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“But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” Romans 8:9

“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.” Romans 8:11

The question from these two passages in Romans 8 is “how do we know the Spirit of God dwells in us”?  I think most Christians take very lightly the promise of Christ’s Spirit dwelling in us. We are in mortal bodies that will die. Yet while we are still in our mortal bodies, his spirit dwells in us when we become born again by faith. Like the wind, this is something we feel and see the effects of even though we can’t see it physically. It contradicts so much of the rationalities we are raised with, it is impossible to grasp fully in our natural minds. That is where the power of faith comes in as it is imparted to us when confronted with God’s truths.

I cannot easily explain my process of coming back to faith in Christ after so many decades of denying him and living for myself and my own reasoning. The months and even years of battling the truth of his life and resurrection now seem surreal to me as I ponder my decades of decadence. Yet, there is no doubt in my mind now that God is real, his plan for mankind is intact, and my life has been changed by the power of faith he imparted and that I finally submitted to.

Romans 8 is a powerful chapter to explain these mysteries of spiritual regeneration. Every time I read it, something new pops out to me. When we submit to faith in Christ, his spirit indwells us. We are reborn to the “family of God”. We become “sons of God” which means we identify with him, we become his heirs, but also we share in his sufferings in this world with our mortal bodies. It is truly an amazing and simultaneous experience of joy and peace in the midst of pain and suffering.  We identify and share in the cause of Jesus Christ who came as a man to show us the way to live freely, but still under the authority of our Father in Heaven. The mystery of being free in spirit yet still limited in the flesh is something to ponder and learn about for the rest of our earthly lives.

In this life, we have pain and conflicts, yet we are called to live with the Holy Spirit within us that promises the fruits of that spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) even in the midst of our physical weakness and sorrows.  When we understand our role as sons and daughters of the living God, we then experience the joy of living in that Spirit even while our bodies are dying every day. We suffer, are tempted to sin, and sometimes we do…yet we know that we have been redeemed and reconciled to God because Christ died ONCE to pay the price for all the sins of fallen man; past, present, and future (read Hebrews 10 for clarity). Then, as he ascended, Jesus promised his Holy Spirit would come to indwell us and empower us to know him and live for him…even while not seeing him in the flesh. This is just part of the magic of the spirit of Christ indwelling us through the spiritual renewal of faith. Like the wind, the power is unseen but the results of it are very evident in our lives.

I would suggest that Christianity and salvation have been hugely simplified and under-sold by churches and ministers for a long time. We are not saved by a prayer, the Bible as a book, or by the actions of going to church or “trying” to live righteously. We are saved by faith in Jesus only, and even that is a gift we cannot conjure up or pretend to have. Some try to do that, but in the long run, there will be no spiritual regeneration or change in that person who is pretending. The spirit comes when we truly lay down our lives in exchange for the new spiritual life God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit have promised and imparted to us.

So, first step…being born again into the family of God. From there the Holy Spirit inhabits us and teaches us all things. We are to live as obedient sons and daughters…not out of fear of judgment, but out of love for our Father and respect for the rest of our family. As we grow, God’s Spirit teaches us, sanctifies us, and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. All the old goes away as we are renewed by his spirit and his word.

“So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:12-17)

If the spirit of Christ dwells in us, we recognize ourselves a “heirs of God”…meaning we identify with him, we serve Him out of love, and we suffer for him…all the time knowing that we share in his glory and one day we will see him as he is…in our glorified bodies. His spirit within us gives us hope of his soon return to this world “to judge the living and the dead” (Acts 10:42). This is when our spiritual family will be reunited and the spirit within us will be clear and visible for all to see.