“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. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” (Romans 8:12-17 ESV)

I apologize. My intention here is not to be negative. But when I read some of these passages of Scripture I see where some of these verses are consistently being taught out of context and how so many people today are believing lies over truth, because they are being taught these verses out of context, and then they are made to say what they don’t say if taught in the proper context. And this is one of those passages where it says, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.”

But this is missing the context of the previous verses and the remainder of verse 17, where it says, “provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” And biblically speaking, that suffering involves us being crucified and buried with Christ in death to sin and us being raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to lives as slaves to sin, but as slaves to God and to his righteousness. And it involves us denying self, dying daily to sin, and following Jesus in obedience. And it means that we will be hated and persecuted for our walks of faith, too.

[Romans 6:1-23; Luke 9:23-26; Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Eph 6:10-20; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]

And then what it said before that is that we who are of genuine faith in Jesus Christ are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if we live according to the flesh, we will die in our sins. But if by the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the body (of the flesh), then we will live. And that is what it said in Romans 8:1-8, too, and what it says in Romans 6:1-23 and in many other New Testament passages of Scripture. For we are not “in Christ” based on a profession of faith alone, but provided that we are daily dying to sin, by the Spirit, and living for the Lord, in his power.

And this is not claiming sinless perfection. This is just saying what the Scriptures teach, that to be in Christ, and to be a genuine believer in Christ, we must no longer walk in sin, making sin our habit, but now we must walk (in conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit in walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commandments (New Covenant) in submission to his will and purpose for our lives. For if we live according to the flesh, and not according to the Spirit, we will die in our sins. We will not have eternal life with God, regardless of what professions of faith in Christ we make with our lips.

And then notice that it says that “all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” So, if you are not being led by the Spirit in how you conduct your life day in and day out, but if your flesh is still what is dictating for you how you should live and the things that you should do, then according to the Scriptures you are not genuine children of God. And this is not saying that a genuine believer in Christ can never fall back into sin and need to be brought to repentance once again, for I believe we have biblical examples of that, but we must come back to walks of faith or we will die in our sins.

So, just know that genuine faith in Jesus Christ results in us dying with Christ to sin, not just once, but in practice, and it results in us walking in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in practice, by the Spirit and in the power of God, as we yield control of our lives over to the Lord. Again, it does not mean we will be absolutely perfect in everything that we do, but that sin should no longer be our practice, and now righteousness and obedience to God should be what we practice. Our lives should now be ruled by God and no longer by our flesh.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

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