Romans – A Treatise
Chapter Eight
EVIDENCE OF A SPIRIT-FILLED LIFE

Scripture Reading: verses 9-12

BUT YE ARE NOT IN THE FLESH, BUT IN THE SPIRIT, IF SO BE THAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD DWELL IN YOU. NOW IF ANY MAN HAVE NOT THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST 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 DWELLETH IN YOU. THEREFORE, BRETHREN, WE ARE DEBTORS, NOT TO THE FLESH, TO LIVE AFTER THE FLESH.

Going through the Epistle to the Romans, there is a constant reminder that we are listening to a brilliant legal argument. Hence the recurrence of the words “if” and “therefore.” May we suggest this little word “if” does not cast a question on the facts stated, but quite the opposite. In the legal parlance of our courts today the word used is “whereas.” In other words, “if” presents a premise, and then the conclusion is drawn. We must keep this in mind as we travel onward. This forcibly comes to our attention in verse 11:

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 dwelleth in you.1

Paul is not questioning whether or not the Spirit of God dwells in the Christian, but stating fact that our mortal body shall be quickened by that Spirit.

It is necessary to keep this in mind in order to clearly see the line of demarkation between believer and unbeliever in this chapter. For the believer, every moral question has been settled, and Paul, the brilliant lawyer for the defense, now indicates it is a matter of realizing the substantial truths he presents.

So in verse 9 he says:

But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.

This verse should settle once and for all the great question that seems to cause difficulty to some Christians, regarding whether the indwelling of the Spirit of God is true of all believers or not. Paul states unequivocally “if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is not of Him.” In other words, if the Spirit of God does not dwell in our hearts, it is because we do not belong to Christ, and therefore we are unbelievers. The converse is true: if we are true believers, if we have obeyed the Gospel as Peter preached in Acts 2, then we are indwelt by the Spirit of God.

“If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is not of Him.” The moment a person obeys the Gospel as 3,000 did on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), he is indwelt by the Spirit of God. This was not always so, of course, because there was a time before the Lord Jesus was glorified, when the Spirit of God had not yet been sent (see John 7:39).

However, in the second chapter of Acts the Spirit of God came and the days of tarrying were over (see also Acts 1:4, 5). In Acts 2, the Spirit of God took up His abode in the hearts of believers when they repented and were baptized into one body. Then in Acts 10, the Gentiles, who had never yet come under the sound of the fulness of the Gospel, were also incorporated to the realm of the Spirit’s power, and from that day to this everyone who obeys the Gospel of Jesus Christ is indwelt by God’s Spirit.2 So the truth of Romans 8 is that if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is not of Him.

The outstanding truth in Romans 8:9 is that all those who are true believers and obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit; on the premise that the Spirit of God dwells in them.

The conclusion to this is found in the next verse: “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” In other words, as true believers on the Lord Jesus Christ we are indwelt by God’s Spirit, and in the power of the Holy Spirit the Lord Jesus Christ characteristically dwells in our hearts. His dwelling there means a new power is introduced into the human life, and that power provides Christians the ability to keep the body, in the lusts of the flesh, in the place of death. So Paul says: “The body is dead because of sin.”

The Christian is not going to contribute to keeping the man after the flesh alive by continuing in sin. Why? Because his sins have been forgiven and his fleshly identity brought to an end in the death of the Lord Jesus. Then, in the power of the Spirit of God, he is going to abandon sin, to put the lusts of the flesh in the place of death. That is the negative side of the truth. The positive side is: “The Spirit is life because of righteousness.”

The manifestation of the power of the Spirit of God in our lives is not emotionalism; it is not merely the shouting of hallelujahs. The manifestation of that life is righteousness. If we claim to be true believers on the Lord Jesus Christ, indwelt by the Spirit of God, we will make manifestation of the presence of the Spirit of God in our hearts by being righteous people. We will do the things that are right; think right things; give God the rightful place in our lives; and seek to be obedient to His precepts as set forth in His Holy Word. This presents a great challenge to every one of us.

The consideration of this one verse would give a new concept to many Christians regarding the manifestations of the Spirit of God. In these days, many religious people attach emotionalism or the supernatural to the power of the Spirit in their lives. “The Spirit is life because of righteousness.” In other words, the Spirit makes Himself evident in the Christian’s life by making him honest, straight forward, and godly in conduct. Paul puts it in his own unique words:

The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world; looking for that blessed hope. (Titus 2:11-13)

That is the manifestation of the life of the Spirit in our hearts. The manifestation of the Spirit of God in the Christian is not emotionalism; not super spirituality; not speaking in tongues; not a show of holiness. The Pharisees thought they must go about in their long robes with long faces, reciting long prayers in order to show the reality of their religion.

Christianity is not of that order. Long prayers belong in the closet in secret with God; public display for the Christian is honesty, candor, and godly living. Here it is in God’s Holy Word (Galatians 5):

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Footnotes:
1 “But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” This verse categorically defines the person who is “in the flesh.” He is the man, any man, who does not have the Spirit of Christ. The great human delusion is to the effect that there are really three kingdoms, Gods, Satan’s, and OURS. But OURS apart from God is not ours at all, but Satan’s. It’s really that simple. By the very nature of his creation, man is free only to the extent of being able to choose between good and evil, between God and Satan. There are not ten thousand ways, but only two. Jesus called them the narrow way and the broad way (Matt. 7:13, 14). But that glorious right of decision makes all the difference. It is the most priceless endowment of life on earth. Man was created in God’s image; and, although sin has eroded and defaced the sacred likeness, enough divinity remains in every man, regardless of how wicked he is, to enable him to exercise the option of whom he wills to serve. Not even Satan can demur or countermand the soul's high order to re-enthrone the Christ within. In other words, to every man there opens a high way and a low; and every men decides the his soul shall go. The ability to establish an acceptable pattern of behavior in the sight of God is therefore dependent, first of all, upon a person’s decision. Once the right decision has been made by hearing and obeying the Gospel invitation of Christ, God sends his Holy Spirit into the lives of His children, thereby enabling them to live “in the Spirit.” Such a new manner of life frees them from “the mind of the flesh” and embarks them and sustains them upon the right pathway. The importance of God’s Spirit in the hearts of Christians is of the very first magnitude, and a more particular attention to what the Word of the Lord reveals concerning this truth is appropriate. So, let us consider more in depth The Indwelling Spirit. Not merely here (Rom. 8:9), but throughout the New Testament, the fact of the indwelling Spirit of God is emphasized. The first promise of the Gospel is that believers in Christ who repent and are baptized for the remission of sins shall “receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38f), and for this reason he is called “The Holy Spirit of Promise” (Eph. 1:13). To the Corinthians, Paul spoke of “the Holy Spirit which is in you” and declared that “the Spirit of God dwelleth in you” (1 Cor 6:19; 3:16), To the Galatians, likewise, he said, “God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts” (Gal. 4:6); and the Savior Himself said of the Holy Spirit to His disciples that “he dwelleth with you, and he shall be in you” (John 14:17). The degree of impartation of this glorious gift is only a portion but marvelously sufficient. Paul called this partial infusion of the Holy Spirit “the earnest of our inheritance” (Eph. 1:13,14). The token quantity of this gift is ample to supply the child of God with all the help that he needs, but it is not enough to make him independent, either of the community of believers or of the Word of God. The limited nature of this impartation should ever be remembered. The Holy Spirit within Christians is not a full measure of prophetic, healing, and discerning power, such as that enjoyed by the apostles of Christ. No true Christian, by virtue of his possessing the Spirit, should ever consider himself free to discard the sacred Scriptures and “feel” his way to glory; and yet one gets the impression that some feel that way about it. When does one receive the indwelling Spirit? The Scriptures are very plain with reference to this: 1) It occurs “after that ye heard the word of truth” (Eph. 1:13); 2) It comes after people have believed in Christ (Eph. 1:13); 3) the indwelling begins after believers have become sons of God and as a consequence of their being so (Gal. 4:6); and 4) the blessed Spirit is promised as a gift contingent upon and following the believer’s repentance and baptism (Acts 2:38f). In the light of these sacred teachings, how true are the words it is nothing less than being in Christ. Therefore, it may be accepted as absolutely certain that the Holy Spirit never enters a believer for the purpose of making him a son of God – He only enters those who decide to serve God and obey the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The results of the indwelling of the Spirit in the hearts of God’s children are also spelled out in Galatians 5:22, 23, where such results are defined as love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control. Specifically it should be observed that certain things are not said to be the fruit of the Spirit. Such things as miracles, gifts of prophecy, and speaking in tongues are not included. The Holy Spirit is not a spirit of contradicting the Scriptures, nor of noise and confusion, nor of dreams and illusions, nor of strife and sectarianism, nor of pride and envy, nor of unfaithfulness and division. There are many misconceptions regarding the Holy Spirit in Christians’ lives, perhaps more than with regard to any other major teaching of the Bible. Some of these are: 1) that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a commandment of God; on the other hand, it is not a commandment at all but a promise; 2) that the Holy Spirit is promised to all believers; on the contrary, He is promised to all believers who repent and are baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38f); 3) that the Holy Spirit baptism was promised to all Christians; but this promise was to the apostles alone (Luke 24:49:); 4) that the Holy Spirit is imparted to make people sinless; yet Peter sinned after he had received even the baptism of the Holy Spirit; 5) that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a subjective experience within men’s hearts; to the contrary, it was a visible and outward manifestation of God’s power, as exemplified by the two New Testament examples of it at Pentecost and at the house of Cornelius; 6) that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is followed by speaking in tongues; and, while it is true that the apostles did speak in tongues on Pentecost, after the power of the Spirit came upon them, the kind of tongues manifested there was nothing like the incoherent, unintelligible jabberings of the so-called “tongues” affected today; 7) that the Holy Spirit must work directly upon an unbeliever before he can obey God; but this is wrong if any other type of work is expected beyond the preaching of Gods Word, there being absolutely no New Testament example of any conversion in which the convert did not first hear the Word of God preached and then upon believing it, obey it.
2 For more on this subject see God’s Salvation section on contents page of this website
    
Copyright © StudyJesus.com