Romans 8:10 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

NIV: But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.

NASB: If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.

CSB: Now if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.

NLT: And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God.

KJV: And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

NKJV: And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

This passage has indicated that the presence of God's Holy Spirit in a person is necessary for that person to be a Christian. Every truly saved, born-again believer—every real "Christian"—has the Spirit. Without the Spirit, that person does not belong to Christ.

Now Paul writes two things that are true of those with Christ living within them. On the one hand, the body is dead because of sin. This likely means that our human, physical, temporary body is dying and will eventually die as the result of sin in us and in the world. Our bodies are not yet renewed—though they will be (1 John 3:2; 1 Thessalonians 4:16).

On the other hand, the Spirit is life—or gives life—because of righteousness. This phrase is a little trickier to translate. Some Bible teachers understand the Greek word for Spirit here, pneuma, as a reference to our human spirits. In that case, this verse would read that our spirits are alive. Others translate pneuma here as God's Spirit once more, meaning that that the Spirit gives us life. In the original Greek, there was no punctuation, and no lowercase letters—meaning there is no quick-and-easy way to know the writer's intent. Context is key.

In either case, the idea is that having Christ in us means that we are spiritually alive, in the Spirit, even though our sin-ridden bodies are still dying because of sin. Without Christ, without the Holy Spirit, we are spiritually dead. There is no spiritual life in us. The fact that there is spiritual life in us is because of righteousness. That does not mean it is because we are righteous. It means that we have been given credit for Christ's righteousness (Romans 5:21).

Romans 8:1–11 begins with an enormous declaration about the grace of God: There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. After describing how this is possible, thanks to the life and death of Jesus, Paul compares two kinds of life. One is life in the Holy Spirit, for those who are in Christ, the other is a life lived according to the flesh. Those in the flesh, meaning non-Christians, are hostile to God. Christians have the Spirit; those who do not are not Christians. Because the Spirit is in us, we will be resurrected from the dead as Jesus was.

Romans 8 begins and ends with declarations of the Christian's absolute security before God. There is no condemnation for those in Christ, and nothing will ever be able to separate us from His love. Having believed the gospel, we now live in the Spirit of God. That allows us to call God Abba Father. We suffer with Christ, and we suffer along with all creation while we wait for God to reveal us as His sons. With the help of the Spirit, we are confident that God is for us and loves us in Christ.

In Romans 7, Paul revealed his frustration of trying to do good only to be thwarted by his sin. He begins Romans 8, though, with the triumphant statement that there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. We live in the Spirit, and we relate to God as a child does to a father. The Spirit helps us in this season of suffering along with all of creation while we wait for our adoption to be complete with the redemption of our bodies. We are confident, though, that God is for us and nothing can separate us from His love.

The book of Romans is the New Testament's longest, most structured, and most detailed description of Christian theology. Paul lays out the core of the gospel message: salvation by grace alone through faith alone. His intent is to explain the good news of Jesus Christ in accurate and clear terms. As part of this effort, Paul addresses the conflicts between law and grace, between Jews and Gentiles, and between sin and righteousness. As is common in his writing, Paul closes out his letter with a series of practical applications.