Put to death (2289) thanatoo by Greek Word Studies

Putting to death (2289) (thanatoo from thanatos = death) means literally to kill, to cause to be put to death, to mortify, to give up to death, to condemn to death or to deliver over to death. And so in the NT some uses are literal (Mt 10:21, 26:59, 27:1, Mk 13:12, 14:55) and mean to cause cessation of life as by condemning to death or delivering/handing one over to be killed. In the context of Ro 8:13 Paul is using thanatoo in a figurative sense (metaphorical), meaning to mortify or subdue the evil desires and deeds that emanate from those desires. By using the present tense Paul is calling for a sustained effort on the part of believers to "search and destroy" these death dealing deeds. Remember that "death" speaks of separation so what a believer enabled by the Spirit is to do is to separate moment by moment, day by day from the evil deeds of the fallen flesh nature. In Ro 7:4 thanatoo speaks of the death that the believer dies through supernatural, mystical but very real unity with the body of the crucified Christ. Thanatoo - 11x in NT - Matt. 10:21; 26:59; 27:1; Mk. 13:12; 14:55; Lk. 21:16; Ro 7:4; 8:13, 36; 2Co. 6:9; 1Pet. 3:18. Thanatoo - 121.9" class="scriptRef">9.5" class="scriptRef">53x in non-apocryphal Septuagint, most in the literal sense - Ge 38:10; 4.14" class="scriptRef">14.19" class="scriptRef">19.11" class="scriptRef">11" class="scriptRef">Ex 14:11; 24.21" class="scriptRef">21" class="scriptRef">21.12" class="scriptRef">21:12, 14f; 31.14-Exod.31.18" class="scriptRef">31:14f; 17.20" class="scriptRef">20.2" class="scriptRef">Le 20:2, 27" class="scriptRef">27" class="scriptRef">9, 10f, 30.15" class="scriptRef">15" class="scriptRef">15-Lev.20.27" class="scriptRef">15f, 27; 16-Lev.24.23" class="scriptRef">24:16f, 21; 27:29; Nu 15:35; 21:6; 35:16ff, 21, 31; 17" class="scriptRef">17.7" class="scriptRef">Deut. 17:7; Jdg. 6:31; 9:54; 13:23; 15:13; 16:30; 20:13; 21:5; 1Sa 2:6; 5:10f; 11:12; 14:45; 17:35, 51; 19:1f, 5, 11, 15, 17; 20:8, 33; 22:17f, 21; 24:7; 28:9; 30:2, 15; 2Sa 1:9f, 16; 3:30, 37; 4:7; 8:2; 13:28, 32" class="scriptRef">32; 14:6f, 32; 18:15; 19:21f; 20:19; 21:1, 4, 9, 17; 22:41; 1 Ki. 1:51f; 2:8, 24, 26, 34f; 3:26f; 11:40; 12:24; 13:24; 15:28; 16:10; 17:18, 20; 18:9; 19:17; 2 Ki. 5:7; 7:4; 11:2, 15, 20; 14:6, 19; 15:10, 14, 25" class="scriptRef">25, 30; 16:9; 17:26; 21:23; 23:29; 25:21; 2 Chr. 22:11; 23:15, 17, 21; 24:22, 25; 25:3, 27; Job 5:2; 26:13; Ps. 37:32; 44:22; 59:1; 79:11; 102:20; 109:16; Eccl. 10:1; Jer. 8:17; 38:15; 43:3; Lam. 3:53; Ezek. 3:18; 18:13; 33:8, 14; Paul previewed this statement ("putting to death...") in Romans 6 commanding his readers to continually... "Even so consider yourselves to be dead to Sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus." (see note Romans 6:11) (Comment: How is this to be done? Faith is the key! Faith lays hold of the truth that in Christ I have already died (Col 3:3-notes Col 3:3 "for you died") and by faith I reckon this true. The "even so" of Romans 6:11 points back to the glorious truths of Romans 6:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 that we been crucified, buried and risen with Christ and now are in Christ. The more we by faith [and remember faith is closely related to our obedience to the Spirit] reckon on our position the more it becomes true [by the power of the Spirit] in our practice. Vine notes that... The verb thanatoo, “to put to death,” is the same as in Ro 7:4 (see note), where it is used in the passive voice. That was the act of God through the death of Christ. This verse states the responsibility of the believer himself (Ed note: Here Paul uses the active voice = calls for a volitional choice, a choice of one's will). The power for this is not his own, but that of the Holy Spirit. In Col 3:9 (note) the believer is said to have “put off the old man with his doings.” That is recorded as the initial act of the new life, to be followed by the constant fulfillment of the putting to death of the deeds of the body as mentioned in this verse. The body is here regarded as the instrument of the flesh, the principle which tends to animate it. (Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson) (Bolding added) Webster's Dictionary helps understand this "mortification" by defining "kill" as "to destroy the vital or essential quality of...to cause to stop...to check the flow of current through...to put an end to...to deprive one of life". We are to put to death the evil deeds of the body, not make excuses for our failure to do so. For example, we continue to give in to the old patterns and excuse ourselves by saying we are weak but at least we are honest. We create elaborate excuses for our sins, saying things like we were deprived as children or our upbringing is to blame. We minimize our sins by looking at others and saying at least we are not as bad as others. And the list of excuses goes on and on. God says "Put these things to death"! We are to deprive Sin of its power by depriving it of life and a lifeline... By "starving" it (e.g., by making no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts - see note Romans 13:14) By ceasing let sin reign in our mortal bodies and ceasing to present our members to sin (we have control over our members -- eyes, ears, hands, etc - Ro 6:12, 13-see notes Ro 6:12, 13) (Comment: Sin is like a deposed monarch who no longer reigns, nor has the ability to condemn, but works hard to debilitate and devastate all his former subjects. Sin is still potent, and success against it demands the Spirit’s power.) By filling our mind with thoughts of the things above (Col 3:1, 2, Php 4:8-see notes Col 3:1, 3:2, Php 4:8). By abstaining (continually = present tense) from "from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul" (1Pe 2:11-see notes 1Pe 2:11) Puritan John Owen in his discussion of Romans 8:13 explaining Paul's metaphor of putting to death wrote... "To kill a man, or any other living thing, is to take away the principle of all his strength, vigor, and power, so that he cannot act or exert, or put forth any proper actings of his own; so it is in this case. Indwelling sin is compared to a person, a living person, called "the old man," with his faculties, and properties, his wisdom, craft, subtlety, strength; this, says the apostle, must be killed, put to death, mortified, i.e., have its power, life, vigor, and strength, to produce its effects, taken away by the Spirit." "Mortification abates [sin's] force, but doth not change its nature. Grace changes the nature of man, but nothing can change the nature of sin... Destroyed it may be, it shall be, but cured it cannot be...If it be not overcome and destroyed, it will overcome and destroy the soul. And herein lies no small part of its power...It is never quiet, [whether it is] conquering [or] conquered. Do you mortify; do you make it your daily work; be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you." Paul has a similar message regarding the believer's current interactions with the old Sin nature and the evil of the flesh... 1Cor 9:27 but I buffet my body (literally = hit under the eye and figuratively knock out the bodily impulses to keep them from preventing Paul from winning souls to Christ) and make it my slave (Spirit empowered self denial - are you a "slave" to your body? Does your body give the orders?), lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified (adokimos [see bema] = means to test and find not passing the test. It does not = losing one's salvation - disqualified athletes did not lose citizenship - those who failed to meet requirements could not participate at all - in context seems to refer especially to fleshly sins, especial sexual immorality, that disqualify - a disqualified believer might be "put on the shelf" and was no longer usable by the Lord in addition to suffering loss of one's eternal reward! Meditate deeply on this warning beloved)." (1 Corinthians 9:24-27) (See John Piper's sermon series on "Olympic Spirituality: Part One: Beyond the Gold Part Two - How Shall We Run?) Based upon the believer's new life in Christ Who gave them a new and supernatural power Paul commanded the Colossians... Therefore (based upon the truth about their new supernatural position and power - Col 3:1, 2, 3, 4 - see notes Colossians 3:1; 3:2; 3:3; 3:4) consider (aorist imperative = Do this now and do it effectively! Can convey even a sense of urgency) the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. (Maclaren likens it to a man who while working at a machine gets his fingers drawn between rollers or caught in the belting. “Another minute and he will be flattened to a shapeless bloody mass. He catches up an axe lying by and with his own arm hacks off his own hand at the wrist.... It is not easy nor pleasant, but it is the only alternative to a horrible death”) 6 For it is on account of these things that the wrath of God will come, 7 and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, (see notes Colossians 3:5; 3:6; 3:7; 3:8; 3:9) Comment: Puritan Richard Baxter wrote, “Use sin as it will use you; spare it not, for it will not spare you; it is your murderer, and the murderer of the world: use it, therefore, as a murderer should be used. Kill it before it kills you; and though it bring you to the grave, as it did your Head, it shall not be able to keep you there” Deeds (4234) (praxis from prásso = to do, perform) is an act, deed or practice. In the plural, praxis refers to one's acts or works and by extension to one's conduct. Praxis has the basic meaning of a doing of something, i.e., a deed. It later came to connote something that was ordinarily done or practiced, a normal function. Praxis - 6x in NT - Matt. 16:27; Lk. 23:51; Acts 19:18; Rom. 8:13; 12:4; Col. 3:9 Body (4983) (soma) refers to the material body which represents an organized whole made up of parts and members. Our physical, mortal body is morally neutral, But since we live in physical bodies, sin finds expression through the body. Therefore in the present context Paul uses "body" as essentially synonymous with the old flesh. "The deeds of the body” are those actions and practices which express undue dependence on satisfying the base human appetites and ambitions inherent in the fallen flesh which characterize one who is not alive in Christ Jesus. Robert Haldane writes that "the deeds of the body" is synonymous with... the works which corrupt nature produces. The believer neither indulges nor walks according to them, but mortifies and puts them to death. Those to whom the Apostle wrote had mortified the deeds of the body, yet they are here called to a further mortification of them, which imports that this is both a gradual work, and to be continued and persevered in while we are in the world. This shows that the sanctification of the believer is progressive. (Haldane, R. An Exposition on the Epistle to the Roman) Morris notes that the verb thanatoo... may be used of literally putting a person to death (Luke 21:16 etc.), or of undergoing the danger of death (see note Romans 8:36). Mortifying deeds means killing them off, getting rid of them altogether. But the tense is present, which indicates a continuing activity. It is not something that we can do once and for all and be done with. It is a daily duty. What is to be killed is “the deeds of the body”....Such actions are the objects of decisive and hostile action as far as the believer is concerned. There is to be no life in the deeds in question. They are not living options. And this is to take place through an action of the believer (“you put to death”), though not an unaided action, for the mortification is to be done “by the Spirit”. It is the energy of the divine Spirit, not the energy of the flesh, that enables the believer to put the body’s deeds to death. (Morris, L. The Epistle to the Romans. W. B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press) S Lewis Johnson comments that... To mortify the deeds of the body is the practical, or experiential, side of Ro 6:11 (see note). It is the reckoning put into practice in the daily life, the self-abnegation that must characterize the believer. It is the result of the law of the Spirit of life and His operation within the believer, the working of the Spirit to suppress and destroy the effects of the sin principle. The apostle refers to the activity in Galatians 5:24 as a position, and in Colossians 3:5 (see note) as an activity and process (Sermon on Romans 8:5-17) Mounce comments that... The lower nature does not automatically fade away when a person comes to Christ. The need to put mor to death the evil practices of the body is ongoing. Note as well that the way to crucify the old self is to obey the promptings of the Spirit. When we walk in fellowship with the indwelling Spirit, the desires of the lower nature are not met. For all practical purposes they are put to death. It is only when we break fellowship with the Spirit that our sinful nature is able successfully to reassert its fraudulent claim on our lives. The key to freedom from what we were is constant reliance on the active presence of the Spirit. (Mounce, R. H. Romans: The New American Commentary. Broadman & Holman Publishers) See the article by Greg Herrick entitled "Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers", based on Romans 8:13 and puritan John Owen's classic (but difficult to read in its old English style) on putting to death sin. Another superb article by John MacArthur gives many guidelines on the practical "Mortification of Sin". Ray Stedman offers an interesting illustration of the spiritual war involving the evil flesh and the Spirit of God "At the close of World War II, a picture appeared in a magazine showing a soldier in conflict with a tank. I remember the picture vividly because it was in color and it showed a tremendously huge army tank bearing down on the tiny figure of the soldier, about to crush him. How frightened he was, as this massive tank was about to overwhelm him. The picture was designed to show the odds involved when a foot soldier with a rifle faced a tank. Then it showed what happened to that soldier's odds when the bazooka (a rocket launcher) was invented. It showed him standing with a bazooka in his hands. It was the same soldier, but he had a different weapon. The next picture showed the tank, shrunken in size, with the soldier at least equal in size, if not a little larger. This is what Paul is saying to us. WITHOUT THE POWER OF GOD released in our lives, we are like an infantry soldier in the presence of a tank. We cannot do a thing. It is too much for us. But, by trust in the power of the living God at work in us, we can rise up in the FACE OF TEMPTATION, and, armed with the BAZOOKA OF THE SPIRIT, we can say, "YES" to the Spirit & "NO" to the flesh -- and He will make it stick! We can turn and begin to live as God intended us to live." (Read Pastor Stedman's complete message Why not Live?) (Bolding added) (Note that the order is not by accident but is critical - First = "Yes" to the Spirit. Then = "No" to the flesh. Be careful not to reverse the order or you may find the "tank" runs you over!) John MacArthur in the abstract of his article entitled "Mortification of Sin" writes that... "It is puzzling how a Christian who has experienced liberation from sin's dominion can at times give in to temptation in his daily life. The OT account of Agag and the Amalekites is a good illustration of how Christians should deal with sin. They should not try to co-exist with it, but should remove it completely. Saul partially obeyed God's directive, but Samuel obeyed it to the letter by killing King Agag. Christians obey God's command to mortify sin by living a life in the Spirit and not acknowledging any obligation to the flesh. Consistent effort to mortify sin in the body comes through a life lived in the Spirit. Mortification is the believer's responsibility and includes such responsibilities as abstaining from fleshly lusts, making no provision for the flesh, fixing one's heart on Christ, meditating on God's Word, praying incessantly, exercising self-control, and being filled with the Spirit (Ed note: I would add confessing our sins 1Jn 1:9) Covering up sin, internalizing it, exchanging it for another sin, or merely repressing it do not equate to sin's mortification. Continuously and uncompromisingly removing sin resulting in a conscience free from guilt is what the process entails." (Master's Seminary Journal: Volume 5: #1, Spring, 1994) The Puritan writer Richard Baxter warns pastors of the danger of preaching about putting to death the deeds of the body and yet not doing it themselves... Take heed to yourselves, lest you live in those sins which you preach against in others, and lest you be guilty of that which daily you condemn. (Ro 2:1-note) Will you make it your work to magnify God, and, when you have done, dishonor him as much as others? Will you proclaim Christ’s governing power, and yet condemn it, and rebel yourselves? Will you preach his laws, and willfully break them? If sin be evil, why do you live in it? if it be not, why do you dissuade men from it? If it be dangerous, how dare you venture on it? if it be not, why do you tell men so? If God’s threatenings be true, why do you not fear them? if they be false, why do you needlessly trouble men with them, and put them into such frights without a cause? Do you “know the judgment of God, that they who commit such things are worthy of death;” and yet will you do them? “Thou that teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, or be drunk, or covetous, art thou such thyself? Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?” (Ro 1:32-note; Ro 2:17-note; Ro 2:21-note, Ro 2:22-note, Ro 2:23-note, Ro 2:24-note) What! shall the same tongue speak evil that speakest against evil? Shall those lips censure, and slander, and backbite your neighbor, that cry down these and the like things in others? Take heed to yourselves, lest you cry down sin, and yet do not overcome it; lest, while you seek to bring it down in others, you bow to it, and become its slaves yourselves: “For of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought into bondage.” “To whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness.” O brethren! it is easier to chide at sin, than to overcome it. (2Pe 2:19-note; Ro 6:19-note) (from The Reformed Pastor) YOU WILL LIVE: zesesthe (2PFMI): Live (2198) (zao) according to some commentators is purely an eschatological reference. In other words they say Paul is not speaking about our quality of living in our earthly bodies but is only referring to our future life with God in eternity. I would agree with others that both aspects (our present and our future life) are included in the life Paul promises the Spirit filled, Spirit empowered, obedient saint. While every believer enters into eternal life in one sense when they are born again, it is possible to possess this eternal life and yet not experience it fully or abundantly as Jesus alluded to in John 10 declaring... "The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly (over and above, superabundant, superior in quality)" (John 10:10) In short, it is not enough for us to have the Spirit. Paul is teaching that it is mandatory that the Spirit must have us! Only then can the Spirit share with us the abundant, victorious life that is possible in Christ. Believers have absolutely no obligation to the flesh (Ro 8:12-see note Ro 8:12), because the flesh has only brought trouble into our lives. We do however have an obligation to the Holy Spirit, for it is the Spirit Who convicted us, revealed Christ to us, and imparted eternal life to us when we trusted Christ. Because He is “the Spirit of Life,” (Jn 6:63). He (and He only) can empower us to obey Christ and enable us to be more like Christ, even "more than conquerors through Him that loved us" (Ro 8:37-see note Ro 8:37). Then as we continue to walk according to the Spirit (Ro 8:4-see note Ro 8:4 cp Ga 5:16- see notes Galatians 5:16), by being spiritually minded (Ro 8:6-see note Ro 8:6), the believer can put to death sinful deeds and live for God. Morris explains that if you put to death the deeds of the body in the energy of the Holy Spirit you will live and warns that... Real life is not a possibility when we choose to luxuriate in the body’s deeds. We must renounce all such deeds if we are to experience life in the Spirit. This is not because some meritorious achievement is required of us as a way of earning such life. It is because the two are incompatible. The one excludes the other. There is a living that is death and there is a putting to death that is life. (Morris, L. The Epistle to the Romans. W. B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press) LIFE IN THE SPIRIT William Newell has a lengthy discussion of this life in the Spirit... But if, by the Spirit, ye put to death the doings of the body, ye shall live-Here is a most definite word that the body is under the control of sin; and a most definite statement as to the manner of a holy life. 1. The deeds, or doings of the body are naturally selfish, and so, evil, for the body is not redeemed. (See same word "deed" in Lk 23:51.) The body would have its every desire gratified-because it so desires. It has no governor in itself but the sin by which it is still dead-to God and all holiness. Even the lawful needs and desires of the body become sinful and deathful if the body is allowed to rule. In Ro 6;12-note we hear: "Let not Sin reign in your mortal body that ye should obey the desires of it" (the body). The beasts and birds follow the instincts and desires of their bodies, being without spirit, conscience or sin. But man cannot do so. For he has, yea, he is, essentially a spirit, though he dwells in a bodily tabernacle, and has a conscience, under the eye of which all his consents or refusals pass, and that constantly. And to let his unredeemed body govern him, is to fall far below the very beasts: for he lets Sin reign in his mortal body, when he lets the lusts of the body control his decisions. 2. Now God says the "doings" of the body are to be put to death. Not that our bodies are not dear to God. They are, - and if we are Christ's our bodies are members of Christ (1Cor 6:15). But they are not redeemed as yet. And God has left us in these unredeemed bodies, that we may learn- (1) the badness of our old self-life, as we see that in our flesh there dwelleth no good thing; (2) the exceeding sinfulness of Sin, -and learn to hate and abhor it; (3) the sweet and blessed path of relying on the indwelling Holy Spirit, -nay, even of using His Almighty and willing power by acts of simple faith; for it reads, "If WE, by the Spirit, put to death the doings of the body." For we must note most carefully that a holy life is to be lived by us. It is not that we have any power, for we have none. But God's Spirit dwells in us for the express object of being railed "upon by us to put to death the doings of the body." Self-control is one of that sweet cluster called "the fruit of the Spirit, " in Gal 5:22. How confidently Paul walked in this power of the Spirit! "In the Holy Spirit, " he says, in 2Cor 6:6, -"in pureness, " etc. And again, "I will not be brought under the power of any" bodily desire, however lawful. And again, "I buffet my body, and bring it into subjection; lest, having preached to others, I myself should be rejected" (1Co 6:13; 9:27). A holy life without a controlled body is an absolute contradiction; not to be dreamed of for a moment. Indeed, God goes further here, and says, "Ye shall live, -if ye by the Spirit put to death the doings of the body": the opposite path being, "If ye live according to flesh, ye are about to die!" WALKING BY THE SPIRIT When we announce that the Scripture teaching is that walking by the Holy Spirit has taken the place of walking under the rule of the Mosaic law, there remains to be examined, and that most carefully, just what walking by the Spirit means. 1. It does not mean to desert the use of our faculties of moral perception or of moral judgment. Although there doubtless are occasions in which the believer, being filled with the Spirit, acts in a wholly unanticipated way; and although there may be times when he will be carried quite out of himself in ecstasies of joy or love; and although the believer walking by the Spirit will normally be conscious of the almighty power within, of triumph over the world and the flesh: nevertheless the feet of the believer will never be swept from the path of conscious moral determination. He will always know that so far as decisions of moral matters are concerned, he has still the sense of moral accountability, or, perhaps better, responsibility. The believer's own conscience will protest against any such letting go of himself as has been unfortunately found throughout Church history when people have submitted themselves to such ecstatic states that moral judgment and self-control were cast to the winds. We do indeed read of most remarkable experiences) and that in deeply approved saints, in which their spirits were over- whelmed by the vision of Divine things, and we must adduce that in such experiences they were rapt and ecstatic; but never to the losing of that self-control which, we read in Ga 5:22-note, is a fruit of the Spirit. Even in the- exercise of the gifts spoken of by the apostle in 1Corinthians 12 to 14, it is definitely declared, "The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets." It is in the abandonment of the sense of moral responsibility into unscriptural surrender of the mental and spiritual faculties, -into other control than self-control directed by the Holy Spirit, that such awful extravagances have occurred in Church history. 2. To be led by the Spirit does indeed involve the surrender of our wills to God. But God, on His side, does not crush into fatalistic abandon those very faculties with which He has endowed men. On the contrary, the surrendered saint immediately finds His faculties marvelously quickened, -his faculties both of mind and of sensibility. All the powers of his soul-life (which include his intellect, tastes, feelings, emotions, and recollective memory) are renewed. His will being yielded to God, God now "works in Him to will" as well as "to do of His good pleasure, "-in which the surrendered saint rejoices. But while it is indeed God who works in us even to will, yet it is true that walking in the Spirit is still our own choice: "If ye by the Spirit put to death the doings of the body"- we read. The Holy Spirit is infinitely ready, but God leads rather than compels. There is deep mystery, no doubt, in the great double fact of God is working in us to will, and on the other hand, of our choosing His will, moment by moment. We can only affirm that both are taught in Scripture, and we ourselves know both to be blessedly true. (Romans 8: Expository Notes Verse by Verse) Beet explains that "put to death" is... a bold personification: a close parallel in [Col 3:5-see note Col 3:5]. Experience proves that our past actions, especially often-repeated actions, are a living power in us today, urging us on in the path we trod yesterday. This present power of bygone thoughts, words, actions, we call habit. To destroy it, is to put to death the actions of the body. The present tense (of thanatoo) implies that the destruction is going on day by day; and therefore implies that the evil influence of their past conduct continues even in the justified. It is gradually destroyed, as it was gradually formed, by single acts. Every act of an opposite kind weakens, and so far tends to kill, the influence of our past life. But the destruction of habits is gradual. Our body is already dead, in the sense that through the death of Christ its subjection to sin, and its rule over us, have ceased. But the actions of the body, i.e. the habits of our former life, still strive to regain for the body which begot them its lost dominion. The increasing weakness of these habits is a measure of spiritual growth. (Beets Commentary) (Bolding added) Wayne Barber asks... Now how do you "put to death the deeds of the body"? By saying "Yes" to God. That's the mark of a believer, who will live forever. Now be careful and don't misunderstand Romans 8:12, 13 - these verses are not saying that if you drift and let flesh rule over you, that somehow you are going to be cut off from God and you are going to die. And some go so far as to say that this verse teaches that you can "fall from grace". E.g., the College Press NIV Commentary Series comment on this Ro 8:13 says "that a Christian can fall from grace and lose his salvation." That is NOT WHAT PAUL IS SAYING…remember what Paul said in Romans 8:1 "There is NOW therefore NO CONDEMNATION for those who are IN Christ Jesus." (see note Romans 8:1) Context is king in interpretation and the NIV comment fails to interpret this verse in light of the overall context of Romans 8. There is no sentence of eternal death just because I slip back up under the Law and am frustrated immediately. This does not mean that I have lost my salvation! That is not what Paul is saying here. In the immediately preceding context Paul clearly was contrasting two radically different lifestyles - on one side, those in Adam and on the other, those in Christ. Those walking as a lifestyle according to the flesh receive death but those walking according to the Spirit experience life and peace. So Paul is contrasting two distinctive and different families and two different eternal destinies - those in Adam ("in the flesh") versus those in Christ (in the Spirit). (see Chart contrasting in the flesh vs in the Spirit) So if a person is living habitually according to the flesh, he must die, where the verb for "must" is (mello) which literally means he is about to die. The point is that his death (and almost certainly this refers to eternal death) is imminent…he is certain to die. On the other side in Christ are those who are as a habit of life by the Spirit putting to death the deeds of the body. Paul's point is that as a believer, you have within your mortal body, the Resource you must have to put to death the sinful deeds of the body. Not only do we have the Resource, the Holy Spirit, but we also owe a debt to Him. Why? Just focus on the Cross. He died for sin. If you ever take your focus off the Cross, you are going to be "bewitched" and you are going right back into being obligated to the flesh (cf Galatians 3:1 "You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?"). But when you keep your focus on the cross ("the word of the Cross…to us who are being saved it is the power of God." = the enablement for sanctification) you realize that is why Jesus died - He condemned sin in the flesh. Therefore now I am not obligated to the flesh anymore. It cost Jesus His life on the Cross and a cruel death. Now that He is resurrected…now that I've put my faith in Him…now that His Spirit lives within me…now I am a debtor, bound by duty to live a life of righteousness and holiness…to live a life of surrender to Him (Ro 6:13-note "present (yield, surrender) yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.")…to put to death the deeds of the flesh. And with the phrase "You will live" in (Ro 8:13) Paul points us to the future…you will persevere and you will possess the fullness of the life that God has given to you for all eternity. So how do you put to death the deeds of the body? Go back to Romans 6:12-14... do not let Sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts. (Ro 6:12, 13, 14- see notes Romans 6:12, 6:13, 6:14) So sin can "reign" in our mortal body, that part of us even as believers which is decaying and destined to die. This is where Sin is resident - in the hollows of our decaying body. So Paul says in essence make up your mind that Sin will not reign. And yet all of us know that the flesh can deceive our mind and somehow we think that we just have a right to do what the flesh wants me to do. Have you ever heard the phrase "Well, let's just let our hair down for a little while." To many people that saying means let's just live a while according to the flesh because after all it's a struggle walking after the Spirit. We have to make up our mind that we will not just take a little "R & R" dealing with Sin. Remember it's not that you can't...it is really that you won't deal seriously with whatever problem you are wrestling with. Then you have to do something about it as (Ro 6:13) says - I've got to learn way of presentation - I don't look at the flesh at all. I've got to start learning how to put myself in proximity to what God can do in my life. I've got to learn to get into the Word of God. Don't build your faith from what you hear from the pulpit. Build your faith on what the Word of God says - be a Berean. Check it out. The Word of God is the authority. Not the preacher. The Holy Spirit is the real Teacher. If you're not regularly in the Word of God, then you can be assured that you have already been deceived by your flesh and you are living a very discouraged and defeated life because you think somehow you are now obligated to what your flesh is shouting out for you to do. If you are not in the Word of God and it is in you, then you are not placing yourself in the place where God can begin to work in your life. How many Christians are deluded into thinking that if they just go to a "higher life" or "deeper life" or "exchanged life", etc, etc, conference, that they will be "zapped" by the speaker or the material and they will emerge a spiritually mature believer? Finally Paul sums it up in Romans 6:14 "For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace." (see note Romans 6:14) What does it mean to be under law? Simply put it means you are still trying to do it yourself! You say "I know how I'll be more spiritual. I'll set my alarm and get up at 3AM every morning." And that will last for a short time, but that's not serving God in the newness of the Spirit. On the other hand, being under grace means that I place no confidence in my flesh and instead I'm putting my confidence in the Holy Spirit of God. And then if the Holy Spirit wakes me up at 3AM for a "quiet time" I get up and surrender to Him. You agree with Him... "I am under Your authority and I am obligated to do what You tell me to do and I know that it is in Your power that I do it and so I surrender myself to You." And the rest of it is history! We've got to lay hold of what it truly means to be under amazing, miracle working grace. Don't fall for the trap of setting up a list of rules that you can and can't do anymore and expect that to produce the fruit of victory. That won't do anything but "irritate" your flesh and bear fruit for death (see notes Romans 7:5). What you do is your put yourself up under the Spirit and you learn to obey what He says to do. And this is the essence of what Paul says in (Romans 8:14) (see notes)… "Copy and paste the address below into your web browser in order to go to the original page which will allow you to access live links related to the material on this page - these links include Scriptures (which can be read in context), Scripture pop-ups on mouse over, and a variety of related resources such as Bible dictionary articles, commentaries, sermon notes and theological journal articles related to the topic under discussion." http://www.preceptaustin.org/romans_812-13.htm#p

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