8:5 Here Paul began to elaborate the difference between "flesh"and "Spirit."This distinction is difficult to grasp because both terms have more than one meaning. To "walkaccording to the flesh"(v. 4) means to carry out in conduct what the human nature desires. To "beaccording to the flesh"(v. 5) means to allow the human nature to dominate one's life. To "bein the flesh"(v. 8) is to be unregenerate, to be devoid of the Spirit.
The "Spirit"seems from the context to refer to the Holy Spirit rather than to the regenerated spirit of man. Those who prefer the second view tend to describe man as having two natures, an old sinful one and a new one that would be the same as this regenerated human spirit (cf. Gal. 5:16-17). In favor of the former view, the chapter began with a clear reference to the Holy Spirit (v. 2). Other following references to "spirit"(Gr. pneuma) would therefore normally be to the same Spirit. Furthermore, it is reasonable that in identifying the basis for Christian victory Paul would point to the ultimate source, the Holy Spirit, rather than to a secondary agent, our human spirit.
8:6 A mind set on following the flesh concentrates on and desires the things of the flesh (cf. Phil. 2:5; Col. 3:2). The end of that attitude is ultimately death. However a mind set on yielding to the Spirit will experience life and peace. Peace with God (reconciliation) seems to be in view here. Still whenever there is peace with God, peace with other people normally follows.
8:7-8 A mind set on the flesh is essentially hostile toward God. To set one's mind on the flesh is contrary to God's law.
From the end of verse 7 it seems clear that Paul was thinking of an unsaved person (cf. vv. 8-9). Evidently he wanted "to expose the flesh in its stark reality as being totally alien to God and his purpose."248What interests a person reveals his or her essential being. It is possible to walk according to the flesh (vv. 4-5) and not to be in the flesh, however. In other words, it is possible to live as an unregenerate person even though one has experienced regeneration.
8:9 "However"marks a contrast. Paul's readers were not those who only had a sinful human nature. They also had the indwelling Holy Spirit. We could translate the first "if"as "since"(first class condition in Greek) because here it represents a condition that Paul assumed was true to reality. Everyone who trusts in Jesus Christ in the age in which we live possesses the indwelling Holy Spirit (cf. Eph. 1:13; 1 Cor. 12:13).
"Here the great mark of a true Christian is, that the Spirit of God dwells in him."249
This is one of the clearest statements in Scripture that corrects the false notion that baptism with the Spirit is a second work of grace for the Christian.
"Nowhere in Scripture do we find a clearer indication that the Spirit enters a person's life at the moment of conversion (cf. also 1 Cor 12:13). If the Spirit needed to wait for some subsequent commitment to holiness, it follows that he would be absent between conversion and that later point in time. But that cannot be because Paul clearly indicated that a person without the Spirit does not belong to Christ."250
8:10 Note the close affinity between the Spirit and the Son in this verse and the last. "If"is again "since."The Spirit's indwelling means that God indwells (cf. Eph. 3:16-17).
"Spirit"in this verse also probably refers to the Holy Spirit. The context favors this interpretation as does the sense of the verse. "Alive"is literally "life"(cf. v. 2). The meaning of the clause seems to be this. The Holy Spirit is the source of spiritual life for the redeemed person who now possesses Jesus Christ's imputed righteousness.
". . . whenever you see a Christian living the Christian life, you are witnessing a resurrection miracle!"251
The "body"represents the whole person, not just his or her physical shell. This was Paul's normal meaning when he used this word.252
8:11 The Spirit in view is again God's Spirit. The point is that the same Holy Spirit who raised Jesus will also raise believers.
"The Spirit is both the instrumental cause of the resurrection-act and the permanent substratum of the resurrection-life."253
This verse constitutes a powerful argument for the physical resurrection of believers.
