September 9 But if the Spirit of Him Who raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He Who raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwells in you (Rom. 8:11). Paul is not speaking here of the Resurrection, when the Trump of God shall sound, as most Christians think. He is speaking of Jesus being raised from the dead, and the fact that the same Holy Spirit Who effected this in Christ (raised Him from the dead) also lives within us, i.e., “dwells in you.” It also means that the same power that was made available to Christ is made available to us in order that we might live the life we ought to live, i.e., “the Resurrection Life.” Listen to what the Apostle said: “He Who raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies.” What does he mean by that? Once again, he is not speaking of the Rapture of the Church, when our vile bodies will be changed into Glorified Bodies, but rather to our present physical bodies being quickened, i.e., made alive, by the Holy Spirit. And what does that mean? Man is created spirit, soul, and body. Of these three, the body is the weak link. Even though sin originates in the heart, i.e., “the soul and the spirit of the individual,” still, it manifests itself through the physical body. The physical body of the Believer is neutral. It is not holy or unholy, but only one or the other in the way it is used. Without the Holy Spirit making alive our mortal bodies, no matter how hard we try, no matter the effort made as Believers, no matter how many Scriptures we quote, etc., sin will manifest itself through the physical body. That’s what Paul was talking about when he told us not to yield the members of our body as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but rather to yield our members (members of our physical bodies) as instruments of Righteousness unto God (Rom. 6:13). Two factors are brought to play in order that we may accomplish the yielding to righteousness instead of yielding to sin. First of all, we cannot, as we have already stated, do this thing ourselves. Only the Holy Spirit can do it. To be sure, He most definitely can do whatever it is that needs to be done. For Him to do such, even as we have repeatedly stated, all that is required of us is that our Faith be ever anchored in Christ and what Christ has done at the Cross. When we do this, and continue to do this, not allowing our faith to be moved elsewhere, then the Holy Spirit will begin to “quicken our mortal bodies,” meaning that we will then yield to Righteousness instead of unrighteousness. This is God’s Way, and His only Way. Unfortunately, almost all of the books and tapes which are now being printed in connection with this very subject are, for all practical purposes, useless! The reason? They are telling people how to function outside of God’s Prescribed Order, which is Christ and the Cross; they rather emphasize “the flesh,” whether they realize such or not. The path to victory is Christ and the Cross. The only path to victory is Christ and the Cross!
Posted on: Mon, 09 Sep 2013 11:45:30 +0000