Romans 8 - No Condemnation

 

Previously in Romans 7, we saw how believers are dead to and set free from the law. We are no longer under its condemnation. It does not give us the power to say no to sin; however, it is still good because it reveals the sin that is already there. We also saw Paul’s struggle with sin as a Christian, and how is only hope was faith in Jesus Christ.

In light of what he said in chapter 7, Paul continues, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” As I mentioned before, if the devil cannot succeed in keeping us from getting saved, he will do his best to make us ineffective for the kingdom by getting us caught up in sin. He then hits us with condemnation, which if we yield to, will only pull us down further. He will try to get us to a point where we don’t think we can even come to God for forgiveness. One of the ways we can tell the difference between the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the condemnation of the devil is that the Holy Spirit’s conviction draws us to the Lord for forgiveness and restoration, while the devil’s condemnation draws us away from the Lord into isolation and further sin.

Many scholars believe the latter part of verse one should not be in the text, but I see no conflict either way. If there were, then we would have the same problem with verse four. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Remember, we are counted righteous and justified by faith and faith alone, and therefore cannot be condemned because our faith is in Jesus who was not condemned. Walking after the Spirit merely characterizes those who are already in Christ Jesus, and walking in the flesh characterizes those who are not. Again, we have been set free from the guilt and punishment of sin.

The law of the Spirit of life (law of the life-giving Spirit) in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death. It’s been likened to the law of gravity: the law of gravity affects all of us; however, under the right circumstances, gravity can be overcome. The life of the Spirit has overcome sin and death (we have been set free from the power of sin). Praise the Lord!

God sent His Son to do what the law could not do. The law detects our sin, but cannot deliver us from its guilt, punishment, or power. Jesus, coming in the likeness of sinful flesh, did all three. He came because of sin and condemned sin in the flesh on the cross. Because Jesus kept the law perfectly, now the righteous requirements of the law are fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Continuing his contrast of the life of the flesh with the life of the Spirit, Paul states those who live according to the flesh, set their minds on the things of the flesh, while those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. Whatever they are doing outwardly, they have already been thinking inwardly, and whatever they are thinking inwardly, it is according to their nature. To be carnally minded leads to death, but to be spiritually minded brings life and peace. The carnal mind is at enmity with (hostile toward) God. It is not obedient to the law of God, and, in fact, cannot be. So then, those who are in the flesh are not pleasing to God. This is the plight of the nonbeliever.

On the other hand, a believer is under the control of the Spirit because the Spirit of God dwells in them. Here we see Paul’s focus turn to the role of the Holy Spirit. Some within the Church attempt to downplay the role of the Holy Spirit, but the Christian life would be impossible without Him. Jesus told His disciples, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” (Jn 14:16-18) For the believer, the Spirit dwells in them, giving them a new nature. Paul told the Ephesians that once they believed, they were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise who is the guarantee of their inheritance. Sealed means to be stamped for security or preservation, and earnest refers to money or property given for a down-payment as security for the final purchase. So then, the Holy Spirit has stamped or marked us for security and preservation from Satan in this life and the wrath of God that is to come. He also is our down-payment of our inheritance of eternal life that God has promised to all believers. Going back to verse two, it is the Holy Spirit that has set us free from the law of sin and death. It is through His power that we can live a victorious Christian life.

If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ (the Holy Spirit) dwelling in him, he does not belong to Christ. If Christ is in us, our bodies are dead because of sin (we will all die one day), but the Spirit of God dwells in us, bringing us life because of the righteousness of Jesus. However, since the same Spirit of God that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us, He will also give life to our mortal bodies. It is the Spirit of Christ who can bring healing to our physical bodies, and the same Spirit who later will resurrect those same bodies. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’”

Because of all the Lord has done for us, we are debtors, not to live after the flesh, for they that live after the flesh will die. Rather, we are to, through the power of the Holy Spirit, put to death the deeds of our body and live. The Holy Spirit leads believers into righteousness, and the proof that an individual(s) are children of God is that they follow His leading.

Believers have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear. The belief that a believer is still in bondage to the law and fearful of God’s wrath is not biblical. John wrote in his first epistle: “Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” (1 Jn 4:17-18) Believers needn’t walk in slavery to sin or fear God’s judgment because they have been set free by the Spirit of God and are loved by Him.

We have received the Spirit of adoption. This idea of adoption into the Kingdom is an interesting one, and bears significant implications for believers. As David Guzek writes, “Under Roman adoption, the life and standing of the adopted child changed completely. The adopted son lost all rights in his old family and gained all new rights in his new family; the old life of the adopted son was completely wiped out, with all debts being canceled, with nothing from his past counting against him any more.” A believer’s old life has been completely wiped out, and their debt of sin has been canceled. Nothing from their past is counted against them, and they have obtained all the rights of inheritance of the family of God.

By this Spirit of adoption we can cry out, “Abba, Father.” This phrase appears three times in the NT, once by Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane in Mark 14:36, here in Romans, and in Gal 4:1-7. The word Abba is akin to a child calling his or her father Daddy, a term of endearment. So, just like Jesus, we can confidently approach our heavenly Father with a closeness and an intimacy because we have been adopted into the family of God.

Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. Again, John writes, “Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.” (1 Jn 3:24) We know when the Holy Spirit dwells in us because we have a new nature and we have a desire to keep His commandments. If we are children, then we are heirs. We are heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus. He repeats a similar thing in his letter to the Galatians, “Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” (Gal 4:1-7)

In ending this section, Paul says that we are joint-heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if we suffer with Him that we may also be glorified together. Many turn their backs on Christ, counting the sufferings of this life not to be worth it. Paul told Timothy, “This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.” (2 Tim 2:11-13) We must be willing to suffer and endure the hardships that accompany being a Christian, not denying Him, for our reward is the inheritance of eternal life. In the remainder of the chapter Paul will continue his discussion on the suffering that we encounter in this life, and how believers have hope in this suffering.

Romans 7 - Dead to the Law

 

Last time in Romans, we saw how believers are dead to sin. Our old man has been crucified (put to death) with Christ, and our sin nature has been rendered powerless. We have been freed from sins power because we are under grace. We are no longer slaves to sin, but have become slaves to God through faith. In this chapter, Paul will explain how believers are also set free from the law, but how it is there as a reminder of our sinful state.

He begins with a similar phrase of that in chapter 6, “Or do you not know,” again, meaning what he was about to say was familiar to them. He continued, “brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?” He was returning back to what he said in 6:14 that sin no longer had dominion over them because they were not under law but under grace. Now, he will explain this in greater detail.

He illustrates his point with marriage, another topic they would be familiar with. Under Old Testament law, a woman was bound to her husband until death, and if she divorced and remarried prior to his death, she was considered an adulterous. However, if he died, she was free to remarry. In like manner, Old Testament believers were not permitted to divorce themselves from the law, because that was what God had ordained until Christ. Now that Christ has died and risen again, believers have become dead to the law by the body of Christ that they can become married to Him who was raised from the dead. In the Scriptures, the Church is described as the bride of Christ (2 Co 11:2, Eph 5:25-27, and Rev 19:6-9). It is in the betrothal stage now, but will go through the marriage and marriage supper after the rapture during the 7-year tribulation.

Just as believers have died to sin and are set free from it, they have also died to the law and are set free from it. Paul also wrote to the Galatians, “For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God.” This, again, took place at the cross. God’s purpose in this is so that we should bear fruit unto Him. Jesus told His disciples, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (Jn 15:5)

Now Paul begins to include himself with his readers. When they were controlled or dominated by the sin nature, the prohibitions of the law aroused their sinful desires. The very fact that it says not to do something makes people want to do it. Paul reminds us that following sinful passions leads to death. However, believers have been delivered from the law by dying to it, that they can serve in the newness of the Spirit rather than in the oldness of the letter. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Co 3:6) The old covenant was based on obedience to the written law, and brought condemnation. The new covenant is based on faith in the blood of Jesus, and is sealed by the Holy Spirit.

So, if the law arouses man’s sinful passions and leads to death, “Is the Law sin?” Paul asks. He answers, again, “Certainly not!” He said he (referring to his own experience now) would not have known sin if it were not for the law. Sin here refers to the sin nature referenced in chapter 6:6 (the body of sin). He would not have known lust if it hadn’t been for the law that said not to covet. It’s been likened to an Xray machine: It’s not to blame for what it exposes, it only reveals what is already there. He picks the tenth commandment of coveting which is a sin of the heart. People like to focus on the outward actions, but the Lord is looking at the heart because this is where it always starts.

Sin took opportunity by the commandment to produce in him all manner of evil desire. Again, the law incites man’s sinful passions. There’s something in man when he is told not to do something that makes him want to do it more. It’s like the sign that says “don’t walk on the grass,” and then you see people walking on the grass. However, if you remove the sign, the problem largely disappears. The law reveals the rebellious heart of man toward God.

Without the law, sin was dead. Again, Paul is referring to his relationship with sin prior to coming to Christ, and here he is probably referring to when he was a child before the age of accountability. Sin was still present, but he was not aware of it. However, when the commandment came (he learned right from wrong), he became aware of sin, and of his own spiritual death.

The Commandment which Paul thought would bring him life, actually brought him death. Sin took the opportunity by the commandment to deceive him, and then to kill him. It was Paul’s sin nature that rebelled against the commandment and led him astray. The law was not the problem; Paul’s sin was the problem. The law is holy, and the commandment is holy, just and good. It was not the law that actually brought his death, but the sin that the law revealed. The law showed him how exceedingly (undeniably) sinful he really was. As one commentator put it, “The Christian life isn’t difficult; it is impossible.” It is impossible if we are going to be righteous by keeping the law in our own efforts.

Next, Paul changes from the past to the present tense to describe his current struggles with sin, and how even that proves the law to be good. He states that the law is spiritual, but he is carnal, sold under sin. The law, although good as it is, cannot deliver a person from the power of sin. Paul admits that he has a carnal or fleshly nature that he has to contend with. It’s not that a believer no longer has to battle sin, but the proof he has a new nature is that he does battle it. Martin Luther said on V 14, “That is the proof of the spiritual and wise man. He knows that he is carnal, and he is displeased with himself; indeed, he hates himself and praises the Law of God, which he recognizes because he is spiritual. But the proof of a foolish, carnal man is this, that he regards himself as spiritual and is pleased with himself.”

Paul continues that he does not understand what he is doing. What he wants to do he does not do, and what he hates, he keeps on doing. The fact that he had this struggle proves that the law is good. Even though believers are no longer under the sentence and condemnation of the law, it still serves the purpose to reveal their sin. He also acknowledges that it is no longer him who does it, but the sin (sin nature) that dwells in him. It’s not that believers are not responsible for their sin, but that it is not part of their new nature in Christ. Paul was no longer Paul the old unregenerate man, but a man who had been born again and counted righteous through faith in Jesus Christ.

He stated that in him (in his flesh) dwelt no good thing. If we ever find ourselves shocked or horrified that we said, did, or even thought something, it may be an indicator we have an elevated view of ourselves. We don’t have a full understanding of how sinful we really are. If we choose to walk in the flesh, there really is no limit to the depths we can go, unfortunately. Paul said he wanted to do what was right, but he could not find the power to carry it out.

He repeats himself by saying the good he wanted to do he didn’t do, and the evil he didn’t want to do, he practiced. If he did what he didn’t want to do, it was no longer him that did it, but the sin nature that dwelt in him. Again, he was not identifying as Paul the sinner, but as Paul the justified child of God.

Paul found a law (principle) that, although he wanted to do good, evil was still present with him. He delighted in the law after the inward man (the new man created in Christ Jesus), but there was another principle in his members warring against the law of his mind to bring him into captivity to the law of sin. The new nature is called the law of the mind because the mind has the ability to understand and make moral judgments. The sin nature is constantly warring against our new nature to try to bring us back into slavery again.

He closes by saying, O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Again, this is written in the present tense, so Paul viewed himself this way at the time of the writing of this epistle. And if Paul, the author of almost half the New Testament books, viewed himself this way, believers would be hard pressed to think themselves any better. This is because the law declares them to be so. Again, believers can focus on the outward actions, but when they get down to the sins of the heart, all their thoughts, feelings, and motivations are called into question. This does not mean they are not free to say no to sin, because they are truly free. However, the law is a mirror that gives them a reality check of where they are in the sanctification process (James 1:22-25).

Paul was not the only one who thought this way. Isaiah, when he saw the glory of the Lord, said, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” (Isaiah 6:5) Job, a man whom the Bible refers to as being perfect and upright, said the following after the Lord spoke to Him out of the whirlwind, “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.  Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:5-6) The closer believers draw to the Lord, the more aware they become of their own sin.

Paul’s answer to his question is, “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Jesus is the answer, folks! Believers, despite their best efforts and intentions, cannot walk in victory over their sin nature. It is only through faith in Jesus Christ who kept the law perfectly that victory can be realized.

If we are honest, as believers, we can all relate to Paul in his struggles with sin. Although we are truly free, we lack the faith (or fail to exercise it) at times to walk it out. We find ourselves not doing what we should, and doing the things we hate. We may be like Paul who said he didn’t understand why he was doing the things he was doing. We need to remember that just like we have died and have been set free from sin, we have died to and have been set free from the law. We don’t identify as the old you or me, an unregenerate sinner, but as a justified child of God. We don’t get to identify this way just because we want to as is popular today, but we identify as a child of God because it is actually true. The law is not there to set us free from the power of sin, but to remind us that sin is there. That should drive us, like Paul, to say “Oh wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? This is when we turn to Jesus who is our victory. Believers are justified by faith, but “The just shall live by his faith.? It’s by faith the whole way! In the next chapter we will see the role the Holy Spirit plays in our justification and sanctification.