Romans 8 deals with the matter of life. In fact, Romans 8 speaks of life more than any other chapter in the Bible. In this it is unique. The first time life is mentioned in chapter eight is in verse 2: “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed me from the law of sin and of death.” In verse 2, life is a life that the Spirit of God belongs to. This is not an ordinary life, a common life, nor is it a strange kind of life. It is the life to which the Spirit of God belongs.
The next verse which mentions the word life is Romans 8:6: “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.” This verse indicates that the mind set on our human spirit, which is mingled with the Spirit of life, is life. Now the life to which the Spirit of God belongs has become somewhat complicated. In verse 2 it was so simple, with no complication. But in verse 6 it has surely become complicated because it is involved with our mind and also with our spirit. When we set our mind on our spirit, life is there. Is this another life different from the life in verse 2? Surely not! All these verses refer to the same one life. But in verse 2 it is the life to which God’s Spirit belongs. Then in verse 6 the life is involved with our mind and our spirit.
The third verse concerning life in Romans 8 is verse 10: “And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is life because of righteousness.” In this verse another complication is added, that is, Christ. Christ is involved here. It says that if Christ is in you, this Christ in you makes a clear distinction of your being. This verse says that your body is dead, but that your spirit is life. Some time ago I considered that perhaps the translator had made a mistake, because it seems that it should say that the spirit is living. It seems it should read, “The body is dead and the spirit is living.” Or it might read, “The body is death and the spirit is life.” Apparently, this verse is not composed well. If we get into the depths of this verse, however, we shall see why Paul composed it in this way.
In this verse life is involved with Christ and the distinction between our body and our spirit. We have to realize that before Christ comes into us, our body is living and our spirit is dead. To unsaved persons, it seems there is not such a thing as the human spirit. But their body is active. Even with Christians sometimes the situation still remains the same as before Christ came into them. Their body is very active, but their spirit is dead. This means life has another involvement with two things: with Christ and with the distinction He has made within us. In a saved person who is remaining in a normal and proper condition, there is such a clear distinction that his body is dead and his spirit is life. Something in his spirit makes his spirit not only living, but also life. At the same time it is so clear that his body is dead.
The fourth time the word life is used in Romans 8 is in verse 11: “But if the Spirit of Him Who raised Jesus from among the dead dwells in you, He Who raised Christ Jesus from among the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit Who indwells you.” In order to understand this verse, we must consider who gives life to whom, and through whom? And to what part of the second whom? Actually, the One who gives life in this verse is not the Spirit, but the very God who raised Jesus from among the dead. Here God gives life to someone through the Spirit. This Spirit is the indwelling Spirit. The Giver is the One who raised Jesus from among the dead, and the instrument is the Spirit who indwells us. Who then is the receiver of the life? Whose mortal body receives this life? In order to understand whose mortal body receives life in verse 11, we must consider the modifiers in verses 9 and 10. Do you think the “you” in verse 11 who receives life to his mortal body could refer to a Christian living in sin or never reading the Bible or never praying? Could such a person be this “you”? This “you” surely needs some Christian qualifications. What are the qualifications of such a one? One qualification according to verse 9 is that the Spirit of God dwells in you. Of course, this also means that you are a person in the spirit. To be in the spirit and to have the Spirit of God dwelling in you are actually two aspects of one thing. This is indicated by Paul’s use of the subjunctive, “if indeed.” If indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you, you are in spirit. When the Spirit dwells in you, you are in spirit. In other words, when you are in spirit, the Spirit of God dwells in you. This refers to one thing with two aspects. This is one qualification.
There is another qualification in verse 10. The first word of verse 10 is the conjunction “and.” This conjunction indicates that something has gone before and something is coming after. Therefore we must conjoin these two things. “And” indicates that in verse 9 there is one thing, and in verse 10 there is another thing. In verse 9 there is the first qualification, and in verse 10 there is the second qualification. The second qualification is to have Christ in you. Don’t think this qualification is exactly the same as the one mentioned in verse 9. These are two aspects. Verse 9 says that the Spirit of God dwells in you, and then in the following verse it says Christ is in you. Furthermore, in verse 9 the Spirit of God is the subject, and in verse 10 Christ is the subject. Then in verse 11 the subject is shifted to God. This is a big matter! You must be qualified with the Spirit indwelling you, and you must be qualified with Christ in you in order for the Spirit to give life to your mortal body. In the last message we stressed the point of the Spirit dwelling in you, but in this message we would stress Christ being in you. When Christ is in you, a distinction is brought into you. A distinction is made between the body and the spirit. A distinction is made between the dead thing and life. The dead thing, of course, is the body, and life is the spirit.