Romans 8:10-11 - In Preparation for the Concept of Vivification, Part 2 (Conciliation Series, Part LV)
Part IV: God’s Conciliation, Confirmed
Now if Christ is in you, the body, indeed, is dead because of sin, yet
the spirit is life because of righteousness.
Before we consider the basics of vivification in verse 11, we must wrap up this verse.
The body, to God, in relation to vivification, is dead. Why? Because of sin. Yes, the very same concept we discussed in Romans 5:12 (see how the letter is unfolding? Previously proven points can be discussed, for clarification/emphasis.) The sin that Adam committed brought death into all mankind. It is through this death that all sin has been manifested in your body, which is why your body is now considered dead. God is basically skipping to the outcome of your flesh’s body, by proclaiming this, here. It is dead. He can say this in relation to vivification, because the “spirit is life” part of the verse is something that makes you a part of the new humanity now. The new humanity takes no part in the old humanity, hence the current deadening of your body.
Your body, as a saint, in the now, is not going to be resurrected. Funnily enough, there is not a single verse in all of Scripture which speaks of the “resurrection of the body.” Such a phrase is not found in the original text. With this, God’s authority, in enforcing His penalty on the old humanity (death,) still stands. He is not reversing it, but starting something new. Your body belongs to the old creation, is still subject to vanity (Rom. 8:23,) is tempted by the same old nonsense (Rom. 1:28-32,) and is already considered dead (Rom. 8:10,) thanks to Christ’s accomplishment on the cross.
I want you to dwell on that for as much time as you can. So, so many Christian songs, sermons, and translations proclaim a ‘resurrection of the body.’ Knowing what we know from the true Greek text, we can safely assert that the idea that “this body should be resurrected” is rooted in a desire for, and a pride over, this flesh as we know it. It shows a hardheadedness in man, expecting these bodies to survive God’s curse on them, and aligns with the lie of the “immortality of the soul,” which we have exposed in various ways throughout this study.
In contrast, the spirit is life. When considering the entire statement, contrasting the body of the saint with the spirit of the saint, we can clearly see vivification’s beginning – which is in spirit. We may not have yet considered the basic fundamentals of vivification, but we can first show what it isn’t. “Vivification” will eventually sustain our already-living spirit with a body (8:11,) but we’ll deal with that later. For now, we must ask yet another major question: if everyone on earth has a spirit that is, from our literal perception, currently alive (that is, we’re not proclaiming the evangel to a graveyard, but to crowds,) then what is different about the vivification that we are currently considering now? What is special about this life in relation to everyone else’s, be it another human being’s life, or animal, or even plant life?
It’s a good question, and demands an answer. If left unanswered, we run the risk of an objector turning their nose up in disgust and discarding God’s concept of ‘vivification’ entirely. The answer, thankfully, is not a complicated one: there is a difference between the ‘breath of life’ that Adam was given (Gen. 2:7) and the life of Christ that is being discussed here in Romans. God, when speaking of the life He has given all, calls the spirit He provides the “spirit of life” (Gen. 6:17, 7:15, Ecc. 3:21.) He does not delineate this spirit between any living organism (Ecc. 3:19.) The closest an objector could get to twisting a verse is in mention of “the spirit of Eloah,” mentioned in Job 27:3, but even then, the verse clarifies that this is in Job’s “nostrils,” not dwelling in Him as if Job were a temple, as you are. It highlights that God is operating all (1 Cor. 12:6, Eph. 4:6,) but that His actual will is accomplished in His chosen saints, who are not solely living to themselves, as everything else with the breath of life, but to Him, through Christ (2 Cor. 5:16-17.)
We can see, then, that we are dealing with a different kind of life. Every soul holds a unique, individual spirit of life. But the spirit that is life is Christ (John 1:1-4,) Who is a “vivifying Spirit” (1 Cor. 15:47.) This is far beyond our spirit, which was condemned to death (Gen. 3:19, Rom. 1:32.) The spirit of our Father, as well as the spirit of our Brother, Jesus Christ, are divine by nature – God, of course, being God, and Christ being His Image, the Emblem of His assumption, and His Channel. As we well know, the divine is far superior to man, exemplified in Christ’s superiority to Adam (Rom. 5:12-19, 1 Cor. 15:45-49.) In this case, it is that we have the spirit of life, while Christ’s spirit is life.
Now, we have a bit of an issue when considering the contrastive words “dead” and “life” in the passage. As we know, the opposite of “life” is “death,” yet Paul does not say our body is death. As we’ve studied, our body is subject to death, but it is not death itself. We see death being abolished in 1 Cor. 15:26. We will learn more about what will become of the body in verse 11, but until then, we have no reason to assume the body is to “be abolished,” as death will be, unless God explicitly tells us this. He says the body is dead, not the body is death.
This is a very long-winded way of simply saying: there are tons of different kinds of life (Gen. 1:11-12, 24-25,) from animal to vegetable to mineral, from macroscopic to microscopic, even celestial and terrestrial. Every single living thing has a spirit. God operates all through Christ (1 Cor. 8:6,) and as such Christ sustains every. Living. Thing. Yet at the same time, there are clearly boundaries separating each kind of spirit, making them all clearly distinct (Gen. 1:20-28.) My God! Not one spirit in all of creation could do this! Only the living God has ever effected this!
It is this “spirit” that is being referred to in verse 9. It is this spirit that now dwells in you. Your life is hidden together with Christ in God (Col. 3:3.) This spirit that we are referring to is unlike any other spirit because of this important quality, denoted in this verse: it is righteous. Unlike Adam’s body, which is dead, Christ’s spirit is life. Adam’s body is dead because of sin. Christ’s spirit is life because of righteousness. If Christ is in us, then: because this spirit is righteous, you are now joined with a righteous spirit of life. In conclusion: you are now a righteous spirit of life.
We can see how closely “dead” and “sin” pair, along with “life” and “righteousness.” This concept has been rearing its beautiful head all throughout Romans, and it’s interesting to note why. There is one major theme in Romans, being God’s power for salvation (Rom. 1:16.) He must, then, delineate between “life” and “death” in all ways, so that we in Christ can fully discern His accomplishment of “saving.” We had to be shown the effect of death in Rom. 1:18-3:20. We had to be shown the effect of life in Rom. 3:21-4:25. The effect of the condemnation of death is sin (Rom. 5:12,) while the channel of salvation for eonian life is righteousness (Rom. 5:21.) This truth is simply established here in this verse in a different way. We have seen this contrast play out between two persons (Adam and Christ, in chapter 5,) two concepts (Sin and Righteousness, in chapters 6 and 7,) and now two qualities (flesh and spirit, chapter 8.)
Just as surely dead your body is, so also is your spirit surely life. This body? It’s quite literally doomed to die. Rom. 8:5-7 wasn’t a threat; it isn’t a “behave, or else!” It’s a statement of fact. This is reality. This body is mortal. We have been given a negative and a positive justification (Rom. 3:21-23, 6:5-7,) confirming that our spirit is made righteous because of Christ’s overwhelming presence in us. It’s the justifying of life that will eventually occur in all mankind (Rom. 5:18,) and it is because of this justifying of life, this joining of Christ’s life to all, that will enable all to eventually be vivified as well (1 Cor. 15:22.)
This righteousness is going to be true of all – and it’s starting with you, now. Your spirit is declaratively “righteous.” If, for some odd reason, the U.S. government took you into captivity and murdered you in the same way Christ was murdered, it would be considered as unjust as His murder, and Death would have to give you back to Life. The fact of the “life in your spirit” fulfills the just requirement of the law, which is why you are able to walk, and how nothing is condemnation to you (8:1-3.) You, in spirit, are now able to follow every single request that Paul gives in every epistle. Every request he makes (that applies to you,) you are able to (and should) abide by – not because of you, or even for your sake, but because of God’s pity (Rom. 12:1,) and for grace (Rom. 5:21, Eph. 2:8.)
The main objection to everything I’ve just said – that I always face, even from those in Christ – is simply that “no one is perfect.” No one’s perfect! That’s the response. Part of this is simply because of man’s perception. Another part is because they still want to nurture the flesh by excusing its behavior (grace does not do this.) Another part is because they are seeking to rationalize how one can be called “righteous” and not commit “perfect actions” a la Jesus Christ.
The true rationalization is given here, in Romans 8:10. Mixed conduct is seen because dead and life, or flesh and spirit, are cohabitating. The disposition for these two are completely opposed, as we’ve studied, and sometimes leads to the opposite of right conduct. This is because those in Christ are being transitioned over the course of this time on earth – from dead to life. This does not excuse the false conduct – the flesh’s disposition is truly enmity, and must be abolished. But it does explain the false conduct, as we can now see that the misbehaving saint is, in actuality, simply not yet shown that they have been delivered from that part of Sin’s power. Moreover, they have not yet been fully shown the scope of God’s conciliation toward them, and thus cannot yet fully show a willing re-conciliation in reply. Our misbehaving brothers are still brothers (1 Cor. 1:4-8); they are imitating what they know of their God and Father, but they do not yet fully realize Him – hence the continued discussion of “immaturity” and “maturity.”
(What does all of this have to do with vivification, you ask? Patience, good saint! We are almost there. This is all foundational for what we will be covering in the next verse, and gives us time to fully dwell on what this verse says.)
Romans 8:10 shows us the critical powers that are at play within ourselves; as we’ve discussed, the flesh and the spirit perpetually oppose each other, to educate us (Gal. 5:17.) This is the “experiencing evil” phase of life that we must handle, and that includes our very selves. We are not merely told to “suck it up,” in these doctrines, or to “just accept that this is, unfortunately, the way things are!” We aren’t told to “keep dreaming of an expectation that may or may not happen in your lifetime.”
We are told, in fact, to not let Sin be reigning in our mortal body, nor to present our bodies as implements of injustice for Sin’s sake, per Rom. 6:12-14. There is something to be done, now, and this will reflect the riches you are receiving, in the coming eons (1 Cor. 3:12-15.) There will also be a further conclusion in this argument (Rom. 8:12-14,) that will enlighten us further as to what He is shaping us into with this dichotomy.
- GerudoKing
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