Romans 8:12-13 “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors--not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. (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.”
The apostle Paul is speaking to Christians in the above quoted passage of scripture, for he calls them “brethren”. In this passage Paul plainly states that Christians who continue to live according to the flesh will die. So what does that mean? To live according to the flesh is to live in sin, for the scripture teaches us that the works of the flesh are sinful (Galatians 5:19-21). And so Paul is teaching us in this passage that Christians that practice a lifestyle of sin will eventually die. Paul is not referring to physical death in this passage however, because all believers die physically, even those which by the Spirit put to death the deeds of their bodies. Rather Paul is referring to spiritual death; because the same principle applies, i.e. believers who continue to live a lifestyle of sin will eventually reach the point where they will commit the sin to death.
Hebrews 3:12-13 “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; (13) but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit is speaking to Christians, for He calls us “brethren”. And so in this passage the Holy Spirit tells believers to beware lest any depart from the living God. In other words the Holy Spirit is warning believers to be careful that they do not turn their backs on the Lord Jesus. He goes on in this passage to explain to us how it is possible for some believers to reach the point where they walk away from the Lord, for He says that they allow themselves to become hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Therefore we see a principle revealed in this passage, i.e. that sin has the effect of hardening believers’ hearts. And so as believers continue in sin, over time their hearts become more and more hardened, to the point that they eventually become quite comfortable in committing the sin to death, thus departing from the living God.
Galatians 6:7-8 “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. (8) For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the spirit will of the spirit reap everlasting life.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul is again speaking to Christians, because at the beginning of the chapter He calls them “brethren” (Galatians 6:1). In this passage Paul tells us that God is not mocked, and that if a Christian continues to sow to their flesh i.e. they continue to live in sin, then they will eventually reap corruption. The word translated “corruption” also carries the meaning of “destruction”, which is the more accurate translation of the word in this passage, for the destruction in this passage is referring to spiritual death because it is the opposite of the everlasting life that those who walk in the spirit are promised. Sadly many Christians try to mock God by sowing to their flesh; not realising that the spiritual truth of reaping what you sow will ultimately result in the individual reaping spiritual death i.e. committing the sin to death.
2 Peter 2:18-21 “For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. (19) While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. (20) For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. (21) For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.”
The apostle Peter is referring to two categories of believers in the above quoted passage of scripture. The first category is those who have already fallen away from following the Lord Jesus and are teaching others to do so as well. These are the ones who “speak great swelling words of emptiness”. We will not look at this category in this section, but rather we will concentrate on the second category, which are the believers who have been led astray by those who allure them through the lusts of the flesh. These are the individuals who have actually escaped from those who live in error, for the scripture teaches us that they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and they have known the way of righteousness and the holy commandment which was delivered to them. In other words these are born-again believers. Nevertheless they have once again become entangled in the pollutions of the world. And so these believers become slaves of sin once again, and are overcome by sin until they finally turn their backs on Jesus and commit the sin to death. As we have already mentioned, their end result is far worse than if they had never been born-again. And so we can see from all of the scriptures quoted in this section that it is very clear that Christians who continue down the path of sin become enslaved by sin. And that they are eventually hardened to the point where they commit the sin to death.
Michael E.B. Maher
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