Romans 12

Romans 12:1

But I see another law in my members. One law of our being is the approval of righteousness; another is the inclination of the flesh to do evil. This law wars against the law of [the] mind, the conscience and will, and brings it into captivity. It prevails. Hence, unregenerate man is a captive. There is a struggle in the nature of man; of the “inward Man” (Romans 7:22), with the flesh, with the result of captivity of the soul.

Romans 12:2

O wretched man that I am! Wretched because he has no power in himself of deliverance. Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? He is a captive, a captive to the body, the members of which are controlled by sin. Hence, he is a helpless slave of sin, and as such is under the condemnation of death. The body, the seat of the fleshly desires, has become “a body of death”, since it is controlled by sin. Who shall deliver him from its power? In Romans 7:14-24 Paul has described the bondage of the will to the flesh which is the condition of the natural man, and closes with the cry for deliverance.

Romans 12:3

I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him the deliverance comes. So then with the mind I myself I myself serve the law of God. I myself, that is, by myself and without Christ. In that state of mind delights in the law of God (Romans 7:22), but with the flesh the law of sin. But the flesh is devoted to the service of sin. Hence the struggle, the captivity, the bondage, the cry for deliverance. Hence the failure of the law to deliver, and the need of Christ. One of the best comments on the whole passage is Galatians 5:16-18: “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh; for the desire of the flesh fights against the Spirit, and the desire of the Spirit against the flesh, for these are contrary the one to the other; that ye may not do the things that ye would. But if ye are led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law”.

Romans 12:5

The Privileges of the Children of God SUMMARY OF ROMANS 8: No Condemnation to Those in Christ. Walking After the Spirit. To Be Carnally Minded, Death. To Be Spiritually Minded, Life and Peace. The Spirit of Adoption. Heirs of God. The Sufferings of Saints. The Groanings of the Creation. All Things Working for Good to Saints. The Purpose and Foreordination of God. God’s Protection of His Children. [There is] therefore. The “therefore” points to the argument of chapter 7, which shows that in Christ we are delivered from sin and from the curse of the law. No condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. As those in Christ have died with him, Romans 6:1-4, they have in him satisfied the law, and hence they cannot be under condemnation. He, the sinless One, “was made sin for us”; so we, forgiven through him, are “made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). This blessed condition depends on a vital union with Christ. “Baptized into Christ” (Romans 6:3), we must walk in him, “not after the flesh, but after the Spirit”. Compare John 15:1-7 Ephesians 1:23. Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. See PNT Romans 8:4.

Romans 12:6

For the law of the Spirit of life. The Spirit of life must be the Holy Spirit. The whole phrase is equivalent to the Gospel, which has been given to men by the agency of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit has quickened us into a new life, and as we have died to the law and to sin, we are freed from them. Wesley says that the meaning is the “Gospel has freed us from the Mosaic law”. That the law of the Spirit of life describes the Gospel is shown by Romans 8:3, which explains this verse.

Romans 12:7

What the law could not do. Because of the resistance it met in human nature. It was not strong enough to overcome the tendency of the flesh, the carnal nature, to evil. God did this by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. When Christ came in human form he took the likeness of sinful flesh. And for sin. As a sacrifice for our sins. See John 1:29. Condemned sin in the flesh. To “condemn” is to sentence and to devote to destruction. Sin is condemned, (1) By the spotless life of Christ. In the flesh he was without sin. (2) By his death for sin our past sins are forgiven. (3) By our vital union with his death and life we rise to walk in a new life, with a new spirit, and hence, not under the power of the flesh. See Romans 6:4.

Romans 12:8

That the righteousness of the law. The righteous demand of the law, its substance, is a loving obedience to God. See Lu 10:27. By the Gospel the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts through the Spirit. Hence, we comply with its righteous demands when we walk not according the flesh, but according the Spirit. To walk after the flesh is to obey the dictates of the flesh; to walk after the Spirit is to obey its dictates. It dwells in the believer to help him, but its dictates are found in the “words of the Holy Spirit”.

Romans 12:9

They that are after the flesh. The unconverted. Those still in a state of nature. These are put in contrast with the converted, believers, who are after the Spirit. These classes are easily distinguished. The first obeys the dictates of the flesh; the other obeys the dictates of the Spirit. The things of the Spirit are not revealed to us by internal impulses, but by the words of the Spirit, the Holy Scriptures. The indwelling Spirit helps the new man in Christ to keep these words.

Romans 12:10

To be carnally minded. To be under the dominion of the fleshly impulses of the body. [Is] death. Is sure proof that one is spiritually dead and under condemnation. To be spiritually minded. To be walking in obedience to the Spirit of Christ. [Is] life and peace. Gives life to the soul, maintains a vital union with Christ, and brings peace, or conscious enjoyment of the grace of God.

Romans 12:11

Because the carnal mind [is] enmity to God. Is opposed to God’s law, and demand for a righteous life. Hence, since it fights against God, it is under condemnation. He does not say that it is impossible for a wicked man to become good, but that it cannot be done while he retains a carnal mind. He must be converted first.

Romans 12:12

So then. The result naturally follows that a “carnally-minded man” (Romans 8:6), one “in the flesh” and under its dominion, cannot please God. This is impossible while he continues to mind the things of the flesh.

Romans 12:13

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. It has just been shown that he who is under the sway of his fleshly passions is at war with God, cannot please him, and is spiritually dead. But the Christian is under the influence of the Spirit if the Spirit of God dwells in him. It does dwell in him if he is a new creature, “minding the things of the Spirit” (Romans 8:5). The Spirit of God. Observe that the Spirit is spoken of in this verse both as “the Spirit of God”, and “the Spirit of Christ”. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. The proof that we have this indwelling Spirit is that we “mind the things of the Spirit” (Romans 8:5) and bear its fruit (Galatians 5:22,23).

Romans 12:14

If Christ [be] in you. Christ is in us by his Spirit. Notice that the indwelling of the Spirit of God, having the Spirit of Christ, belonging to Christ, having Christ in us, are all varied expressions of the same great fact. The body [is] dead because of sin. Our bodies have died physically because death came into the world through sin. But the Spirit [is] life. Our spirit is made alive by union with Christ, and partaking of his righteousness.

Romans 12:15

But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead. The Holy Spirit. That Spirit in us is a pledge (see Ephesians 1:13,14) that God will raise us, even as Christ was raised from the tomb. Shall also quicken your mortal bodies. Though the body be doomed to death “because of sin”, it shall be given life for those who have God’s Spirit dwelling in them. Even our mortal bodies shall be raised, not in corruption, but in incorruption (1 Corinthians 15:42-44).

Romans 12:16

Therefore. Seeing that we are to enjoy such glorious privileges in Christ. These are described in this section. We are debtors. Under obligation. Since the flesh, or carnal nature, is death, we are under no obligation to obey its dictates.

Romans 12:17

But if ye through the Spirit. By following the Spirit, “minding the things of the Spirit” (Romans 8:5), we secure life. This is shown in Romans 8:11. The deeds of the body are the sinful deeds suggested by the fleshly desires. We cannot in our own strength “mortify”, i.e., put an end to, “the deeds of the body”. It is accomplished by the aid of the Spirit, helping our spirit in the effort.

Romans 12:18

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God. Those who “through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body” (Romans 8:13) are led by the Spirit. They obey it rather than the flesh. The presence of the Spirit in leading them shows that they are sons of God. How are they led? (1) They have given up their own wills to do God’s will, and seek to obey him in all things. (2) To them the Spirit is given as a helper of their weakness, and by its aid they overcome the flesh (Romans 8:26). They are the sons of God. We become sons of God when we are born again, born of water and the Spirit (John 3:5), and we maintain the sonship by being led by the Spirit.

Romans 12:19

For ye have not received the spirit of bondage. The time is referred to when they were born again, and entered the kingdom of God. They did not receive the spirit of bondage, of slavery to sin, so that they would obey its dictates, and thus be in fear of death. Instead, they received the Holy Spirit according to promise (Acts 2:38). But ye have received the Spirit of adoption. The Spirit God bestows upon those who are accepted as his children. Paul was writing to the Romans, among whom the adoption of children, not their own by nature, was common. They would understand this to mean that those converted, or born again, are adopted as children of God; upon those thus adopted he bestows his Spirit; this Spirit in their hearts produces a loving trust that enables them to address God as Father. Abba, Father. “Abba”, Chaldee for “Father”.

Romans 12:20

The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. The Spirit of God is one witness to the fact. Our spirit is a corroborative witness. How do each bear witness? (1) Witness is usually borne in words, but not always. God’s Spirit bears witness in words. See Hebrews 10:15.

The Holy Spirit shows us how we must become God’s children, and how to continue the Christian life. (2) It bears testimony in our lives by its fruits (Matthew 7:16). Do we bear the fruit of the Spirit? See Galatians 5:22,23. (3) Does our own spirit testify that we “mind the things of the Spirit”? (Romans 8:5). Does our consciousness recognize its fruits, inward as well as outward? If the testimony of our spirit is that what God’s Spirit witnesseth of the sons of God is true of us, then they concur in the testimony that we are the children of God.

Romans 12:21

If children, then heirs. Observe the chain of argument: (1) We are the sons of God (Romans 8:14). (2) This is shown by our having received the Spirit of adoption (Romans 8:15). (3) Both God’s Spirit and our own spirit witness together that we are children of God (Romans 8:16). (4) But children are heirs; hence we are heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. Under the Jewish law the older brother had a double portion, but Christ admits all to a joint share of the great inheritance. If . . . we suffer with [him]. In the figure, we suffer with him when we are “baptized into his death” (Romans 6:3). We are “crucified with him” (Romans 6:6); become “dead to sin” (Romans 6:2); “are buried with him” (Romans 6:4); “are planted together in the likeness of his death” (Romans 6:5). Hence, in these respects we have the “fellowship of his sufferings” (Philippians 3:10). But we must be ready, for his sake, to bear the cross through life (Matthew 16:24 Mr 8:34 10:21 Lu 9:23). If we do all these things, we shall be “glorified together” with him also.