“Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.” (Romans 8:12)
The first question one may have is, why am I a debtor? The second question is probably, to whom do we owe? And the third, what do I owe? The one thing that is clear is that we owe not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. But that needs to be explained. So, let’s tackle this, one question at a time.
Why am I a debtor? To understand this one has to go to the Garden of Eden. After God had created everything good for man, man betrayed God and disobeyed Him. In so doing Adam and Eve handed authority to the devil over mankind. “Know ye not, that 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?” (Roman 6:16) That is how we lost God’s beautiful creation, His righteousness, and His Goodness in our lives. As descendants of Adam, we inherited his sinful nature and bondage to the kingdom of darkness, ruled by God’s enemy, satan. We are born into this bondage. But God knew everything beforehand. Yet He still created man. And even before Adam and Eve disobeyed, He had a plan in place. And at His appointed time, the Only Begotten of the Father was born incarnate, meaning in the flesh. He was born to die to redeem man. That means to buy back. That could only be done in a pure sacrifice. And only God the Son could do that. No man could be good enough, give enough or sacrifice enough. Man was tainted with sin. And when Jesus resurrected, He had those keys of heaven and hell. Now things are on His terms. Man can now draw near to God by believing in God’s merciful and wonderful free gift of salvation through Jesus. We are debtors indeed to God the Father, Jesus our Lord and the Holy Spirit. This answers the question of why we are debtors and the question of to whom we are debtors.
But what is it that I owe? “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” (1Corinthians 6:19-20) When we believe in Jesus and receive Him as our Lord and Savior, we belong to Him. The Holy Spirit indwells immediately. He takes possession. You can still do what you want, but you will be most miserable because you’re a different person now. “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2Corinthians 5:17) You have been reborn of God. You have a new nature. You have been taken from the kingdom of darkness and translated to the kingdom of God. “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son:” (Colossians 1:13) Everything will be different. It will be a process, but immediately, you will know that there is a difference because you will be filled with joy, love and peace. “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” (Romans 14:17) This answers and explains the question of what we owe.
The last phrase of Romans 8:12 states “…not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.” What does this mean? To understand this, we must see what God’s Word says about the flesh. First, if we are in the flesh, we are not pleasing to God. “So, then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:8) How will I know if I am in the flesh? All the answers are in God’s Word. “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21)
We can avoid living in the flesh if we obey the Holy Spirit. He will lead us in God’s way. “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” (Galatians 5:16-17)
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