Romans 8, 10 - 14

 

10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is

 

alive because of righteousness.

 

11 And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus also give life to your mortal

 

bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.

 

12 Therefore, brothers, 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 deeds of the body, you will live.

 

14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

 

 

"But if Christ is in you".
Paul speaks to the born-again people and he knew that they have the Christ in them. But he uses "if" to explain what "Christ in you" means. You have to stop and think about that „if“. God's word teaches that Christ wants to enter into the heart. Jesus Christ really wants to enter into the heart of man. When Christ has entered into a person, that person is born again. This fact that Christ is in us is perceived differently by believers. This happens in different ways. Depending on how the hearts of the believers are still connected with the spirit of this world. In our consciousness, we should constantly know: I belong to Christ the Lord. Now if a situation, a test comes up and I live in the consciousness Christ is in me, - I belong to the Lord - then I submit myself from the consciousness of this fact and wait and see: Christ will answer in this situation, not me. He is in me. And then the Lord Jesus will answer. But if I do not live in the consciousness that Christ is in me, then the human being will speak from the flesh in his answer.

 

"But if Christ is in you".
You have fellowship with Christ. This is what God wants us to live in constant communion with Him. He wants from the whole heart that we recognize how we are to walk, so that we may enter into this deep cordial communion which genuinely binds us to him. But it is up to us alone. And that is why we should pause and come to the Lord and call constantly to the Lord, that he may descend in his goodness, in his faithfulness, in his mercy, to guide us in justice. For all that remains denied us in deep communion with Christ is nothing but our own wrongdoing. He wants to make us rich, but it is interesting when Scripture says here, "if Christ is in you", then it is not as believers think that we have received new flesh through conversion, because it is written: "All things have become new". And I have been told this more than once. This ignorance is a disadvantage in my eyes

"But if Christ is in you". 

"though the body is dead because of sin"
That is when we are converted, when we are saved, the body is dead. It stays dead. It is not resurrected by our actions or our following Jesus. It must also be kept in death. Every body of flesh is already marked by death when we enter this earthly life. And when we are saved, then actually the right and proper death comes over the flesh. Died with Christ on the cross. To die with Christ in the likeness of his death on the cross, which puts the dot on the "i". Then the one thing that's is perfect that is God-willing. We should keep our bodies in death because God has pronounced the sentence of death on our bodies. That happened already at the Fall in the Garden of Eden. It was a long time ago. We won't remember it. The body is dead because of sin. Therefore, God could not come to the end with Israel, because the Israelites were in their worship service with a dead body. That is why this service is also called the service of death. And this was the service of the law. Therefore it is explained here in the Epistle to the Romans - and this is a confrontation of the statements that the Spirit is life because of righteousness. So we can say here that if there is the Spirit of God in a person, that is "Christ in you", then there is new life through the Spirit and in the spirit and this life is the righteousness of God. We have to think about this. What does that mean: "Christ is in you"? And how few believers walk in this awareness. They are not yet ready. But that also means that they want to. They want that. They're praying for it, too. But still, it's not close enough for most of God's children. I say again, Christ is in us when we are saved. I say this because I know many believers. These are not suppositions. We make the mistake all too quickly that we have recognized Christ to a certain extent and then think we no longer need to seek Him. That doesn't get us anywhere. In the things of God knowledge there is no stop, but fellowship with Christ is - throughout a whole life - reaching out to Him.

 

"But if Christ is in you",
the body is dead because of sin,
but the spirit lives for righteousness' sake."
Now this is a powerful statement that God's Word must tell us that Christ is in you. Paul had to tell it the believing Romans. Did they not know it? And yet, God is telling us tonight. And we would have to ask why? This Bible passage cannot be read enough, cannot be absorbed enough, cannot be moved enough. God is connected with us because HE is in us. He is in us in a body of death. Matter in itself is dead. If you throw a handful of sand into a corner in the basement, you can safely assume that this handful of sand will still be in the same place next year. Matter remains dead in itself, but through creation, life according to the order of God has also moved into matter. And so we have gained from this dust, a body. And this means that the body was gained from death. For dust is decayed matter and all that is decay is contrary to permanence. But the spirit is life from God. So we can establish that if in a man is the Spirit of God, that is "Christ in you," then divine life through the Spirit is in a body of death. And this life is the righteousness of God. This life is justified because it came from Jesus. He is that righteous one who is needed to come to righteousness.

"But if Christ is in you",
the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit lives for righteousness. "but if the Spirit of him".
What does it mean, the spirit of him? Of him "who raised Jesus from the dead". The Spirit, who has the power to lead the man Jesus out of death back into life, that is the Holy Spirit. That is God. If the Holy Spirit dwells in us, then he is the same source of power that led Christ out of the dead and back into life. Then the same one is in us and also us, who belong to the Lord Jesus, God will take us out of death and lead us into his glory through the power of his Spirit. Therefore, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies. This is not about anything other than a mortal body. But therefore this very mortal body will come to life. Right now we have a spirit of man. But the spirit of man is so weak and so little and so powerless in us that it cannot prevent our body from dying. He cannot. That means, then, that in order to remain in life we need a very strong spirit, and because we did not have one, God in Christ has had mercy on us and has given us his spirit, the Spirit of God. In this spirit of God we have the source of strength to come back into life. The proof: Christ, the man Jesus, who was in death for three days, was brought back to life by the power that was in him. By what? Through the Spirit, because it is the Spirit who exercises power. The Bible says that the flesh is weak. The spirit is strong, but we still have a spirit that is too weak to guide the weak body rightly. If Adam and Eve had had a strong spirit, they would certainly not have fallen in the Garden of Eden. This too was weakness of spirit, for the spirit that lied and tried to Eve was stronger, far stronger than the spirit that Adam and Eve had. These mortal bodies that we have, HE will make them alive. And now it comes: because of His Spirit dwelling in you. Even if we must die bodily, even if the body is laid in the earth. So it is now obvious that this Holy Spirit has a very definite connection with our flesh, even when the body decays or is decayed. These things are invisible to our eyes. Just as invisible as you cannot lay your own soul on the table here, or how you cannot lay your spirit on the table here. And yet you would be offended if you were told that you have no spirit, wouldn't you? But it is wonderful here that we get these things explained to us in such a way that the spirit that brought the Lord Jesus back from death into life, that raised him from the dead, has a lot to do with it. It is about how God makes matter (Adama) alive. This can also only be the Spirit who gave us life at creation. A spirit below the creative spirit cannot lead us back from death to life. Only the Creator-Spirit, can lead us out of death back into life. With another spirit it is absolutely impossible. And in this way God has honored us by giving us his Spirit. He has given us an extraordinary grace in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. And we have been rid of the old dirt and the cause of our separation from the living God. This was done with Christ on the cross and after this was done, God had mercy on us a second time. After he sent his beloved Son, he still gave us his Spirit. And everyone who believes in him receives eternal life. This is why God gave His Spirit here on this earth, so that we might be partakers, not only of the forgiveness of our sins and guilt, but also of eternal life, and this is done only through His Spirit. Of course there is still much to say, but we have no time for this today.

"But if Christ is in you",
But if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you. He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit dwelling in you. For brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live by the flesh." 

We have nothing to demand in the flesh and we have nothing to accomplish in the flesh. That is what it is supposed to say. For if it is so that we walk according to the flesh, if we live according to the flesh, says the apostle, then we shall reap corruption from the flesh. This means in the end: we shall die. Whoever lives according to the principles and principles (law) of the flesh will experience death, as surely as all flesh comes to death, eternally. That is why God wants us to become men of the spirit, to live according to the spirit and will of God. But when you kill the actions of the body through the Spirit, here we are called to activity. We see how necessary it is to become active in order to meet God's demands at all. If we kill these actions of the body and God wants us to kill them, then we will live. That is, those who have eternal life are recognized by the fact that they kill the acts of the body, namely, their own body, and that is the secret of victory in Christ. So the Spirit of God tells us: But if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit dwelling in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh, for if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if you kill the acts of the body by the Spirit you will live.

 

 

 

"But if Christ is in you"
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. 

The Bible is precise. We humans are not precise. That is why we stand by our God. He has spoken so precisely in His word. Even simple-minded people, these are imprecise, will not go astray on this path. So it is written. Sons of God, children of God, saved, born again, are those who are led by the Spirit. One must not make a cult of them. If this happens within the children of God, then it is a sinful work of Satan. The Bible makes it clear that we do not have to do anything to be led by the Spirit of God. This leading by the Spirit of God happens primarily in daily life. This is the greatest requirement of all. Because on Sundays, when we are in church, it is no trick not to fall into this or that sin. I am not saying that you cannot fall into sin in the synagogue. This can happen in any place on this earth. But here we are in fellowship with one another, and unchallenged by many, many sins. Why? Because God is in abundance where many believers are gathered in one place. There is also much light there and the believers themselves bring this light with them. So when we are here together, we don't notice it because we are in the flesh, then there is a lot of light here. From the spiritual perspective - as the angels see it - there is a lot of light. Spiritually speaking, Christ is light in us and the light in shining through the presence of believers who come together. And wherever such believers come together there is an accumulation of light and that is dominion over the enmity of light. And the darker it is around us, the brighter shines the shining light of Christ, who himself says, I am the light of this world. It is not our own light, but it dwells in us, Christ, our true Messias. We have become light because Christ is the light in us. We ourselves are not light. There is no cause in the flesh for any conceit. We know this very well, and that is why we never give ourselves to such thoughts. All believers who walk the path of obedience and attachment to the Word of God are those whom the Lord guides. I do not have to do any special actions. I just need the inner connection to Christ in my heart, in my will, in my mind. Here it says that it is the sons of God who are led. We must be "sons" to be led to the inheritance of our heavenly Father, otherwise we do not possess it. Because we are children of God - because we are sons of God - we are able to possess the wonderful inheritance of the glory of heaven. In faith, because we are saved, we already know this. And soon our Lord will come and then we will experience it with glorified bodies. We will see with the perfect eyes of God as God sees, and we will see HIM and rejoice in His wonderful light.