|
|
Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
March 4
Click on verses for Full Scripture
|
previous - - - - - - - - - -
next
|
Today's Pathway:
|
Having spent the last few verses contrasting the flesh and the Spirit, Paul now begins to make an application to his saved readers. Remember that he has said that those who are in the flesh are at enmity with God, can not please God, and are spiritually dead. To put it bluntly, they are unsaved. Now Paul says in verse 9,
"But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you."
Please notice two things in this phrase. First, by saying, "but ye", Paul is definitely now speaking to believers. These are not the unregenerate people that he has talked about in the previous section. Second, Paul is saying that having the Holy Spirit indwelling an individual means that person is saved. In fact, he goes so far at the end of verse 9 to state that if someone does not have the Spirit, then he does not belong to Christ, and is unsaved. The Holy Spirit is the "downpayment" on our eternal life. Ephesians 1:13-14 reads,
"In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory."
When we got saved we were "sealed" with the Spirit, and He is the "earnest" until we have received all the promises of salvation. The word "sealed" means "to stamp with a signet or private mark for security or preservation" The word "earnest" means "money or property given in advance as security for the rest." When I received Christ I received complete salvation, and my salvation is eternally secure, but I do not possess all of it right now. I still have a sin nature, I don't have a glorified body, and I am not in Heaven with the Lord. However, the fact that I do have the Holy Spirit promises me that someday I will receive everything else.
In verse 10 Paul writes that if someone is saved, their body is dead, but the Spirit is life. There are two different views on what is meant by "the body is dead because of sin". The first is that believers are dead to sin once we are saved. This has already been established in Romans 6:11 -
"Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God."
The second is that body is still going to die someday, but Christians are spiritually alive and will thus live forever with the Lord. While the first view is true, verse 11 would indicate that it is the second view that Paul has in mind here. The Holy Spirit was involved in the physical resurrection of Jesus from the grave and, because He indwells us, He will also raise our mortal bodies from the grave someday (I Corinthians 15:53).
Verse 10 concludes with, "the Spirit is life because of righteousness." Having the Holy Spirit inside us brings us life, and this happens, not because of our own righteousness, but because of the imputed righteousness of Christ (II Corinthians 5:21). And, as we have already seen, being saved, and having the Holy Spirit indwelling us, allows us to be "servants of righteousness" (Romans 6:18) because we have been "created in righteousness and true holiness" (Ephesians 4:24).
Tomorrow Paul will tie this all together as it applies to the believer.
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
|
|
You Are Here: 
