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resurrection glory, from the crucifixion of the old man to the redemption of the body, the
study becomes a sanctuary and we pause in our investigations to bow the head in silent
praise.
A few remarks upon the bearing of these related members is all that is called for here.
Let us compare the first two corresponding members, A, A (Rom. 6: 6 & 8: 10):--
"Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be
made inoperative, that henceforth we should not be enslaved to sin" (6: 6).
Here what is most stressed is the negative side of the truth: the old man crucified, the
body of sin rendered inoperative, the negation of sin's service. The negative side of truth,
however, is not sufficient. The putting off of the old man must be completed by the
putting on of the new; the powerlessness of the body of sin requires the inflow of a new
energy; the emancipation from sin's slavery must be followed by the opening up of a
spiritual sphere if life is to be operative. So, in the corresponding member, the apostle
continues:--
"So then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 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. But if Christ be in you the body indeed is dead by
reason of sin, but the Spirit is life by reason of righteousness" (8: 8-10).
Here we have not only the negative but the positive side. It is still taught that the body
is dead by reason of sin, but if Christ be in us, if the Spirit of God dwell in us, that Spirit
is life by reason of righteousness, the righteousness of God in Christ, apart from which
we are hopeless and undone.
The same lesson from another angle awaits us in the next pair of references, B, B:--
First the Negative.--"Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should
obey it in the lusts thereof" (6: 12).
Then the Positive.--"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" (8: 11).
In both passages the mortal body is in view. Mortality is not put off at conversion.
The body, still mortal, may be delivered from the reign of sin and obedience to its lusts,
and the body, still mortal, may be quickened by the Spirit of the risen Lord. Whatever
ambiguity some may find in Rom. 8: 11, causing them to hesitate in applying this truth
to the present time, there is no ambiguity in Gal. 2: 20:--
"Christ liveth in me . . . . . the life I now live in the flesh."
The words, "I now live in the flesh", admit of no alternative interpretation. The
doctrine of the quickening of the mortal body has been mishandled by most of the
"healing" cults, but this does not justify us in modifying it in the opposite direction out of
fear or protest. We still need the truth, and need it all.