The meaning of "flesh" in Romans 8:7, "The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for the flesh does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot." The flesh is what you are when you rebel against God and are: disobedience, it’s when hostility to God rules your body and your mind.
So the way you put to death "the deeds of the body" is to strangle the air that sinful deeds breathe. Strangle the flesh. Cut the lifeline. Pinch the air pipe. Stop the blood flow. Sinful deeds must be killed before they happen –by severing the root of distrust and hostility and insubordination towards God.
How do you do that? Scripture says it is "by the Spirit." "If by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live." Now what does that mean? This is a key to the Christian life. Putting to death the deeds of the body "by the Spirit." Killing sin "by the Spirit."
Now what is that? Romans 8:5 says: "setting your mind on the things of the Spirit." "Those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit." In other words, one way to kill sin "by the Spirit" is to "set your mind on the things of the Spirit."
"Things of the Spirit are:" 1 Corinthians 2:13-14 which says this: "Speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit. . . . But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him." Romans 8:5, "things of the Spirit." What are they? They are the words of God, spoken by the apostles, taught by the Spirit, not human wisdom.
So to put to death the deeds of the body (as Romans 8:13 says) "by the Spirit" you must set your mind on "the things of the Spirit," which you now can see means: set your mind on the word of God in scripture. What makes this ring so true is the connection with Ephesians 6:17 where Scripture says in your battle against evil you must "take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."
Among all the spiritual armor that you have you "put on" most of your warfare there is only one offensive weapon that is used for killing that is the sword. The sword "of the Spirit." So if you are to kill the deeds of the body "by the Spirit," and the one killing weapon in your armor is the sword and it is called "the sword of the Spirit," you have good reason to think that the agent for killing sin "by the Spirit" is this sword.) And second, what is this "sword of the Spirit"?Ephesians 6:17 says it is "the word of God," which confirms the connection with 1 Corinthians 2:14. The sword that kills sin is the word of God. And the way you kill sin "by the Spirit" is to set your mind on "the things of the Spirit," that is, the word of God in Scripture, which becomes then the sword of the Spirit.
How can you bring the power of the Holy Spirit into vigorous, sin-killing action in your life? Killing sin is something Scripture says you must do. You must do it. "[You] put to death the deeds of the body." But on the other hand, it says, you do it "by the Spirit." Now the Spirit is not a tool or a weapon. He is a person. He is God. Put to death the deeds of the body by means of God, the Spirit. So, the Spirit is the decisive killer. That's the answer: you do it; but you do it in such a way that it is God who does it through you.
So what can you do to bring the power of the Spirit into vigorous, sin-killing action? If you are going to live the Christian life – not just an imitation of it – you must experience Romans 8:13: You must put sin to death in a way that it is decisively the Spirit which puts it to death. The glory of God is at stake here. Because the ultimate sin-killer will get the greatest badge of honor. Will it be You or God.
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