Romans 8:9, look at what Paul just did, in one sentence, he used two different names, the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ, two phrases, one breath, no explanation. The second name is the key, because if you understand what Paul means when he says the Spirit of Christ, you will understand how you can know, not just hope, but know that you belong to him. Romans was not written to people Paul knew, he had never met most of them, he was writing to a church in Rome, a city he had not yet visited, a church he did not plant, filled with people he knew only by reputation. And that changes how you read everything he says, he cannot lean on personal history, he cannot say remember when we were together, he has to argue from the gospel itself.
Paul has been doing that for seven chapters, he has walked his readers through the bad news and good news, he has shown them that every human being stands guilty before God and that God has provided a way of being made right through faith in Christ. And then in Romans 7:24, Paul does something honest, he describes his own struggle, that is not a man who has it all together, that is a man who knows the right thing and keeps failing to do it. And if you have ever felt that the gap between what you want to be and what you keep doing, you know exactly what Paul is talking about and then comes Romans 8:1, the answer to that cry. No condemnation, not a lighter sentence, not probation with a review date, not guilty for now, but we will be watching, none of that. The verdict is not guilty and the whole chapter of Romans 8 is built on that and Romans 8:9 is right in the middle of it.
But consider, you need to understand the categories Paul is using, because he keeps saying two things, in the flesh and in the Spirit and most people hear those two phrases and think he is describing two kinds of behavior, two checklists, good people and bad people, that is not what he is doing, Paul is describing two realms, two spheres of existence, two places a person can stand. Think of it like two rooms in a house, the room of the flesh is the room where you live according to your own resources, your own strength, your own desires, with yourself at the center. The room of the Spirit is the room where you live in union with Christ, with the Spirit of God at the center.
Paul has been doing that for seven chapters, he has walked his readers through the bad news and good news, he has shown them that every human being stands guilty before God and that God has provided a way of being made right through faith in Christ. And then in Romans 7:24, Paul does something honest, he describes his own struggle, that is not a man who has it all together, that is a man who knows the right thing and keeps failing to do it. And if you have ever felt that the gap between what you want to be and what you keep doing, you know exactly what Paul is talking about and then comes Romans 8:1, the answer to that cry. No condemnation, not a lighter sentence, not probation with a review date, not guilty for now, but we will be watching, none of that. The verdict is not guilty and the whole chapter of Romans 8 is built on that and Romans 8:9 is right in the middle of it.
But consider, you need to understand the categories Paul is using, because he keeps saying two things, in the flesh and in the Spirit and most people hear those two phrases and think he is describing two kinds of behavior, two checklists, good people and bad people, that is not what he is doing, Paul is describing two realms, two spheres of existence, two places a person can stand. Think of it like two rooms in a house, the room of the flesh is the room where you live according to your own resources, your own strength, your own desires, with yourself at the center. The room of the Spirit is the room where you live in union with Christ, with the Spirit of God at the center.
