John Calvin 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)

If the Spirit, etc. This is a confirmation of the last verse, derived from the efficient cause, and means: “Since Christ was raised by the power of God’s Spirit, and since the Spirit possesses eternal power, He will also exert that same power with regard to us.” And he takes it for granted that a specimen of the power which belongs to the whole body of the Church was exhibited in the person of Christ. And as he makes God the author of the resurrection, he assigns to Him a life-giving Spirit.

Who raised, etc. By this periphrasis he describes God, which harmonizes better with his present purpose than if he had simply called Him by His own name. For the same reason, he assigns to the Father the glory of raising Christ, for it more clearly proved what he intended than if he had ascribed the act to Christ Himself. For it might have been objected, “That Christ was able by His own power to raise Himself, and this is what no human can do.” But when he says that God raised up Christ by His Spirit, and that He also communicated His Spirit to us, there is nothing that can be argued to the contrary, so that he thus assures us of the hope of resurrection. Nor is there anything here that derogates from that declaration in John,

“I have power to lay down my life, and to take it up again.” (John 10:18)

No doubt Christ arose through His own power; but as He is accustomed to attribute to the Father whatever Divine power He possesses, so the Apostle has not improperly transferred to the Father what was especially done by Christ, as the peculiar work of divinity.

By mortal bodies he means all those things which still remain in us that are subject to death; for his usual practice is to give this name to the grosser part of us. We therefore conclude that he is not speaking of the final resurrection, which will be in a moment, but of the continued working of the Spirit, by which He gradually mortifies the relics of the flesh and renews in us a celestial life.