“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)
Stop and consider that statement.
A person united to Jesus by faith has the same Spirit dwelling in her that raised Jesus from the dead! And the presence of the Holy Spirit in that person brings resurrection life to his “mortal” body.
There are two ways that we experience this life: in the “the redemption of our bodies” and our being “conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:23, 29). On the day that we stand before Jesus’ throne of judgment we will put off our mortality and perishability and be possesed of a body like unto Jesus’ glorious body (1 Corinthians 15:51-53; Philippians 3:21). We can have confidence, therefore, that the salvation won for us will be complete with the restoration of our material selves, and knowing this, “we wait for it with patience” (Romans 8:25).
The verse above also speaks to the life-giving Spirit conforming us “to the image of his Son.” Because we are now those “who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit,” we are, as those who “who live according to the Spirit,” to “set [our] minds on the things of the Spirit” (Romans 8:4,5). It is by the Spirit that we are enabled to “put to death the deeds of the body.” In this way we are being conformed more and more into the likeness of Jesus. Even our trials allow us to participate in his suffering, drawing upon the power of the Holy Spirit to join with Paul in considering “that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:17,18).
I believe Paul’s teaching relates closely to Jesus’ vine and branches metaphor of John 15. He intends fruit to be born from his life flowing into us. We should not, therefore, underestimate the potential for transformation that can take place as we abide in him and his words abide in us. Increasing faith, hope, godliness and holiness will mark our lives as we abide in the Vine. As we set our minds on things of the Spirit, we are renewed and our desires are reshaped so that more and more we desire what God desires. Abiding in Christ, times of suffering are understood as times of pruning (John 15:2) that, “for those who love God,” are being worked “together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28), chief of which is his choosing and appointing us to “go and bear fruit and that [our] fruit should abide” (John 15:16)
Let’s purpose and pray that resurrection life will bear abiding fruit to the glory of God.
