The first part of verse 9 is literally “but you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit.” As the Good News Translation makes clear, Paul is here speaking of the contrast between the two ways of life: the way which is guided by one’s own human nature and the way guided by God’s Spirit. Paul does not distinguish between God’s Spirit and the Spirit of Christ; in either instance it is God’s Spirit, and one can only know the Spirit of God through Jesus Christ.

In a number of languages it is preferable to place the conditional clause first—for example, “if indeed God’s Spirit lives in you, you do not live as your human nature tells you to.” However, it may be important to indicate clearly the contrast between what your human nature tells you to and the fact that you live as the Spirit tells you to. In some languages live in this type of context may be translated as “do,” since this would correspond more closely to being told how to live and behave—for example, “you do not do just what your human nature tells you to do, but you do what the Spirit tells you to do.” However, if at all possible one should preserve terms for “life” or “live,” since this concept does occur frequently in following verses.

In some languages it is difficult to speak about “having the Spirit,” but one can often employ an expression such as “the Spirit of Christ lives in you.” In this context the clause introduced by whoever is conditional, and therefore in many languages it is more commonly expressed by “if”—for example, “if the Spirit of Christ does not live in you, you do not belong to Christ.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .