Romans 8:10, The Spirit Is Life

Romans 8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

When Nicodemus the Pharisee came to Jesus, he was spiritually dead. Jesus said to him, “Ye must be born again.” To be born-again is to have a spiritual life, having fellowship and communion with the living and true God. In John 3:8, Jesus uses the illustration of the “wind” to describe one having spiritual life. He says  “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8) The wind is invisible, you cannot see the wind with your eyes, but you can feel its breeze. When you fly a kite, you see the reality of the wind blowing when the kite is lifted up in the sky. The presence of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life is such, not visible to the naked eye yet the true believer can overcome sin and temptation by the power of the indwelling Spirit.

The Apostle Paul declares the truth that the born-again believer is spiritually alive through the Spirit of Christ that indwells him. Before his conversion, he is spiritually dead, sold to sin. But when the gospel came into his life, by faith, he receives righteousness, which is forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God. He tells us the unbelieving world or the unbeliever is spiritually dead, unable to appreciate spiritual things, in bondage to sin, Satan and self (Eph. 2:1-5). In fact, the world is a graveyard consisting of men and women who are spiritually dead, walking “dead”. It was our condition before we were made alive spiritually in Christ.

The Apostle Paul is reminding the believer of their past life before God saved them. They were like the people in the world dead in sin and trespasses. The character of the true church is different from the people in the world in the sense that they have spiritual life. The church is spiritually alive. And this life with God ought to be lived to the fullest. Believers the ability to do good and bear the spirit’s fruit as the Apostle Paul puts it well in Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. 

May the Lord bless and strengthen you to do something good for Jesus today. Amen.