Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Romans 8:5 - 8:11
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
The difference between the carnal mind and the spiritual mind:
v. 5. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
v. 6. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace,
v. 7. because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the Law of God, neither, indeed, can be.
v. 8. So, then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
v. 9. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of His.
v. 10. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness.
v. 11. But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.
In this section there is a further illustration and amplification of the contrast between flesh and Spirit and between those that are devoted to either. Those that are after the flesh, that have the moral nature and essence of the flesh, have their entire mind taken up with the things of the flesh; the interests of the flesh engage their entire attention. All their imagination, their lusts and desires are centered upon the gratification of sensual, worldly thoughts and ideas, Gal_5:24. But those that have the nature of the Spirit, that are born anew out of the Spirit, have only one aim, namely, that of performing the works of the Spirit and bringing forth His fruits, Gal_5:22. For the thinking of the flesh, the object and goal of the imagination of the natural, sinful heart, is death. The carnal joys and pleasures of man will finally result in death, in eternal death. But the thinking of the Spirit, the result of the Spirit's desiring, the object upon which the anxious longing of the Spirit is centered, as He lives in the mind of regenerated man, is life and peace. The spiritual life of a Christian, as manifested in all its thinking, is not the cause of the life in peace with God, of the realization of the reconciliation with God, but this life and peace is given by God to the spiritual life. This contrast between flesh and Spirit is emphasized from another side: Because the mind, the disposition, of the flesh is enmity toward God. The flesh finds the goal of its thinking to consist in eternal death because of its hostility to God, the Fountain of life. The people that follow the dictates of their flesh deliberately choose the works of the flesh, because they are evil, opposed to God and His holy will. To the Law of God the flesh will not yield obedience, the very idea of doing so being foreign to its nature. The contrast between the flesh, the sinful nature of man, and the pure and holy Law of God is so great that an agreement is out of the question: the chasm between them cannot be bridged. Those that are in the flesh, that bear in themselves the nature, the peculiarity of the flesh, cannot please God. The essence of the carnal mind is rebellion and hatred against God, and this disposition cannot be shown in any other way but by a deliberate expression of this tendency in acts which are displeasing to the Lord. The Christians are thoroughly distinct from people that exhibit such hostility toward God: You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit; the Spirit of God that lives in the believers is their sphere of life and activity, in Him they live and move. And they cannot but be under the rule and guidance of the Spirit, if the Spirit indeed, truly, lives in them. The entire life and bearing of the Christians is in full accord with the demands of the true spiritual life, because that is the natural, the inevitable result and consequence of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in their hearts. It is necessary to stress this point; for if anyone have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. A person must be regenerated in truth, and not merely in appearance; he must actually have received the Spirit of Christ and have this Spirit dwelling in Him, otherwise Christ will not acknowledge him as one of His own. Note that the Spirit is here called the Spirit of Christ, that Christ is therefore placed on an equality with the Father as the One from whom the Spirit proceeds.
And now the apostle presents his conclusion: If, however, Christ is in you, if He is the impelling power of your lives, brought into your hearts by the work of His Spirit, Joh_14:16-18; Joh_14:23, then the body indeed, the instrument of sin, is dead, that is, subject to death on account of sin from the first moment of its existence; but the spirit, the human spirit regenerated and renewed, the new man, is life because of righteousness. The spirit, the soul of man, having received the perfect righteousness of Christ in justification, has the spiritual life which will secure for it immortal and blessed existence. By faith in Christ the Christians become partakers of eternal life So it is implied here also that the supreme blessing of eternity is based upon Christ only, in order that no one might have any reason for boasting. And we not only have the pledge of immortal life in and through Christ, so far as our soul is concerned, but we have the assurance also that our bodies will rise again: If the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead live in you, then He that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will quicken, will return to life your dead bodies through the Spirit that has His dwelling in you. The life which we have in our soul by faith will finally result in a complete triumph over death. Note how appropriate this description of God is in this connection Mark also that the three persons of the Godhead are here mentioned as taking part in the final resurrection of the dead, just as they all have been active in the conversion of man. The same God that raised up Jesus from the dead, thus proving that He is the Source, the almighty Fountain of life, will make alive, will give life to, our dead bodies; and this work He will perform through His Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Son Christ is the Mediator of our salvation, having died and risen again for our sakes, having prepared for us the life of glorification. Our resurrection and glorification has its basis in the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Thus the spiritual life of the Christians, the Spirit of God and of Christ that lives in the Christians, has for its goal eternal life, with the glorification of our bodies.