Because this is so, at the end of Romans 8:4 Paul declares that the holy life required by the old covenant law will be fulfilled in those "who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit." Paul’s point is two fold. Firstly, those believers who walk according to the power of the flesh (the power of their own humanity) will not have the holy life required by the law fulfilled in them. The power of the flesh is no match for the power of the sinful disposition; thus, they will be controlled by the power of that disposition. This was Paul’s problem in Romans 7:14-25.

Secondly, those believers who walk according to the power of the Holy Spirit will have the holy life required by the law fulfilled in them. The power of the Spirit will overcome the power of the sinful disposition and enable the believer to do God’s will.

Paul uses the concept of walking for a purpose. The appropriation of the power of the Spirit is not a once-for-all act which delivers the believer from the controlling power of his sinful disposition forever. Just as walking is a step-by-step procedure, so the appropriation of the controlling power of the Holy Spirit is a moment-by-moment procedure. During those moments when the believer is depending upon the power of his own humanity to enable him to have victory over sin, his sinful disposition will take control of him against his will. During those moments when he is depending upon the power of the Holy Spirit, he will experience freedom from the sinful disposition’s control, and his life will be characterized by holiness.

In Ephesians 3:16-19 Paul prays for Christians that God:

In Ephesians 3:16 Paul prays that his readers would be strengthened with divine power through the agency of the Holy Spirit. The fact that Paul prays for this to happen indicates that, although the potential for strengthening is there, the actual strengthening itself may not have taken place as yet. When this concept is joined to the fact that the power of the Holy Spirit was made available to the believer at the time of regeneration (Romans 8:2), it becomes apparent that the actual strengthening depends upon the appropriation of the power of the Spirit by the believer. Concerning this, Kent writes: "The Spirit comes to reside in each believer at regeneration, but must be relied upon continually to furnish power for Christian living."¹⁴

Paul requests that the strengthening take place in "the inner man," the very place where, as noted earlier, the new disposition (the law of God in the heart) resides and functions and where Paul as a regenerate man joyfully concurred in the law of God (Romans 7:22). Paul’s prayer is consistent with what was seen in Romans 7:14-25. Since the new disposition in the inner man prompts the believer to will God’s will but does not give him the power necessary to do God’s will, the believer needs to be strengthened with power through the Spirit in his inner man in order to do God’s will.

In verse 17 Paul presents the intended purpose of the strengthening with power through the Spirit: "So that Christ may dwell in your hearts." Paul cannot be praying that Christ may dwell in their hearts as Saviour, for he is making this request for Christians. They already had Christ dwelling in their hearts as Saviour.

It would appear that Paul has in mind the holy life of Christ dwelling in believers. The power of the Spirit can make the believer more and more like Jesus Christ in daily living. Kent expressed it this way:

Thus, the dwelling of Christ in the believer which Paul has in mind is a progressive thing.

It is important to note the means by which this dwelling of Christ takes place: "through faith." As the believer trusts the Holy Spirit rather than his own humanity to make him more like Christ, the Spirit empowers him to experience the progressive fulfillment of that goal.

According to Ephesians 3:19 Paul wants Christians to "be filled up to all the fullness of God."

"God’s fullness is that with which He is filled, and denotes the perfections and excellencies He possesses."¹⁶ Since man can never possess such excellencies of deity as omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence, this must be a reference to God’s moral excellencies. Paul is saying that he wants Christians to be filled with the fullness of God’s moral character.

This being filled with the fullness of God’s moral character is also a progressive thing, to be completed only after the believer has gone to be with Christ. The evidence for this is presented by Bruce who points out that the preposition which is translated "to"

Thus, being filled unto the fullness of God’s moral character, becoming fully Christlike, and having the righteousness demanded by the old covenant law fulfilled in the believer are all progressive things. It appears that they all refer to the same thing: progressive sanctification. In addition, they all are produced through the same means: the power of the Holy Spirit. They develop step-by-step inside the Christian throughout his lifetime as the Holy Spirit gives him one victory after another over the controlling power of the sinful disposition. Thus, many skirmishes can be won during the course of the believer’s life as he appropriates the power of the Holy Spirit, but the whole war is not completed in victory until the believer has gone to be with Christ.

As a result of what has been seen, two things can be said concerning the relationship of the Holy Spirit to the new disposition: the Holy Spirit is the agent who writes the law of God in the heart of the believer at the time of regeneration, thereby giving the believer the new disposition which prompts the believer to will to do God’s will; and the Holy Spirit is the ally who frees the believer from the controlling power of the sinful disposition at the time of regeneration, thereby making available the power necessary for the believer to put his will into effect. The Holy Spirit enables the new disposition to do more than affect the will. He enables it to govern the whole person, even the person’s body.

An excellent summary of this twofold relationship between the new disposition and the Holy spirit is found in Philippians 2:13: "God is the one who works in you both to will and to work on behalf of His good will" (literal translation). Paul is saying that God works two things in the Christian: the willing of His will, and the doing of His will. He works the willing by giving the believer the new disposition through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. He works the doing by giving the believer the controlling power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Earlier it was noted that Paul uses the master-slave analogy as a vehicle to help him make the spiritual truths of Romans 6-8 understandable. Now that the teaching of Romans 6-8 has been examined, the author will use that same kind of analogy in order to summarize Paul’s teaching in those chapters.

Prior to the middle of the 1800s slavery was a legal institution in America. It was supported by the law of the land. Slaveholders held the legal position of master over human beings, and those human beings held the position of slave. Because the slaveholders held the legal position of master, the law gave them the right to dominate and control every aspect of their slaves’ beings and lives, and the slaves had no choice but to render complete obedience to the dictates of their masters.

By analogy Paul says (Romans 6:16-20) that it is the same kind of relationship which exists between the unregenerate person and his sinful disposition. The sinful disposition holds the legal position of master over the unregenerate person, and the unregenerate person holds the position of slave under his sinful disposition. Because the sinful disposition holds the legal position of master, it has the right to dominate and control every aspect of the unregenerate person’s total being and life, and the unregenerate person has no choice but to render complete obedience to the dictates of his sinful disposition.

When the government of the United States abolished slavery as a legal institution in the middle of the 1800s, immediately slaveholders lost their legal position of master, and slaves lost the position of slave. No longer did the former masters have the right to dominate or control the former slaves, and no longer were the former slaves obligated to continue serving their former masters. The former slaves were freed legally from their former masters. Now they had a choice. They could choose to continue serving their former masters if they so desired, or they could choose to leave the plantation and no longer serve.

By analogy Paul teaches (Romans 6:1-10) that the same change of relationship takes place between the unregenerate person and his sin nature when that person experiences death with Christ. When the unregenerate person trusts Christ as Saviour, he dies with Christ in the sense that he ceases to be an unregenerate person. Immediately the sinful disposition loses its position of master over him, and he loses his position of slave. No longer does the sinful disposition have the right to dominate or control its former slave, and no longer is the person obligated to continue serving the sinful disposition. The person has been freed legally from the sinful disposition. It remains with him and will continue to attempt to exercise controlling power over him (now illegally), but it has lost forever its position of master over him. Now, as a believer, the person has a choice. He may choose to continue serving his sinful disposition if he so desires, or he may choose to stop serving.

Although it was a fact that the United States government had abolished slavery and had thereby ended master-slave relationships, that fact did the former slaves no practical good unless they took it into account in their thinking. Only when they reckoned on the fact of their change of position – that they had lost their position of slave and no longer had a master – did they try to leave the plantations and enjoy the freedom which had been granted to them.

By analogy Paul indicates (Romans 6:11) that, although it is a fact that the master-slave relationship between the unregenerate person and his sin nature ends when that person dies with Christ, that fact does that person no practical good unless he takes it into account in his thinking. Only when the believer reckons on the fact of his change of position – that he has lost his position of slave and that his sinful disposition has lost its position of master – will he try to enjoy the freedom from required service to his sinful disposition which has been granted to him.

Even when former slaves in the United States reckoned on the fact of their change of position and thereby left the plantations to enjoy their freedom, sometimes their former masters tracked them down, captured them, and dragged them back to the plantations against their wills to force further service out of them. For some this happened repeatedly each time they attempted to get away on their own initiative. They had been set free from their position of slave, but now their problem was that of obtaining freedom from the controlling power which their former masters exercised over them illegally.

By analogy Paul teaches (Romans 7:14-25) that a similar thing can happen to the believer. Even when he reckons on the fact that he has lost his position of slave and thereby chooses to stop serving his sinful disposition, it will capture him against his will and force further service out of him. This will happen repeatedly each time the believer tries in his own strength to do what God says is right. He has been set free from his position of slave, but now his problem is that of obtaining freedom from the controlling power which his sinful disposition exercises over him illegally.

In order to obtain freedom from the controlling power of their former masters, the former slaves needed a greater power to intervene on their behalf and overpower their former masters. The United States government provided that greater power for them in the form of a division of the army. In order to experience the freedom which this greater power provided, the former slaves had to trust the army rather than themselves to overpower their former masters.

Footnotes:

17. F.F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Ephesians, p. 69.