You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
Parallel translations
- WEB But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his.
- KJV But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
- NKJV 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.
- NASB However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
- NLT But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Believers are in the Spirit, not the flesh, because God's Spirit dwells in them; anyone without Christ's Spirit does not belong to Him. The indwelling Spirit marks who truly belongs to Christ.
Overview
Paul assures believers that they are no longer in the flesh but in the Spirit, evidenced by the Spirit's indwelling. The Spirit is called both the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ, underscoring His full deity and the unity of the Trinity. To lack this Spirit is to be outside of Christ altogether, making the Spirit's presence the mark of genuine faith.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 29
- Gal 4:6And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”
- 1 Cor 3:16Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
- 2 Tim 1:14Guard the treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.
- 1 Cor 6:19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
- John 14:17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you do know Him, for He abides with you and will be in you.
- Rom 8:11And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.
- Gal 5:24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
- Eph 1:13And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,
- Rom 8:2For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death.
- John 3:6Flesh is born of flesh, but spirit is born of the Spirit.
- Ezek 36:26–27I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
- Eph 2:22And in Him you too are being built together into a dwelling place for God in His Spirit.
- 1 Jn 4:13By this we know that we remain in Him, and He in us: He has given us of His Spirit.
- 1 Jn 4:4You, little children, are from God and have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
- Phil 1:19because I know that through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, my distress will turn out for my deliverance.
- Ezek 11:19And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh,
- 1 Jn 3:24Whoever keeps His commandments remains in God, and God in him. And by this we know that He remains in us: by the Spirit He has given us.
- John 17:9–10I ask on their behalf. I do not ask on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those You have given Me; for they are Yours.
- Luke 11:13So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
- 2 Cor 6:16What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.”
- 1 Cor 15:23But each in his own turn: Christ the firstfruits; then at His coming, those who belong to Him.
- John 3:34For the One whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.
- Eph 1:17–18that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him.
- Jude 1:19–21These are the ones who cause divisions, who are worldly and devoid of the Spirit.
- 1 Pet 1:11trying to determine the time and setting to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.
- 1 Cor 3:21–23Therefore, stop boasting in men. All things are yours,
- 2 Cor 10:7You are looking at outward appearances. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should remind himself that we belong to Christ just as much as he does.
- Rev 13:8And all who dwell on the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written from the foundation of the world in the Book of Life belonging to the Lamb who was slain.
- Rev 20:15And if anyone was found whose name was not written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 8:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.