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11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

 

Verse 11 elaborates “the Spirit is life because of righteousness” (v. 10b). God promises resurrection of the body for believers. The Spirit’s life leads to resurrection. Eternal life in time leads to the eternal existence of the resurrected life.

11 But if [since] the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from [out from] the dead dwells [continually] in you,

The “if” here means since. Paul assumed the reality that the Spirit who raised Jesus out of the dead dwells in believers. There was no doubt on Paul’s part here. The Holy Spirit continually indwells each believer (present tense).

Use of the name “Jesus” emphasizes the fact that the human being of Jesus rose from the dead.

He [the Spirit] who raised Christ from [among] the dead

The Father raised Christ from the dead; He did the doing. Since the Father did that, He will raise the believer from the dead as well. God gathers our resurrection from the resurrection of Christ.

The repetition of the resurrection of Christ in this verse emphasizes the surety of it. Our identity in Christ puts prominence on the fact that what was true of Him is true of us. Since it is a certainty that Jesus was raised from the dead, it is certain that believers will be raised also. This accounts for the change from “Jesus” in the previous phrase to “Christ” in this phrase. The former emphasized the humanity of Christ, while “Christ” represents both Jesus the person and those who are raised with Him.

Jesus was never called “Christ Jesus” until after the resurrection. This Person will give life to our mortal bodies. The power of the resurrection conquers the power of sin in our lives; resurrection power is no mere idle power.

PRINCIPLE:

The veracity of the Father who raised Jesus from the dead will send the Spirit of God to raise us from the dead.

APPLICATION:

Christ is the prototype of the believer’s resurrection. The way the Father raised Jesus from the dead is the way He will raise us from the dead. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the down payment for our resurrection. One day we will be finished with the sin capacity.

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