So now we know why Paul goes on to write that “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:7). Based on our examination to this point, we are justified in reading this as “Those who insist upon the tradition-bound works of the flesh that serve to isolate God’s people, while serving to stoke revolutionary sentiment against the Roman rulers of the day, cannot please God.” There was a widely held sentiment in that day that God’s people must act on behalf of their God. Unfortunately, thoughts about that action generally took the route of a need for violent overthrow and expulsion from their land of promise. This would ultimately result in the destruction of Jerusalem, which Paul, readily understanding Jesus’ words to this effect, foresaw. Furthermore, this belies an underlying lack of trust in the covenant faithfulness of their God, and His power to do that which He had promised. The adherence to the flesh was the basis for their inability to please God, as we are able to learn from the author of the letter to the Hebrews, when we read that “without faith it is impossible to please Him” (11:6a).
In addition, as we continue to contemplate the nature of these works of the flesh, let us not lose sight of the fact that God did not intend for His people Israel to be separate simply for the sake of being separate, but that through their being set apart for His purposes He could truly bless them by using them as a means to bless all peoples. He intended this for Israel, as well as for those that are considered as renewed Israel through their union with Christ that is based on believing in Him as Lord.
Paul goes on to write that “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit” (8:9a). This is not a blanket statement that he addresses to his readers as some sort of broad-based compliment, but he qualifies this by writing, “if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you” (8:9b). This begs the question as to how one knows, in this context, if the Spirit of God lives in him. This, of course, is connected with the ability to please God, which we can imagine was something readily desired amongst those to whom Paul is writing this letter. How does one know if he does indeed have the Spirit of God? It would seem that, in the context of the contrast between death (flesh) and life and peace (Spirit), that the evidence of the Spirit would be willingness to fully embrace the tenets of the Abrahamic covenant. The evidence of the presence of the Spirit is the ability to rejoice in the ending of the separation between God and man, and between man and man. The evidence of the Spirit would be vigilance against the reconstruction of any walls or boundaries that would be erected to separate those that believe in Christ from one another.
Much of this can be seen in the important issue of table-fellowship between Jew and Gentile, which is a crucial issue in Paul’s letter to the Galatians, and a source of much criticism that is leveled against Jesus in the accounts of the Gospels. When Paul confronts Peter in Galatians, because of his withdrawal from eating with the Gentiles, and rebukes him to his face, it is because Peter’s actions constitute the resurrecting of old, and now meaningless cultural boundaries of separation, that dragged believers in Jesus back into the old age rather than allowing them to fully live in the new age that began with Christ’s Resurrection. For Paul, this resurrection by Peter nullifies the purpose of Christ’s Resurrection, and he will not tolerate it for a second. Christ died and was raised to create a new humanity, a new creation; so holding to old ideals and standards that stood in flagrant opposition to what God intended---as evidenced by Jesus’ own actions throughout His ministry, as He demonstrated what it meant to be fully human in the way that God intended---was not going to be tolerated.
In this, we can see the Spirit of Christ, as Paul forces us to reflect on the fact that the Spirit of Christ was shown forth through His own breaking down of ancient barriers and boundaries, bringing diverse peoples---including people despised and looked down on by the Jews---into and under God’s covenant, based solely upon their relationship to Him. Understanding this then allows us to return to the subject at hand here in Romans, so as to get a better grasp on what is meant when Paul writes, “Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to Him” (8:9b).
Following from that, we read that “if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is your life because of righteousness” (8:10). Here, Paul affirms that, even though we share in Christ’s eternal life here and now, are bodies will eventually deteriorate and we will die. This is because of the sin that was introduced into the world, and still exists primarily as a failure to trust God. However, because of righteousness, that is, because of God’s covenant faithfulness, we have a promise of life. That Spirit of Christ that we have because of God’s covenant faithfulness is the guarantee that there will come a time of resurrection for each of us that is in Christ.
That resurrection is not a dis-embodied existence restricted to an ethereal and heavenly realm (though heaven is one of our hopes as we await a final resurrection), but the resurrection that Paul has in mind is one in a world in which the kingdom of God has been set to work, and which merely awaits its final consummation, as God sets His creation to rights. It is for that reason that he goes on to inform his readers that “Moreover if the Spirit of the One Who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the One Who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through His Spirit Who lives in you” (8:11). Just as Jesus was raised from the dead so as to walk in this creation, so too will His brethren.
There is a great deal of freedom at work here. Because of the freedom from the condemnation that comes from being outside of God’s covenant, with an escape from such through belief in Jesus as Lord, those that are in Christ are set free to be used as agents and ambassadors of the creation-restoring kingdom of God, and are given the immense privilege of being used by God to extend His blessings of renewal, re-creation, restoration, and resurrection with Christ to all peoples. This occurs as His Resurrection power flows to us and through us to be conduits of His gift of eternal life through the Gospel.
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