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5-8 The carnal attitude sees no further than natural things. But the spiritual attitude reaches out after the things of the spirit. The former attitude means, bluntly, death: the latter means life and inward peace. And this is only to be expected, for the carnal attitude is inevitably opposed to the purpose of God, and neither can nor will follow his laws for living. Men who hold this attitude cannot possibly please God.

What the presence of Christ within means

9-11 But you are not carnal but spiritual if the Spirit of God finds a home within you. You cannot, indeed, be a Christian at all unless you have something of his Spirit in you. Now if Christ does live within you his presence means that your sinful nature is dead, but your spirit becomes alive because of the righteousness he brings with him. I said that our nature is “dead” in the presence of Christ, and so it is, because of its sin. Nevertheless once the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives within you he will, by that same Spirit, bring to your whole being new strength and vitality.

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Those who are in the realm of the flesh(A) cannot please God.

You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh(B) but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.(C) And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ,(D) they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you,(E) then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life[a] because of righteousness.

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 8:10 Or you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive