace.

“If by the Spirit you are doing them to death.” Mark well the words. He says nothing here of things often thought to be of the essence of spiritual remedies; nothing of “will-worship, and humility, and unsparing treatment of the body”; {Col 2:23} nothing even of fast and prayer. Sacred and precious is self-discipline, the watchful care that act and habit are true to that “temperance” which is a vital ingredient in the Spirits “fruit.” {Gal 5:22-23} It is the Lords own voice {Mat 26:41} which bids us always “watch and pray”; “praying in the Holy Ghost.” {Jud 1:20} Yes, but these true exercises of the believing soul are after all only as the covering fence around that central secret-our use by faith of the presence and power of “the Holy Ghost given unto us.” The Christian who neglects to watch and pray will most surely find that he knows not how to use this his great strength, for he will be losing realisation of his oneness with his Lord. But then the man who actually, and in the depth of his being, is “doing to death the practices of the body,” is doing so, “immediately,” not by discipline, nor by direct effort, but by the believing use of “the Spirit.” Filled with Him, he treads upon the power of the enemy. And that fulness is according to surrendering faith.

For as many as are led by Gods Spirit, these are Gods sons; for you did not receive a spirit of slavery, to take you back again to fear; no, you received a Spirit of adoption to sonship, in which Spirit, surrendered to His holy power, we cry, with no bated, hesitating breath, “Abba, our Father.” His argument runs thus; “If you would live indeed, you must do sin to death by the Spirit. And this means, in another aspect, that you must yield yourselves to be led along by the Spirit, with that leading which is sure to conduct you always away from self and into the will of God. You must welcome the Indweller to have His holy way with your springs of thought and will. So, and only so, will you truly answer the idea, the description, sons of God-that glorious term, never to be satisfied by the relation of mere creaturehood, or by that of merely exterior sanctification, mere membership in a community of men, though it be the Visible Church itself. But if you so meet sin by the Spirit, if you are so led by the Spirit, you do show yourselves nothing less than Gods own sons. He has called you to nothing lower than sonship; to vital connection with a divine Fathers life, and to the eternal embraces of His love. For when He gave and you received the Spirit, the Holy Spirit of promise, who reveals Christ and joins you to Him, what did that Spirit do, in His heavenly operation? Did He lead you back to the old position, in which you shrunk from God, as from a Master who bound you against your will? No, He showed you that in the Only Son you are nothing less than sons, welcomed into the inmost home of eternal life and love. You found yourselves indescribably near the Fathers heart, because accepted, and new-created, in His Own Beloved. And so you learnt the happy, confident call of the child, Father, O Father; Our Father, Abba.”

So it was, and so it is. The living member of Christ is nothing less than the dear child of God. He is other things besides; he is disciple, follower, bondservant. He never ceases to be bondservant, though here he is expressly told that he has received no “spirit of slavery.” So far as “slavery” means service forced against the will, he has done with this, in Christ. But so far as it means service rendered by one who is his masters absolute property, he has entered into its depths, forever. Yet all this is exterior as it were to that inmost fact, that he is-in a sense ultimate, and which alone really fulfils the word-the child, the son, of God. He is dearer than he can know to his Father. He is more welcome than he can ever realise to take his Father at His word, and lean upon His heart, and tell Him all.

The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are Gods children, born children. The Holy One, on His part, makes the once cold, reluctant, apprehensive heart “know and believe the love of God.” He “sheds abroad Gods love in it.” He brings home to consciousness and insight the “sober certainty” of the promises of the Word; that Word through which, above all other means, He speaks. He shows to the man “the things of Christ,” the Beloved, in whom he has the adoption and the regeneration; making him see, as souls see, what a paternal welcome there “must” be for those who are “in Him.” And then, on the other part, the believer meets Spirit with spirit. He responds to the revealed paternal smile with not merely a subjects loyalty but a sons deep love; deep, reverent, tender, genuine, love. “Doubtless thou art His own child,” says the Spirit. “Doubtless He is my Father,” says our wondering, believing, seeing spirit in response.

But if children, then also heirs; Gods heirs, Christs co-heirs, possessors in prospect of our Fathers heaven (towards which the whole argument now gravitates), in union of interest and life with our Firstborn Brother, in whom lies our right. From one hand a gift, infinitely merciful and surprising, that unseen bliss will be from another the lawful portion of the lawful child, one with the Beloved of the Father. Such heirs we are, if indeed we share His sufferings, those deep but hallowed pains which will surely come to us as we live in and for Him in a fallen world, that we may also share His glory, for which that path of sorrow is, not indeed the meriting, but the capacitating, preparation.

Amidst the truths of life and love, of the Son, of the Spirit, of the Father, he thus throws in the truth of pain. Let us not forget it. In one form or another, it is for all “the children.” Not all are martyrs, not all are exiles or captives, not all are called as a fact to meet open insults in a defiant world of paganism and unbelief. Many are still so called, as many were at first, and as many will be to the end; for “the world” is no more now than it ever was in love with God, and with His children as such. But even for those whose path is-not by themselves but the Lord-most protected-there must be “suffering,” somehow, sooner, later, in this present life, if they are really living the life of the Spirit, the life of the child of God, “paying the debt” of daily holiness, even in its humblest and gentlest forms. We must observe, by the way, that it is to such sufferings, and not to sorrows in general, that the reference lies here. The Lords heart is open for all the griefs of His people, and He can use them all for their blessing and for His ends. But the “suffering with Him” must imply a pain due to our union. It must be involved in our being His members, used by the Head for His work. It must be the hurt of His “hand” or “foot” in subserving His sovereign thought. What will the bliss be of the corresponding sequel! “That we may share His glory”; not merely “be glorified,” but share His glory; a splendour of life, joy, and power whose eternal law and soul will be, union with Him who died for us and rose again.

Now towards that prospect St. Pauls whole thought sets, as the waters set towards the moon, and the mention of that glory, after suffering, draws him to a sight of the mighty “plurity” of the glory. For I reckon, “I calculate” – word of sublimest prose, more moving here than poetry, because it bids us to handle the hope of glory as a fact-that not worthy of mention are the sufferings of the present season; (he thinks of time not in its length but in its limit), in view of the glory about to be unveiled upon us, unveiled, and then heaped upon us, in its golden fulness. For-he is going to give us a deep reason for his “calculation”; wonderfully characteristic of the Gospel. It is that the final glory of the saints will be a crisis of mysterious blessing for the whole created Universe. In ways absolutely unknown, certainly as regards anything said in this passage, but none the less divinely fit and sure, the ultimate and eternal manifestation of Christ Mystical, the Perfect Head with His perfected members, will be the occasion, and in some sense too the cause, the mediating cause, of the emancipation of “Nature,” in its heights and depths, from the cancer of decay, and its entrance on an endless aeon of indissoluble life and splendour. Doubtless that goal shall be reached through long processes and intense crises of strife and death. “Nature,” like the saint, may need to pass to glory through a tomb. But the issue will indeed be glory, when He who is the Head at once of “Nature,” of the heavenly nations, and of redeemed man, shall bid the vast periods of conflict and dissolution cease, in the hour of eternal purpose, and shall manifestly “be what He is” to the mighty total.

With such a prospect natural philosophy has nothing to do. Its own laws of observation and tabulation forbid it to make a single affirmation of what the Universe shall be, or shall not be, under new and unknown conditions. Revelation, with no arbitrary voice, but as the authorised while reserved messenger of the Maker, and standing by the open Grave of the Resurrection, announces that there are to be profoundly new conditions, and that they bear a relation inscrutable, but necessary to the coming glorification of Christ and His Church. And what we now see and feel as the imperfections and shocks and seeming failures of the Universe, so we learn from this voice, a voice so quiet yet so triumphant, are only as it were the throes of birth, in which “Nature,” impersonal indeed but so to speak animated by the thinking of the intelligent orders who are a part of her universal being, preludes her wonderful future.

For the longing outlook of the creation is expecting-the unveiling of the sons of God. For to vanity, to evil, to failure and decay, the creation was subjected not willingly, but because of Him who made it subject; its Lord and Sustainer, who in His inscrutable but holy will bade physical evil correspond to the moral evil of His conscious fallen creatures, angels or men. So that there is a deeper connection than we can yet analyse between sin, the primal and central evil, and everything that is really wreck or pain. But this “subjection,” under His fiat, was in hope, because the creation itself shall be liberated from the slavery of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God, the freedom brought in for it by their eternal liberation from the last relics of the Fall. For we know by observation of natural evil, in the light of the promises, that the whole creation is uttering a common groan of burthen and yearning, and suffering a common birth pang, even till now, when the Gospel has heralded the coming glory. Nor only so, but even the actual possessors of the first fruits of the Spirit, possessors of that presence of the Holy One in them now, which is the sure pledge of His eternal fulness yet to come, even we ourselves, richly blest as we are in our wonderful Spirit-life, yet in ourselves are groaning, burthened still with mortal conditions pregnant of temptation, lying not around us only but deep within, expecting adoption, full instatement into the fruition of the sonship which already is ours, even the redemption of our body.

From the coming glories of the Universe he returns in the consciousness of an inspired but human heart, to the present discipline and burthen of the Christian. Let us observe the noble candour of the words; this “groan” interposed in the midst of such a song of the Spirit and of glory. He has no ambition to pose as the possessor of an impossible experience. He is more than conqueror; but he is conscious of his foes. The Holy Ghost is in him; he does the bodys practices victoriously to death by the Holy Ghost. But the body is there, as the seat and vehicle of manifold temptation. And though there is a joy in victory which can sometimes make even the presence of temptation seem “all joy,” {Jam 1:2} he knows that something “far better” is yet to come. His longing is not merely for a personal victory, but for an eternally unhindered service. That will not fully be his till his whole being is actually, as well as in covenant, redeemed. That will not be till not the spirit only but the body is delivered from the last dark traces of the Fall, in the resurrection hour.

For it is as to our hope that we are saved. When the Lord laid hold of us we were indeed saved, but with a salvation which was only in part actual. Its total was not to be realised till the whole being was in actual salvation. Such salvation (see below, 13) was coincident in prospect with “the Hope,” “that blessed Hope,” the Lords Return and the Resurrection glory. So, to paraphrase this clause, “It was in the sense of the Hope that we are saved.” But a hope in sight is not a hope; for, what a man sees, why does he hope for? Hope, in that case, has, in its nature, expired in possession. And our full “salvation” is a hope; it is bound up with a Promise not yet fulfilled; therefore, in its nature, it is still unseen, still unattained. But then, it is certain; it is infinitely valid; it is worth any waiting for. But if, for what we do not see, we do hope, looking on good grounds for the sunrise in the dark East, with patience we expect it. “With patience,” literally “through patience.” The “patience” is as it were the means, the secret, of the waiting; “patience,” that noble word of the New Testament vocabulary, the saints active submission, submissive action, beneath the will of God. It is no nerveless, motionless prostration; it is the going on and upward, step by step, as the man “waits upon the Lord, and walks, and does not faint.”

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary