Section 5
verse does not say that he who does not love his brother will die; it says that he who does not love his brother abides in death even now. If we are not in life, then we are surely in death. Romans 8:6 also proves that we can be in death today: "For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace."
THE SPIRIT—GOD LIVING IN US
Romans 8:2 says, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed me from the law of sin and of death." In this verse we have law, sin, and death in contrast to law, Spirit, and life. Life is opposed to death, and the Spirit is opposed to sin. Sin is Satan embodied in us, and the Spirit is God living in us. God embodied in us is grace, but God living in us is the Spirit. Thus, the grace in Romans 5 is the very Spirit in Romans 8. In chapter five it is a matter of grace versus sin, but in chapter eight, of the Spirit versus sin. Romans 8:2 does not speak of the law of the grace of life but of the law of the Spirit of life. When God is embodied in us, He is our grace. When He lives in us, He is the Spirit. In Hebrews 10:29 the Spirit is called the Spirit of grace. The Spirit is the very God embodied in us as grace living and acting in us.