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
