Are you different now with the Spirit in you?
They are to act as motivations for action, providing incentives and inspiration to be more Spirit-controlled and less flesh-friendly. Similarly, if the word ei (if) is translated as ‘since’, in 8:9–11, the positive nature of Paul’s perspective of the believer is considerably heightened.7
The Greek word ei is capable of being translated ‘if’ or’since’ and it is often the context that determines the most appropriate meaning. In these verses, given Paul’s desire to encourage the believers to recognize their relationship with the Spirit and thus to benefit from it in their fight against the flesh, it is more likely that ‘since’ is the correct translation; it provides an explicit assurance to the modern reader, rather than uncertainty.
He is not sowing doubt into their minds as to whether the Spirit is in them. Rather, based on the presence of the Spirit, he establishes their identity and security as children of God. The Spirit is their identifying mark that they are children of God. Therefore, as a result of the Spirit’s certain relationship with them, they are not only against the flesh by default, but also they are not tied to it anymore, and furthermore, they have the authority and power of the Spirit to overcome it.
It takes effort for believers to achieve what the Spirit desires. Holiness is not natural, nor does it automatically occur the longer one remains a Christian. It takes determination and an intentional strategy to gain victory over evil and to reflect integrity and goodness.
An old USA Cherokee Indian once told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside everybody, a battle between two wolves, one of which is evil, the other being good. The grandson listened and was then quiet, finally asking his grandfather, ‘Which wolf wins?’ His grandfather responded, ‘The one you spend time with and look after.’ The challenge for believers is whether we choose to spend time with those things that harm us and hurt the Spirit or with the one who wishes only to do us good.
When Jawaharlal Nehru made a speech to mark the end of the long struggle for Indian independence from Great Britain on August 14 1947, he stated the following: ‘The achievement we celebrate today is but a step, an opening of opportunity, to the greater triumphs and achievements that await us.
Are we brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future? Freedom and power bring responsibility.’ Similarly, the freedom and power initiated by the Spirit are great privileges that carry with them the possibility of targeting the future creatively and strategically, intentionally determining to build on the potential that they offer for the benefit of all and to the glory of God.
He went on to say, ‘As long as there are tears and suffering, our work will not be over.’ The Spirit of compassion walks with all believers in order that they may see through his eyes and react as he would react at the world in which they live. The work is ongoing and sometimes a struggle; it is certainly a challenge, a mixture of trials and triumphs, but we walk with the Spirit.
7 So Dunn, Romans 1–8, p. 443; see Cranfield, Romans Vol. 1, p. 388; C. K. Barrett, The Epistle to the Romans (A. and C. Black, 1973) p. 158, offers ‘as is indeed the case’; Rom. 8:9, rsv—‘But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, [since (not merely “if”)] the Spirit of God really dwells in you’; 8:10, rsv—‘But [since (not merely “if”)] Christ is in you …’; 8:11, rsv—‘[Since (not merely “if”)] the Spirit … who raised Jesus … dwells in you … he … will give life to your mortal bodies.’ These are positive not negative or doubtful assertions.
Warrington, K. (2009). The Message of the Holy Spirit: The Spirit of Encounter (D. Tidball, Ed.; pp. 160–161). Inter-Varsity Press.
