Paul draws a sharp line: those in the flesh “cannot please God.” This is not a bad day for a Christian, but it is a settled condition of the unregenerate whose mind is enmity against God.
He then presses it home: “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die.” That death is not mere bodily death, but the fearful end of a life that has never been brought under the reign of the Spirit of Christ.
The gracious reality (vv. 9–11)
Yet Paul immediately turns to the believer and says, “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.” To belong to Christ is to be indwelt by the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ, the very Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead.
This means two things at once: the body is still subject to death because of sin, yet the Spirit is life because of righteousness, and even these mortal bodies shall be quickened by that indwelling Spirit. The believer walks every Monday under the power of resurrection, even while feeling the frailty of the flesh.
The holy obligation (v. 12)
“So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.” The flesh has never done anything but enslave, accuse, and destroy; we owe it nothing but its execution.
Our only rightful debt is to grace—to walk in a way befitting those adopted as sons and daughters, indwelt by the Spirit, headed for glory. The Christian life is not a casual hobby but a covenant bond that lays a loving, moral obligation on the soul.
The daily warfare (v. 13)
“But if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” Mortification is not an optional advanced course in sanctification; it is the ordinary path of life for every true believer.
Notice the order: it is “through the Spirit” that we put to death the deeds of the body; we do not conquer sin in the power of the flesh, but by the power of the indwelling Spirit applying Christ’s finished work to our hearts. As those misdeeds are starved and slain, we taste more of real spiritual life even now.
A Monday muse to carry
As you step into this Monday, you do not walk as a debtor to your old nature, but as a redeemed debtor to grace, indwelt by the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. Your calling today is simple and serious: refuse every claim of the flesh, and in conscious dependence on the Spirit, take sides with God against your own sin—and in that very warfare, you will find life.
He then presses it home: “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die.” That death is not mere bodily death, but the fearful end of a life that has never been brought under the reign of the Spirit of Christ.
The gracious reality (vv. 9–11)
Yet Paul immediately turns to the believer and says, “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.” To belong to Christ is to be indwelt by the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ, the very Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead.
This means two things at once: the body is still subject to death because of sin, yet the Spirit is life because of righteousness, and even these mortal bodies shall be quickened by that indwelling Spirit. The believer walks every Monday under the power of resurrection, even while feeling the frailty of the flesh.
The holy obligation (v. 12)
“So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.” The flesh has never done anything but enslave, accuse, and destroy; we owe it nothing but its execution.
Our only rightful debt is to grace—to walk in a way befitting those adopted as sons and daughters, indwelt by the Spirit, headed for glory. The Christian life is not a casual hobby but a covenant bond that lays a loving, moral obligation on the soul.
The daily warfare (v. 13)
“But if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” Mortification is not an optional advanced course in sanctification; it is the ordinary path of life for every true believer.
Notice the order: it is “through the Spirit” that we put to death the deeds of the body; we do not conquer sin in the power of the flesh, but by the power of the indwelling Spirit applying Christ’s finished work to our hearts. As those misdeeds are starved and slain, we taste more of real spiritual life even now.
A Monday muse to carry
As you step into this Monday, you do not walk as a debtor to your old nature, but as a redeemed debtor to grace, indwelt by the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. Your calling today is simple and serious: refuse every claim of the flesh, and in conscious dependence on the Spirit, take sides with God against your own sin—and in that very warfare, you will find life.
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