Devotion #1: The Test
“You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” Romans 8:9-11
When was the last time you took a test? When I think of a test, I think of grabbing my #2 pencil, being handed that green ink Scantron, and trying to fill in the right bubble, knowing that I only crammed last night at the last second. My wife, on the other hand, approached her test much differently. She would be prepared. It would not have been a last-second study, but a planned-out week to make sure she would pass the test. I will let you figure out which one of us was the valedictorian and who finished in the middle of their class.
In Romans 8:9-11, we are given a test. The question is, “Are you a true believer?” Maybe you have asked the question, “How do I know if I am really saved?” This passage gives great clarity to those questions. First, verse 9 says, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.”
Here we have this wonderful truth. If we are saved, we have the Holy Spirit of God living in us. If you hear someone say that you need to do something extra to receive the Spirit of God, you can rest on the clear teaching here that once we are saved, we receive the Holy Spirit. Roman 8:16 says, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”
The verse goes on to shed light on what it practically looks like for someone to have the Holy Spirit. Verses 9-10 record, “Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”
Having the Holy Spirit in us looks like Christ. Kent Hughes says it this way, “It gives us a new sense of life. Through the Spirit we experience something of Jesus’ disposition - his kindness, his gentle care, his love in our lives.” What a difference the Holy Spirit makes in our lives! Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:6, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
Paul gives this very same truth in 2 Corinthians 13:5. He says, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? - unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”
The test is whether or not we know Christ as our Savior. The answer is if we have the Holy Spirit. How do I know I have the Holy Spirit? Do we live a life through the Spirit that looks, acts, and loves like Jesus? The Holy Spirit is what gives us the strength to live a life that obeys Him and follows His example. Let us walk in the Spirit of Christ today. (For further reading on how to follow Jesus’ example, I would suggest Colossians chapter 3.)