Romans 8:11:
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Notes on Romans 8:11:
This verse is sometimes read at funerals, but it is out of place there unless you’re integrating a healing service into the funeral! This verse is not about a future resurrection of your dead body; it’s about God imparting His life to your mortal (still-alive, subject-to-death) body. The point here is that God imparts the same resurrection power that raised Christ from the dead to your mortal body to heal it of anything that is wrong with it. Although Christ bore our sicknesses when He was punished for our sins, He didn’t have any sicknesses anymore when He rose from the dead. That same power that eliminated every trace of sickness from His body is the same power that dwells in you as a Christian!
The same Greek word used here (thnetos) for “mortal” also appears in Romans 6:12 and 2 Corinthians 4:11, and those verses would make no sense if they were taken to mean, “Let not sin reign in your dead body, that ye should obey the lusts thereof” and “For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our dead flesh.” A completely different Greek word (nekros) is used in the New Testament to describe something that is already dead.
The Holy Spirit does not dwell in physically dead bodies. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). So it makes no sense to assume that Paul is talking about a dead body when “the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead” is still living in it!
Other explanations of Romans 8:11 are common, namely that it is talking about getting a new body when Jesus returns or getting strengthened to not live in the flesh in this life. The superiority of the position taken in this book is proved at great length in the discussion What Romans 8:11 Actually Means.
This verse, despite a popular song to the contrary, does not say that the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead who dwells in you will quicken your mortal body. It tells you that GOD raised Christ from the dead, and that if the Holy Spirit dwells in you (that is, you are a believer), GOD will impart life to your mortal body THROUGH the Holy Spirit who dwells in you.
See also:
What Romans 8:11 Really Means
Quickened by the Holy Spirit
Jesus the Healer Has Never Changed!
What’s Better Than Healing? Health!
Who You Are and What You Have
Ridiculous Healing Confession Bondage
Do We Already Have Healing in Our Born-Again Spirits?
Objection: God Wouldn’t Heal Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh
Objection: Romans 8:11 Refers to the Resurrection, Not This Life
Objection: If We Are Subject to Death, We Are Subject to Sickness
Objection: Our Bodies Are Not Yet Redeemed, So We Are Still Subject to Sickness
Objection: Romans 8 Doesn’t Talk About Healing, So Romans 8:11 Is About Strengthening Us Against Sin
Objection: Romans 8:11 Uses a Word for Resurrection That Cannot Take Place Until We Get Our New Bodies
Objection: The Apostles Never Said, “By His Stripes You Were Healed” When They Preached Christ
Objection: We Should Expect, as Paul Did, to Always Bear Jesus’ Dying in Our Own Bodies (2 Corinthians 4:10)
Objection: God’s Healing Covenant in the Law of Moses Was Only for the Jews
Objection: You Have No More Right to Demand Healing Now Than to Demand Your Resurrection Body Now
Condition: Weakness