Reflection on Rom 8:9-10
“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. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”
From the very beginning of chapter eight we can observe tension between the flesh and the Spirit. It points out a dividing line between carnal and spiritual man. The root of choosing between the flesh and the Spirit is deep in the human soul. One uses the powers of the soul – reason and will – to choose between the two. People who choose a selfish lifestyle, a life in the flesh, must remember that “he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption” (Gal 6:8). People who receive the Spirit of Christ change their life and are given the light and strength. This involves little self-denials, self-humiliation, walking in the truth and following of Christ every day. The fruit is peace and happiness even in hard situations, for these people have God as their helper.
The life in the flesh is founded on lies and self-deception. It can never fill the soul with true happiness. It is a way of spiritual slavery and dependence which ends in eternal damnation.
In verse six we read: “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” And verse nine continues: “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit…” on one condition: “…if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.” So it is not enough to receive the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God must dwell in us. And if He is to dwell in us, we must create the conditions for Him, that means, we must deny our self-will. In the prayer “Our Father” we repeat every day: “Your will be done.” Vanities and lies lead us away from our main goal – eternal life. Many contemporary theologians rhetorize about God and about Christ, but they do not have the Spirit of Christ. The Scripture says about them: “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” If the Spirit of God dwells in us, Christ is in us. This is a deep truth and mystery incapable of being perceived by the senses. If we penetrate more deeply, God’s Word also expresses the reality that the presence of Christ in us through actual faith paralyzes the negative impact of original sin working both in our body and soul. So the fruit of Christ’s presence in us is:
1) The body and the powers of the soul are paralyzed and cannot sin.
2) Our spirit, the innermost part of our being, lives because of righteousness.
The term “righteousness” means that we have been justified by God through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Through faith we put on the righteousness of Jesus and it is from this righteousness that our spirit draws strength and hence affects the life of both our body and soul.
Download: Reflection on Rom 8:9-10
