ROMANS UNWRAPPED 132

"But ye are not in the flesh, but in Spirit if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any have not the Spirit he is none of His. And if Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead, dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead, shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwells in you."  Romans 8v9-11.

Here, then is a summary of all he has said since chapter 6v1, particularly chapter 6v1-14: there he presented the Christian position in terms of a UNION WITH CHRIST, and this involved union in His death, and also in His resurrection. He repeats that here, except with one important addition; he introduces the Holy Spirit as the Divine occupier of our redeemed beings. What he stated positionally in chapter 6, he now states practically in chapter 8. It is not now only that we are "IN CHRIST", but "CHRIST IS IN US" in the person of the Holy Spirit. Notice, please in these verses the threefold union of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, very important: Divine beings all involved in our new lives! We are in Christ, as to our standing before God; Christ is in us, as to our living before men.

How can we live lives pleasing to God in a corrupt world, with a corrupt nature still within us?; only in the power of the indwelling Spirit. Now we must really take this in: as believers in Christ we have a Divine being living within us! Paul says here that if anyone is in Christ, is saved, is justified, the Spirit of God dwells in them, not as a visitor, but as a lodger. This echoes the words of Christ in the upper room ministry "I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another comforter, that He may abide with you, forever; even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it sees Him not, neither knows Him; for He shall dwell with you and shall be in you" John 14v16-17. Take a deep breath folks, you have a Divine resident within. Paul, writing to the Corinthians reminds them "Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in you....." 1 Corinthians 6v19.  He writes to the Ephesians " In Christ you also trusted, after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that you believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit......."  Ephesians 1v13. 

This staggering truth must not be lost on us; who but God could write a script like this? In these verses he maps out the complete programme of the work of the Spirit in a believers life.

• THE COMMMENCEMENT OF THE SPIRIT'S WORK.     verses 9-10; Paul defines the reality of conversion to Christ as the indwelling Spirit. He makes this very clear; if you have the Spirit you are saved; if not, you don't have Christ. This happened to you the moment you trusted Christ, you were indwelt by the Spirit. This benign occupation of your being  was permanent and unconditional. No matter what transpires He will never leave you. You may quench His power within you, you may grieve Him, but because you belong to Christ, He will abide. He entered your being at the point of salvation, and He is the driving force of your life. Your body is dead(mortal), because of sin, but your spirit is life because of righteousness. He is making good to you the truth of your standing before God.
• THE CLIMAX OF THE SPIRIT'S WORK.   verse 11; God's work begins in the spiritual and invisible realm, but it will culminate in the physical and visible. The Spirit who indwells us will orchestrate our bodily resurrection, and our departure from this world. "He will also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwells in you". How do we know this?; because the One who dwells within is the Spirit of Him that raised up Christ from the dead, and since we are vitally and inextricably united to Christ, we shall be bodily raised as He was. What a glorious day that will be for all believers. This is the climax of His work and there is nothing to compare with it this side of eternity. Listen to the wondrous strains of Holy scripture: "We are waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body" Romans 8v23: "On believing you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the earnest of our inheritance UNTIL the redemption of the purchased possession"  Ephesians 1 v13-14. 
• THE COURSE OF THE SPIRIT'S WORK.     verses 12-27: these many and varied aspects we shall consider in detail, but they are summarised as follows:

Mortification of the deeds of the body: leading and guiding us: making good our nearness to God: giving assurance of salvation: assisting us in prayers.