The Two Principles of Life

In verses 5 to 13 of Romans 8, Paul contrasts life according to the flesh and life according to the Spirit. These are two different principles of life and are diametrically opposite to each other.

One set of people live according to the sinful nature. The sinful nature is the ‘flesh,’ which is weak and prone to sin. This nature we inherited when Adam and Eve, our forefathers, sinned. Such people set their hearts and minds on satisfying what that sinful nature desires.

The focus here is ‘self,’ and what that ‘self’ desires. ‘It is passion-controlled, or lust-controlled, or pride-controlled, or ambition-controlled’ life.[1] It is the life led by the common human being under the assault of various passions, lusts and ambitions, common to mankind.

The other set of people, try to lie in accordance with the Spirit. Their life is dominated by the Spirit of God. Such a person is Spirit-controlled, Christ-centred and God-focussed and he would set his mind on what the Spirit desires and not on what the human nature desires.

 The mind of sinful man is death, whereas the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind of the worldly man is so full of the desires and the pulls and pressures of the world’s attractions, that he has no time for God and godly life. Such a person gets more and more away from God, who is the source of life. And that leads him to his death, physical as well as spiritual.

Whereas the man who is controlled by the Spirit, would want to please God and would set his mind to follow the desires and commands of God, as it is written in the Bible, the Word of God. It is a close walk with God as Enoch did. Genesis 5:22.

This would lead him to life, the life eternal and peace on earth. Peace would mean the inward harmony, which a person would have, when all elements of his personality are organized around a single centre, leading him to become an integrated person, without conflicts in his inner self.

Moreover, the mind of a sinful man is hostile to God. By not adhering to the commands and wishes of God, as it is revealed in His Word, such a sinful man turns against God in his mind and life. This wilful disobedience and insubordination to God’s law will not please God. Only God’s wrath will be on such a person.

Paul addresses the Roman believers now and says that they are not controlled by the sinful nature but by the Spirit. But there is a catch: they could be said to be controlled by the Spirit, only if the Spirit of God lives in them. A person who does not have the Spirit of Christ in him does not belong to Christ. In such a case that person is condemned to death, eternally.

The Spirit of God, who is also the Spirit of Christ, when lives in a person, it would mean that even when the body of such a person dies physically, which is the due of every man and woman born on earth, owing to Adam’s sin, still that person’s spirit would live, because of the righteousness imparted to him by Christ.

The ‘flesh,’ man’s physical body with its natural instincts, ends in sin and death; but the real man, the spirit, who has the Spirit of Christ in him, would go on living eternally. Christ is ‘a life-giving spirit,’ 1 Corinthians 15:45; but the requirement is the Spirit of Christ must live in you. In such a case, we can boldly say along with Paul that “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” Galatians 2:20.

The Spirit of God raised Jesus from death, and if it resides in us, then we can also be sure that God would raise us from death, through the same Spirit. Those who die in Christ would be raised, for ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory,’ by the risen Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:54.  

So, Paul exhorts the believers in Roman church to live a life according to the Spirit by putting to death the wrong deeds of the ‘flesh,’ so that they will live. It is an obligation on the part of believers, a moral duty to live like that. Once we accept Christ we start living the eternal life here on earth itself.

The mental and physical habits and inclinations acquired under the old regime persist as tendencies and these must be fought tooth and nail by strong self-discipline. In 1Corinthians 9:27 Paul states, ‘I beat my body and make it my slave,’ to win the price of his eternal calling. That is practicing self-control.

Such sacrifices and self-discipline are not without their reward. The people who are led by the Spirit of God become the sons and daughters of God. Everybody cannot become sons or children of God, though it is correct to say that God is the Father of all, because He created everyone. But, the privilege of being called the sons and daughters of God, is reserved only to those who have the Spirit of Christ in them.  

Those who have accepted Christ have not received the spirit that makes them slaves again to fear and death, but the Spirit of sonship, so that we can call and address God as ‘Abba Father.’ It is the Spirit of sonship that we receive, which emboldens us to address God as our Father.  

Adoption was commonly resorted to in Rome during the time of Paul, especially, when one didn’t have a son to inherit the wealth of the parents. Such an adopted person would lose all connections with the original family and become a part and parcel of the new family. As such he would gain all the rights of a legitimate child of the new family and become an heir to his new father’s estate. Any debt he had in his old family will be written off.  

Similarly, once we accept Christ and his Spirit lives in us, we become members of the new family, family of God and get all the rights and inheritance. We also lose all connections with our previous, ‘fleshy’ life of sin and rebellion. Our debts, our sins are forgiven and written off. If we are God’s children, then we are also heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.

As the inheritance we receive eternal life, but also as duties of God’s children, we get the responsibility of extending God’s kingdom on earth. To achieve this, we may have to go through suffering as did Jesus on the cross. Christian life, as a sons and daughters of God, is not a bed of roses, but one may have to suffer like Christ did, for His glory.

Again, suffering on earth for His kingdom will also ensure that we partake in His glory in the future. Suffering would be the price we pay for such a glory.  

As God’s adopted children we are under His care and protection; God will have absolute right over our lives; our old debts and sinful past life are cancelled; we begin a new life with God as His children and inherit eternal life, along with Jesus Christ. But we also suffer as did Jesus, so we can enter into glory that the risen Christ entered before us.

What a wonderful news?

Let’s therefore shake off the old life of sin and ‘flesh,’ and behave and live like the children of God on earth, with duties and responsibilities to perform, along with the abundant hope that we will also enter the glory, just like Jesus Christ, our ‘co-heir’ did.

Hallelujah! Praise God for His miracle of love and salvation!

---

[1] William Barclay, The Letters to the Romans, rev.ed., The Theological Publications in India, Bangalore, India, 1975, reprint 1992, p.104