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.
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be, х eiper (G1512)] - not 'seeing that' (as Chrysostom and other Greek fathers, also Beza and Olshausen); for this is at least a very doubtful, if not inadmissible sense of the word (though it seems to occur in this sense in 2 Thessalonians 1:6), and Meyer, though defending this sense of the word, admits that it is unsuitable here.
That the Spirit of God dwell in you. This does not mean, 'if the disposition or mind of God dwell in you; but if the Holy Spirit dwell in you,' (see 1 Corinthians 6:11; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 1 Corinthians 3:16, etc.) It thus appears that to be "in the spirit" means here, not to be under the power of God's Spirit, but to be under the dominion of our own renewed mind; for the indwelling of God's Spirit is given as the evidence that we are "in the spirit."
Now ('But') if any man have not the Spirit of Christ. Again, this does not mean 'If any man have not the disposition or mind of Christ,' but 'If any man have not the Holy Spirit, here called "the Spirit of Christ," just as he is called "the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" (see the note at Romans 8:2). It is as "the Spirit of Christ" that the Holy Spirit takes possession of believers, introducing into them all the gracious dove-like dispositions which dwelt in Him (Matthew 3:16; John 3:34). Now if any man's heart be void, not of such dispositions, but of the blessed Author of them, "the Spirit of Christ,"
He is none of his - though intellectually convinced of the truth of Christianity, and even in a general sense influenced by its spirit. Sharp, solemn teaching this!