644 The Spiritual Man
indirectly says this Spirit of God is the Holy Spirit, Who also is the
Spirit of resurrection. He again employs the word “if”—“if the Spirit
of Him... dwells in you he... will give life to your mortal bodies.”
He is not doubting that the Holy Spirit is in the believer, for he
mentions in verse 9 that anyone belonging to Christ has the Spirit of
Christ. What he means is: you have the Holy Spirit indwelling you;
therefore your mortal bodies should experience His life. This is the
privilege shared by all who possess the indwelling Spirit. He does
not wish any saint to miss this blessing through ignorance.
This verse in reality teaches that if the Spirit of God abides in us,
then through this indwelling Power God also gives life to our mortal
bodies. It is not speaking of a future resurrection because that is not
the subject here. It simply compares the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus with our receiving life today in our body. If the verse were
touching upon resurrection it would use the term “the body of death”;
but only the mortal body is in view here, one which is subject to
death though not yet died. The believer’s body is spiritually dead, for
it marches towards the grave and must die. This is quite distinct from
one already deceased in the literal sense. Just as the Holy Spirit
indwelling us is an ever current affair, so the Holy Spirit giving life
to our mortal bodies must be a current experience too. We should
realize further that it is not speaking of our regeneration here either,
for the Holy Spirit is not imparting life to our spirit but is instead
giving life to our bodies.
By this verse God informs His children of their bodily privilege,
which is life to their mortal frames through His Spirit Who indwells
them. It does not assert that the “body of sin” has become a holy
body or that our “lowly body” has been transformed into a glorious
one or that this mortal body has put on immortality. These cannot be
realized in this life. The redemption of our earthen vessels must wait
till the Lord comes and receives us to Himself. To change the nature
of our body in this age is impossible. Therefore the real meaning of
the Holy Spirit giving life to our bodies is that: (1) He will restore us