Romans 8:1-17 How to Put to Death the Deeds of the Body

Romans 8:1-17  How to Put to Death the Deeds of the Body

Do you remember a few years ago seeing the news item on our TV sets: "Pet Bear Kills Pennsylvania Woman." Named Teddy. This woman had raised the black bear from cubhood. For 9 years, there were no incidents. But then, one day, the bear mauled her. Some of the neighbors acted surprised. One said, "She was a good person--we just thought she just had a strange hobby." I don't doubt she was a good person, but keeping a bear in your house is not just an unusual hobby , like scrapbooking or collecting stamps. I don't care if you name it Teddy . Bears do what bears do, just like sin will do what sin does.

There was an old story of the frog and the scorpion. A frog was hopping along the shore of a river looking for a place to cross. He came upon a scorpion sitting on the shore. "Hello, friend frog," said the scorpion. "It appears you are looking to cross the river. I too want to cross. Would you mind carrying me?" The frog argued: "Why, if I let you on my back to cross the river, you'd sting me and I would die. I don't think I'll do that."

The scorpion immediately replied, "There is no logic to your concern. If I sting you and you die, I will surely die as well, since I can't swim. I wouldn't need a ride if I could swim."

The frog thought a moment and then said, "Your logic makes sense. Why would you kill me if it would result in your death? Come along and climb on my back and we'll cross this river."

The scorpion climbed on the frog's back and off they went to cross the river.

About halfway across the river, the scorpion raised its tail and stung the frog. The frog was both astounded and disconsolate. "Why did you sting me? Now I will die and you will surely drown and die also."

The scorpion replied, "I can't help it. It's who I am. It's in my nature."

Paul Tripp on why Christian leaders fall : they forget the power of indwelling sin  No matter how far you've gone in the Christian life , until you go to be with Jesus, sin is still in there and it is looking for opportunity to destroy you.

It's why John Owen says: "You must always be killing sin or it will be killing you."

Kenneth Boa writes:  Paul is not defining two categories of people here: Christians versus non-Christians, or Spirit-filled Christians versus "carnal" Christians. Rather, he is using the opposite extremes of the spectrum to illustrate two ways of living life in God's world. One way is to live it according to the desires and directives of the flesh, a way that produces hostility toward God and ultimately death. The other way is to live life according to the desires of God as revealed and empowered by his Holy Spirit, a way that leads to life and peace.

James Boice recounts a story from the life of the English abolitionist, William Wilberforce, that illustrates the vacuum of spiritual understanding manifested by those who are devoid of the Spirit. Wilberforce, a strong Christian, had tried unsuccessfully to get his friend, William Pitt the Younger, the prime minister of England, to go and hear the great British preacher Richard Cecil. Pitt was a nominal Christian only, a church member, and Wilberforce thought the preaching of Cecil might awaken saving faith in his friend's heart.

Finally agreeing to go with Wilberforce, Pitt attended Cecil's preaching service where the two sat under a powerful and wonderful presentation of the truths of God. Wilberforce was sure that his friend Pitt would sense the truth and embrace it wholeheartedly. But as they left the service, Pitt turned to Wilberforce and said, "You know, Wilberforce, I have not the slightest idea what that man has been talking about." Boice concludes by saying, "Clearly, Pitt was as deaf to God as if he were a physically dead man" (Boice, 2:808–809).

This is Paul's point. A person with his or her mind set upon the things of the flesh cannot "accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor. 2:14)

"The Christian life is essentially life in the Spirit, that is to say, a life that is animated, sustained, directed and enriched by the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit true Christian discipleship would be inconceivable, indeed impossible."  John Stott

CH Spurgeon wrote: CHILDREN are expected to bear some likeness to their parents. Children of God, born of the grandest of all parents, regenerated by the almighty energy of the Divine Spirit, are sure to bear a high degree of likeness to their heavenly Father.

The presence of the Spirit inside the believer is a critical factor. The Spirit's presence determines whether a person is a true believer. The Spirit's presence regenerates the human spirit. And the Spirit's presence will one day regenerate the believer's mortal body. Corrie ten Boom offered an insight into this marvelous truth: "I have a glove here in my hand. The glove cannot do anything by itself, but when my hand is in it, it can do many things. True, it is not the glove, but my hand in the glove that acts. We are gloves. It is the Holy Spirit in us who is the hand, who does the job. We have to make room for the hand so that every finger is filled" (Rowell, p. 82).

8:12–14. Perhaps the most important implication of the fact of the Spirit's control is that we are assured of being made children of God. This idea comes as a conclusion to one thought and an introduction to the next. Paul concludes his words about freedom from control of the sin nature by saying that we have an obligation to put to death the misdeeds of the body … because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. That fact—the sonship of the believer—leads Paul into his next major section on the security of the believer in the new way of the Spirit.

Here, however, Paul begins by saying that believers are under obligation—but not to the sinful nature. Rather, our obligation is to the Spirit. The believer is indwelled by the Spirit; the believer's spirit has been regenerated by the Spirit; and the believer's body will be resurrected from the dead by the Spirit. That puts the believer under an obligation to put to death the misdeeds of the body.

You are no longer a debtor to the flesh

Here are five reasons why you are not a debtor to the flesh.

You are no longer in the flesh you are in the Spirit (9).

You have been transferred from one dominion to another.

There is only the remnant of sin left (11).

Don't revert to the realm of death (12).

Don't grieve God's Holy Spirit (12,13)

This is not a "lose-your-salvation" verse—put to death the deeds of the flesh and you will live, indulge the deeds of the flesh and you will die. Rather, it is a "big-picture" verse, indicating what should be the natural outcome in the life of one who has the presence of the Spirit: an obligation to be holy, to manifest one's sanctification in righteous behavior.

The obligation to practice righteousness consistent with our spiritual position is a clear call in the New Testament:

Romans 6:13: "Do not offer the parts of your body to sin."

Colossians 3:5: "Put to death … whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry."

Galatians 5:24: "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires."

Mark 9:43–47: "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off… . And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off… . And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out."

But the most compelling reason of all to live lives of holiness is because we have been adopted into a holy household—because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. There is a better way, Paul is saying, and that way is to enter wholeheartedly into fellowship with the Father who is holy. One senses that Paul could have been writing about many contemporary believers when he makes this transitional statement. How many Christians today—genuine believers in whom the Spirit dwells—are not putting to death the misdeeds of the body?

Put to Death.. Through the Spirit

12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.13 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.14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

by the Spirit ..put to death the deeds of the body,

Thomas Schreiner: "Believers are exhorted to put the deeds of the body to death. The verb θανατοῦτε demonstrates that the desires to carry out the deeds of the body are incredibly strong, so strong that the overcoming of them is best described as putting to death that which is longing to burst forth into life (cf. Col. 3:5, where the imperative νεκρώσατε, nekrōsate, "put to death," is used to convey the need to conquer sins). Human beings must summon and harness their wills in order to overcome sin, which bubbles up within us and desires to manifest itself in bodily actions. The squelching of sinful impulses is not finally attributed, however, to the agency of human willpower. The paradox of Paul's thought must be noted in verse 13. Those who "live" according to the flesh will "die." But those who "put to death" the deeds of the body "will live."  Victory is by means of the Spirit (πνεύματι), which means that believers conquer sinful passions by relying on and trusting in the Spirit to provide the strength to resist the passions that wage war within us. Paul probably has in mind the trust in God's promises that enables believers to wage war against the "delights" offered through following the dictates of the "deeds of the body."

Remember you are "in Christ."

2Peter 1:3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

by the Spirit ..put to death the deeds of the body,

Remember you are "grieving the Holy Spirit."

Remember you are a pilgrim going to heaven.

Just Stop It! John Owen. There are two agents — the one active, the Holy Spirit; the other passive, the believer himself. "If ye through the Spirit do mortify." We can do nothing without Him; He will do nothing without us.

ABSTAIN 1Pet. 2:11; Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.¹² Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

SUBDUE 1Cor 9:27;  Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.²⁵ Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.²⁶ So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.²⁷ But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

AVOID Rom 13:¹² The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.¹³ Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.¹⁴ But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Psa 1:1-3,  Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

1Cor 15:33; ³³ Do not be deceived: "Bad company ruins good morals."³⁴ Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

NIP IT IN THE BUD James 1:13-15; ¹³ Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.¹⁴ But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.¹⁵ Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Walk by the Spirit, Led By The Spirit

Set your minds on the things of the Spirit. 5

There is life, peace and righteousness this way.6,10

There's a classic story about a little mouse that asked a little boy for a cookie. After eating the cookie, the mouse asked for some milk. Then he asked for a straw. Next, the mouse asked for a napkin … and from there the story takes off as the little mouse takes over the house, wreaking havoc and wearing out the little boy who is trying to restore order. The world system, like that little mouse, wants to wreak havoc and wear us out by taking over those things we hold sacred and dear, such as our faith, families, and freedoms. But in our verse, Jesus urges us to take courage. He has overcome this world and its tribulations. So ask Him for the strength to stay in the battle against the little mice seeking to take over your house and steal your peace.

Haldane writes: Through the Spirit.—It is through the power of the Holy Spirit, who testifies of Christ and His salvation, and according to the new nature which He communicates, that the believer mortifies his sinful propensities. It is not then of himself, of his own power or will, that he is able to do this. 1 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.' No man overcomes the corruptions of his heart but by the influence of the Spirit of God. Though it is the Spirit of God who enables us to mortify the deeds of the body, yet it is also said to be our own act. We do this through the Spirit. The Holy Spirit works in men according to the constitution that God has given them. The same work is, in one point of view, the work of God, and in another the work of man.

Bavinck writes similarly: "Sanctification, however, is not exhausted by what is done for and in believers. Granted, in the first place it is a work and gift of God (Phil. 1:5; 1 Thess. 5:23), a process in which humans are passive just as they are in regeneration, of which it is the continuation. But based on this work of God in humans, it acquires, in the second place, an active meaning, and people themselves are called and equipped to sanctify themselves and devote their whole life to God (Rom. 12:1; 2 Cor. 7:1; 1 Thess. 4:3; Heb. 12:14; and so forth). In fact, this active sanctification coincides with what is called "continued repentance," which, according to the Heidelberg Catechism, consists in the dying-away of the old self and the coming-to-life of the new self. But while in repentance it is the negative side of the process that stands out, in active sanctification it is the positive side that comes to the fore. People themselves are active in both and can be active because, by regeneration at the outset and by positive sanctification later on, believers receive the power of the Holy Spirit to "present all their members as instruments of righteousness." Scripture always holds on to both facets: God's all-encompassing activity and our responsibility." Sanctification manifests itself in good works, which according to the Heidelberg Catechism arise from the principle of a true faith, conform to the law of God, and are done for his glory.

WHERE DOES THE SPIRIT OF GOD LEAD THE SONS OF GOD?

Thomas Schreiner "The "leading" (ἄγονται, agontai) of the Spirit does not refer to guidance for everyday decisions in determining the will of God. It refers to being "controlled by" or "determined by" or "governed by" the Spirit (Murray 1959: 295; Lloyd-Jones 1975: 175; Byrne 1979: 98; Moo 1991: 533; Fee 1994: 563). The passive form of the verb is significant, in that it suggests that the Spirit is the primary agent in Christian obedience, that it is his work in believers that accounts for their obedience (Cranfield 1975: 295; Käsemann 1980: 226). Although this does not exclude the need for believers to follow the Spirit (Barrett 1991: 152; Deidun 1981: 79), it emphasizes that any human obedience is the result of the Spirit's work."

CH Spurgeon writes:

First of all, He leads them to repentance. One of the first acts of the Holy Spirit is to guide the sons of God to the Mercy Seat with tears in their eyes. He leads us into the abominable chambers of imagery concealed within our fallen nature, unfastens door after door and sets open before our enlightened eyes the secret places polluted with idols and loathsome images portrayed upon the wall. He points out with His hands of Light the idol gods, the images of jealousy, the unclean and abominable things within our nature and thus He astonishes us into humility. We could not have believed that such evil things haunted our souls, but His discoveries undeceive us and correct our boastful estimates of ourselves. Then, with that same finger, He points to our past life and shows us the blots, the errors, the willful sins, the sins of ignorance, the aggravated transgressions, the offenses against Light and knowledge which have marred our career from our youth up. And whereas, previously, we looked upon the pages of our life and thought them fair, when the Spirit has led us into Light we see how black our history has been and, being filled with shame and terror, we cry out to God that we may confess our sin and acknowledge that if He should throw us into Hell, it would be no more than we deserve!  Dear Friend, did the Holy Spirit ever lead you to repentance? Did He ever cause you to see how badly you have treated your God and how shamefully you have neglected your Saviour? Did He ever make you bemoan yourself for your iniquities? He who never felt the burden of his sin will yet be crushed beneath its enormous weight when, like some tottering cliff in Judgment's dreadful hour, it will fall upon him and grind him to powder! No man ever goes to the chamber of true repentance till the Holy Spirit leads him there, but every child of God knows what it is to look on Him whom he has pierced and mourn for his sin.

He leads us to the Saviour. The Spirit of God sinks the man and lifts up the Savior! He lowers flesh and blood into the grave and gives to man new life in the risen Lord who also has ascended up on high! "He shall glorify Me," said Christ of the Comforter, and that, indeed, is the Comforter's office.Now, my dear Friends, has the Spirit ever made the Lord Jesus glorious in your eyes? Brothers and Sisters, this is the one point above all others. If the Holy Spirit has never made Christ precious to you, you know nothing about Him! If He has not lifted Jesus up and sunk your own confidences. If He has not made you feel that Christ is all you need and that you find more than all in Him, then He has never worked a Divine change in your heart. Repentance and Faith must stand gazing upon the bleeding Savior or else Hope will never join them and bring Peace as his companion.

The Spirit of God leads the sons of God into holiness. I shall not attempt to define what holiness is. That is best seen in the lives of holy men. Can it be seen in your lives? Beloved, if you are of a fierce, unforgiving spirit, the Holy Spirit never led you there. If you are proud and hectoring, the Holy Spirit never led you. If you are covetous and lustful after worldly gain, the Holy Spirit never led you there. If you are false in your statements and unjust in your actions, the Holy Spirit never led you there. Men and Brethren, we must be holy! It is of no use our talking about being orthodox in belief–we must be orthodox in life–and if we are not, the most sound creed will only increase our damnation!

The children of God are led not only into knowledge, but into love. They are brought to feel the warmth of love as well as to see the light of Truth. The Spirit of God causes every true-born son of God to burn with love to the rest of the family. He who is a stranger to Christian love is a stranger to Divine Grace. Brothers and Sisters, we have our disputes, for we dwell where it must be that offenses come. But we should be slow to take offense and slower, still, to give it, for we are one in Christ Jesus and our hearts are knit together by His Spirit.

The Holy Spirit leads us into intense love for the souls of sinners. If any man shall say, "It is no business of mine whether men are lost or saved," the Spirit of God never led him into such inhumanity. Hearts of iron have never felt the touch of the Spirit of Love.

For instance, the Holy Spirit leads the saints to prayer, which is the vital breath of their souls. Whenever they get true access to the Mercy Seat it is by His power.

The Holy Spirit leads them to search the Word and opens their understandings to receive it. He leads them into meditation and the chewing of the cud of the Truth of God. He leads them into fellowship with Himself and with the Son of God. He lifts them right away from worldly cares into heavenly contemplations. He leads them away to the heavenly places, where Christ sits at the right hand of God and where His saints reign with Him. Beloved, have you ever felt these leadings?  One great instrument which the Holy Spirit uses upon the mind is the Word of God. The Word, as we have it printed in the Bible, is the great instrument in the hand of the Spirit for leading the children of God in the right way. If you want to know what you ought to do, say as the old Scotchman used to say to his wife, "Reach down yon Bible." That is the map of the way–the heavenly pilgrim's knapsack guide–and if you are led by the Word of God, the Spirit of God is with the Word and works through it, and you are led by the Spirit of God.

The Holy Spirit leads us into peace of mind, and so assuredly He does into a peace that is altogether independent of outward circumstances. He can give His children peace when the tempest blows. They shall have peace when all others are at war.

He leads us to assurance Are you unshackled?  "For you have not received the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit, Himself, bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God."

 

Bavinck writes: "For if righteousness and holiness were through the law, we would have to bring about both by doing good works. But in the gospel they are a gift of God granted us in the person of Christ (John 1:17; 1 Cor. 1:30; Eph. 1:3; Col. 2:3, 9). As Christ with all his benefits can be given us on God's part only through and in the Spirit, so on our part he can only be received and enjoyed by faith. It is by faith that Christ dwells in our hearts (Eph. 3:17), that we live in Christ (Gal. 2:20), that we become children of God (3:26) and obtain the promise of the Spirit (3:14), and that we receive the forgiveness of sins and eternal life (John 3:16; Rom. 4:7). To live by faith is the flip side of the reality that Christ is in us (2 Cor. 13:5; Gal. 2:20). Faith, accordingly, is the one great work Christians have to do in sanctification according to the principles of the gospel (John 6:29); it is the means of sanctification par excellence. Faith is also competent to do this by virtue of its very nature. Having first received, it can now also give. It opens our heart to the grace of God, to communion with Christ, to the power of the Holy Spirit, and thereby enables us to do great things. Faith breaks all self-reliance and fastens on to God's promise. It allows the law to stand in all its grandeur and refuses to lower the moral ideal, but also refrains from any attempt, by observing it, to find life and peace; it seizes upon God's mercy and relies on the righteousness and holiness accomplished in Christ on behalf of humans. It fosters humility, dependence, and trust and grants comfort, peace, and joy through the Holy Spirit; it generates gratitude in our hearts for the benefits received and incites us to do good works. It prompts the believer to say with Paul: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Phil. 4:13). In a word, the faith that receives the love of God that the Holy Spirit pours out in our hearts (Rom. 5:5) works through love (Gal. 5:6; 1 John 4:19)."

 

 

 

 

 

1.  What is the evidence in the life of a person who has his or her mind set on what the flesh desires? What is the evidence of having one's mind set on what the Spirit desires?

2.  If the evidence of the Spirit is fruit (behavior; Gal. 5:22–23), and the presence of the Spirit is required for genuine Christianity, why does not the church put more emphasis on fruit in determining who is or is not a true believer in Christ? What would be the dangers of such an emphasis? Where is the balance?