Romans 8:13 – “ … 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.”

Children often bear a physical likeness to their parents: “She looks just like her mother,” we say, or “He gets his height from his grandfather.” Genetics plays a role in physical similarities among family members, but adopted children may also take after their parents. We may see similarities in their politeness (or lack of it), and sometimes in their general approach to life in general, whether positive or negative.

None of that is surprising, but we also know that children may choose to rebel and try to be everything that their parents are not: they may look like their parents, but not act like them. A well-behaved “model child” and a full-throated rebel can emerge from the same set of siblings.

Paul often spoke of God in various ways. Today’s text happens to include references to God as Father, to Christ, and to the Spirit, so it is often read on Trinity Sunday. Paul had no systematic concept of the Trinity, a theological position that emerged in later centuries, but the doctrine was based in part on Paul’s writings.

While Paul’s language about God varies in this text, his purpose was not to explain the Trinity, but to talk about what it means to be children of God.

Children of flesh

(vv. 12-13)

Paul’s language may seem strange to us, for he begins with a discussion of “the flesh.” We know the term, but rarely use it in referring to either our bodies or our lifestyles. The word Paul used is sarx. In the most basic sense, it was the graphic Greek term to describe bodily flesh, though it could be used of the body in general. Paul gave the term a metaphorical sense by applying it to human nature, especially in its negative aspects.

In essence, Paul’s argument is straightforward. He was calling on believers to live a righteous and holy life for the simple reason that they belonged to God, and not to the flesh, or to the world.

It’s easy for us to excuse all kinds of behavior by saying “it’s just human nature,” or “I can’t help myself,” but Paul insisted that we are not obligated to follow the weaker or more salacious aspects of human nature. We are not “debtors” to our human condition, “to live according to the flesh” (v. 12). While we are by nature in the flesh, we are not obligated to be of the flesh by surrendering to every bodily temptation.

Instead, we have an option, and a much better one we would be wise to choose: “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” (v. 13).

Our translations say Paul spoke to his readers as “brothers and sisters” (NRSV, NIV11, NET). His literal word was “brothers,” but he clearly had all members of the church in mind. Paul recognized that he was in the same boat as other believers, using the pronoun “we” to include himself in the conversation.

Paul knew, as we do, that all who live in human skin are destined to die, but he also knew there is more to life than flesh and bones. He had in mind more than the physical death of the body. Our physicality will not last, but Paul believed life continues for those who put their trust in God’s Spirit rather than in serving “the flesh” alone.

In a similar message to the Galatians, Paul had written: “If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit you will reap eternal life from the Spirit” (Gal. 6:8).

One could argue that the fulfilling and abundant life we can know in Christ is also qualitatively better than life that is limited to what the world has to offer, but Paul is mainly focused on eternity.

            As a former rabbi, Paul may have intentionally called upon the rhetoric of Deuteronomy, where a sermon attributed to Moses includes a similar challenge for the Israelites to choose life and prosperity over death and destruction by loving God and obeying the commandments (Deut. 30:15-20). [DD]

            The admonitions of both Paul and Moses move from a call to righteous living to the promise of an inheritance. Israel’s idea of an inheritance was a land to call their home, but Christ-followers are promised that they will become “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (v. 18).

            What are the “deeds of the body” that concerned Paul so much? What is it that Christians must overcome by the Spirit? The word praxis simply means “actions” – things that we do. Here Paul uses the word sōma for “body” rather than sarx, possibly for variety, since sōma doesn’t usually carry a negative connotation.

            Eating drinking, sleeping, and working could all qualify as “deeds of the body,” but Paul was speaking of actions that feed human desires without thought for whether they are right or cause harm to others.

            Only with the Spirit’s help can we “put to death” selfish inclinations that threaten our very lives, now and in the future. It’s important to remember that Paul’s intent was not to warn unbelievers: he was writing to the church in Rome. Paul did not subscribe to the all-too-common notion that one can “accept Christ” and “join the church” like buying fire insurance, and then continue to behave in any old way. Following Jesus is serious business, and overcoming sin is a task that endures as long as we inhabit our bodies.

Children of God

(vv. 14-17)

While those who follow only human desires are doomed to experience only human life, Christ has made possible a better option: “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God,” Paul said (v. 14).

It’s hard to comprehend that name. Children of God. In keeping with the times, Paul used the word “sons,” but it is clear that he had in mind all people, so “children” is an appropriate translation. Paul’s readers would have been familiar with the concept of humans being related to gods. Greek royals and even renowned philosophers sometimes described themselves as favored sons of a patron god.

Sometimes, in reflecting a belief about God’s creative activity in the world, we speak of all people as “children of God,” and there is a sense in which that is true – especially for those who are still children. But Paul had a deeper relationship in mind, not determined by our generic humanity, but by our specific choice to follow God’s way, trusting in Jesus and being led by the Spirit.

Some ancient peoples taught that the gods had created humans to be their servants, but Paul believed we have a higher calling: “For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God …” (vv. 15-16).

Slaves are motivated by fear: the fear of punishment or starvation, the fear of being sold or separated from family, even the fear of death. Christian believers do not relate to God as slaves to their master, but as children to a loving parent.

The Jews of Paul’s day did not call God “Father,” even in prayer, considering such a term far too familiar. In fact, they avoided using God’s name altogether, preferring circumlocutions such as “the Holy One, blessed be he,” or even “the Name.”

It may be hard for us to imagine how radical-sounding it was for Paul to suggest that we can call God not only “Father,” but “Abba,” an Aramaic term equivalent to “Papa.” Paul wanted to emphasize how close a relationship we can have with God when we choose to be Spirit-led rather than self-led. [DD]

If we are children of God, Paul went on, then we are also “heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (v. 17a). What does that even mean? In one sense, it could mean that we experience the glory of God that was lost through sin. Christ knew and experienced God’s glory. In his farewell prayer with and for the disciples, Jesus prayed for the Father to restore to him the glory he had known before (John 17:1, 5).

Elsewhere, Paul often connected the believer’s inheritance with participation in the kingdom of God, as in 1 Cor. 15:50, where he insisted that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (see also 1 Cor. 6:9-11, Gal. 5:21, Eph. 5:5).

Experiencing Christ’s glory sounds amazing, but if we are to share Christ’s glory, we are also to share in his suffering. We are joint heirs, Paul said, “if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him” (v. 17b). [DD]

What? Suffer? If we are to live in Christ, we take the difficult as well as the delightful. Suffering was and is an inevitable part of God’s purpose for Christ and the church. Paul told the Philippians, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death” (Phil. 3:10).

            Suffering does not indicate defeat but takes on a positive theological meaning. Here Paul may have in mind more than the persecutions he and others would suffer. He has urged his readers to “put to death” their human desires. Giving up a life dedicated to pleasure may seem like suffering to some, but if one is not willing to resist temptation, how will he or she respond to real trouble?