This is the most important question that we need to ask and answer ourselves is, “Do I belong to Christ?”  You may say, “Yes, I invited Jesus into my heart at Sunday School when I was a child.”  “Yes, I prayed the sinner’s prayer after someone told me to do that so that I may go to heaven.”  Where does the Bible say that praying a prayer will get you into heaven unless you are not sure that you belong to Christ? You need to make it sure based on what the Bible says. If you belong to Christ, you are reconciled to God, yours sins being forgiven and you can enjoy fellowshipping with Him every day by walking in Spirit.

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One of Paul’s main reasons for writing Romans 8 was to give assurance to us who believe in Jesus Christ that we belong to Him for time and eternity.  Paul is saying in this chapter that, “If God’s Spirit dwells in you, you belong to Christ; and though your physical body will die, God will raise your body from the dead.”  When we put our trust in Christ as Savior and Lord, we move from the realm of living “according to the flesh” to living “according to the Spirit.”  C. H. Spurgeon calls verse 9 “one of the most solemn texts in the whole Bible.” He says, “It is so sweeping: it deals with us all…. And it deals with the most important point about us, for to belong to Christ is the most essential thing for time and eternity.”    Romans 8:9 makes it clear that if you have been born again, you have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you- you do belong to Christ.  If you don’t have the Spirit, you do not belong to Christ.

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The church would be very different if everyone would live daily in the reality of the truth, “I am not my own; I now belong to Christ.” We would have some practical applications: My tongue is not my own to use to yell at my family when I’m upset. I must use it to glorify Christ! My eyes are not my own, to look lustfully. I must use my eyes to glorify Christ. My money is not my own to use as I please. I must use it to glorify Christ. My time is not my own to spend on vain pursuits. I need to use it to serve and glorify Christ. It’s a life-transforming principle! The mark of being a Christian is, the indwelling Spirit guides you and you belong to Christ.

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If you belong to Christ:

• You have experienced new birth

• You will be drawn to Christ and you will desire to know and honor him

• You are immersed with God’s love so that you have hope in him 

• You regard Scripture as His word of truth and you grow in its understanding

• His fruit grows in your life and the deeds of the flesh will decrease

• You will have a growing hatred of sin and love for holiness

• You will cultivate prayer, praise, joy, and thankfulness toward God

• You will tell others about Christ.

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Without Christ, life is unproductive and futile. But if we belong to Christ, we have the certain hope that when we die the God who raised Jesus from the dead will raise us through His Spirit who dwells in us.  So make sure that you belong to Christ!

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Think On:

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit

who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

For you have been bought with a price;

therefore glorify God in your body.”  

-1 Corinthians 6:19