Through the Bible in One Year

Day 263

Romans 8:1-8

Romans chapter 8 is one of the great chapters of the Bible.  It begins with “no condemnation” (v. 1) and ends with “no separation” (v. 39).  It defies description and needs to be read over and over until its surpassing message grips our hearts and souls.

The new life is life of liberty from the law of sin and death (vv. 1-8).  It is a life of glorious hope (vv. 9-25), hope of the resurrection, hope of joint-heirship with Christ, and hope of final redemption.  The new life is a life of glorious power (vv. 26-39).  This power comes through spirit-led prayer and the providence of God.  It enables us to face the future without fear.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.—8:1-4

Paul moves from the gloomy picture of his view of life before Christ (chapter 7) to his joyous picture of the Christian life (chapter 8).  The believer is not condemned, which is way of expressing justification: God no longer maintains the charge of disobedience for those in Christ.  There are two reasons for this: the law has been dissolved, and God did what the law could not do.

The reason there is no condemnation for believers is that the law, which enslaved people under the control of sin, has been dissolved.  The law as a promise of life, on the other hand, has been put into effect through Christ Jesus and the Spirit, and so all the blessings that the law promised belong to people in Christ (see 1 Peter 2:9, where Peter depicts the church in terms used for Israel under the law).

The law was powerless on its own to bring about what it had promised, which was life for those who keep it (Leviticus 18:5).  The law was weakened by the flesh—the flesh Paul describes as not just weak but rebellious (Romans 8:7).  The promise, however, has come into effect because of God’s action in Jesus, who was in every way like the rest of humanity, except without sin (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22 and 1 John 3:5).  He was a sin offering, the type of sacrifice offered on—among other times—the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16), which Paul has already referred to in his description of the cross (Romans 3:24-26).  This sacrifice is how God brought the death sentence on the flesh, the old way of life (Romans 6:6).

As a result of God’s action described in verse 3, we have fulfilled the requirement of the law.  Though we have not obeyed the terms in a literal sense, it is like we are sitting in on an elementary music exam in which a virtuoso professional takes our place and play an impossible difficult piece as evidence of our competence.  The law is not fulfilled by Christians but in us and by Christ.

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.—8:5-8

Paul highlights the absolute distinction between life in the flesh and life in the Spirit.  These distinctions correspond to being in Adam and in Christ (Romans 5:12-21).  Romans 8:7 shows that fallen human nature is not just weak but rebellious.  We need much more than additional help to obey.  Our problem is not a lack of moral momentum; rather, we are going totally in the opposite  direction.  By contrast, the Holy Spirit gives us everything we need to obey.  He both shows us God’s will (v. 5) and enables us to do it when we are governed by the Spirit (v. 6).  And that is where we will pick up tomorrow as Paul continues this discussion of the difference between living life through the Spirit and living life apart from the Spirit.

Tomorrow’s Bible Readings:

Isaiah 37-38, Galatians 6, Psalm 65:1-13 and Proverbs 23:24