

Romans 8:12-13, Debtors
12 So then, brothers, we are debtors [to God], 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 [consider dead] the deeds of the body, you will live. [We are to consider dead our former sinful deeds, having no influence over us. In mortification, we actively put to death things that the body would otherwise want to do.] This is Wright’s translation of these verses: 12 So then, my d
a few seconds ago2 min read


Romans 8:9-11, Part III (pleasing God)
According to Tom Wright: There is a strand of post-Reformation spirituality that is so anxious to avoid any appearance of works-righteousness that it shies away from any suggestion that anything we can do might actually please God. But if God’s spirit is at work within us, then of course we ought to please God. For Paul, the moral choices implied in verses 5 and 8 (flesh-minded vs. spirit-minded) are themselves part of the promise of resurrection itself. They are about the ne
1 day ago3 min read


Romans 8:9-11, Being in the Spirit Part II (the mind)
As we read these verses (9-11), we see that Christian living doesn’t just happen. It takes what we call “mental effort,” a concentrated exercise of the mind to focus on God’s way of being human. That is all right here in summary in verse 8:5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. What we learn, by regular and disciplined practice, to think ab
2 days ago2 min read


Romans 8:9-11, Being in the Spirit Part I
Thus, Paul writes verses 9-11: 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. [Since it is the Spirit alone who brings one into relationship with Christ, there can be no relationship with him without the Spirit. This is where the “free will” argument disintegrates.] 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life
3 days ago2 min read




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