LIFE IN THE SPIRIT OR DEATH TO SERVICE FOR THE LORD
Part 5
Rom. 8:10-13
Morning Meditation 1/17/15
Verse10-13 says, “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. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.”
THE SPIRIT IS LIFE AS TO IT’S BEING AND SOURCE
I believe this passage of Scripture is talking about life under the Lordship of the Holy Spirit or the only other alternative, i.e., the manifestation of the flesh which is called death. Can a believer manifest death? Can he who is alive in Christ die? Those questions are answered by Paul in this passage of Scripture.
The word “And” translates “de” and means “moreover.” It is a link to verse nine where we learned that the believer is no longer “in the flesh” but “in the Spirit.” And Paul explains the way to tell with the words, “if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.” This is not a condition to salvation but the manifestation of it. And this is the key to understanding this whole passage. There is a difference in having life in Christ and manifesting that life. So Paul continues with the words, “. . . if Christ be in you . . .” “If” is a first class condition and it is assumed to be true. In other word’s Paul is not questioning whether they are true believers. He is saying, “You are believers, and SINCE this is true, Christ is in you.”
The words, “The body is dead because of sin . . .” states the result of Adam’s nature being passed to us (Rom. 5:12). Jamieson, Fausset and Brown say in their commentary on this verse, “the Apostle does not mean to say that the body is dead as a consequence of Christ’s being in us . . .” He is saying that the Holy Spirit lives with us in a dead body. The body is not what was made alive when the Holy Spirit regenerated us. The body is dead because of sin. It is not dead because of sins being committed in the present tense of our lives. It is dead because of inborn sin in the very nature of the body (called flesh;Rom. 7:18). Paul said in chapter seven verse twenty four, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” His answer in verse twenty five is being explained in chapter eight. Even though we are alive in the Spirit our bodies remain in the same condition as before salvation. Believers get sick and die. Our bodies come under the same law of nature as does the lost persons. If we feed it too much, we’ll get fat. If we feed it too little, we’ll die. When Paul says, “the body is dead” he is obviously not talking about funeral-home-dead. He is saying that the body is not at the present time given eternal life. The spirit is raised from spiritual death and partakes now in the eternal life of God. And God has given the Holy Spirit to assure us that it has already taken place (2 Cor. 1:22). The body will not be brought to life until the rapture and/or resurrection (1 Thess. 4:13-18). Until then we must live with “the body of this death.”
Then he encourages us with the words, “ . . . but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” He is saying that the Spirit is the source of life. Eternal life did not originate in the body or flesh. That is the sphere of death. There is nothing we can do to make the dead dying body alive in relationship to God. If life is to be had, it must come from Someone outside ourselves. Paul is saying it does and he identifies the Source as the Holy Spirit. The words “because of righteousness”is a reference to the imputed righteousness of Christ. Paul covered God’s way of righteousness for the believer in chapter four and verse five: “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” It is life because of the righteousness of Christ. He is certainly not teaching that we have eternal life because of the way we are living. Every Christian comes short of the quality of righteousness that it would take for him to be justified in the sight of a holy God because of the way he lives.
THE SPIRIT IS POWER
The Holy Spirit is power in the believer to make the body a place where Christ can be manifested. Paul says, “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.” This “if”is a condition assumed to be true. It could be translated, “Moreover since the Spirit of him . . .” Then he uses the resurrection of Christ to illustrate the awesome power of God. Death is not a problem with God. All He has to do is speak the Word. Jesus stood at the grave of Lazarus and shouted, “Lazarus come forth!” And he came floating out of that grave bound hand and foot in graveclothes. Hallelujah. Someone hold my mules! Death working in the body does not keep one from being alive in the Spirit. The words, “shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit” is referring to the future resurrection of the body. The words “shall quicken” is a future active indicative verb. This is the future we have to look forward to as believers. Even though the body is dead because of sin, it has a future because, He who raised Jesus from the dead will at the time of the resurrection, raise our bodies. And He will do it through the same Holy Spirit who indwells our bodies at the present time. So the power of the resurrection lives in us NOW. That is a comfort to a believer living in a dying body!
Then Paul states a conclusion based on what he has just said. “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.” Paul says, “We do not owe the flesh anything. Our debt to the flesh is canceled by our salvation.”
Then he says, “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die . . .” The words “Ye live” is a present tense verb and means “if you keep on living,” referring to an on going process. Again, he is not speaking to unsaved people. He calls them “brethren” in verse twelve. The words “after the flesh” is speaking about a possibility for the Christian. He did not say, “if ye live IN the flesh,” that would be speaking of an unsaved person. Paul is teaching here that it is possible for us to be IN the Spirit and walk AFTER the flesh. Notice the word “after” is found eight times in verses 1, 4, 5, 12, 13. The number eight speaks of the New Birth, i.e., the only way to deal with the flesh! Do you think that is coincidental? The eight times it is found, it is in five verses, i.e., the number of grace and the only way to get the New Birth.. That is not coincidental either! When I think of the marvelous inspiration of the Scriptures, I want to have an old-fashioned camp meeting spell!
The words “ye shall die” is the translation of “mello” meaning “to be at the point of doing something.” It is a present active indicative verb which means “If you keep on walking after the flesh you are about to die.” The Christian who practices (present tense, i.e., continually does it) walking after the flesh is about to cease to manifest the life of Christ and manifest the life of the flesh which is the manifestation of death in this life. Every time the believer sins it is the manifestation of death. If he walks after the flesh, he will be constantly manifesting death. It is so easy to judge a Christian who is walking after the flesh as being unsaved. The fact is, the Christian has all the potential for the manifestation of the flesh as the unsaved. He can’t do it without being chastened by the Lord (Heb. 12:6-7), and sometime chastening ends in the premature death of the Christian, that me might not be condemned with the world (1 Cor. 11:32).
THE HOLY SPIRIT ACTS WITH THE BELIEVER TO MORTIFY THE FLESH
Then our text says, “. . . but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” The word “but” means “moreover or on the other hand.” The words “ye through the Spirit”tell us where the possibility of the mortification of the deeds of the body is. It is in the Spirit’s power. It is not as though we used the Holy Spirit to accomplish this.. It is the Holy Spirit acting WITH us. We are laborers together with Him. He is here to enable us in a walk of faith that must overcome and be set free from the bondage of the flesh. The flesh cannot overcome the flesh. The new nature in the believer does not have the power to overcome the flesh. The deeds of the body are mortified by us in cooperation with the Holy Spirit so that the new life in Christ is manifested in the body. The words “shall live” is a future middle indicative verb. The future tense here is not speaking of the future resurrection of the body. It is future from the standpoint of the mortification of the deeds of the body. The manifestation of the new life is always future with relation to the mortification of the deeds of the body. Life and death cannot be manifested in the same act. I fear that many Christians are living a living death. The deeds of the body are not being put to death in cooperation with the filling of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, they continue to manifest the life of the flesh which is called DEATH in this passage. It is possible for a person to be alive in the Spirit and walk after the flesh. Paul gives us the answer to the flesh in the present tense of our lives in Galatians 5:16: “This is say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”
May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.
In Christ
Bro. White
