Commentary - Romans 8:1-4

Bird's-eye view

This passage marks a monumental shift in Paul's letter to the Romans. Having just concluded the agonizing cry of chapter seven, "Who will deliver me from this body of death?", Paul immediately provides the triumphant answer. This is not a shift in topic, but the glorious resolution. The chapter opens with the pinnacle of all gospel declarations: "no condemnation." This is a legal verdict, a definitive statement of acquittal issued from the courtroom of God. The rest of the passage serves to unpack the unshakable foundation upon which this verdict rests. It is not based on our performance, but on a liberation accomplished for us and in us. We have been set free from one jurisdiction, the law of sin and death, and placed under a new one, the law of the Spirit of life. This was achieved by God the Father sending God the Son to do what the Law, hampered by our sinful flesh, could never do: condemn sin itself. The result is not lawlessness, but the very fulfillment of the Law's righteous demands in those who now walk by the Spirit.

In short, these four verses contain the whole of the gospel. They declare our new status (justification), our new reality (liberation), the basis for it all (Christ's substitutionary work), and its necessary outworking (sanctification). It is the grand announcement that the war has been won, and what remains is for us to live out the realities of that victory.

Outline

Context In Romans

Romans 8:1 is the direct and immediate answer to the problem posed at the end of Romans 7. In that chapter, Paul describes the intense struggle of a man under the law, a man who delights in God's law in his inner being but finds another law at work in him, waging war and making him a prisoner to sin (Rom 7:22-23). This culminates in the desperate cry, "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (Rom 7:24). The answer is given in verse 25: "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" Chapter 8 then begins with a thunderous "Therefore," grounding the glorious declaration of "no condemnation" in the deliverance that is found exclusively in Jesus Christ. It is the beginning of Paul's extended explanation of the Christian's new life in the Spirit, a life free from condemnation, empowered for holiness, assured of future glory, and sealed by the unbreakable love of God.

Key Issues

The Verdict Is In

The transition from Romans 7 to Romans 8 is one of the most glorious moments in all of Scripture. It is like a man on trial, hearing the evidence pile up against him, knowing in his heart that he is guilty as charged, and resigning himself to the judge's sentence of death. And then, just as the gavel is about to fall, the judge looks at him and declares, "Not guilty. You are free to go." This is what Paul does here. He begins the chapter not with a suggestion, a hope, or a piece of advice, but with a formal, legal, and irreversible declaration. The verdict is in. For those who are in Christ Jesus, the trial is over, the case is closed, and the condemnation has been lifted, once and for all.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

The word Therefore connects this declaration directly to the preceding argument. Because deliverance comes through Jesus Christ our Lord (7:25), the logical result is this: no condemnation. The word "now" is emphatic. This is a present reality. It is not "there will be no condemnation" on the last day, though that is also true. It is that the state of non-condemnation begins the moment a person is united to Christ. Condemnation is a legal term; it means a guilty verdict with a sentence attached. So "no condemnation" means "no guilty verdict." It is a final acquittal. And who is this for? It is for "those who are in Christ Jesus." This is the location of our safety. It is not for those who are trying hard, or feeling spiritual, or making progress. The security is locational. If you are in the ark, you are safe from the flood. If you are in Christ, you are safe from the wrath of God. Union with Christ is everything.

2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

Paul now explains the legal basis for this acquittal. He uses the word "for," inviting us to understand the logic. He speaks of two competing laws, or ruling principles. The law of sin and of death is the old regime under which all of humanity in Adam lives. It is an inexorable principle: the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23). It is a spiritual law of gravity. If you sin, you die. But a new, more powerful law has intervened. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus is the ruling principle of the new creation. The Holy Spirit brings the life of Christ to us, and this life operates on a higher principle that overrides the old one. This is not annihilation, but liberation. A slave has been "set free." He has been bought out of one slave market and is now under the authority of a new, benevolent master. The chains have been broken.

3 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,

Here is another "for," further grounding the argument. Why was this new law of the Spirit necessary? Because the old Law of Moses, good and holy as it was, had a fatal problem. The problem was not with the Law, but with us. The Law was weak through the flesh. The Law is like a perfect set of instructions for building a house, but handed to a man with two broken arms. The instructions are fine; the builder is incapacitated. Our fallen human nature, what Paul calls "the flesh," is utterly incapable of keeping God's perfect standard. So God did what the Law could not. The solution was the incarnation. God sent His own Son "in the likeness of sinful flesh." This is a crucial phrase. Christ had real human flesh, but it was not sinful flesh. It was like ours in every way, yet without sin. He came "as an offering for sin," a direct reference to the sin offerings of the Old Testament. And in that flesh, on the cross, God did something remarkable. He condemned sin in the flesh. The sentence that should have fallen on us fell on our sin, which Christ was bearing in His own body. God executed sin itself in the person of His Son.

4 so that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

This verse gives the purpose and result of Christ's work. The goal was not simply to tear up the Law, but to see it fulfilled. The "righteous requirement" of the Law, its just demand for perfect obedience, is fulfilled in us. This is astounding. It is not just fulfilled for us by Christ, though it is that. It is also fulfilled in us. How? Through the indwelling Holy Spirit. This fulfillment is the characteristic of those who "walk according to the Spirit." To walk according to the flesh is to live as though the old regime of sin and death is still in charge. To walk according to the Spirit is to live in accordance with the new reality, the new law of life. This is not a condition for escaping condemnation, but the necessary evidence of it. The one who has been set free from condemnation will begin to live freely, and that freedom looks like a Spirit-empowered obedience from the heart.

Application

The first and most important application of this truth is assurance. The Christian's standing before God is not a matter of subjective feeling but of objective fact. If you are in Christ, there is no condemnation. Period. This is not a truth to be felt, but a truth to be believed and stood upon, especially when our feelings tell us otherwise. When our sins accuse us, when the devil whispers lies of our unworthiness, we must point to the declaration of God in Romans 8:1 and the finished work of Christ in Romans 8:3.

Second, this passage is the engine of true holiness. It does not lead to complacency, but to gratitude and a new way of life. We do not obey God in order to escape condemnation; we obey God because we have been rescued from condemnation. The pressure is off. We are no longer slaves trying to earn our freedom, but sons walking in the freedom our Father has purchased for us. This frees us to obey out of love, not fear. The Christian life is a matter of learning to walk by the Spirit, to live in line with the new reality that is already ours in Christ.

Finally, we must see that the Christian life is a supernatural one. The Law could not be fulfilled by natural human effort. It can only be fulfilled in us as we yield to the Holy Spirit. This means we must be done with all forms of self-righteous, fleshly religion. The Christian walk is one of daily dependence on the Spirit of God, the one who brings the life of Christ to dwell in us and work through us, fulfilling the very righteousness that the Law always demanded.