And if Christ be in you
Not as he is in the whole world, and in all his creatures, or
circumscriptively, and to the exclusion of himself elsewhere; for
his person is above in heaven, his blood is within the vail, his
righteousness is upon his people, and his Spirit and grace are in
them; and so he comes to be in them, he is formed in their hearts
by the Spirit of God in regeneration, when the Father reveals him
not only to them, but in them; and he himself enters and takes
possession of them as his own, manifests himself to them,
communicates his grace, and grants them communion with him. This
being their case,
the body is dead because of sin:
by which is meant, not the body of sin, though this is called a
body, and a body of death, yet is not dead, much less is it so by
reason of sin; but this fleshly body, because liable to
afflictions, which are called deaths, has the seeds of mortality
in it, and shall in a little time die, notwithstanding the gift
of it to Christ, though it is redeemed by his blood, and united
to him; the reason of it is not merely the decree of God, nor
does it arise from the original constitution of the body, but sin
is the true reason of it, sin original and actual, indwelling
sin, but not by way of punishment for it, for Christ has bore
that, death is one of the saints' privileges, it is for their
good, and therefore desired by them; but that they might be rid
of it, and free from all those troubles which are the
consequences of it:
but the spirit is life, because of
righteousness;
not the Spirit of God, who lives in himself, is the author of
life to others, of natural and spiritual life, continues as a
principle of life in the saints, is the pledge of everlasting
life, and is so to them because of the righteousness of Christ
nor grace, or the new creature, which is sometimes called Spirit,
and may be said to be life, it lives unto righteousness, and is
owing to and supported by the righteousness of the Son of God;
but the soul of man is here meant, in opposition to the body,
which is of a spiritual nature, immaterial and immortal; and this
may be said in believers to be life or live, for it not only
lives naturally, but spiritually; it lives a life of holiness
from Christ, a life of faith upon him, and a life of
justification by him, and will live eternally; first in a
separate state from the body after death, till the resurrection
morn, it does not die with the body, nor sleep with it in the
grave, nor is it in any "limbus" or state of purgatory, but in
paradise, in heaven, in the arms and presence of Christ, where it
is not inactive, but employed in the best of service: and after
the resurrection it will live with the body in glory for
evermore; and this is owing to righteousness, not to the
righteousness of man, but the imputed righteousness of Christ;
for as it was sin, and loss of righteousness thereby which
brought death on man, the righteousness of Christ is that on
which believers live now, and is their right and title to eternal
life hereafter.