“You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.  If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

How does someone know she is saved? What kind of assurance do we have that we are bound for God’s kingdom when this life ends and the next one begins? That is a very important question, and one whose answer has variously troubled or even eluded not a few people over the centuries. The promises of Christ and from the various New Testament authors are pretty amazing. They are definitely something we want access to if we can get it. So, again, how do we know we have it? Paul offers us an important piece of the puzzle here as he continues to unpack the new life available to followers of Jesus.

On our last stop in Romans this past Thursday, we saw Paul laying out some of the differences between those who are following Jesus and those who aren’t. The difference is stark and profound, at least on the inside. Followers of Jesus are thinking in a way that ultimately leads to life. Those who aren’t following Him or who have rejected Him are thinking in a way that ultimately leads to death. One path remains connected to the God who is the source of all life; one remains separated from Him.

While both paths are followed in this life, they gain the basic benefits of living in a world that God sustains for all people. Theologians sometimes call this common grace – God’s grace that is available to everyone simply by virtue of being alive. There is a day coming, though, when the paths will finally and obviously diverge. One will lead those on it to His eternal kingdom where life is the law. The other will lead to an enacted separation – the very separation they have chosen in spite of all God’s efforts to woo them away from such a terrible choice – that will be permanent.

The real kicker here, though, is that folks who are currently walking that path away from God’s kingdom don’t have the mental capacity to understand life on the path toward it. They don’t understand it, and on their own, they don’t want it. As Paul put it, “the mindset of the flesh is hostile to God.” They need God’s help to even want to follow Him in the first place – a help He readily gives.

Once someone has received that help (which is most often delivered through the church in some form or fashion; at the very least, it directs them toward the church), though, how can they be sure they are walking on the right path. How can they be sure they are “saved,” to use the language the church has used for centuries?

Paul gives us a clue here in v. 9. “You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit…” This is simply a statement of their location. To put that another way, “You are in Christ.” You are saved. The people to whom Paul is directing these words are following Jesus. Of this Paul is confident. He is confident enough to tell them that’s what they are doing. At least, he tells them that’s what they are doing with one small caveat: “…if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.” He goes on immediately after this to explain what he means. “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him.”

So, what does Paul mean here? When someone places their trust in Jesus, He receives the gift of their lives and makes them His. Speaking of those who are following Him, Jesus said this in John 10: “My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

In another place (also in John’s Gospel), Jesus said this: “If anyone loves me [and in the first century mindset this love was not a primarily an emotional attachment to a person, but rather a volitional choice of them over and against all the other available options], he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

The point of this little rabbit trail is that Jesus was clear that those who follow Him belong to Him. And you might be thinking in response, “But I belong to myself.” No, that was never an option. The alternative is belonging to the world and being controlled by the sin that corrupts your heart. We weren’t made to belong to ourselves. When we place our faith in Jesus, because of what He did on the cross, our ownership transfers from anything in the world to Him.

When we belong to Jesus, just like He said, He makes His home in us. This happens through the third person of the Trinity: the Holy Spirit. The presence of the Holy Spirit in us is proof that we belong to God in Christ.

Okay, but how do we know that we have the Holy Spirit in us? I mean, that seems like a pretty subjective determination. Well, yes and no. There are actually several ways to know that we have the Spirit in us. The internal evidence that Paul talks about here and through this chapter is important, but it isn’t our only option.

Another way to know we have the Spirit is through our confession of Jesus Christ as Lord. As we just looked at, Jesus Himself said that when we give our lives to Him, He takes up residence in us. And again, as we just said, that residency happens through the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. If you have genuinely confessed Jesus as Lord, you have the Spirit in you. No less an authority than Jesus gave you that piece of evidence.

We also have what Paul talked about in the last section giving us another bit of evidence. If you are thinking in ways that are consistent with the Scriptures, that is with the righteous path God lays out for His followers in the Scriptures, then you have the Spirit in you. You wouldn’t do that unless He was. Apart from Christ and the accompanying presence of the Spirit, your mind wouldn’t work like that.

Another pointer in this direction is your connection with the body of Christ. The person who has the Spirit is therefore a part of Christ’s body. After all, He is dwelling in them. Well, if you are part of Christ’s body, you are naturally going to be connected to a physical manifestation of His body – that is, to a church. Someone who doesn’t have the Spirit isn’t going to demonstrate any real interest in being a part of the body of Christ. The person who claims, “I’m following Jesus, but I don’t need His body,” doesn’t understand what he’s saying, and isn’t really following Jesus. He’s following his own idea of Jesus, not the Jesus actually revealed in the pages of the New Testament. The person with the Spirit in them, however, is going to be drawn irresistibly toward His body, to be a connected, active, vital member of it through a specific local church congregation.

One last piece of evidence here is a changed life. This is the external evidence that backs up an internal feeling. In his letter to the Galatian believers, Paul said that one of the ways we can know the Spirit is in someone is because her life is displaying the fruit of the Spirit’s presence. This fruit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. When your life exhibits those things in increasing amounts, that’s because you have God’ Spirit in you. The person who does not have the Spirit does not demonstrate such characteristics on a consistent, increasing basis. Yes, they may occasionally manifest themselves in bits and bursts because we are all made in God’s image, but there won’t be any kind of a consistent pattern of such behavior without the Spirit’s active presence.

If indeed the Spirit of God lives in you, then you are no longer of the flesh. These are all ways you can know you have the Spirit in you. So then, take stock of your life today. Are you following Jesus? Do you have the Spirit in you? Are any (or all) of these pieces of evidence manifested in your life? Ask a friend who knows you well, perhaps a fellow member of your church family. If you don’t have one, that’s a clue. If someone quickly came to mind when I suggested that, that’s a clue as well. Jesus wants you to live with confidence in Him. So, do the work to have that confidence. You’ll be glad you did.