Romans 8:12 – “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors — not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.”  NKJV

We often blame Adam for our sin, but I want to suggest to you that it is not Adam’s sin but ours that separates us from God.  Adam opened the door for human depravity and the dominion of the devil, but no person will go to hell for Adam’s sin.  Only Adam will be judged for what he did, and we will be judged for what we do.  This was addressed in Exodus 18:20, “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son.  The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.”  You will not go to heaven or hell based on what your parents or anyone else have done.  You will be responsible for your life and actions.

In Romans 8:1 we read, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”  When we come to Jesus we are governed by a new law, Spirit not Flesh.  We are governed by the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus and that liberates and trumps the Law of Sin and Death.  The Spirit triumphs over the flesh. 

Paul continues reminding them and us that IN Christ we do not have to be governed by carnal passions or evil desires, but we have access to the Spirit of Life in Jesus and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  He identifies that this is a faith choice and involves self-discipline and even an element of willpower, but we are not to be and do not have to walk according to the flesh.  We have a new dimension open to us and the plea is for us to walk after the Spirit rather than the flesh.

Notice Romans 8:9-11, “But you are not in the flesh, IF indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.  NOW if anyone does not have Christ, he is not His. AND if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. BUT if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead gives life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”  AMAZING! 

You are living in a body, a tabernacle of clay but the flesh is dead because of sin but in your spirit, you are alive because of Christ.  Hallelujah! The Spirit of Christ is what is sustaining your mortal body and giving you life, naturally and spiritually.  You are indwelt by deity and alive by the Spirit.  That makes you a debtor.

You are in debt because of sin.  Jesus paid the purchase price for your redemption, a price you could never pay so you are indebted to Him for your salvation.  The flesh did not give us life even though we were born and breathed the breath of the oxygen of the earthly atmosphere and called that life.  The flesh cannot save our eternal souls. The flesh leads us away from God and life not toward and into it.  We are debtors but not to the flesh and therefore are under no obligation to live according to the lusts of the flesh or the dictates of the flesh.  

Our debt is to GOD.  Our debt is to Jesus.  Our debt is to the Spirit and if we commit ourselves to God and determine to Walk after the Spirit of God, we find that He enables us to ‘bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.’  He enables us to have the ‘mind of Christ’ in our daily lives.  He enables us to live free of sin and walk in righteousness.  No, we are not perfect, but we are forgiven and in our state of forgiveness we are able to reject the flesh and embrace the Spirit.

Live Free, in bondage you do not have to be!  Jesus lives in me, and I am set free.  May we all learn to you live by the Spirit not by the Flesh.  You are a Debtor and will ever be for you can never pay the debt you owe.  It is by grace you are saved, not of works.  It cannot be earned, bought, or even deserved it is Given out of God’s Great Love! 

God, bless you as you learn to LIVE FREE in Jesus!