Romanos 8:10

‘And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.'

Quite easily Paul can slip from having the Holy Spirit in us, to having Christ in us, thus illustrating Their total equality. It is because Christ is in us that the body is dead because of sin, for it is due to our having been crucified with Christ. However, some see this as indicating ‘the body is subject to death because of sin'. Both are, of course, true. If we take the first the verse is linking up with the fact that we died with Him and rose with Him (Romanos 6:1). If we take the second then Paul is indicating that we are still subject to death because of sin dwelling in us, but are certain of resurrection because we have life through the Spirit. So in our oneness with Him we have died with Him, and we live in Him. And it is because of His righteousness applied to us that we enjoy the Spirit of life. For this was the purpose of His coming, to give us life (a theme of Chapter s 5-8), and we learn now that this is through the Spirit.

Translations are divided on whether to translate as ‘spirit' or Spirit. But in a context so rich with the work of the Spirit a capital S would seem appropriate, especially as we immediately learn that it is the Spirit Who gives life (Romanos 8:11, compare Romanos 8:2). It makes little difference. The Spirit works by making alive our spirits, which had been previously dead.