NOTES for Rom 8:9
Truth be told, one somehow does not want to look in the mirror: this does not look like our life. But... is it really completely unlike it? Each of us has our own experience of "the great works of God." If we look at ourselves objectively, we cannot fail to see that the Lord truly acts in us when we turn to Him. And the Holy Spirit truly lives in us; otherwise, how could we do anything good at all?
We ourselves may not notice these changes, but from the outside they can be astonishing. A living example of the Holy Spirit's action can be a chance overheard dialogue between two Christian women: "I knew that woman 10 years ago, but she did not recognize me." "Then let us tell her that you know each other!" "No, no! You did not see me 10 years ago!" Who, besides the Holy Spirit, is able to change a person beyond recognition, and at the same time for the better, to that person's own joy and the joy of those around him?