Romans 8:12

Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
Therefore	οὖν, oun	G3767	(adverbially) certainly · conjunction
brethren	ἀδελφοί, adelphoi	G80	a brother (literally or figuratively) near or remote (m… · noun — vocative plural masculine
are	ἐσμέν esmén	G2070	we are
debtors	ὀφειλέται opheiletai	G3781	an ower · noun — nominative plural masculine
not	οὐ ou	G3756	the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverb · particle — negative
flesh	σαρκὶ sarki	G4561	flesh (as stripped of the skin) · noun — dative singular feminine
live	ζῆν· zēn	G2198	to live (literally or figuratively) · verb — present active infinitive
after	κατὰ kata	G2596	(prepositionally) down (in place or time) · preposition
flesh	σάρκα sarka	G4561	flesh (as stripped of the skin) · noun — accusative singular feminine

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Romans 6:2-15 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
1 Peter 4:2-3 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
Psalms 116:16 O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Romans 8:10-16

In these verses the apostle represents two more excellent benefits, which belong to true believers. I. Life. The happiness is not barely a negative happiness, not to be condemned; but it is positive, it is an advancement to a life that will be the unspeakable happiness of the man (Rom 8:10, Rom 8:11): If Christ be in you. Observe, If the Spirit be in us, Christ is in us. He dwells in the heart by faith, Eph 3:17. Now we are here told what becomes of the bodies and souls of those in whom Christ is. 1. We cannot say but that the body is dead; it is a frail, mortal, dying body, and it will be dead shortly; it is a house of clay, whose foundation is in the dust. The life purchased and promised d…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Romans 8:12

Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh--"Once we were sold under sin (Rom 7:14); but now that we have been set free from that hard master and become servants to Righteousness (Rom 6:22), we owe nothing to the flesh, we disown its unrighteous claims and are deaf to its imperious demands." Glorious sentiment!

Adam Clarke on Romans 8:12

Therefore, brethren, etc. - Dr. Taylor is of opinion that the apostle having spoken separately, both to Jews and Gentiles, concerning holiness and the obligations to it, now addresses himself to both conjointly, and, I. Draws the general conclusion from all his arguments upon this subject, Rom 8:12. II. Proves the validity of their claims to eternal life, Rom 8:14-17. III. And as the affair of suffering persecution was a great stumbling block to the Jews, and might very much discourage the Gentiles, he introduces it to the best advantage, Rom 8:17, and advances several arguments to fortify their minds under all trials: as - (1.) That they suffered with Christ; (2.) In order to be glorified…

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John Gill on Romans 8:12

Therefore, brethren, we are debtors,.... The appellation, "brethren", is not used, because they were so by nation or by blood, though many in the church at Rome were Jews; nor merely in a free familiar way of speaking; but rather on account of church membership, and especially because they were in the same spiritual relation to God and Christ: and the use of it by the apostle, shows his great humility and condescension, and his love and affection for them, and is designed to engage their attention and regard to what he was about to say, to them and of them; as that they were "debtors"; which is to be understood of them not as sinners, who as such had been greatly in debt, and had nothing to…

The Church Fathers

Since we have obtained salvation from Christ the Lord and have received the grace of the Spirit, we are obliged to serve him.
— Theodoret of Cyrus, INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

The force of this whole argument is to show that the law, which was given for the carnally minded, is not necessary for those who are spiritual.
— Pelagius, PELAGIUS'S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS

It is right and clear that we are not obliged to follow Adam, who lived according to the flesh, and who by being the first to sin left us an inheritance of sin. On the contrary, we ought rather to obey the law of Christ who, as was demonstrated above, has redeemed us spiritually from death. We are debtors to him who has washed our spirits, which had been sullied by carnal sins, in baptism, who has justified us and who has made us children of God.
— Ambrosiaster, COMMENTARY ON PAUL'S EPISTLES

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Fellowship — (1.) With God, consisting in the knowledge of his will (Job 22:21; John 17:3); agreement with his designs (Amos 3:2); mutual affection (Rom. 8: 38, 39); enjoyment of his presence (Ps. 4:6);…
Flesh — In the Old Testament denotes (1) a particular part of the body of man and animals (Gen. 2:21; 41:2; Ps. 102:5, marg.); (2) the whole body (Ps. 16:9); (3) all living things having flesh, and…
Holiness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Holy Spirit · 1:9,32,33;3:5,6,34;4:14;6:45,63;7:38,39;14:16,17,26;15:26;16:7-14;20:22; — 1:9,32,33;3:5,6,34;4:14;6:45,63;7:38,39;14:16,17,26;15:26;16:7-14;20:22;
Life, Spiritual · The Holy Spirit is the Author of — The Holy Spirit is the Author of
Religion · TRUE — TRUE
Self-Denial · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Romans 8:12

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Romans 8:10-16

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Romans 8:12

Adam Clarke on Romans 8:12

John Gill on Romans 8:12

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Romans 8:12

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Romans 8:10-16

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Romans 8:12

Adam Clarke on Romans 8:12

John Gill on Romans 8:12

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Romans 8:12-14

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Romans 8:11