Many people think that the flesh has its lawful desires and cravings and that we should fulfill them. But the apostle tells us that we do not owe the flesh anything since "we are debtors not to the flesh." Beyond keeping the flesh in a proper condition as a vessel to God, we do not owe it any debt. Of course, the Bible does not forbid us to have some care for the body; when illness occurs, it will require more attention. Clothing, food, and dwelling are all needed. Sometimes, rest is indispensable. But we are saying that we should not allow our life to be solely centered on these things. We must eat when hungry, drink when thirsty, rest when tired, and put on clothing when cold. But we must and should not allow these things to enter deeply into our hearts or become part of the goals of our daily living. We should not crave these things. These things should come according to needs and go according to needs; they should never linger inside us for a long time. It is not right for them to become our cravings. At times the body does have these needs. Yet because of the work of God or because more important needs exist, we should be able to buffet ourselves and not be under the body's subjection. Both the sleepiness of the disciples in the garden of Gethsemane and the endurance of hunger by the Lord Jesus at the well at Sychar express the need to overcome even lawful desires. Otherwise, these desires will lead to failures. We owe no debts to the flesh. Therefore, we should not sin through the lust of the flesh, and we should not reduce the spiritual work because of the weakness of the flesh.

Verse 13 says, "For if you live according to the flesh, you must die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the practices of the body, you will live." Since God has made such provisions, the believers will suffer punishment if they do not receive them and live according to the flesh instead.

"If you live according to the flesh, you must die." Here the word "die" and the word "live" in the following phrase have several meanings. We will only mention one of them: the death of the body. As far as sin is concerned, our body is "dead"; as far as the outcome is concerned, our body is "mortal." If we live according to the flesh, the mortal body will become the body that is "about to die." If we live according to the flesh, on the one hand, we cannot receive the life which the Holy Spirit gives to the body, and on the other hand, the aging of the body will speed up. All sins are harmful to the body. All sins will produce an effect in the body, and this effect is death. We must fight against the death in our body through trusting in the Holy Spirit who gives life to our body. Otherwise, the death in the body will speed up its work.

"If by the Spirit you put to death the practices of the body, you will live." We should not only receive the Holy Spirit to be the life-giver to our body; we should also receive Him as the mortifier of the practices of the body. If we neglect to put to death the practices of the body by the Holy Spirit, we cannot expect the Holy Spirit to give life to our body. We can only live by putting to death the practices of the body through Him. If the body wants to live, the practices of the body must first die. Otherwise, death will be the imminent result. This is the mistake of many people; they think that they can live for themselves, direct their own body, do the things that please themselves, and still receive life from the Holy Spirit for their body to keep their body strong without ailments. How can this be possible? The Holy Spirit gives life and power to man in order that man would live for Him! The life which God gives to our body is for Himself; it is for the purpose of living for Him. If we have not consecrated ourselves fully, we would only live for ourselves more if the Holy Spirit gave us health, strength, and power! Many believers who pursue the Holy Spirit so that life will be given to their body should realize that they cannot receive what they are asking for if they do not pay attention to this point.

Originally, we could not control our body. Now, through the Holy Spirit, we can. He gives us the power to put to death the practices of the body. Every believer has experienced lust within his members, stimulating the body to rise up to fulfill the desire of his lust, and seen how powerless he is to deal with it by himself. But through (or by) the Holy Spirit, he is able to do it. This is a very important point. It is useless for the self to crucify the self. Today many believers understand the truth of co-crucifixion on the cross. But very few really express this life. The truth of co-crucifixion is merely a teaching in the life of many people. They have not seen clearly the place of the Holy Spirit in salvation. They do not know that the Holy Spirit is working together with the cross. If we only have the cross without the Holy Spirit, the cross is absolutely useless. Only the Holy Spirit can "apply" what the cross has accomplished, and only He can cause it to become our experience. If we do not allow this truth to become real in our lives "by the Spirit," after we hear about the truth of the cross, all that we see will be just theories.

It is good to know "that our old man has been crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be annulled." But if we do not "by the Spirit"—by the power of the Holy Spirit and in the Holy Spirit—"put to death the practices of the body," the knowledge of this truth alone will not deliver us from the practices of the body. Many believers clearly understand and accept the truth of the cross, but it has virtually no effect on them. This makes them doubt if the salvation of the cross on the practical side is real. It is not surprising that they think this way, because they have forgotten the Holy Spirit who alone can turn the cross into experience. Only He can make salvation real to us. Yet He is forgotten by men. Unless a believer denies himself entirely and trusts fully in the power of the Holy Spirit—riding on the power of the Holy Spirit—to put to death the practices of the body, the truth he recognizes will only be a theory. Only through the mortifying power of the Holy Spirit can life be given to the body.