By His working in us, the Spirit continuously dispenses life to our mortal bodies. Romans 8:11 says, “The Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you...will also give life to your mortal bodies.” This verse reveals that as the life-giving Spirit dwells in us, that is, makes His home in us, He dispenses life not only into our spirits but even into our mortal bodies. Through this dispensing of life, our bodies are enlivened by the divine life.
Before we believed in the Lord, our spirit within was dead and our body without was alive. Now that we have Christ in us, though our body without is dead because of sin, our spirit within is life because of righteousness (v. 10). Christ’s coming into us as life exposes the dead situation of our body. In our spirit is Christ the Spirit as righteousness, resulting in life; but in our flesh is Satan as sin, resulting in death. Although God condemned sin in the flesh (v. 3), sin is not eradicated from man’s fallen body. Hence, our body is still dead.
The Bible reveals that, as human beings, we have three parts-the spirit, the soul, and the body. Romans 8 shows us that, first, through regeneration the Spirit enters into our spirit and causes our spirit to become life. Then, from our spirit the Spirit spreads to our mind and causes our mind to become life. Lastly, the Spirit dispenses life even to our mortal body and causes the body of sin to become the body of life. Thus, our entire being is filled with life, and we become people of life.
The accomplishment of this matter hinges on our mind (v. 6). When our mind is set on the regenerated spirit, which is mingled with the Spirit of God, our outward actions are in agreement with our inner man, and there is no discrepancy between us and God. He and we are at peace, not at enmity (v. 7). Thus, we feel peaceful within and the Spirit of the Triune God can make His home in us and have adequate room to settle down in us. Then in our experience we are in the spirit and are no longer in the flesh. Thus, the Triune God as the Spirit is able to spread from our spirit into our soul, represented by our mind (v. 6), and eventually He gives life even to our mortal body.
The Spirit works in us also to put to death the practices of our body that we may live. Romans 8:13 says, “For if you live according to the flesh, you must die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the practices of the body, you will live.” This shows us that we must put to death the practices of our body, but we must do it by the Spirit. On one hand, we must take the initiative to put to death the practices of the body; the Spirit does not do it for us. On the other hand, we should not attempt to deal with our body by relying on our own effort without the power of the Holy Spirit. The putting to death here is actually our coordinating with the Spirit who indwells us. Inwardly, we must allow Him to make His home in us that He may give life to our mortal body (v. 11). Outwardly, we must put to death the practices of our body that we may live. When we take the initiative to put to death the practices of our body, the Spirit comes in to apply to those practices the effectiveness of Christ’s death, thus killing them. It is not the body itself but its practices that we must put to death. Our body needs to be redeemed (v. 23), but its practices need to be put to death. These practices include not only sinful things but also all things practiced by our body apart from the Spirit.
The word given in Romans 8:13 corresponds with verse 6, which says, “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.” In order to put to death by the Spirit the practices of the body, we need to set our mind on the spirit and walk according to the spirit. When we have our mind set on our spirit, we cooperate with the Spirit’s work to put to death all the practices of the body; thus, we have the genuine experience of the death of Christ. This does not happen once for all; rather, it is a constant, daily exercise. Furthermore, if we put to death by the Spirit the practices of the body, we will be able to present our bodies to God for the Body life (12:1) and thereby live in the Body of Christ in a practical way.
In the fellowship of the Triune God we experience and enjoy the Spirit as the consummation of the Divine Trinity. First, the Spirit is the reality of Christ for our enjoyment. All that God is and has is embodied in Christ, and all that Christ is and has is received by the Spirit and declared as reality to us through the Spirit. Hence, when the Spirit is in us, it is Christ who is in us. The Spirit is in us not as the representative of Christ but as the reality of Christ. Next, the Spirit works in us, on us, and for us in many ways. He frees us by His law of life from the law of sin and of death, the power to commit sin that arises spontaneously in man and the natural power that causes man to become weak, to wither up, and to age and die. If we walk according to the spirit and set our mind on the spirit, the law of the Spirit of life will set us free continuously. The Spirit in us also continuously dispenses life into our mortal bodies. First, at the time of our regeneration, He enters into our spirit and causes our spirit to become life; then, from our spirit He spreads to our mind and causes our mind to become life; and, lastly, He dispenses life even into our mortal body and causes the body of sin to become the body of life. Thus, our entire being is filled with life and we become people of life. The Spirit in us also puts to death the practices of our body. This requires us to take the initiative to cooperate with the Spirit who indwells us. When we take the initiative to put to death the practices of our body, the Spirit comes in to apply to those practices the effectiveness of Christ’s death, thus killing them. In this way, we have the genuine experience of the death of Christ. This does not happen once for all; rather, it is a constant, daily exercise.