LIFE THROUGH THE SPIRIT
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Opening Prayer
As I read your Word today, Lord God, please show me more of who you are and who I am because you love me.
Read ROMANS 8:9—17
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Romans
Romans 8
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.
10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.
11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it.
13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.
15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”
16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Reflect
‘May the mind of Christ, my Savior, / live in me from day to day, / by his love and pow’r controlling / all I do and say.’1
Who rules in your life? If you are a disciple of Jesus, the Spirit of Christ lives in you and you live under his rule (v. 9). The ‘realm’ of the flesh no longer has power over you. However, we live in liminal times—now and not yet. Sin, from Adam onward, brought death to our bodies—yet, we have life with Christ, and our bodies will also be brought to new life in him (v. 11). Good news! So, how should we respond in the here and now?
If we’ve been set free from living according to the flesh, surely, we now must live by the Spirit, who, through Jesus, has liberated us from the chains of sinfulness (vv. 12, 13). Yet, we recall Paul’s cries of frustration in chapter 7: I want to live according to the Spirit’s rule, but I fail!2 The wonderful truth is that God has not left us on our own to do this. The Spirit of Jesus, living in us, is working to ‘put to death the misdeeds of the body’ (v. 13).
More good news! Our life in the realm of the Spirit doesn’t make us slaves to God (v. 15). Rather, by the Spirit, we have been rescued from slavery to sin and adopted as God’s children. Like sons and daughters, we no longer fear God but approach him freely, calling him Father, as Jesus did. The Spirit affirms in our hearts that we are his children (v. 16). Then, Paul unfolds the staggering implication of this: we are, therefore, co-heirs with Christ (v. 17a)! But, still in that now-and-not-yet phase, as we identify with Christ there will be suffering before we share in the ultimate glory of our risen King Jesus (v. 17b).
Apply
Are you God’s child? Is that obvious to others you meet?
Closing prayer
Father, I ask that the godly heritage of my church family will be seen by others and draw them to you.
1 ‘May the Mind of Christ, My Savior’, Kate Barclay Wilkinson, 1925 2 Rom 7:21—25.
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