By the Spirit, We Live (Romans 8:12-13)
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Debt is a huge problem in our world. People buy things they don’t have the money for. Debt places strain on marriages. But there is at least one kind of debt that we ought to willingly have, which can actually help to solve our other debt problems.
“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.” (Rom 8:12-13 ESV)
We are called debtors (v. 12a). Who are we in debt to? It’s not to someone who will demand from us and resent us. We’re not to have that kind of debt (Romans 13:8). Our debt is to God, who loves us. We usually think of debt as a bad thing. We don’t like being in debt or thinking of ourselves as debtors, as owing someone else. But if we embrace the fact that we are debtors to God, it will have a huge impact on how we live.
What does our debt require us to do? It’s not to live according to the flesh. That’s how we got into this mess in the first place. If we continue down that path, we will die (v. 13a). It’s not just talking about a physical death. It’s referring an eternal death. We can’t pay our debt back. There’s a song that says, “He paid a debt He did not owe, I owed a debt I could not pay.” Our debt requires us to live according to the Spirit.
We have an obligation to follow through with our faith. According to this passage, we do this by putting to death the deeds of the body (v. 13b). If we aren’t sinning, then we are glorying God. When we think of sin, we usually think of the big things. But sin is much more broad than that. If we are glorifying God, then we aren’t sinning. Make that your aim.
But we aren’t left to do this on our own. That would be living by the flesh. We are to live by the Spirit. We have a relationship with God. Because the Spirit lives in us, we are able to glorify God.
Our reward for this is life (v. 13). Just as the death mentioned in this passage is an eternal death, this is talking about eternal life. But it’s not truly our reward at all. We didn’t earn it. Christ earned it for us. We can’t claim the good we do after coming to Christ. The Spirit does good through us. We are merely grateful debtors, striving to love God as He has loved us.
Pastor Chris Huff has been with us since July 2009. He and his wife, Abby, have four children. Chris is originally from St. Louis, MO and even though he was raised as a city boy, he has a small town heart. Chris is all over the internet, so you can find him on Facebook, Twitter,… (read more)
