So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live.
Christians don’t have to obey their flesh.
The three villains in the story of humanity are Satan, the world, and the flesh. Satan works to pull people away from God through deception. The world is the human system apart from God (economies, media, cultures, etc.). The flesh is that part of you and me that remains attached to the world. The flesh is individual human nature apart from God. Paul lists the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-21 and Colossians 3:5-9.
Christians are no longer under debt obligation to obey their flesh because they’ve died with Christ (Romans 6:6-7). Death is the ultimate debt trump card. This means that lapsing into fleshly living is by choice, not by force. Christians are not victims of their flesh, they are victors in Jesus.
For example, we live in a world with over four million pornographic websites, supplying for the demand of over 68 million search engine requests per day. People are enslaved to their dumb sexual cravings. But Christians are under no such slavery. We don’t have to click those links.
When Christians obey their flesh, they die.
But we don’t always live as though this is true. And the fact is, when Christians choose to obey their flesh, the result is death. When we let our flesh drive the car, it totals it every time. Death can refer to both eternal, final death and the daily, walking death of practical separation from God. Remember, Paul is talking to Christians (brothers) and he has just established the fact that Christians don’t earn their salvation with good works but by Jesus’ work on their behalf. So he must be referring to the daily, walking death of practical separation from God.
Every step a Christian takes according to the flesh is a step away from God and true living. For example, with every commercial, magazine, or visit to your better-off-financially friend’s house, Satan tempts you to abandon trust and gratitude for covetousness and jealousy. And every step you take toward that bait is a step further separating you from God and true living. You’re separating yourself from God as your trust in his plan for your life disintegrates. You’re separating yourself from God as your gratitude for his blessings evaporates into the perceived need for more, more, more. It’s death by desire.
But there is something we can do.
When Christians slay their flesh, they live.
Putting to death the deeds of the body means to kill them. To execute them. Not to allow them to die of natural causes. This is active, not passive. This is aggressive, violent, bloodletting brutality against the flesh. You are in a death match and as puritan John Owen said, “be killing sin or sin will be killing you.” But how?
By the Spirit. The task is ours, but the power is God’s. We must cross this ocean, but God will provide the wind in our sails. As John Piper says, following the Spirit is like hooking to a locomotive, not like following the pace car at the Daytona 500. But what is this power that kills flesh? How does this Spirit weapon work? What is the sword of the Spirit?
The sword of the Spirit is the word of God (Ephesians 6, Hebrews 4:12). If it is God’s power that fills our sails, Scripture is the thread. Without Scripture sewn into our hearts, minds and lives; there is no sail to catch the wind of the Spirit.
Are our Bibles bloody from battle with our flesh? If not, our flesh will surely reign.
The Example of Anger
You’re cut off in traffic and Satan whispers in your ear: “You’ve been wronged! Get angry and blast that idiot with your wrath. It’ll make things better.” Lop off this sin’s head with Psalm 37:8: Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
And beyond the specific use of a verse, soaking in Scripture regularly reforms your entire way of thinking and feeling. So that when your will is thwarted and anger rises up within you, the sword of the Spirit slices its legs out from under it as you remember that your will is insignificant. It’s God’s will that is worthy of your passion and God’s will is for you to suffer like Jesus and love people even when they wrong you.
But take note: Swords are for up-close and bloody combat. This is not pressing a button and dropping an atomic bomb on some faraway place you’ll never see. Expect struggle. Expect squirming. Expect the writhing fight of death unwanted, like a beheaded snake twisting in anger in the dirt.
May we by the Spirit kill the deeds of the body that are killing us. May our Bibles be wet with the blood of battle with our flesh. May we stand tall as victors in Christ Jesus, because brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live.
Discussion Starters
1. What did you find most interesting/challenging about this passage?
2. Verse 12 begins with “So then,” indicating that Paul is building what he’s about to say atop what he just said. In your own words, what did Paul just say? (See verses 1-11)
3. What is the significance of the fact that Paul is addressing these verses to Christians (“brothers”)?
4. What does it mean “to live according to the flesh”? (See 8:5 and Galatians 5:19-21)
a. What, then, does being a debtor to the flesh look like?
b. What does being freed from obligation to the flesh look like?
5. What does it mean practically to “by the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body”? (See 1 Corinthians 9:24-27; Ephesians 6:10-20 and Colossians 3:1-17)
a. What “deeds of the body” do you need to execute by the Spirit? What specific steps will you take to do so?
6. How can we serve one another in light of this passage?
7. How can your group pray for you this week?
