“Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.”
Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. — The ὀφείλω (opheilō, "owe/obligate") is redirected: not to the σάρξ (sarx, "flesh") but away from it. The Spirit's indwelling creates obligation to deny the flesh's demands. Ethics flows from the gift of the Spirit: because you have the Spirit, you owe the flesh nothing.
Church Fathers on Romans 8:12
After showing how great the reward of a spiritual life is, and that it makes Christ to dwell in us, and that it quickens our mortal bodies, and wings them to heaven, and renders the way of virtue easier, he next fitly introduces an exhortation to this purpose. “Therefore” we ought “not to live after the flesh.” But this is not what he says, for he words it in a much more striking and powerful way, thus, “we are debtors to the Spirit.” For saying, “we are debtors not to the…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a reflection on this verse
No reflections on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!