Romans 8:12
in Romans 8Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation, but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh:
KJV
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
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This verse in Romans 8
Commentary
15 notes on this verse"Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, that we should live according to the flesh." He taught above that the Spirit of Christ dwells in us, and that the gifts of the Spirit have been conferred upon us. Consequently, then, he now adds that "we are debtors" — debtors, without doubt, for those things which we have obtained from the Spirit of Christ. But "we are not debtors," he says, "to the flesh."
This site's exposition
we have an obligation
on Romans 8:12-13
The obligation runs to the Spirit and leaves the flesh behind. Living by the flesh ends in death, and putting the deeds of the body to death by the Spirit ends in life. The Greek word is thanatoo, to put to death, the Spirit's daily work in the believer.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
It is right and clear that we are not obliged to follow Adam, who lived according to the flesh, and who by being the first to sin left us an inheritance of sin. On the contrary, we ought rather to obey the law of Christ …
A commentator
Theodoret of CyrusINTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS · Written before 458.
proposed
Since we have obtained salvation from Christ the Lord and have received the grace of the Spirit, we are obliged to serve him.
After showing how great the reward of a spiritual life is, and that it maketh Christ to dwell in us, and that it quickeneth our mortal bodies, and wingeth them to heaven, and rendereth the way of virtue easier, he next fitly introduces an exhortation to this purpose. "Therefore" we ought "not to live after the flesh." But this is not what he says, for he words it in a much more striking and powerful way, thus, "we are debtors to the Spirit." For saying, "we are debtors not to the flesh," indicates this. And this is a point he is everywhere giving proof of, that what God hath done for us is not matter of debt, but of mere grace. But after this, what we do is no longer matter of free-will offering, but of debt. For when he saith, "Ye are bought with a price, be not ye the servants of men"; and when he writes, "Ye are not your own"; and again in another passage he calls these selfsame things to their mind, in these words, "If One died for all, then all died that they should not henceforth live unto themselves." And it is to establish this that he says here also, "We are debtors;" then since he said we are "not" debtors "to the flesh," lest you should again take him to be speaking against the nature of the flesh, he does not leave speaking, but proceeds, "to live after the flesh." For there are many things which we do owe it, as giving it food, warmth, and rest, medicine when out of health, clothing, and a thousand other attentions. To prevent your supposing then that it is this ministration he is for abrogating when he says, "We are not debtors to the flesh," he explains it by saying, "to live after the flesh." For the care that I am for abrogating is, he means, that which leadeth to sin, as I should be for its having what is healing to it. You see that it is not the essence of the body whereof we are discoursing, but the deeds of the flesh. […]
Vices and carnal sins must be trampled down, beloved brethren, and the corrupting plague of the earthly body must be trodden under foot with spiritual vigour, lest, while we are turned back again to the conversation of the old man, we be entangled in deadly snares, even as the apostle, with foresight and wholesomeness, forewarned us of this very thing, and said: "Therefore, brethren, let us not live after the flesh; for if ye live after the flesh, ye shall begin to die; but if ye, through the Spirit, mortify the deeds of the flesh, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God." If we are the sons of God, if we are already beginning to be His temples, if, having received the Holy Spirit, we are living holily and spiritually, if we have raised our eyes from earth to heaven, if we have lifted our hearts, filled with God and Christ, to things above and divine, let us do nothing but what is worthy of God and Christ, even as the apostle arouses and exhorts us, saying: "If ye be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God; occupy your minds with things that are above, not with things which are upon the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. But when Christ, who is your life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory." Let us, then, who in baptism have both died and been buried in respect of the carnal sins of the old man, who have risen again with Christ in the heavenly regeneration, both think upon and do the things which are Christ's, even as the same apostle again teaches and counsels, saying: "The first man is of the dust of the earth; the second man is from heaven. Such as he is from the earth, such also are they who are from the earth and such as He the heavenly is, such also are they who are heavenly. […]
The Medieval Church1 voice
Having shown what benefit the spiritual life provides, that is, that through it Christ dwells in us and our mortal bodies are given life, he finally adds an exhortation and shows that we are debtors not to the flesh, but precisely to the Spirit. For …
8 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
Then when he says, "therefore, brethren," he draws a corollary from the foregoing. And first, he sets out a conclusion; second, he gives the reason, at "for if you live." First, therefore, he says: we have said that many benefits flow to us through the …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
We are not debtors to it; the flesh never did us so much kindness as to oblige us to serve it. It is implied that we are debtors to Christ and to the Spirit: there we owe our all, all we have and all we can do, by a thousand bonds and obligations.
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors,....
The Nineteenth Century5 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh--"Once we were sold under sin (Ro 7:14); but now that we have been set free from that hard master and become servants to Righteousness (Ro 6:22), we owe nothing to the flesh, we disown its unrighteous claims and are deaf to its imperious demands." Glorious sentiment!
OBSERVE the title whereby he addressed the Church—“Brethren.” It was the gospel which taught Paul how to say brother. If he had not been a Christian, his Jewish dignity would never have condescended to call a Roman—“brother;” for a Jew sneered at the Gentile, and called him “dog.” But now in the breast of this “Hebrew of Hebrews,” there is the holy recognition of Christian fraternity without reserve or hypocrisy. The gospel softened the breast of Paul, and made him forget all national animosities, otherwise, one of the down-trodden race would not have called his oppressor, “brother.”
OBSERVE the title whereby he addressed the Church—“Brethren.” It was the gospel which taught Paul how to say brother. If he had not been a Christian, his Jewish dignity would never have condescended to call a Roman—“brother;” for a Jew sneered at the Gentile, and called him “dog.” But now in the breast of this “Hebrew of Hebrews,” there is the holy recognition of Christian fraternity without reserve or hypocrisy. The gospel softened the breast of Paul, and made him forget all national animosities, otherwise, one of the down-trodden race would not have called his oppressor, “brother.” The Roman had his iron foot on the Jew; yet Paul addresses those, who subjugated his race, as “brethren.” We repeat, a third time, it was the gospel which implanted in the soul of Paul the feeling of brotherhood, and removed every wall of partition which divided him from any of the Lord’s elect. “So then,” he said, “we are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.” He proclaimed the doctrine of the “one blood,” and gloried in the fact of “one family” in Christ. He felt within him affinities with all the blood-bought race, and loved them all. He had not seen many of those whom he addressed; yet they were known to him, in the Spirit, as partakers of one glorious and blessed hope, and, therefore, he called them “brethren.” My friends, there is a cementing power in the grace of God which can scarcely be over estimated. It resets the dislocated bones of society, rivets the bonds of friendship, and welds the broken metal of manhood into one united mass. It makes all brethren who feel its power.
Therefore, brethren, etc. - 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, Rom 8:12. II. Proves the validity of their claims to eternal life, Rom 8:14-17. III.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
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.
The words behind it
12 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ἄρα | ara | So | G686 → | 49 times |
| οὖν, | oun | then, | G3767 → | 497 times |
| ἀδελφοί, | adelphoi | brothers, | G80 → | 343 times |
| ὀφειλέται | opheiletai | debtors | G3781 → | 7 times |
| ἐσμὲν | esmen | we are | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| οὐ | ou | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| τῇ | tea | to the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| σαρκὶ | sarki | flesh | G4561 → | 146 times |
| τοῦ | tou | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| κατὰ | kata | according to | G2596 → | 468 times |
| σάρκα | sarka | flesh | G4561 → | 146 times |
| ζῆν· | zen | to live; | G2198 → | 139 times |
ἌραSo
araG686 →49 times
οὖν,then,
ounG3767 →497 times
ἀδελφοί,brothers,
adelphoiG80 →343 times
ὀφειλέταιdebtors
opheiletaiG3781 →7 times
ἐσμὲνwe are
esmenG1510 →2333 times
οὐnot
ouG3756 →1664 times
τῇto the
teaG3588 →19766 times
σαρκὶflesh
sarkiG4561 →146 times
τοῦ<the>
touG3588 →19766 times
κατὰaccording to
kataG2596 →468 times
σάρκαflesh
sarkaG4561 →146 times
ζῆν·to live;
zenG2198 →139 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 116:16Truly, O LORD, I am Your servant; I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant; You have broken my bonds.
it leads to
- Psalms 86:16
Turn to me and have mercy; grant Your strength to Your servant; save the son of Your maidservant.
- Psalms 143:12
And in Your loving devotion, cut off my enemies. Destroy all who afflict me, for I am Your servant.
- Psalms 119:125
I am Your servant; give me understanding, that I may know Your testimonies.
- James 1:1
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes of the Dispersion: Greetings.
- Acts 27:23
For just last night an angel of God, whose I am and whom I serve, stood beside me
- Psalms 86:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies35
On this chapter
- Abba, Father
- The God Who Gets Named
- The Binding of Isaac
- The Bronze Serpent
- Creation to New Creation
- Eternal Security, and the Five Warnings of Hebrews
Show the next 6 titles
- Firstfruits
- The Fruit of the Spirit
- Gethsemane (The Garden Called the Oil Press)
- Hebel: the word the Berean text renders futility
- How Scripture Shapes Christian Ethics
- How to Study the Bible
Show the next 6 titles
About Romans
This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrosiaster, COMMENTARY ON PAUL'S EPISTLES; Charles Spurgeon, The New Park Street Pulpit, Sermon No. 96: “The Christian—A Debtor” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Cyprian, Treatise X. On Jealousy and Envy.; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Romans 14; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS; Theodoret of Cyrus, INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Romans and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Romans.