5. The Indwelling of the Spirit (Romans 8:9-11)

This sermon was preached on 27/11/2009

In this chapter Paul continues describing the benefits and responsibilities that come from having the Spirit. We need to bear in mind that Romans 8 is Paul’s answer to the question he raised in Romans 7 about deliverance from the power of sin. He does not mean that Romans 8 replaces Romans 7, as if a Christian ever got beyond being aware of his sin. But he is saying that the Christian needs to be aware of the teaching of Romans 8 in order to make sense of his awareness of sin.

Designations of the Spirit
Paul uses in these verses two titles of the Holy Spirit: the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ. These indicate that he has been sent by both the Father and the Son. It is difficult for us to work out what the role of the Spirit was before the coming of Christ. No doubt he regenerated God’s people, giving them spiritual life. He also came upon individuals such as the prophets to use them in giving inspired messages for their audiences. Further, he also enabled the authors of the books of the Old Testament to compose their works. But it was also a period of types and shadows, which are full of light to us who have seen their fulfilment, but were means of not telling the full message to believers in the Old Testament.

There are prophecies in Isaiah, for example, that predict great days when the Messiah would pour out the Spirit, with the obvious implication that these experiences were not known to the Old Testament believers. ‘Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations’ (Isa. 42:1). ‘For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants’ (Isa. 44:3).

There are two common mistakes made about Old Testament believers. One is to make them the equivalent of New Testament saints and the other is to give them a very low spiritual status. Both ideas are wrong. The fact of the matter is that we can more discover what they were like than we can imagine what it is like to be in heaven when we will have more of the Spirit than we have now.

Yet we are to realise that the Spirit came in a new way once Jesus was exalted. In Acts 1, Jesus tells the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they receive the promise of the Father, a reference to the Holy Spirit. Jesus is referring to the covenant agreement in which the Father promised to give him the Spirit upon completion of his work of redemption. The Spirit came at Pentecost in a new and wonderful way, and his presence has been with the church since.

What happened when the Spirit came in this new way? There are several answers that could be given, but I will mention three. First, the New Testament church has greater understanding of the Old Testament scriptures, and also possesses the New Testament. Second, there is a living link between the exalted Jesus in heaven and his people on earth, a link that could not exist before his ascension and sending of the Spirit. Third, there is an increased awareness that God is their Father; Paul in Galatians 4 likens Old Testament believers to young children under the control of a pedagogue whereas New Testament believers are like adults in a family.

Dwelling of the Spirit
Paul, in these verses, refers to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The place where the Spirit dwells is the inner life of believers. Jesus referred to this future indwelling on several occasions. For example, he says in John 7:37-39: ‘On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’.” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.’ In John 14:16-17 he said: ‘And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows him: but ye know him; for he dwells with you, and shall be in you.’

This indwelling of the Spirit is privilege and possession of every Christian. There is not such a person as a Christian who does not have the Holy Spirit. So it is a common blessing of all the Lord’s people.

But Paul also refers to the contrast between believers and unbelievers that results from the indwelling of the Spirit. He says that people are either in the flesh or in the Spirit. What he means here is what or who is in control. In the unbeliever, the flesh or indwelling sin is in control; in the Christian the Spirit is in control.

One role of the Spirit is to function in our hearts and minds as if Jesus himself were with us. Notice that verse 9 says that the Spirit of Christ dwells in believers, but verse 10 says that Christ dwells in believers. This is what Jesus meant in the Upper Room when he told his disciples that he would still be with them although he would have left them. So one task of the Spirit is to reveal Jesus to us. Connected to this is another task, which is to do for us and in us what Jesus would do if he were with us.

The Spirit and the present situation of the believer
In verse 10, Paul deals with an expected objection. If we still are suffering the effects of sin, how can the Spirit of Christ indwell us? The effects of sin are still seen in that believers experience death: ‘the body is dead because of sin.’ Our physical body is subject to mortality. They are decaying and will die.

There are two ways to read Paul’s next clause, translated ‘the Spirit is life because of righteousness’. The NIV translates it as ‘the spirit is alive because of righteousness’. What those who agree with this translation, such as John Stott, have in mind is that our bodies are dying but our spirits are alive because Christ by the Spirit lives in us. That is obviously a true description of a Christian, although the question arises as to whether or not it is a true rendering of the passage. There are two reasons that indicate it is not, that Paul is not referring to the human spirit but to the Holy Spirit. First, every other reference in the surrounding sentences is to the Holy Spirit. Second, Paul does not say that ‘the spirit is alive’; rather he writes that ‘the spirit is life’, and it would be impossible to imagine him saying that the human spirit is the source of life. So Paul is referring to the Holy Spirit.

But how can the Spirit of life live in sinful people? Paul answers, ‘Because of righteousness.’ The righteousness that Paul is referring to is the one wrought out by Christ in his life and death; he is not referring to righteous acts done by the believer as a consequence of the Spirit’s indwelling but to the basis of the Spirit’s indwelling. Jesus, by his work, earned the Holy Spirit for his people.

George Smeaton explains what this means: ‘The Lord Jesus, the second man, having fulfilled all the conditions which devolved on Him as the surety of those whom the Father had given Him, conveys to each of them a supply of the Holy Spirit irrevocably sure and indefectible. The ground of that supply is that the second Adam stood; and in consequence of His finished work, they who are effectually united to Him shall never finally forfeit the Spirit’s communications. While many grounds and reasons may be mentioned why Christ’s disciples never fall away, the principal ground, based at once on divine law and justice, is that the second Adam, by fulfilling the conditions, and complying with all the requirements of the law, received as His reward an inexhaustible supply of the Spirit, which would be imparted to all His people, and dwell in them for ever. The Spirit, accordingly, never permits them finally to depart. He will not abandon the souls which He has regenerated, and which He will use effectual means to reclaim when they are ready, from inward feebleness or listless indifference, to vacillate or waver. He will not suffer them to depart for ever, but will renew their exercises of repentance and faith so that they will return to their allegiance (Isa. lix. 21), and continue to have the place of sons in the family of God. The great work of the Spirit, with a view to adoption, is union to Christ, which in an objective point of view constitutes them the sons of God.’

This is very liberating because it means that the indwelling of the Spirit in my inner life does not depend on me. It is the case that my current behaviour and attitudes will result in appropriate responses from the indwelling Spirit. If I am backsliding he will convict me of sin; if I am in a healthy spiritual state, he will increase my enjoyments of God’s blessings. This explains why indwelling sin cannot remove the Holy Spirit from us. Yes, we grieve him with our sins, which will result in his conviction, which can be severe at times. But we cannot lose the Spirit.

This does not mean that we can become lazy Christians. It is possible to deduce from what I have just said that we do not need to be active in dealing with our sins. We shall see in the next study that Paul insists that each Christian will mortify his sins. Instead the presence of the Spirit in our inner man should result in us being lively Christians, growing in grace and bearing in an increasing manner the fruit of the Spirit.

The Spirit and the future of Christians
In verse 11, Paul reminds his readers of the future resurrection of believers: ‘But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwells in you.’ They are going to experience a similar resurrection to that of Jesus. Jesus was not merely resuscitated and restored to his former level of human existence. His resurrection was part of his glorification, in a way that we cannot understand he was transformed to a higher state of glory. Similarly, risen Christians are going to be transformed and become like Jesus. And this conformity to the glorified Christ will be brought about by the indwelling Spirit.

John Stott describes this wonderful change: ‘No, resurrection includes transformation, the raising and changing of our body into a new and glorious vehicle of our personality, and its liberation from all frailty, disease, pain, decay and death.’ Sinclair Ferguson writes: ‘The indwelling of the Spirit will then give way to something integrally related to it yet even greater in magnitude, just as the first fruits share in and point towards the nature of the final harvest. Then the Spirit will not merely indwell mortal bodies, but will “give life” to them (Rom. 8:11). This will not merely involve restoring the body to the condition experienced by the first Adam; it will mean transforming it (“We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed”, 1 Cor. 15:51).’

I suppose that there is a parallel between what happened to Jesus at his exaltation and what will happen to his people. When he ascended, part of his glory was to be anointed with the Spirit above his companions (Heb. 1:9; Ps. 45:6-7). When we are changed, we will receive the fullness of the Spirit of which we now have the first fruits. I am not saying that we will have the same degree of the Spirit as Jesus.

Conclusion
As we conclude, we can sum up the passage by saying that we have hope because of all that comes our way in Christ. We were given the Spirit, experience his work in the present, and will experience his resurrection-power in the future because Jesus fulfilled all righteousness. Therefore we should show gratitude and commitment to him.

The passage is a reminder of how much we owe to the covenant agreement made by the Trinity concerning sinners. This is the framework in which we should live our spiritual lives. It is important for us to remind ourselves every day that we are not in a conditional covenant. Rather we belong to the Triune God who has covenanted in himself to bring all his chosen ones to glory.

We should cherish any activity of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Sometimes we are apt to view conviction of sin as a sign that God is angry with us. He never chastises without cause, that is true. But our experience of conviction is evidence of divine faithfulness to his own commitment to bring us safe to heaven. Therefore, it is a means of assurance to our hearts. The faithful Holy Spirit, out of love to the Father and the Son, and out of love to his sinful people, deals with them appropriately and precisely, depending on their current spiritual condition. So whether he is bringing conviction or bestowing peace, cherish his dealings.