So then, brothers and sisters, we are under obligation (ὀφειλέται, a form of ὀφειλέτης), not to the flesh (σαρκὶ, a form of σάρξ), to live according to the flesh (σάρκα, another form of σάρξ), Paul continued, (for if you live according to the flesh [σάρκα, another form of σάρξ], you will die [ἀποθνῄσκειν, a form of ἀποθνήσκω])…¹  If I consider myself the old man, the sin condemned in the flesh,² I will die along with the flesh.  This truism is equivalent to Jesus’ saying to Martha, The one who believes in me will live even if he dies (ἀποθάνῃ, another form of ἀποθνήσκω),³ or to his disciples, The one who loves his life [i.e., in this world] destroys [or, loses] it.⁴  But no, I didn’t see that for a long time.

I thought Paul was threatening me with eternal damnation if I lived according to the flesh, even though the text said die.  I wasn’t happy about it, especially after everything else he had said, but I couldn’t make any other sense of it at the time.  And yes, it is embarrassing to keep admitting how stubbornly dull-witted I am.

Paul continued, but if by the Spirit you put to death (θανατοῦτε, a form of θανατόω) the deeds (πράξεις, a form of πρᾶξις) of the body you will live.⁵  If I identify with the new man created in the image of God, I will live.  But no, I didn’t see how well this fit with Jesus saying to Martha, and the one who lives and believes in me will never die (ἀποθάνῃ, another form of ἀποθνήσκω).⁶  And I didn’t relate it to Jesus saying to his disciples, and the one who hates his life in this world guards [or, keeps] it for eternal life.⁷

I thought it was best, if I wanted to go to heaven, to keep trying to put the deeds of my body to death by striving to keep the law, or at least by striving to love by keeping the definition of the love that fulfills the law as if it were laws.  The idea that I could put to death the deeds of the body by faith, by believing that my old man was crucified with [Christ] so that the body of sin would no longer dominate [me], so that [I] would no longer be enslaved to sin,⁸ because God achieved what the law could not do…By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh…so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit,⁹ was a slow train coming.

For all who are led (ἄγονται, a form of ἄγω) by the Spirit of God are the sons of God,¹⁰ Paul continued.  Surely I am a byword in heaven.  Over and over I was led back to these verses, and over and over I refused to drink them in.  But let me recount the word ἄγω as used in the Gospels as a contrast to my Do-It-Yourself religion.

And you will be brought (ἀχθήσεσθε, another form of ἄγω) before governors and kings because of me, as a witness to them and the Gentiles,¹¹ Jesus told his disciples.  When¹² they arrest¹³ (ἄγωσιν, another form of ἄγω) you and hand you over for trial, do not worry about what to speak.¹⁴ But say whatever is given you at that time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.¹⁵  Go to the village ahead¹⁶ of you, Jesus said.  Right away you will find a donkey tied there, and a colt with her.  Untie them and bring (ἀγάγετε, another form of ἄγω) them to me.¹⁷  They brought (ἤγαγον, another form of ἄγω) the donkey and the colt and placed their¹⁸ cloaks on¹⁹ them, and he sat on them.²⁰  Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River and was led (ἤγετο, another form of ἄγω) by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he endured temptations from the devil.²¹

So here I have Jesus ἤγετο (another form of ἄγω) by the Holy Spirit, and handed over to the devil: Then²² the devil brought (῎Ηγαγεν, another form of ἄγω) him to Jerusalem, had him²³ stand on the highest point of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the²⁴ Son of God, throw yourself down from here…”²⁵  An angry mob got up, forced [Jesus] out of the town, and brought (ἤγαγον, another form of ἄγω) him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff.²⁶  A mob of duly authorized law enforcement types arrested Jesus, led (ἤγαγον, another form of ἄγω) him away, and brought him²⁷ into the high priest’s house.²⁸   Then the whole group of them rose up and brought²⁹ (ἤγαγον, another form of ἄγω) Jesus before Pilate.³⁰  Two other criminals were also led away (῎Ηγοντο, another form of ἄγω) to be executed with him.³¹

Now I look back at the meaning and usage of ἄγω and ask myself incredulously, “Just exactly what part of being led (ἄγονται, a form of ἄγω) by the Spirit did you think was your doing, Dan?”  But I’m not alone, though I might wish that I were.  I want to take the movie “Courageous” as my point of departure here.

Actually, a big part of me doesn’t want to do that at all.  As an independent filmmaker wannabe I have nothing but admiration for what the Kendrick brothers and Sherwood Baptist Church have done.  I can watch their movies without being embarrassed by the quality of the filmmaking, and each film gets better on that score than the one before.  I didn’t feel anything I’m about to say while watching the film (and I watched “Courageous” again last night).  What I feel is comfort, familiarity and a warm nostalgia for the religion of my childhood, my youth and beyond.  I like stirring music.  I want to be courageous, too.  That’s part of my problem, that I only see a problem in retrospect when I analyze the story in the light of the Gospel and the religious mind.

The storyline of “Courageous,” for those who haven’t seen it, is about a father Adam after his daughter Emily dies in a car crash.  She was his favorite, though he was almost as detached from her as from his son, concerned about his work and his appearance to others.  After her death he is concerned that he should have been a better father.  His wife reminds him that he is still a father.  He talks to his Pastor.  He studies the Bible.  He begins to make a rapprochement with his son.  So far so good.

Then he drafts a resolution, a list of rules derived from his Bible study about fatherhood.  He passes it out to his friends.  Most of them, interestingly enough, are other policemen.  He asks these policemen to hold him accountable to his list of rules.  They want to sign it, too.  Eventually, all the men join in a ceremony, effectively swearing an oath to abide by Adam’s rules.  It is all very moving, and courageous.  But Adam, a churchgoing man, was ashamed of the Gospel for exactly the same reason that Paul was not.

Paul was not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes,³² because the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel from faith to faith, just as it is written, “The righteous by faith will live.”³³  Anyone might become dissatisfied with the righteousness of God that is showing through him and out into the world at any given moment.  It is an excellent time to return to Christ, to be joined to the one who was raised from the dead, like a wife seeking to enlarge her family comes to her husband, to bear fruit to God.³⁴  It is not a time to attempt to have one’s own righteousness derived from the law.³⁵  You who are trying to be declared righteous by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace!³⁶

Instead of rebuking and correcting them privately, Adam’s Pastor praises the men publicly for their resolution and their oath to keep it.  Then Adam is allowed to speak to the entire congregation.  Adam persuades other men to follow him in his defection from Christ.  I feel this defection deeply when I get away from the movie and its rousing music, Adam’s tear-filled eyes, his upraised arm and his hand grasping for something elusive.  But my anger is restrained for two reasons.

First, I find it extremely interesting that the character’s name is Adam.  For all I know there is a “Courageous 2” in the works where Adam (or Shane, but that’s another story) learns to be led by the Spirit rather than by the flesh.  And secondly, I know how much remedial help I’ve needed in the sense that the law was our tutor (παιδαγωγὸς) to bring us to Christ.³⁷  The NET has it, the law had become our guardian until Christ.³⁸  Neither word alone is quite right, governess, nanny, just don’t say it.  I think of Creasy, Denzel Washington’s character in “Man on Fire,” taking Pita, Dakota Fanning’s character, to school, guarding her, protecting her, and preparing her to learn.  He became much more than a bodyguard, but not her teacher.  Jesus is the teacher not the law, or living by laws.

Even those born only of the flesh of Adam bind themselves to laws, rules and ethical principles to keep from becoming complete sociopaths.  It doesn’t take a prophet to see that if the Kendrick brothers’ resolution fails to bring those born of the flesh and of the Spirit to Christ, Shariah is waiting in the wings.  But it must be equally clear that the Kendrick brothers’ resolution derived from the Bible is no more the Gospel than Shariah law is.  Both are of the old way, the old written code, and neither is the new life of the Spirit.³⁹

addendum: September 2, 2024
According to a note (38) in the NET, Paul quoted from Habakkuk 2:4 in Romans 1:17. A table comparing the Greek of Paul’s quotation with that of the Septuagint follows

Tables comparing Mark 13:11; Matthew 21:2; 21:7; Luke 4:9; 22:54 and 23:1 in the KJV and NET follow.