Romans 8:9
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.
Truth to Learn
If you are saved, you are sealed and your life should show it.
Behind the Words
“Dwells” is from oikeō, which means “to reside in a house.”
Meaning Explained
In verse eight Paul summarized the preceding three verses by stating, “those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” We mentioned in that verse that the expression, “those who are in the flesh,” refers to unregenerate people, that is, those who are unsaved; they are not Christians. Part of the reason for this conclusion is what Paul says in the current verse.
“But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit.” This is a contrasting statement to the previous one indicating that those who are in the flesh cannot also be in the spirit. You are either one or the other. But how do we know who is in the flesh and who is in the spirit? Paul explains this in the next phrase. He says, “But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.” Paul explains this in Ephesians 1:13,14 where he says,
in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
Those who are saved are sealed with the Holy Spirit and He is our guarantee. This guarantee is a token given as a promise that a transaction will be completed. If for some reason the transaction is not completed, the guarantee is retained by the recipient. Hence, if God were not to grant us our inheritance at the end of the age as He promised, then He would have to leave the Holy Spirit (our guarantee) with us, thus causing light to be united with darkness, which He tells us in 2 Corinthians 6:14 cannot happen. Hence, once we are saved and have the Holy Spirit, we cannot lose that salvation! It is guaranteed!
What Paul tells us in today’s verse is that the one who has the Holy Spirit dwelling in him (or her) is not in the flesh; he (or she) is in the Spirit. Now, just to make sure he is understood, Paul then says, “Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” In other words, if you don’t have the guarantee, you are not saved and do not belong to Christ.
Those who aren’t saved don’t have the Spirit of God and, therefore, are in the flesh. They are controlled by their sinful fleshly desires. However, those who are saved have the Holy Spirit living in them and should not be controlled by the flesh. Notice I said “should not.” As we have said before, Christians have a free will to obey God or not. Sometimes we let our flesh control us, causing us to sin. We have a choice: to be controlled by our flesh or to be submitted to God. The unsaved can’t make this choice. They do not have a free will; they are bound by the law of sin to obey their sinful desires because they are “in the flesh.”
Challenge
So, I ask you again, are you in the flesh or are you in the Spirit? What would the people who know you best say? Would they say that there is clear evidence that you are “in the Spirit?”
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2010 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
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