And if the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you. (Rom. 8:11)
You might know that Romans shows us the path to our salvation, but chapter 8 unlocks much more than a judicial process. It links us to a relationship with an active, experiential Person — not just a “He,” but a “He who”: Someone who is, who does, who is a living and breathing and acting Person.
But who is He to you? As believers, we are not short of a doctrinal understanding of our faith, but when we face our day-to-day challenges and relationships, we falter. What does the Lord — some distant, great, larger-than-life figure — have to do with our daily struggles or the practical needs of our life? Somehow, while we know many things objectively about the Lord, we are lacking the subjective experiences of the Person of our faith. We are missing those “He who” moments that make Him subjective and real to us. They are the moments where this Person behind all of the accomplishment, faith, power, and truth is realized in us. They are the encounters with the One who is active, operating, and working all throughout chapter 8 of Romans — the One who raised Christ from the dead and who gives life to our mortal bodies, who is so intimate that His Spirit indwells us!
But if you never experience Him, He will only be doctrine to you. The Bible will remain the Bible, and you will remain you. Who can set us free from our religious effort and logic? Only this very One whose Spirit indwells us, living in us moment by moment — “He who” is active inside of us, searching, interceding, touching, convicting (vv. 27, 32, 34), “He who” awakens us, revives us, and gives us that victorious condition within. When we meet Him in this way, we have all. We are, by nature, “heirs and sons of God” who have, own, and operate all that He is (vv. 14, 19, 23)!
(Above are notes of fellowship taken from a gathering on 6/2/2024, not reviewed by the speaker.)