April 21, 2002
Romans 8:9-11
In Romans 8:8 Paul tells us that, “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” He then quickly assures us in verse 9:
However,
you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if (or since) indeed the Spirit of
God dwells in you. But if anyone does
not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
The Christian is no longer in Adam (the flesh). We are now in the realm of the Holy Spirit and placed in Christ. The proof of that fact is that the Holy Spirit dwells in us. He is God’s seal of ownership. This is stated negatively in the latter part of verse 9, “But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.”
In verse 10 Paul talks about the believer’s body.
And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead
because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
Even though, because of sin, our bodies are dying day-by-day (and the older we get, the more evident this becomes), our spirit is alive, eternally, because of Christ’s imputed righteousness.
The Holy Spirit lives in the midst of death. The body is still awaiting its great moment of truth.
But
if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who
raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies
through His Spirit who indwells you (verse 11).
This, then, can be taken in two ways:
1. Ultimately - One day our mortal bodies will receive literal transformation – the resurrection of our bodies.
2. Presently – In the meantime, the Holy Spirit lives in these bodies and His design is to use them to the glory of God. Therefore He makes them serviceable day-by-day by giving life to them.
Beloved, we couldn’t do a single thing by way of bringing glory to God if it were not for the life-giving Spirit living within us. We need His life in order to speak for God, to write for God, to live for God. What a testimony to our need and the Spirit’s ability to fulfill that need!
Let’s rejoice and be glad in this amazing truth. God bless.
Love to you all,