Supernatural Adoption Series

So the Spirit gives us life today even though our bodies are decaying. What is the second aspect of life that the Spirit gives us?

The Spirit will give life to your body as he raised Christ from the dead

The life-giving power of the Spirit is not restricted by the mortality of the body. One day the Spirit will transform that mortality into the immortality of eternal life in a resurrected body like Jesus’. Notice that verse ten is referring to life now and verse eleven looks to what the Spirit will do in the future. Here is the central Christian doctrine of resurrection. The Bible does not teach that we will be ghosts one day. We will not float around as disembodied spirits. There is no such thing as reincarnation. Resurrection means the transformation of our current bodies. Jesus’ resurrection is the model. One day God will raise our mortal bodies from the grave and change them into new glorious bodies, free from all effects of sin, free from all frailty, disease, pain, decay and death. The Spirit gives us that assurance as we struggle today with bodies that break down, especially as we age. We are confident because we know that resurrection is ahead. We will have new glorious bodies by the Spirit who will raise us as he did Christ. [Careful readers of the study guide will notice that this interpretation differs from the also valid view in the study guide. At Christ Fellowship, we give each other the freedom to differ in our interpretation of details. In your Life Groups, give each other the freedom to grow in your understanding of the Bible; give grace to see certain things differently.]

In verses twelve and thirteen, Paul draws a conclusion from the truth he has shared in the first eleven verses. Notice verse twelve starts with the connecting word “therefore.” From what truths is he drawing an implication? The truth that we are not condemned. The truth that we are free from sin and death. The truth that we have life in the Spirit. The truth that the Spirit and Christ are in us. The truth that we will be raised from the dead by the Spirit. In light of these amazing realities, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation.

Therefore you have an obligation

Obligation means debt. These amazing truths of what God has done for us carry an implication, an obligation. We have no obligation to the flesh, zero. We do not owe our flesh anything. Paul makes two complementary statements; one is what we do not do and the other is what we are to do.

Not to live according to the flesh, or you will die

Remember, flesh is not just our physical bodies, our appetites such as eating, drinking and sex, but all of us in our rebellion against God. While we are not “in the flesh,” we do live in this fallen world and are influenced by it. We carry a propensity to sin and have engrained sinful habits. We still live in a body of death. New Testament scholar Douglas Moo uses this illustration: “Like freed slaves who might, out of habit, obey their old masters even after being released – “legally” and “positionally” – from them, so we Christians can still listen to and heed the voice of that old master of ours, the flesh”. (Moo, Douglas. The New International Commentary on the New Testament: The Epistle to the Romans. Grand Rapids. William B. Eerdmans, 1996, (Pp 494))We are free to please God, but are pulled back into our old ways of living.