Romans 8 - Steve Wiggins Daily Devotional

“Now, if Messiah is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Ruach (Spirit) is life because of righteousness. And if the Ruach of Him who raised Yeshua from the dead lives in you, then He who raised Messiah from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through His Ruach who lives in you.” Romans 8:10-11

This passage is often thought to mean only that when a follower of Yeshua dies, they will be raised to live in Heaven. While the promise of resurrection with Messiah is true for all believers, this passage has more immediate implications.

What Paul is also saying is that there is a war between your flesh and your will. As far as your flesh is concerned, it’s a lost cause. Your flesh is corrupted. Eventually all flesh will expire, i.e., we will all physically die. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, as they say.

But, spiritually speaking, we were also all “dead” (along with our flesh). That is, we were spiritually dead before we came to know Yeshua in a saving way. When we received Yeshua, we received His Ruach (Spirit). G_d’s Ruach gives “new life” to our old “dead” (bound for judgement) souls.

Have you ever considered how Adam was created? G_d breathed life into a handful of dust. Apart from the life that G_d imparts, we’re just a handful of dust!

Think about it: When God fills the new believer with His Ruach, He is, in essence, re-enacting creation. Perhaps, that is why the Bible calls believers “an altogether new creation”. 2 Corinthians 5:17 He brings “new life” into our corrupted mortal bodies!

When we submit to the Ruach’s leading, our bodies become vessels of righteousness, whereas they used to vessels of death.

Martyr Jim Elliott said, “The soul is a vacuum that longs to be filled. It cares not with which it fills itself. It simply longs to be full.”

The Ruach, living inside a believer, does not make flesh incorruptible. Our bodies will all expire. But, the Ruach, living inside an obedient believer, enables that believer to control the corrupted flesh to do its will. Instead of us being slaves to our flesh, our flesh becomes subject to G_d’s Ruach.

If you have committed to follow Messiah Yeshua, He has given you His Ruach and it dwells inside of you. If you heed Ruach’s guidance, you will experience “newness of life” to the fullest!

Blessings,
~Steve Wiggins, Associate Leader, Worship Leader
Shuvah Yisrael
Daily Devotional, Thursday, August 22, 2013