Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Romans 8:11

"But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall give life also to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwelleth in you." — Romans 8:11 (ASV)

Turning now to his readers, Paul reminds them of the basic difference between themselves and those he has been describing. As believers, they have, in the Spirit, an antidote for the sinful human nature (“the flesh”). Furthermore, the Spirit of God “lives” in them (the word “if” here presupposes the truth of the statement). Previously (v.2) the Spirit has been called “the Spirit of life” because of his regenerating and renewing power; here he is “the Spirit of God” and “the Spirit of Christ,” indicating that he carries out the purposes of God and applies the fruits of Christ’s redemptive mission to the lives of believers (cf. Galatians 4:6).

No one who lacks the Spirit belongs to Christ. Everyone who trusts Christ has the Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). The title “Spirit of Christ” is made meaningful by the deliberate way in which Paul says essentially the same thing about both the Spirit and Christ in relation to believers: the Spirit lives in you (v.9) and Christ is in you (v.10). The presence and fullness of Christ are realized in a Christian’s life by means of the indwelling Spirit (Ephesians 3:16–17).

Paul’s observation (v.10) about those in whom Christ lives—”your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness”—has proved difficult for interpreters. The NIV and most leading modern translations make “spirit” refer to the spirit of the Christian rather than to the Spirit of Christ. But it seems preferable to see pneuma (“spirit”; see comment on vv.5–8) here as referring to “the Spirit of God,” for three reasons. (1) It is unlikely that Paul, having consistently referred to pneuma as the Spirit of God, would give this word a different frame of reference in this one instance. His use of the word “body” here, not the word “spirit,” refers to the entire human person. He maintains that sin necessitated our dying with Christ. (2) The phrase about the pneuma being alive because of righteousness relates back to “the Spirit of life” at the beginning of the chapter (v.2). (3) The first part of v.11 refers to the living presence of the Spirit in believers; Paul seems there to be repeating what he said at the end of v.10 in order to present a further observation—namely, that the same Spirit will provide resurrection life in due season. The close of v.10 teaches, therefore, that the Spirit who is life in himself brings life to those in whom he lives only because they have already been granted God’s righteousness (through their justification).

In v.11 the Spirit is given yet another title: “the Spirit of him [i.e., God; cf. 4:24] who raised Jesus from the dead.” The Spirit’s future work on behalf of the saints will be to “give life” to their mortal bodies. This accords with Paul’s description of the glorified bodies of believers as “spiritual” (1 Corinthians 15:44). The life bestowed by the Spirit in that coming day is beyond the power of death or any other agency to vitiate or destroy. It is the very life of God, blessedly spiritual and indestructibly eternal.