8:1 "Therefore"introduces a conclusion based on everything that Paul wrote from chapter 3 on, not just chapter 7. He reaffirmed justification as the indispensable basis for sanctification.241A Christian must believe that he or she has permanent acceptance with God before that one will grow much in grace and godliness.
"Romans 3:20 shows the therefore' of condemnation; but Romans 8:1 gives the therefore' of nocondemnation . . ."242
No condemnation is different from freedom from judgment (2 Cor. 5:10). No condemnation means that God will never condemn us to an eternity separate from Himself for our sins. The reason is that the believer is in Christ Jesus. The Savior has suffered the consequences of our sins as our substitute. He will experience no condemnation, and we as those He represents will not either. Note the absolute force of this great promise. We are eternally secure!
"The Law condemns; but the believer has a new relationship to the Law, and therefore he cannot be condemned."243
8:2 Paul used "law"here figuratively for "principle"(v. 23). He was not referring to the Mosaic Law (cf. 7:21). These laws refer to the certainty and regularity that characterize the operations of the Spirit and sin. The Spirit's work that comes to us because of faith in Jesus Christ leads to fullness of life, and sin leads to death. Ultimate ends are again in view.
"The subject here is no longer Christ's work for us, but the Spirit's work within us. Without the Spirit within as a law of life, there would be nothing but condemnation: for the new creature has no power within himself apart from the blessed Spirit,--as against a life of perpetual bondage to the flesh,--'the end of which things is death' (6.21)."244
8:3 The Mosaic Law cannot set us free from sin and death (v. 2; cf. ch. 7) because its only appeal is to the basic nature of man. It urges us intellectually to obey God, but it does not provide sufficient power for obedience. Fortunately God sent His own Son out of the depths of His love to deal effectively with sin.
Paul referred to both the person and work of Christ in this verse. Jesus Christ came "in the likeness of sinful flesh"(cf. Phil. 2:7), not "in sinful flesh"or "in the likeness of flesh."He was both sinless and a real person.
"For sin,"the literal Greek rendering, has a wider connotation than "as an offering for sin"or "a sin offering"and is the better translation. The Law could not deal with sin. Consequently God sent His own Son to do so. That is the point of the verse.
"The battle was joined and the triumph secured in that same flesh which in us is the seat and agent of sin."245
"The law of double jeopardy' states that a man cannot be tried twice for the same crime. Since Jesus Christ paid the penalty for your sins, and since you are in Christ,' God will not condemn you."246
8:4 Here the purpose of the Incarnation appears in the context of the struggle of chapter 7. God fulfills the Law's requirements in us by His Spirit who indwells and empowers us. However this is not automatic because He indwells us. He fulfills them if and as we walk by the Spirit rather than walking according to the flesh. Walking by the Spirit means walking in submission to and dependence on the Spirit (cf. Gal. 5:16). Walking according to the flesh means behaving as the flesh dictates and allowing our sinful nature to govern our lives.
"To walk according to the flesh,' then, is to have one's life determined and directed by the values of this world,' of the world in rebellion against God. It is a lifestyle that is purely human' in its orientation. To walk according to the Spirit,' on the other hand, is to live under the control, and according to the values, of the new age,' created and dominated by God's Spirit as his eschatological gift."247
8:5 Here Paul began to elaborate the difference between "flesh"and "Spirit."This distinction is difficult to grasp because both terms have more than one meaning. To "walkaccording to the flesh"(v. 4) means to carry out in conduct what the human nature desires. To "beaccording to the flesh"(v. 5) means to allow the human nature to dominate one's life. To "bein the flesh"(v. 8) is to be unregenerate, to be devoid of the Spirit.
The "Spirit"seems from the context to refer to the Holy Spirit rather than to the regenerated spirit of man. Those who prefer the second view tend to describe man as having two natures, an old sinful one and a new one that would be the same as this regenerated human spirit (cf. Gal. 5:16-17). In favor of the former view, the chapter began with a clear reference to the Holy Spirit (v. 2). Other following references to "spirit"(Gr. pneuma) would therefore normally be to the same Spirit. Furthermore, it is reasonable that in identifying the basis for Christian victory Paul would point to the ultimate source, the Holy Spirit, rather than to a secondary agent, our human spirit.
8:6 A mind set on following the flesh concentrates on and desires the things of the flesh (cf. Phil. 2:5; Col. 3:2). The end of that attitude is ultimately death. However a mind set on yielding to the Spirit will experience life and peace. Peace with God (reconciliation) seems to be in view here. Still whenever there is peace with God, peace with other people normally follows.
8:7-8 A mind set on the flesh is essentially hostile toward God. To set one's mind on the flesh is contrary to God's law.
From the end of verse 7 it seems clear that Paul was thinking of an unsaved person (cf. vv. 8-9). Evidently he wanted "to expose the flesh in its stark reality as being totally alien to God and his purpose."248What interests a person reveals his or her essential being. It is possible to walk according to the flesh (vv. 4-5) and not to be in the flesh, however. In other words, it is possible to live as an unregenerate person even though one has experienced regeneration.
8:9 "However"marks a contrast. Paul's readers were not those who only had a sinful human nature. They also had the indwelling Holy Spirit. We could translate the first "if"as "since"(first class condition in Greek) because here it represents a condition that Paul assumed was true to reality. Everyone who trusts in Jesus Christ in the age in which we live possesses the indwelling Holy Spirit (cf. Eph. 1:13; 1 Cor. 12:13).
"Here the great mark of a true Christian is, that the Spirit of God dwells in him."249
This is one of the clearest statements in Scripture that corrects the false notion that baptism with the Spirit is a second work of grace for the Christian.
"Nowhere in Scripture do we find a clearer indication that the Spirit enters a person's life at the moment of conversion (cf. also 1 Cor 12:13). If the Spirit needed to wait for some subsequent commitment to holiness, it follows that he would be absent between conversion and that later point in time. But that cannot be because Paul clearly indicated that a person without the Spirit does not belong to Christ."250
8:10 Note the close affinity between the Spirit and the Son in this verse and the last. "If"is again "since."The Spirit's indwelling means that God indwells (cf. Eph. 3:16-17).
"Spirit"in this verse also probably refers to the Holy Spirit. The context favors this interpretation as does the sense of the verse. "Alive"is literally "life"(cf. v. 2). The meaning of the clause seems to be this. The Holy Spirit is the source of spiritual life for the redeemed person who now possesses Jesus Christ's imputed righteousness.
". . . whenever you see a Christian living the Christian life, you are witnessing a resurrection miracle!"251
The "body"represents the whole person, not just his or her physical shell. This was Paul's normal meaning when he used this word.252
8:11 The Spirit in view is again God's Spirit. The point is that the same Holy Spirit who raised Jesus will also raise believers.
"The Spirit is both the instrumental cause of the resurrection-act and the permanent substratum of the resurrection-life."253
This verse constitutes a powerful argument for the physical resurrection of believers.
