Holy Spirit and the Resurrection

¹ So now there is no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who belong to Christ Jesus (who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit). ² And because you belong to Him (Christ Jesus) the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. ³ The Law of Moses was unable (powerless) to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature (flesh). So God did what the Law could not do. He sent His own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us (humans) by giving His Son as a sacrifice for our sins (sin offering). ⁴ He (God) did this so that the just (righteous) requirement of the Law would be fully satisfied in us, who no longer follow (live) our sinful nature (flesh) but instead follow the Spirit.

⁵ Those who are dominated (controlled, live) by the sinful nature (flesh) think about sinful things (flesh), but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. ⁶ So letting your sinful nature (flesh) control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. ⁷ For the sinful nature (flesh) is always hostile (enmity) to God. It never did obey God’s Laws, and it never will. ⁸ That is why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature (flesh) can never please God. ⁹ But you are not controlled by your sinful nature (flesh). You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to Him at all. ¹⁰ And Christ lives within you, so even though your (natural) body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. ¹¹ The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, He will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.

¹² Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature (flesh) urges you to do. ¹³ For if you live by its dictates (sinful nature, flesh), you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of your sinful nature, you will live. ¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. ¹⁵ So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶ For His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. ¹⁷ And since we are His children, we are His heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. . . . ²⁶ And the Holy Spirit helps (aids) us in our weakness (infirmities). For example, we do not know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groaning that cannot be expressed in words. ²⁷ And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. Romans 8:1-17, 26-27 (NLT)

Romans 8 is one of the great chapters in the Holy Scriptures. The theme of Romans 8 centers on the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the power of God (e.g., see Zechariah 4:6; Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8). In Romans 8, the Apostle Paul gives the church his most concentrated teaching on the Holy Spirit that brings new life and defeats the forces of evil. The Apostle Paul celebrates in Romans 8 the new and victorious life of the Spirit that believers enjoy because of their trust in Christ Jesus’s sacrificial death and resurrection. There is victory, power, and peace that come to those who wholeheartedly trust Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior (e.g., see Romans 1:16-17; Romans 5:1-5)! Even more, Romans 8 provides excellent teaching on the Holy Trinity (Godhead) – God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Spirit. The Apostle Paul interweaves God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Spirit throughout Romans 8 to bring about Christ Jesus’ resurrection and believers’ salvation.

Romans 8 begin with reminding all believers in Christ Jesus that there is now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the sin but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:1, 34; see also Galatians 5:22-23). By His grace and mercy, Christ Jesus have forgiven our sins and taken away our guilt and shame through our repentance and faith in His sacrificial death (e.g., see Romans 3:25; Acts 2:38; Acts 5:31; Acts 10:43; Acts 13:38-39, 46; Acts 26:18). For the power of the life-giving Holy Spirit has freed all faithful believers from the vicious circle of sin that leads to destruction, depression, and death through their faith in Christ Jesus (Roman 8:2; see also John 3:5-8, 16; John 8:32, 36; 1 Corinthians 15:45). Now, those who belong to Christ Jesus live and walk not after the commands of their selfish sinful nature and minds but after the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:1; see also John 3:18; Galatians 5:16). Jesus commands believers to go and sin no more (see John 5:14; John 8:11).

The Apostle Paul acknowledges that no one is saved from sin’s grasp by knowing the Law of Moses because no one can keep the Law in their weaken flesh (Romans 8:3; see also John 7:19). Thus, God put into effect a different plan to save humanity from sin’s destruction. God the Father graciously sent His only begotten Son Christ Jesus in a human body like ours (incarnate) yet without sin (sinless) and destroyed (broke) sin’s control over humanity by giving Himself as a final sacrifice for our sins (Romans 8:3; see also Matthew 1:21-23; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 5:24; Hebrews 7:26). The word “like” or “likeness” is crucial for it indicates that Christ Jesus was God but became fully Man but not a sinful man, the God-Man (see also John 1:1-5, 14; Philippians 2:6-8; Hebrews 2:14, 17; 1 Peter 1:18-19; 1 Peter 2:21-22). As God, Christ Jesus graciously bore our sins in His body on Calvary’s Cross (see Acts 2:22-25; Romans 3:25). Through our faith in Christ Jesus, believers live a righteous and blameless life, not in the power of the Law, but in the power of the life-giving Holy Spirit of God (Romans 8:4; see also Romans 1:16-17; 1 Corinthians 1:30).

Through faith in Jesus, the indwelling Holy Spirit enables and empowers believers to walk in obedience to God's will and ways. The Holy Spirit is the power of God (Greek word “dynamis” for power) to save us and remove our sins from the inside out through faith in Christ Jesus (see Romans 1:16-17). When anyone wholeheartedly turns from their sins (repent) and believes in God’s Son Jesus as Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell inside a believer’s hearts – indwelling of the Holy Spirit (e.g., see Acts 2:33, 38-40; Acts 10:36; Romans 5:5; Galatians 4:6-7). The Apostle Paul makes it clear that that the Spirit of God lives in every true believer (see Romans 8:9). Christ Jesus lives in all faithful believers by His Spirit, and we share His life. Believers become the Temple of the Holy Spirit where the true and living God (Father, Son, and Spirit) dwells inwardly within (see 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 1 Corinthians 6:9, 11, 17, 19-20; Ephesians 2:21-22).

Amazingly, the righteousness that God demands in His Law is fulfilled in us through the Holy Spirit’s enabling power as we follow and obey the Holy Spirit leading and not obey our old sinful nature (flesh) (see Jeremiah 31:31-34; Acts 5:32; Galatians 5:22-23, 25). “For it is God who works (empower) in you to will and to act according to His good purpose” (Philippians 2:13, NIV). Sadly, legalists try to obey God in their own strength. However, the power of the life-giving Spirit leads believers to experience the sanctifying and empowering work of the Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Through faith in Christ Jesus, we are saved from our sins and sin’s control over us because God destroyed sin’s control over us by giving His Son Jesus and His Spirit.

Next, the Apostle Paul teaches that those who let themselves be controlled by their selfish sinful nature live and think only to please themselves – selfishness (Romans 8:5; see also Galatians 5:19-21). Such selfish sinful thinking and living lead to hostility with God as well as death, depression, and destruction (see Romans 8:6, 13; see also Isaiah 63:10; Romans 6:23; Galatians 6:8; James 4:5). However, everyone who follows and obeys the life-giving Holy Spirit find oneself doing and thinking those things that please God (Romans 8:5; see also Galatians 5:22-23, 25). Following after the Holy Spirit leads to life, peace, and God’s eternal blessings (see Romans 8:6).

Sadly, our sinful nature within us and our sinful mind are hostile against God and can never obey and submit to God’s will and ways (see Romans 8:7). Essentially, those controlled by their sinful nature and flesh behave like the Evil One and can never please God. That is why those who have rejected Christ Jesus follow the ways of selfishness and evil that lead to eternal death (Romans 8:8; see also John 8:23-24). However, those who accept and obey Christ Jesus are controlled by a new nature - God’s life-giving Spirit (Romans 8:9, 11; see also 1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 2 Corinthians 6:16). Thus, if Christ Jesus lives in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Holy Spirit brings the believer new life and freedom (Romans 8:10; see also John 8:31-32, 51). The same life-giving power who resurrected Christ Jesus from complete death lives in you (Romans 8:11 see also John 14:17; Acts 2:24; 1 John 4:13-14). The true and living God will raise believers from the dead by His life-giving Spirit, just as He raised our Lord Christ Jesus from the dead (1 Corinthians 6:14; see also 2 Corinthians 4:14; 1 Thessalonians 4:14). The Holy Spirit brings life (see 2 Corinthians 3:6). Through faith in Christ Jesus, the Holy Spirit has sealed each believer with eternal life (see John 3:15-16; John 20:31; Ephesians 1:13-14).

Therefore, the Apostle Paul warns believers of Christ to actively turn away from sin and selfishness (old nature) (Romans 8:12; see also Romans 6:1-2; Colossians 3:5). God and believers each have a role in sanctification: the Holy Spirit’s power and believers turning away from sin. Everyone who uses their lives to continually obey and follow after sin and wickedness are lost and will perish both physically and spiritually (see Romans 8:13). However, the Apostle Paul reminds believers to rely on the Holy Spirit’s help to actively follows the ways of God that lead to true life (Romans 8:13; see also 1 John 3:24). Through the power of the Holy Spirit, believers can crush evil and any evil deeds and be transformed into the likeness of Christ Jesus (Romans 8:13, 29; see also 2 Corinthians 3:18; Philippians 3:21). Because the Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of Life,” the Holy Spirit empowers believers to obey Christ Jesus, convicts us of sin, and enable us to abundant lives (see John 16:8-9; Ephesians 3:16-17).

For everyone who is led by the Holy Spirit are children of God looking to our loving Heavenly Father in humble dependence, allegiance, and trust (Romans 8:14; see also Matthew 6:9-10, 25-27; Matthew 18:3-4). Our loving Heavenly Father knows how to give good gifts to those who love, obey, and seek Him (see Matthew 7:7-8, 11; Luke 11:13). Therefore, the Apostle Paul reminds believers they are no longer fearful slaves (see John 8:34-36). Instead, believers must behave like God’s very own children, adopted into the bosom of His family, and calling to Him, “Father, Father” (Romans 8:15; see also John 1:12-13). The Holy Spirit speaks to believers’ hearts affirming us that we really are God’s children through our faith in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:16, 19, 23; see also Galatians 4:5-7; Ephesians 1:5). Since believers are God’s children, we share God’s abundant spiritual treasures, wealth, and glory. For all God gives to His Son Christ Jesus is now ours too as His children – coheirs with Jesus (Romans 8:17, 23; see also Galatians 3:26-29). That is why Jesus tells everyone to seek God the Father first and seek Him for our daily needs (Matthew 6:33-34; see also Amos 5:4, 6). God cares and loves His faithful children.

One day, the true and living God will give believers their full rights as His adopted children, including the new bodies He has promised us (Romans 8:23; see also 1 Corinthians 15:50-58; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 21:1-22:5). Believers’ possession of the Holy Spirit is not only evidence of our present salvation but also a pledge of our future inheritance and redemption (Romans 8:14, 16, 23; see also 2 Corinthians 1:22; 2 Corinthians 5:5; Ephesians 1:14). The ultimate glory that believers will receive is so glorious that the suffering of this present time are insignificant in comparison (Romans 8:18; see also

Even in suffering, weakness, and trials, the Apostle Paul reminds all believers to trust God patiently and confidently (see Romans 8:23-25). Believers have dual intercessions or dual representations before God’s Throne that keep them secure and safe – the Holy Spirit intercedes (see Romans 8:26-27), and Christ Jesus intercedes with God the Father (Romans 8:34; see also Hebrews 4:14-16; 1 John 1:9-2:2). God sends the Holy Spirit to help believers in our weakness, troubles, and infirmities (Romans 8:26; see also John 14:17, 26). The Holy Spirit shares our burdens. Even more, Christ Jesus has overcome the world, and nothing can separate us from God’s love demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when He graciously died for us (see John 14:1, 27; John 16:33; Romans 8:35-39). Thus, believers never need faint in times of suffering and trial because we know that God is at work in the world and we are secure in Christ’s love (see Romans 8:28). So great is the unending faithfulness and love of God for those who seek Him (see Psalm 130:7; Lamentations 3:22-25).

Finally, believers can continually rejoice because “overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us” (Romans 8:37, NLT). “So what should we say about this? If God is with us, no one can defeat us” (Romans 8:31, NCV). We are victorious!

References

Amplified Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1987).

ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008).

The Living Bible Paraphrase (Tyndale House, 1971).

Morris, Leon. The Epistle to the Romans (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2012).

Wiersbe, Warren W. Bible Exposition Commentary –New Testament (Victor Books, 1989).