The apostle had learned that in his flesh dwelt no good thing, so that he did not look to

the flesh to accomplish anything that would be acceptable to God. What is said of the

flesh indwelt by sin, is said also of the mind of the flesh. It is enmity against God. It is

not subject to the law of God. It cannot please God. It seems, therefore, that the flesh

indwelt by sin, the members dominated by the law of sin, and the mind of the flesh which

cannot please God, are associated together as closely as the spirit, soul and body of one

We await the redemption of the body, which will take place at the resurrection, when

the sons of God shall be manifested, and we shall enter into the liberty of the glory of the

children of God. This is the adoption. We receive now the "spirit of adoption". We are

led by the spirit of God, and are thus indicated as sons of God here and now. And just as

we look for a literal and physical resurrection in the future, so the indwelling of the spirit

of Him that raised up Christ from the dead, gives us now the "spirit of adoption", and

quickens our mortal bodies. That this refers to "the life I now live in the flesh" the

apostle makes clear in Gal. 2: 20.

It is the blessed privilege of the believer in Eph. 2: 5 to be "quickened together with

Christ". This precedes the thought of being "raised together" and must be considered

separately. This does not, of course, exempt the saint from death--"the body is dead

because of sin". But without this quickening, "life unto God" before resurrection would

be impossible. "Walk in newness of life" follows being "raised up from the dead"

(Rom. 6: 4):--

We would refer the reader back to #36 of this series where the key-word "Spirit" is

dealt with. The sphere of the new life is there seen to be "in spirit", its nature is seen to

be "resurrection", and its expression "sonship".

It is well for us to remember that, just as the law has no more claim upon us, so of

the flesh it can be said: "We are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh"

(Rom. 8: 12).

Let us now look at the two sections of Rom. 8:  A | 1-4  and  B | 5-15.  We

observe that, in the first section, freedom from condemnation is associated with the "law

of the spirit of life"; and in the second section we read: "The spirit is life because of

righteousness." The positional teaching of Rom. 8: 1 and 2 is "In Christ Jesus", while

the positional teaching of the subsequent section is "The spirit of God dwelling in you".

Freedom from the "law of sin and death" permits the indwelling of the spirit of Him

"Who raised up Christ from the dead", to quicken even the mortal bodies of the saints.

The inability of the law because of the flesh (Section A)  is linked up with the

incorrigible character of the mind of the flesh: "It is not subject to the law of God

(Section B). Walk according to the flesh and according to the spirit is seen to be largely

a result of the "mind", the mind of the flesh leading to death, the mind of the spirit

leading to life and peace.