Romans 8:9-11 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. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”
The English language is complex and difficult to master, at least that’s what told to me by my bi-lingual, trilingual and multilingual friends, colleagues and associates. In addition to the varied definitions of a single word, punctuation create challenges for the most gifted in the English language.
Take for example the comma and the period. Both are nouns (person, place or thing), but they have very different uses in the English language. Webster’s Dictionary defines a comma as “a punctuation mark used to separate words or groups of words in a sentence.”
The period, on the other hand, is more definitive. It has a point of completion. Webster’s defines a period (when used in the grammatical sense) as “the completion of a cycle, a series of events, or a single action: conclusion.” So, the comma is a grammatical punctuation mark that indicates a place to pause, the period is a place to stop.
I had the pleasure of celebrating the life of a dear friend whose sojourn on earth has concluded. There were many wonderful reflections and accolades made by many people about the life and the legacy of a truly phenomenal woman. But there was one remark that caught my attention and made me really think about the life we live and the eternity we are all traveling to. Someone remarked about this wonderful lady, “there is a difference between a period and a comma!”
What made it really stand out in my mind was the scripture that is referenced for this article where Paul refers to life and death, but in a more mystical way than simply the process of physical death. He says, “And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”
No one argues the fact that death is the culmination of life. If you live, you will die. Paul, however, argues that the body will naturally die as a consequence of sin (the subject of another article), but it’s not a period…, it’s a comma! He says that the righteous will have life beyond the death of the body.
Turning again to Webster’s Dictionary, righteousness is “acting in accord with divine or moral law: free from guilt or sin.” Righteousness is achieved when the Spirit of God dwells within a person. What’s the difference between a period and a comma? Death is no longer a period, it’s only a comma.
Be Blessed!
Rev. J. Loren Russell
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