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9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Amplified But you are not living the life of the flesh, you are living the life of the Spirit, if the [Holy] Spirit of God [really] dwells within you [directs and controls you].
Barclay: but you are not dominated by the pursuits which fascinate our sinful human nature;
Wuest: But, as for you, you are not in the sphere of the sinful nature but in the sphere of the Spirit,
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WE THE BORN AGAIN ONES ARE NOT AND NEVER WILL BE IN THE FLESH
At the moment of conversion, we were baptized by the Holy Spirit into Christ. We were taken out of the sphere of the flesh and placed into the sphere of the Spirit.
Therefore, this verse confirms that a person cannot continually live and walk in the flesh and claim that Jesus lives in Him. It is impossible.
It is possible to get in the flesh, to act carnal, for a short time or even for a season. But as long as Christ lives within us, though we attempt to live by the flesh, the Spirit of God will resist us doing it with great misery. If there is no conviction and misery after sin, then God is absent in the soul, salvation is not there.
If a person does not desire to please God but willfully live pleasing himself, he does not possess the life of the Spirit.
"in the flesh" marks a person whose whole life is centered to connect and gain all the life it can from earth; money, pleasure, etc.
A person having Christ in his life sometimes gives in to the flesh, but conviction strikes him, making him aware of corrupting his soul and prompting him heavily to admit his wrong and turn back to Him.
Let me interject a thought here that is a little different but necessary to further understand sanctification.
IN CHRIST
When we are born again, we are placed "in Christ." That term implies eternal security, payment of sin satisfied with God, adopted into the family of God, placed into the atmosphere of Christ.
CHRIST IN YOU
Then we have "Christ in you", "the Spirit of Christ in you." We are in Christ, but Christ is in us.
That term implies something deeper: In Christ implies safety and eternal security, belonging to the family of God. Christ in you is a process of Christ in us, seeking to permeate every part of our life to conform us into His image.
This is called sanctification.
Sanctification is simply changing us to become like the Father, the Son, the Spirit. It is a life long process of revealing Christ in us and to us for the purpose of showing us what needs to be changed, the "how to" to do it, and the way to do it.
But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
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Wuest: But, as for you, you are not in the sphere of the sinful nature but in the sphere of the Spirit,
You are in the Spirit! That is the sphere we are in. It has boundaries keeping you in and Sin from returning to get in and rule your life again. He cannot retake the throne. Neither can you go back to Sin. You can never go back to its world and live how you lived. Neither can you lose your salvation.
John Piper calls this "being in the sway [current] of the Spirit."
We are under influence. But we need the Spirit in us to reveal Christ and His Word to us.
You cannot see nor feel at times, but the fact is unchangeable. The Spirit of Christ is always in you. You belong to Him. He can only do good to help you.
He is your home. He is in your home. You are in His home. He is your interior decorator.
No matter what you do, you display what is in your home.
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