‘But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it be that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.'

In contrast those who have the Spirit of God dwelling in them are ‘in the Spirit' and not ‘in the flesh'. They dwell and walk in the realm of the Spirit. They are upheld by the Spirit. They are illuminated by the Spirit (1 Corintios 2:9). In this is the crucial test of whether someone is a Christian. Are they indwelt by the Spirit? For Jesus came as the ‘inundator in Holy Spirit' (Mateo 3:11; 1 Corintios 12:13). Indeed if any man does not have the Spirit of Christ he is ‘none of His'. Note the change to ‘Spirit of Christ', important in context because the point is that central to being a Christian is our relationship to Christ. But the Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of God, for Christ is God. God is seen in general as represented in men's hearts by ‘the Holy Spirit'. And yet we must beware of being too dogmatic, for God is such that it is impossible for the Holy Spirit to be present without the Father and the Son. They too dwell within us (Juan 14:23). And Paul demonstrates this by immediately speaking of ‘Christ in you' (Romanos 8:10). Compare how in Juan 14:17, having promised the coming of the Holy Spirit Jesus said, ‘I will come to you'. Note that Paul is now once again addressing the Roman Christians (as representing all Christians).

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