Is
Romans 8:9 the Acid Test for Status before God?
We are all familiar with
Romans 8:9
9 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.
My argument is that we use it wrongly, placed in context; it should not be used in the context of determining if someone is right with God or justification. But rather should be used rightly for the argument of sanctification.
Romans 1-8 has 3 main divisions, it reveals what Paul preached regarding the Gospel and Salvation.
• The need for salvation (the wrath of God and the sinfulness of man)
• The Beginning of Salvation (justification)
• The Continuation of Salvation (sanctification)
Therefore
Romans 8:9 falls into the sanctification division.
It is not a reference to a believer’s status before God, but a reference to the state in God.
His argument in
Romans 7-8, is that a believer has a choice that non-believers don’t, to live in the flesh and walk in the Spirit.
Because this was his thesis in these 2 chapters, he slips in a scripture that took for granted that all believers would have the Spirit.
Again, that is the norm for initiation (all Believers should have the Spirit) but if we are to be true to context,
Romans 8:9 has little to do with initial salvation, but deals with sanctification.
In other words, you may have believed in Jesus, but without the power of the Spirit, you will live a defeated life and really won’t belong to him.
Also the Greek in the scripture speaks of continuity or present reality.