Free Bible Commentary
“Romans 8:1-17”
Categories: Romans“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
“However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But 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.
“So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh—for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”
---End of Scripture verses---
Paul had just previously made the imploring cry, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24). He further expands upon how Jesus had rescued him from sin’s bondage and condemnation in today’s verses from chapter 8. “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (verse 1). If you were baptized “into Christ” and live faithfully “in Christ” then, “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death” (verse 2).
God sent Jesus “as an offering for sin” and He “condemned sin” for us in the flesh. When Christ died for our sins on Calvary’s cross, He quelled God’s wrath and paid sin’s penalty for us, therefore we are no longer faced with the horror of sin’s eternal condemnation. Jesus did this for us when He came in “the likeness of sinful flesh.” The word “likeness” implies something similar and yet different.
The Son of God visited the earth in the body of a human being, but one that was not corrupted by the stain of sin. He was born sinless (like we all are), and he remained sinless (like none of us do). This uniquely qualified Him to be the perfect sacrifice to span the gulf that our sins create between God and man. He was God’s Son, therefore He was (is) divine. He came in the flesh, therefore He was human. He lived a sinless life, therefore He was the perfect (spotless) sacrifice.
But even though Christ fulfilled the law’s requirement by His sacrificial death, redemption is only promised to those “who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (verse 4). We are not left to wonder who these two classes of individuals are because Paul reveals their identities in the very next verse. The people who walk according to the flesh are those who “set their minds on the things of the flesh.” The people who walk according to the Spirit are those who dedicate their minds to “the things of the Spirit” (verse 5).
Paul is clearly not teaching a “belief only” liberation from sin, and an “impossibility” of falling from God’s grace and suffering the eternal consequences thereby. On the contrary, those who are preoccupied with fleshly, worldly, temporary pursuits, think and behave in ways that are “hostile toward God” (verse 7) and they “must die” (verse 13). On the other hand, those who focus on spiritual things, those who “set their minds” on the Spirit’s revelation and God’s will for them, will focus on righteous thoughts and pursue godly deeds and put “to death the deeds of the body” (verse 13).
These are the Spirit-led people who “please God” (verse 8) and who “will live” spiritually for eternity (verse 13). Indeed, God’s redeemed children are “under obligation” (verse 12) to live by the Spirit’s revelation and put to death the deeds of the body. That is not to say that they will not struggle with the lusts of the flesh and sometimes do sinful things they know they should not do (Romans 7:15, 19). But these Christians will be forgiven by God’s grace because the power of the Spirit dominates their lives, whereas the power of sin dominates the people who walk according to the flesh.
Who and what are the dominating influences in your life? Are you being led by the Holy Spirit, God’s Son, His perfect revelation, and a purified mind and conscience? Or are you being led by the flesh, its lusts, the world’s influence, and the power of a sin-corrupted mind?
Please don’t be deceived into thinking that you can do both of those things simultaneously and still be right with God. Some people foolishly say that Romans chapter 7 and 8 teaches that very thing (especially Romans 7:25). But Paul teaches that this is an impossibility and he clearly sets forth an “either/or” situation in this marvelous letter. These are two conflicting worldviews and they mutually exclude one another.
You can only be adopted into God’s spiritual family (verse 15) and be considered His son (or daughter) (verse 18), if you are baptized into the Son’s death and follow the Spirit’s lead and obey the Father’s commandments.
Please read Romans 8:18-39 for tomorrow.
Have a great day!
- Louie Taylor
