646 The Spiritual Man
The Apostle in using the words “so then” is merely continuing
beyond what he has enunciated before. We believe this verse directly
follows upon verses 10 and 11. The tenth declares the body is dead;
the eleventh states the Holy Spirit gives life to the body. On the basis
of these two bodily conditions, the Apostle can consequently
conclude by saying: “so then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the
flesh, to live according to the flesh.” First, since the body is dead
because of sin, we cannot live by following the body. To do so
would be to commit sin. Second, because the Holy Spirit has given
life to our mortal frames we need not live according to the flesh,
since it has no authority any longer to bind our spiritual life. By this
provision of God’s Spirit our inner life is competent to directly
command the outer frame without interference. Previously we
seemed to be debtors to the flesh—incapable of restricting its
demands, desires and lusts—and lived according to the flesh by
committing many sins. But now we have the provision of the Holy
Spirit. Not only the lusts of the flesh have no control over us, even its
weakness, illness and suffering have lost their grip.
Many argue that we should fulfill the legitimate desires and
demands of the flesh, but the Apostle contends we owe nothing to it.
Beyond preserving our earthly tents in a proper condition as God’s
vessels, we owe the flesh nothing. Naturally the Bible never prohibits
us from taking care of the body, else we would have to allot even
more time and attention to it because of unnecessary sickness.
Clothing, food and lodging are requisites; rest is also necessary.
Nonetheless, what we stress is that our life should not be occupied
solely by these concerns. True, we should eat when hungry, drink
when thirsty, rest when weary, clothe ourselves when cold. Yet we
must not permit these affairs to penetrate so deeply into our hearts
that we make them partial or total objectives in our life. We must not
love these necessaries. They should come and go according to need:
they should not stay in us and become desires within. Sometimes for
the sake of God’s work or some other overriding need, we must
pommel our body and subdue it despite its own requirement. The