Romans 8:9, Paul is crystal clear about what each room produces, Romans 8:6. Life and peace, that is what the Spirit produces, not anxiety about whether you measure up. Life and peace and then Romans 8:9 comes in and it tells you which room you are in, but you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, Paul is not telling his readers to try harder to get into the Spirit, he is telling them where they already are. This is a statement of identity, not a command and the marker of which room you are in is not your performance, it is not how well you behave this week, it is one thing, whether the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Then comes the second half of Romans 8:9, but if any man doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his and here is where the question lands, what does it mean to have the Spirit of Christ? And what does it mean that without him, you are not his? The Spirit of Christ, Paul just called the same Spirit, the Spirit of God, now he calls the Spirit, the Spirit of Christ and he does it on purpose. Paul is not switching to a different Spirit, he is giving you the same Spirit by two names and the second name is the one that answers your question. To understand why Paul chose that name, you have to go back to a night that changed everything.
Consider the room, it is small, lit by a single lamp and the air is thick with fear, Jesus has just told the men around the table that he is leaving them. These are men who left everything to follow him and now Jesus is saying goodbye, John 14:16-17. Another counselor, the word in the original language means one called alongside to help and Jesus said it was better for him to go, because if he did not go, the counselor would not come, John 16:7. Jesus called his own departure better than his physical presence, because he was sending the Spirit to be with his people forever.
The Spirit of Christ is how the risen Christ stays with you, he is not far away and sending a substitute, he is present through the Spirit in a way that is even closer than walking beside someone on a dusty road. That is why Paul can call the Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, because the Spirit is Christ’s own Spirit sent by the Father and the Son to do in you what Jesus himself would do if he were standing beside you.
Then comes the second half of Romans 8:9, but if any man doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his and here is where the question lands, what does it mean to have the Spirit of Christ? And what does it mean that without him, you are not his? The Spirit of Christ, Paul just called the same Spirit, the Spirit of God, now he calls the Spirit, the Spirit of Christ and he does it on purpose. Paul is not switching to a different Spirit, he is giving you the same Spirit by two names and the second name is the one that answers your question. To understand why Paul chose that name, you have to go back to a night that changed everything.
Consider the room, it is small, lit by a single lamp and the air is thick with fear, Jesus has just told the men around the table that he is leaving them. These are men who left everything to follow him and now Jesus is saying goodbye, John 14:16-17. Another counselor, the word in the original language means one called alongside to help and Jesus said it was better for him to go, because if he did not go, the counselor would not come, John 16:7. Jesus called his own departure better than his physical presence, because he was sending the Spirit to be with his people forever.
The Spirit of Christ is how the risen Christ stays with you, he is not far away and sending a substitute, he is present through the Spirit in a way that is even closer than walking beside someone on a dusty road. That is why Paul can call the Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, because the Spirit is Christ’s own Spirit sent by the Father and the Son to do in you what Jesus himself would do if he were standing beside you.