<p>8:12&nbsp;<i>So then brothers, we are debtors</i>- Note the positive tone Paul takes towards the Roman believers, speaking here as&nbsp;if &ldquo;we&rdquo;, he and his readership, are all in the same status. Given the wonderful certainty of our salvation, we can&rsquo;t be passive. The Greek translated &ldquo;debtor&rdquo; is usually translated &lsquo;sinner&rsquo; in the sense of having a debt to God. Paul has said that his debt is to preach the Gospel to others 1:14 s.w.. The fact we truly shall be raised to eternal life, have been counted right, as having the spirit of Christ Himself- cannot be merely passively accepted. We have a debt to live appropriately, and one aspect of that debt is to share the great hope with others. And in our personal lives we likewise cannot be passive to this great salvation. We must make some realistic effort to bring our life spirit into conformity with the spirit and works of the Father and Son. We cannot go on living for the flesh, just indulging ourselves.</p><p><i>But not to the flesh, to live after the flesh&nbsp;</i>- This verse is really saying the same as Rom. 6:1- we cannot continue living fleshly lives on the basis that we shall be saved by grace anyway. This is a repeated concern of Paul&rsquo;s- that his bold, positive message that we who are in Christ shall be saved by grace regardless of our works could so easily be misunderstood, leading to passivity and sin rather than the vigorous, joyful practical response which is really the only thing we can do if we really &lsquo;get it&rsquo;. The practical section of Romans uses the same word in saying that Gentile believers have a debt to help their poorer Jewish brethren (Rom. 15:27). Be it in preaching the Gospel or in practical care for others, we are paying back our debt to God through paying to others- as if the debt to Him has been transmuted, and we are to pay Him back through giving to others, both spiritually and practically.</p>