In this verse, God tells us that the believers' bodies are privileged to receive life through the Holy Spirit that is dwelling within us. This does not mean that "the body of sin" becomes a holy body, that "the body of our humiliation" becomes a glorious body, or that the "mortal body" becomes an immortal body. These are impossible in our present life; these things will happen only when the Lord takes us up and our bodies are redeemed. The nature of our body can never be changed during the present life. For the Holy Spirit to give life to our body means: (1) if our body has illness, He can cause it to be recovered, and (2) if our body does not have illness, He will preserve us from encountering any illness. In short, the Holy Spirit wants to make our body strong, so that it can meet all the requirements of God's work and living, and so that neither our life nor the kingdom of God will suffer any damage because of the body.

This is what God has prepared for all of His children. But how many believers really have the experience of the Spirit of the Lord giving life to their mortal body every day? Are not many still influenced by their physical constitution, thus endangering their spiritual life? Do not many often fail because of the weakness of their body? Are they still unable to participate in vigorous work for God because of the bondage of illness? The experiences of the believers today cannot yet match the provisions of God. There are many reasons for this. Some are ignorant of the provisions which God has put in the Holy Spirit. Some consider that this is impossible because of unbelief. Some think that this has little to do with them because they do not want it. Some know it, believe in it, and want it, but do not present their bodies as a living sacrifice. They simply hope that God, through the Holy Spirit, will give them strength so that they can live for themselves. Therefore, they also cannot experience it. If believers are really willing to live for God, and if they will claim these promises and provisions by faith, they will see that it is truly a fact that God will fill up the body with life. (We will have more to say about this later.)

Verse 12 says, "So then, brothers, we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh." This verse thoroughly speaks about the proper relationship between the believer and the body. Countless numbers of believers today have fully become the slaves of the body, and countless numbers of them have their spiritual life completely confined in their body! They are like two different people; when they turn within to themselves, they feel that they are very spiritual, very close to God, and very high in their spiritual life, but when they live in the outward flesh, they feel that they are fallen, fleshly, and separated from God. They obey their bodies. Their bodies seem to be a heavy burden. Once there is a little ailment, they change the way they live. Once there is a little weakness, disease, or pain, they are at a loss; they begin to love and pity themselves and lose all the peace in their heart. In this circumstance, it is impossible for them to have a spiritual life.

The apostle's words "so then" connect this verse with the preceding text. Verse 10 speaks of the body being dead, and verse 11 speaks of the Holy Spirit giving life to the body. Based on these two conditions, the apostle continued, "So then, brothers, we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh." (1) Since the body is dead because of sin, we must not live according to it; otherwise, we will sin. (2) Since the Holy Spirit has given life to our mortal bodies, we do not need to live according to the flesh, because our flesh has no authority to bind our spiritual life anymore. Based on these provisions of the Holy Spirit, our inner life can now give orders directly to the outer body without any hindrance. Formerly, we were debtors to the flesh. We had no way to stop its desires, cravings, and lusts. So we obeyed it and committed many sins. However, since the Holy Spirit has made these provisions for us, the lust of the flesh cannot force us to do anything, and even the weakness, disease, and pain of the flesh can no longer control us.