ROMANS UNWRAPPED 133

"Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live after the flesh........"  Romans 8v12.

THE OBLIGATIONS OF THE NEW LIFE IN CHRIST:  Romans 8v12-30.

With privilege comes responsibility.   We have been informed of the tremendous privilege of the freedom of life in Christ Jesus into which we have been brought in verses 1 - 11.   Now in verses 12 - 30 he brings before us  the obligations, the responsibilities, to which we all must rise as the people of God.   In the previous section Paul has compared our former life in the flesh with our present life in the Spirit.   Now in this portion he outlines the comparison between our present life in this world and our future life in the next.   The subject before us is GLORIFICATION, which he repeats several times.   "That we may be glorified together" verse 17; "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." verse 18; "the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God." verse 21; "and whom He justified, them He also glorified" verse 30.  

We could entitle  this section as THE PATHWAY TO GLORY.   The end product of our present lives in the Spirit is that we are being prepared, trained, instructed, in the protocol of the high position that we hold (as yet unseen) which will be universally publicised in a day to come.  Just as a member of any royal family would need to be prepared for high office, so we Christians in the present day are being prepared for glory.   That this is the context of these verses Paul makes very clear.   The ultimate end of justification is glorification and every eye shall see the glory that God will give us in a future day.   Consequently it is vital that we understand that the role of our present lives is a preparation for that.   The responsibilities are quite demanding, and this is the work of the Holy Spirit, throughout all of these verses, to enable us to rise up to the standard of what God has made us.   It is against this background that we comprehend the life of privilege to which we are headed, and therefore the life of responsibility which falls upon us now.

So the apostle introduces this section in terms of obligation.   He says we are debtors ....  we owe it, we are duty bound not to live after the flesh but after the Spirit.   We owe nothing to the flesh, which only would lead to death and misery; we owe everything to the Spirit who is leading us to life and glory.  

There is a sevenfold work of the Holy Spirit indicated in these verses 12 - 30, the object of which is to prepare us for glory.

• The power of the Holy Spirit in mortifying the deeds of the body  verse 13
• The leading of the Spirit in the dignity of life as the sons of God.  verse 14
• The new relationship in the Spirit as the adopted sons of God.       verse 15
• The witness of the Spirit within us enabling us to have boldness and confidence, and a true perspective of where we are going.    verses 16 - 21
• The firstfruit of the Spirit, the guarantee of our glorious future enabling us to overcome all obstacles,   verses 22 - 25
• The assistance of the Holy Spirit in our weakness and in our prayers,   verse 26
• The prayers of the Holy Spirit on our behalf (glorious thought) enabling us to comprehend the purposes of God from beginning to end.   verses 27 - 30

Each one of these will become an individual study, but, taking in the entire sweep of them, we must confess we are dealing with high privilege indeed.