But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Let us notice in this verse 11 and in the previous verses the connection with the mystery of the Holy Trinity. It is written here: “The Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead…” We know from other Scripture verses that the whole Trinity – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit – participates in the resurrection of Christ. Being man, Jesus was raised by God, by the power of God, but from another point of view, being true God, He rose by His own power. Jesus is God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, as we confess in the Creed.

This verse 11 emphasizes that the Spirit of Him – i.e. the Father – raised Jesus from the dead. But it also says that this Spirit, the Spirit of the Father, dwells in us, and He, the Spirit of the Father who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to our mortal bodies. Once again, it emphasizes: “…through His Spirit who dwells in us.” So let us be aware that the Spirit of God who dwells in the Father also dwells in us through the saving faith. And what will this Spirit do? He will give life to our mortal bodies.

„And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin,

but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.“

“And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”

This verse repeats and emphasizes what the essence is of our victory over sin. The preceding verse states a condition: “…if the Spirit of God dwells in you.” And this condition is confirmed at the end of the verse with the words: “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” So if the Spirit of God dwells in us, we belong to Christ because we have His Spirit. The Scripture says: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” And then: “Do you not know that the Spirit of God dwells in you? You are the temple of God, the temple of the Holy Spirit.” In another place, it says: “…that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” Jesus said: “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” So the Spirit of God makes Jesus and the Father present in us. The whole Trinity dwells in us, as Jesus Himself says. And verse 10, which we are going to recite for two weeks, highlights the following: “And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”

“But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.”

Let me ask the essential question: Are these words, saying that I am not in the flesh, really true about me? Does the Spirit of God dwell in me? Is it not the mind and spirit of the world that rules in me? The sign of the Spirit of God really dwelling in me is that I allow Him to work in prayer as well as in decision-making; in other words, I live according to the Spirit. And here is a very important truth related to the previous one: “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” Do I have the Spirit of Christ? The Scripture says: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” And it is the Spirit of God who guides us into the mind of Christ, which is founded on the doing of God’s will. But in order to do God’s will we must seek it first.

How shall we obtain the Spirit of Christ? The Word of God says: “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.” When we strive for spiritual union with the Lord in interior prayer, we receive His Spirit. His Spirit then guides us into divine truths and into union with Him.

„But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit,

if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.

Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.“

“Because the carnal mind is enmity against God;

for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.

So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.
So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

The preceding verse reads, “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”

The Spirit of God through the Apostle Paul once again repeats and categorically emphasizes the basic contradictions: to be carnally minded and to be spiritually minded. We need to be aware that our mind reflects our life. If we live according to the flesh, we set our minds on the things of the flesh. And if we live according to the Spirit, we set our minds on the things of the Spirit.

What does it mean to live according to the flesh? It means to ignore God in our personal life and to occupy our minds with mere material interests, with no respect for God’s commandments, without seeking God’s truth, giving no thought to God’s judgment or eternity.

“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”

Verses 5-6 are a continuation of the preceding verses and explain again that those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh and those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. Next it is said that to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. This concerns both time and eternity. The fruit of the former is death and the fruit of the latter is not only temporal but also eternal life.

We need to realize again that setting our minds on the things of the Spirit and living according to the Spirit is connected with the law of the Spirit. And the law of the Spirit is essentially connected with Jesus, it is in Him. Those who are in Christ are spiritually rather than carnally minded – that means, they do not set their minds on themselves but on Jesus.

“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things

of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit,

the things of the Spirit.

For to be carnally minded is death,

but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”

“…that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us

who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

Verse 4 of the Epistle to the Romans says that the condition for the righteousness of the law to be fulfilled in us is that we should not live according to the flesh, i.e. according to the law of sin which is in us but according to the Spirit of God. This chapter eight often repeats the Greek word “sarkos”, which is translated as ‘flesh’. In this sense, it means the lower physical aspect of the human being. It is exposed to a very strong influence of the law of sin and negative lusts that enslave man. The Greek word “soma” is used for ‘body’, which also includes the mental aspect. On the other hand, the related verses speak about the Spirit, meaning the Holy Spirit. Verse 16 says that deep within us, in our soul, is our human spirit, and it is written: “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” Taking note of the previous three verses, verse 1 emphasizes that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Again, it is emphasized that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death.

“That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us

who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

“For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh,

God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh,

on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh.”

For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh.

This verse of Scripture is a continuation of the preceding one which says that the law of the Spirit has made me (you) free from the law of sin and death. Verse 3 speaks about the law, which means the Law of Moses, i.e. the Law of God, which contains certain ordinances which are good and true, but the law does not give us the strength to wholly obey them. The law, as Scripture says, above all convicts us of sin. That is why God sent His Son to die for us. He took human flesh, in other words came in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin, to overcome sin, this spiritual poison, in His flesh.

“Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows … and by His stripes we are healed. … All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. … He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” (cf. Isa 53:4-12) This was foretold by the prophet Isaiah several centuries before the coming of Jesus – the Saviour.

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”

These Scripture verses from the Epistle to the Romans are a continuation of the preceding verses where the Apostle cries out: “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” In chapter eight we read that those are free who are in Christ Jesus. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus makes us free from the law of sin and death. The process of our deliverance in every new situation is accomplished again and again only in Christ Jesus.

The law of sin is a machine against which we are powerless relying on our human efforts. The law of the Spirit of life works in those who “walk according to the Spirit of God rather than according to the flesh” (Rom 8:1).

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,

who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free

from the law of sin and death.”

O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God (for doing so) through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

At the end of chapter seven, the Apostle cries out: “O wretched man that I am!” He says it in the light of God, aware of the law of sin which is at work in us as well as of human powerlessness when we want to do good by our own efforts. Saying this, the Apostle also asks: “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” And he gives the answer at once: “Thanks be to God (for doing so) through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

“O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” cried the Apostle Paul. There is nothing more musical in the ears of the Lord. This cry is the most spiritual cry a man can utter.