Romans 8:9-11
"But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your moral bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you."
Here's the crux of our salvation. It cannot be clearer than this. Salvation is given according to the Spirit's touch. When the Spirit of the crucified Christ comes to dwell within the life of the believer, we are made alive, no longer dead in our sins and trespasses against God. The person who does not have the Spirit in them is not of God and is dead spiritually, even though alive in this body.
One of the reasons the Bible puts so much emphasis on the Spirit is that it is only the Spirit which marks the life of the believer as one belonging to God. No other sign will do.
No effort or work on our part brings our salvation. Our salvation is not a matter of the right church, or worship in the right place, or coming to the right priest. It is only by the indwelling Spirit of Christ in us, driving out all unrighteousness and transforming us in the power of God.
Notice that this passage clearly states that the Spirit which dwells in every believer is the Spirit of the resurrected Christ. While Jesus no longer walks in flesh upon this earth, he is with the life of every believer. We are never alone. God is there as Spirit.
LORD JESUS
Lord, I thank you for indwelling Spirit, living in me and inviting me to know you more fully each day. Amen.
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