June 11 | Romans 8:10-11

“But if Christ is in you, on the one hand the body is dead on account of sin, but on the other hand, the spirit is alive on account of righteousness. Now if the Spirit who raised Jesus out of the dead is in you, the one who raised Christ out of the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8:10–11)

Christians experience some of the strangest situations. We are dead to sin but alive in Christ. We abstain from evil and wickedness but we live in a wicked world. The paradoxes of the Christian life boggle the mind at times.

But the Holy Spirit dwelling in you creates quite the paradox. Your body is dead because of sin. You have crucified the flesh with its evil desires. This is part of being dead to sin.

But at the same time that your body suffers from the death that will surely come if Christ doesn’t return first, the Holy Spirit who dwells in you brings life. He is vital to your spirit. He brings life through holy living and blesses your spirit.

He is the Spirit of life. We often think of God’s power raising Jesus from the dead but the Holy Spirit has that power. Jesus’ resurrection is because of the Holy Spirit. He brought his life-giving power just as he did when he hovered over the waters of creation.

The Spirit has the power to raise your body when the time comes in the resurrection. You have nothing to fear from death. Live for God and live to the Spirit.

Action Step: Trust in the power of the Holy Spirit to keep making you righteous and bring life to you. Listen to him and obey him and you will have life everlasting.

Holy Spirit, thank you for the life you bring to my mortal body and my spirit. You’re making me holy like Jesus and preparing me for the resurrection of the dead. I want to hear you more and more in my life.