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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
andour RESURRECTION LIFE
in the life and thought o f those disciples was that their beloved Lord was alive, glorified, at the right hand of God. The more they were filled with the Holy Spirit, the more the personal presence of Christ was vividly real to them. T h e M essage of R o m a n s 8:11 One of the clearest and greatest statements o f the present resurrection life and the way it is accomplished is found in Romans 8:11: “ But if the Spirit o f him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall give life also to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” Many earnest Christians have been deceived, and many
sin, and we are in capab le o f righ t eousness, y e t the spirit is life because of the righteousness Christ has brought. Because “ the body is dead,” we are in capable o f v ic to r y over s in . T h e n comes the glorious “ But” of Romans 8:11. G od g iv e s spiritual life to these “ dead bodies,” here called “ mortal Courtesy, Sunset
others deeply troubled, by interpret ing this verse as referring to “ divine healing,” the “ quickening” of the body. A most consecrated Christian worker who took this view was af flicted with an advanced case o f ar thritis. She came to a place o f de spair because her body was not quickened, and because, to her, the natural inference was that the Holy Spirit did not live in her. It is cer tainly true that when the Holy Spirit is controlling a life, the physical health is affected, for spirit, soul, and body are vitally joined. But Paul is not speaking here, or in any place in Romans, about physical healing. A large number o f gifted and honored interpreters apply this verse to the future bodily resurrec tion. Future resurrection is the completion of our redemption, and the climax o f it. Thus the truth o f this resurrection cannot be ex cluded altogether from the verse. But Paul is not speaking o f future
bodies,” through His Holy Spirit’s dwelling within us. If this verse re ferred to the future resurrection o f the body, it would be difficult to un derstand the reference to the Holy Spirit’s dwelling in us. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, and all the other qualities that are in the Lord Jesus. The Holy Spirit takes o f the things of Christ and makes them real in and through us. The law could not make alive. Therefore we have no power to keep the law just by being told what it is our duty to do. But the Holy Spirit does make alive. This is present res urrection life. *It is a foretaste of the glorious life o f liberty when, in our resurrection bodies, we shall be completely controlled by the Holy Spirit. It was sin that led to the physical corruption and death o f the body, as well as to the inability to do righteousness. Since our redemp tion is not complete, we are not yet sinless. But we have been delivered forever from the guilt and penalty
Paster Triumph By J. Harold Casto, Yunnan, West China—a graduate of the Bible Institute of the class of 1912. Beholdl o'er dark Judean hills there beams The brilliant herald of a new-born day, The morning star of life and hope and joy. And in the dimness of that Eastern morn There draws in view a stricken company, A group of faithful broken-hearted friends. But through their tear-dimmed eyes they see it not, The herald of the triumph of their Lord. But brighter, clearer, swiftly draws the day Till lo! the veil of gloom and darkness rends; And there before their awe-struck wond'ring gaze There gapes a riven tomb; aside, the stone, The broken seal, the watch so impotent; Within, the folded vestures of the dead. Then hark! an angel voice speaks clear and true, "Not here is He, but risen is your Lord." The dismal grave can boast no victory, And dreaded death no more can thrust its sting, For Christ is ris'n triumphant from the grave;
He conquered death and hell eternally. "The firstfruits of the holy harvest-field" Is Christ our Resurrection and our Life. Then lift your voice in happy Easter song, The Hallelujah hymn of victory!
o f sin, and the power of sin has been broken. W e are born o f the Spirit, and the Holy Spirit living in us is the power for spiritual living. W h y a r e C h r is t ia n s D e f e a t e d ? If this power is a reality, the question arises as to why Christians are in defeat. Why do Christians worry? Why do they not have the peace that passes understanding? The answer is that we have a responsibility toward these glorious objective truths. It is possible for a Christian to walk after the flesh. But Paul’s letters are full o f exhor tations as to our responsibility to walk after the Spirit. What does this obligation mean practically ? The message on resurrection life in Romans 6, 7, and 8 makes clear that there are two things for us to do. First, we are to reckon on the fact that we have been separated [Continued on page 118]
bodily resurrection. He is speaking o f present living, and o f God’s plan for having the life lived in the power o f the Holy Spirit. The words that follow the verse indicate this fact: “ So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh” (Rom. 8 :12). The primary message in Romans 8:11, therefore, is the message of present resurrection life. When Paul says that “ the body is dead” (Rom . 8 :10 ), he means not only that the physical body is subject to future death, but that the body is incapable of righteousness. This expression is parallel with the word in Romans 7 :24, R .V .: “ Who shall deliver me out of the body o f this death,” or “ this body of death.” Another parallel expression is “ the body of sin” in Romans 6 :6, referring not to sin as a totality, but referring to this human body as the seat of sin, or controlled by sin. The sense o f Romans 8:10 would then be that since Christ is living in us, although the body is dead because of
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