Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Romans 8:9
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
9. But, &c.] After this dark foil, in the picture of the fleshly state, St Paul now gives (what is his main aim all the while) the opposite picture; that of the spiritual, regenerate, state.
ye ] Who are “in Christ Jesus;” “Jesus Christ’s called ones.” (Rom 1:6) in the Spirit ] See long note on Rom 8:4; and note on “in the flesh,” Rom 8:8. To be “ in the Spirit ” is to be in that state of soul which results in a “walk after the Spirit;” a state therefore in which the Holy Ghost is the ruling influence. The meaning is illustrated by the use of the same phrase for ecstatic inspiration, (another result of the same Agency,) Rev 1:10.
if so be ] The Gr. particle is more than merely “if,” (which often = “since,” or “as,”) and suggests just such doubt and enquiry as would amount to self-examination. See 2Co 13:5.
dwell ] See Joh 14:17, and cp. Eph 3:16. The word indicates the intimacy and permanence of the Holy Spirit’s action and influence in the regenerate man.
in you ] i.e. of course, as individuals. For see the next words “If any man have not, &c.”
the Spirit of Christ ] Evidently not in the essentially modern sense of His (Christ’s) principles and temper, but in that of the Personal Holy Spirit as profoundly connected with Christ. Same word as Php 1:19 ; 1Pe 1:11; and see Gal 4:6. The phrase is indeed remarkable, just after the words “the Spirit of God:” it at least indicates St Paul’s view of the Divine majesty of Messiah. On the other hand, it is scarcely a text in point on the great mystery of the “Procession” of the Holy Ghost; the emphasis of the words here being rather on the work of the Holy Ghost as the Revealer of Christ to the soul. See again Eph 3:16.
none of his ] See again 2Co 13:5, as the best comment on this brief warning. Evidently St Paul reminds the reader that a vital requisite to union with Christ is the present veritable indwelling of His Spirit; such an indwelling as he is treating of here, which determines the man to be “not in the flesh.” The question thus solemnly suggested was to be answered (we may be sure) by no visionary tests, but by a self-searching enquiry for “the fruit of the Spirit.” See the whole passage, Gal 5:16-26; and cp. 1Jn 3:24.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But ye – You who are Christians. This is the opposite character to what he had been describing, and shows the power of the gospel.
Not in the flesh – Not under the full influence of corrupt desires and passions.
But in the Spirit – That is, you are spiritually minded; you are under the direction and influence of the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit of God – The Holy Spirit.
Dwell in you – The Holy Spirit is often represented as dwelling in the hearts of Christians (compare 1Co 2:16; 1Co 6:19; 2Co 6:16; Eph 2:21-22; Gal 4:6); and the meaning is not that there is a personal or physical indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but that he influences, directs, and guides Christians, producing meekness, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, etc. Gal 5:22-23. The expression, to dwell in one, denotes intimacy of connection, and means that those things which are the fruits of the Spirit are produced in the heart. (See the supplementary note at Rom 8:10.)
Have not the Spirit of Christ – The word Spirit is used in a great variety of significations in the Scriptures. It most commonly in the New Testament refers to the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. But the expression the Spirit of Christ is not, I believe, any where applied to him, except it may be 1Pe 1:11. He is called often the Spirit of God Mat 3:16; Mat 12:28; 1Co 2:11, 1Co 2:14; 1Co 3:16; 1Co 6:11; Eph 4:30, but not the Spirit of the Father. The word spirit is often used to denote the temper, disposition; thus we say, a man of a generous spirit, or of a revengeful spirit, etc. It may possibly have this meaning here, and denotes that he who has not the temper or disposition of Christ is not his, or has no evidence of piety. But the connection seems to demand that it should be understood in a sense similar to the expression the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus Rom 8:11; and if so, it means the Spirit which Christ imparts, or sends to accomplish his work Joh 14:26, the Holy Spirit, sent to make us like Christ, and to sanctify our hearts. And in this sense it evidently denotes the Spirit which Christ would send to produce in us the views and feelings which he came to establish, and which shall assimilate us to himself. If this refers to the Holy Spirit, then we see the manner in which the apostle spoke of the Saviour. He regarded the Spirit as equally the Spirit of God and of Christ, as proceeding from both; and thus evidently believed that there is a union of nature between the Father and the Son. Such language could never be used except on the supposition that the Father and Son are one; that is, that Christ is divine.
Is none of his – Is not a Christian. This is a test of piety that is easily applied; and this settles the question. If a man is not influenced by the meek, pure, and holy spirit of the Lord Jesus, if he is not conformed to his image, if his life does not resemble that of the Saviour, he is a stranger to religion. No test could be more easily applied, and none is more decisive. It matters not what else he may have. He may be loud in his professions, amiable in his temper, bold in his zeal, or active in promoting the interests of his own party or denomination in the church; but if he has not the temper of the Saviour, and does not manifest his Spirit, it is as sounding brass or a tinkling cymdal. May all who read this, honestly examine themselves; and may they have what is the source of the purest felicity, the spirit and temper of the Lord Jesus.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Rom 8:9
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit.
We are not in the flesh, but alas: the flesh is still in us
A boat has been sailing on the salt ocean, it has come through many a storm, and, half full of briny water, it is now sailing on the fresh water of the river. It is no longer in the salt water, but the salt water is in it. The Christian has got off the Adam-sea forever. He is in the Christ-sea forever. Adam is still in him, which he is to mortify and throw out, but he is not in Adam. First, take it simply in itself, ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit; where we have signified to us the state and condition of the children of God and the opinion which St. Paul has of them; and that is, not to be carnal, but spiritual. That is, they are not wholly swayed by their own corruption, but by the Spirit of God in them. This is so far considerable of us as it teaches how to judge both of ourselves and other men. First, for ourselves. It is a point which may be very well improved by the children of God under temptation, when as Satan, joining with their own misgiving hearts, would go about to persuade them that they have no grace at all in them, because they have it in them mingled with some corruption. They should not hearken or give heed to such suggestions as these are. Again, secondly. This also teaches us how we should look upon other men who are the saints and servants of God, in the midst of those weaknesses and infirmities which they are sometimes compassed withal. There are many malicious persons in the world who, if at any time they do by chance espy anything which is amiss in Gods children, they can commonly see nothing else. If they see some flesh in them, they can see nothing of the spirit; and they are apt both to account of them and to call them according to that which is worst in them. Now secondly. We may also look upon it reflexively, as coming from the apostle. He gives this testimony of these believing Romans to whom he wrote for their particular, that they were spiritual. And here two things more. First, his knowledge of their state and condition in grace for the thing itself. While he sees it, he does intimate that he knows it, and discerns it, and takes notice of it, to be so indeed with them, that they were such as were in the state of grace. Now here it may be demanded, How he came to do so? To this we answer: Divers manner of ways. First, by the judgment of charity. Secondly, by a special spirit of discerning which was vouchsafed unto him. Thirdly, the apostle speaks not here to the Romans at large, but only to the believers amongst them: To all that be at Rome, beloved of God and saints, as it is Rom 1:7. Now farther, secondly, he signifies this his knowledge and apprehension of them. Why does he so? For two reasons; First, I say, hereby to testify the good opinion which himself had of them. He had in the verse before declared the sad estate of carnal persons. Now, lest they should think that he had mentioned this in reference to them, he now adds this unto it by way of exception. Secondly. For their further encouragement and progress in goodness. It is a good incentive to any to be better when they are commended for what already they are. The second is the proof or argument for the confirmation of it, in these, If so be the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. First, take it absolutely in itself: The Spirit of God dwells in you. This is spoken not only of the Romans, as belonging to them alone, but as common to all believers, who have likewise a share in it. When it is said both here and in other places, That the Spirit of God dwells in the children of God there are three things which are implied in this expression. First, I say, here is implied presence. He dwells in them–that is, He is in them. There is a special and peculiar presence which the Spirit of God doth take up in the children of God. Secondly, when it is said that the Spirit of God dwells in us; hereby is signified not only His presence, but His activity and operation. And this does express itself in sundry performances of His towards us. First, of instructing and teaching us. Secondly, as the Spirit of God dwells in us to teach us what is to be done, so to provoke and stir us up to the doing of it upon all occasions. Thirdly, He dwells in us also to restrain, and mortify, and subdue sin in us. Fourthly, He dwells in us so as to improve and to set home upon us all the ordinances and means of grace. Fifthly, in a way of comfort and special consolation, while he evidences to us our state and condition in grace, and gives us hope of future salvation, which is that which He likewise does for us. Sixthly and lastly, He dwells in us so as to repair us, and to reform us there where we are amiss, and have any decays of grace and goodness in us. The Spirit of God is a good landlord and inhabitant in that soul in which He dwells, who will not suffer it to run to ruin. The consideration of this point, thus explained, may be thus far useful to us–First, as it teaches us accordingly to suffer Him to dwell largely in us, we should give up ourselves to Him, as rooms and lodgings to Him. Secondly, it should teach us to give all respect that may be to Him. Take heed of grieving Him, of resisting Him, of vexing Him, of despising Him, and the like. Thirdly, we should from hence give all respect to the saints and servants of God, upon this consideration amongst the rest. Is it so indeed that the Spirit of God dwells in His children? Then let us take heed of wronging or injuring any such persons as these are, either by word or deed. And that is the second thing implied here in dwelling, to wit, activity and operation. The third and last is abode and continuance. Dwelling it is an act of daily and constant residence. And this is further observable in the Spirit of God in reference to His children. He is in them, not only as in an inn, but as in a mansion house; nor as a lodger only, but as an inhabitant who is resolved not to remove from them (Joh 14:16). This is so upon these grounds. First, the unchangeableness of His nature. Secondly, the love of God towards His children. Thirdly, the power of God. This is conducing hereunto likewise. There is none who is able to dispossess Him or turn Him out. Now further, secondly, we may look upon it argumentatively, and in connection with the words immediately preceding, Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit; because the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. So that the Spirits inhabitation, it is an argument and proof of regeneration. (Thomas Horton, D. D.)
If so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
The Spirit of God
There used in old times to be a controversy respecting the divinity of the Spirit of God. But this has died out. It is, in fact, a question almost without meaning. We might as well deny the humanity of man, or the divinity of God. But more. As the spirit of man is the inmost essence of man, so the Spirit of God is the inmost essence of God–the holy of holies in the Divine nature. There are only two definitions of the Divine essence in the New Testament, and both agree with this–God is a Spirit, God is love.
I. Many difficulties are removed by dealing with this spiritual aspect of the Divine nature. As when, for instance, we ask, What is man? The answer is–not his body, but his spirit, his inward affections; as further, when we ask what it is that distinguishes man from the brute? we still answer–his inward affections. So also, when we ask, what God is? whilst we know there is much which we cannot answer, yet when we think of Him as a Spirit, it is then that we can best understand Him. No man hath seen God at any time, but there is a true likeness of God in Christ, because Christ is one with God, through the Spirit of goodness and wisdom. And with that same Spirit bearing witness with our spirits, we also may be, in our humble measure, one both with the Father add with the Son.
II. This places in their proper light all those words and phrases which are used to describe the Divine nature. In proportion as they describe the Divine Being under the form of goodness, truth, and wisdom, as the breath which is the animating life of our souls and of religion, in that proportion they describe Him as He is. In proportion as they describe Him under the form of impressions taken from nature or man, in that proportion they are but parables and figures. Rock, fortress, shield, champion, shepherd, husband, king, and the great name of Father, these are all admirable words, so far as they express the spiritual relations of the Almighty towards us, but they would mislead if they were taken in gross, literal sense. And so, much more it is true of the anthropomorphic expressions, such as fear, jealousy, anger; or the metaphysical expressions, each of which taken separately would lead us away from the spiritual, which is the essential nature of God.
III. This same aspect of the Divine nature tells us how it is that God wills that the world should be brought to him, not by compulsion, but by the willing assent of the spirit of man finding its communion with the Spirit of God. The world must be converted to Christ by the internal evidence of the spirit of Christianity.
IV. It is this which makes the difference between the various offences against Divine things. Whatever mistakes a man may make concerning the outward form in which the Divine truth is manifested shall be forgiven, even though he blaspheme the Son of Man Himself. For every earthly manifestation must be liable to misunderstanding, and therefore blasphemy against the Son of Man is not against the holy and loving Jesus, but against some false conceptions we have formed of Him in our own minds. For such blasphemies the Son of Man has assured. He has Himself asked the Father to forgive them, for they know not what they do. But if there be anyone who hates goodness because it is goodness, who closes his heart against purity and holiness, because they are pure and holy, such an one has blasphemed not the mere outward form, but the essence of God Himself. For this sin against the Holy Ghost there is no forgiveness.
V. It is the eternal spirit of goodness and truth which must write his commands on our hearts. The letter killeth, it is the Spirit that gives life. Signs and ordinances of religion derive all their force from the directness with which they are addressed by the Spirit of God to our intelligence, conscience, and affections.
VI. Thus the Spirit is the life, the liberty, and the energy of the whole humankind, of each successive age and each individual soul. VII. It is this element which forms the connecting thread of those articles at the close of the apostles creed.
1. The holy universal Church. The old heathen religions did not tend to raise the thoughts of men to holiness, and therefore they were not holy. The old Jewish religions was confined to a single nation, and therefore it was not truly spiritual. The Christian Church is intended to make men good, and therefore it is holy and the work of a holy God. It is universal, and therefore is the work of a universal Spirit.
2. The communion of saints. The fellowship and friendship which good men of the most diverse opinions and characters have or ought to have for one another, is the most powerful means whereby the Spirit of God works, and gives the most decisive proof of the existence of a Holy Spirit.
3. The forgiveness of sins is realised by the witness of the Spirit.
4. The resurrection of the body is directly attributed to this same Spirit (verse 11).
5. The life everlasting is the undying vitality of those affections and graces which are part of the essence of the Holy Spirit of God. These have their immortality from the same source as the eternal existence of God Himself. (Dean Stanley.)
The indwelling Spirit
God the Son has graciously vouchsafed to reveal the Father to His creatures from without; God the Holy Ghost, by inward communications. The condescension of the blessed Spirit is as incomprehensible as that of the Son. He has ever been the secret Presence of God within the creation: a source of life amid the chaos, bringing out into form and order what was at first shapeless and void, and the voice of truth in the hearts of all rational beings, tuning them into harmony with the intimations of Gods law, which were externally made to them. The Holy Spirit has from the beginning pleaded with man (Gen 6:3). Again, when God took to Him a peculiar people, the Holy Spirit was pleased to be especially present with them (Neh 9:20; Isa 63:10). Further, He manifested Himself as the source of various gifts, intellectual and extraordinary, in the prophets and others (Exo 31:3-4; Num 11:17-25). These were great mercies; yet are as nothing compared with that surpassing grace with which we Christians are honoured; that great privilege of receiving into our hearts, not the mere gifts of the Spirit, but His very presence, Himself by a real not a figurative indwelling. When our Lord entered upon His ministry, He acted as though He were a mere man, needing grace, and received the consecration of the Holy Spirit for our sakes. He became the Christ, or Anointed, that the Spirit might be seen to come from God, and to pass from Him to us. And therefore the heavenly gift is called the Spirit of Christ, that we might clearly understand that He comes to us from and instead of Christ (Gal 4:6; Joh 20:22; Joh 16:7). Accordingly this Holy Spirit of promise is called the seal and earnest of an Unseen Saviour. He has some, not merely in the way of gifts, or of influences, or of operations, as He came to the prophets, for then Christs going away would be a loss, and not a gain, and the Spirits presence would be a mere pledge, not an earnest; but He comes to us as Christ came, by a real and personal visitation (Rom 8:9; Rom 8:11; 1Co 6:19; 2Co 6:16; Rom 5:5; Rom 8:16). Here let us observe, before proceeding, what indirect evidence is afforded us in these texts of the divinity of the Holy Spirit. Who can be personally present at once with every Christian but God Himself? This consideration suggests both the dignity of our Sanctifier and the infinite preciousness of His Office towards us. To proceed: The Holy Ghost dwells in body and soul, as in a temple. Evil spirits indeed have power to possess sinners, but His indwelling is far more perfect; for He is all-knowing and omnipresent, He is able to search into all our thoughts, and penetrate into every motive of the heart. Therefore He pervades us as light pervades a building, or as a sweet perfume the folds of some honourable robe; so that, in Scripture language, we are said to be in Him, and He in us. It is plain that such an inhabitation brings the Christian into a state altogether new and marvellous, far above the possession of mere gifts, exalts him inconceivably in the scale of beings, and gives him a place and an office which he had not before (2Pe 1:4; Joh 1:12; 2Co 5:17; 1Jn 4:4; 1Co 6:19-20; 2Ti 2:21). This wonderful change from darkness to light, through the entrance of the Spirit into the soul, is called regeneration, or the new birth. By His coming all guilt and pollution are burned away as by fire, the devil is driven forth, sin, original and actual, is forgiven, and the whole man is consecrated to God. And this is the reason why He is called the earnest of that Saviour who died for us, and will one day give us the fulness of His own presence in heaven. Hence, too, He is our seal unto the day of redemption; for as the potter moulds the clay, so He impresses the Divine image on us members of the household of God.
II. Next, I must speak briefly concerning the manner in which the gift of grace manifests itself in the regenerate soul.
1. The heavenly gift of the Spirit fixes the eyes of our mind upon the Divine Author of our salvation. By nature we are blind and carnal; but the Holy Ghost reveals to us the God of mercies, and bids us recognise and adore Him as our Father with a true heart. He impresses on us our Heavenly Fathers image, which we lost when Adam fell, and disposes us to seek His presence by the very instinct of our new nature. He restores for us that broken bond which, proceeding from above, connects together into one blessed family all that is anywhere holy and eternal, and separates it off from the rebel world which comes to nought. Being then the sons of God, and one with Him, our souls mount up and cry to Him continually (verse 15). Nor are we left to utter these cries in any vague uncertain way of our own; but Christ left His sacred prayer to be the voice of the Spirit.
2. The indwelling of the Holy Ghost raises the soul, not only to the thought of God, but of Christ also (1Jn 1:3; Joh 14:23). The Spirit came especially to glorify Christ; and vouchsafes to be a shining light within the Church and the Christian, reflecting the Saviour. First, He inspired the evangelists to record the life of Christ; next, He unfolded their meaning in the Epistles. He had made history to be doctrine; He continued His sacred comment in the formation of the Church, superintending and overruling its human instruments, and bringing out our Saviours words and works, and the apostles illustrations of them, into acts of obedience and permanent ordinances, by the ministry of saints and martyrs. Lastly, He completes His gracious work by conveying this system of truth, thus varied and expanded, to the heart of each individual Christian in whom He dwells. Thus He vouchsafes to edify the whole man in faith and holiness (2Co 10:5). St. John adds, after speaking of our fellowship with the Father and His Son: These things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. What is fulness of joy but peace? Joy is tumultuous only when it is not full; where He is, there is liberty from the tyranny of sin, from the dread of an offended Creator. Doubt, gloom, impatience have been expelled; joy in the gospel has taken their place, the hope of heaven and the harmony of a pure heart, the triumph of self-mastery, sober thoughts, and a contented mind. How can charity towards all men fail to follow? (J. H. Newman, D. D.)
The indwelling of the Spirit
I. The fact. The law of progress obtains in all the dispensations. The old was grandly material, appealing to our sensuous nature, and preparatory, adapted to the childhood of the race. The coming of Christ introduced a better state of things, and substituted realities for symbols. But although He performed mighty works and spake as man never spake, yet a more glorious dispensation was to succeed (Joh 1:50; Joh 14:12), which is to ultimate in the reign of grace on earth, in heaven itself, and in the finished glory of the saints. But does the Spirit in this His peculiar dispensation dwell in man? Read Joh 14:16-17; the text; 1Co 3:16; 2Ti 1:14; 1Jn 4:4.
II. Its nature and extent.
1. Is it a real dwelling, or are those Scriptures to be understood in a figurative sense? We believe in the omnipresence of the Spirit (Psa 139:7). But omnipresence is an attribute; the indwelling of which we speak is that of a person, a voluntary presence–a presence that may be withdrawn–that is circumscribed and conditioned–that has no affinity with sin, and consequently is never realised in an unbelieving heart. It is a presence that may be grieved, offended, and driven away, and is therefore not an attribute, but a person.
2. Neither is this presence to be regarded simply as a Divine influence. Person is the being who acts; influence is the effect of the action, and the question is, Is it the influence or the person of the Holy Spirit that dwells in the heart of believers? Practically, it is both; for wherever the Spirit in His personal presence is, there will His influence be felt. He does not stand or send His messages; but He enters within, instructing us by His wisdom, making us happy in the consciousness of His fellowship and protection.
III. Its moral and spiritual effects.
1. A more accurate and discriminating understanding of the Scriptures. The more practical portions of Gods Word are level to the capacity of children. Still there are some things hard to be understood, things into which even the angels desire to look–the deep things of God. To the unbelieving the Scriptures are a sealed book. It is not learning nor genius that breaks the seal; its Divine Author is its true interpreter, even the Spirit of truth that dwells within us (1Co 2:11). Could you entertain in your family the most scholarly man of the age, have familiar access to his mind and heart, thus becoming more and more initiated into hit style and spirit, such acquaintance would give a quickened impulse to your mind, a keener relish for his writings, and a key to their true exposition. The believer is supposed to entertain One of boundless intelligence, who is continually unfolding the sublimest truths, and arousing his mental energies by new and startling discoveries of the great Christian verities; and it is impossible for him to be under such tuition without greatly enlarged mental capacities for knowing and interpreting the Scriptures, whose author is the Holy Spirit.
2. A greater unity among Christians. Strife and division were among the earliest developed evils in the apostolic Church (1Co 3:4). This was a most undesirable state of things, marring the beauty and symmetry of Christianity. But Christ anticipated this evil (Joh 17:21). Unity among Christians is a desirable thing in itself, and nothing so wins the world to a believing reception of the gospel, and nothing so effectually works scepticism as strifes and divisions. And if Christs prayer is to be answered, there will be a drawing together of Christian hearts–One Lord, one faith, and one Spirit. To hasten a result so devoutly to be wished, we may employ outward and visible means; we may hold union conventions; but a real heart union, finding its expression in visible fellowship, in cooperative labours, will be realised, just as the Holy Spirit finds indwelling in believers and in the Church.
3. Purity of life. The Spirit is holy, and will not dwell in a heart that harbours even the thought of sin. But when He does enter He brings every thought, power, and passion into cordial obedience to Christ. His presence is a continual corrective and restraint, an abiding stimulus to a right life. Were you entertaining a highly honoured guest, everything in the domestic arrangement would be ordered to suit his taste. Sinning in a believer is something more than transgression; it is sacrilege.
4. A more attractive Christian life. Persons intimately associated become assimilated; and if the Holy Spirit should assume form or expression, it would be the most attractive conceivable. He is sometimes represented in the form of a dove, because of His grace and beauty. A palace enriched with all works of art, surrounded by all natural beauties, may well symbolise the regenerated human heart where the Spirit dwells, making the life not sad but songful.
5. A more effective Christian life. (S. B. Burchard, D. D.)
The indwelling of the Spirit
That which gives being to a Christian is the Spirit of Christ dwelling in him. He is to a Christian what the soul is to a man. Consider what a thing the body is without the soul, how defiled and deformed a piece of dust it is. Truly the soul of man by nature is in no better case till this Spirit enter; it hath no light in it, no life in it (Eph 4:18). The eye of the mind is put out, and if it be darkness, how great is that darkness! And from this woeful defect flows the alienation of the whole soul from the life of God, that primitive light being eclipsed, the soul is separated from the influence of heaven. Man was once the dwelling place of princely and Divine graces, the Lord Himself was there; and then how comely and beautiful was the soul! But now it is like the desolate cities, in which the beasts of the desert lay, and their houses are full of doleful creatures, where owls dwell, and satyrs dance, where wild beasts cry, and dragons in the pleasant places (Isa 13:21-22; Jer 50:39). The Bethel is become a Beth-aven, the house of God become a house of vanity; by the continual repair of vain thoughts, the house of prayer is turned into a den of thieves and robbers. Now, judge if there be not need of a better guest than these. Now, when the Spirit of Christ enters into this vile, ruinous cottage, He creates a new light within, which makes a man behold the light shining in the gospel; and behold all things are new, himself new, the world new, and God new. And as the Spirit enlightens, so He enlivens; He kindles a holy fire in his affections to consume his corruption. This Spirit makes a Christian soul move willingly toward God; it is an active principle that cannot rest till it rests in its place of eternal rest and delight in God. And then the Spirit reforms this house by casting out all these wild beasts that lodged in it, the savage and unruly affections that domineered in man. There are idols in the heart, and these must be cleansed out. And all this the Spirit will not do alone, but honours you with the fellowship of this work; and therefore you must lay your account, that the reformation of this house, for so glorious a guest, will be laborious. How infinitely is that compensed! When He shall take up house fully in you, it will satisfy you to the full. In the meantime, as He takes the rule and command of your house, so for the present He provides for it, and oh, how sweet and satisfying is it! (Rom 14:17). What a noble train doth the Spirit bring along with Him to furnish this house! Many rich and costly ornaments hang over it and adorn it, to make it like the kings wife, all glorious within; such as the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit (1Pe 3:4); the clothing of humility, simple in show, but rich in substance (1Pe 5:5). And being lodged within, what sweet fruits is the Spirit daily bringing forth to feed and delight the soul withal! (Gal 5:22-23). And He is a Spirit of consolation, and therefore of all the most worthy to be received into our hearts, for He is a bosom comforter (Joh 14:16). (Hugh Binning.)
The indwelling of the Spirit
As Jerusalem was the glory of the world, because of the temple of God, so are the regenerate of all mere most glorious, because they are the temples of the Holy Ghost. In matters of the world, an unregenerate man may be before us; but in this he cannot. He may have gold in his purse, but we have God in our hearts, the right owner of them, which is the top of our happiness. Tenants make havoc and suffer all things to fall to ruin, but owners are always repairing; when the devil held our hearts all was out of frame; ignorance ruled in our mind, rebellion in the will, disorder in the affections; but the coming of the Holy Spirit enlightens, leads into all truth, certifies of the favour of God, fashioneth to every good work, and enricheth with all spiritual grace, all those in whom He dwelleth. Even as fire makes iron fiery, so the Spirit makes us spiritual. This is that Spirit which is the Comforter, which cheereth and sustaineth the desolate and despairing conscience, and feedeth it with heavenly manna. Surely the conscience of a regenerate man is a very paradise in which Gods good Spirit dwelleth not for a short time, but forever. (Elnathan Parr, B. A.)
Actualness of the indwelling of God
How often and how simply it is said, The Holy Ghost dwelleth in you (verse 11; 1Co 3:16; 1Co 6:9). This is the normal Christian state.
1. The Holy Spirit lifts us out of and above ourselves; the very flesh is not like the flesh of those who are its slaves. Physically it is the same, but it is more spiritual, less clamorous in its appetites; as iron, glowing with the fire wherewith it is penetrated, has other qualities, and is flexible as it was not before. In the case where long-lived sensualism has done its work, you see in the bloated countenance that the flesh has changed for the worse. Where the spiritual life has long transformed the soul, you see, as in some pictures of great saints, the flesh spiritualised.
2. We speak of having talents, attainments, possessions, as things which, more or less, men dispose of as they will. St. Paul speaks of another possession. God the Holy Ghost so puts Himself at the command of His creatures that we may have Him for our own, or, alas! alienate, grieve Him away, quench His light. Nay, so does He will to put Himself at the disposal of Gods redeemed that His holy inspirations await their invitations. His Divine thoughts inform their human thoughts, so that they can hardly or not at all tell what are their thoughts what His; only they know that all which is good is His; they are but the harp whose strings vibrate as His breath passes over them, and yield what harmony He wills.
3. He acts from within. They are not merely the motions of grace, as they fell on Saul, or now, too, touch every heathen heart which will respond to His touch. It is not only a voice like that to Socrates, withholding him from what God in His providence willed him not to do. It does not merely strengthen mans natural generous feelings, such as made Scipio a greater conqueror when he gave back to her betrothed the captive virgin of intense beauty than when his earthly glories were crowned at the field of Zama; for, by the unknown grace of God, he had conquered himself. Nor is it only like that overpowering grace to which the long-resisting soul at length yields and ends its weary rebellions, and casting itself at its Fathers feet, is again enfolded in His arms; the dead is again alive, the lost is found. The office which God the Holy Ghost vouchsafes to take towards Christians is indwelling.
4. To communicate Himself is the being of God. Inseparable is the Trinity. Where one person is there is the whole. For the Son dwells in the Father and the Father in the Son, and the Holy Ghost reposes and habitates in the Father and the Son. And so our Lord expresses the loving communication of the Father and the Son to those who do His commandments and love Him (Joh 14:23). Yet in some special way it is God the Holy Ghost who dwelleth in us. His presence within us is the pledge of our resurrection to life eternal (verse 11), and is our bond of union with Christ. If He dwelleth in us our prayers are not our prayers only, but His prayers in us. God, informing our thoughts, suggesting our longings, pleads with God (verse 15; 1Jn 4:16).
5. What the soul is to the body that God is to the soul. The life of the body is, the soul, the life of the soul is God. We know not where the soul is, but through it we live, we think, we love. So through God indwelling the soul we have our spiritual, eternal life begun in us; we think all the good thoughts we have. Our good is not chiefly or primarily ours, but His who, dwelling in us, worketh in us to will and to do, and rejoiceth in His works in us.
6. What an existence, awful for the very greatness of the love of God! What a tingling closeness of God! (Col 1:27). Holy is this church, because consecrated to God, because where His own are gathered in His name there is He. Holy to us is any picture of our Redeemer, because it images to us, as man can conceive, His countenance of tender love. But all these are material things; you are the living image of God; you are the living temples of God. As then you would not defile this temple, as you would not tread and trample under foot a likeness of your Redeemer, reverence yourselves. Bring not defiling thoughts into your souls; it is to bring them into the very presence of God. Utter not polluting words with the tongue, wherewith God the Holy Ghost enableth you to call God your Father, Jesus your Lord. And, what follows from this, defile not those living temples wherein He dwells. When Satan tempts you, remember what a greatness God has given you, to have in the hostelry of your souls God as your guest, to abide there, if you will, forever. Give yourselves anew this day to Him who gave Himself to you. He alone knows what an intolerable loss it is to lose Him, our God, forever! (E. B. Pusey, D. D.)
Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.–
A fatal deficiency
Note–
I. The remarkable title here given to the Holy Spirit–the Spirit of Christ. He is so called because–
1. He especially rested upon Christ. The manhood of Christ was begotten of the Spirit of God. When our Lord was baptized the Spirit descended upon Him like a dove, and then was led of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Then He returned into Galilee in the power of the Spirit. When He began to preach His first words were, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me. His ministry stood in the power of the Spirit. All through His life the Spirit of God rested upon Him in fulness of power, for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him.
2. He is given to us by Christ. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. Jesus spake of giving to men living water, and this spake He of the Spirit. After His resurrection Ha breathed on His disciples, and said, Receive ye the Holy Ghost, and having procured Him by His ascension poured Him out at Pentecost.
3. Christ lived peculiarly in the Spirit. Spirit in the text is in opposition to the flesh. Never did the flesh rule Christ. Nay, He even forgot to eat bread, finding meat to eat which even His disciples knew not of. Never was He moved by any sensuous passion, or by a motive of fleshly tendency. Some have high ambitions, but not He. The flesh that lusteth for vengeance had no rule in Him, but the Spirit of holiness and love. The objects He aimed at were all spiritual.
4. He quickens the entire mystical body of Christ. All the members of that body are distinguished by this–that they are spiritual men, and seek after spiritual things. The true Church being in herself a spiritual body, acts in a spiritual manner, and strives after spiritual objects. True religion consists not in outward forms, peculiar garbs, or modes of speech, or anything that is ritualistic and external. The kingdom of God is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.
II. The necessity of possessing the Spirit of Christ.
1. This is needful in every case. If any man. It may be urged that some have an especially amiable disposition. True, but the fairest flowers, as surely as the foulest weeds, are none of Christs if they are not of the Spirits own planting. This one lack is fatal to the noblest character, and Christ disowns utterly every man who has not His Spirit in him. This must be said concerning the ministers and officers of churches.
2. This is put in opposition to everything less than itself. For instance, there are some who glory in the name of Christians, as if the name were some great thing. It is not wearing the name of Christ, but having the Spirit of Christ, which will prove us to be accepted.
3. But the text is expressly in opposition to the flesh. We are either in the flesh or in the Spirit. He who is in the flesh–
(1) Is ruled by the flesh, but the man who is in the Spirit labours to keep it under.
(2) Trusts to the flesh. He looks to his own works for salvation; but the man who has the Spirit of Christ counts all his good works to be dross, and trusts in Jesus.
(3) Worships in the flesh, but the man who has the Spirit desires not to see but to believe, not to smell but to think. The sound of truth is better to the spiritual man than tinkling bells and the noise of pipes and bellows.
III. The evidences of having the Spirit. If you have the Spirit–
1. He has led you to Christ.
2. You will honour Christ, for the Spirit delights to glorify Christ by taking of the things of Christ and showing them to us.
3. He will make you like Christ, who lived for God, who was in constant communion with the Father, was always spiritual, always true, and always ready to do good to all.
4. He will show Himself by His open actions in the heart, making us hate everything that is evil, making brave for God and truth, and joyful and hopeful in God.
IV. The sad consequences of not having the Spirit. He is none of Christs. Ah, if I am none of His whose am I? The devils. And where are you if you are not Christs? On the way to judgment and eternal condemnation. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Having the Spirit of Christ
The antecedent is in these words, If any man have not the Spirit of Christ. The consequent in these, He is none of His. We begin with the first general, viz., the antecedent, If any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, where there are divers points observable. And first of all, for the Spirit of Christ, to speak to that, what we are to understand by this. The second is in reference to Christ as He is Mediator, God and man. The Holy Ghost is called the Spirit of Christ in this respect also, and that for two reasons more. First, He is called the Spirit of Christ, as He is in a special manner bestowed upon Him and received by Him (Joh 3:34; Luk 4:1; Joh 1:14; Col 1:19). Second, He is called the Spirit of Christ not only as bestowed upon Him, but as bestowed by Him. And of His fulness we do all receive grace for grace. The consideration of this point may be thus far useful to us, as it may teach us a special ground for the honouring and extolling of Christ. A second term which we may take notice of in this first part of the text is the having of the Spirit of Christ, which is here implied to be such as Christians are indeed capable of. Now this it relates especially to the work of grace and holiness in their hearts. This having of the Spirit of Christ is considerable in two particulars. Firstly, take it as to matter of conversion, and the working of grace in them at first. Those who are true believers, they have the Spirit of Christ in them thus, as they are changed in the spirit of their minds. Every man by nature has an evil spirit in him. This Spirit of Christ has gracious and holy desires and inclinations which do belong unto it; a spiritual favour and a spiritual delight, and an affecting of spiritual things above all other things besides. Where this Spirit of Christ comes it brings every thought into captivity unto the obedience of Christ. Secondly, take it as to matter of communion. A third thing which we may here observe from this present passage before us is the word of uncertainty or ambiguity, If any man hath not, etc., as implying that there are some that have not, and that even also of those sometimes who pretend to have. And so now I have done with the first general part of the text, viz., the antecedent, If any man have not, etc. The second is the consequent, in these words, He is none of His–none of His; that is, belongs not to Him, has no interest in Him, is no member of Him. This is the state and condition of all those who want the Spirit of Christ. But it may be illustrated to us from sundry considerations, as first, because they have nothing whereby to knit them and unite them to Christ. Whosoever they be that are Christs they must be knit and united to Him, and made one with Him. By His Spirit Christ dwells in our hearts and makes us also to dwell in Him, which accordingly those persons that want do not belong unto Him, nor are any of His. Secondly, those which have not the Spirit of Christ they are none of Christs, because they have not faith whereby to apprehend and lay hold upon Him. Thirdly, those who have not the Spirit of Christ they are none of His, because they have not a principle of spiritual life in them whereby to bring forth fruits unto Him. Fourthly, those who have not the Spirit of Christ they are none of His, because they are altogether unlike Him and different from Him, yea, indeed contrary to Him. While it is said here that if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His, this is to be taken by us as exclusive of anything else which might be conceived to make up this defect. We will instance some few particulars which do sometimes deceive many people in this regard. First, strength of parts, or common and ordinary illumination in spiritual and Divine truths. Secondly, sweetness of nature and temper and constitution; it is not this which will suffice neither. Thirdly, common morality and civil righteousness. It is not this which will serve neither without the Spirit of Christ. Fourthly, the outward badge of religion, and the privileges of the visible Church. It is not this neither which does entitle to Christ without His Spirit. Lastly, it is not Christian alliance, or relation to those who have grace and godliness and goodness in them. The consideration of this point may be drawn forth into this following improvement. To this purpose we may take notice of a three-fold spirit in men, which is exclusive of this Spirit of Christ in them, and so separating of them from Him. First, their own spirit. Secondly, the spirit of the world. Thirdly, the spirit of Satan. This exclusion of relation to Christ, and of interest in Him as His members, is very grievous and prejudicial. And that in the consideration of three particulars especially. First, in point of grace; and secondly, in point of comfort; and thirdly, in point of salvation. Whether have we His Spirit or no? Those who have Christs Spirit do very much relish and favour the truths of Christ. Again, how stand we affected to sin and evil ways, either in ourselves or others? The Spirit of Christ wherever it is is a mortifying Spirit (Gal 5:24). And so for others, who are the children of God, and are members of Christ, how stand we affected to them likewise? And finally, for our lives and conversations and outward man, this Spirit of Christ, where it is, it will have an influence upon this also. If we live in the Spirit we shall also walk in the Spirit (Gal 5:25). This Spirit will actuate and regulate us in every performance. Thirdly and lastly, in a way of excitement. Here is that which may stir us all up to labour for this Spirit of Christ, as being that whereupon depends all our interest in Him and benefit by Him. First, take it more largely, and which seems here principally to be intended in the text, and as we have handled it all this while, that Spirit of Christ which does animate all His members, and does express itself in them. We should be persuaded from hence to endeavour after it, and to labour for it, that we may be able to find it in ourselves. But secondly, take it more emphatically. The Spirit of Christ for that Spirit of His, which did more eminently, and in a special manner, put forth itself in His own person, while He lived here upon earth as a pattern and example to us. We may consider it in sundry particulars. First, it was a Spirit of meekness and humility and lowliness of mind. Secondly, a Spirit of patience in the wrongs and injuries which He endured. Thirdly, a Spirit of pity and compassion and tenderness of heart, especially to the souls of men, and in reference to their eternal salvation. Fourthly, a Spirit of love and condescension, and sweetness of carriage towards all that He conversed withal. And yet fifthly also, a Spirit of zeal. Last of all, a Spirit of fruitfulness and communicativeness and edification. He went about doing good. The sum of all comes to this, that we endeavour for our particulars to have the like in some degree and measure infused into us; and that so much the rather that we may be assured of His owning of us another day. (Thomas Horton, D. D.)
The Spirit of Christ
To have the Spirit of Christ is to be possessed by the Holy Spirit, who directs and sanctifies the believer in Jesus by the Word of God.
I. The Spirit of Christ towards God. This Spirit–
1. Begets and forms a Christlike character. We are created in Christ unto good works. The Spirit changes the bias of a man. Christianity is Christ in you.
2. Gives a Christlike devotion. This is not a prayerful age. But holy lives ever have been much in communion with God. If Jesus needed prayer, much more do we.
3. Leads to Christlike obedience. Christs life motto was, I come to do Thy will, O God. Obedience to God is the Spirit of Christ, and this obedience Jesus made the test of discipleship. This Spirit puts Christ before creeds, the truth before traditions, principle before policy, faith before feelings. It puts piety into practice, devotion into duty, love into labour, grace into giving, and power into prayer.
II. The Spirit of Christ toward man. Christs Spirit–
1. Was full of sympathy with man. Sympathy means to suffer with another. As a substitute Jesus suffered with man in his sins; He Himself bare our sins in His own body on the tree. And if any man have the Spirit of Christ he will have something of that vicarious sympathy for mans redemption. Men of God have felt at times this soul burden; the Church of God has seasons of agonising for the salvation of sinners.
2. Labours to save men. Labour is the expression of Christs sympathy for man. The Spirit of Christ is not exclusive, but aggressive. Our devotion to Christ is ever measured by our sacrifice and toil to save men. Christ suffered to provide redemption, and the Christian must suffer to apply it. Thus it is the Church fills up that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ. (J. P. Thoms.)
Every Christian possesses the Spirit of Christ
I. What is implied in being Christs.
1. There is a sense in which all men are His, by right of–
(1) Creation (Joh 1:3; Col 1:16).
(2) Preservation (Col 1:17).
(3) Redemption (1Co 6:20).
2. But Christs true followers belong to Him, as–
(1) Subjects to a prince (Psa 2:8; Mat 22:11; Php 2:11).
(2) Servants to a master (Rom 14:7-9; 2Co 5:14-15).
(3) Friends (Joh 15:13-15).
(4) Brethren and sisters (Heb 2:11-12).
(5) Children to a father (Heb 2:13).
(6) A spouse to a husband (Rom 7:4; 2Co 11:2; Eph 5:25-32; Rev 19:7).
(7) Branches to a tree (Joh 15:1).
(8) Members to the head of the body (1Co 12:12; 1Co 12:27; Rom 12:5; Eph 1:22-23).
II. What is meant by the Spirit of Christ. Not, as some think, merely the mind of Christ, but the Spirit of God, is here intended (see context).
1. This is called the Spirit of Christ because–
(1) He had it, and has it without measure (Joh 3:34; Rev 3:1).
(2) He has purchased it for His followers by His death.
(3) He has received it for them (Psa 68:18; Act 2:33).
(4) He has promised it to them.
2. As the Holy Spirit is the promise of the Father, emphatically (Act 1:4), so also of the Son (Luk 24:49; Joh 14:1-31; Joh 15:1-27; Joh 16:1-33.). He actually confers it (Joh 4:10; Joh 7:38; Act 2:38-39).
III. How it appears that we must have this Spirit in order to be Christs. We cannot be Christs unless we–
1. Know Him (Joh 10:14; Joh 10:27), but we cannot know Him without the Spirit of Christ (Mat 11:27; Gal 1:16; Joh 16:14).
2. Love Him (1Co 16:22), but we cannot love Him without that Spirit, the fruit of which is love (Gal 5:22; Rom 5:5).
3. Obey Him (2Co 5:15; Rom 14:7; Joh 15:14; Joh 14:21; Heb 5:9), but we cannot obey Him without the inspiration and aid of His Spirit (Joh 15:5; 2Co 3:5).
4. Have an interest in Him, and are able to say, My beloved is mine and I am His, but this interest in Him we cannot have without His Spirit (1Co 12:13).
5. Are united with Him, members with their head; but this we cannot have without His Spirit.
6. We have His mind in us; but this we cannot have without His Spirit; meekness, long-suffering, goodness, etc., being fruits of the Spirit.
7. Are new creatures (2Co 5:17; Eph 4:21-24), and it is impossible we should be so without His Spirit (Tit 3:5). (Joseph Benson.)
Having the Spirit a test of being Christs
Ignatius, the martyr, used to call himself Theophorus, or the God bearer, because, said he, I bear about with me the Holy Ghost. And truly every Christian is a God bearer. That man is no Christian who is not the subject of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit–he may talk well, he may understand theology–he will be the child of nature finely dressed, but not the living child. He may be a man of so profound an intellect, so gigantic a soul, so comprehensive a mind, and so lofty an imagination, that he may dive into all the secrets of nature, may know the path which the eagles eye hath not seen, and enter into depths where the ken of mortals reacheth not, but he shall not be a Christian with all his knowledge; he shall not be a son of God with all his researches, unless he understands what it is to have the Holy Ghost dwelling in him and abiding in him, yea, and that forever. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
A comely disposition
Nothing is more desirable than a pleasant disposition. Without it we cannot be happy ourselves nor make others happy. When we have lost our temper we wake up to new appreciation of proper equipoise of nature. But a man says, I cant help it. You can help it by having His disposition. The Spirit of Christ was a Spirit of–
I. Gentleness. True, He scathed the hypocrite; but for the most part His words and demeanour were inoffensive. This is remarkable when we bear in mind His omnipotence. Little children, who always avoid a rough man, rushed into His presence. Invalids, who shuddered at any other touch, asked Him to put His hand on their wounds. His footstep would not have woke up the faintest slumber. The calmness of His look shamed boisterous Gennesaret into placidity. How little of that gentleness we have! My sisters arm was put out of joint and the neighbours came and pulled till her anguish was great, but to no purpose. When the surgeon came with one touch it was all right. So we go down to our Christian work with so rough a hand that we miserably fail. The dew of one summer night does more good than ten whirlwinds.
II. Self-sacrifice. Suppose by one course of conduct you could win a palace, while by another you might advantage men at the cost of your life, which would you choose? Christ chose the latter. How little of that spirit we have! Two children went out on a cold day; the boy with hardly any garments at all, and the girl in a coat that she had outgrown, and she said, Johnny, come under my coat. He said, It is too short. Oh, she said, it will stretch. But the coat would not stretch enough, so she took it off, and put it upon the boy. That was self-sacrifice. When the plague was raging in Marseilles, the College of Surgeons decided that there must be a post-mortem examination, in order that they might know how to meet and arrest that awful disease. And there was silence till Dr. Guion rose and said, I know it is certain death; but somebody must do it. In the name of God and humanity I will. He accomplished the dissection and died in twelve hours. That was self-sacrifice that the world understands.
III. Humility. The Lord of heaven and earth in the garb of a rustic. He who poured all the waters of the earth out of His hand begging a drink. Walking in common sandals, seated with publicans and sinners. How little you and I have of a spirit like that! We gather a few more dollars than other people, or get a little higher social position, and how we strut and want people to know their places!
IV. Prayer. You cannot think of Jesus without thinking of prayer. Prayer for little children: I thank Thee, O Father, etc. Prayer for His friends: Father, I will that they be with Me where I am. Prayer for His enemies: Father, forgive them, they know not what they do. Prayer for all nations: Thy kingdom come. How soon our knees get tired! We want more prayer in the house, in the social circle, in the Church, in the legislative hall, among the young, among the old. The moment when the Diet of Nuremberg were signing the edict that gave deliverance to Protestants, Luther was praying in his private room about it. Without any communication between the two Luther rose from his knees, rushed out into the street, and cried, We have got the victory! The Protestants are free! That was prayer getting the answer straight from the throne.
V. Work. Christ was always busy. Hewing in the carpenters shop. Helping the lame man to walk. Curing the childs fits. From the day on which they found Him about His Fathers business, to the time when He said, I have finished the work, etc., it was work all the way. We want the work easy if we are to perform it, the religious service short if we are to survive it. Oh for more of that better spirit which determines a man to get to heaven and to take everybody with him. Busy in the private circle, in the Sabbath school, in Church, busy everywhere for God and Christ, and heaven. (T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.)
A practical appeal
Note–
I. The necessity of having the Spirit of God dwelling in us. (Verses 9-11.)
1. The Spirit here spoken of is the Holy Ghost. But He is variously described as the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead. Beside all which, it is intimated that for the Spirit to dwell in us, is the same thing as for Christ to be in us. This mode of speaking is quite accordant with Pauls common habit (Eph 3:16-19). To be strengthened with might by the Spirit in the inner man, and for Christ to dwell in our hearts by faith, and for us to be filled with all the fulness of God, are descriptions of one and the same experience. So also Eph 2:18; Eph 2:22. Compare our Lords discourses (Joh 14:10-11; Joh 14:15-21; Joh 15:26; Joh 16:7-15). These strange and involved expressions imply how distinct the personality, and how intimate the unity, between Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and how completely all conspire in every part of the redeeming plan. The Holy Ghost, then, may be called the Spirit of God, inasmuch as He cometh forth from God. He is also the Spirit of Christ, inasmuch as He represents Christ, and is sent by Him to do the Saviours work. Further, to have the Spirit is to have Christ, because it is only through the Spirit that Jesus can take up His residence within. It follows, accordingly, that to have the Spirit of Christ in us, means something more than merely to have a disposition resembling Christs. It means that we have God Himself to dwell within our breasts. Let us not shrink from the full avowal of this momentous truth (1Co 3:16; 1Co 6:19; 2Co 6:16; Isa 57:15).
2. This possessing Gods Spirit is essential to our salvation. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he may have many virtues and much seeming religion, but he is none of Christs. The reason of this is evident; for without the Spirit no man can truly repent. Believe in Christ. Love God and keep His commandments.
II. How we may know if we have the Spirit (see verse 13).
1. What are the deeds of the body? (Col 3:5-10; Eph 4:22-32; Rom 13:12-14; Gal 5:19-21; 1Pe 4:3).
(1) The grossest immoralities of gluttony, drunkenness, revellings, and debauchery.
(2) The envious and vindictive passions of our selfish nature.
(3) The sins of the tongue.
(4) The evil coverings of the heart.
2. What is meant by mortifying them? To mortify the flesh is to wage war against it, and to cross it instead of indulging it. This is the constant battle of the believers life; and in its full extent it is not the battle of life to any but a Christian.
III. The happiness of such. They shall live. And further, if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness. Though the conflict be hard and painful, it is not in vain or without an adequate reward (Gal 6:8). This life, which belongs to spiritual-mindedness, is a life of joy, which begins on earth, and then is consummated in heaven.
IV. Therefore we are debtors not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
1. We owe it no allegiance, and need no longer be in subjection to its imperious bidding. We are emancipated from its tyranny by the power of the Son of God, who is able to make us free indeed.
2. On the other hand, you are debtors to the Spirit, to live after the Spirit. You owe your own soul much, both to make up for past neglects and injuries, and to bring it up to that high standard of excellence, in which alone it can find its perfection. And remember that the Spirit of God dwells within you, and if you surrender yourself to Him He will work in you all the good pleasure of His goodness (Eph 1:17-20; Col 1:9-13; 1Th 5:23-24; 1Th 5:28). (T. G. Horton.)
Christs moral temper
I. Is identical with that of the great God. The Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ are identical. I and My Father are one. Christs temper was–
1. Essentially benevolent. He came not to destroy mens lives, but to save them. His severest reproofs were but the bass notes in the harmonies of His loving nature. The blows He struck at the stoner were but to break his chains and set him free.
2. Forgivingly benevolent. Examples are numerous: the woman in Simons house; the paralytic; His prayer for His enemies.
3. Earnestly benevolent. His benevolence was a burning passion. Come unto Me all ye that labour, etc., O Jerusalem, etc. Now all this is identical with the moral temper. Do you want to know how God feels towards you as a sinner? The biography of Christ will answer.
II. Is communicable to man. For–
1. Man is preeminently adapted to receive it. He is not formed to receive evil; it is repugnant to his conscience. The soul is made to live in love as its vital atmosphere.
2. Man is preeminently in want of this. It is the only Spirit that can expel the demon passions of evil that reign within, that can light up his soul with truth and blessedness.
3. Man has preeminent helps to this. The Scripture, the life of Christ, the ministry, etc.
III. Determines the condition of man. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.
1. None of His loyal subjects. All who have this disposition delight in His law. All others are miserable vassals. They serve Him, but against their will.
2. None of His docile disciples. Love is essential to Christian knowledge. Without it men may be speculators, cavillers, dogmatists, but not teachable disciples.
3. None of His loving friends. The want of this is enmity to Christ.
4. None of His co-heirs. From this subject we learn that Christianity is–
(1) A life, not a creed or form.
(2) A Divine life. The true Christian is one with the Infinite. (Homilist.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 9. But ye are not in the flesh] Ye Christians, who have believed in Christ Jesus as the sin offering which has condemned sin in the flesh; and, having been justified by faith and made partakers of the Holy Spirit, are enabled to walk in newness of life.
If so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.] Or seeing that, , the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. The flesh, the sinful principle, dwelt in them before; and its motions were the proofs of its indwelling; but now the Spirit dwells in them; and its testimony in their conscience, and its powerful operations in their hearts, are the proofs of its indwelling. God made man in union with himself, and his heart was his temple. Sin being committed, the temple was defiled, and God abandoned it. Jesus Christ is come by his sacrifice and Spirit to cleanse the temple, and make man again a habitation of God through the Spirit. And when this almighty Spirit again makes the heart his residence, then the soul is delivered from the moral effects of the fall. And that this is absolutely necessary to our present peace and final salvation is proved from this: that if any man have not the Spirit of Christ-the mind that was in him, produced there by the power of the Holy Ghost-he is none of his; he does not belong to the kingdom, flock, or family of God. This is an awful conclusion! Reader, lay it to heart.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Here he applies what he had laid down more generally to the believing Romans in particular.
Not in the flesh, but in the Spirit; i.e. not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, ( as in Rom 8:5), or not carnally, but spiritually minded.
If so be that; the conjunction here is causal, not conditional; it may be rendered, seeing that, or forasmuch as: see Rom 8:17,31; 2Th 1:6.
The Spirit of God dwell in you; the Spirit of God dwells in the regenerate, not only by the immensity of his presence, so he is every where and in all things; but by the presence and efficacy of his grace. The indwelling of the Spirit in believers denotes two things:
1. His ruling in them: where a man dwells as Lord, there he doth command and bear rule.
2. His abiding in them, and that for ever, Joh 14:16.
If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his; if he has not the same Spirit which in the former part of the verse is called the Spirit of God: it is called the Spirit of Christ, because it proceeds from him, and is procured by him, Joh 14:26; Joh 16:7; Gal 4:6. When he saith such a one is none of Christs, he means, that he doth not peculiarly belong to Christ, he hath no special interest in him, is no true member of him. As a merchant sets his seal upon his goods, so doth Christ his Spirit upon his followers, Eph 1:13.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. But ye are not in the flesh, butin the spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in youThisdoes not mean, “if the disposition or mind of Goddwell in you”; but “if the Holy Ghost dwell in you”(see 1Co 6:11; 1Co 6:19;1Co 3:16, c.). (It thus appearsthat to be “in the spirit” means here to be under thedominion of our own renewed mind because the indwelling ofGod’s Spirit is given as the evidence that we are “in thespirit”).
Now“But.”
if any man have not theSpirit of ChristAgain, this does not mean “thedisposition or mind of Christ,” but the HolyGhost; here called “the Spirit of Christ,” just as He iscalled “the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (see on Ro8:2). It is as “the Spirit of Christ” that the HolyGhost takes possession of believers, introducing into them all thegracious, dove-like disposition which dwelt in Him (Mat 3:16;Joh 3:34). Now if any man’s heartbe void, not of such dispositions, but of the blessed Author of them,”the Spirit of Christ.”
he is none of hiseventhough intellectually convinced of the truth of Christianity, and ina general sense influence by its spirit. Sharp, solemn statementthis!
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit,…. That is, ye are not carnal, but spiritual men; or ye are not in a state of unregeneracy, but in a state of grace: the reason proving this is,
if so be, or “seeing”
that the Spirit of God dwell in you; the inhabitation of the Spirit is a distinguishing character of a regenerate man; which is to be understood not of his omnipresence, nor of a participation of his gifts, whether ordinary or extraordinary: nor does the Spirit of God only dwell in his people by his graces, but in person as in office, and in a way of special favour; as a spirit of illumination, regeneration, sanctification, and faith, as a comforter, a spirit of adoption, an intercessor, and as a pledge and seal of happiness: which inhabitation is personal; is not peculiar to him to the exclusion of the Father and of the Son; is expressive of property and dominion; is not confined to the souls of men, for he also dwells in their bodies; it is operative, powerful, and perpetual; it is the security of the saints’ perseverance, and the pledge of their resurrection and future glory. This is owing not to any goodness in them, or to any fitness and preparations of theirs to receive him; but to a federal union to Christ and relation to him, to our Lord’s ascension and intercession, and to the love and grace of the Father; and this proves a man to be a regenerate man, to be in the Spirit, and not in the flesh; for the Spirit of God is never in this sense in an unregenerate man, nor is he in any such sense without his grace; so that the indwelling of the Spirit is the grand evidence of relation to God, of an interest in Christ and union to him, and of a man’s state and condition God-ward;
now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. By “the Spirit of Christ”, is not meant the human soul of Christ; nor his divine nature; nor his Gospel, which is the Spirit that gives life; but the Holy Ghost, the third person in the Trinity, the same which is called the Spirit before; and proves Christ to be God, he proceeds from him as from the Father, is sent by him, and with which Christ’s human nature was fitted and filled. The Jews x often speak of , or “the spirit of the Messiah”. Now to have him is not barely to partake of his gifts, but of his graces; to be possessed of him as one’s own; to have communion with him, and to have him dwelling in us. There are some who have him not, nor never will have him, being none of Christ’s; and God’s elect, whilst in an unregenerate state, are without him; and whilst such, though they are his chosen and adopted ones, they are his by his Father’s gift and his own purchase, they are his pardoned ones through his blood, and his justified ones through his righteousness; yet they are not his regenerated, called, and sanctified ones; nor can they claim any interest in him; nor are they known to be his by themselves or others; nor have they any communion with him, or enjoyment of him.
x Zohar in Gen. fol. 19. 3. & 107. 3. & 128. 3. Baal Hatturim in Gen. 1, 2. Caphtor, fol. 113. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Not in the flesh ( ). Not sold under sin (7:14) any more.
But in the spirit ( ). Probably, “in the Holy Spirit.” It is not Pantheism or Buddhism that Paul here teaches, but the mystical union of the believer with Christ in the Holy Spirit.
If so be that (). “If as is the fact” (cf. 3:30).
The Spirit of Christ ( ). The same as “the Spirit of God” just before. See also Phil 1:19; 1Pet 1:11. Incidental argument for the Deity of Christ and probably the meaning of 2Co 3:18 “the Spirit of the Lord.” Condition of first class, assumed as true.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “But ye are not in the flesh,” (humeis de ouk este en sarki) “But you all are not in (the) flesh,” In the domain, domination, or jurisdiction of the old flesh nature, for he that is in the believer “is greater than he that is in the world,” 1Jn 4:4.
2) “But in the Spirit,” (alla en pneumati) “But in (the) Spirit,” in the domain of leadership and jurisdiction of the Holy Spirit, as individuals and as a church, 1Jn 4:13; Rom 5:5.
3) “If so be the Spirit of God dwells in you,” (eiper pneuma theou oikei en humin) “Since the Spirit of God dwells in your all;” both as individuals and the church which he indwells and empowers, Joh 16:7-11; 1Co 3:16; 1Co 6:19-20; Eph 4:30-32.
4) “Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ,” (ei de tis pneuma Christou ouk echei) “But if anyone has, holds, or possesses not the Spirit of Christ,” when one is, born again, or born of the Spirit, he is made a partaker of God’s divine nature, Joh 3:6-7; Joh 6:63; 2Pe 1:4; 1Jn 4:13.
5) “He is none of his,” (houtos ouk estin autou) “This one (this kind of one) is not of him;” One without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, is unsaved and a child of the devil, does not belong to Christ, (except by right of creation) as all men do, Eze 18:4; Mal 2:10. But through the carnal, fleshly, inherent, enmity of the old nature against God, one is void of the Holy Spirit, does not have any preparation to enter heaven or belong to Christ; Eph 2:12; Eph 4:18.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
9. But ye, etc. He applies hypothetically a general truth to those to whom he was writing; not only that by directing his discourse to them particularly he might more powerfully affect them, but also that they might with certainty gather from the description already given, that they were of the number of those, from whom Christ had taken away the curse of the law. Yet, at the same time, by explaining what the Spirit of God works in the elect, and what fruit he brings forth, he encourages them to strive after newness of life.
If indeed the Spirit of God, etc. This qualifying sentence is fitly subjoined, by which they were stirred up to examine themselves more closely, lest they should profess the name of Christ in vain. And it is the surest mark by which the children of God are distinguished from the children of the world, when by the Spirit of God they are renewed unto purity and holiness. It seems at the same time to have been his purpose, not so much to detect hypocrisy, as to suggest reasons for glorying against the absurd zealots of the law, who esteem the dead letter of more importance than the inward power of the Spirit, who gives life to the law.
But this passage shows, that what Paul has hitherto meant by the Spirit, is not the mind or understanding (which is called the superior part of the soul by the advocates of freewill) but a celestial gift; for he shows that those are spiritual, not such as obey reason through their own will, but such as God rules by his Spirit. Nor are they yet said to be according to the Spirit, because they are filled with God’s Spirit, (which is now the case with none,) but because they have the Spirit dwelling in them, though they find some remains of the flesh still remaining in them: at the same time it cannot dwell in them without having the superiority; for it must be observed that man’s state is known by the power that bears rule in him.
But if any have not the Spirit of Christ, etc. He subjoins this to show how necessary in Christians is the denial of the flesh. The reign of the Spirit is the abolition of the flesh. Those in whom the Spirit reigns not, belong not to Christ; then they are not Christians who serve the flesh; for they who separate Christ from his own Spirit make him like a dead image or a carcase. And we must always bear in mind what the Apostle has intimated, that gratuitous remission of sins can never be separated from the Spirit of regeneration; for this would be as it were to rend Christ asunder.
If this be true, it is strange that we are accused of arrogance by the adversaries of the gospel, because we dare to avow that the Spirit of Christ dwells in us: for we must either deny Christ, or confess that we become Christians through his Spirit. It is indeed dreadful to hear that men have so departed from the word of the Lord, that they not only vaunt that they are Christians without God’s Spirit, but also ridicule the faith of others: but such is the philosophy of the Papists.
But let readers observe here, that the Spirit is, without any distinction, called sometimes the Spirit of God the Father, and sometimes the Spirit of Christ; and thus called, not only because his whole fulness was poured on Christ as our Mediator and head, so that from him a portion might descend on each of us, but also because he is equally the Spirit of the Father and of the Son, who have one essence, and the same eternal divinity. As, however, we have no intercourse with God except through Christ, the Apostle wisely descends to Christ from the Father, who seems to be far off:
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(9) Such is not your caseif at least the Spirit of God and of Christ dwells in you, as it should in every Christian.
The Spirit of God . . . the Spirit of Christ.It is to be observed that these two terms are used as convertible. The Spirit of Christ is indeed the presence of Christ Himself in the soul. (Comp. Joh. 14:16; Joh. 14:18; Joh. 14:20, I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever. . . . I will not leave you comfortless (orphans): I will come to you. . . . At that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you.)
Dwell in you.This expression is the complement of the other to be in the Spirit, to be in Christ. It denotes the closest possible contact and influence of spirit upon spirit. No mysticism, however vivid and intense, can really go beyond this without infringing the bounds of personality, and contradicting the direct testimony of consciousness.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it be that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.’
In contrast those who have the Spirit of God dwelling in them are ‘in the Spirit’ and not ‘in the flesh’. They dwell and walk in the realm of the Spirit. They are upheld by the Spirit. They are illuminated by the Spirit (1Co 2:9-16). In this is the crucial test of whether someone is a Christian. Are they indwelt by the Spirit? For Jesus came as the ‘inundator in Holy Spirit’ (Mat 3:11; 1Co 12:13). Indeed if any man does not have the Spirit of Christ he is ‘none of His’. Note the change to ‘Spirit of Christ’, important in context because the point is that central to being a Christian is our relationship to Christ. But the Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of God, for Christ is God. God is seen in general as represented in men’s hearts by ‘the Holy Spirit’. And yet we must beware of being too dogmatic, for God is such that it is impossible for the Holy Spirit to be present without the Father and the Son. They too dwell within us (Joh 14:23). And Paul demonstrates this by immediately speaking of ‘Christ in you’ (Rom 8:10). Compare how in Joh 14:17-18, having promised the coming of the Holy Spirit Jesus said, ‘I will come to you’. Note that Paul is now once again addressing the Roman Christians (as representing all Christians).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rom 8:9. But ye are not in the flesh, &c. The word , rendered if so be, may here stand for the word , as it does 2Th 1:6. Have, in the last clause, is emphatical, and signifies to retain, to fix in the mind as a principle,duly to improve. Compare 1Jn 5:12. 2Jn 1:9.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rom 8:9 . Antithetic ( ye on the other hand ) application of Rom 8:8 to the readers.
] To take this word as quandoquidem , with Chrysostom and others, including Olshausen, is not indeed contrary to linguistic usage, since, like in the sense of (Dissen, ad Dem. de cor . p. 195), also is used in the sense of (see Khner, ad Xen. Anab . vi. 1. 26). But in the present instance the context does not afford the smallest ground for this view; on the contrary, the conditional signification: if certainly, if otherwise (see Klotz, ad Devar . p. 528; Baeuml. Partik . p. 202), is perfectly suitable, and with it the following antithetic corresponds. It conveys an indirect incitement to self-examination. We may add that Paul might also have written without changing the sense (in opposition to Hermann’s canon, ad Viger . p. 834). See on 2Co 5:3 ; Gal 3:4 ; Eph 3:2 .
] That is, has the seat of His presence and activity in you. The point of the expression is not the constantly abiding (“ stabile domicilium,” Fritzsche and others; also Hofmann); in that case it would have needed a more precise definition (see, on the contrary, the simple that follows). Respecting the matter itself and the conception, see 1Co 3:16 ; 1Co 6:17 ; 1Co 6:19 ; 2Ti 1:14 ; Joh 14:23 . Comp. also Ev. Thom. 10 : . See passages from Rabbinic writers on the dwelling of the Holy Spirit in man, quoted by Schoettgen, p. 527; Eisenmenger, entdecktes Judenthum , I. p. 268. The , which is not to be taken as “in the spiritual nature” (Philippi), and the . said with a significant more precise definition of , stand towards one another in an essential mutual relation. The former is conditioned by the latter; for if the Spirit of God do not dwell in the man, He cannot be the determining element in which the latter lives. Compare the Johannine: “ ye in me, and I in you .” According to Hofmann, the relation consists in the Spirit being on the one hand, “ as active life-ground ,” the absolutely inward , and on the other “ as active ground of all life,” that which embraces all living . This, however, is a deviation from the specific strict sense of the , which, in accordance with the context, can only be that Holy Spirit who is given to believers; and the concrete conception of the apostle receives the stamp of an abstraction.
. . .] Antithesis of , rendering very apparent the necessity of that assumption. “ If, on the other hand, any one have not the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him ,” is not in communion of life with Christ, is not a true Christian; for refers to Christ , not to God (van Hengel). Moreover, it is not the non -Christians, but the seeming -Christians (comp. 1Jn 4:13 ), who are characterized as those who have not the Spirit.
] (comp. Phi 1:19 ; 1Pe 1:11 ) is none other than the Holy Ghost , the Spirit of God. He is so called because the exalted Christ really communicates Himself to His own in and with the Paraclete (Joh 14 ), so that the Spirit is the living principle and the organ of the proper presence of Christ and of His life in them. Comp. on 2Co 3:16 ; Gal 2:20 ; Gal 4:6 ; Eph 3:17 ; Col 1:27 ; Act 16:7 . That this , and not perchance the endowment of Christ with the Spirit (Fritzsche), is the view here taken, is clearly proved by the following . Comp. Weiss, bibl. Theol . p. 346. The designation of the Holy Spirit by . is purposely selected in order to render very conspicuous the truth of the . Kllner wrongly lays down a distinction between the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ; making the former the highest , the source and perfection of all , and the latter the higher God-resembling mind that was manifested in Christ . But a distinction between them is not required by Rom 8:10-11 (see on that passage), and is decisively forbidden by Gal 4:6 , compared with Rom 8:14-16 . We cannot even say, therefore, with Umbreit: “the Spirit of Christ is the medium, through which man obtains the Spirit of God;” nor, with van Hengel, who compares Luk 9:55 : “si vero quis Spiritum, qui Christi est, cum eo non habet communem ,” with which Paul would here be aiming at the (alleged) Judaism of the Romans.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 1862
THE NECESSITY OF HAVING THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST
Rom 8:9. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his [Note: This is retained as being totally different from those which follow, and as being useful to any one who may wish to see a more concise view of the subject.].
MAN at his first creation was made in the Divine image; God communed with him as a friend, and dwelt in him as a temple: but this harmony was not of long continuance: man sinned; and God in righteous judgment departed from him. Not willing however that his apostate creatures should irrecoverably perish, God sent his Son to make atonement for their sins, and his Spirit to renew their natures, that so they might be restored to his favour, and rendered meet for the inheritance they had forfeited. It is of this Spirit that the Apostle speaks in the text, and declares that we must have him dwelling in us if we would belong to Christ. We might understand the Spirit as referring to the disposition of Christ; but that the context evidently confines its import to that blessed Spirit, who raised up Christ from the dead, and will in due time raise up us also. He is called the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of Christ, because Christ is God, and the Spirit acts as his deputy. We propose to shew,
I.
That we may have the Spirit
By having the Spirit we do not mean, that we are to have those common operations of the Spirit, which the most ungodly men both experience and resist [Note: Gen 6:3. Isa 63:10.] (for then the Apostles assertion would be frivolous in the extreme;) nor do we mean those miraculous powers, which were given in the apostolic age (for many, who were Christs, never received those powers; and many exercised those powers who never belonged to Christ [Note: Mat 7:22-23.];) but we mean those special influences of the Spirit, whereby men are enlightened, and transformed into the Divine image. In this sense we affirm that we may have the Spirit of Christ
[In the first ages of Christianity, not a few individuals only, but whole Churches received the influences of which we speak. St. Paul prayed that the whole Church at Ephesus might have the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ; and that they might be renewed by the Spirit in their inward man [Note: Eph 1:17; Eph 3:16]: and, speaking of the Christian Church at large, he especially ascribes their attainments to the operations of the Holy Ghost; Not by works of righteousness which we have done, says he, but according to his mercy God hath saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost [Note: Tit 3:5-6.]. Now if the whole Christian Church received the Spirit of Christ formerly, why should not we at this day? Is our strength so much greater than, theirs, or the work of sanctification so much easier, that we do not need the same Divine assistance? or, when the Apostle said, The promise of the Spirit is to you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call [Note: Act 2:38-39.], did he mean to limit the gift of the Spirit to the apostolic age? But why do the Scriptures speak so much respecting our having the Spirit? They teach us to pray for it [Note: Luk 11:13.]; they promise it to us [Note: Joh 7:37-39.]; they require us to make use of it and depend upon it in all holy exercises, to live in the Spirit, walk in the Spirit, pray in the Spirit [Note: Gal 5:25. Jude, ver. 20.]. Would all this be spoken if we were not to expect the Holy Spirit? Why, in the Liturgy of our Church, do we so often pray for the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that we may think those things that be good, and for his merciful guidance that we may perform the same [Note: See the Collect for the fifth Sunday after Easter; and for Whitsunday; and the first in the Communion Service.]? Did those holy men who compiled our Liturgy think that we had no just reason to expect the influences of Gods Spirit? Is it enthusiasm for us to expect what all the first Christians had, what the Scriptures require us to have, and what we ourselves continually pray for? If we use these prayers with sincerity, the world will call us enthusiasts; but we had better be accounted enthusiasts by man, than hypocrites by God.
We should need to apologize for arguing so plain a point, if the daring infidelity of the age did not render it, alas! too necessary.]
We must carry our assertion still further, and say,
II.
That we must have the Spirit
The aid of Gods Spirit is necessary in order to our being Christs: without it,
We cannot know Christ
[By nature, we are altogether blind to spiritual things. We are assured on most unquestionable authority, that the natural man accounts the things of the Spirit to be foolishness, and that he not only does not receive, but cannot know them, because they are spiritually discerned [Note: 1Co 2:14.]. And, with respect to the knowledge of Christ in particular, our Lord tells us that, as no man knoweth the Father but the Son, so no man knoweth the Son but the Father, and he to whom God shall be pleased to reveal him [Note: Mat 11:27.]. The Spirit of God must take of the things that are Christs and shew them unto us; he must open our understandings to understand them; and unless he guide us into all truth, we shall wander in the mazes of ignorance and error to the latest period of our lives, and perish at last through lack of knowledge,]
We cannot resemble Christ
[We have altogether lost the image of God; nor can we ever recover it by any power of our own. That image consists in righteousness and true holiness, not the smallest part of which we can obtain without the Spirit. If we would not go on fulfilling the lusts of the flesh, we must walk in the Spirit [Note: Gal 5:16.]: if we would mortify the deeds of the body, it must be through the Spirit [Note: Rom 8:13.]: if we would have our trials sanctified, it must be through a supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ [Note: Php 1:19.]: if we would wait for the hope of righteousness by faith, it must be through the Spirit [Note: Gal 5:5.]. There is not any single grace which can be produced by any other means; they are all fruits of the Spirit [Note: Gal 5:22-23.]: and as long as any man continues destitute of the Spirit, he must of necessity continue earthly and sensual [Note: Jude, ver. 19.]. He, and he alone, can give us either to will or to do any good thing [Note: Php 2:13.]. Now is holiness necessary in order that we may resemble Christ; and is every part of holiness, both root and branch, the produce of Gods Spirit; and can any one doubt whether it be necessary for us to have the Spirit?]
We cannot enjoy Christ
[We have not naturally any taste for spiritual enjoyments; we affect the things of time and sense, and those only. Indeed, how is it possible that we should enjoy him whom we do not know? Or how can his love be shed abroad in our hearts but by the Spirit [Note: Rom 5:5.]? If any one think he can enjoy Christ by any power of his own, let him only make the experiment; let him retire to his closet for one hour, and say, I will spend this hour in the enjoyment of Christ; I will delight myself in him with my whole heart: let him make the attempt, and he shall soon be undeceived by the most convincing of all arguments, his own experience: nor are we afraid to rest the whole argument upon the issue of such a trial. Nor can we enjoy Christ hereafter any more than we can in this world, if we be not prepared for it by the Spirit of God. There is a meetness for the inheritance of the saints in light which we must have, before we can find comfort in the presence of our Lord. What pleasure could we take in him whom we do not at all resemble? What communion could light have with darkness, or Christ with Belial [Note: 2Co 6:14-15.]? We find that even now, when our corruptions are so restrained, one single hour is irksome, if spent in spiritual exercises; and we may be sure we could not bear to be occupied without intermission to all eternity in those duties, for which we have no inclination, yea, from which we are most exceedingly averse.
But let one asseveration of the true and faithful Witness stand in lieu of ten thousand arguments; Ye MUST be born again, says our Lord; and that, not of water only, but of the Spirit; or else ye can never enter into the kingdom of God [Note: Joh 3:5-7.].]
We shall endeavour to improve this subject,
1.
By a general inquiry
[Have we the Spirit; or are we yet destitute of his gracious influences? Some think this a needless inquiry, and one which cannot be satisfactorily resolved. But can we be brought out of darkness into marvellous light, and be turned from the power of Satan unto God, without knowing that we have experienced some change? St. Paul supposes such ignorance to be inconsistent with saving conversion to God: he asks, Know ye not that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost [Note: 1Co 6:19.]? and again, Know ye not how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates [Note: 2Co 13:5.]? Now here he not only declares that we are reprobates if we have not the Spirit of God, but considers this truth as known and acknowledged by all true Christians. Inquire then, whether you have been enlightened, renewed and sanctified by the Spirit of God, and whether you are yet daily experiencing his powerful operations? Let not this matter hang in suspense, lest you be found reprobates and sons of perdition, when you are fancying yourselves saints, and heirs of glory.]
2.
By a particular address
[Let those, whose consciences testify that they hare not the Spirit, stand convicted and condemned. The text speaks of all such without exception; if any man, &c. Let it be remembered that, however cultivated our minds may be with human literature, and however amiable our natural dispositions, we must have the Spirit of Christ, or we can be none of his. And what a dreadful state is this! for if we be not Christs, whose are we? It must be said to us, as our Lord said to the Jews, Ye are of your Father, the devil. And are any of us willing to be disclaimed by Jesus in the day of judgment? Would we that he should then say to us, Ye are none of mine? If not, let us now seek his good Spirit, and live henceforth under his influence and direction.
But let those, who have reason to believe that they have the Spirit, rejoice. They are Christs: they are his friends; they are the very members of his body; they are his portion, the lot of his inheritance. O happy, happy souls, how highly privileged even now! and how unspeakably blessed in the future world! Be not afraid then of the scoffs of an ungodly world; let them curse, if God do but bless. Improve your present privileges: be careful lest by any means ye grieve the Holy Spirit whereby ye are sealed: look to him more and more to comfort and transform your souls; and expect with patience that blessed period, when Christ shall acknowledge you before the assembled universe, and number you among his jewels in the day that he shall count them up [Note: Mal 3:17.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
DISCOURSE: 1863
THE OFFICES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Rom 8:9. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
ON a remote occasion, similar to the present, I endeavoured to set forth in this place, the law; and, on a subsequent occasion, the Gospel. These two subjects, taken together, form a whole, so far as relates to Christianity as a system. But for the full developement of our holy religion in its spiritual operations and practical results, the office of the Holy Spirit should be separately and distinctly considered. This part, therefore, it is now my intention to supply. [Note: Preached before the University of Cambridge, in November, 1831.] But, in entering on a subject so deeply mysterious as this, I may well ask, Who is sufficient for these things? Besides, in reference to it, there is a still further ground of discouragement, arising from the opposition which the subject itself meets with in the human mind. To a person who has never experienced any thing of a work of grace upon his own heart, the work of the Spirit appears to be little better than an enthusiastic conceit; and when pressed upon his conscience as a matter to be experienced at the peril of his soul, it excites, I had almost said, a feeling of indignation, inasmuch as it requires of him a greater degree of submission to God than he is willing to yield, and a closer intercourse with God than he has any inclination to attain.
I think this admits of an easy illustration. It is an indisputable fact, that we are, by nature, altogether alienated from the life of God. Now we all feel, that, when alienated from a fellow-creature, however we may bear with him in a crowd, we are indisposed to have much personal intercourse with him alone. So, also we feel in reference to God. We can hear of him at a distance, and not be disturbed; but, by reason of our alienation from him, we are averse to be brought into very near communion with him. We can bear with a display of his perfections in the universe, because, though we see him as our Creator, he is not sufficiently near us to exercise any material controul over us: but when he is brought nigh to us in the law, as our Governor, we feel somewhat of a painful constraint, because of our responsibility to him, and the account we must one day give of ourselves to him at his tribunal. Let him then be brought still nearer to us in the Gospel, as our incarnate and suffering God, and our inquietude is proportionably increased; because we are made to realize more deeply the terrors of his wrath, which demanded such a sacrifice, and the personal obligation which lies upon us to surrender up ourselves unreservedly to him. But, in the offices and operations of the Holy Spirit, we are led to view him, not merely as God, in the universe, displaying himself around us; or as God, in his Church, declaring his will to us; or as God, in our nature, interposing for us; but as God, in our hearts, dwelling and operating in us: and this brings him into such immediate contact with us, and requires of us such a minute attention to all our ways, that we shrink back from every part of the subject, and, for the pacifying of our own minds, cast reflections upon it as visionary, unintelligible, absurd. I do not mean to say that there is in the minds of men a distinct consciousness of such a process, but only that there is in reality such a process in the human mind, though men are not exactly aware of it. Men do not like to have God too near to them; and the nearer he is brought to them, the more they shew their aversion to that which is the means of presenting him to their minds. Under such circumstances, I scarcely know how to enter upon the work which I have undertaken. Indeed I am strongly reminded of the feelings of St. Paul himself, when, in reference to his ministrations at Corinth, he said, I was among you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling [Note: 1Co 2:3.]. Yet, from so interesting a subject, especially whilst I judge it necessary to complete the plan which I had originally proposed, I dare not draw back. The importance of it will plead my apology, if any apology be required for declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Indeed, we need go no further than to the words of my text, to see the inconceivable importance of the subject which I am bringing before you. What! If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his! What can this mean? Who is this Spirit? What is it to have him? Why is the having him so indispensable to my welfare? What must I do in order that I may get possession of him? And what must become of me, if I possess him not! I say, to any man that has the least concern about his soul, these thoughts must force themselves with an overwhelming power upon his mind. And it is in the hope that God may in his tender mercy make use of me, for the exciting and the satisfying of these inquiries, that I now address myself to this deep and comprehensive subject. But let me entreat, not only your candour, (for of that I am, from long and uniform experience, well assured,) but your prayers, also, that God may enable me so to speak, as to approve myself to him; and enable you so to hear, that you may derive eternal benefit to your souls; so that both I who sow, and you who reap, may rejoice together in heaven for evermore.
For the unfolding of the subject I shall endeavour to shew, distinctly and separately in my four discourses,
I.
Who is that Spirit whom all of us as Christians are expected to possess.
II.
Why the possessing of that Spirit is indispensable to our being Christs accepted followers.
III.
What that Spirit will work in us in order that we may be Christs.
IV.
What he will work in us when we are Christs.
And, whilst I speak, may the word go forth with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, and come in demonstration of the Spirit and of power to the hearts of all who hear me [Note: 1Pe 1:12. 1Co 2:4.]!
I.
Who is that Spirit whom all of us as Christians are expected to possess. The Holy Spirit here spoken of is the Third Person of the ever-blessed Trinity. As such he is set forth in the ordinance of baptism, which is administered in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost [Note: Mat 28:19.]. And as such he is addressed in that benediction uttered by St. Paul, The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen [Note: 2Co 13:14.]. In both these passages his distinct personality is recognised, and his proper deity acknowledged. Had he been a mere quality, as some have imagined, it is not to be conceived that his name would have been united with that of the Father and of the Son in these solemn acts of worship. But, in fact, the whole Scriptures bear witness to him as God, equally with the Father and the Son. Ananias, in lying to the Holy Ghost, lied unto God [Note: Act 5:3-4.]. And we, in being his temples, are the temples of the living God [Note: 1Co 3:17. with 6:19.]. But, whilst in his essential Godhead he is equal with the Father and the Son, in his office he is inferior to them both, and acts, if I may so say, a subordinate part under the Gospel dispensation. And this accounts for his being called The Spirit of the Father [Note: Mat 10:20. Joh 15:26.], and The Spirit of the Son [Note: Gal 4:6.], under which latter designation we are this time called more particularly to consider him.
My text says, If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Now it is of importance to ascertain, why this name is given to the Holy Spirit. I conceive that the following reasons may fitly be assigned for it. He is so called, I apprehend,
1.
Because of his peculiar agency in reference to Christ himself.
2.
Because of his subserviency to Christ in the economy of redemption.
3.
Because of its being his special office to glorify Christ.
He is called The Spirit of Christ, 1st, because of his peculiar agency in reference to Christ himself. It was he who formed the human nature of Christ in the Virgins womb. Mary was told by the angel Gabriel, that she should conceive in her womb, and bring forth a son, and call his name Jesus: and, on her inquiring of him how that saying of his should be accomplished, seeing that she was a virgin, the angel answered her, saying, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore, also, that holy thing which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God [Note: Luk 1:35.].
The endowments of the Lord Jesus for his heavenly commission were also communicated to him from the same source; as the Prophet Isaiah very distinctly foretold: The Spirit of the Lord God shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and of might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord, and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord [Note: Isa 11:2-3.]. Indeed our Lord himself, when entering upon his ministerial office, purposely referred to another passage in the same prophet, expressive of the same truth, and declared to his audience, that that very Scripture was then fulfilled in their ears: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind; to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord [Note: Luk 4:18-19. with Isa 61:1-2.].
The solemn consecration also of the Lord Jesus to his office at the time of his baptism, was visibly attested and confirmed by this same divine Agent: The Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him; and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased [Note: Luk 3:22.].
Further, it was by the Spirit that he was led into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil [Note: Mat 4:1.]; and by that same Spirit, was enabled to vanquish that mighty foe; as our Lord himself declared: If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you [Note: Mat 12:28.]. By the same divine Agent also was he assisted in offering himself a sacrifice upon the cross; for through the eternal Spirit, he offered himself without spot to God [Note: Heb 9:14.]: by him also was he afterwards raised up from the grave, to which his crucified body had been consigned: He was put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit [Note: 1Pe 3:18.].
Now, as ministering thus to the Lord Jesus, from the first moment of his existence to the period of his restoration from the grave, the Holy Ghost is peculiarly entitled to the name given him in my text, The Spirit of Christ.
But this name further pertains to him on account of his subserviency to Christ in the economy of redemption. Christ, as Mediator, was sent by the Father, and acted in all things as a servant to his Father [Note: Isa 42:1; Isa 53:11.], doing nothing, and speaking nothing, but in accordance with the Fathers will, and in obedience to the Fathers commands. He himself says, I have not spoken of myself; but the Father who sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak [Note: Joh 12:49.]. And precisely thus did the Lord Jesus Christ send the Holy Ghost to effect his will. It was by the Holy Ghost that Christ spake in the ministry of Noah to the antediluvian world [Note: 1Pe 3:18-20.], and instructed all his people in the wilderness [Note: Neh 9:20.]. It was by the Holy Ghost that he moved the prophets in succeeding ages to declare future events [Note: 2Pe 1:21.], and especially to predict his sufferings, and the glory that should follow. And in reference to this very thing, St. Peter calls the Holy Ghost, The Spirit of Christ [Note: 1Pe 1:11.]. On all these occasions, Christ acted by the instrumentality of the Holy Spirit, who, according to the plan fixed in the Divine counsels, was deputed to fulfil the will of Christ. This was made manifest by our blessed Lord whilst he was yet on earth: for on many different occasions, he promised to his Disciples to send them the Holy Ghost [Note: Joh 16:7.]. He told them also that the Father would send them the Holy Ghost in his name [Note: Joh 14:26.]: yea, in an authoritative manner, he breathed on them, and said, Receive ye the Holy Ghost [Note: Joh 20:22.]: and on the day of Pentecost, he, according to his promise, sent forth the Holy Ghost on all his Disciples, as it is said: Being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this which ye both see and hear [Note: Act 2:33.]. In every thing which from that period the Holy Ghost enabled the Apostles to do and teach, he acted as the deputy of Christ, not himself originating what he revealed, or speaking it of himself, but declaring to them what Christ himself had heard and received from the Father [Note: Joh 16:13.], and what he, the Holy Spirit, had heard and received from Christ. Our Lord himself says, in one place,The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself; but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works [Note: Joh 14:10.]: and again, The word which ye hear, is not mine, but the Fathers who sent me [Note: Joh 14:24.]: and then afterwards, respecting the Holy Spirit, he says, When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but, whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak; and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you [Note: Joh 16:13-15.].
But there is a yet further reason for the Holy Spirit being called the Spirit of Christ, viz. that to him was delegated the express office of glorifying Christ. Our Lord, as you have just heard, said, He shall glorify me; for he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you. Accordingly we find, that all the miracles which were wrought by the Apostles for the confirming of the doctrines which they preached, were wrought by the agency of the Holy Ghost [Note: Heb 2:4.], and that, too, for the express purpose of bearing witness to Christ as the true Messiah [Note: Joh 15:26.]. It was that one and the self-same Spirit who wrought all in all in all [Note: 1Co 12:7-11.]. The different graces also which were exercised by the saints for the honouring of Christ, were formed in them by this same divine Agent; on which account they are called the fruits of the Spirit [Note: Gal 5:22.]. In fact, as Christ was the fountain from which, in all cases, the living water flowed [Note: Joh 7:37-39.], and the reservoir from whence the holy oil descended through the golden pipes of divine ordinances upon all Gods waiting and obedient people [Note: Zec 4:6; Zec 4:11-12.], so in every thing which the Holy Spirit either then did, or at the present moment does, impart to men, in a way either of gifts or graces, his object has ever been the same, viz. to bear testimony to Christ, and to fix our regards on Christ, as our only and all-sufficient Saviour.
See this exemplified at the time of Peters mission to Cornelius. Peter commending to Cornelius the Lord Jesus as the only Saviour, whether of Jews or Gentiles, says, To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. Then we are told, that instantly, while Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the word, precisely as he had done on the Apostles at the day of Pentecost [Note: Act 10:43-44; Act 11:15.]. Thus, in all that is now revealed to the souls of men respecting Christ, or that is imparted to them as the purchase of his blood, it is communicated to them by the Spirit; so that all, without exception, must say, We have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God [Note: 1Co 2:10; 1Co 2:12.].
In this mode of speaking of the Holy Spirit, we may possibly be thought to have made him inferior to the Father and the Son. But the inferiority is not personal, but official; not as the Sacred Three subsist in themselves, but as they sustain and execute their respective offices in the economy of redemption. As bearing, what may be called a subordinate part in the mysterious work of mans salvation, a disparity may be ascribed to him; and he may be called the Spirit of the Father, and the Spirit of Christ: but, in himself, he is equal both with the Father and the Son, and is in every way entitled to the same respect, and love, and confidence, as they [Note: Rom 15:30.].
Be it then remembered, that this is He, whom every Christian must have dwelling and abiding in him. St. Paul expressly calls him, The Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us [Note: 2Ti 1:14.]. And if we mark carefully the whole passage from whence my text is taken, we shall find him designated by those different names, The Spirit of God, and The Spirit of Christ, and Christ himself. Hear the Apostles words: Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness; (i. e. if Christ be in you, though your bodies shall suffer the penalty of death, your souls shall never die): but if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you [Note: Rom 8:9-11.].
Now then this Spirit we must all have; and if we have him not, we cannot belong to Christ.
But here it will be asked, What is meant by having the Spirit? Are we all to possess the power of working miracles, and speaking divers kinds of tongues [Note: 1Co 12:10.]? No: the time for such things is long since passed. That they may be renewed at the time when Gods ancient people shall be restored to his favour, and the whole Gentile world shall be converted to the faith of Christ, is probable enough: but no such power exists at this day, except in the conceit of a few brain-sick enthusiasts; nor, if it did, would it have any bearing upon the subject before us. The possession of that power would not constitute us Christs: for we have reason to think that Judas wrought miracles, as well as the other Apostles; and yet, as our Lord tells us, he was no better than a devil all the while [Note: Joh 6:70.]. That possession of the Spirit of which my text speaks, is of such a discriminating nature, that no man who has it can fail to belong to Christ, and no man who has it not can have any part or lot with him. The Spirit of God is promised to us, to dwell in us as in his temple; for we are to be the habitation of God through the Spirit [Note: Eph 2:22.]; and he is further to operate in us effectually for all the ends and purposes of our salvation, producing in us all the fruits of goodness, and righteousness, and truth [Note: Eph 5:9.]. His motions may not unfitly be compared with the operations of the soul in the human body. Without the soul, the body cannot perform any vital function whatever: but when that spiritual inhabitant is present with us, and discharges its proper offices, we shew, by the various exercises of our mind and body, that it really dwelleth in us. Now the Spirit of God performs in the soul an office somewhat analogous to this. The soul by itself has respect only to things visible and temporal; but, when filled by the Spirit of God, it occupies itself about things invisible and eternal. And precisely as the body needs the presence and operation of the soul for the discharge of its offices in relation to this world, so does the soul need the influences of the Holy Spirit for the discharge of its duties in reference to the world to come.
To a carnal mind, this may appear strange. But it corresponds exactly with what St. Paul says:I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me [Note: Gal 2:20.]. And again, he says, When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory [Note: Col 3:4.].
The particular operations of the Spirit of Christ will come under our consideration hereafter. My present object is merely to shew who that blessed Spirit is, whom we are to have dwelling in us, and for what ends and purposes he is promised to us. He is none other than God himself: and, as I have said, he operates as really and effectually in our souls, as our souls operate in our bodies.
I am aware that this is a truth but little considered; a truth, the very mention of which is, by the generality of Christians, accounted visionary at least, if not impious and profane. But if this truth be not admitted, yea, and admitted too as a matter of primary importance, all that we shall have to advance, in our remaining discourses, will only create disgust. I beg, therefore, that this be duly weighed; that the text, in conjunction with the context, be diligently studied; and that prayer be offered by us all to Almighty God, who has promised to give wisdom to those who ask it at his hands [Note: Jam 1:5.]; that so our minds may be led to receive the word with candour, and our hearts be opened to embrace it. If we enter not into a candid investigation of this subject, the word will only prove a stumbling-block to our feet, and become a savour of death unto death, instead of being, as I would wish it, a savour of life unto life [Note: 2Co 2:16.]. Verily there is a great fault, both amongst Christian ministers and Christian hearers, in relation to it. Ministers in general enter not, by any means, with sufficient clearness and fulness into this part of divine truth. Many, who, at the time of their ordination, have professed that they were moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon them the ministerial office, and have joined in that heavenly anthem
COME, HOLY GHOST, OUR SOULS INSPIRE,
AND LIGHTEN WITH CELESTIAL FIRE;
THOU THE ANOINTING SPIRIT ART,
WHO DOST THY SEVENFOLD GIFTS IMPART;
THY BLESSED UNCTION FROM ABOVE
IS COMFORT, LIFE, AND FIRE OF LOVE;
I say, many who have thus, in the presence of the whole Church, professed their faith as in perfect accordance with our subject, in their ministrations altogether overlook it, except at the time appointed by the Church for the special consideration of it; and even then they touch it but superficially, and bring it forward only lest the expectation of the people, who look for some instruction respecting it, should be disappointed. And Christian hearers feel no lack, though they pass the whole remainder of the year, without ever being reminded of the truth of which my text speaks; i. e. of the necessity of having the Holy Ghost imparted to us in order to our final salvation. Nay, even Masters of Israel, of whom better things might be hoped, are yet ignorant of these things; and, when told that they must be born again of the Spirit, too often reply, with Nicodemus, How can these things be [Note: Joh 3:9-10.]? In fact, we of the Church of England, having a season consecrated to the special consideration of this subject, have, from this very circumstance, our guilt greatly aggravated. We have heard, from year to year, the declaration in my text; and yet perhaps have never once put the question to ourselves, Have I received the Holy Ghost? have I the Spirit of Christ dwelling in me? have I ever sought this gift, and earnestly implored of God to bestow it on me? have I, in the course of my whole life, so much as once felt any solicitude about it? Let this whole assembly put these questions to themselves; and then let them see in what a perilous state they are, and with what a disposition of mind they ought to come to the further consideration of this all-important subject. Indeed, indeed, I must declare, from Almighty God, that, whatever any man may think of his attainments or his virtues, he is not a Christian truly, if his soul be not a temple of the Holy Ghost. He may have many amiable qualities, but he does not belong to Christ; nor can he ever dwell with Christ in the eternal world, if Christ do not dwell in him, and abide with him, in this world.
Whence the necessity for this heavenly gift arises will be opened in our next. But I must, in the mean time, warn all, that the subject is a matter of life and death. It is not to be listened to with mere curiosity, but as a point which at our peril we must understand, and at our peril must experience. If it is of importance whether we belong to Christ or not, it is of importance to ascertain whether we have this evidence of our belonging to him: for the declaration of God is unquestionable, and his decision is irreversible; nor is there any exception whatever made: If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. He may be in a high and dignified station; but he is not therefore Christs. He may be greatly distinguished for the variety and extent of his intellectual attainments: but he is not therefore Christs. He may be looked up to as a pattern of moral excellence and virtue; but neither will that be any decisive evidence of his belonging to Christ. Whoever, or whatever he may be, if he have not the Holy Ghost abiding in him, he is none of Christs. He may now make light of this truth; he may explain it away; he may puff at it [Note: Psa 10:5.] (as the Scripture speaks), with contemptuous indignation; but he shall find it true to his cost. Let me, however, hope that the minds of all shall be opened, as Lydias was, to attend to what shall be spoken [Note: Act 16:14.]; and that the word being received with meekness as an engrafted word, shall prove as effectual, as it is able, to save your souls [Note: Jam 1:21.].
But, whilst I would impress on all a sense of the absolute and indispensable necessity which exists for our possessing this heavenly gift, I must not close my subject without declaring, for the comfort of my audience, the willingness of Almighty God to bestow it upon all without exception. He has told us, that if an earthly parent will not refuse bread to his famished child, much less will He refuse his Holy Spirit unto them that ask him [Note: Luk 11:13.]. Nor let any be discouraged on account of their unworthiness. A more unworthy character can scarcely be conceived than that of the Samaritan woman, whose guilt, it should seem, was not a little aggravated by refusing to our Lord a draught of water; yet to her did he say, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith unto thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water [Note: Joh 4:10; Joh 4:14.]. Let all of us then come thirsting for this water of life. Nor let any erroneous presumption be harboured in our minds, as though there were nothing peculiar in this gift; but let every one of us seek it, yea, seek it earnestly, with strong crying and tears, that so we may be heard and answered, and the Saviour be magnified in the midst of us [Note: Act 19:17.], and our souls be saved in the great day of the Lord Jesus [Note: 1Co 5:5.].
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
DISCOURSE: 1864
OUR NEED OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Rom 8:9. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
THE Jewish religion, by the express command of its Divine Author, would not admit of any relaxation of its principles, or any departure from its established ordinances. Not only did it prohibit any connexion with idolaters, but it forbade even the mention of the name of any false god. In all its appointments, it formed so broad a line of separation between the Jews and the rest of the world, that it was considered by the Gentiles as inspiring its followers with an utter hatred of all the human race. The New Testament has, to a certain degree, shared amongst the heathen the same universal antipathy, and upon the same grounds. If the religion of the Lord Jesus would have admitted of any union with idolatry, he would have been readily received amongst the objects of worship which the Romans venerated; and his religion, instead of being universally proscribed, would have been judged worthy of general respect. But the Apostles were commanded to preach the Gospel every where, as requiring an exclusive regard; and to enforce it with this authoritative declaration, that all who believed and embraced it should be saved, but that all who embraced it not should be damned [Note: Mar 16:16.]. Its doctrines were inculcated as so sacred, that if even an angel from heaven should attempt to establish any position contrary to them, he should be held accursed [Note: Gal 1:8-9.]. This inflexible spirit pervades the whole of our religion, so far as it relates to its fundamental truths. Every man must yield to it at his peril: and not to those parts only which are commended to us by our reason, but to those parts also which depend entirely on revelation, and to which reason is constrained to bow. Not to mention innumerable other passages which partake of this unbending character, I will take that which forms the subject of our present series: If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Here is a declaration so broad, so explicit, so determinate, as to admit of no qualification, no exception whatever. To it every child of man must submit; and whoever shall stumble over it as a rock of offence, shall be broken; and on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder [Note: Mat 21:44.]. Taking for granted that you have, agreeably to my request, examined carefully for yourselves my text in connexion with the context, and that you see my interpretation of it to be correct (for the Spirit of Christ, mentioned in my text, cannot by any possibility be understood as meaning the disposition of Christ), I proceed, with all humility, to the further consideration of the awful truth which I have undertaken to develope.
Now, whether we could shew the reasonableness of this declaration or not, it would be our bounden duty to receive it with implicit confidence, and to regard it as the avowed and unalterable determination of the Most High. But I think it may be clearly shewn, that this is by no means an arbitrary appointment, resulting merely from the sovereign will of God. It appears to be rather a declaration founded on the actual state of man as a fallen creature. When man was in his primeval state of holiness, in himself complete, he needed neither a Saviour to work out a redemption for him, nor the Holy Spirit to apply that redemption to him. But, as a fallen creature, he stands in need of both. A Redeemer is necessary for him, that he may be brought back to God; and the gift of the Holy Spirit is necessary for him, in order that he may come to Christ aright, and find acceptance with God through Christ. This need of the Spirits influence is the part of my subject which I am now called to unfold; and I pray God, that, whilst I address myself to it with all Christian fidelity, the word may come to every soul amongst you, not in word only, but in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance [Note: 1Th 1:5.].
Let me however first, in few words, repeat what we mean, when we say, that men must have the Spirit of Christ: for, unless we have definite ideas upon that subject, we can never fully comprehend the point which we are endeavouring to set before you.
It is obvious that the possession of the Spirit, which is here spoken of, must be somewhat very different from any natural or acquired endowment, since we may possess every thing which constitutes us rational and accountable beings, and yet not be Christs; whilst, on the other hand, however defective we may, in other respects, be, the possession of it will infallibly prove us to belong to Christ. If it be asked, What does this possession of the Spirit import? I answer, It is, as I shewed in my last, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our souls, as his temple, and his operating in us, as a quickening and influential principle of life.
That point being determined, we shall proceed, agreeably to the plan before laid down, to shew,
II.
Why the possession of that Spirit is necessary to our being Christs accepted followers. For the elucidation of this, there are three points to be established; namely:first, That all our faculties are impaired by sin; next, That, without an entire renovation of them, Christ can never accept or acknowledge us as his; and, lastly, That none but the Spirit of Christ can ever accomplish in us this necessary work. These points being established, the reasonableness, no less than the certainty, of Gods declaration in my text, will appear, to the conviction of every gainsayer, and to the satisfaction of every unprejudiced mind.
First, then, let it be remembered, That all our faculties are impaired by sin.
It is clear, that we are not now such as we were when we first came out of our Creators hands. We were created, originally, after Gods own image [Note: Gen 1:26.]. Our mind was in perfect accordance with his mind, and our will with his will. There was not so much as a thought of our hearts which did not emanate from him, and had not respect to his glory. Our bodies were every way fitted to aid the soul in all its operations. Not an inclination, affection, or appetite, existed in us, but in perfect unison with the proper offices of the soul, and in subserviency to its dictates. Mans whole delight was in God alone. As far as his happiness was in any respect derived from the creature, it was God in the creature, and not the creature itself, that was the real source of that happiness: the creature was only the medium of communication between him and his God. The goodness of God was seen and tasted by him in every thing: and every object around him afforded him an occasion of admiration, and gratitude, and love. To dwell in the presence of God, to commune with him, to receive and execute every intimation of his will; in a word, to admire God in every thing, to adore him for every thing, and to glorify him by every thing, this was the constant employment of man in his state of innocence, and the one uniform occupation both of his soul and body.
But what of all this is now left to us? We are altogether departed from God. Every faculty of our souls, and every member of our bodies, is become depraved, so that there remains in us no part of the moral image of our God. As beings of a superior order, we still are the lords of this lower creation; and, in the exercise of this authority, we, to a certain degree, resemble Him who is the governor of the universe [Note: 1Co 11:7.]. But in righteousness and true holiness, which I call his moral image, we bear no resemblance to him whatever. Our understanding is blinded, so that, instead of approving Gods revealed will, we turn away from it with dislike. His law, as contained in the Ten Commandments, is deemed by us unnecessarily strict; and the sanctions by which it is enforced are regarded as needlessly severe. His very Gospel, which is the result of his eternal counsels, and contains in it all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge [Note: Col 2:3.], is treated by us as a cunningly devised fable. To the self-righteous amongst us, it is a stumbling-block; and to those who are wise in their own conceit, it is mere foolishness. We are, both in heart and life, altogether opposed to it. In our eyes sin has no deformity, and holiness no beauty. Communion with God affords us no pleasure. Prayer and praise are exercises which are a burthen to us, rather than a delight; and instead of walking in constant and familiar intercourse with God, as Adam did before the fall, we flee from him, as Adam did after his transgression, and rather hide ourselves from him as an enemy, than go forth to meet him as a friend.
But is it I who say this; or saith not the Scripture the same also [Note: 1Co 9:8.]? Gods own account of us is, that when he looked down from heaven upon men, to see if there were any that did understand and seek after God, they were all gone aside, they were all together become filthy, there was not one that did good, no, not one [Note: Psa 14:2-3. with Rom 3:10-18.]. He further adds, that every imagination of the thoughts of mens hearts was only evil continually [Note: Gen 6:5.]. Nor let it be supposed that this was descriptive only of some more flagrant transgressors who lived at one particular age or place: for the Apostles themselves, previous to their conversion, were of this very character, as St. Paul most candidly confesses. Speaking of those who walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in all the children of disobedience, he says, Among whom we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature children of wrath, even as others [Note: Eph 2:2-3.]. And again, We ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and Pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another [Note: Tit 3:3.].
But, together with the Scripture, let me appeal to personal experience. What have been our own habits even from our youth? Have we delighted ourselves in God? Has it been the joy of our hearts to draw nigh to him in the exercise of prayer and praise? And have we sought after the communications of his grace and the testimonies of his love, as our supreme happiness? When the question has occurred to our minds, Who will shew us any good? has the reply of David instantly been made, Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us [Note: Psa 4:6.]? Must we not rather confess, that every vanity has been regarded by us with a deeper interest than our God, and every base lust been served in preference to him? Yes, we have, as the Scripture asserts, worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for evermore [Note: Rom 1:25.]. And if at any time we have been reproved for this, our heart has risen up against the will of God, in the very spirit of Pharaoh, when he said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go [Note: Exo 5:2.]. And now I make my appeal to you. Is this overstated? If any think that it is, tell me who is there amongst us whose body has at all times been in perfect subjection to his soul, so as to render a prompt and uniform obedience to its holy motions? With whom has it not rather been in a constant state of rebellion against the soul; and in whom, unless he have been renewed by divine grace, does it not, with insatiable avidity, follow yet daily its own corrupt desires? It is true in all of us, though not exactly in the same way, that the body, which was ordained to serve, exercises a tyrannic sway over, the soul; and the soul, which was ordained to regulate all the motions of the body, is made a very pander to its corrupt appetites.
Now then, agreeably to what I mentioned as the second point to be considered, I beg you to inquire with care, and to judge with candour, whether, whilst we are in such a state, Christ can receive us, and acknowledge us as his? I think it clear, that he cannot: for it would counteract all the purposes of God in the redemption of the world. If we trace up, as we must, the whole work of redemption to the eternal counsels of God, I ask, To what has he predestinated his people? Is it not that they should be conformed to the image of his Son [Note: Rom 8:29.]? To what has he chosen them? Is it not that they may be holy and without blame before him in love [Note: Eph 1:4.]? Yes: to no one soul amongst us shall salvation ever be vouchsafed, but through sanctification of the Spirit, as well as through belief of the truth [Note: 2Th 2:13.]. But how would these purposes be accomplished if men were saved with all their corruptions unmortified and unsubdued? Besides, it would defeat all the ends of our Saviours mission. He came to destroy the works of the devil [Note: 1Jn 3:8.]; to redeem us from all iniquity, and to purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works [Note: Tit 2:14.]. Even at the time of his conception in the womb, his name Jesus was given him as declarative of this very thing, that he should save his people, not in their sins, but from them [Note: Mat 1:21.]. But he might as well have never come at all, if these ends are to be set aside, and mankind are to be saved without any respect to their moral character. Further, the office of the Holy Spirit, as a sanctifier, would be altogether frustrated and superseded: yea, and the whole word of of God would be invalidated and made void. God has declared, that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God [Note: 1Co 6:9.]: and that no unclean thing shall enter into his presence [Note: Rev 21:27.]. But what truth would there be in these declarations, if an unrenewed man could stand with acceptance in the sight of God?
But, in fact, an unregenerate man could not be happy in the presence of God, even if he were admitted to it. For, how could so corrupt a creature endure the presence of a holy God; and a creature so full of enmity against God, be happy in immediate communion with him? How could a person who has never found any pleasure in holy exercises, bear to spend an eternity in duties, for which he has no taste, no fitness, no capacity? He has no meetness for heaven. He would be altogether out of his element there: heaven would be no heaven to him, for want of the dispositions necessary for the enjoyment of it. If two cannot walk together on earth, except they be agreed [Note: Amo 3:3.], much less could the glorified saints and angels, all formed after the perfect image of their God, admit to their converse, and associate themselves with, those who bear upon their souls nothing but the image and deformity of Satan. St. Paul puts this in a very striking point of view, and appeals to us for the justness of his sentiments: What fellowship, says he, hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel [Note: 2Co 6:14-15.]?
If then Christ will not make void the eternal purposes of his Father, and the ends of his own incarnation and death,if he will not render nugatory the office of the Holy Spirit as the sanctifier of Gods elect,and if he will not so dishonour himself as to number amongst his people those who have spent their whole lives in treading under foot his blood, and doing despite to the Spirit of his grace [Note: Heb 10:29.]in a word, if he will not exalt to his glory those who have no taste, no capacity for the enjoyment of it,I think it clear, that Christ neither will nor can acknowledge any people as his, till they have received an entire renovation of their nature, and a meetness for that glory to which he would exalt them.
Let me not, however, be misunderstood. I am far from saying that our fallen nature renders us incapable of enjoying heaven, provided we be washed from our guilt in the blood of Christ, and be renewed by his Spirit in our inward man. On the contrary, not only will the Lord Jesus Christ, in that case, receive and acknowledge us as his, but God the Father also will rejoice over us with joy, and rest in his love, and joy over us with singing [Note: Zep 3:17.]; and both the Father and the Son will be eternally glorified in us. But this I say, that, till we are restored to the Divine image, the Lord Jesus can never have pleasure in us, nor can God the Father ever recognise us as his peculiar and redeemed people; for our Lord has repeatedly, and in the most authoritative manner, asserted, that, Except we be born again, we cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven [Note: Joh 3:3.]. If ever we would belong to Christ, we must be so renewed, as to be made, if not in act, yet in desire and endeavour at least, pure, as Christ himself is pure [Note: 1Jn 3:3.], and perfect, as our Father which is in heaven is perfect [Note: Mat 5:48.].
But here arises the question, By what power can this change be effected? And I answer, (as I undertook, in the third place, to shew,) it is by the Spirit of Christ alone that this change ever was, or ever can be, wrought.
To imagine that this change is of necessity wrought in baptism, is a very fatal error. I presume not to say that God cannot accomplish it then as well as at any other time. Nor do I deny but that God does, on some occasions, make that ordinance the means of peculiar benefit to the soul. But the mere administration of the baptismal rite can no more sanctify a man, than the administration of the Lords supper can. And if a man at the Lords supper may, by receiving it amiss, eat and drink his own damnation [Note: 1Co 11:29.]; so, by receiving baptism amiss, he may receive a curse rather than a blessing. This was actually the case with Simon Magus, who, though baptized by Philip the Evangelist, remained in the very gall of bitterness, and the bond of iniquity [Note: Act 8:23.]. There is, doubtless, (and I wish the avowal of it to be distinctly noticed,) a great change effected in baptism. But it is a change of state, and not of nature. By baptism a person is admitted into covenant with God, and obtains a title to all the blessings of the Christian covenant, exactly as a Jew by circumcision became entitled to all the blessings of the Jewish covenant. St. Paul says, To them, as Israelites, (who have been admitted into covenant with God by circumcision,) to them pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises [Note: Rom 9:4.]. But were they therefore renewed, and sanctified, and saved? Surely not: for the Apostle appealed to God, that, notwithstanding their title to these blessings, he had great heaviness and continual sorrow in his heart on their account [Note: Rom 9:2.]. So then it is with those who have been baptized: they have a title to all the blessings of salvation; a title which, in an unbaptized state, they did not possess. But the actual possession of those blessings can only be obtained by the exercise of faith in Christ for the justification of their souls, and by the influence of the Holy Spirit for their restoration to the Divine image. To regard it in any other view, is to assimilate it to the extreme unction of the Papists, and to lead men into the most fatal error.
If, then, we do not of necessity receive a new nature in baptism, when and how are we to receive it? Can we, by any efforts of our own, form it in ourselves? I answer, No. It is called in Scripture a new creation [Note: 2Co 5:17.]; and a man can no more create himself anew, than he could create himself at first. If any think that he has within himself a power to renew himself after the Divine image, he has, within his own reach, the means of proving it to demonstration. Let him set about it, and accomplish it, and he will at once disprove every word which the Scripture speaks respecting this matter. Our Lord says, Without me ye can do nothing [Note: Joh 15:5.]; and St. Paul says, that God alone can give us either to will or to do any thing that is good [Note: Php 2:13.]; yea, that of ourselves we are not sufficient even to think a good thought as of ourselves: our sufficiency for it must be of God [Note: 2Co 3:5.]. If any man think this not true, let him try it. I readily acknowledge, that a man may correct some outward vices, and practise some outward duties; but can he bring himself to hate every kind and degree of sin, and to lothe and abhor himself on account of his indwelling corruptions? Can he, without the Spirits influence, so mortify the deeds of the body [Note: Rom 8:13.], as no longer to live after the flesh? And can he sit loose to all the things of time and sense, and set his affections wholly and exclusively on things above [Note: Col 3:2.]? Can he, in a word, bring himself to love God supremely, and to delight himself truly in all holy exercises? Can he further so form his soul after the likeness of Christ, as, under the heaviest trials, to indulge no other tempers than those which he manifested, and willingly to lay down his life, as he did, and as every follower of Christ must be ready to do [Note: Luk 14:26.], for the honour and glory of his God? Let him do these things by any power of his own, and we will at once acknowledge the erroneousness of our present statement. But the more diligently the attempt be made, the more deeply will any man be convinced, that he must have the Spirit of Christ; and that, without the renovating influences of that Divine Agent, he can never become one of Christs peculiar and approved people. The Spirit of Christ must open the eyes of our understanding [Note: Luk 24:45.]. The Spirit of Christ must renew us in our inward man [Note: 2Co 4:16.]. The Spirit, of Christ alone can so reveal the Saviour to us, that, with any measure of true affiance, we should call him Lord [Note: 1Co 12:3.]. No other power than his can ever assimilate us to the risen Saviour, enabling us to die unto sin, and to rise again unto righteousness [Note: Eph 1:17-21.]. Nothing, I say, but the mighty working of that power that raised Christ himself from the dead, can effect this change in us: and, consequently, the assertion in my text is clearly proved, If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Let it then be borne in mind, that, as this is not a mere arbitrary appointment of the Deity, so neither is it an enthusiastic conceit. It is a decision of the Most High, arising out of the necessities of our nature, and proceeding from the boundless riches of his grace, which has made such an astonishing provision for us.
I hope I may now consider this point as proved, and may henceforth assume it as an acknowledged truth, that the doctrine of the Holy Spirits influence is founded on the state and character of every living man. Indeed, if my statement upon this part of my subject have failed to carry conviction along with it, all that I shall have to bring forward in my two remaining discourses will appear destitute of any solid foundation, and unworthy of any serious attention. It is on this account that I have devoted one entire discourse to this part of my subject. I know whom I address, and that they will justly expect to see every step of my argument made clear and unquestionable. I have great and important truths to bring before you in my remaining discourses; and, if I shew you not to your satisfaction the foundation on which they stand, I cannot hope, or even wish, at any time, and least of all in these days of fanaticism and folly, that they should be favourably received by you. I speak as unto wise men; and I call upon you to judge what I say [Note: 1Co 10:15.]. But I do hope that the words which I have delivered have carried conviction along with them. And if any doubt remain on the mind of a single individual, 1 call upon him to study well the state of his own soul before God. If any one of you think himself not so fallen as I have represented, let him examine well the Scriptures, and compare them with the whole of his past life. Or, if he think he can restore himself to Gods image by any power of his own, let it be seen that he can do so, and let him prove it by an actual appeal to fact. Or if, in the failure of these endeavours, he is disposed to maintain that he has no need of such a transformation of soul as I have spoken of, then let him inquire diligently, and see, whether there be not on Gods part an insurmountable obstacle to his admission into heaven in an unrenewed state; and also, whether, if admitted into those blissful mansions, there would not be on his part an insuperable impediment to his enjoyment of them; and whether that be not true, which our Lord declared to the obstinate and unbelieving Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come [Note: Joh 8:21.].
But none of you will ever be able to satisfy yourselves on any one of these points. If you could establish any one of them, you would set aside the authority of the inspired volume, and disprove at once the whole of Christianity. But if you acknowledge, as you must, the truth of our preceding statement, then set yourselves immediately to make a due improvement of all that you have heard. Beg of God, especially, that you may be impressed with a deep sense of your exceeding sinfulness, and of your need of the Holy Spirits influence to renovate your souls. And do not rest in a mere outward acknowledgment of your guilt and helplessness, but cry mightily to God, and give him no rest [Note: Isa 62:7.] till he bestow his Holy Spirit upon you. Nor harbour a thought of delaying this work to a more convenient season [Note: Act 24:25.]: for, who can tell whether that more convenient season shall ever arrive? More especially now that Gods judgments are so visibly, and with such rapid strides, traversing the earth, and may, for aught we know be even already at our doors; who can tell, whether even a single day may be allowed you for repairing your present neglect, and for acquiring that renovation of soul which you so greatly need. Indeed, this is no time [Note: Nov. 13, 1831, when the cholera had actually begun to shew itself at Sunderland.] for any of us to delay our preparation for death and judgment. On the contrary, the very circumstance of the proximity of danger, should give tenfold energy to our endeavours; since, in the event of any sudden seizure, a consciousness of having experienced this change, would tend to tranquillize our minds, and, by disarming death of its terrors, to counteract the effect of disease itself, which would otherwise gather strength from the fears that were excited by it.
I mean not, however, to be an alarmist on these matters: but on the matters of eternity I am an alarmist, even as the Apostle Paul was; and knowing, as he did, the terrors of the Lord, I would persuade men [Note: 2Co 5:11.]: yes, I would persuade every one amongst you, old and young, rich and poor, learned and unlearned, to flee from the wrath to come [Note: Mat 3:7.], and to lay hold on eternal life [Note: 1Ti 6:12.]. I ask every one here present, Is my text true, or is it not? If it be true, what is it less than madness to waste the time now afforded you for obtaining the gift of Gods Holy Spirit, and securing thereby the salvation of your souls? It will be too late to repent, when we are taken hence, or to ask for even a drop of water to cool our tongues [Note: Luk 16:24.]; when now, if we would but cry to God, we might obtain rivers of living water [Note: Joh 7:38.]. Were we but in earnest, no soul amongst us should be suffered to seek this gift in vain. Our blessed Lord has promised his Holy Spirit to us; yea, he has himself received this heavenly gift on purpose that he may bestow it upon us [Note: In Psa 68:18. it is, he received; but in Eph 4:8. he gave. He received in order that he might give.]. But, however free his promises be, he will be inquired of by us, before he will perform them [Note: Eze 36:37.]. The promise runs, Ask, and ye shall have; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you [Note: Mat 7:7.]. Let us then, in dependence on this promise, entreat of God to give us, in the first place, his Holy Spirit as a spirit of grace and supplication [Note: Zec 12:10.]; and then, in answer to our prayers, to pour out his Spirit, even, as it were, in rivers and floods upon us [Note: Isa 44:3.]; that so there might be accomplished in us that good work, which it is the Spirits office to perform, by renovating our souls, and causing us to walk in Gods statutes, and to keep his judgments, and do them [Note: Eze 36:27.]. Then, having obtained this inestimable gift, let us be careful to improve it aright, never resisting his holy motions [Note: Act 7:51.], lest we provoke God to withdraw his Spirit from us [Note: Psa 51:11.], and with holy indignation to swear, that his Spirit shall strive with us no more [Note: Gen 6:3.]; and that we shall never enter into his rest [Note: Heb 3:11.].
The most important parts of my subject must of necessity be deferred to the remaining opportunities of addressing you. This, which I may call only a prefatory part, I will conclude with that beautiful Collect of our Church, in which the whole that has been brought before you is thus briefly and piously expressed: O God, forasmuch as without thee we are not able to please thee, grant that thy Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen [Note: Collect for Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity.].
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
DISCOURSE: 1865
THE SPIRITS WORK IN UNBELIEVERS
Rom 8:9. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
IN our two preceding discourses, we touched on points necessary to be considered in order to a just apprehension of our subject; but they were rather of an introductory nature, than a direct unfolding of the subject itself. We now come to that which is of prime importance, and in which our present and eternal interests are most deeply involved, namely, the work which the Holy Spirit accomplishes in men, in order to their becoming the people and the property of Christ. And in our statements we will exercise all imaginable caution not, on the one hand, to fall short of what the Scripture indispensably requires; nor, on the other hand, to strain any requirement of Scripture beyond what it plainly and incontrovertibly imports: for if, on the one hand, we are bound, at the peril of our souls, not to withhold any thing that can be profitable to you; so we are extremely anxious, on the other hand, not by carrying any part of our subject to excess, to make sad the heart of any whom God would not have made sad [Note: Eze 13:22.].
In prosecution of the plan before laid down, I now come to state,
III.
What the Holy Spirit will work in us in order to our being Christs. And here I shall comprehend the whole in those three acknowledged duties, repentance, faith, and obedience. I say then, that, in order to bring us to Christ, the Holy Spirit will, first, Convince us of sin; secondly, He will reveal Christ to us, as the appointed and only Saviour; and, thirdly, He will lead us to an unreserved surrender of ourselves to God, in a way of holy obedience.
First,He will convince us of sin. This is the first work of the Spirit in bringing us to Christ; and till this is accomplished, we neither are, nor can be, Christs. Of this work, there is not any real experience in the natural man. He may have, as we often see, a spirit of bondage; which appears from the apprehensions which men betray in the prospect of death and judgment: but as for any real humiliation, he has it not; nor can he form it in himself by any power of his own. It is only when Christ sends his Holy Spirit into our souls, that this great preparatory work is accomplished in us. It is that heavenly Agent alone, that can take away from us the heart of stone, and give us an heart of flesh [Note: Eze 11:19.]. Hence our blessed Lord has promised to send his Holy Spirit for this very end: I will send the Comforter unto you; and when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin [Note: Joh 16:7-8.].
Now, the Holy Spirit will convince us, not of the mere existence of sin, for nobody can be ignorant of that; but of the extent and heinousness of our transgressions. In order to this, he will discover to us the spiritual import of the law. Whilst in a natural and unconverted state, we have little notion of the law, except as it appears in the mere letter. But the Holy Spirit will shew us, that it extends to every motion of the heart; that an angry wish is murder; and an impure look, adultery [Note: Mat 5:21-22; Mat 5:27-28.]; and an inordinate desire after any thing whatever, is a violation of the tenth commandment [Note: Rom 7:7.]. Thus he shews us that our sins, which to the generality appear only as the stars in a cloudy night, few, and at a great distance from each other, are, in reality, like the stars in the brightest hemisphere; or, rather, like the stars in the clearest night, viewed through a telescope of the largest power, when their numbers (the number of our sins) exceed all that we could ever have imagined; forming, as it were, one continuous mass through the whole space of our lives [Note: Psa 40:12.]. The various aggravations of our sins are then, also, brought to light, and are revealed to us as the vilest ingratitude towards our heavenly Benefactor; the most injurious rebellion against our almighty Creator; and the most inconceivable folly, as destructive of our eternal welfare.
We are apt, for the pacifying of our own minds, to balance our virtues against our faults. But the Holy Spirit, by applying the law to our consciences, and shewing us the extent of its demands, makes us to see that our brightest virtues are, in fact, but splendid sins, falling, as they do, infinitely short of that perfection which the law requires of us. Thus the Holy Spirit shews us, not only the depth of our guilt, but the awfulness of our desert; and that, if we die in an unpardoned state, we have nothing to expect at Gods hands, but wrath and fiery indignation.
But, in addition to all this, there is one sin in particular of which the Holy Spirit will convince us, and which is especially referred to by our Lord,the sin of unbelief. Our Lord says, I will send the Comforter, to reprove the world of sin, became they believe not on me [Note: Joh 16:7-9.]. Now this is a sin of which the unconverted man makes no account. If he think of it at all, it is rather in extenuation than in aggravation of his other sins. He considers unbelief rather as his misfortune than his fault. He never once suspects that there is in him a corrupt bias, and an evil heart of unbelief; and that these are the main causes of his departing from the living God [Note: Heb 3:12.]. Nor is he at all aware that his unbelief owes its origin to the corruption of his heart, and not to any want of clearness in the things revealed.
God has sent his only dear Son into the world, to reconcile sinners unto him, by his own obedience unto death. He has, also, given most abundant evidence of this, such as must of necessity convince any dispassionate and candid mind. And he invites all the children of men to accept of mercy in this his appointed way. The heathen, who have never heard of this merciful provision made for them, are not accountable for their neglect of it; but we, who have been instructed in the knowledge of Christ, and who profess to be followers of that Divine Saviour, have made light of these things, and are utterly inexcusable for not having inquired more fully into the mystery of redeeming love, and for having practically said, We will not have this man to reign over us [Note: Luk 19:14.]. Now, when the Spirit of God brings this to our view, it appears the very summit of our guilt and folly; for, in fact, instead of requiting the Saviours love as we ought, with all imaginable gratitude and self-devotion, we have done nothing, throughout our whole lives, but crucify to ourselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame [Note: Heb 6:6.].
Thus the Spirit of God brings to our view a sense of our guilt and danger. But this is not all. He breaks the heart, and humbles it in the dust, and makes us cry out, with the converts on the day of Pentecost, Men and brethren, what shall we do [Note: Act 2:37.]? This effect is absolutely universal. There may be a difference in the degrees with which these feelings are produced in different people: but in quality, and effect, they are the same in all. In all do they produce that broken and contrite spirit, which God will not despise [Note: Psa 51:17.].
Now let not this work be mistaken. Where it exists, whether the person have been more or less moral, it discovers to the mind such a total alienation from God, such an entire want of the Divine image, and such an hateful depravity of heart, as makes a man to say, with the prophet, Woe is me! I am undone [Note: Isa 6:5.]: yea, and to exclaim with Job, Behold I am vile; I repent and abhor myself in dust and ashes [Note: Job 40:4; Job 42:6.]. These may be thought to be merely particular instances, peculiar to some distinguished saints, and that they are not to be realized or expected amongst us. But the Prophet Ezekiel tells us, that all of us without exception must lothe ourselves for our iniquities and abominations, and that not only before, but after, that God is pacified towards us [Note: Eze 16:63; Eze 36:31.]. This is the very state which our Lord describes, when he says, that he came to seek and to save that which was lost [Note: Mat 18:11.]: and, till we know ourselves to be thus lost, we never shall come to Christ aright. We must feel ourselves, like Peter, actually sinking in the waves, and, under a sense of our perishing condition, must stretch out our hands, crying, Save, Lord, or I perish [Note: Mat 8:25.].
The next, the second work of the Holy Spirit is, to reveal the Lord Jesus to us as the appointed and only Saviour of the world. For this also a divine agency is wanted, as much as for the humbling of our souls before God. We may indeed acknowledge, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the appointed Saviour. We may even contend for it as an article of our creed, and write learned dissertations upon it; but all this is widely different from that kind of view which the Spirit of Christ gives to the believing soul. It is not as a speculative truth that the Holy Spirit brings this to the mind, but as a matter of indispensable importance to every soul of man; like that of pointing out the city of refuge to a man, who, hearing the pursuer of blood rapidly gaining ground upon him, feels that he must flee with all his might, if by any means he may attain the wished-for gate of safety, before the avenger shall have overtaken him.
The Spirit of God, as our Lord himself has expressed it, takes of the things that are Christs, and shews them to the inquiring soul. He shews to us what Christ has done and suffered for a ruined world: that he has left the bosom of his Father [Note: Joh 1:18.], and assumed our nature, and borne our sins in his own body on the tree [Note: 1Pe 2:24.]. He shews us, that Christ is also a living Saviour, sitting at the right hand of God to complete in heaven the work which he began on earth; and that he is coming again in due season to receive us to himself, that where he is we may be also [Note: Joh 14:3.]. He shews us, that our blessed Lord has, in all this work, accomplished every thing that was either predicted concerning him in the prophecies, or shadowed forth in the Mosaic ritual. He shews us, that by that one offering of himself upon the cross, he has made an ample satisfaction for the sins of the whole world [Note: 1Jn 2:2.], and effected a perfect reconciliation between God and man [Note: Col 1:20.], so that now God can be just, and yet a Saviour [Note: Isa 45:21.]; yea, he may be just, and yet a justifier of them that believe in Christ [Note: Rom 3:26.]. He shews us, that, if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, much more shall the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God, purge our conscience from dead works to serve the living God [Note: Heb 9:13-14.]. Convincing us, I say, of these things, he assures us, that, if only we live by faith on this Saviour, and receive out of his fulness our daily supplies of his Spirit and grace, we have nothing to fear; for that work that is now begun in us, shall assuredly be carried on and perfected until the day of Christ [Note: Php 1:6.]. From this time the sinner builds on Christ as the only true foundation [Note: 1Co 3:11.], and glories in him as all his salvation and all his desire [Note: 2Sa 23:5.]. Even a full assurance of faith he is now enabled to exercise, under a full conviction that there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus [Note: Rom 8:1.]; and that all who believe in him are justified from all things [Note: Act 13:39.].
A full assurance of hope, indeed, a true believer may want; but a full assurance of faith he must have, and should never lose. Faith, being founded simply on the truth of God, should never vary, under any circumstances whatever; but hope is founded partly on the promises of God, and partly on a consciousness that we are in that state to which the promises are made, and, therefore, it may vary, yea, and should vary, according to the progress we have made in the divine life, and the meetness we have attained for the heavenly inheritance. Faith is a duty, and can never be too strong; hope is a privilege, and should rise or fall according to circumstances. The want of an assured faith is sin: the want of an assured hope may indeed argue a low, or even a sinful, state; but it is in itself rather a duty than a sin, provided we are not in a state that warrants such a hope. Strong faith will, doubtless, for the most part, generate a lively hope, and render it as influential for our safety, as it is conducive to our comfort. Hope is, in fact, the daughter of faith; and, when grown to maturity, will perform the same offices as faith, purifying the heart after the Saviours image [Note: Act 9:15. with 1Jn 5:3.], and saving the soul, both with a present and an everlasting salvation [Note: Rom 8:24.]. This distinction between faith and hope is necessary for our comfort, and should be particularly borne in mind by those who minister in holy things; for many, from confounding the two, are adverse to the doctrine of a full assurance of faith; whilst many, from the very same cause, are induced to write bitter things against themselves without any just occasion for their disquietude, apprehending that their weakness of hope argues, of necessity, a want of faith. But a person may have strong faith, whilst yet he is very far from an assured hope. The Canaanitish woman, who was repeatedly rejected by our Lord as an unfit person to enjoy the blessing which she solicited,(I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel [Note: Mat 15:24.]; I cannot take the childrens bread, and cast it unto dogs [Note: Mat 15:26.],)shewed, by her persevering importunity, that her faith in Christ was strong; and, therefore, our Lord commended her, saying, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt [Note: Mat 15:28.]. This, then, I have spoken, lest any, because they have not an assured hope, should think themselves destitute of a saving faith. If our faith in Christ be simple and entire, we shall be saved by him with an everlasting-salvation [Note: Isa 45:17.].
If it be thought this knowledge of Christ is attainable by any human efforts, let the Apostles declaration be borne in mind: By grace ye are saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God [Note: Eph 2:8.]. And he elsewhere tells us, that it is given to us to believe in Christ [Note: Php 1:29.]. It was by the Spirit of wisdom and revelation that any of old attained the knowledge of Christ [Note: Eph 1:17.]: and it is by the same divine Teacher that we must all be brought to him at this time; as it is said,All thy children shall be taught of God [Note: Joh 6:45.]: and again, No man can come unto me, except the Father, who hath sent me, draw him [Note: Joh 6:44.].
But I observed, that the Spirit of Christ yet further (in the third place) enables the believer to devote himself wholly and unreservedly to God. This is as necessary as either of the former. In fact, without this, where it can be effected, the others, even if they could exist, would be of no saving benefit to the soul. An entire surrender of the soul to God is that for which the graces of penitence and faith are given. But this also is the work of the Spirit, and can never be wrought by any finite power. The man now possesses a divine nature [Note: 2Pe 1:4.], totally distinct from that which he brought into the world with him. He is altogether a new creature [Note: Gal 6:15.]; made so by him who created him at first, and breathed into him a living soul [Note: Gen 2:7.]. And can there be any doubt by whom this change is wrought? Let the Apostles testimony determine this point: We are Gods workmanship, created in Christ Jesus [Note: Eph 2:10.]. And again, He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God; who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit [Note: 2Co 5:5.].
I have said that the Spirit of God makes known to the believing soul the mercies of God in Christ Jesus; and by this manifestation of Gods love, he constrains the believer to give himself up, a living sacrifice to God [Note: Rom 12:1.]; and, from a consciousness, that he has been bought with a price, to glorify God with his body and his spirit, which are his [Note: 1Co 6:20.]. From this time, the man enters on a new course, mortifying the whole body of sin, and crucifying all his corrupt affections; as it is written, They that are Christs, have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts [Note: Gal 5:24.]. From this time, also, all the fruits of the Spirit are brought forth by him, and he progressively abounds in all the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God [Note: Php 1:11.]. Holiness, in all its branches, is now the chief desire and delight of his soul. By walking in the Spirit, he is kept from any desire to fulfil the lusts of the flesh [Note: Gal 5:16.]. He can no longer commit sin, as he once did, because he is born of God [Note: 1Jn 3:9.]. Were it possible, he would become holy, as God himself is holy [Note: Lev 19:2.]. His continual prayer is, that the God of peace would sanctify him wholly; and that his whole body, soul, and spirit, may be preserved blameless unto Gods heavenly kingdom [Note: 1Th 5:23.]. As for the world, and all its vanities, he is crucified to it by the cross of Christ; and the world, even in all its most attractive graces, is as a crucified object to him [Note: Gal 6:14.]. The relation between him and the world, like the tie of a departed relative, is dissolved [Note: Rom 7:4.]; and though in the world, he is no more of the world, than Christ himself was of the world [Note: Joh 17:16.]. To walk before God, and with God, and to maintain continual fellowship with the Father and the Son [Note: 1Jn 1:3.], is now his one ambition, his one pursuit. And it is only in proportion as he has attained this change, that he has any evidence that he belongs to Christ. In this way, allowing only for circumstantial varieties in different cases, the Holy Spirit completes in men the three different works which I mentioned, as necessary in order to our becoming Christs.
I know that there are some who would call this a legal statement. But I have no hesitation in saying, that it is the statement which is found in every page of the inspired volume; and that no part of it can, by any means, be dispensed with. If we be not penitent, we can never come to Christ aright; if we rely on any thing but his meritorious blood and righteousness, we can never be accepted of him; and, if we yield not ourselves up to him in a way of holy obedience, he will never acknowledge us as his. The same Scripture which says, Except ye repent, ye shall all perish [Note: Luk 13:5.], says also, He that believeth not the Son, shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him [Note: Joh 3:36.]; and still further adds, Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord [Note: Heb 12:14.]. Now no true Disciple of Christ would wish any one of these demands to be waved, or softened down in any respect. He would most gladly comply with them all. He would assign no measure to his penitence, no bounds to his faith, no limits to his obedience. In actual attainment, it is true, he has many defects, and much that affords him occasion for grief and shame: but, in heart and mind, he is like-minded with God; and he can appeal to God, that he would regard a perfect conformity to his revealed will as a very heaven upon earth.
Now comes the question which it behoves every one of us to put to himself with all sincerity; What evidence have I that I am Christs? Has the Spirit of Christ actually wrought these things in me? Does my conscience bear me witness that I am deeply penitent before God: and that not merely on account of some flagrant transgression which I may have committed, but for the indwelling corruptions of my heart, and for the defectiveness of my very best duties? Do I take the law as my rule of judgment, and feel that I have need, in reference to every one of the commandments, to pray from my inmost soul, Lord, have mercy upon me for my past violations of this law, and incline my rebellious heart to keep it in future? Can I also appeal to God that I do flee to Christ for refuge, renouncing utterly every other ground of hope, and determining to know nothing, and rely on nothing, for my acceptance with God, but Jesus Christ and him crucified [Note: 1Co 2:2.]? Do I look with a holy jealousy and indignation on every thing that would divide with him the honour of my salvation; and is this the most rooted and habitual sentiment of my heart, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ [Note: Gal 6:14.]? Further, does the love of Christ constrain me to live, not to myself, but to Him who died for me and rose again [Note: 2Co 5:14-15.]; and does my whole walk, both in public and private, bear witness for me, that I live only for God and for eternity; and that all my other pursuits, of whatsoever kind they be, are subordinated to this, and made subservient to it? Let it be remembered, I am not now asking whether we do these things perfectly; but whether we do them sincerely and habitually; and whether every deviation from this heavenly course be a source of grief and shame to us; yea, whether we are labouring after perfection [Note: 2Co 13:9.], though we know we are not able to attain it? Moreover, is all this manifest to those around us, and especially to those who are most conversant with us in our daily walk? Do they see, and can they testify in our behalf, that this is indeed the constant habit of our minds, and the uniform tenour of our life? Do they see a marked difference between us and the world around us; and that we are, in fact, lights in a dark world, holding forth in our conversation the word of life [Note: Php 2:16.]; and proving to every beholder the truth of our profession by the consistency of our conduct? Let us not put away from us these searching inquiries; let us not turn away from them as though this change were unattainable, or as though we could be saved without it. Let us remember what is at issue, and how deeply we are interested in it. I want to know whether I am Christs; I want to know whether, if I were to die this day, Christ would acknowledge me as his; or whether I have not reason rather to fear, that he would say to me, Depart from me; I never knew you [Note: Mat 7:23.].
I am aware that some will endeavour to evade these things, by saying that we require too much. Then I demand, which of these things can be dispensed with? Can repentance? Can faith? Can obedience? There is not a person here who does not know, that not one of these things can be neglected, but to the certain destruction of our souls. Again, I ask, which of these things can be wrought in us by our own power; or for which of them is not the operation of the Holy Spirit necessary? If repentance can be wrought effectually in you by any power of your own, prove it.If faith in Christ can, prove it.If obedience to his commandments can, prove it. But be careful not to mistake the shadow for the substance. Think not that the saying that you possess these things, or that you intend hereafter to attain them, will suffice. You must possess them; you must possess them in reality; you must possess them now, if you would have any scriptural evidence that you are Christs, or any well-founded hope of dwelling with Christ in the eternal world. I charge you before God that you examine, every one of you, your present state, and that you defer not any longer the attainment of the things on which your everlasting salvation depends. Think, I pray yon, if ye are not Christs, whose are ye? Fearful thought! I pray God that no one amongst you may ever have to learn this by bitter experience; but that all of you may, from this moment, lay it to heart, and improve, whilst yet ye may, this day of your salvation! I tremble, lest in any of you this day of grace be terminated by death; and, when ye are vainly hoping for acceptance with Christ as his peculiar people, Satan should lay claim to you as his vassals, and possess you for ever, sad trophies of his victorious power, and wretched monuments of his malignant sway.
And now, in conclusion, may God send down his Holy Spirit upon you all to bear testimony to the word of his grace [Note: Act 14:3.], which has been delivered to you, and render it the power of God to the salvation of your souls [Note: Rom 1:16.]! Amen and Amen.
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
DISCOURSE: 1866
THE SPIRITS WORK IN BELIEVERS
Rom 8:9. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
IN entering on this closing part of our subject, I feel peculiar difficulty, not from any want of scriptural and incontrovertible materials, but from the very nature of those materials which, being wholly of an experimental nature, can only commend themselves to those who, by actual experience, are qualified to judge of them. There are, as we all know, different kinds of lifevegetable, animal, and rationaleach rising above the other, and each, in its order, evincing a manifest superiority above that which is below it. But there is a fourth kind of life, of which the Scripture speaks; viz. a spiritual life, which rises as far above the rest, as any one of them does above another. All have their proper powers, which, however, they cannot exceed. The vegetable life has productiveness, but no consciousness nor activity. The animal life has feeling, but no perception of the deductions of reason. The rational life apprehends moral truth; but forms no just conception of things which are spiritual. The spiritual life is exercised on things that are matters of pure revelation, which reason is not of itself able to apprehend.
But I wish to guard against a common misapprehension respecting this spiritual life. It is by no means correct to speak of it as constituting a new sense; for then it would be a mans misfortune only, and not his fault, if he did not possess it. But it is correct to say, that the spiritual man has a spiritual perception, which the natural man does not possess. The merely rational man has a film before his eyes; he views things through the medium of sense, and not of faith; and the medium through which he looks at objects, distorts them, if it do not altogether hide them from his sight. But in the spiritual man, the Holy Spirit, as eye-salve, clears away the film [Note: Rev 3:18.], and enables him to discern things as they really are. Faith also assists him, by bringing remote objects with greater clearness to his mind. The power of the telescope to bring to our view things that are invisible to the naked eye, is well known. Now this is the office and effect of faith, which enables us, if I may so speak, to behold both God himself, and the hidden mysteries of God [Note: Heb 11:27.], and to obtain a clear perception of things which are altogether beyond the reach of the eye of sense. Hence it appears that the merely rational man labours under a twofold disadvantage in comparison of the spiritual man: he looks through a dense medium of sense, which distorts, or altogether conceals, the objects before him; and he wants that peculiar glass of faith, which would present them truly, and bring them, if I may so say, directly upon the retina of his mind. This is what St. John means, when he says, The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not [Note: Joh 1:5.]; and this is, in very explicit terms, declared by St. Paul to be a matter of universal experience [Note: 1Co 2:14-16.]. The natural man (whoever he may be) receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him (being seen by him only in a distorted view): neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned (and he wants that spiritual perception, whereby alone he can truly apprehend them). But he that is spiritual, judgeth all things (having a clear and just perception of them); yet he himself is judged of no man (for it were a downright absurdity for a blind man to sit in judgment on one who sees); For who (i.e. what merely natural man) hath known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him (the spiritual man)? But we (we who are spiritual) have the mind of Christ (and are, therefore, able to judge both ourselves and others).
But whilst, in order to guard against misapprehension, I speak thus, I well know that there are many, very many, in the midst of us, who can form the most accurate judgment of all we say, and who, if not in relation to every word, will yet, as a whole, set their seal to the truth of it; and, therefore, I hesitate not to lay before you what I verily believe to be in perfect accordance with Gods revealed will, though on a subject so recondite and mysterious.
I am not, however, without a consciousness, and with deep grief I utter it, that, under a profession of bringing forth only scriptural truth, some give vent to the veriest absurdities, talking about dreams and visions, and arrogating to themselves I know not what claims of preternatural endowments. But against all such fancies and conceits I would enter my most solemn protest. The truth of God, though elevated above reason, is in perfect accordance with reason; and by its reasonableness as a part of divine revelation would I wish every word that I utter to be tried. I ask nothing more than this; that as God, of his own sovereign will and pleasure, bestows on some greater natural gifts than on others, so he may act in reference to spiritual gifts: and that, as all our natural faculties are called forth into action by things visible, our hopes and fears, and joys and sorrows, being excited by them according to the interest we have in them, so our spiritual faculties may be called into action by things invisible, even by all the wonders of redeeming love, according as the blessings of redemption are manifested to the soul, and our interest in them is made the one subject of our present and prospective happiness.
Having premised thus much, I now come to shew, in the fourth and last place,
IV.
What the Holy Spirit will work in us when we are Christs. We must never forget that the Holy Spirit unites with the Lord Jesus Christ in the whole of his mediatorial office, though each sustains and executes in a more appropriate way that part which has been assigned him by the Father: and, if any of us be washed, and justified, and sanctified, it is in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God [Note: 1Co 6:11.]. But it is the Spirits office to which I must confine myself: and whilst I address myself to this arduous and momentous subject, may the Lord Jesus Christ himself be with us, as he has promised [Note: Mat 28:20.], and baptize us with the Holy Ghost and with fire [Note: Mat 3:11.], to consume the dross that is within us [Note: Isa 4:4.], and to kindle in our hearts an inextinguishable flame of love towards his blessed name!
The Holy Spirit then will perform in us the offices of a Teacher, a Sanctifier, and a Comforter.
Let us view him first as a Teacher.
The young convert knows little beyond the first principles of the oracles of God [Note: Heb 5:12.]. He is like a person just landed on a newly-discovered country, the beauty and riches of which he has yet to learn. But the Holy Spirit of Christ will open things to us, even as the Lord Jesus himself did when on earth to his Disciples, gradually, as we are able to bear them; and with increased knowledge, he will give us senses proportionably exercised to discern good and evil [Note: Heb 5:14.], and thus will lead us on to perfection [Note: Heb 6:1.]. The fundamental doctrine of salvation by faith is known by us when we first come to Christ. But there is much which as yet is very indistinctly seen. For instance, the nature and difficulty of the Christian warfare is yet but very partially discovered. The deceitfulness and desperate wickedness of the human heart is but little known; (in fact, who but God can know it to its full extent [Note: Jer 17:9.]) the deceitfulness of sin [Note: Heb 3:13.] also is by no means clearly discerned. As for the devices of Satan [Note: 2Co 2:11.], the young believer is still ignorant of them to a great extent; and of the wiles whereby that subtle adversary deludes the souls of men, he has scarcely any conception [Note: Eph 6:11.]. Little does he imagine what power that old serpent has to beguile the minds of the simple [Note: Rom 16:18.], and to corrupt them, even as he deceived our mother Eve, from the simplicity that is in Christ [Note: 2Co 11:3.]. Armour is provided for him against that great enemy of souls [Note: Eph 6:13.]; but he knows not yet how to use it, so as to defeat him, who is but too justly called Apollyon [Note: Rev 9:11.]. He has in his hand the word, which is the sword of the Spirit [Note: Eph 6:17.]; but he knows not how to use it with effect: he is unskilful in the word of righteousness [Note: Heb 5:13.]. It is not till after many conflicts that he learns, what are the parts on which he is most open to assault, what are the stratagems whereby that wily adversary most successfully ensnares him, and what are the means by which he is to ensure the victory over all his assailants. In the spiritual warfare, as in that which is temporal, experience can be gained only by active service. There is however this difference between them: in temporal warfare, proficiency is the result of human ingenuity; whereas, in the spiritual warfare, it is the Spirit of God alone that can inspire us with the knowledge and address, whereby we are to vanquish the legions of spirits that are combined against us [Note: Eph 6:17-18.].
But, further, the Holy Spirit will also discover to us the fulness and excellency of the Gospel salvation. The plan of salvation is, as I have already acknowledged, understood by the veriest babe in Christ. But the excellency of it will be more and more deloped to him, till, from the obscurity of the morning dawn, he attains the fuller light of the meridian sun; according as it is written by the prophet; Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his goings forth are prepared as the morning [Note: Hos 6:3.]; and as Solomon also has assured us, The path of the just is as the shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day [Note: Pro 4:18.]. The young Christian knows little of that covenant to which all our salvation must ultimately be traced; the covenant entered into between the Father and the Son for the redemption of our fallen race; the covenant, wherein Christ, on the one part, undertook to stand in our place and stead, and to endure, in his own person, the penalty which he had incurred; and the Father, on the other part, both gave unto him a chosen people [Note: Joh 17:2; Joh 17:6; Joh 17:9; Joh 17:11-12; Joh 17:24.], and engaged to accept them as righteous, on account of what he should do and suffer for them. This covenant is ordered in all things, and sure: and the blessings of it are all treasured up for us in Christ, our great head and representative [Note: Col 2:9.], and are thus secured to us for ever: as it is written, Our life is hid with Christ in God: and therefore, when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, we also shall appear with him in glory [Note: Col 3:3-4.]. These blessings, too, are to be received from him [Note: Joh 1:16.] simply through the exercise of faith, that thus they may be sure to all the seed [Note: Rom 4:16.]; for no human being could ever have hoped to possess them, if they had been committed to any other depository, or if the attainment of them had been suspended on the strength and fidelity of man.
To unfold these things to the soul is the Holy Spirits office. For this end he is given to us as an unction that shall abide with us, and that shall, to a certain degree, by the clearness of his communications, supersede the necessity for human instruction [Note: 1Jn 2:27.]; and, being given to us for this end, he enables the believer gradually to dive more and more deeply into this mystery, which the human eye cannot penetrate, at least not so penetrate as to behold its excellency [Note: Eph 1:17-18.]. These are among the deep things of God, which the Spirit alone searches, even the things which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor heart conceived, but which are revealed to the soul by the Spirit of God [Note: 1Co 2:9-10.], and can be known in no other way [Note: 1Co 2:11-12.]. True, these things are written plainly in the inspired volume, even as the figures are engraven with the utmost possible plainness on the sun-dial: but both in the one case, and in the other, are they written in vain, till light is vouchsafed from heaven to shine upon them: then only does the gnomon perform its office in the one; and then only is the end answered for the illumination of the soul in the other. Till that take place, the natural man, how learned soever he be in other respects, will never discern aright the things of the Spirit of God: they will be no better than foolishness unto him.
The believer, thus taught of God, has a knowledge of the Deity, of which he had scarcely the slightest notion before. What astonishing views has he of the wisdom of God in devising such a plan, whereby Gods own justice might be duly satisfied, and his mercy flow down to man in perfect consistency with all his other attributes! When he contemplates the goodness of God, thus exercised; the holiness of God, thus honoured; and the truth of God, thus kept inviolate; and all the perfections of God, thus harmonizing and glorified; and all this for him; he is perfectly astounded; he knows not how to believe it; it seems to him all as a mere parable [Note: Eze 20:49.]. But seeing how suited all this is to his necessities, and how sufficient for his wants, and that, in any other way than this, he could find no more ground of hope for himself than for the fallen angels, he is forced to believe it; he sees that it is revealed in the Bible as with a sun-beam, and established by evidence that admits not of the slightest doubt; and when he sees further, that it has a transforming efficacy upon all who receive it, he is constrained to receive it as the very truth of God, and to say, Lord, to whom else shall we go? Thou, even thou only, hast the words of eternal life; and we believe and are sure, that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God [Note: Joh 6:68-69.].
I merely give these things as samples only of what the Holy Spirit will effect in the believing soul as a Teacher; for the same powerful agency is extended to every part of divine truth, and every part, also, of Christian experience, seeing that he is expressly promised to guide us into all truth [Note: Joh 16:13.], that so, by his effectual teaching, we may know all things [Note: 1Jn 2:20.].
But we will next consider his operations, under the office of a Sanctifier. In this view we speak of him in our catechism, as sanctifying the elect people of God. In fact, all that he does as a Teacher, is in order to his work as a Sanctifier. Does he reveal Christ in us, so as to give us brighter views of his person, and a more comprehensive knowledge of his work and offices? it is, that we, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, may be changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord [Note: 2Co 3:18.]. Does he further enable us to comprehend the breadth and length, and depth and height, and to know with progressive clearness and certainty the love of Christ which passeth knowledge? it is, that we may be thereby filled with all the fulness of God [Note: Eph 3:18-19.]. With increasing knowledge he gives an increase of spiritual perception; and with that perception, a spiritual appetite; and with that appetite, a spiritual attainment; and this continues to advance, till the soul with all its powers is brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ [Note: 2Co 10:5.]. I think the whole process, though above the conception of the highest archangel, may, for all practical purposes, be brought down to the apprehension of a child. Our blessed Lord compares it to the wind, which is mighty in operation, but visible only in its effects. It blows when and where it listeth, but we cannot tell either whence it comes, or whither it goes [Note: Joh 3:8.]; yet of its agency we have no doubt whatever. The veriest child acknowledges it, whilst the wisest philosopher is unable adequately to explain it. The magnet would furnish us with a similar illustration of this truth; for its influence, if not rendered visible by actual experience, would not be credited. But there is another natural process which will give us a fuller, and, perhaps I may say, a more distinct, apprehension of this mysterious subject. A river flowing from its source in one current to the ocean, may serve to shew us the natural man, with all his faculties, both of body and mind, departing from God, and proceeding with fatal indifference and perseverance, till he is finally lost in that abyss from whence there is no return. But, within a certain distance from the sea, we may behold that same river arrested in its course by the tide, and returning with equal rapidity towards its fountain-head: and in that we may behold the sinner returning to his God. Even from the partial back-currents which are occasioned by local obstacles, we may behold the parallel yet more strikingly illustrated: for in either case, these may serve to shew, that, as in mans departure from God there are some risings of compunction, and some little, though ineffectual, restraints, from the remonstrances of an accusing conscience; so, in the believers return to God, there are some remnants of corruption, which betray a want of that completeness of soul, which he will enjoy in a better world. But the point particularly to be noticed is, How is this change effected? How is it effected in the river? Is it through the power and instrumentality of man? No: it is by the invisible, but powerful, attraction of the moon. The operation of the moon is not seen but in its effects: yet it is not on that account denied: the effects are unquestionable; nor can they reasonably be traced to any other cause; at all events they cannot in the smallest possible degree be ascribed to man. And how is the change effected upon the souls of men? It is the Holy Spirit who operates upon them to bring them back to God. True, his operations are not seen, except in the effects produced by them: but those effects infinitely exceed all human power: and in the unerring word of God they are ascribed to the Holy Spirit, whose peculiar office it is, not only to regenerate us at first, but progressively to form us after the Divine image, and to render us meet for our heavenly inheritance [Note: Tit 3:3; Tit 3:5.]. That there are defects in the best of men is certain; but that only makes the analogy more complete. There are, and will be, intervening obstacles, that will, at some times, and under peculiar circumstances, interfere with the believers progress [Note: Rom 7:18-19.]: but these do not interrupt his general course, or give any just cause for questioning the influence under which he moves [Note: Rom 7:21-24.]. His habitual walk is, not after the flesh, but after the Spirit [Note: Rom 8:1; Rom 8:5.]. We have said, that the work is progressive. He goes from grace to grace [Note: 2Pe 3:18.], from victory to victory, growing up into Christ in all things, till he arrive at the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ [Note: Eph 4:7; Eph 4:13.]. At first he is represented in the Scriptures as a child, then as a young man, and then as a father [Note: 1Jn 2:12-14.]: and the work in his soul is compared to the corn, which appears first in the blade, then in the ear, and then as the full corn in the ear [Note: Mar 4:28.]. These very comparisons shew, that the believer is not at first all that he will be at a future period: his heart will be more and more weaned from earthly things, and with more and more intensity be fixed on things above, till he is altogether changed into the image of his God in righteousness and true holiness [Note: Eph 4:24.]. This advance towards maturity will be more or less visible to all around him. There will be in him more solidity, more uniformity, more consistency. His principles will be more and more commended to all around him by their efficacy to beautify his soul [Note: Psa 149:4.], and to adorn his life [Note: 1Pe 3:3-4.]. In a word, he will be renewed, not in his mind only, but in the spirit of his mind [Note: Eph 4:23.], and will become an epistle of Christ known and read of all men, an epistle not written by any human hand, but by the Spirit of the living God [Note: 2Co 3:2-3.]. He will be in himself, and will constrain all who know him to acknowledge that he is, what the Scriptures emphatically call, A man of God [Note: 2Ti 3:17.].
And what is the result of all this? What, but that in and by the whole of this work, the Holy Spirit performs the office of a Comforter? Under this character, the world know him not, neither can receive him: but believers do know him; for he dwelleth with them, and shall be in them [Note: Joh 14:16-17.] throughout the whole of their earthly pilgrimage. Even at their first coming to Christ, the Holy Spirit, in some measure, dischargeth this office, speaking peace to their troubled consciences, and enabling them to rejoice in their unseen, but beloved Saviour [Note: 1Pe 1:8.]. This was eminently conspicuous on the day of Pentecost, when the whole multitude of believers, who had just before been filled with terror, ate their bread with gladness and singleness of heart, blessing and praising God [Note: Act 2:46.]. But through the whole course of their future life, he carries on this work, revealing Christ more and more clearly to them, and applying the promises with sweet assurance to their souls. Hence the word so applied is said to work by the power of the Spirit of God [Note: Rom 15:19.], and to come to men, not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance [Note: 1Th 1:5.]; and the Holy Ghost himself is called the Holy Spirit of promise [Note: Eph 1:13.], because in this way he makes use of the promises for their good. Thus he performs the office of a Comforter towards Christs redeemed people: he gives them near access to God in prayer [Note: Eph 2:18.]; and in their supplications helps their infirmities [Note: Rom 8:26 and Jude, ver. 20.], and makes intercession for them, and in them, according to the will of God [Note: Rom 8:27.]. He is in them a Spirit of adoption, enabling them to go to God with confidence, crying, Abba, Father [Note: Rom 8:15.]; and, shedding abroad Gods love in their hearts [Note: Rom 5:5.], he witnesses with their spirits, that they are children of God [Note: Rom 8:16.]. In this way, also, he establishes them in Christ [Note: 2Co 1:21.], and seals them unto the day of redemption [Note: 2Co 1:22. with Eph 1:17.], and is within them an earnest of their heavenly inheritance [Note: Eph 1:14]. An earnest is a part of a payment, and a pledge of the remainder; and such is the Holy Spirit in the believers soul, giving him already, in possession, a measure of the heavenly felicity, and assuring to him, in due season, the full and everlasting possession of it. In a season of affliction especially do the communications of his grace abound. We read of those who received the word with much affliction, and joy of the Holy Ghost [Note: 1Th 1:6.]; and in proportion as any persons afflictions abound, the Holy Ghost will make his consolations to abound with still greater and more transcendent efficacy [Note: 2Co 1:5.].
It is worthy, however, of observation, that the comforts which he administers at an earlier, and at a more advanced period, are, for the most part, widely different; the one being rather of a tumultuous nature, the other more serene; the one more transient, the other more abiding; the one elevating the spirits of a man on account of the good that has accrued to him; the other humbling and abasing his soul, on account of his great unworthiness: the one is a fire recently kindled, in which there is a considerable mixture of flame and smoke; the other like a fire that has become bright and solid, and burns with an unobtrusive, but mighty, efficacy. In confirmation of what I have said, I need only add, that this is the very description which God himself has given us of his kingdom: that it consists not in externals of any kind, but in righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost [Note: Rom 14:17.].
And now, will any one say that these blessings were peculiar to the apostolic age, and are not to be expected by us? What then is the meaning of that interrogation, which St. Paul addressed to the whole Corinthian Church, Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you [Note: 1Co 3:16-17.]? And, again, Know ye not your ownselves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates [Note: 2Co 13:5.]? Hence it is evident, that this is a truth, of which we must not only have the actual experience, but a consciousness also, that it is realized in us: and the man who questions it as a matter of Christian experience, has yet to learn the very first principles of the Christian faith: for even to the murderers of our Lord did St. Peter on the day of Pentecost announce, that this blessing should be theirs; and that too even to their latest posterity: Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost: for the promise is to you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call [Note: Act 2:38-39.]. In fact, this is the promise which was originally made to Abraham for himself and all his believing posterity, whether of the Jewish or Gentile world, even the promise of the Spirit through faith [Note: Gal 3:14.].
This objection therefore being set aside, I confidently ask whether I have carried any one of these matters to excess, either requiring more than the Scriptures require, or promising more than the Scriptures promise? I can truly say, that I have exercised all possible caution on this head. I know and lament, that there are crude and enthusiastic conceits entertained by some, who would have us believe that they are actuated by certain divine impulses, irrespective of the word as the medium of conveying them, and in despite of the vanity and folly which they themselves betray as their invariable result. But I trust, that not one word that I have spoken can be thought to have countenanced any such conceits as these. The written word is the medium by which the Spirit works, and the standard by which his agency must be tried: and, if his operations do not produce holiness, as well as light and comfort, they are no better than a delusion, a desperate and a fatal delusion. The offices of the Holy Spirit cannot be separated from each other. He is a Teacher, a Sanctifier, and a Comforter: and I advisedly place the office of a Sanctifier between the other two, because it is equally connected both with that which precedes, and with that which follows;with that which precedes, as the end for which divine teaching is administered, and with that which follows, as that without which no true comfort can possibly exist. I entreat, then, that you will all look for the gift of the Holy Spirit, to impart to you these blessings: and, I declare before God, that no one of you will ever behold the face of God in peace, if you do not both desire and obtain the Holy Spirit for these ends. The word of God is immutable; If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
If any be disposed to deride the sacred influences of the Spirit, imputing to Satan, as it were, what is wrought by the Holy Ghost, let them beware of the sin against the Holy Ghost; for they tread close upon it, if they do not actually commit it. I would have them remember, that, in proportion to the light against which they offend, and the malignity with which they utter their scoffs, they approach this fatal sin: and, if once they do commit it, our blessed Lord declares, that they shall never have forgiveness, either in this world, or in the world to come; and that they are therefore in danger of eternal damnation [Note: Mat 12:32, and Mar 3:28-29.].
On the other hand, if any have experienced the workings of the Holy Spirit to bring them to Christ, let them watch and pray against temptation and sin of every kind, lest by any open or secret declension from the ways of God, they grieve [Note: Eph 4:30.] and vex the Holy Spirit [Note: Isa 63:10.], and quench his sacred motions [Note: 1Th 5:19.], and thus their last end become worse than their beginning [Note: 2Pe 2:20.].
But I hope better things of this assembly, though I thus speak [Note: Heb 6:9.]. Scoffers do not abound at this day as once they did. The truths of the Gospel are better understood, and its mysteries are more justly appreciated: and, provided only the deep things of God be stated with modesty and sobriety, they find a favourable acceptance now, where once, perhaps, they would only have provoked a smile. On that head, therefore, I feel no occasion to dwell. But this very circumstance, which renders a profession of piety more easy, makes the danger of departing from it more imminent; since, as in the case of the stony-ground hearers, that which is hastily received, is but too often as hastily relinquished [Note: Mat 12:20-21.]. To every one of you then I say, Hold fast that thou hast, that no man take thy crown [Note: Rev 3:11.]; or rather, look to the Lord Jesus Christ for more enlarged supplies of his Spirit [Note: Php 1:19.]: for He has received this gift for men, even for the most rebellious [Note: Psa 68:18.]: and as God has not given the Spirit by measure unto him [Note: Joh 3:34.], so is there no measure fixed for the dispensation of it to us. It is our privilege, not only to have the Spirit, but to be filled with the Spirit [Note: Eph 5:18.]. Many of you, I would hope, have already received the first-fruits of the Spirit [Note: Rom 8:23.]: but be not satisfied with these. Christ came, not only that you might have life, but that you might have it more abundantly [Note: Joh 10:10.]. He has promised to pour floods upon those who are thirsty [Note: Isa 44:3.]. Yes, he would have you to live in the Spirit [Note: Gal 5:25.], and walk in the Spirit [Note: Gal 5:25.], and purify your souls by the Spirit [Note: 1Pe 1:22.], and abound in hope through the Spirit [Note: Rom 15:13.]: and be filled with joy in the Holy Ghost [Note: Act 13:52.]. See to it, then, that you avail yourselves of these immense advantages; and beg of God to pour out his Spirit more and more abundantly upon you through Jesus Christ [Note: Tit 3:6.], that, being led in all things by the Spirit, ye may be, and give decisive evidence that ye are, the children of God [Note: Rom 8:14.]. And may the Holy Spirit be so richly poured out upon us from on high, that this our wilderness may become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be so luxuriant as to be counted for a forest [Note: Isa 32:15.]!
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Ver. 9. He is none of his ] As the merchant sets his seal upon his goods, so doth God his Spirit upon all his people, Eph 1:13 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
9. ] But (oppos. to . . ) ye are not in the flesh (see above), but in the Spirit, if so be that (‘ provided that ;’ not ‘ since ,’ as Chrys., Olsh., al., which would be : Chrys. tries to prove = here by adducing ref. 2 Thess., where, however, as here, the meaning is, ‘ if so be that ,’ ‘ if at least .’ That this is the meaning here is evident by the exception which immediately follows). But (this must be rightly understood: for) if any man has not ([not ‘ have not ,’ as E. V.; the case is put as an existent one] , and not , because it belongs to the verb and not to . De W. See Winer, edn. 6, 55. 2. d) the Spirit of Christ (= . above. Obs. here that . , . , and , are all used of the Holy Spirit indwelling in the Christian ), he is not His (belongs not to Him, in the higher and blessed sense of being united to Him as a member of Him).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rom 8:9 . Paul applies to his readers what he has said in Rom 8:5-8 . is emphatic. You can please God, for you are not in the flesh, etc. has its proper force: “if, as is the fact”: cf. Rom 3:30 , Rom 8:17 ; and the excellent examination of other N.T. instances in Simcox, Language of the N.T ., 171 f. Yet the possibility of the fact being otherwise in isolated cases, is admitted when he goes on: . . . For followed by see Winer, 599 f. : only the indwelling of Christ’s spirit proves a real relation to Him.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rom 8:9-11
9However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 10If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11But 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.
Rom 8:9 “if” There is a series of conditional sentences in Rom 8:9-11; Rom 8:13 (twice),17 (twice). They are all first class conditional sentences, which are assumed true from the writer’s point of view or for his literary purposes. Paul was assuming his readers in the Roman church were Christians (cf. Rom 8:9 a).
“the Spirit of Christ” Persons either have the Spirit and are, therefore, believers or they do not have the Spirit and are spiritually lost. We receive all of the Holy Spirit at salvation. We do not need more of Him; He needs more of us!
The phrases “the Spirit” of 9a; “the Spirit of God” of 9b, and “the Spirit of Christ” of 9c are all synonymous.
SPECIAL TOPIC: JESUS AND THE SPIRIT
Rom 8:10 “if” This is a first class conditional (ei with an assumed indicative verb “to be”). Paul assumes his readers (i.e., the church at Rome) are
1. indwelt by Christ
2. have Christ in their midst
“Christ is in you” The “you” is plural. The term “Christ” refers to the indwelling Son/Spirit (cf. Joh 14:16-17; Col 1:27). People have the Son/Spirit or they are not Christians (cf. 1Jn 5:12). For Paul, “in Christ” is theologically the same as “in the Spirit.”
“though the body is dead because of sin” Even Christians are going to die physically because of Adam’s sin, a fallen world, and personal rebellion (cf. Rom 5:12-21). Sin always runs its course. Spiritual death (cf. Genesis 3; Eph 2:1) resulted in the physical death (cf. Genesis 5; Heb 9:27, see note at Rom 8:13). Believers live in both the new age of the Spirit (cf. Joe 2:28-29; Act 2:16) and the old age of sin and rebellion (cf. Rom 8:21; Rom 8:35).
“yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness” There has been some disagreement among translations and commentators on whether “spirit” refers to the human spirit (cf. NASB, ASV, NIV, Williams, Jerusalem Bible), or the Holy Spirit (cf. KJV, TEV, REB, Karl Barth, C. K. Barrett, John Murray, and Everett Harrison).
The larger context expands our understanding of this brief phrase. Even those who have trusted Christ are still going to die because they live in a fallen world. However, because of the righteousness which comes through faith in Jesus they already have eternal life (cf. Eph 2:4-6). This is the “already but not yet” tension of the Kingdom of God. The old age and the new age have overlapped in time.
“Righteousness” In context this could refer to
1. the imputed righteousness (justification and positional sanctification) that comes through faith in Christ (cf. Romans 4)
2. the new life in the Spirit (progressive sanctification) which is the evidence of a redeemed life
See special topic at Rom 1:17.
Rom 8:11 “if” See note at Rom 8:9.
“the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you” Which Person of the Trinity indwells believers? Most Christians would answer “the Spirit.” This is certainly true, but in reality, all three Persons of the Trinity indwell believers.
1. the Spirit, Joh 14:16-17; Rom 8:11; 1Co 3:16; 1Co 6:19; 2Ti 1:14
2. the Son, Mat 28:20; Joh 14:20; Joh 14:23; Joh 15:4-5; Rom 8:10; 2Co 13:5; Gal 2:20; Eph 3:17; Col 1:27
3. the Father, Joh 14:23; 2Co 6:16
This phrase is an excellent opportunity to show that the NT often attributes the works of redemption to all three persons of the Trinity.
1. God the Father raised Jesus (cf. Act 2:24; Act 3:15; Act 4:10; Act 5:30; Act 10:40; Act 13:30; Act 13:33-34; Act 13:37; Act 17:31; Rom 6:4; Rom 6:9; Rom 10:9; 1Co 6:14; 2Co 4:14; Gal 1:1;Eph 1:20; Col 2:12; 1Th 1:10)
2. God the Son raised Himself (cf. Joh 2:19-22; Joh 10:17-18)
3. God the Spirit raised Jesus (cf. Rom 8:11
This same Trinitarian emphasis can be seen in Rom 8:9-11.
SPECIAL TOPIC: THE TRINITY
“will also give life to your mortal bodies” The verb is a future active indicative which points toward Resurrection Day. The resurrection of both Jesus and His followers is a crucial doctrine (cf. 1Co 15:1 ff; 2Co 4:14). Christianity asserts that believers will have a bodily existence in eternity (cf. 1Jn 3:2). If Christ was raised by the Spirit (cf. 1Co 15:12-21), so shall His followers (cf. Rom 8:23).
NASB, NKJV,
NRSV, NJB
REB, NET”through His Spirit”
NRSV footnote”on account of His Spirit”
TEV”by the presence of His Spirit”
There is a manuscript variant related to the grammatical form of this phrase.
1. genitive, MSS , A, C, Pc
2. accusative, MSS B, D, F, G
The UBS4 gives the genitive a “B” (almost certain) rating.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
if so be. Greek. eiper.
if. App-118.
dwell. See Rom 7:17.
Now = But.
any man = any one. App-123.
the. Omit.
Christ. App-98. See also App-101.
none = not. App-104.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
9.] But (oppos. to . . ) ye are not in the flesh (see above), but in the Spirit, if so be that (provided that; not since, as Chrys., Olsh., al., which would be : Chrys. tries to prove = here by adducing ref. 2 Thess., where, however, as here, the meaning is, if so be that, if at least. That this is the meaning here is evident by the exception which immediately follows). But (this must be rightly understood: for) if any man has not ([not have not, as E. V.; the case is put as an existent one] , and not , because it belongs to the verb and not to . De W. See Winer, edn. 6, 55. 2. d) the Spirit of Christ (= . above. Obs. here that . , . , and , are all used of the Holy Spirit indwelling in the Christian), he is not His (belongs not to Him, in the higher and blessed sense of being united to Him as a member of Him).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rom 8:9. , , the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ) A remarkable testimony to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, and its economy in the hearts of believers, comp. ch. Rom 5:8; Rom 5:5, Rom 14:17-18, Rom 15:16; Rom 15:30; Mar 12:36; Joh 15:26; Gal 4:6; Eph 1:17; Eph 2:18; Eph 2:22; 1Pe 1:2; Act 2:33; Heb 2:3-4; 1Co 6:11; 1Co 6:13, etc.; 2Co 3:3-4. We are to refer Rom 8:11 [The Spirit of Him that raised Jesus] to the Spirit of God in this verse, and Christ in you-[the Spirit is life] Rom 8:10, to the Spirit of Christ in this verse. For the distinctive marks [Gnorismata of the Christian] proceed in this order: He who has the Spirit, has Christ; he who has Christ, has God.-Comp. respecting such an order as this, 1Co 12:4, etc; Eph 4:4, etc.- , in you) In, a particle very carefully to be attended to in this chapter, Rom 8:1-4; Rom 8:8-11; Rom 8:15, concerning the carnal and spiritual state. We in God, God in us.-) this man in particular does not belong to Christ; and therefore this whole discourse has no reference to Him.-, His) Christs; he is a Christian, who belongs to Christ.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Rom 8:9
Rom 8:9
But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you.-If we are in Christ Jesus, the Spirit of God dwells in us; and if the Spirit dwells within, it makes us free from the law of sin that dwells in the flesh. [To be in the flesh is to live the life of the sinner; to be in the Spirit is to live the life of the Christian. The flesh governs the one; the Spirit, the other.]
But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.-Unless the law of the Spirit dwells in us and so controls us, we are none of his. If the law of the flesh rules, the law of the Spirit does not dwell within us. They are antagonistic. [The possession of the Holy Spirit is declared to be absolutely necessary to our being acceptable to God. To be destitute of the Spirit, therefore, is to be destitute of everything well- pleasing in the sight of God.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
The Owners Mark
If any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.Rom 8:9.
This is one of the most searching passages that can be found in the Bible. It takes hold of the question of our salvation in a very substantial and thorough manner. It removes utterly, almost infinitely, from this problem of our destiny, all shadow of uncertainty or of doubt. It brings us squarely to the facts in our character. On the force of this Scripture we are lifted to a platform where we stand with our hearts uncovered and naked before the eye of God.
I never read this Scripture in the presence of a Christian congregation without feeling that I have in some way chopped down through every heart with a great broad axe. There is no whitewashing in this passage: If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Not, He will do tolerably well, but not quite so well as he might do; not that he will get on after a fashion, and have quite a respectable entrance into the city of the great King, though he may not push quite so far towards the front as he might have done if he had had the Spirit of the Lord Jesus. Not that at all; but, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, there is not the remotest shadow of a chance for him: he is none of his.1 [Note: C. H. Fowler.]
I
What is the Spirit of Christ?
1. In the earlier part of this verse it is called the Spirit of Godye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. It is therefore the Holy Spirit of promise. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of God because God is the original source, the Spirit of Christ because Christ is the immediate Channel and occasion of His gift to men.
When our Lord entered upon His Ministry, He acted as though He were a mere man, needing grace, and received the consecration of the Holy Spirit for our sakes. He became the Christ, or Anointed, that the Spirit might be seen to come from God, and to pass from Him to us. And, therefore, the heavenly Gift is not simply called the Holy Ghost, or the Spirit of God, but the Spirit of Christ, that we might clearly understand that He comes to us from and instead of Christ.1 [Note: J. H. Newman.]
2. This Holy Spirit dwells in us as in a temple. He pervades us as light pervades a building, or as a sweet perfume the folds of some honourable robe; so that, in Scripture language, we are said to be in Him, and He in us. It is plain that such an inhabitation brings the Christian into a State altogether new and marvellous, far above the possession of mere gifts; exalts him inconceivably in the scale of being and gives him a place and an office which he had not before. In St. Peters forcible language, he becomes partaker of the Divine Nature, and has power or authority, as St. John says, to become the son of God. Or, to use the words of St. Paul, he is a new creation; old things are passed away, behold all things are become new. His rank is new; his parentage and Service are new. He is of God, and is not his own, a vessel unto honour, sanctified and meet for the Masters use, and prepared unto every good work.
3. Given without measure to Jesus, the Spirit of God, called also the Spirit of Christ, is given in measure to those that belong to Jesus. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Thus the Holy Spirit, that Life from God which came into the world in Jesus, and so changed and uplifted and refreshed the spirit of man, flows on into other men. Therefore He is called the Spirit of Life. Christians are said to have received this life. It is described as Life indeed. To lack the Spirit is to be separated from the Life of God.
I think that this thought, great as it is, is simple enough for each of usthat the Holy Spirit is the name of that holy Life which passes from God into us. That this should be so is more than we could have asked or thought, but it is not more or other than what fits with splendid fitness what in our own spirit we know and feel (though we hardly dare own it) that we are meant for some real union and communion with God.2 [Note: Bishop E. S. Talbot.]
II
The Possession of the Spirit of Christ
1. The possession of the Spirit of Christ is the test of belonging to Christ. And how is it known that a man possesses the Spirit of Christ? A man possesses the Spirit of Christ if he manifests the mind or character of Christ. For just as the anointing of the Spirit enabled Christ to live His life of perfect obedience and true holiness, so in the measure in which the Spirit of Christ dwells in a man will he bring forth the fruits of the Spirit, which are the component parts of the Christian character. Here, then, is the test of Christianity. If a man have not the spirit, the tone, the temper, the character of Christ, he is none of His. Not the words that I recite as a creed, not the service that I render as a church memberthese things do not prove my relation to Christbut what I am in temper, in tone, in spirit, in character. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
I pray you, attempt to correct the circumference of your life from the centre; do not attempt to correct the centre from the circumferencethat is, do not attempt to correct your spirit by altering your habits. Correct your habits by an alteration of the spirit. And how is the spirit to be altered? Only by the true, whole-hearted, unquestioning abandonment of your whole being to the Spirit of God will it be possible for you to have the Spirit of Christ.1 [Note: G. C. Morgan.]
2. Character is the deepest fact of human life. There can be no final and satisfactory analysis of it; there can be no final and satisfactory statement of what character is. It is the essential truth concerning a man. The word means originally and simply an engraving, something written upon, carved into; and the mans character is the truth about the man written upon his personality, to be read constantly and clearly by God, to be deciphered slowly and blunderingly by his fellow-men; but it is the fact, the essential fact, concerning a man.
It was Ralph Waldo Emerson who once said: Gentlemen, I cannot hear what you say for listening to what you are. That is very often the case. Speech is constantly discounted by conduct, and profession is cancelled by the contradictory character that lies behind it.
III
Some Characteristics of the Spirit of Christ
If we are to be tested by the possession of the Spirit of Christ, we must have some clear conception as to what that Spirit is. Can we analyze it so far as to gather some conception as to its component parts?
It may be said that the Spirit of Christ is summed up in the one word Love. But we are bound to break the thought of love up, and notice how in Christ love expresses itself. What are the facts that, woven into perfect warp and woof, make up the fine and delicate texture of His Spirit?
Can there be a doubt as to the Spirit of Christ set forth in His teaching? Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. All religion comes to that: those are its high and final words. A filial soul in communion with the Father, a fraternal soul in communion with humanity. A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. That is, surely without controversy, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. And clear as His teaching is, that Spirit of Christ is yet more evident in His life.1 [Note: B. J. Snell.]
1. Take Gentleness first. The chief element of gentleness is self-restraint, the power to check those natural tendencies to self-assertion in its various forms of pride or bluster or fretfulness, not to speak of the more obvious faults of malice and bitterness. And then there is fairness of judgment, a kindly allowance for faults in others which a very little thought would show to be serious enough in ourselves, a consideration for the feelings of others. In these days of what some people would consider over-refinement, there is special need for this. Delicacy of sentiment makes men peculiarly liable to sensitiveness. The common courtesies of society are not always a sufficient remedy against this, because they may be merely the conventional veneer which hides very real unkindness. Nothing can be more unkind than rudeness expressed in honeyed words of transparent insincerity. Christian gentleness means gentleness of feeling, real kindness of heart. It will generally show itself in gentleness of manner, but gentleness of manner is by no means a substitute for it.
A few months ago I read one of those exquisite little articles by Dr. George Matheson. In this particular one he spoke of the gentleness of God, and he said a thing about gentleness that I did not know before. He said this about gentleness: Gentleness is power in reserve, in check. Said Dr. Matheson, We speak of the gentleness of the brook, and it is a false figure. The brook has no gentleness; the brook is beautiful but not gentle; noisy, not gentle. It laughs over the stones and runs through its banks of moss and fern. While men may come and men may go the brook runs on for ever. But it is making all the noise it can, and it is exerting all the force it can. You cannot get more force out of it than it is exerting as it runs. There is no gentleness in the brook. You may talk, if you will, of the gentleness of the mighty river, the river that, if it once but breaks and bursts its banks, would devastate the whole countryside, yet it quietly and gently carries its burden on its bosom to the sea, and you hardly know it is strong. That is gentleness. Oh, the gentleness of Jesus! What said He? Know ye not that I could ask of My Father, and He could straightway give Me ten legions of angels to fight My battles? All power behind Him, but He left it there and took His way, a perpetual outshining of gentleness; power in check, held back.1 [Note: G. C. Morgan.]
A gentlemans first characteristic is that fineness of structure in the body which renders it capable of the most delicate sensation; and of structure in the mind which renders it capable of the most delicate sympathiesone may say, simply fineness of nature. This is, of course, compatible with heroic bodily strength and mental firmness; in fact, heroic strength is not conceivable without such delicacy. Elephantine strength may drive its way through a forest and feel no touch of the boughs; but the white skin of Homers Atrides would have felt a bent rose-leaf, yet subdue its feeling in glow of battle, and behave itself like iron. I do not mean to call an elephant a vulgar animal; but if you think about him carefully you will find that his non-vulgarity consists in such gentleness as is possible to elephantine nature; not in his insensitive hide, nor in his clumsy foot, but in the way he will lift his foot if a child lies in his way; and in his sensitive trunk, and still more sensitive mind, and capability of pique on points of honour. Hence it will follow that one of the probable signs of high-breeding in men generally will be their kindness and mercifulness.1 [Note: Ruskin, Modern Painters, pt. ix. ch. 7.]
The only guarantee of gentleness is to observe the golden rule of the Gospel. Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye unto them. Put yourself into their position, and see how you would like to be treated. But then there is a real difficulty sometimes in putting this into practice. What are we to do, you will say, when people have really injured us, and we feel obliged to let them know, not that we exactly resent it, for we really wish to be kind, but that we have been pained? I should say, in nine cases out of ten, better not to let them know it to all. A gentle example has far greater force that the kindest rebuke. In the rare cases in which it is absolutely necessary to explain your feelings, speak as plainly and directly as you can, remembering that a parade even of gentleness may be extremely provoking. You may be assuming thereby position of moral superiority which has the appearance, perhaps the reality, of affectation. The relations of Christians to each other require an infinity of tact, and may I not add an infinity of common sense? One thing we may be sure of, that the person who is really kind and really courteous is seldom taken advantage of except by the ignorant and foolish, and these he can generally afford, I wont say to despise, but at any rate to bear with.2 [Note: F. H. Woods.]
A German with a trained musical ear came a stranger into an American city. He heard the voice of song, and following the sound, found himself where they were singing psalmody in a nasal and discordant way. After he had entered, he wished he were outside, and he did not know whether he ought to put his, hands over his ears and so show his disgust, or rush out of the hall; but being too well bred to do either, he determined to endure it as best he could. And while he was sitting there, he discerned a womans voice, clear and sweet, singing in exact tune. She was not trying to drown all the rest; nor, on the other hand, was she at all disturbed or her melody at all marred by the discords around her; she just kept singing that sweet, pure note of concord, until at last it became infectious, and the others began to fall in with it; and it was not long before the whole company was singing in perfect harmony, influenced by the example of that one voice.
2. Strength. Next to the spirit of gentleness, comes the spirit of power. To some these would seem to be antagonists. The one appears to them as the natural and proper character of woman, the other of man. But surely it is not so. If there is any truth in such a view it is that gentleness is the quality which men need most to learn; power, force of moral character, what women too often lack. But certainly the two are not opposed to each other. Christian gentleness does not mean weakness of character, nor is strength of character at all the same thing as rudeness, nor yet as obstinacy. Rather is it the very opposite; at any rate, gentleness is essential to all true strength. Composure of mind, a quiet determination to do what is right, a readiness to overlook personal wrong, above all, an infinite store of patience, these are what give a man or woman an influence in the world; and the nobler the work is the truer all this becomes. For there is an attractiveness about sweetness of temper which draws us to those who have it. And the attractiveness is all the greater when we realize that that sweetness is the fruit of an earnest desire to live the Christian life under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
O, east is east and west is west and never twain shall meet
Till earth and sky stand presently at Gods great judgment seat;
But there is neither east nor west, border, nor breed, nor birth,
When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth!1 [Note: Kipling.]
It takes the greatest strength to speak quietly. It takes rarely disciplined strength to bring the softest music out of organ or piano. It is quite likely that, speaking offhand, one would say that the eagle is the most powerful of all flying birds. And yet a little thought and reading bring to the mind the fact that, though actually so powerful, its relative strength is really inferior to that of the humming-bird. This smallest of birds can perform a feat of strength quite impossible to the powerful eagle. It holds itself steadily poised in mid-air as it quietly sips its honey-food from the hanging flower. Its very calmness and steadiness and delicacy of action reveal the superbness of its strength. The strength that reveals itself most in gentleness and tenderness and keenly alert patience, in subdued tone, and soft touch, and quiet step, is the real, strong strength that wins the hardest fight.1 [Note: S. D. Gordon, Quiet Talks on Home Ideals, 102.]
3. Sympathy. Sympathy is the power of love that enables you sometimes to make a pilgrimage outside the small circle of your own personality. If the majority of people were asked for a definition of sympathy, they would answer, Sorrow for those who are in sorrow. That is a splendid half-definition. Sympathy is not only the power that makes it possible for you to weep with me when I weep, it is the power that makes it possible for you to laugh with me when I laugh. That is apostolic, that is ChristianWeeping with those who weep, rejoicing with those who rejoice. It is not by any means certain that the latter half is not the more difficult.
Sympathy is a thing to be encouraged, apart from human considerations, because it supplies us with the materials for wisdom. It is probably more instructive to entertain a sneaking kindness for any unpopular person than to give way to perfect raptures of moral indignation against his abstract vices.2 [Note: R. L. Stevenson, Some Portraits of Raeburn.]
I will not tell you of the things I know,
I cannot bar the path that you must go;
Gods bitter lesson must be learnt by all,
But living, I will listen to your call,
And stretch to you a hand that you may know.3 [Note: Philip Bourke Marston, Song-Tide, 41.]
Sister Dora, after her long days work in her Walsall hospital for waifs and strays, for poor souls beaten down in the battle of life, often went to rest almost too tired to sleep. But over her head was a bell, to be sounded, in spite of all her weariness, when any sufferer needed her. And the bell bore this inscription, The Master is come and calleth for thee.4 [Note: B. J. Snell.]
I was very much struck not long ago to hear a very clever and a very energetic and a well-known woman reply, when asked what she thought of the question about her sisters and the Empire Music Hall, Oh, I am too busy over political questions to think about that; it does not touch me.5 [Note: C. M. Holden, The Warfare of Girlhood, 48.]
One day in Charleston Jail a minister came to call on John Brown and defended slavery as a Christian institution. My dear sir, said the old man, you know nothing about Christianity. You will have to learn its a b c; I find you quite ignorant of what the word Christianity means. And when the man looked at him very much disconcerted, John Brown softened a little: I respect you as a gentleman, of course, but it is as a heathen gentleman. And it was exactly that intensity of feeling in the old man that made him willing for the sake of his cause to lay down his life, and the heat of his passion set this land on fire.1 [Note: R. E. Speer, The Master of the Heart, 198.]
I lay my hand on your aching brow
Softly, so! And the pain grows still.
The moisture clings to my soothing palm,
And you sleep because I will.
You forget I am here? Tis the darkness hides.
I am always here, and your needs I know.
I tide you over the long, long night
To the shores of the morning glow.
So Gods hand touches the aching soul,
Softly, so! And the pain grows still;
All grief and woe from the soul He draws,
And we rest because He wills.
We forget,and yet He is always here!
He knows our needs and He heeds our sighs;
No night so long but He soothes and stills
Till the dawn-light rims the skies.
4. Humility. What a matchless view of Christs humility we have in John 13.He rose from supper, laid aside His garments and took a towel, girded Himself, poured water into a basin, and began to wash His disciples feet. Christ was on earth as one that served. Humility followed Him from His birth in the manger to His borrowed grave. We have just as much of Christianity as we have of humility.
I held the golden vessel of my soul
And prayed that God would fill it from on high.
Day after day the importuning cry
Grew strongergrew, a heaven-accusing dole
Because no sacred waters laved my bowl.
So full the fountain, Lord, wouldst Thou deny
The little needed for a souls supply?
I ask but this small portion of Thy whole.
Then from the vast invisible Somewhere,
A voice, as one love-authorised by Him,
Spake, and the tumult of my heart was stilled.
Who wants the waters must the bowl prepare;
Pour out the self that chokes it to the brim,
But emptied vessels from the source are filled.1 [Note: E. Wheeler Wilcox.]
In a very entertaining work, over which we have roared in childhood, it is stated that a point has no parts and no magnitude. Humility is the luxurious art of reducing ourselves to a point, not to a small thing or a large one, but to a thing with no size at all, so that to it all the cosmic things are what they really areof immeasurable stature.2 [Note: G. K. Chesterton, The Defendant.]
The lesson of Christs humility is that we should be willing to take the humblest place to serve others. We need the John the Baptist spirit, not envious of the success of another, saying with our eye on the Lord, He must increase, but I must decrease. A Christian minister said, I was never of any use until I found out that God did not make me for a great man. High trees are commonly fruitless, and what grows on them hangs high above our reach. So we have more good of the humble servant of God who is willing to communicate what he has. The proud servant looks so high that even if he bore fruit it could not be reached by Gods poor people.
Give me the lowest place; not that I dare
Ask for that lowest place, but Thou hast died
That I might live and share
Thy glory by Thy side.
Give me the lowest place: or if for me
That lowest place too high, make one more low
Where I may sit and see
My God and love Thee Song of Solomon 3 [Note: Christina G. Rossetti.]
5. Zeal. Christs was a spirit of holy zeal. The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. What a power Christians would be in the world if each one could honestly say with Brainerd, Oh, that I were a flaming fire in the hands of my God! We need at this time what the Chinese convert told the missionary his people wanted, Men with hot hearts to tell us of the love of Christ.
So far as my recollection of the 1875 Session goes, I can hardly tell what was its main feature. But perhaps the most memorable incident was the Plimsoll one. Mr. Plimsoll had devoted himself to an attack on rotten ships, which he alleged were numerous, and were sent out by money-seeking owners, totally regardless of the lives of the sailors. Some of these alleged malefactors he unmistakeably pointed to, and this led to angry denials on their part. He brought in a Bill dealing with this evil, but the Government pooh-poohed it, and gave him no real assistance. So, one afternoon when the matter was under discussion, he sprang from his seat on to the floor of the House, gesticulating, shaking his fist at the Treasury Bench, shouting out something about murdering villains, and generally deporting himself like one possessed. This, of course, caused great excitement and confusion, and as he declined to retract the words about villains, he had to retire from the House, while Disraeli proposed that he be reprimanded. On this, Fawcett got up, who was always a little pompous in his style of speaking, and, alluding to the scene just enacted and kindly doing what he could for Plimsoll, said that he had advised him to take a walk. So the reprimanding business was adjourned for a week, at the end of which time Plimsoll made an apology, which satisfied the House. But mark the result of all this. The scene attracted the attention of the country to the shipping scandal which Plimsoll attacked, and the Government thought it prudent at once to bring in a Bill of their own, which they carried before the end of the Session, and took great credit for, Disraeli making so much of it in a speech at the Mansion House that it was written that he had explained then
How the whole of his life one long effort had been
To provide for the lives of the Merchant Marine.1 [Note: G. W. E. Russells Memoir of Sir Wilfrid Lawson, 110.]
In southern China, some years ago, in a city on the borders of the province of Hunan, I talked with a young Chinese Christian. He was a graduate of a college in the far north. He had come a thousand miles away from home to preach Christ among his own countrymen. He was one of the most intelligent Chinese Christians whom I had met. And I was asking him many questions regarding his nation, and especially regarding the life and spirit of the Chinese Christians. And when I was done, he said, Mr. Speer, you have asked me a great many questions, and some of them have been very difficult. Now, I would like to ask you one question. You know what the Christians in your country are like. Are they all men and women of burning hearts? It was a quaint Chinese idiom of which he made use, but that was its literal translation. He desired to know if we were all of us of burning hearts. What would you have said to him? What would you have said to him about the great mass of our so-called Christians. Are we of burning hearts?1 [Note: R. E. Speer.]
Tis not for man to trifle, life is brief
And sin is here;
Our age is but the falling of a leaf,
A dropping tear.
We have no time to sport away the hours,
All must be earnest in a world like ours.
Not many lives, but only one have we,
One, only one,
How earnest should that one life be,
That narrow span,
Day after day spent in blessed toil,
Hour after hour still bringing in new spoil.
Enthusiasms the best thing, I repeat;
Only, we cant command it; fire and life
Are all, dead matters nothing, we agree:
And be it a mad dream or Gods very breath,
The facts the same,beliefs fire, once in us,
Makes of all else mere stuff to show itself.2 [Note: Browning, Bishop Blougrams Apology.]
The Owners Mark
Literature
Holland (H. Scott), Fibres of Faith, 67.
Newman (J. H.), Parochial and Plain Sermons, ii. 217.
Pusey (E. B.), Parochial and Cathedral Sermons, 472.
Talbot (E. S.), Sermons at Southwark, 61.
Christian World Pulpit, xi. 299 (Swing); lix. 377 (Campbell Morgan); lxxii. 280 (Snell); lxxv. 305 (Scott Holland).
Church of England Pulpit, lx. 298 (Boyd Carpenter).
Churchmans Pulpit, pt. xix. 97 (Newman), 101 (Woods), 102 (Monro).
Church Pulpit Year Book (1907), 115.
Five-Minute Sermons by Paulists, i. 274.
Sunday School Times, xxxv. 769.
Treasury (New York), x. 815.
Worlds Great Sermons, viii. 149 (Fowler).
Fuente: The Great Texts of the Bible
But ye: Rom 8:2, Eze 11:19, Eze 36:26, Eze 36:27, Joh 3:6
if so be: Rom 8:11, Luk 11:13, 1Co 3:16, 1Co 6:19, 2Co 6:16, Gal 4:6, Eph 1:13, Eph 1:17, Eph 1:18, Eph 2:22, 2Ti 1:14, 1Jo 3:24, 1Jo 4:4, Jud 1:19 -21
the Spirit: Joh 3:34, Gal 4:6, Phi 1:19, 1Pe 1:11
he is: Joh 17:9, Joh 17:10, 1Co 3:21-23, 1Co 15:23, 2Co 10:7, Gal 5:24, Rev 13:8, Rev 20:15
Reciprocal: Num 11:17 – I will take Job 14:4 – Who can bring Psa 51:11 – holy Isa 59:21 – My spirit Mat 25:4 – oil Mar 9:41 – because Joh 1:16 – of his Joh 5:23 – He that Joh 7:39 – this spake Joh 14:17 – but Joh 14:23 – make Joh 15:4 – I Rom 7:5 – in the flesh Rom 8:5 – of the Spirit Rom 8:8 – they that Rom 8:14 – led 1Co 1:30 – sanctification 1Co 12:13 – by 2Co 1:21 – anointed 2Co 1:22 – the earnest 2Co 3:8 – the ministration 2Co 5:17 – be 2Co 13:14 – the communion Gal 3:14 – might Gal 5:19 – the works Eph 3:17 – Christ Phi 2:1 – if any fellowship Heb 11:5 – that he 1Pe 4:6 – that they 1Jo 4:13 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
HEART-SEARCHING WORDS
If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.
Rom 8:9
What heart-searching words! Whatever else man may have, if the Spirit be absent Christ pronounces against Him. Consider
I. The necessity of the indwelling of the Spirit.He is needed (a) to secure our dependence upon Christ for salvation (Eph 1:6; 1Co 6:17); (b) for discernment as to true nature of the things of God (1Co 2:11-12); (c) for our deliverance from sin (Romans 8the inventory of the believers treasures); and (d) for direction. Next consider
II. The nature of this indwelling of the Spirit.It is (a) personal; (b) privileged; (c) progressive. Not enough to be born of Spirit; a further work needed (Eph 3:16-17). Finally, consider
III. The results of this indwelling.Romans 8 enumerates them, but see especially life for the spirit and resurrection for the body.
IV. Have you the Spirit of Christ?
Rev. E. W. Moore.
Illustration
The acutest and subtlest minds cannot discern the things of the Spirit of God, they are foolishness unto them, neither can they know them, because they are spiritually discerned. Many will remember the story of the late Mr. William Wilberforce, who took the then Prime Minister of England, the famous William Pitt, to hear Mr. Richard Cecil, a spiritually-minded preacher of that day, earnestly hoping to interest him in the things of God. Mr. Cecil preached one of his most spiritual and powerful discourses, and at the close of the service Mr. Wilberforce anxiously asked his friend what he thought of the sermon. Mr. Pitt replied, I can assure you I gave him my very best attention, but was wholly unable to understand his drift. It was foolishness unto him, though his was probably the greatest intellect of his time.
(SECOND OUTLINE)
THE WORK AND SPHERE OF THE HOLY GHOST
The coming of the Holy Ghost was the completion of Gods revelation of Himself to man. Gods revelation of Himself was progressive. The revelation of the Holy Spirit is not a separate thing by itself, but rather is it the centre and the consummation of the Incarnation. It is also the beginning of a new epoch, but it could not come about until our Lord was glorified. Why? It was not, of course, because the Holy Spirit did not exist before, it was not that he was beginning for the first time to work in the world and upon men. On the contrary, we know that at the beginning of everything, at the creation of the world, the Holy Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. He strove with men again and again. Every excellence of character displayed by the Old Testament saints was due to Him. He spake, we say in the creed, by the prophets. Nor was it different during our Lords earthly life and ministry. The Holy Spirit was still working.
I. What was the difference of the mission of the Holy Spirit since the ascension of our Lord?The answer is this, that the gift of the Holy Ghost which was promised by Jesus Christ, and the gift which came on the day of Pentecost, is to be regarded as the gift of the Holy Spirit not so much in His eternal existence in the Divine Being, but as the Spirit of God made the Spirit of Man in Christ Jesus. The Holy Ghost is chiefly revealed to us as the Spirit of the Incarnate Christ. And in so many portions of Holy Scriptureour text for instancethe Spirit of God is spoken of as the Spirit of Christ. In other words, the coming of the Holy Ghost is not to take the place of Christ, but to be the means of bringing about this lasting presence of Christ which is to continue all the days until the end of the world.
II. The work of the Holy Ghost.The work of the Holy Spirit within us is nothing unless to form the living Christ within each individual soul. It is the agent through Whom you and I are separately and individually united to the glorified human nature of Jesus Christ. In speaking or thinking of the work of the Holy Spirit we must never for one moment separate it from the mediatorial work of Christ. The presence of the Spirit of Christ is not a substitute for our Lord Himself, but is the method by which our Lord is present. To have the Spirit of Christ is to have Christ.
III. The sphere of the Holy Ghost.When you and I say, as we do, in the creed, I believe in the Holy Ghost, we are really expressing our belief in a supernatural world in which the Spirit of God moves and works, and it is a very good thing for us in the present day to remember that the Christian religion is essentially a spiritual and a supernatural religion. The religion of the Spirit is not in local places but in living persons which we call the Church, and it is a spiritual and a supernatural sphere. This presence of Jesus Christ in the Church is not merely a personal power or influence, but is realised by the whole Church. We say, I believe in the Holy Ghost, Who sanctifieth me and all the elect people of God. The Holy Spirit is making you and me holy to-day in so far as we are allowing Him to do so. Do we realise this? Do we ever think of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us? Do we attempt to realise that we ourselves are the temples of the Holy Ghost, little churches that are dedicated to the worship of God? And are we trying to respond to the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit? We are reminded in our text of this great truth, that if any man have not the Spirit of Christ He is none of His. To have the Spirit of Christ, as we have seen, is to have Christ Himself.
Let us resolve to give ourselves up to the guiding of the Holy Spirit and realise that He is dwelling within us, that He is the Spirit of Christ Who is more really present with us now than when Christ walked upon the earth in human form.
Illustration
Some of us know that at the present day there is a great demand in some quarters for a natural Christianity, a Christianity which has no dogma, no miracles, a Christianity which does not appeal, as we believe the true Christianity does appeal, from the visible to the invisible. There is a demand in some quarters for a purely human Christ, for a Christ of human history as opposed, as we know, to a living Christnot merely a past recollection of one who had lived, but a living Christ Who, in His glorified Nature, is now living and reigning at the right hand of God the Father in heaven. Or the Church is regarded to-day by a great many people as merely a department of the State, whose business is good works and philanthropy, instead of a spiritual society which contains, in the whole body, the indwelling Spirit of Christ.
(THIRD OUTLINE)
THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST
In this chapter we are taught much about the work of the Holy Spirit. He is the Spirit of life (Rom 8:2). By His help we mortify the flesh (Rom 8:13). He leads the sons of God (Rom 8:14). He is the Spirit of adoption (Rom 8:15). He bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God (Rom 8:16). He helps us to pray (Rom 8:26).
I. The Holy Spirit is compared to wind.We cannot see the wind, but we can see the effects of the wind. So we can see the effects of the gracious work of the Holy Spirit. He can subdue the proud will, and melt the stony heart, and give a new heart and a new spirit.
II. The Holy Spirit is compared to a dove.In the beginning the Spirit of God moved on the face of the deep and brought order and harmony out of confusion, so when the Holy Spirit comes to human hearts He brings peace and love. The dove is the emblem of peace, and meekness, and gentleness. An old writer says, Unquietness is the greatest evil that can come into the soul except sin.
III. The Holy Spirit is compared to oil.He can give the oil of joy for mourning. He can change despair into hope and sorrow into singing.
IV. The Holy Spirit is compared to a seal (Eph 1:13).A considerable trade in timber was carried on at Ephesus. The merchant selected his timber, paid for it, and stamped it with his own signet just as timber-merchants put the initial letter of their names on their timber now. So Gods children are sealed by His Spirit, and by that seal He knows them that are His.
V. The Holy Spirit is compared to fire.The worst disease of the soul, said a great Frenchman, is cold. What we need is not money or worldly influence. Our great need is a baptism of the Spirit and the tongue of fire. In a certain battle there was a wounded soldier who cried, Roll me out of the way, and go on with the gun! We should have a like enthusiasm in Christs cause if the miracle of Pentecost were repeated.
Rev. F. Harper.
(FOURTH OUTLINE)
PERSONAL EXAMINATION
We must examine ourselves to see whether we have the Spirit of Christ, whether the same mind is in us as was in the Lord Jesus.
I. The Spirit of Christ is a spirit of unselfishness.Even Jesus Christ pleased not Himself, and yet no one had a better right to do so. Now let us look at ourselves, and apply this test to our religion. Have we this spirit of unselfishness? I know that you and I are often selfish. But we must not rest content with knowing this, we must try to get the better of this sin. The world says to us, Every man for himself; but God says, Look not only on your own things, but on the things of others. He has given us all that we haveour souls, our bodies, our home, our children, our friends, our moneyin trust, to be used for the glory of God, not as offerings on the shrine of self.
II. The Spirit of Christ is a spirit of gentleness and forbearance.The Lion of the tribe of Judah, He Who has the keys of hell and of death, the Conqueror, the Mighty Lord, was on earth known as the Lamb of God, and as a sheep dumb before her shearers. How gentle was His life! Again let us look at ourselves. Is there much of this spirit of gentleness and forbearance abroad in the world? I trow not. A man who is more gentle and patient than his neighbour is pushed aside in the race of life, and is called mean-spirited and cowardly. I wonder how many among us when they are reviled revile not again, and instead of railing for railing give contrariwise blessing. I wonder how many among us ever prayed for our enemies. We are mostly too eager to speak hardly of enemies, and even of friends, and the grievous words are ever more ready than the soft answer which turneth away wrath.
III. The Spirit of Christ is a spirit of endurance.There is a world of meaning in those words, He was wounded for our transgressions. Not only in the Judgment Hall, and on the Cross, but all through His earthly life Jesus was wounded for our transgressions. Have we this spirit of endurance? Does that promise bring comfort to usHe that endureth to the end shall be saved ? Have we learned to look on our sorrows and trials as relics of the true Cross, and to know that we must be made perfect through sufferings? If so, we shall find that every thorny crown of sorrows, sharp though it be, is gilded with the light of heaven, and transfigured into a crown of glory. If any of us lack moral courage to bear insult or contempt for Christs sake, if we are tempted to hide our religion away when we are in the company of the ungodly, then let our prayer be that God would grant us the Spirit of Christ, the spirit of endurance.
IV. The Spirit of Christ is a spirit of prayer.Our Lord prayed at all times and in all places, not only at set services in the synagogue. Is this the spirit in which we pray? Is it out of the abundance of the heart that our mouth speaks in prayer? Is it our refuge and comfort at all times, in the season of our well-being, and in all our troubles and adversities whensoever they oppress us?
V. The Spirit of Christ is a spirit of work.As there was no selfishness in His life, so there was no idleness, which is but selfishness under another name. He went about doing good. He had come, not to do His own will, but the will of His Father. Does the Spirit of Christ pervade our work? We live in busy times when a man, if he would eat, must work also. Ours is an age of overwork, of life at high pressure, and we run a great risk of discovering that our work is but lost labour, because we know not of what manner of spirit we are. Too many of us are labouring only for wealth, or position, or ease, or powerall of which shall one day vanish away as a dream when one awaketh. Too many have forgotten to make their work Gods work by consecrating it to Him, and striving to perform it in the Spirit of Christ. Are we trying to do good in our generation; to be about our Fathers business, and to finish the work which He has given us to do?
Illustration
We all profess and call ourselves Christians, we are baptized into Christs Holy Church and hold her Creeds, but these things alone are not enough. We may be diligent students of the Bible, but what avails our knowledge if we do not practise what we know? We may be particular in our observance of the outward forms of religion, but they are worthless if they are forms only. We may be regular in our attendance at church, but this will not excuse our ungodliness at home. A religion which can be put on and off at the church-door is worse than useless. Our faith, if it be real, our religion, if it be true, will be as strong and as earnest amid the busy working world of Monday as they were in the solemn calm and the dim religious light of the sanctuary.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
8:9
Rom 8:9. Not in the flesh is explained at verse 1. Spirit of Christ is equivalent to “Christ be in you” in the following verse.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rom 8:9. But ye, etc. The Apostle now turns to the other class, spoken of in Rom 8:5, gladly using direct address, for ye is emphatic in the original.
If so be. This conditional form is an indirect incitement to self-examination (Meyer), and does not imply special doubt.
The Spirit of God dwell in you. In the previous clause the Spirit is represented as the element in which they live; here as the indwelling power which enables them to live in this element. This change of figure is quite common in the New Testament language respecting the Holy Spirit. That the Holy Spirit is here meant ought not to be doubted. In you must not be weakened into among you.
Now if. This is a pure hypothesis, and does not imply that such was the case.
Hath not the Spirit of Christ. There is no better evidence of careless reading of the Scripture than the frequent use of this clause as if it referred to the temper or disposition shown by Christ. It means the Holy Spirit which belongs to, or proceeds from, Christ, this designation Ming adopted to prove the truth that those who have not this Spirit are none of Christs. The whole passage has an important bearing on the doctrine of the Trinity, especially as related to Christian experience. It must be admitted that such statements generally have reference to the economy of grace, but they form the basis for the doctrinal statements of the Church. This text has therefore been a proof text for the Western doctrine of the procession of the Holy Ghost from the Father and the Son (filioque. Synod of Toledo A. D. 589). This was the final contribution to the doctrinal statement of the Trinity. The Greek Church admits that the Holy Spirit is sent by the Son as well as the Father, out denies that He proceeds eternally, or, metaphysically, from the Son. The sending belongs to the economical Trinity; the eternally proceeding, to the ontological Trinity.
Ha is none of his. He does not belong to Christ, perhaps implying that the Spirit unites the members of the mystical body of Christ to their Head, and that without this Spirit such union does not exist.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe, He doth not say, the flesh in not in you, but ye are not in the flesh, so as to be acted and influenced, guided and governed, misled and carried away by it. Sincere and serious Christians, although they live in the flesh, yet do they not live after the flesh: But ye are in the Spirit, that is, illuminated, inclined, and enabled by the Spirit to do the will of God: And the Spirit of God dwelleth in you, as a spirit of truth to enlighten your understandings, as a Spirit of holiness to renew your will and affections, as a Spirit of love to inspire the soul with divine and unutterable desires after the favour and grace of God; and the phrase, dwelling, imports presence and propriety, fellowship and intimacy, operation and activity, residence and constancy of abode.
Observe here, 1. That the Holy Ghost is called the Spirit of Christ passively, and by way of reception, as being bestowed upon him, and received by him; also actively, and by way of collation, as being bestowed by him, and conveyed from him.
Observe, 2. That all sincere Christians have the Spirit of Christ, they have him for the blessing of conversion, they have him for the benefit of communion. He dwells in them by his sanctifying impressions, powerful assistance, quickening and comforting influences. He pours in both the oil of grace, and also the oil of joy and gladness into their hearts.
Observe, 3. There are some that have not the Spirit of Christ: Such as are carnal and sensual have not the Spirit; such as are censorious and envious have not the Spirit; such as are malicious and revengeful have not the Spirit; such as are implacable, and of an irreconcileable temper of Spirit, have not the Spirit of Christ.
Observe, 4. That all such as have not the Spirit of Christ, are none of Christ’s; they have no spiritual relation to him, they have no special interest in him, and can expect no present consolation or future happiness from him: The proposition is indefinite, and without exception. If any man, prince or peasant, rich or poor, bond or free, have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of Christ’s.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Rom 8:9. But ye Who are vitally united to Christ, who are in him, by living faith, and new creatures; are not in the flesh Not in your unpardoned, unrenewed state, not carnally minded; but in the Spirit Under his government, and spiritually minded, and therefore are accepted of God, and approved of by him; if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you For wherever he dwells, he reigns, regenerates the soul, and makes it truly holy. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ Thus residing in him, and governing him, whatever he may pretend; he is none of his Not a disciple or member of Christ; not a Christian; not in a state of salvation. A plain, express declaration, which admits of no exception. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Vv. 9. But as for you, ye are not under the dominion of the flesh, but under that of the Spirit, if the Spirit of God really dwell in you. But if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.
In thus apostrophizing his readers directly, the apostle wishes to bring them to examine themselves, in order to know which of these two currents they are obeying; for we easily apprehend these truths with the understanding, but we are slow to apply them to ourselves personally. He begins with expressing a feeling of confidence in regard to their state; but he adds a restriction fitted to excite their vigilance: , if really. This word does not positively express a doubt, as would do, if at least (Col 1:23). Paul proceeds on their Christian profession to draw from it a sure consequence in the supposed case of their profession being serious. To them it belongs to verify the truth of the supposition. The expression: to dwell in you, denotes a permanent fact; it is not enough to have some seasons of impulse, some outbursts of enthusiasm, mingled with practical infidelities.
This first proposition of Rom 8:9 is the foundation of an argument which will be prolonged to the close of Rom 8:11. Before continuing it the apostle throws in by the way the serious warning contained in Rom 8:9 b, which raises the supposition contrary to that of the , if really, and shows also the consequence which would flow from it. It is remarkable that the Spirit of Christ is here used as the equivalent of the Spirit of God in the preceding proposition. The Spirit of Jesus is that of God Himself, which He has so perfectly appropriated here below as to make it His personal life, so that He can communicate it to His own. It is in this form that the Holy Spirit henceforth acts in the Church. Where this vital bond does not exist between a soul and Christ, it remains a stranger to Him and His salvation. After this observation, which every one is expected to apply to himself, the argument recommences, connecting itself with the favorable supposition enunciated Rom 8:9 a
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
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.
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
DIVINE UNITY
9. You are not in carnality, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any one have not the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. Here we have a beautiful and lucid affirmation of the divine unity. Spirit occurring three times in this verse. First, He is the Holy Spirit, in the second place, the Spirit of the Father; and in the third instance, the Spirit of the Son, and identical throughout, illustrating clearly the identity of the three persons constituting the Godhead, and the identity of the Spirit of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. The same is clearly revealed in Acts 5, where Holy Ghost, in Rom 8:3, God, in Rom 8:4, and Spirit of the Lord, i. e., Christ, in Rom 8:9, are all used synonymously. It is exceedingly pertinent for us to be specific at this point, as some have gotten tangled discriminating between the Spirit of Jesus and the Holy Ghost and the Spirit of God, and gone off into the tri-theistic heresy to their spiritual detriment.
However incomprehensible the Divine Trinity and Unity, yet it is a fact clearly revealed in Gods infallible Word. We are not saved by knowledge, but by faith. Hence we do not have to understand the Scriptures, but only believe. When we pass beyond we will learn more in a week than in all our lives ill this world. As we are saved by faith, and He that believeth not shall be damned, we would better see that we believe all, remembering that we have only a few days in which to believe, but all eternity in which to learn. While there is but one God, He is revealed to us in three persons, accommodatory to our finite apprehensions of the wonderful redemptive scheme. I am editor in the morning, teacher in the afternoon, and preacher in the evening. Yet I am only one and the same man, known to the world in three personalities. In this notable verse we would discriminate between the statement, The Spirit of God dwelleth in you, as the word oikei is from oikos, a house, and means to abide in you, like a person living in a house, which is peculiar to the sanctified experience; for during the regenerated life He is with you (Joh 14:16), in the capacity of an Architect, coming and going, working on the building, but when it is completed in entire sanctification, moving into it to permanently abide; and If any one have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his which is comprehensive of the regenerated state as well as the sanctified.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
8:9 {11} But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
(11) He addresses the others, that is, those who walk after the Spirit, of whom we have to understand contrary things to the former: and first of all, he defines what it is to be in the Spirit, or to be sanctified: that is, to have the Spirit of God dwelling in us. Then he declares that sanctification is so joined and knit to our grafting into Christ, that it can by no means be separated.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
"However" marks a contrast. Paul’s readers were not those who only had a sinful human nature. They also had the indwelling Holy Spirit. We could translate the first "if" as "since" (first class condition in Greek) because here it represents a condition that Paul assumed was true to reality. Everyone who trusts in Jesus Christ in the age in which we live possesses the indwelling Holy Spirit (cf. Eph 1:13; 1Co 12:13).
"Here the great mark of a true Christian is, that the Spirit of God dwells in him." [Note: Newell, p. 299.]
This is one of the clearest statements in Scripture that corrects the false notion that baptism with the Spirit is a second work of grace for the Christian.
"Nowhere in Scripture do we find a clearer indication that the Spirit enters a person’s life at the moment of conversion (cf. also 1Co 12:13). If the Spirit needed to wait for some subsequent commitment to holiness, it follows that he would be absent between conversion and that later point in time. But that cannot be because Paul clearly indicated that a person without the Spirit does not belong to Christ." [Note: Mounce, pp. 178-79.]