When we place our faith in Jesus, something remarkable happens.
God doesn’t simply forgive our sins, declare us His, and then send us off with instructions to figure out the Christian life on our own.
He gives us His Spirit.
I don’t know that we stop often enough to consider how extraordinary that is.
The God who created us.
The God who saved us.
The God who knows every weakness, every struggle, every fear, and every place where we still need to grow—
chooses to dwell within His people.
And Paul tells us something else that almost seems too enormous to fit inside one sentence.
The Spirit dwelling within us is the Spirit of the God who raised Jesus from the dead.
That’s not a little extra spiritual assistance.
That’s resurrection power.
Today’s Saving Grace of God
Romans 8:9–11 (ESV)
“You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
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.”
Setting the Scene
Romans 8 comes after Paul has spent several chapters telling us why we need Jesus.
We have sinned.
We cannot make ourselves righteous.
God has justified us through faith in Christ.
And even after salvation, we discover something every Christian learns pretty quickly:
We still struggle with sin.
Paul knows that struggle personally. Romans 7 contains his painfully relatable description of wanting to do what is right and somehow doing the very thing he hates instead.
Then Romans 8 begins with one of Scripture’s greatest declarations:
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
And Paul begins explaining the new life believers have through the Holy Spirit.
Something fundamental has changed.
Those who belong to Jesus have the Spirit of God dwelling within them.
Paul isn’t claiming Christians suddenly become perfect people who never struggle again.
He’s telling us that we no longer belong to the life we had before Christ.
We belong to Him.
And His Spirit now lives in us.
Reflection
There are days when I feel very aware of God’s presence.
And there are days when I don’t.
There are days when prayer comes easily, Scripture speaks straight into my heart, and following Jesus feels almost natural.
Then there are the other days.
The distracted days.
The discouraged days.
The days when I struggle with something I thought I had already handed over to God about fourteen times.
And if I’m not careful, I can begin measuring God’s presence by my feelings.
Paul doesn’t do that.
He doesn’t say the Spirit of God dwells in us when we feel particularly close to Him.
He says the Spirit dwells in those who belong to Christ.
That means God’s presence in my life isn’t dependent upon whether I’m having an impressive Christian day.
I am His.
And He is with me.
That’s why I love the picture in Psalm 139:
“You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.”
There is something about those words that gets me every single time.
Behind me.
Before me.
His hand upon me.
And now Romans 8 tells me:
His Spirit within me.
Goodness, God doesn’t leave much room for me to be alone, does He?
And thank God for that, because I need Him every hour of every day.
But then Paul takes this truth somewhere even bigger.
“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you…”
Read that again.
The Spirit dwelling within God’s people is the Spirit of the God who raised Jesus from the dead.
Sometimes I think I ask God for strength while completely forgetting the strength of the God I’m asking.
I look at my circumstances and think:
I can’t do this.
Sometimes that’s probably true.
I can’t.
But Christianity was never supposed to be a demonstration of what I can accomplish through sheer determination.
God Himself is at work within His people.
That doesn’t mean He magically removes every struggle. Christians still hurt. We still grieve. We still battle temptation. We still get exhausted. Our bodies still grow old, become sick, and eventually die.
Romans 8 doesn’t put candy coating over any of that.
It gives us something much stronger than pretending those things aren’t real.
It gives us resurrection.
The body is mortal.
Death is real.
But death already picked a fight with Jesus once.
And lost.
The tomb could not hold Him.
And Paul says the God who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to our mortal bodies.
Suddenly the Holy Spirit’s presence means even more.
He reminds us who we belong to today.
And His presence points toward what God has promised us tomorrow.
So when I feel weak, I don’t have to pretend I’m strong.
When I feel afraid, I don’t have to pretend nothing scares me.
When life hurts, I don’t have to pretend Christianity makes everything easy.
I can simply remember:
The Spirit of the living God dwells in me.
The God who saved me has not abandoned me.
The God who is changing me is still at work.
And the God who raised Jesus from the grave has already shown me what He can do with death.
Short Prayer
Father God, wow, wow, wow.
You are so good to me.
Thank You for Your never-ending love. Thank You for the gift of Your Holy Spirit and for the assurance that I belong to Christ.
And thank You for staying so close.
Your Word says, “You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.” I don’t know that I’ll ever read those words without being overwhelmed by them.
Behind me.
Before me.
Your hand upon me.
Your Spirit within me.
Father, I need You every hour of every day. When I feel strong, remind me where my strength really comes from. When I feel weak, remind me that weakness does not mean You have left.
And when this life becomes frightening, remind me that the Spirit dwelling within me is the Spirit of the God who raised Jesus from the dead.
Thank You that even death cannot separate me from the life You have promised.
In Christ’s precious name, I pray. Amen.
Reflection Question
When you feel weak, afraid, or far from God, how would it change that moment to remember that the Spirit of the God who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in those who belong to Christ?
Closing Encouragement
If you belong to Christ, you have not been left to walk this life alone.
God’s Spirit dwells within you.
Not because you always feel Him.
Not because your faith is always strong.
Not because you’ve finally figured out how to live the Christian life perfectly.
Because you belong to Jesus.
And the Spirit dwelling within you is the Spirit of the God who raised Christ from the grave.
So we don’t have to pretend life isn’t hard.
We have something better.
We have a God stronger than death.
And one day, the God who raised Jesus will raise His children too.
Helpful Daily Resources
- Read the full chapter on Bible.com ~ Romans 8
- Enjoy Bible.com ~ Verse of the Day
- Try Bible.com ~ Bible Recap: Read the Bible in a Year Plan
Continue in Saved by Grace
- God’s Love For Us is Clearly Demonstrated in Christ’s Death
- Believe In Christ And Receive Forgiveness In His Name
- Christ is the Source of Eternal Salvation