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Romans 8:13 – Evidence of Faith

Posted on March 29, 2018 by Will

For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Truth to Learn

Your actions indicate whether you are spiritually dead or alive.

Behind the Words

The words “you will” are from the Greek word mellō, which usually means “it is about to happen.” It is normally followed by a verb in the future infinitive form. However, in this verse it is followed by a verb in the present infinitive form. This makes the expression stronger than a future verb. It indicates a necessary consequence. Hence, we could translate this as “you are at the point of death” or “you are going to die.”

“Put to death” is from the verb thanatoō, meaning “to kill,” that is, “to take an active part in causing the death of something.” Paul is telling us that a person who habitually satisfies their sin nature will cause their own death.

The word “deeds” is from the Greek noun praxis, which is from the verb prassō, meaning “to practice,” that is, to perform an action over and over. Therefore, we see that the word “deeds” refers to habitual, repeated actions.

“Body” is from sōma, which refers to our physical body.

Meaning Explained

Let’s look at this one phrase at a time. Paul starts out with, “For if you live according to the flesh.” We have already talked about “according to the flesh,” meaning “satisfying the desires of the sin nature.” The end of this phrase is, “you will die.” It’s not a matter that you may die, but that you definitely will die. This is another indication that Paul is now talking about someone who is not saved. One of the characteristics of an unsaved person is that their actions are dictated by self, not by the Spirit of God, and he or she will suffer eternal death.

The second half of this verse is, “but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” In other words, if we personally take an active part in putting to death the deeds of our body, we will have life. This is a characteristic of a Christian. As born again Christians, we live by the power of the Holy Spirit, and we will actively fight against and put to death the selfish deeds of our sin nature.

Remember back in verse ten Paul said that if Christ is in you, the body is dead but the spirit is alive. He is now saying that one way for you to tell if Christ is in you (if you are truly saved) is that you will not continually be living to satisfy your sin nature because the Holy Spirit is living in you. Through the Holy Spirit we are continually working to kill the fleshly practices that our body (influenced by our sin nature) wants to do. But, those who are not saved are continually letting their body and its fleshly desires have their way. As a result, they are destined to die and be eternally separated from God. That’s precisely what James meant when he wrote:

Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. (James 2:18b)

Application

So where do your actions say you will spend eternity? Do they say that you are destined to die eternally or that you will live eternally in God’s presence as His adopted son or daughter?

In God's service, for His glory,

Romans 8:13 – Evidence of Faith

Posted on June 6, 2010 by Will

Romans 8:13

For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Truth to Learn

Your actions indicate whether you are spiritually dead or alive.

Behind the Words

The word “deeds” is from the Greek noun praxis, which is from the verb prassō, meaning “to practice,” that is, to perform an action over and over. Therefore, we see that praxis refers to habitual, repeated actions.

“Body” is from sōma, which refers to our physical body.

Meaning Explained

Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. (James 2:18b)

Application

So where do your actions say you will spend eternity? Do they say that you are destined to die eternally or that will live eternally in God’s presence as His adopted son or daughter?

In God’s service, for His glory,

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Romans 3:28 – Faith Alone

Posted on November 30, 2009 by admin

Romans 3:28

Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.

Truth to Learn

Righteousness comes by faith and faith alone, not by works.

Behind the Words

“Therefore” is from the Greek word oun, which marks a connection between the current phrase and that which proceeded.

The verb translated “we conclude” is logidzomai, which means “to put together with one’s mind, to count, or to make calculations or reckonings in the mind.” When used with oun, as it is here, it indicates “a proof” or “a conclusion.”

The words “apart from” are translated from chōris, which indicates separation of two things in space or time. Therefore, it could be translated here as “separate from.”

“Deeds,” as we have seen before, is from the Greek word ergon, meaning “a deed, a work, something involving labor.”

There is no definite article before the word “law” in the Greek text. Hence, the word “the” has been added by translators.

Meaning Explained

Paul has just gone through a very complete rationalization of why the Jews were falsely confident in the Law, having stated that whether Jew or Gentile we all have sinned and have come short of God’s glory. He further went on to show that the blood of Christ is represented by the mercy seat in that it “covers” our sins, allowing God to pass them by. And, in doing so, He draws attention to His own righteousness as he credits righteousness to anyone who has faith in the covering blood.

He now states the conclusion of this part of his dissertation. That is, that we are justified by faith separate from works of law. In other words, the works have absolutely no bearing on our justification (our being declared righteous).

The Jewish Christians in Rome had always considered their righteousness to be the result of keeping the requirements of the Law. Because of the teachings of the Law and the Prophets, they waited for their Messiah to come. These converts from Judaism considered themselves Christians because they kept the Law AND believed in their Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. Paul now tells them that keeping the Law has no effect on salvation, further demonstrating that there can be no boasting in salvation because we didn’t do anything to deserve it.

We can only be justified by the principle (law) of faith. In order to satisfy this principle of faith we must humble ourselves before the mighty hand of our sinless God, agree with Him that we are sinners who are undeserving of justification (salvation), and agree with God (confess) that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins.

Our justification does not come about because we perform some work or deed. We are justified in His sight because He reveals His son to us and He draws us to Himself so that we believe. It’s all His work and none of ours.

Application

Paul makes it very clear that we can’t do anything to earn salvation; we can only receive it humbly, as a free gift. Are you still trying to earn “favor” with God? Why? It can’t be done!

In God’s service, for His glory,

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Romans 3:20 – Good Deeds

Posted on November 17, 2009 by admin

Romans 3:20

Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Truth to Learn

No one can do enough good deeds to be saved.

Behind the Words

“Therefore” is translated from the Greek word dioti, which is a compound word made up of dia, meaning “through” or “by” and hoti, which means “that.” Hence, dioti basically means “through that, because of that, or for this reason.”

The word “deeds” is from ergon which means “a product of labor, a work, or a deed.”

The word translated “flesh” is sarx, which literally means “flesh of a living creature.” It is used here to denote all of mankind, both Jew and Gentile.

“Justified” is from dikaioō, which means “to declare someone righteous” or “to make someone righteous.”

The phrase “in His sight” is translated from enōpion. This is another compound word. It is made up of en, indicating a static position (in, on, over, etc.) and ops (a derivation of optomai – to see) which refers to “sight” or “eyes.” So, literally this word means “in His sight,” though it is often translated “before Him” or “in His presence.”

The word translated “knowledge” is the Greek word epignosis, which means more than simply knowing something. It means “to recognize and understand something.”

Meaning Explained

Remember that whenever we see a “wherefore” or a “therefore” we need to see what it’s there for. In the previous verse we learned that the Law was given so that all those who tried to obey the Law would be found guilty before God without excuse. Therefore, that is, in light of this fact, because of this… “by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight.”

What Paul is saying is that justification before God cannot be obtained by obeying any set of rules no matter who made the rules. Why? Because it is through rules (Law) that we recognize sin and sinfulness.

If you recall the account of the temptation of Adam and Eve, up until God gave them the command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they were without sin. If they had eaten of the tree before they were told not to, they would not have been sinning; but due to the fact that they had been commanded not to, it suddenly became sinful to do so.

What Paul is telling us in these verses is that we cannot become righteous by following any set of rules, whether God-made or man-made. How then can one become righteous before God? Is it impossible? Paul is going to begin telling us in the next two verses.

Application

Just because we can’t be declared righteous through doing good deeds doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do them. We ought to do them out of obedience and gratitude. In other words, we can’t be saved by doing good deeds, but once we are saved, we should do them because we want to, not because we have to.

In God’s service, for His glory,

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Romans 2:6 – Judgment of Works

Posted on September 10, 2009 by admin

Romans 2:6

⁵But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, ⁶who “will render to each one according to his deeds”:

Truth to Learn

Everyone’s works will be judged by God.

Behind the Words

The word translated “render” is apodidōmi, which is made up of apo, meaning “from” and didōmi, meaning “to give.” Hence, it means “to give away” or “to hand out.”

Meaning Explained

You will notice that yesterday’s verse is included along with today’s so you will have the context of this verse. By itself it makes little sense, but when tied in with the previous verse it makes a lot of sense. Today’s verse is actually a quotation taken from the Psalms (Psalms 24:12 and Psalms 62:12).

The day of wrath and judgment that is talked about in verse 5 is the judgment of the unrighteous (the unsaved.) This will occur at the Great White Throne Judgment spoken of in Revelation 20:12-15:

And I saw the dead, the small and the great, stand before God. And books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead in it. And death and hell delivered up the dead in them. And each one of them was judged according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death. And if anyone was not found having been written in the Book of Life, he was cast into the Lake of Fire.

The “if” clause in the last verse (Rev 20:15) is expressed as a first class condition in the Greek, implying that it is true. So this could be paraphrased as: And no one was found having been written in the Book of Life, each was cast into the Lake of Fire. This is part of the evidence that believers will not be at this judgment; only the condemned unsaved will be there.

Paul, in Romans 2:6, is expressing what will happen at this judgment as well. Notice in the Revelation passage that the dead are judged according to their works. That’s exactly what Paul is saying in today’s verse: God will render His judgment to each person according to his (or her) works.

Those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as our personal savior and Lord will not appear at the Great White Throne Judgment. Our names are written in the Book of Life, not because of our works, but because of belief in His work (on the Cross). That is not to say that our works won’t be judged. They will be judged at the Bema Seat (the judgment seat of Christ) mentioned in Romans 14:12 and 2Corinthians 5:10, where we will be rewarded for our good works.

Application

Just because you have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior doesn’t mean that you don’t have to be actively doing godly works. We all need to be busy building up the body of Christ, doing the deeds He has called us to do. Get to work for Him!

In God’s service, for His glory,

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