Monday, 8 July 2013
And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. Romans 8:10
“If Christ is in you…” This can mean nothing other than the doctrine of the Trinity. In verse 9, we read that we are not in the flesh but in the Spirit “… if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.” Then came the mentioning of “the Spirit of Christ.” Some, as noted, have tried to diminish the weight and intent of that by stating it implies “disposition” rather than “personhood.”
However, verse 10 clearly states “if Christ is in you.” This is an indwelling, not a disposition. These two verses, combined with verse 11, can mean nothing other than what the plain text shows. The Three are One because it is said elsewhere that God the Father raised Christ from the dead (Galatians 1:1).
Paul shows us that if in fact Christ is in us that our “body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” Our mortal bodies are dead. Disagreement does come over the phrase that our “body is dead because of sin.” But looking back over the previous chapters, it is certain that it is speaking of our life before Christ. We were unregenerate in our nature; fallen in Adam. This body of death is replaced with life.
We have died to Christ and, positionally, we are seated with Him now (Ephesians 2:6). Therefore, we are alive, and eternally so, because of righteousness. This is the imputed righteousness of Christ. He is in us, we are sealed, and therefore we are alive. This is what Jesus spoke of in John 3 and what He also meant in John 11:25, 26 – “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.”
Life application: In Christ, we are dead to sin. Sin no longer has mastery over us. But it can still afflict us if we allow it to. It is incumbent on each of us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling – not in the sense that we must merit salvation through works, but that we must work in the salvation we have been given to the glory of God and not according to the flesh.
Lord, the words of the Bible have meaning and they have importance. If I pick and choose what I wish to accept, then I have really rejected Your word. I can see that it is all or nothing, and so what I need is to know what applies to me according to the context given. This is my desire today Lord – instruct me through Your word so that I will rightly divide it, to Your glory. Amen.