How Are You Living?

We are tempted to use the “flesh vs. Spirit” argument as an excuse for continuing to live as “slaves to sin” rather than “slaves to righteousness” (Romans 6.18). The Apostle Paul did not accept this argument. The flesh was crucified with Christ and the Spirit of God replaced the old flesh nature: “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that…we too may live a new life” (Romans 6.1-5).

Gordon D. Fee in Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God wrote, “We live in the flesh, only in the sense of living in the present body of humiliation, subject to the realities of the present age; but we do not walk according to the flesh. Such a way of life belongs to the past, and those who live that way are outside Christ and “shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5.21) … [This] does not mean to accept constantly living in willful sin as inevitable, like a slow leak deflating our lives, as though the Spirit were not sufficient for life in the present.”

How are you living today? Do you live as though you have been crucified with Christ, as though you are a new creation? You can! The Spirit will empower you to “offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness” (Romans 6.13).