So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (9) 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. (10) And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. (11) But if the Spirit of Him 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.

The letter to the Romans was written by the apostle Paul to the Christians in Rome. In the verses we study today the theme is the secure salvation of believers and all of chapter 8 is a series of arguments in support of the unmerited and unchanging love of God in Jesus Christ. Those whose minds are hostile toward God – which man is in his natural state – cannot please God and they have no grace. The natural consequence of this enmity is spiritual death while spiritual awakening is life and peace. In verse 9 Paul adds that the decisive test of true faith/spiritual life is if the Spirit is in us – we can go through the formalities but dwell in the Spirit only by name. But where the Spirit does live His presence will be marked in us and we behave as we believe.
In our bodies already exists the principle of decay. The body will die because of sin but the spirit will live because of righteousness. Our redemption in Christ is perfect but the full benefits of justification are not fully received the moment we believe. We remain subject to pains, sorrows, trials and the necessity of dying. But our spirit in Christ is life – here meaning in Christ Jesus there is no condemnation because in the faithful the work of salvation has already begun; they will have eternal life.
We are either in the flesh (natural state) or in the Spirit and it is evident in the direction of our life; our behavior is the decisive test of character. There is no safety, no holiness, no happiness to those who are not in Christ. The Spirit reconciles us to God and enables us to please Him. Our hearts are changed.