Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die—in the sense of Romans 6:21.
but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body—(See on Romans 7:23).
ye shall live—in the sense of Romans 6:22. The apostle is not satisfied with assuring them that they are under no obligations to the flesh, to hearken to its suggestions, without reminding them where it will end if they do; and he uses the word "mortify" (put to death) as a kind of play upon the word "die" just before. "If ye do not kill sin, it will kill you." But he tempers this by the bright alternative, that if they do, through the Spirit, mortify the deeds of the body, such a course will infallibly terminate in "life" everlasting. And this leads the apostle into a new line of thought, opening into his final subject, the "glory" awaiting the justified believer.
Note, (1) "There can be no safety, no holiness, no happiness, to those who are out of Christ: No "safety," because all such are under the condemnation of the law (Romans 8:1); no holiness, because such only as are united to Christ have the spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9); no happiness, because to be "carnally minded is death" (Romans 8:6)" [HODGE]. (2) The sanctification of believers, as it has its whole foundation in the atoning death, so it has its living spring in the indwelling of the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:2-4). (3) "The bent of the thoughts, affections, and pursuits, is the only decisive test of character (Romans 8:5)" [HODGE]. (4) No human refinement of the carnal mind will make it spiritual, or compensate for the absence of spirituality. "Flesh" and "spirit" are essentially and unchangeably opposed; nor can the carnal mind, as such, be brought into real subjection to the law of God (Romans 8:5-7). Hence (5) the estrangement of God and the sinner is mutual. For as the sinner's state of mind is "enmity against God" (Romans 8:7), so in this state he "cannot please God" (Romans 8:8). (6) Since the Holy Ghost is, in the same breath, called indiscriminately "the Spirit of God," "the Spirit of Christ," and "Christ" Himself (as an indwelling life in believers), the essential unity and yet Personal distinctness of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, m the one adorable Godhead must be believed, as the only consistent explanation of such language (Romans 8:9-11). (7) The consciousness of spiritual life in our renewed souls is a glorious assurance of resurrection life in the body also, in virtue of the same quickening Spirit whose inhabitation we already enjoy (Romans 8:11). (8) Whatever professions of spiritual life men may make, it remains eternally true that "if we live after the flesh we shall die," and only "if we through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body we shall live" (Romans 8:13, and compare Galatians 6:7-8; Ephesians 5:6; Philippians 3:18-19; I John 3:7-8).
SECOND: The Sonship of Believers—Their Future Inheritance—The Intercession of the Spirit for Them (Romans 8:14-27).
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh—"Once we were sold under sin (Romans 7:14); but now that we have been set free from that hard master and become servants to Righteousness (Romans 6:22), we owe nothing to the flesh, we disown its unrighteous claims and are deaf to its imperious demands." Glorious sentiment!
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Romans 8:13:
Romans 8:13
1 Corinthians 5:5
1 Corinthians 9:27
Colossians 2:11
Colossians 3:5
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