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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comJamieson Fausset Brown Commentary - Romans 8:9 - 8:9
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But ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you - This does not mean, “if the disposition or mind of God dwell in you”; but “if the Holy Ghost dwell in you” (see 1Co 6:11, 1Co 6:19; 1Co 3:16, etc.). (It thus appears that to be “in the spirit” means here to be under the dominion of our own renewed mind; because the indwelling of God’s Spirit is given as the evidence that we are “in the spirit”).
Now - “But.”
if any man have not the Spirit of Christ - Again, this does not mean “the disposition or mind of Christ,” but the Holy Ghost; here called “the Spirit of Christ,” just as He is called “the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (see on Rom 8:2). It is as “the Spirit of Christ” that the Holy Ghost takes possession of believers, introducing into them all the gracious, dove-like disposition which dwelt in Him (Mat 3:16; Joh 3:34). Now if any man’s heart be void, not of such dispositions, but of the blessed Author of them, “the Spirit of Christ.”
he is none of his - even though intellectually convinced of the truth of Christianity, and in a general sense influence by its spirit. Sharp, solemn statement this!