But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.  Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.  (11) But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.  (12) Therefore, brethren, we are debtors – not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.  (13) For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

The letter to the Romans was written by the apostle Paul.  In our verses today Paul warns his readers to examine themselves to see if they really belong in faith to Christ. If indeed, is the qualifying phrase in verse 9 and Paul tells us the mark of the Spirit is the best way to tell if we are saved. At the moment we have faith in Christ we are transformed – justified and made right with God and indwelt by the Spirit. The believer as a new man/woman in holiness is distinguished from the world by his/her actions –  The faithful are marked by the fruits of the Holy Spirit and want to live to please God. They are separate from being in Adam. .

In faith we are no longer subject to spiritual death.  Unbelievers are hostile to God and their depraved nature in Adam is not changed. They are in the state of spiritual death and are separated from God. They are incapable of pleasing God. If they live in the flesh they will die in the flesh and will suffer eternal death and separation from God.

If we are right with God by free grace through Jesus Christ, our sins are covered. We are new men and women; the Spirit lives in us and we shall enter eternal life in Christ. Verse 1 of Chapter 8, Romans tells us there is no condemnation for those who live in Christ – that they are free from the law of sin and death. The believer still has the sinful nature despite being a new man. But we are justified in Christ and now are in the process of sanctification –  which ends with our physical deaths.  We are free in Christ to follow our now heart’s desire to please God and live holy, (separate from this world), lives.