“You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8:9-11 (ESV)
“If Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit of is life because of righteousness.” It’s just brilliant.
Most of us are disabused our dreams of immortality somewhere in our mid-twenties. And yet for most of us, death is something we think is yet to come. Paul cuts to the chase, you are dead. Well at least your body is dead, even if you are a Christian, because of sin. This is a present reality we “live” with. Neither does Paul say that this is a reality if you are a sinner. There is no if about it. Paul just flat out says the body is dead because of sin. Your mortality is evidence of your sin. But this isn’t the whole story for those of us who have Christ in us, that is those of us who have been baptized into his death and resurrection, who believe in him, and who believe him also, even when he attaches the promises of forgiveness, life and salvation to such mundane things as bread and wine which he says is his body and blood. Here we receive Christ. Here we receive the Holy Spirit who is life, because our faith is our righteousness. There is no righteousness apart from faith. And then there is no life apart from him, for life in the face of death is no life at all, but life in the promise of resurrection is the life of Christ, and he lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit one God now and forever.
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