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"If ye live after the flesh ye shall die . . . . . if . . . . . mortify the deeds of the body ye
shall live" (8: 13).
"Neither death, nor life" (8: 38).
The importance of this fact, and its bearing upon the doctrine of Romans, we shall see
more clearly later, but this column of references itself is a standing witness.
Dr. E. W. Bullinger, in his lexicon and Concordance, says of these words:--
"Zao, to live (akin to ao, aemi, to breathe) to have zoe (life). Not `to be happy', but to
have life in all or any of its manifestations, from the life of God down to the lowest
vegetable. Not `to exist' for a thing can exist without living. To live, is to have that
peculiar property communicated by God to some parts only of His creation. He
originates and sustains all life by giving it out of Himself. `In Him we live, and move,
and have our being'."
Cremer says: "Zoe is only the antecedent condition or basis of bios." Bios being the
manner of life a man leads, and of course necessitating the presence of life within before
it can express itself. The difference between the two words is seen in zoology and
biography. We might write the zoology of any creature, but we can write the biography
of man only. Cremer further says of zoe that it is "life, the kind of existence possessed by
individual being, to be expanded as self-governing existence, which God is, and man has
or is said to have, and which, on its part, is supreme over all the rest of creation.
We have now reviewed the occurrences, general teaching, arrangement and meanings
of six key-words, "body", "members", "mind", "spirit", "flesh" and "life". There
are other important words, but with these six more or less defined, we may hope to see
the truth of these vital chapters, under God's blessing, with some degree of clearness.
We will therefore resume our exposition in another article, and trust that the time spent
upon this analysis will be more than justified, as the blessed truths of our new position in
Christ shine before us in the sacred page.