Have you ever heard anyone say "As long as we are on the earth we have to sin"? I wish people would read their Bible, don't you?

No, we owe our sinful nature absolutely nothing that we should obey its lusts and passions.

For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, (Romans 8:13)

When Paul says "you will die," he is not speaking of physical death. He means if you obey your sinful nature instead of the Spirit of God that is in you, the Spirit of God will be separated from you. You will die spiritually. Then, in the Day of Resurrection, your body will be raised from the dead by Divine energy, but not by the eternal Life of God.

Divine energy is the energy that was injected into the creation at the beginning. It is the energy by which the world operates, and I suppose the angels operate.

Divine energy is not eternal life, it is just the energy with which we all are familiar.

Eternal life, on the other hand, is the Life of God. It is infinitely greater than mere energy. It includes energy but also health, joy, peace, love, hope, wonder, pleasure, the Presence of God, and every other desirable virtue and state of being one could imagine.

When we obey the impulses of our sinful nature we lose health, joy, peace, love, hope, wonder, pleasure, the Presence of God, and every other desirable virtue and state of being.

For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, (Romans 8:13)

"But if by the Spirit you put to death."

When Paul informed us, in the sixth chapter of the Book of Romans, that we are to count ourselves as dead, he was advising us how to orient ourselves to our new life in Christ.

Now, in Chapter Eight, Paul is explaining to us how this death to sin works out in practice. As the Holy Spirit points out to us the various aspects of our sinful nature, we are to look to the Lord for help. Then we are to confess these areas of darkness as sin. We are to turn away from them, denouncing them; renouncing them. We are to renounce the specific area of darkness with all the vehemence and resolution we possess.

This is an act of eternal judgment against Satan. It is given to man to judge the workers of darkness, and we do this through the Holy Spirit, beginning with the darkness that is in our own personality.

Because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. (Romans 8:14)

A large part of our Christian experience is to be occupied with following the Spirit of God as He leads us to put to death the actions of our sinful nature. This is the fight of faith.

To be continued.