We are given insight into the mind of Christ when Saint Paul shares even more truth about the difference between living by trying to keep the Law and living by God’s Grace in Romans 8.9-11:  You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. Here is a very clear reminder of who’s we are to be in life. With the Holy Spirit living in us we belong to our Father God.

The opposite is also very clear:  And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. To not have the Holy Spirit living within as the central focal point of how we are to live it is truly impossible to belong to anyone other than self and Satan. The Spirit is given through the sacrament of Holy Baptism, but will never come into power within a life without faith in exactly who God is to that one.

If the Holy Spirit has come into power within an individual—and it must be through the decision and action of an individual, then there is a divine separation between what is alive and what is dead:  But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. Because the body is of the earth—flesh—it dies, and that is why we must stand for our healing each and every day.

The physical body can be redeemed, and then can be a strong part of living the life of faith:  And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. The physical body will never enter heaven, but it can lead to insight into God’s presence as we remain Christ’s own in this time.