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of bondage on him again and thus he ceases to "please God". "So then they that are in
the flesh cannot please God" (Rom. 8: 8).
"You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the spirit, if the spirit of
God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, he does not belong to
Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive
because of righteousness. And if the spirit of Him Who raised Jesus from the dead is
living in you, He Who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal
bodies through His spirit, Who lives in you" (8: 9-11, N.I.V.).
Again a small `s' could have been used in these verses in the A.V. It may be best to
read it both ways and interpret the statements both of the Holy Spirit and His divine
nature as a gift. It is important to note that the saved, although still having an old nature
called `flesh' are not considered as being "in the flesh" but rather "in the spirit", for the
spirit (God the Spirit and His gift) indwells him.
The thought of indwelling is emphasized in Rom. 7: & 8: Sin indwells in 7: 17,
18, 20--"sin dwelleth in me" and the spirit of God and of Christ in 8: 9, 11. The
believer has two "indwellers", but he has been completely freed from the bondage of the
one in order to come under the control of the other. What does the Apostle mean by "the
body is dead because of sin"? The N.E.B. rendering is helpful here:
"But if Christ is dwelling within you, then although the body is a dead thing because
you sinned, yet the spirit is life itself because you have been justified" (8: 10).
"The body is dead" in the sense that it is subject to death resulting from sin. The
believer now has the spirit of the risen Christ indwelling in him and that is itself a
foretaste of the sure and certain hope that will be realized when in actual resurrection he
will have a body "fashioned like the body of His glory" (Phil. 3: 20, 21) when he will be
clothed with the permanent "house from heaven" (II Cor. 5: 1-4). Then he will
experience the "redemption of the body" of Rom. 8: 23.
No.15.
8: 12 - 27.
pp. 130 - 135
The Apostle concludes his argument concerning the two natures in the child of God by
saying:
"Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation--but it is not to the sinful nature, to live
according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the
Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led
by the Spirit of God are sons of God" (Rom. 8: 12-14, N.I.V.).
"Mortify" or "put to death" is the equivalent of Rom. 6: 11 where the believer is
urged to reckon as "dead" . . . . . and as "alive to God" and Col. 3: 5 is teaching the
same thing. He is not asked to work his crucifixion out in his own strength, but to count