Romans 8:11

But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(11) And this vitality extends beyond the grave. It will even react upon that material body which had just been spoken of as given over to death. Die it must; but the same Spirit to which the soul owes its life will also reinfuse life into the dead body, just as the body of Christ of Himself was raised from the dead.

By his Spirit . . .—The balance of authority is in favour of the reading, “because of His Spirit” (as in margin); the other is an Alexandrian correction. It cannot be thought that God would leave in the grave that body in which His own Spirit has dwelt, i.e., has been with not only in close but permanent contact, though the psychological question was, of course, not present to the mind of the Apostle.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

8:10-17 If the Spirit be in us, Christ is in us. He dwells in the heart by faith. Grace in the soul is its new nature; the soul is alive to God, and has begun its holy happiness which shall endure for ever. The righteousness of Christ imputed, secures the soul, the better part, from death. From hence we see how much it is our duty to walk, not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. If any habitually live according to corrupt lustings, they will certainly perish in their sins, whatever they profess. And what can a worldly life present, worthy for a moment to be put against this noble prize of our high calling? Let us then, by the Spirit, endeavour more and more to mortify the flesh. Regeneration by the Holy Spirit brings a new and Divine life to the soul, though in a feeble state. And the sons of God have the Spirit to work in them the disposition of children; they have not the spirit of bondage, which the Old Testament church was under, through the darkness of that dispensation. The Spirit of adoption was not then plentifully poured out. Also it refers to that spirit of bondage, under which many saints were at their conversion. Many speak peace to themselves, to whom God does not speak peace. But those who are sanctified, have God's Spirit witnessing with their spirits, in and by his speaking peace to the soul. Though we may now seem to be losers for Christ, we shall not, we cannot, be losers by him in the end.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

But if the Spirit of him ... - The Holy Spirit, Romans 8:9.

He that raised up Christ ... - He that had power to restore him to life, has power to give life to you. He that did, in fact, restore him to life, will also restore you. The argument here seems to be founded, first, on the power of God; and, secondly, on the connection between Christ and his people; compare John 14:19, "Because I live, ye shall live also."

Shall also quicken - Shall make alive.

Your mortal bodies - That this does not refer to the resurrection of the dead seems to be apparent, because that is not attributed to the Holy Spirit. I understand it as referring to the body, subject to carnal desires and propensities; by nature under the reign of death, and therefore mortal; that is, subject to death. The sense is, that under the gospel, by the influence of the Spirit, the entire man will be made alive in the service of God. Even the corrupt, carnal, and mortal body, so long under the dominion of sin, shall be made alive and recovered to the service of God. This will be done by the Spirit that dwells in us, because that Spirit has restored life to our souls, abides with us with his purifying influence, and because the design and tendency of his indwelling is to purify the entire man, and restore all to God. Christians thus in their bodies and their spirits become sacred. For even their body, the seat of evil passions and desires, shall become alive in the service of God.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

11. But—"And."

if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you—that is, "If He dwell in you as the Spirit of the Christ-raising One," or, "in all the resurrection-power which He put forth in raising Jesus."

he that raised up Christ from the dead—Observe the change of name from Jesus, as the historical Individual whom God raised from the dead, to Christ, the same Individual, considered as the Lord and Head of all His members, or of redeemed Humanity [Alford].

shall also quicken—rather, "shall quicken even"

your mortal bodies by—the true reading appears to be "by reason of."

his Spirit that dwelleth in you—"Your bodies indeed are not exempt from the death which sin brought in; but your spirits even now have in them an undying life, and if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, even these bodies of yours, though they yield to the last enemy and the dust of them return to the dust as it was, shall yet experience the same resurrection as that of their living Head, in virtue of the indwelling of same Spirit in you that quickened Him."

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Him that raised up Jesus from the dead; a periphrasis of God the Father. The Son raised himself, John 2:19 10:18; and yet the Father is said here to raise him from the dead: see notes on Romans 1:4.

Quicken your mortal bodies; raise them from a state of mortality, and all the attendants, to a glorious immortal life.

By his Spirit that dwelleth in you: q.d. If you are sanctified by the Spirit, you shall be raised up by the Spirit also, as Christ was. The wicked also shall be raised at the last day. But the righteous shall be raised after a peculiar manner; they shall be raised, as by the almighty power of God, so by virtue of their union with Christ as his members, and by virtue of their relation to the Spirit as his temples. They only shall partake of a resurrection that is desirable and beneficial to them. Therefore it is called emphatically the resurrection of the just, Luke 14:14; and these two are joined together, as belonging one to the other; the children of God, and the children of the resurrection, Luke 20:36.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead,.... These words are not to be understood as they are by some, of the continued work of sanctification in the heart by the Spirit of God; for regeneration, and not sanctification, is signified by quickening, which quickening occurs when the Spirit of God first takes up his dwelling in the soul; besides, the apostle had spoke of the life of the spirit or soul before; and they are mortal bodies, and not its mortal souls, which are said to be quickened, for these cannot mean the body of sin, or the remains of corruption, as they are said to be, and which are never quickened, nor never can be. To understand the words in such a sense, is not so agreeable to the resurrection of Christ here mentioned; whereas Christ's resurrection is often used as an argument of ours, which is designed here, where the apostle argues from the one to the other. The Spirit

dwells in the saints as his temples: the Spirit that dwells in them is, "the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead"; by whom is meant God the Father, to whom the resurrection of Christ from the dead is here and elsewhere ascribed. This "periphrasis" of him is used, to express the power, justice, and grace of God in the resurrection of his Son; to show that the Spirit of God was concerned in it; and the greatness of the person of the Spirit that dwells in the saints; and what reason they have to believe the sanctification of their souls, and the redemption of their bodies, since such a divine Spirit dwells in them; wherefore,

he that raised up Christ from the dead, which is the Father,

shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you; not the souls of the saints, for these die not: but their "bodies", called "mortal", because appointed to death, are under the sentence of it, and in which it already works; "your" bodies and not others; mortal ones, and not airy, celestial, immortal ones; the very same they carry about with them here, and in which the Spirit of God had dwelt. These shall be quickened. The Jews frequently express the resurrection by , "the quickening of the dead" some distinguish (y) between "the resurrection" of the dead, which is common to the wicked, and "the quickening" of them, peculiar to the righteous: though, it is observed, this distinction does not always hold: however, this act of quickening seems here designed to express the peculiar blessing, of the saints; for though the wicked shall be raised from the dead, yet they will not rise with the saints, nor by virtue of union to Christ, nor to an eternal life of joy and happiness; in this sense the saints only will be quickened, "by the Spirit"; not as an instrument, but as a coefficient cause with the Father and Son: or "because of the Spirit that dwelleth in you", the bodies of the saints are the temples of the Holy Ghost, they are sanctified by him, where he continues to dwell by virtue of union to Christ, and in consequence of it will quicken them at the last day; so the Jews say, that the Holy Ghost brings to the resurrection of the dead (z).

(y) Vid. Buxtorf. Lexic. Rabbinic. p. 745, 746. (z) Misn. Sota, c. 9. sect. 15.

Geneva Study Bible

{13} But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that {o} dwelleth in you.

(13) A confirmation of the former sentence. You have the very same Spirit which Christ has: therefore at length he will do the same in you, that he did in Christ, that is, when all infirmities being utterly laid aside, and death overcome, he will clothe you with heavenly glory.

(o) By the strength and power of him, who showed the same might first in our head, and daily works in his members.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Romans 8:11. According to Romans 8:10, there was still left one power of death, that over the body. Paul now disposes of this also, and hence takes up again, not indeed what had just been inferred (Hofmann, in accordance with his view of τὸ πνεῦμα, Romans 8:10), but the idea conditioning it, εἰ δὲ Χ. ἐν ὑμ.; not, however, in this form, but, as required by the tenor of what he intends to couple with it, in the form: εἰ δὲ τ. πν. τοῦ ἐγειρ. Ἰ. ἐκ νεκρ. οἰκεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν. In substance the two are identical, since the indwelling of the Divine Spirit in us is the spiritual indwelling of Christ Himself in us. See on Romans 8:9.

The δέ, therefore, simply carries on the argument, namely, from the spirit which is ζωή (Romans 8:10), to the quickening that is certain even in the case of the mortal body (for observe the position of the καί). The apostle’s inference is: “The Spirit who dwelleth in you is the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus; consequently God will also, with respect to your bodies, as dwelling-places of His Spirit, do the same as He has done in the case of Christ.” The self-evident presupposition in this inference is, that the Spirit of God dwelt in Jesus during His earthly career (Luke 4:1; Luke 4:14; Luke 4:18; Acts 1:2; John 3:34; John 20:22).

ζωοποιήσει] Not ἐγερεῖ, but the correlate of ζωή, Romans 8:10 (comp. Romans 8:6), and counterpart of νεκρόν and θνητά, is purposely selected. Comp. 1 Corinthians 15:22.

θνητά] What he had previously expressed proleptically by νεκρόν, he here describes according to the reality of the present by θνητά. Observe, moreover, that Paul leaves out of view the fate of those still living at the Parousia. Their change is not included in the expression ζωοποιήσει (Hofmann),—a view which neither the sense of the word (comp. Romans 4:17; 1 Corinthians 15:22; 1 Corinthians 15:36; 1 Peter 3:18; John 5:21) nor the correlation with ἐγείρας permits. But to the readers’ consciousness of faith it was self-evident from the analogy of what is here said to them with reference to the case of their being already dead at the Parousia; 1 Corinthians 15:51; 2 Corinthians 5:2-4; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17.

On the interchange of Ἰησοῦν and τὸν Χριστόν Bengel rightly remarks: “Appellatio Jesu spectat ad ipsum; Christi refertur ad nos;” for Jesus as Christ is destined to be the archetype for believers even in an eschatological respect.

διὰ τὸ ἐνοικοῦν κ.τ.λ.] on account of His Spirit that dwelleth in you. Observe the emphatic prefixing of the αὐτοῦ relating to God. How could God, the Raiser up of Christ, who was the possessor of His Spirit, leave the bodies of believers, which are the dwelling-places of the same Spirit, without quickening? The more characteristic ἐνοικοῦν (previously it was only οἰκεῖ) is a climax to the representation.

Köllner’s explanation may serve to exemplify the conception of our passage in an ethical sense (Erasmus, Calvin, and many others): “So will He who raised up Jesus from the dead bring to life also your bodies that are still subject to death (sin and misery), that is, ennoble also your sensuous nature and so perfect you entirely.” But even apart from this arbitrary interpretation given to the simple θνητά (which ought rather with van Hengel to be interpreted: “quamquam mortalia ideoque minoris numeri sunt”), how diffuse and verbose would be the whole mode of expressing the simple thought! How utterly out of place this dualism, of the representation, as if the divine work of the moral revivification of the body were something independent, alongside of and subsequent to that of the spirit! See, moreover, generally on Romans 8:10, and the appropriate remarks of Reiche, Commentar crit. I. p. 62 ff. Lastly, according to de Wette’s combination of the two senses—the moral and the physical—the thought is: “This death-overcoming Spirit of God shall destroy more and more the principle of sin and death in your bodies, and instead of it introduce the principle of the life-bringing Spirit into your whole personality, even into the body itself,”—a thought which opens up the prospect of the future resurrection or change of the body. But the resurrection will be participated in by all believers at once, independently of the development noticed in our passage, by which their bodies would have first to be made ripe for it; and even the change of the living at the Parousia is, according to 1 Corinthians 15:51 ff., not a process developed from within outwardly, but a result produced in a twinkling from without (at the sound of the last trumpet),—a result, which cannot be the final consequence of the gradual inward destruction of the principle of sin and death, because in that case all could not participate in it simultaneously, which nevertheless is the case, according to 1 Corinthians 15:51. Notwithstanding, this view, which combines the spiritual and bodily process of glorification, has been again brought forward by Philippi, according to whom what is here meant is the progressive merging of death into life, which can only be accomplished by the progressive merging of sin into the righteousness of life, and of the σῶμα into the ΠΝΕῦΜΑ (?). The simple explanation of the resurrection of the body is rightly retained by Tholuck, Umbreit, Hofmann, Weiss, and others: whilst Ewald contents himself with the indeterminate double sense of eternal life beginning in the mortal body.

Expositor's Greek Testament

Romans 8:11. But though the present results of the indwelling of the spirit are not all we might desire, the future is sure. The indwelling spirit is that of Him who raised Jesus from the dead, and as such it is the guarantee that our mortal bodies also (as well as our spirits) shall share in immortality. The same argument, in effect, is used in Ephesians 1:18-20. “The power that worketh in us” is the same with which “God wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places”; and it will work to the same issue in us as in Him. The reading in the last clause is very doubtful, but whether we take the accus. (according to which the indwelling of the spirit is the ground on which God raises our mortal bodies to undying life) or the genit. (according to which the spirit is itself the agent in this resurrection—a conception not found elsewhere in Scripture), in either case a share in the Christian resurrection is conditioned by the possession of the Spirit of Christ. It is clear from the alternation of πνεῦμα θεοῦ and πνεῦμα χριστοῦ in Romans 8:9 that the Spirit of Christ is the same as the Spirit of God, and the use of χριστὸς alone in the next verse shows that this same spirit is the alter ego of Christ. Cf. Php 1:19; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 3:17. This is one of the passages in which the presuppositions of the Trinitarian conception of God come out most clearly.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

11. But] Here the fact of the death-state of the body is met and qualified by the prospect of life for it also.

the Spirit of him that raised, &c.] i.e. of the Father; so described here because of the following statement. See Romans 6:4, and cp. Hebrews 13:20.—Here again the indwelling of the Spirit is practically identical with the indwelling of Christ in Romans 8:10.—“Jesus” and “Christ” are not mere synonyms here: Jesus is the Risen One as to Himself; Christ the Risen One as the Head of His people. So Bengel.

quicken] make alive. Though the word “raise” is not used, the reference is to the resurrection-day. Cp. 1 Corinthians 15:22. The word is no doubt chosen to include the case of those who shall “remain to the coming.”

your mortal bodies] The Religion of Scripture alone of religions (excepting Mahometanism, whose element of truth is all borrowed from it) promises immortal bliss to the body.

by his Spirit] Lit., and far better, on account of His Spirit. The body is the Spirit’s “temple” now, (1 Corinthians 6:19,) and as such it is for ever “precious in the sight of the Lord.” Our Lord indicates this same deep connexion between the soul’s intercourse with God now and the body’s glory hereafter, Matthew 22:31-32.

Bengel's Gnomen

Romans 8:11. Ἰησοῦν, Jesus) Afterwards in Apodosis, Christ. The name Jesus has respect to Himself; the name Christ has reference to us. The former appellation, as a proper name, belongs to the person; the latter, as an appellative, belongs to the office.—ζωοποιήσει, shall quicken [make alive]) comp. life, Romans 8:6. This life knows no condemnation, Romans 8:1.—διὰ on account of [or by means of]) 2 Corinthians 1:22. He is one and the same Spirit, who is the Spirit of Christ, and who is in believers; therefore as Christ lives, so believers shall live: See Appendix. Crit. Ed. ii: on this passage.[90]

[90] ABC and acc. to Dial. c. Maeed. “Several old MSS.,” Memph. and later Syr. Versions read διὰ τοῦ ἐνοικοῦντος—πνεύματος. But D(A)Gfg Vulg. Syr. Theb. Versions, Orig. 2, 534a, and 3, 618c, 812d, Iren. 304, Hil. 803, read δια τὸ ἐνοικοῦν—πνεῦμα. With the accus. the meaning will be on account of the Spirit, etc. with the genit. by or through. Beng. translates it ‘propter.’—ED.

Romans 8:11