"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. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 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." Romans 8:9-11
It’s important to notice that there are two Spirits here, the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ. Now God and Jesus are One and their Spirits are One, but there are two different manifestations mentioned here, the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Christ. According to God, if we have His Holy Spirit dwelling within us, we are no longer in the flesh. The Spirit of God has that power for us! Now in the flesh there is sin, there is sickness, there is fear, there is hate, and every sort of evil. But in the Spirit there is life and life abundantly. In the Spirit there is peace, power, and soundness of mind! In the Spirit there is righteousness and in the Spirit there is life eternal, even for our mortal flesh!
I know it sounds weird, especially since we are sitting here in the world, all of us with flesh, saying that if we are filled with the Holy Spirit, then we are no longer in the flesh. But don’t allow that to throw you, it’s really not a difficult Truth to accept, because here is what is being said. When we were unsaved, we only had our flesh to trust in. We trusted in our own abilities and in our own efforts. We were in the world apart from God and we could only rely on ourselves. But we are now one with God through Jesus Christ and we are now in God through His Spirit. And while we may still be in the world, we are every bit as much in God here on this earth, as we will be one with God when we are in Heaven! God is God! There is not the God of the earth and then the God of Heaven; He is the God of Heaven and of earth! “God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of Heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands.” Acts 17:24 And we are in Him now, we may have flesh, but our flesh is not what we depend upon. We are now new creatures in Christ, old things are passed away and behold all things are new for us. We are now members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones! We have now been perfected in our union with God through the perfection of our Savior Jesus! We now have the mind of Christ. We are now filled with His Spirit, and we now have a new heart and a new mind given to us by God Himself. Our mortal bodies have been renewed and made alive together with Jesus, and we are now united with the Eternal God through the power of the Blood of Christ!
Our old flesh, our mortal flesh, the flesh that was apart from God, has been quickened together with God. Our flesh has been made alive together with God through the power of His Holy Spirit that now dwells within us. Just as Jesus was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit, we too have been empowered by Him. Our mortal flesh has been made alive with God by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ flesh was dead after the Cross. The Romans had beaten Jesus, they tortured Him, and then after brutalizing Him, they killed Him. Jesus’ flesh was so brutalized that Isaiah prophesied that He wouldn’t even be recognized as a man, and yet the power of the Holy Spirit raised that destroyed dead body up. The Holy Spirit made Jesus alive again. The flesh of Jesus that was dead, His carnal flesh, was made alive by the power of the Holy Spirit, just as the Holy Spirit has made our mortal flesh alive. “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace are ye saved,) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus:” Ephesians 2:5-6 Our flesh that was dead, our flesh that was separated from God, has now been made alive together with God, and we now sit together in Heavenly places with Christ. We have been raised up together with Him! We no longer are dependent upon our on efforts, or our own abilities. We are now dependent upon God’s abilities and efforts! “I am the Vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in Me and I in him, the same bringeth froth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.” John 15:5 And the only way that we may have the Holy Spirit, and this freedom from our flesh, is if we first have Christ’s Spirit; we must accept Jesus first, and only after we have, can we have the Holy Spirit!
“For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Romans 8:6 The carnal mind cannot begin to understand or accept this Truth: that even though we have flesh, we are not in the flesh. But the spiritual mind, the new mind that God has given us, the mind of Christ, easily accepts and understands the freedom that God has provided for us! Jesus has given us peace that passes all understanding. “And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7 The peace of Jesus will keep our hearts and our minds in all of His Truths, and the peace of Jesus will keep our hearts and minds even if that Truth passes understanding!
If we were still in the flesh, we would have a chance to loose God, and that isn’t peace. But God has given us Himself. He has given us the exact same Spirit that He gave Jesus, and just as Christ has died to sin once, so have we. “For in that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:10-11 And just as Jesus has been made alive together with God, so have we! “Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:4 This is the spiritual mind that pleases God, a mind that looks to Him for everything, a mind that is kept by Christ, and a mind that hears the Truth and is set free by it! God knows fully the heart that will please Him, that is why He has given us a new heart that is able to accept and believe! “A new heart will I give unto you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them.” Ezekiel 36:26-27
The Truth of Romans 8:9-11 is this, our flesh no longer hinders us from being perfectly united with God! The Spirit of God is extremely far more powerful within us than the weakness of our flesh. The grace of God easily overcomes the carnal shortcomings of man! Everything that God did for Jesus to insure His success; He has done for us! We are born from the same Incorruptible Seed as Jesus. We have the same Father as Jesus and we are filled with the same Spirit that Jesus was filled with. Truly greater is He that is within us than he that is in the world! The glory and the power are God’s and through Him and through His grace that is at work within us we are able to escape the corruption that is in this world through the flesh!
It’s important to notice that there are two Spirits here, the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ. Now God and Jesus are One and their Spirits are One, but there are two different manifestations mentioned here, the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Christ. According to God, if we have His Holy Spirit dwelling within us, we are no longer in the flesh. The Spirit of God has that power for us! Now in the flesh there is sin, there is sickness, there is fear, there is hate, and every sort of evil. But in the Spirit there is life and life abundantly. In the Spirit there is peace, power, and soundness of mind! In the Spirit there is righteousness and in the Spirit there is life eternal, even for our mortal flesh!
I know it sounds weird, especially since we are sitting here in the world, all of us with flesh, saying that if we are filled with the Holy Spirit, then we are no longer in the flesh. But don’t allow that to throw you, it’s really not a difficult Truth to accept, because here is what is being said. When we were unsaved, we only had our flesh to trust in. We trusted in our own abilities and in our own efforts. We were in the world apart from God and we could only rely on ourselves. But we are now one with God through Jesus Christ and we are now in God through His Spirit. And while we may still be in the world, we are every bit as much in God here on this earth, as we will be one with God when we are in Heaven! God is God! There is not the God of the earth and then the God of Heaven; He is the God of Heaven and of earth! “God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of Heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands.” Acts 17:24 And we are in Him now, we may have flesh, but our flesh is not what we depend upon. We are now new creatures in Christ, old things are passed away and behold all things are new for us. We are now members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones! We have now been perfected in our union with God through the perfection of our Savior Jesus! We now have the mind of Christ. We are now filled with His Spirit, and we now have a new heart and a new mind given to us by God Himself. Our mortal bodies have been renewed and made alive together with Jesus, and we are now united with the Eternal God through the power of the Blood of Christ!
Our old flesh, our mortal flesh, the flesh that was apart from God, has been quickened together with God. Our flesh has been made alive together with God through the power of His Holy Spirit that now dwells within us. Just as Jesus was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit, we too have been empowered by Him. Our mortal flesh has been made alive with God by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ flesh was dead after the Cross. The Romans had beaten Jesus, they tortured Him, and then after brutalizing Him, they killed Him. Jesus’ flesh was so brutalized that Isaiah prophesied that He wouldn’t even be recognized as a man, and yet the power of the Holy Spirit raised that destroyed dead body up. The Holy Spirit made Jesus alive again. The flesh of Jesus that was dead, His carnal flesh, was made alive by the power of the Holy Spirit, just as the Holy Spirit has made our mortal flesh alive. “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace are ye saved,) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus:” Ephesians 2:5-6 Our flesh that was dead, our flesh that was separated from God, has now been made alive together with God, and we now sit together in Heavenly places with Christ. We have been raised up together with Him! We no longer are dependent upon our on efforts, or our own abilities. We are now dependent upon God’s abilities and efforts! “I am the Vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in Me and I in him, the same bringeth froth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.” John 15:5 And the only way that we may have the Holy Spirit, and this freedom from our flesh, is if we first have Christ’s Spirit; we must accept Jesus first, and only after we have, can we have the Holy Spirit!
“For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Romans 8:6 The carnal mind cannot begin to understand or accept this Truth: that even though we have flesh, we are not in the flesh. But the spiritual mind, the new mind that God has given us, the mind of Christ, easily accepts and understands the freedom that God has provided for us! Jesus has given us peace that passes all understanding. “And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7 The peace of Jesus will keep our hearts and our minds in all of His Truths, and the peace of Jesus will keep our hearts and minds even if that Truth passes understanding!
If we were still in the flesh, we would have a chance to loose God, and that isn’t peace. But God has given us Himself. He has given us the exact same Spirit that He gave Jesus, and just as Christ has died to sin once, so have we. “For in that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:10-11 And just as Jesus has been made alive together with God, so have we! “Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:4 This is the spiritual mind that pleases God, a mind that looks to Him for everything, a mind that is kept by Christ, and a mind that hears the Truth and is set free by it! God knows fully the heart that will please Him, that is why He has given us a new heart that is able to accept and believe! “A new heart will I give unto you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them.” Ezekiel 36:26-27
The Truth of Romans 8:9-11 is this, our flesh no longer hinders us from being perfectly united with God! The Spirit of God is extremely far more powerful within us than the weakness of our flesh. The grace of God easily overcomes the carnal shortcomings of man! Everything that God did for Jesus to insure His success; He has done for us! We are born from the same Incorruptible Seed as Jesus. We have the same Father as Jesus and we are filled with the same Spirit that Jesus was filled with. Truly greater is He that is within us than he that is in the world! The glory and the power are God’s and through Him and through His grace that is at work within us we are able to escape the corruption that is in this world through the flesh!
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