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罗马书第八章是关于属灵生命的关键一章。要理解它，我们需要了解罗马书六至七章的背景。

在这几章中，使徒保罗解释说，在灵命开始之前，我们需要首先放弃掌控自己的生命。我们需要与基督“同钉十字架”，这样我们就不再是“罪的奴仆”。（参罗 6:6）我们还需要认识到，当我们活成罪的奴仆——包括试图靠自己的力量按神的律法生活——我们总会失败。我们会发现：（1）我们所愿意的善，我们并不去做。（2）我们所恨恶的恶，我们倒去做。（参罗 7:14-23）

有什么办法可以让我们从这个泥沼中挣脱出来吗？“感谢神！”有！（参罗 7:25）——而且唯独靠着神的恩典，藉着对我们的主和救主耶稣基督的信可以实现。当我们相信神拯救的大能时，我们就在圣灵中获得了新的生命，我们依旧始终靠圣灵来带领和引导我们。

如果我们体贴“肉体”，那就意味着我们试图靠自己的力量或在自己的指导下生活。每天，我们都要求圣灵充满我们，引导我们。

在圣灵里的生活意味着圣灵能成就我们自己无法做到的事。正如我们必须依靠和相信神的恩典藉着耶稣来拯救我们一样，我们也必须依靠和仰赖圣灵每天引导和管理我们。在祂的大能里，我们不再挣扎，而是找到安息。

Romans 8 is a key chapter about life in the Spirit. And to understand it, we need the background of Romans 6-7.

In these chapters, the apostle Paul explains that before life in the Spirit occurs, we need to give up trying to control our own lives. We need to be "crucified" with Christ so that we are no longer "slaves to sin" .(Romans 6:6) We also need to realize that when we live as slaves to sin—and this includes trying to live by God's law on our own—we will always fail. We will find that (1) we cannot do the good that we want to do, and (2) we will keep on doing the bad that we do not want to do .(Romans 7:14-23)

Is there any way we can be freed from this mess? "Thanks be to God!" Yes! (Romans 7:25)—and only by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. When we trust in God's power to save us, we receive new life in the Spirit, and we depend on the Spirit to lead and guide us always.

If we are governed or controlled "by the flesh," that means we are trying to live by our own strength or under our own direction. Every day, we need to ask the Spirit to fill us and direct us.

Life in the Spirit means that the Holy Spirit accomplishes what we cannot do ourselves. Just as we must depend on and trust in God's grace through Jesus to save us, so we must depend on and trust the Spirit to guide and govern us each day. And in his power we no longer struggle but find rest.