46. Quicken the body
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.
The Holy Spirit will give life to your mortal bodies. “Mortal” means, “going to die.” This body we live in is going to die; everyone knows that. We believe that, though we will surely die, we will not die but live. God raised up Jesus from the dead; that same life-giving Spirit dwells in you, and that Spirit will do the same things for you, raise you up, give life to your dying body. The hope and promise of the resurrection of the body to a new life that doesn’t die is the bedrock of our faith and life. That resurrection is in the future, and that future hope fills our present life with peace and joy and the desire to do good works. Death cannot separate us from the life and the love of God; therefore nothing can. We have life and we will always have it. It means that the body that dies must rise again.
Two predicates describe the Holy Spirit: 1) He raised up Christ from the dead, and 2) He dwells in you. Life giving, resurrection power lives within us. What awesome, explosive power resides within! This life giving power has two implications: 1) HS within is giving life to our soul and body on a daily basis; HS is in the continual mode of changing lives; 2) we human beings give that life-giving power to other people; we do this (HS does it through us) by blessing others and making them feel better, even if it means sacrificing something of ourselves for their sake. Not only does the indwelling Spirit give life to our bodies, but He also gives to others through us. It is an amazing privilege that God would use us to give life to people.
We have no problem believing in the power of the Holy Spirit within to quicken, because we have no problem believing in the bodily quickening of Jesus. The sinless Jesus of Nazareth was able to die from sin because He took our sins upon Himself. But He is risen, and because He lives we shall live also. The Spirit is continually moving us and prompting us by giving life. He gives life through the hearing of the Gospel; when we hear the Gospel the Spirit is giving life.