Objection: Romans 8 Doesn’t Talk About Healing, So Romans 8:11 Is About Strengthening Us Against Sin
Much of the first part of Romans 8 does deal with issues concerning the flesh and sin. The fact that “Therefore” appears at the start of verse 12 might seem to add credence to the idea that whatever Romans 8:11 talks about is still tied to flesh and sin issues. Finally, several old commentaries also support the idea that the verse speaks of the Holy Spirit strengthening our mortal bodies (where sin can dwell) against sin so that sin cannot rule there.
However, this is contrary to what Scripture teaches about the flesh. Your current mortal flesh will NEVER want to please God. That is why Paul said that if you are in the flesh, you cannot please God (Romans 8:8)! The fact is that sin will always be capable of ruling in your body until the day comes when you get your new spiritual, immortal body. That is why Paul taught that through the Spirit we mortify the deeds of the body (Galatians 5:16). There is no “strengthening” of your flesh that will make it less prone to sin because your spiritually dead body will never care one way or the other about whether a craving it has is sinful or not.
Paul reminds us in Romans 8:11 that it is the Spirit who raised Christ from the dead who will ALSO quicken our mortal bodies! Paul’s use of the word ALSO ties the physical healing part to our mortal bodies. Jesus was made weak and sick when He died for us. His body couldn’t even handle carrying His cross. But when He was raised, He was raised without any of that weakness or sickness! That is the point. Just as Jesus’ body was healed when it was raised from the dead and made immortal, we can expect healing to work even in our mortal bodies today.
I do realize that Romans 8:11 has confused a lot of people over the years, so I have devoted a lengthy investigation to that one verse. Please see What Romans 8:11 Really Means for a lot of further study on this matter.
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