60
THE KING’ S BUSINESS The Spirit of Life
JANUARY 23, 1916. LESSON IV. Rom. 8:12-17, 26-30. (Commit vs. 16, 17.) G olden T ext : “A s many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons o f God.”— Rom. 8 :14. ■ — DA ILY BIBLE READINGS
Mon.,.Jan. 17—Rom. 8:12-21. (The Lesson.) Tues., Jan. 18—Rom. 8:22-30. (The Lesson.)
Wed., Jan. 19—Ezek. 36:25-31. Thurs., Jan. 20—Luke 15 :18-24. Fri., Jan. 21—1 Peter 1 :3-9. Sat., Jan. 22—Eph. 4:17-25. Sun., Jan. 23—Rom. 8 :31-39.
EXPOSITION AND PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
deeds to which the body prompts us, is life. This putting, to death the deeds o f the body cannot be done in our own strength, it can only be done by surrender ing ourselves to the control o f the indwell- ing.Spirit o f God. It is strange that both the Authorized and Revised Version here spells Spirit with a small S, where the whole connection plainly shows that the reference is to thé Holy Spirit, or Spirit o f God. Even after we are born again we still have the body, but it is our privilege, through the Holy Spirit’s power to put to death its deeds every day.and every minute in the day (cf. Gal. 5:16, 22, 23). This putting to death the deeds o f the body, as the tense o f the verb used clearly shows, is a con tinuous process carried on from day to day and not accomplished once for all. Putting to death the deeds o f the body in the power o f the Holy Spirit should be our daily practice. v. 14. "For- as many as are led by the Spirit o f God, these are sons of God." Those who are led by the Spirit o f God are those who surrender their lives to the control o f the indwelling Spirit o f God. Those w h c t jo thus surrender their will to the control o f the indwelling Spirit o f God are "sons of God,” not merely children o f. God, which all regenerate persons are, but children who have reached their matur ity. W e can give up our lives to be con trolled in one o f two ways : either by laws and precepts outside o f us, or the indwell-
v. 12 . "So then, -brethren, we are debt ors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh:’’ The “ then” in this verse points baek to Paul’s preceding argument, verses 1 to 11 which should be carefully read. Be cause “the law o f the Spirit o f life in Christ Jesus” has made us “ free from the law o f sin and death” (v. 2 ), and because “the mind o f the flesh is death” (v. 6 ), and because it is “ enmity against God” (v. 7), and because “ they that are in the flesh can not please God,” and because “the Spirit of God dwells” in us (v. 9 ), therefore, we-are not debtors to live after the flesh, we are free from the power o f the flesh; it is our privilege to live in another sphere than the flesh, i. e., to live in the Spirit (v. 9). When the Spirit o f God dwells in us He takes us out o f the sphere o f the flesh into that o f the Spirit, and thus frees us from the bondage o f the flesh, so we no longer have any debt to_ it. “ To live after the flesh” is to -live according to the prompt ings o f our bodily nature. The regenerate man has “ the flesh” but he has also the Spirit, and he does not need to be gov erned by the flesh. v. 13. "For if ye live after the flesh, ye must (rather, are about to )t die; but if by the spirit (spirit should be spelled here with a large S ), ye mortify (i. e., make to die ) the deeds (or practices) of the body, ye shall live" The -result o f living after the flesh is death, physical and moral death: the result o f putting to death the
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online