The first point we should see upon reading this text is that there are two conditions that a person could be in. That is, he could be first of all, “in the flesh”, or second “In the Spirit.”
First lets explore what it means to be in the flesh. Our text begins in verse 5 and says, “they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh.” Now, in the Greek this sentence has the meaning of being totally dominated by the flesh. Flesh here is the evil nature, our fallen nature, that which we get from Adam. To be totally dominated by that nature means that we are taken by its nature at all times. It is what controls us. Not one moment is given to what God would have us to do or what would bring Him glory. Next in verse 6, we see that the mind is completely controlled by the sinful nature. Thoughts, and attitudes are all coming from this polluted spring called the corrupt nature. What’s worse is we do nothing about it if we are carnally minded and this will lead ultimately to death. Then, we see in verse 7 that the carnal mind is hostile toward God. We may fool ourselves and say, “I have nothing against God” or “I pray” or “I go to church.” But all this is worthless. Because the mind dominated by the sinful nature is hostile toward God. I once met a man who was very intimidating and seemingly hostile toward the Gospel, when we tried to talk to him he said, “I don’t have anything against Jesus!” How foolish! His very words condemn him. The verse goes on to say that the carnal mind is not subject to the law of God. That means that it cannot come under the control of His law. A person may say, “I try to keep the ten commandments” but push come to shove and they will just as well lie as tell the truth to keep out of trouble. Verse 8 sums it up by saying, “They that are in the flesh cannot please God.” No matter what the “good deed” no matter what the act of righteousness, it does nothing to please the infinitely Holy God.
Now let’s see what it means to be, “in the Spirit.” From verse 5 we get the same idea from the Greek that the person in the Spirit has their life completely dominated by the Spirit of God. Does this mean they are perfect? No. But, the Holy Spirit comes to live in the sinner at the moment of conversion and resides in them throughout their life. A person that is saved, in the Spirit, will be conscience all his days of God’s Spirit. If they walk in His ways or not, the Holy Spirit will be there. They may run from Him, but they can’t hide. God will be in their thoughts. God will be in their hearts. God will be in their relationships. The Spirit filled life should be a life of ever increasing awareness of God’s presence and influence. Verse 6 tells us that we should demonstrate a mind of life and peace. I heard John MacArthur say the other day that the Christian life is not about making life easier, but about demonstrating joy and peace no matter what trial may come to us through the knowledge of our God’s wonderful sovereign plan for our lives. Next, because the carnal mind cannot be subject to the law of God, we should have an attitude of always wanting to obey God, being under the control of the Holy Spirit. Though the Christian life is likened to a war of flesh and Spirit, the Christian has the desire, the God given desire, to obey his heavenly father more and more. Lastly, a life “in the Spirit” is a life that desires to imitate Christ. If we take the positive view of verse 9 we would learn that to be in the Spirit would mean that we would have the Spirit of Christ. We have Christ as our example for our lives. Why don’t we follow him? We know Jesus showed compassion, do we? Jesus befriended the lowly, would we? Jesus strengthened the weak, forgave the sinner, fed the poor, and much more. We have a lot to learn from Jesus, we have a lot of Jesus to imitate.
We have been looking closely at verse 9. Now let us come back a little and get a broader view. Upon second glance of this verse we see that Paul here is addressing the Roman believers in a positive way. He says, “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit…” That is a very kind thing to say. That would put them all at ease. Left alone it would not only put them at ease but cause some to perish in their sins! So, he adds, “…if so be the Spirit of God dwell in you.” This is a test. A test to see if they all are in the Spirit, so that none would have to perish in their sins on his account.
This type of test is not new. Our Lord Jesus used it when He spoke to the multitudes. He was facing a very large group of people who had the mistaken idea that they had to be like the Pharisees and be very righteous in order to get into heaven. So, Jesus simply told them this short story found in Matthew 7:22-23. The point is that you need something more than good works, even those done in Jesus name, to get you into heaven. You must have a personal relationship with Jesus. He must KNOW you! If we put it in the likeness of verse 9 of Romans 8 it might read this way, “you are going to Heaven, if so be you KNOW Jesus personally.”
Now Paul gives them two tests. The first is, “if so be the Spirit of God dwell in you.” What is meant by the Spirit of God? Let’s turn to John 16:7-11 and read there what is said about the Spirit of God. By the Comforter Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit, the third person of the trinity. We notice here that He will convict the world first of sin. This is the first work of grace upon the heart of a sinner. Until a person is brought to a place that they see that they have sinned and broken God’s law and are in need of a savior or they will perish, there can be no salvation! The little boy came to his father and said, “Father, I want to be a Christian.” The dad said, “You can’t, Jesus came to save sinners. Now go and play.” This repeated twice more until finally the boy came to his father and said, “Father, I am a sinner, and I want Jesus to save me.” To that the father said, “Now you understand. Let’s pray!” The Holy Spirit will also show the sinner that they do not have any righteousness, that all their good works are filthy rags. Then He will convince them that unless they are saved by coming to Jesus Christ they will be judged and will perish with the Devil. This is also stated earlier in this Gospel in 3:18. The word “believed” means to put your total trust in. Have you put your total trust in Jesus Christ? If you have not believed, then you are condemned.
Let’s go back to our text. The word “dwell” is worth noting. It means, “to be at home.” Once the sinner believes in Jesus, the Holy Spirit of God comes and takes up residence in their life and is “at home” there, that is, free to speak, convict, comfort, help, to do His work whatever is needed for the believer.
Paul goes on to give a second test. He says that they must have the spirit of Christ or they are none of His. The commentators and the Greek sources tell me that there is no distinction between the two wordings here for Spirit of God and spirit of Christ. But I want to draw a distinction and I believe I can without doing an injustice to the text.
Let’s ask first of all, what would be meant by the, “spirit of Christ?” I would say that we would be talking about those characteristics, attitudes, or dispositions of Jesus. So, we could certainly say a lot, and scripture must be our guide, so I have chosen two texts and the first is Philippians 2:5-8. Here we have Christ’s “stoop” to earth. By that I mean His giving up of certain rights or privileges to become a man with the intention of dying to save us. What were some of those rights? We would say one was His right to be worshiped. In Heaven as the second person of the trinity He was worshiped by the angels, the elders, the creatures, by everything there. By coming to earth He gave up that worship except for a few times by a few people, and found Himself dying on a cross for our sins. The second text is in Ephesians 4:30-32. Don’t miss the Holy Spirit of God in verse 30 and that it is for Christ’s sake that we are forgiven (we can’t escape the presence of Jesus) and we are to practice all of what is said in 31-32 because of that forgiveness. So, these negative character flaws in verse 31 are to be put away from us, and these Christlike qualities in 32 are to be in our lives because of what God has done for Christ’s sake for us. These are part of the spirit of Jesus. And we can say with certainty, that if we don’t have these Christlike characteristics, if there is not the longing for growth toward these Christlike qualities, then we are none of His.
The scripture speaks to those of us who have “Christ in us” and leaves us with some encouraging words. Let’s take a look at verse 10. In order to completely understand this verse we need to get some background. So, let’s take a short trip back to chapter 6. First, in 8:10 we read, “The body is dead because of sin…” Now, take a look at chapter 6:6. Amazing! We see clearly that the “body” in 8:10, is the evil nature, or the “old man.” These were crucified and destroyed as stated in 6:6, at the point of conversion. From 8:10 we read that, “The Spirit is life because of righteousness.” Let’s explore what this could mean by reading from chapter 6 again. In 6:8 we read that if we are dead with Christ that we will also live with Him. Please understand this “live with Him” is not talking about in the future, in heaven, after death or rapture. But it is referring to here and now! How else are we to live the Christian life except we live it with Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit? Jesus didn’t leave us here alone to, “try to do our best” or “try to be a better Christian.” But, we have His very presence with us all day long, to call upon, to rely upon, or to fellowship with. How much different would our world be if Christians would really get this idea in reality? Now let’s examine another aspect of this verse, “The Spirit is life because of righteousness.” I believe this means that only the Christian can take any pleasure in obeying the Spirit of God and living a righteous life. Look back at chapter 6:20. There we see that when we were lost we were free from righteousness. That means we had no association with righteousness. It didn’t appeal to us. Then in verse 22 we read that we have been made free from sin and been made servants to God. Now just the opposite is true. Sin should no longer have any appeal to us, and we should desire to please God. Does that mean we are perfect? No. Just that our desires have undergone a complete change. We once only desired sin, now we desire righteousness.
Let’s say for the moment that you are His. But, you have backslid away from Him. If you truly believe in Jesus, you know the voice of God within you, “Come Home my child, Come Home” You can rest assured that He will receive you and not cast you out. So, why do you continue to wander from the Good Shepherd? Come home today! Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” The other point is this, “I know that I am not His. I am not one of His sheep. I’m doomed. I’m helpless. I need salvation!” To you are given the provision of Jesus blood to cleanse you of all sin. Come to Him today. Believe on Him with all your heart, even the dark and secret places of your heart, and you will be received. For Jesus said, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:37 “Behold now is the day of salvation!” 2 Corinthians 6:2
Where are you? Are you in the flesh? Or are you in the Spirit? These are the two states one could be in. But, you can only be in one position. You can’t be in both.
