Most who have been Christians for a few years look back on particular points in their pilgrimage that stands alone. Those points are sacred moments for the believer, events in the Christian walk and experiences of new measures of grace that mark transition and growth in Christlikeness. Paul mentions such an experience, so sacred, that he refers to it as though an observer instead of the one walking through the experience. He was caught up in the Spirit and saw visions of things that he could not repeat (2 Cor. 12:1-6).
I came to faith in Christ as a fifteen year old after six or seven years as a lost church member. As I have shared before, our church had very little biblical teaching. A few dear men and women opened the Word and taught us but the general rule was little Bible and lots of activity. So after coming to faith in Christ, I did not have a very solid foundation upon which to build. Little by little, often more by facing error than trial, I began learning the rudiments of the faith. Some truths I acknowledged as true though I did not know them experientially or grasp their place in the Christian walk.
One of the truths that I talked about with others and heard spoken of was that of Jesus Christ indwelling the Christian by the Spirit. I was accustomed to phrases like, “Jesus is in your heart,” and “be filled with the Spirit” yet I had no understanding of what these sayings implied. Though I would have affirmed that Christ lived in me or that the Spirit lived in me the truth and the weight of such statements had never struck me.
I was about eighteen when I was doing some reading and studying about the Christian life. The book I was reading offered some reflections on Colossians 1:27, “To whom God willed to make know what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Those words grabbed me: Christ in you. Did I know that truth before? I would have agreed to it but I did not know those words as my own until that moment. I put the book down and began to think upon those wonderful words from this little epistle. Christ in you. In me? Yes, by the grace of God, Christ in you!
It is no exaggeration to say that seeing this truth changed my whole Christian life. I went from a dismal dependence upon self to the marvelous reality that the Lord who saved me also indwelled me. It changed the way that I thought about the Christian life. It affected the way I made decisions. It turned me upside down! It was a sacred moment that increased my assurance.
Interestingly, it was not new or profound, at least in the sense of being a new discovery of some long-hidden truth. It was basic to the Christian life but due to my dullness, I had not come to grips with it and its implications. But once that happened, my walk with Jesus Christ changed.
That same truth we consider in these verses and with more detail than the Colossians passage. Here is the heart of Christian assurance. You know that you are a Christian because the Spirit dwells in you. Does He dwell in you?
I want us to consider five realities that are true of every Christian. As we saw last week, Paul is not dealing with spiritual elites in these verses. There are no multi-tiered divisions of Christianity. One is either “according to the flesh” or “according to the Spirit.” But what does it look like to be “according to the Spirit”? That’s how Paul explains true Christians.
What does “dominion” suggest to our minds? The word comes from the Latin dominus that means ‘master or lord.’ So it points to a rule or a power over others, or a strong influence or sway over. One exercising dominion exercises sovereignty over particular people or places. In centuries past, one might refer to the dominion of the British crown over its empire to express this sovereign control.
The Christian has experienced a change of dominion in his life. He has lived “according to the flesh,” that is, under the dominion or rule of the flesh. The flesh called the shots for his life, consciously and unconsciously. The flesh—the fallenness of humanity and its influence throughout the world—allowed no rivals. The flesh demanded, influenced, motivated, rewarded, and controlled. No wonder Paul wrote, “Those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh… for the mind set on the flesh is death.” If you are “according to the flesh,” if you are a son of Adam, you will naturally set your mind on the things that the flesh finds pleasing.
Not so the Christian! “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.” Paul explains this change of dominion with a negative and positive. Negatively, “you are not in the flesh.” What was true of you before you were declared righteous in Christ is no longer true of you. You were in the flesh but when the work of Him who came in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin condemned sin in the flesh was applied to you by grace, then the relationship with the flesh ended. No longer would the flesh rule over your life.
Why do so many Christians make such poor improvement in their Christian walks? One major reason is that they think they are still in the flesh. They still listen to the old sovereign even though they have died to the flesh through Christ. But that is not you if you are “in the Spirit.”
So what is implied in this change of dominion? If you are not in the flesh then there is only one other realm in which you live: “in the Spirit.” While you previously were under the rule of the flesh you are now under the rule of the Spirit. He is the indwelling sovereign. He abides over the throne of your life. You live and exist under the realm of His power.
How determined and certain is the Spirit’s rule? Is He an easy pushover? Can we insert Him on the throne of our lives and dethrone Him at our whim? That is the picture that has often been given of the Christian life. Yet that picture, popularized in the so-called “Blue Bird” tract that I spoke of a few weeks ago, gives far too much ability and power to man. Can you dethrone God the Spirit? Will He allow mere humans or devils to knock Him from His seat of authority? Does He cower in a corner when we assert our powerful wills over Him? Does He truly exercise dominion or does He operate by human permission?
I think you see that such ideas are not only unbiblical but also silly! “You are in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.” The mighty Spirit who brooded over the face of the deep at creation, who breathed life into man, who raised Jesus from the dead—this same mighty Spirit not only dwells in you but exercises dominion over you. You are now under His influence. What will He influence you to do? How will He influence you to live? Is His influence stronger than that of the flesh that had long influenced you?
We must not think of the Spirit as a mild-mannered guest but as sovereign exercising dominion. He works to form Christ in us (Gal. 4:19). He conforms us to the image of Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:29). He persists in the work that He sovereignly begins (Phil. 1:6).
Here is the ground of the believer’s assurance. The same Holy Spirit that illumined you, convicted you, and regenerated you also exercises dominion over you. He is not shy but assertive. He does not wait for your permission to act but acts as sovereign in sanctifying you. You live in His realm and no longer that of the flesh. His dominion is a love that will not let you go. The persistent work of the Spirit conforming you to the image of Christ bears testimony to the reality of Jesus Christ’s saving work in your life.
I love the conditional clause, “if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.” Paul is not casting doubt here or in the other conditional statements, especially noted by the use of the 1st class conditional sentences that assume reality. You cannot be in the flesh since the Spirit of God dwells in you is what Paul implies.
Do you remember another case where Paul uses that word “dwell” in this context? If you journey back to 7:17, you read his warning of “sin which dwells in me.” We pointed out that sin is not welcome but is a squatter that has taken up residence without due authority in our lives as Christians. But Paul contrasts the squatter with the permanent residence of the Holy Spirit. That’s not an unusual image in Scripture. Paul uses it twice in 1 Corinthians, first to show the corporate dwelling of the Spirit in the church (3:16) and second to show the personal indwelling of the Spirit in the believer (6:19). He uses the image of the temple to remind us that the Spirit no longer lives in temples made of stones and cedar planks but in the temple of the church—corporately—and the temple of the body—individually. In parallel language, Paul asks the Corinthians if they recognize this about themselves, “that Jesus Christ is in you” (2 Cor. 13:5). The church is pictured in Ephesians 2:21-22 as a holy temple in the Lord that is growing and being built together “into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.” Jesus explained to the disciples that the Spirit would be in them, and that His indwelling equaled Christ’s coming to believers. When that happened, He said, “In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you” (John 14:17-20).
Think of the richness of this language. The Spirit of God “dwells in you.” He takes up residence—not as a guest that you direct to certain portions of the house but make others off limits. No indeed. He comes to indwell you as Lord of the house! His sanctifying work begins the moment He crosses the threshold of the heart and mind. He begins to fit your life as one that will glorify God and magnify the gospel of grace in every part of your being.
We’re in that perpetual process of trying to make improvements to our house. If you are like me, you sometimes look at all the details that need attention and feel overwhelmed. But I’ve learned over the years that it takes steadiness, persistence, and often ruthlessness to accomplish what needs to be done. Would we think that the Holy Spirit would do less in those whom He conforms to the image of Jesus Christ? Will He be overwhelmed and give up on us? No, no! For He is God who has all power and who patiently works to accomplish His purposes in our lives. Will He be satisfied with the traces and patterns of the flesh dwelling in us? No indeed. He will hammer, pry, chisel, cut, sand, and hack away in removing these things in us. He restores the image of God in you. His work is progressive until you stand complete before God, glorified, and perfectly fitted to live before the King of kings.
Do you notice when other people are in your home? Are they so quiet and you so unconcerned that they stay there as though invisible? I dare say, if someone is in your home you know it. You act a certain way with them. You provide more attention to your table fare when you have others in your home. You are a bit more careful about how you dress and stroll through your home if you know that others are present. In other words, you notice others are present and so accommodate them in how you live in their presence.
Do you notice the Holy Spirit in your life? Do you recognize His presence? Do you acknowledge Him by your actions, your conversations, your activities, your habits, your ambitions? Are you conscious that He hears your whining and complaining, your angry outbursts, your lying and deceit? Do you know that He sees your laziness and indiscipline, your rebellion against the Word, your neglect of the body of Christ, your insincerity in worship? Do you notice the Spirit? How do you know He is present? He is grieved over your sin. He is quenched by your putting aside and neglecting the Word of God. He fills you with joy at the truths of the gospel and the revelation of Christ’s faithfulness. He floods you with gratitude when you recognize that every good gift comes from God’s kind hands.
Here again is the ground of the believer’s assurance. The Holy Spirit dwells in you and He is not silent. He is not a guest to tiptoe around but Lord in the heart and life. He makes Himself known in ways that cannot be confused with chance or luck. He asserts His authority over those in whom He dwells.
Before I move from this point, I want to emphasize something that is so important in this passage. Did you notice that Paul did not use a solitary title for the Spirit? He is called “the Spirit, then “the Spirit of God,” then “the Spirit of Christ,” then “the Spirit,” and then “the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead”—that is, the Father. Then he closes by referring to “His Spirit”—again, the Father’s. So which is He? Here we have the beauty of Trinitarian language. Paul did not get uptight in making sure that he did not blur any lines of identity. He shows us the reality and unity of the Godhead while also showing us the distinction in the persons and their function. He also reminds us that the Godhead works in complete concert. That’s why Jesus could tell the disciples that when the Spirit came to them He Himself would be coming to them (John 14:18). It is also why, in that same context of the Upper Room Discourse, that Jesus explained this indwelling of the Spirit as being the Father and the Son making their abode in the believer (14:23). It is yet another instance of where we understand the Trinitarian nature of our salvation. So we praise Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for foreknowing, predestining, calling, justifying, and glorifying all who are in Christ.
Paul frequently uses negative and positive in order to drive home truths. He does this again in the second sentence of verse 9. “But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.” If the Holy Spirit does not dwell in you then you are not a Christian. I remind you that His indwelling is not a special class of Christian but the only Christian. If He does not indwell you then Christ has not justified you; and if Christ has not justified you then the Spirit has not called you by the gospel; and if the Spirit has not called you then the Father has not predestined and foreknown you.
The Greek reads more simply. “But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, that one is not His.” But let’s put it positively. If anyone has the Spirit of Christ, that one is Christ’s!
What is a Christian? He is one who belongs to Jesus Christ by virtue of the price paid to ransom him from sin and to redeem him from eternal loss. He belongs to Jesus Christ whose death removed the enmity that separated him from God, and who consequently, adopted him into the heavenly family. He belongs to Jesus Christ who secured him before God, having satisfied the justice of God on his behalf and having joined him to His resurrection so that he might have life. He belongs to Jesus Christ who promises to never leave or forsake him, who ever lives to make intercession for him, and who will one day return to take him to the Father’s House where he is presented with the church as the Bride of Christ.
You belong to Jesus Christ. Not to self, not to the world, not to the flesh but you belong to Christ. You no longer belong to your job or to your hobby or to your ambitions, but you belong to Jesus Christ. Other powers try to regularly make claims on you. You dare not heed their siren cries. You belong to Christ. You sometime struggle with old desires for the flesh, but that is no longer who you are. You belong to Christ. Remember whose you are!
As one that belongs to Jesus Christ know that He takes care of His own. That’s what He told the Father just hours before He went to the cross to atone for our sins and to deliver us from the dominion of the devil. Listen to His prayer and notice the certainty and tenderness of His care for us.
I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth (John 17:9-19).
Here is assurance. You belong to Jesus Christ and He exercises His care over you: preserving, keeping, guarding, and sanctifying you.
Verse ten is controversial due to the translation of spirit. The question is whether it is lower case or upper case: our spirit or the Holy Spirit. Good arguments exist on both sides linguistically and contextually. I’m not sure that anyone can be dogmatic, though many are. However, regardless of the translation we end up at virtually the same spot. I’ve agreed with the NASB translation though NIV and ESV translate this as Spirit, upper case. “If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.” [Or alternatively, “yet the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”]
We notice a contrast between the body and the spirit. What is meant by “though the body is dead because of sin”? Paul has in mind the lasting effects of sin on the physical. Death reminds us that we are dying, that we are mortal creatures still living in a fallen world and still facing the physical effects of sin even though spiritually renewed. As Paul put it to the Corinthians, “Though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16). That gave Paul encouragement. This is similar emphasis. While our bodies face the effects of sin, our spirits are brought to life by the righteousness of Jesus Christ. The effect of sin equals death; the effect of righteousness through Christ equals life. That’s true of every believer. Every one of us is simultaneously dying yet very much alive through the righteousness in Christ applied by the Spirit.
If this refers to the Holy Spirit, it would seem odd that the Holy Spirit is “life” (the more literal translation) “because of righteousness.” However, if the emphasis is on the Holy Spirit alive in your spirit or inner man due to the righteousness of Jesus Christ, then we have arrived at the same conclusion.
So what’s the point? How does this affect assurance? Coming to faith in Jesus Christ is no mere paper transaction. While there are positional elements to the Christian life that we’ve considered, here Paul emphasizes something more in the realm of experience. Though you are mortal and every day one foot closer to death, the Spirit applied righteousness of Jesus Christ makes you vitally alive. You are alive to the Lord God in ways that you never dreamed. You are alive to the cross and its implications. You are alive to the provisions of the Holy Spirit. You are alive to the church as the body of Christ. You are alive to the eternal hope that is yours in Christ. You are alive to the richness of the Word of God. You are alive to the refuge of prayer. You are alive to the joy and humility of worship. Do you know something of this kind of life? It’s not that you have arrived in each of these areas but does your heart resonate with these things?
Hope is one of the chief characteristics of the Christian. One word that described the ancient world, and even our own, is hopelessness. Look at the pictures of sin’s ravages in the world whether by disease, bombing, natural disasters, or old age. Hopelessness is written across people’s faces. They have lived their lives, however short or long, however well heeled or impoverished but they have come to the end, having nothing to look forward to. This life is over and the great unknown beyond the grave ahead. And they have no hope.
But not so for the Christian! Here is the believer’s assurance that transforms his attitude, conversation, and anticipation even in the worst that the fallen world can throw his way. “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” The Holy Spirit links us experientially to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, not only in a moral way as we’ve considered in Romans 6 but also bodily. No wonder that Paul, at the end of his life, told Timothy, “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead” (2 Tim. 2:8). So tied to Jesus Christ are those whom He has redeemed by His own blood, that the Holy Spirit guarantees that our mortal bodies will be raised to immortality. The same personalities—fully sanctified—will be given the same glorified body that Jesus Christ possessed after the resurrection and even now in heaven. Here are the full effects of our union with Jesus Christ made certain by the indwelling Spirit.
I call this the final act of the Spirit in the believer. He that called us, regenerated us, baptized us into the body, sealed us for the day of redemption, fills us, empowers us, strengthens us, grieves over our sin, reveals Christ to us, and sanctifies us, will one day “give life to your mortal bodies.” How do we know this? Paul tells us, “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,” then count on it, mark it down, flood your heart with hope and certainty, He will treat you just as the Father treated His own Son who died for you.
Do you know this assurance of the indwelling Spirit? Has the evidence of a change of dominion, a new rule surfaced in your life?
Do you recognize the evidence of the new resident—the Holy Spirit—dwelling in you? Do you see where He is forming Christ in you?
Do you find comfort in this new belonging—that you belong to Jesus Christ? Does that bring you more satisfaction than all the riches of the world?
Are you alive within by the Holy Spirit? Has the righteousness of Christ transformed you?
Do you have hope implanted by the Spirit that gives you strength to press on until that day that you are raised from mortality to immortality?
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