From Lost to Loved: A 30-Day Study of Romans 8Sample

Paul has spent the last several verses painting a layered picture of the Spirit’s role in unleashing life in us. But in verse twelve, the focus shifts from theological foundation to urgent moral application. What God has done now demands a response.

Before Paul tells us what to do, he reminds us “we are debtors.” It’s a pointed reminder that Jesus followers carry a real obligation.[1] But it’s not to the flesh; you owe the world and its ways absolutely nothing.

That’s a hard shift for many of us to make. I’ve made plenty of poor decisions in my life, but I’ve never made a payment on a car that’s already paid off. Why? Because I received a letter confirming the debt was satisfied. How absurd would it be if I kept sending payments anyway? Paul is saying the same thing, but at the soul level. If you belong to Christ, you’re no longer in debt to sin. You now live under obligation to the Spirit.

And that obligation is not theoretical, it’s life and death. Verse thirteen explains why this is so serious: “if you live according to the flesh you will die.” The Greek word for “will”, mellō, means “you are about to.” It carries a sense of impending certainty.[2] Paul isn’t offering a hypothetical; He’s describing the inevitable. Death is no accident. It is the sure sentence for anyone who keeps feeding the flesh.

What do you expect to happen if you throw a rock at a window? Or if someone drinks a cup full of nuclear waste? No one would be shocked when destruction follows. In the same way, Paul reminds us sin always produces death.

That’s not just a spiritual concept. It’s a theological law: sin leads to death and Spirit leads to life. Romans 6:23 says it plainly: “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Paul isn’t saying anything new in Romans 8:13. He’s reinforcing the same eternal reality.

In the end, you’ll serve sin or the Spirit. One path ends in death… the other bursts with resurrection life both today and in the life to come.

REFLECT:
Where are you entertaining sin but pretending it won’t cost you anything?

[1]Barclay Moon Newman and Eugene Albert Nida, A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans, UBS Handbook Series (New York: United Bible Societies, 1973), 152.

[2]Douglas J. Moo, The Epistle to the Romans, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1996), 494.