What does it mean that the body is dead because of sin (Romans 8:10)?

In Romans 8:10, the apostle Paul writes, “If Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness” (ESV). It’s a praiseworthy fact that believers are united with Christ and possess the Spirit’s life-giving presence. At the same time, the body is dead because of sin. Obviously, Paul is not saying we are physically dead right now, so, what does he mean that “the body is dead because of sin”?

In this passage Paul is discussing how our physical bodies remain under the sentence of death, even in our redeemed state. The New Living Translation words it this way: “Your body will die because of sin” (Romans 8:10). Christ has saved us, but the body is mortal; it will age, weaken, and die. Christians are not exempt from this reality. Christ’s presence within does not reverse the body’s mortality—not yet.

Death entered the world through sin (Romans 5:12). Believers are justified by grace through faith in Christ, but the effects of the fall, including death, remain present in this world. Paul writes that we “groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:23, ESV). Our bodies will be redeemed in the future. Until then, we are alive in Christ even as we live in dying bodies.

In Romans 8:10, Paul combines two truths: “Christ is in you”—that is, we belong to Him and have His Spirit—and “your body is subject to death because of sin.” There is physical death for believers, but “the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.” Spiritual life is not a future promise; it is already at work within us. Believers are spiritually alive because of righteousness—not our own righteousness, but the righteousness of Christ. The Amplified Bible brings out this aspect, speaking of “righteousness [which He provides]” (Romans 8:10; cf. Romans 5:17–19). So, while the body continues marching toward death, the Spirit renews our spirits with resurrection power.

The Christian has been raised with Christ (Colossians 3:1), but he still awaits the redemption of the body. As we walk in the Spirit, “we do not lose heart,” Paul writes. “Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16, ESV).

The body is dead because of sin, but believers have enduring hope: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11, ESV). God overcame death when He raised Jesus from the dead. The same Spirit who raised Him from the dead also dwells in believers as a guarantee of our future redemption: “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:13–14, ESV).

Physical death is real, and we see the effects of it every day, but it will not have the final word. Death’s presence in our bodies does not mean God is absent. On the contrary, the Spirit’s life is revealed amid death. We carry a contradiction within ourselves: dead because of sin, but alive because of Christ. This contradiction will be resolved when the Spirit who gives life raises our bodies from the grave.