“For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Romans 8:13.
There is a lot to take in and understand in that one verse. What does it mean to live according to the flesh? What does it mean to put to death the deeds of the body? This is important to know, as the verse clearly states that if we do that, we will live!
To live according to the flesh is the same as consciously fulfilling the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16) or giving in when tempted by the desires of the flesh. (James 1:14-15) It is consciously committing sin, transgressing the law, breaking those laws of God which you knew beforehand.
Works of the flesh
Works of the flesh are things we know to be sin before we do them. If we continue to live according to the flesh, that is, to live in sin, then we will die. If we do not live according to the flesh, then we have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:24) Then we are crucified to everything we know to be sin. In other words, when we are tempted to sin, we don’t give in to it. Of course this doesn’t mean that our lust to sin disappears by itself; but it is an attitude of mind that requires us to fight the good fight to overcome sin, and this will involve suffering as the flesh is denied satisfaction for its lusts and desires.
“Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.” Romans 6:11-12.
“Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. 1 Peter 4:1-2.
The old word for “put to death” was “mortify.” But it has become so weak in our day because a lot of people think it means, be embarrassed: “I was just so mortified.” Well, that is not what John Owen meant when he wrote The Mortification of Sin, which is a book I would highly recommend. I just got it out again this morning. It is 85 pages in the collected works, written 350 years ago — probably the best thing that has been written on Romans 8:13. It is 85 pages all on one verse, and it has that famous line in it: “Be killing sin or sin will be killing you.” Mortification of sin meant kill it, slay it, put it to death.
Three Steps to Kill Sin
Here is my answer to the how question and I take it straight out of the verse. There is one clue for the how in Romans 8:13. It says, “If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body.” So how do you do it? You do it by the Spirit. You act in such a way that the Spirit is happy. You kill in such a way that it is the Spirit killing. Now what is that? And that is not a marginal question, out here on the periphery, with “central things” in the Christian life as something else. This is as central as it gets in living the Christian life, because, for Paul, this was the Christian life. You could call it walking by the Spirit or bearing the fruit of the Spirit or being led by the Spirit. He uses all those terms to answer the question, “How do you act toward holiness and sinfulness in such a way that the Spirit himself is acting in and through you?” Here is my answer in three steps of how you do this:
1. Take up the sword of the Spirit.
Ephesians 6:17 says that the weapon that the Spirit uses to kill sin is the word of God. It says to take “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” The one piece of armor in Ephesians 6 that is used for killing is the sword, and it happens to be the sword of the Spirit. And that happens to be the word of God.
I don’t think it is any accident when Romans 8:13 says, “By the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body.” The Spirit has a sword, and it is used for killing — and it is the word of God. So, my first clue is, killing by the Spirit means by the word.
2. Hear with faith.
What does that mean? What do you do with the word in order for the Spirit to be active like that in killing sin? And there, the clue is Galatians 3:5: “Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?”
So the answer is, by hearing with faith, the Spirit works miracles among you. By hearing with faith, the Spirit is supplied to you in your sin-killing work. How do you put yourself in a position that the Spirit wielding his sword of the word will kill sin in your life? You do it by hearing that word and trusting what you hear.
3. Preach specific promises to kill specific sins.
Now very practically, what word should we trust? And here, I think it is absolutely crucial to say more than, “trust the gospel.” That is common today — real common. I think it is crucial to say more than, “trust in your forgiveness” or “trust in your justification.” That’s essential, because everything is based on that. But that is not the way the New Testament talks about this. The reason that we must hear and trust more is because the New Testament illustrates sin-killing over and over by telling us more than, “you are forgiven,” or “you are accepted,” or “you are righteous,” because forgiveness and justification are the foundation, and then the New Testament says, “All the promises of God find their Yes in [Christ]” (2 Corinthians 1:20).
Because we are forgiven, because we are justified, all the promises of God — hundreds of promises that are concrete and practical and relate to specific situations — are true for you. So we never leave the gospel. We are standing on the gospel all the time, but we are preaching specific promises to ourselves in order to destroy specific sins.
Hear, Call, and Believe
Let’s just end this with one example: let’s take the sin of greed or covetousness, because here is a verse that shows what the paradigm is for how the New Testament says to fight the sin in the power of the Holy Spirit. Here is Hebrews 13:5–6: “Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have” — and here comes the dagger with which you are going to kill the love of money, and you are going to kill greed in your life — “for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’”
So how do we put to death the sin of greed when the love of money starts to raise its ugly head and all the fear and the pride that goes with it comes? We hear a word. Well, what word do we hear? We hear the word: I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. I will be your sufficient helper. Man cannot destroy you. He cannot ruin you. I am for you. We hear those words about this afternoon, or the rent that can’t be paid, or the mortgage that is overdue — that specific promise. We hear it. We believe it, and God the Spirit Almighty, with his sword, kills greed and fear and pride and possessions. Killing sin means daily calling to mind and trusting blood-bought, specific promises of God.
1.2 WHY WE ARE NOT DEBTORS TO LIVE AFTER THE FLESH
2.1 It is illogical
2.2 We are free in Christ
2.3 We are removed from the realm of death
2.4 The flesh has no right over us
1.3 SOME COMMANDS OF THE SPIRIT
1 Corinthians 6:12-18; 9:24; 2 Corinthians 6:14
Ephesians 4:17; Philippians 2:12-13; Colossians 3:2
1.4 A LIFE–OR–DEATH PROPOSITION
2.1 Literally: “about to die”
PHYSICAL DEATH
2.2 The life giving Spirit
ABUNDANT LIFE
1.5 HOW WE MORTIFY THE FLESH
Sin is mortified when its power is destroyed, and it ceases to be active.
Colossians 3:5; 3:9; Galatians 5:24; Galatians 6:14; 1 Corinthians 9:27
A balanced approach
God’s part: “by the Spirit”
Our part: “you put to death”
2.1 We recognize the truth about ourselves
2.2 We recognize what God did for our sin
2.3 We set our minds on the things of the Spirit
3.1 WE TAKE THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT
3.2 WE DO IT BY HEARING WITH FAITH
3.3 WE BELIEVE THE PROMISES OF GOD
2.4 We operate in the strength of Christ
2.5 We replace the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit
2.6 We walk in the Spirit
12 Therefore, brothers, we are not debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you shall die. But if you through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live.
The word mortify appears only in the King James Version of the Bible, in two verses. The first is Romans 8:13, which says, "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live" (KJV). The second is, "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry" (Colossians 3:5 KJV). In more modern versions, the word mortify is translated "put to death."
In this verse, we see the basic difference between the life of a believer and the life of an unbeliever. The believer is encouraged to put to death the deeds of the flesh—what Paul calls "the deeds of the body" (Romans 8:13) or "what is earthly in you" (Colossians 3:5). Paul defines "what is earthly in you" as "sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry" (Colossians 3:5). The person who is ruled by these things is said to be "in the flesh" and to have his mind set on the flesh, which is death (Romans 8:5-6). But the believer sets his mind on the Spirit, and the things of the Spirit, which is life and peace (Romans 8:5-6). The reason for this is found in the very next verse: "For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot" (Romans 8:7).
This is a question of nature. A cat will do cat things: it will chase mice, and purr, and sit on your lap. A frog will do frog things: jump, and croak, and sit on a lily pad. But cats do not do frog things, and vice versa. It is not in their nature. A similar thing is true of believers and unbelievers. Believers will mortify the flesh because the flesh is opposed to the Spirit which indwells them; it is against their nature to follow the flesh. "For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do" (Galatians 5:17). This does not mean we always succeed—the pull of the flesh is powerful. That is why we are told to take action against it, to "mortify" it, to put it to death.
Jesus made several statements about this believer's "death in life" paradox. He said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life" (John 12:24-25). Jesus' life on Earth was one of purposeful death; His followers live under the same principle. We may not be martyred in a dramatic way, but the Christian life follows a pattern of death to self, and life to God. That is why Paul quoted the Psalmist, saying "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered" (Romans 8:36). We look forward to the next life as the true life, and for that reason, we separate ourselves from this world. The result of this attitude is often suffering, but the Bible makes it clear that this is normal, even comparing us to soldiers on a foreign battlefield. "Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him" (2 Timothy 2:3).
The mortification of sin and the flesh is a deep and complex issue in the Christian life, and it is hard to sum it up in one short article. But we know that every believer will go through it, for it is in their nature to follow the Spirit, and the Spirit is not at home in this world. Over and over again, Christians find themselves at crossroads—one sign pointing to "this world" and the other pointing to "the next world." The decision was summed up perfectly by Jesus, who said: "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few" (Matthew 7:13-14).
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