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.
Parallel translations
- WEB For if you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
- KJV For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
- NKJV 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.
- NASB for if you are living in accord with the flesh, you are going to die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
- NLT For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Living by the flesh leads to death, but by the Spirit putting sin to death leads to life. Genuine faith actively wars against sin by the Spirit's power.
Overview
Paul presents two paths with eternal outcomes: life according to the flesh ends in death, while Spirit-empowered mortification of sin leads to life. The 'putting to death' is the believer's ongoing, active work, yet it is accomplished 'by the Spirit.' This holds together human responsibility and divine enablement in the pursuit of holiness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Gal 6:8The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
- 1 Pet 2:11Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.
- Col 3:5–8Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
- 1 Cor 9:27No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
- Titus 2:12It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
- Gal 5:24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
- Eph 4:22to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
- Rom 8:4–6so that the righteous standard of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
- 1 Pet 1:22Since you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth so that you have a genuine love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart.
- Rom 7:5For when we lived according to the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, bearing fruit for death.
- Gal 5:19–21The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;
- Jas 1:14–15But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.
- Eph 5:18Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
- Rom 6:21What fruit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The outcome of those things is death.
- Eph 5:3–5But among you, as is proper among the saints, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed.
- Rom 8:1–2Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
- Rom 6:23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- Eph 4:30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 8:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.