By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study, we looked
at verses 14-25 of chapter 7.
1.1.1. We finished
up that chapter that revealed Paul’s struggle in the flesh that he continually
faced. Paul saw that though as a born
again Christian he agreed with the Law of God in his inward man, and saw the
spirituality, importance, and beauty of the Law, that he found that he was an
enigma to himself because he found himself sometimes doing the things that he
did not want to do and not doing the things that he wanted to do.
1.1.2. We also
noted that Paul, the most eminent apostle and the most successful Christian to
ever live, in chapter 7 was speaking of his present spiritual experience, not
his pre-Christian experience, and that in that chapter he spoke throughout of
his present experience of failure. Therefore, we noted that if Paul failed we can
be sure that we ourselves will likewise fail.
1.1.3. We saw that
chapter 7 and chapter 8 of Romans describe opposite experiences.
Chapter 7 describes Paul’s attempts to live his Christian life in the power of
his own flesh which caused him countless failures. Chapter 8 describes the victorious Christian
walk that he experienced when he walked in the power and leading of the Holy
Spirit, reckoning himself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus’
resurrection life on a moment by moment experience.
1.2.
In our study today, we are going to look at verses 1-4
of chapter 8.
1.2.1. Here in
chapter 8 of Romans we see an entirely different Paul and an entirely different
experience which he had in his Christian walk.
This walk described in chapter 8 is a walk in victory over indwelling
sin.
1.2.2. In chapter
7, Paul wrote about all of his many failures in his life to keep God’s Law, and
now in chapter 8 Paul writes about how through walking in the power and leading
of the Holy Spirit he has victory keeping all of God’s laws.
1.2.3. Chapter 8
deals with the role of the Holy Spirit within the believer’s life.
1.2.4. We also saw
in chapter 7 how that Paul began to talk about several “principles” (or
laws) that were in operation in his life.
He said in verse 21 of chapter 7 that there was this law or principle
that “evil dwelt within him,” the one who desired to do God’s will. Paul said in verse 23 that there was another
principle or law working within him, in his members, and that thus his flesh was
waging war against the principle or law in his mind. Then Paul said in verse 25 of chapter 7 that
with his mind he was serving the law of God, but that in his flesh he was
serving the law of sin. So then, with
the backdrop of all of these principles or laws that were in operation, Paul
writes chapter 8 of Romans.
1.2.5. The
essential foundation for Paul’s experience of chapter 8 was that now his
Christian life was not a set of rules and legalism but a deep understanding of
the grace of God in his life. Paul
realized that now that he was in Christ Jesus he was “justified” and
that this occurred because he as a Christian was in a position with God where
he was no longer under any “condemnation.” Jesus Christ had been condemned, judged, and
justly punished for his sins and therefore he was free from any and all
condemnation.
1.2.6. Chapter 8 of
Romans is one of the most encouraging chapters in all of the Bible. In chapter 8, Paul reveals many aspects of
the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life. Chapter 8 deals primarily with the process of
the work of sanctification of the believer through the Holy Spirit. Chapter 7 dealt with how we as Christians
cannot keep God’s Laws in and of ourselves, and therefore that we cannot
perfect ourselves in God’s sight, which prepares us for chapter 8 where Paul
deals with how that the Holy Spirit Himself does that work of sanctification
within Christian’s lives.
1.2.7. On the
internet I was surfing around reading Bible study notes on this chapter and I
happened upon one from a man named Ray Stedman, and though I do not know
anything about him and his ministry I agreed wholeheartedly with what he wrote
about this chapter: “The eighth
chapter of Romans is the favorite chapter of many of you, I know -- and not
without reason. This is one of the most significant chapters of the Scriptures.
Somebody has likened this to "the brightest jewel in the casket of gems in
the Word of God." I like to think of it as a great mountain, like
1.2.8. John
MacArthur, in “Alone With God” has written, “Believers receive God’s
judicial forgiveness the moment they trust Christ as their Savior from sin.
Such forgiveness is comprehensive in the reality of justification, by which God
declares us righteous in His Son. As a result, we are no longer under judgment,
condemned to die, nor any longer destined for hell. Paul says, “There is
therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (
2. VS 8:1 – “8:1
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” - Paul tells us that there is no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus
2.1.
Paul begins this chapter using the word ‘therefore,’
and we have to thus ask the question as to what that Paul had written
previously that he is specifically referring to when he uses this word.
2.1.1. I don’t think
that the answer to this question is that Paul is referring solely to chapter
7. He must be referring to everything
that he had written up to this point. He
is thus referring to chapters 3-4 where he wrote about justification coming
about as a result of faith and not works.
2.1.2. Paul must
also be referring to the results of justification which he wrote about in
chapter 5.
2.1.3. He must also
be referring to the believer’s identification with Christ in His death, burial,
and resurrection which he wrote about in chapter 6.
2.1.4. Finally, he
must also be referring to chapter 7 where he wrote about the believer’s
inability to keep God’s Laws in and of himself, and of his constant failures in
trying to walk in a way that is pleasing to God. To all of these, Paul is referring when he
writes this word ‘therefore’ in verse 1 of this chapter.
2.2.
So then, Paul is saying that because of the summation
of the truths that he had written about in the book of Romans up to this point,
that when a person has come to a saving faith in Christ, that he or she is no
longer under ‘condemnation’ by God.
That is, he is saying that a believer will never stand before God on the
basis of his sin, and thus a believer in Christ shall never be “condemned”
by God.
2.3.
To whom Paul is referring when he says that they are
no longer under ‘condemnation,’ is those who are ‘in Christ Jesus.’
2.3.1. People
sometimes gloss over this phrase ‘those who are in Christ Jesus,’ and
then they come up with a silly unscriptural Universalist position that
conceives that God has blanketed all mankind through the work of Christ to be
in a state of ‘no condemnation.’
However, this promise of ‘no condemnation’ is limited to those
who have come to saving faith in Jesus Christ for eternal salvation.
2.4.
The ‘no’ in this verse is emphatic. There is no condemnation whatsoever, whether
from the Law, inward corruption, accusation from the enemy, or any other
source. ‘No condemnation’ is or
ever will be possible because there can be no accusation when there is no imputation
of sin (see 4:8).
2.5.
Paul had written in Rom. 1:18 that the “wrath of
God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness,” and that therefore
all who have not come into a saving relationship with Christ are awaiting the
revelation of God’s wrath. That is why
Paul states that it is ‘now’ that a Christian is no longer under
condemnation because of his faith in Jesus Christ. God’s wrath is being stored up for all
non-believers. Unbelievers will stand
before God and be judged and condemned for their many sins, and the punishment
for those sins will be eternal agony and death in hell.
2.6.
The person who has come to faith in Christ has been
forgiven and had all of his sins washed away.
Now, as long as he remains ‘in Christ Jesus,’ he will never come
under God’s condemnation of him for his sins.
God has forgiven Christians, forgotten their sins, and justified them,
or made it just as if they had never sinned.
Never shall those sins be brought up again in God’s presence.
2.7.
The KJV adds to the end of this verse, “for those
who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” However, it has been proven by numerous
scholars that this phrase is not in the oldest manuscripts, and thus this verse
is not included in the NASB translation that I use, as well as many newer
translations. There have been many
reasons conjectured for why this clause suddenly appears in the newer Greek
manuscripts.
2.7.1. Some have
guessed that the copyists accidentally added the clause here when it should
only have been added in verse 4.
2.7.2. Others have
suggested that the church fathers thought that this verse went too far and gave
people the idea that they could do anything in their life that they wanted to
do after becoming Christians. Therefore,
to keep the scriptures from giving the sanction of license to sin, the copyists
added this clause to this verse.
2.8.
We do know that if all of the older manuscripts do not
contain this clause, that we should conclude that it was not in the original
writing by Paul.
2.9.
The promise of no condemnation in this verse has to
affect our lives as believers. If we are
not radically changed as a result of understanding this promise, then we have
reason even to question our salvation.
As one pastor has said, “Then we must be dead!”
2.10.
If we have been set free from any future condemnation
through our simple trusting in Christ for salvation, then we should also be
motivated by the greatest degree of love for Christ in our life.
2.11.
Jon Courson writes of Romans
8, that it should heal us from all depression.
If we are depressed it must be because of something in our past, our
present condition, or something in which we fear the future holds for us. In Romans 8, we see that we never have to
worry about condemnation from God concerning anything that we have done in our
past. Our present condition then is guaranteed to contain life and victory
through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
2.12.
Spurgeon, the
great English preacher of a century and a half ago once said the following when
preaching on this verse, “What a joyful statement it is! It makes one laugh
for joy of heart. If you have ever been
burdened with a sense of sin you will know the sweetness of the text. You that are not sinners, you good
respectable people who are sailing to heaven in your own ship, there is nothing
in it for you. Gospel assurances are not
for you; you would not prize them, and therefore you have neither part nor lot
in them. For Jesus Christ came not to
call the righteous but sinners to repentance.
But you that have been whipped of the devil and dragged at the heels of
your sins, you that have been broken and crushed as in a mortar, with a pestle,
till you are ground fine under the hand of conviction, you are the people that
will leap for joy as you hear the silver trumpet ring out the note of “no
condemnation.” Come, let us be glad. Let us rejoice together because
there is now no condemnation to us. When Giant Despair’s head was cut off, Mr.
Bunyan says that the pilgrims danced; and well they might. Mr. Despondency and Miss Much-afraid took a
turn, and even Ready-to-Halt with his crutches must needs join in. I warrant you he footed it well. When he saw the monster’s head upon the pole
he could not help being merry. This text sticks the giant’s head up on the pole
for us. “There is therefore now no condemnation.” Oh for the
loud-sounding cymbals! Now for the
maidens and their timbrels. Let us have holy merriment over this. Poor prodigal sinners have fled to Jesus and
hidden in him, and there is now no condemnation to them. Poverty?
Yes, but no condemnation. Depression of spirit? Yes, sometimes; but no condemnation.
Infirmities and weaknesses, and things to grieve over? Yes, plenty of them, but no
condemnation. “O come, let us
sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful
noise to the rock of our salvation!””
2.13.
We will see in the latter verses in chapter 8, that
nothing in our future can separate us from the love of God. Therefore, if we understand chapter 8 of
Romans, how could we ever be depressed?
2.14.
In relation to this verse, we Christians should think
about how Jesus dealt with people in the gospels and realize that He will deal
with us in the same way.
2.14.1.
Jesus said in John 3:18, “18 “He who believes in Him
is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has
not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
2.14.2.
Jesus said in John 5:24, “24 “Truly, truly, I say
to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life,
and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”
2.14.3.
We can also see how that Jesus dealt with the woman
caught in adultery. John 8:10-11 records
Jesus’ words to the woman, “10 And straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman,
where are they? Did no one condemn you?” 11 And she said, “No one, Lord.” And
Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go your way. From now on sin no more.”
2.14.3.1. Jesus deals
with all Christians just as He did with the woman caught in adultery, He will
not condemn us.
2.15.
We Christians must get it into our minds that Jesus
Himself has done all for us everything necessary in order to make us righteous,
and bring us to that place where there is no condemnation for us since we are
in Christ. Paul wrote on 1 Cor. 1:30,
“30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from
God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,”
2.15.1.
Paul wrote about his own life and ambitions in Phil.
3:9, “9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own
derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the
righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.”
2.16.
We as Christians need to realize that God always looks
at us through the grid of Christ, if we have truly been saved, and thus we are
always before Him under ‘no condemnation.’ Paul wrote about this in Col. 1:22-23, “22 yet
He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to
present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach— 23 if indeed you
continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from
the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all
creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.”
3. VS 8:2 - “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 tells us that the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus has set us who are Christians free from the law of sin and
of death
3.1.
In this verse, Paul refers to two spiritual principles
or laws, one that he actually has referred to many times in the book of
Romans: ‘the law of sin and of death.’ Paul had talked about the “wages of sin
being death” in verse 23 of chapter 6.
Death is earned, and it is earned by the act of sinning. Sin always brings death, and in fact, Paul
had referred to the reign of Adam as being a reign of death, since the reign of
Adam (or those who are in Adam) was a reign of sin in all of his descendants. This reign of death, and principle of sin
bringing about death, is what Paul is referring to when he says that the
Christian has been set free ‘from the law of sin and of death.’
3.2.
How has the Christian been set free from the principle
or ‘the law of sin and of death’?
It is through the work of the Holy Spirit within them. It is because of the second spiritual
principle or law ‘of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus’ working within
the Christian.
3.3.
The Holy Spirit can fill and control a believer’s
heart and mind, and thus he/she will be able to walk in a way that is pleasing
to God. In chapter 7, Paul talked about
his continual failure to keep God’s Law in and of his own strength. Here in this verse, Paul says that the
Christian can walk in a way that pleases God.
Walking under the power and leading of the Holy Spirit, the believer now
escapes the principle or law of sin which produces death.
3.4.
For the Christian, there is a spiritual principle or
law within them which supersedes another spiritual principle or law. We know that the Law of Gravity is a constant
in our world on this earth. No matter
what one does, he is subject to the Law of Gravity. However, if one goes up in a space craft into
orbit around the earth, the “Law of Weightlessness” takes over and
supersedes the “Law of Gravity.”
Suddenly, a person in a space craft in orbit around our earth will find
that they are no longer being pulled down towards the earth, but rather they
begin to float freely in air. In the
same way, when a person comes to Christ, the Holy Spirit begins to lead and
empower them, and he no longer is bound to the same tendency to sin and fail to
obey God’s will and Laws in his life. He
is free from the law.
3.5.
Paul calls it the Spirit ‘of life’ because walking
in the leading and empowering of the Holy Spirit invariably leads to ‘life,’
the very eternal ‘life’ of God.
3.6.
We Christians ought to be living in the freedom from
sin and death that being in Christ Jesus should produce in us. Are you walking in that freedom from sin and
its consequences? Or, are you still in
some bondage? If so, repent of your sins
and begin to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit by faith.
3.7.
We Christians need to think about what Jesus said in
John 6:63 about the fact that it is only by walking in the Holy Spirit that we
are walking in life, for the flesh does not profit us spiritually at all, “63 “It
is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have
spoken to you are spirit and are life.”
4. VS 8:3 - “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,” - Paul tells us that what the Law could not do
the Lord did by sending Jesus in the likeness of sinful flesh to be an offering
in the flesh
4.1.
There was never a moral flaw in God’s Law, for as Paul
has written in this book, it is “holy, just, and good.” However, the Law did not impart the power to
keep the Law, it simply reveals to man when he fails to keep the Law. Thus, the problem is with us, and the
weakness of our flesh. We can not keep
God’s Law through our own flesh and will-power.
4.2.
Since man could not come into a relationship with God
that was pleasing to Him through trying in his own flesh to keep God’s Law, God
Himself provided the way for man to be able to come into that relationship by
sending Jesus to come and die as a sin offering for the sins of mankind. The apostle John wrote about this in 1 John
4:10, “10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and
sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” The word “propitiation” means full
payment or satisfaction.
4.3.
Jesus Christ became an offering for our sins, and as a
result He provided for the believer’s death to sin. This “death to sin” is what I believe
that Paul is referring to when he says that Christ ‘condemned’ sin. This condemnation or death of sin Christ
effected through His own ‘flesh’ upon the cross of
1)
to give judgment against, to judge worthy of punishment
1a) to condemn
1b)
by one’s good example to render another’s wickedness the more evident
and censurable
4.4.
In thinking about why Paul uses the phrase ‘in the
likeness of sinful flesh’ in explaining the nature of Jesus, I think about
the fact that Jesus was totally God, God the Son from all eternity, and thus He
could qualify to be the One who could make atonement for our sins. He was likewise totally man and thus
qualified to make atonement for our sins since He was in a sense a “kinsman
redeemer.” His being totally human
also equipped Him in a practical sense to be our High Priest, since He would
understand all that we have gone through in our life.
4.5.
Jesus Christ He Himself never sinned, nor was He born
in sin, however in His humanness He was made ‘in the likeness of sinful
flesh.’
4.6.
We Christians need to recognize that Jesus Christ has
already made an offering for our sin, it is already atoned for. There is nothing more that is needed to be
done by our part in order for us to be forgiven or obtain God’s favor. We need to just accept that God loves and
accepts us in Christ. Likewise, He has
already put death or ‘condemned’ sin in our life, thus we just need to
reckon ourselves as dead to sin and alive unto God.
5. VS 8:4 - “4 in order that the requirement
of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but
according to the Spirit.” - Paul tells
us that the requirements of the Law are fulfilled in us who do not walk
according to the flesh but according to the Spirit
5.1.
In this verse, Paul talks about how it is that men and
women can walk in a way that pleases God.
Paul says that Christians can fulfill ‘the requirement of the Law’
by walking in the Spirit.
5.2.
Walking in the Spirit doesn’t mean we Christians are
to be swinging from the chandeliers, it means to walk controlled, empowered,
and led by the Holy Spirit. As we know
from Gal. 5:17, which we have referred to many times in our study, the flesh
and the Spirit are at war within a Christian.
One or the other is dominating at any given time. A person is either walking in the Spirit, or
he is walking in the flesh.
5.3.
It is interesting that in this verse, Paul didn’t say
how long a person has to have known Christ in order to be fulfilling the
requirement of the Law by walking in the Spirit. He likewise doesn’t mention how mature in
Christ a person has to be in order to walk in a way that pleases the Lord. From the youngest to the oldest Christian, in
terms of years of walking and maturity in Christ, a person can walk in the
Spirit and thus be where the Lord wants him to be, as he is fulfilling God’s
requirements for his life.
5.4.
This Greek word translated ‘requirement’ in
this verse is translated as “righteousness” in the KJV, and the word has
that connotation to it. Walking in the
Spirit satisfies God’s righteousness for a Christian. Strong’s Greek Dictionary has the following
definition for the word :
1)
that which has been deemed right so as to have force of law
1a) what has been established, and ordained by
law, an ordinance
1b) a judicial decision, sentence
1b1) of God
1b1a)
either the favourable judgment by which he
acquits man and declares them acceptable to Him
1b1b) unfavourable:
sentence of condemnation
2)
a righteous act or deed
5.5.
We Christians must learn to look to the leading of the
Holy Spirit in our lives and not depend upon our own wisdom, knowledge, and
understanding. We have a new dynamic in
our lives, and we have to learn to walk so as to be as sensitive to the Holy
Spirit’s leading of us as we possibly can be.
5.6.
We Christians need to ask ourselves sometimes as to
whether or not we are displaying the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. Are we truly walking in the Holy Spirit? If so, is the fruit of the Spirit should be
seen in our life? Paul wrote about the
fruit of the Spirit in Gal. 5:22-24, “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness,
self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to
Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
5.7.
Paul taught that since we Christians have this new
dynamic of the Holy Spirit living and ruling in our lives that we are now no
longer under the authority and institution of the Law of Moses. Paul believed this so much that he wrote, “all
things are lawful but not all things are profitable,” 1 Cor. 6:12;
10:23. Since being a Christian, Paul
walked under a higher, more demanding law, the law of love. He surrendered his freedoms in Christ when
necessary, out of love, so that he could never cause a brother to stumble, for
instance. We Christians then need to
learn to walk with our heart tuned to the Holy Spirit so that we can be sure to
be walking in the victory over our flesh, and thus fulfilling the Law of God. Those who are led by the Spirit of God are
the Sons of God.
6. CONCLUSIONS:
6.1.
We Christians need to realize that although we have
learned incredible truths from chapter 8 of Romans that there will still be
times when we experience chapter 7 and fail attempting to live for God under
the power of our own flesh. Spurgeon
once preached about this, saying, “We once heard a friend say, “I
have got out of the seventh of Romans into the eighth.” Nonsense! There
is no getting out of one into the other, for they are one. The field is not
divided by hedge or ditch. I thank God with all my heart that since my
conversion I have never known what it is to be out of the seventh of Romans,
nor out of the eighth of Romans either: the whole passage has been solid truth
to my experience. I have struggled against inward sin, and rejoiced in complete
justification at the same time.”
Don’t let your failures discourage, the apostle Paul did not let his
failures discourage him.
6.2.
Since we Christians do fail the Lord at times
throughout our lives, and yet the Lord does not condemn us but provides that we
should be forgiven, cleansed, and restored, and he does this with us because
our relationship with Him is not based upon our performance but He loves us
just as much when we fail Him, then we ought to be people who extend great
grace to one another. We must never be
people who know we are unconditionally accepted and loved by God and yet we
treat friends, family, parents or children as if they were on a works
relationship with us. We must learn to
love unconditionally all around us, simply love others with the same love that
God loves us with.
6.3.
Jesus instated one new law when He was with His
disciples. He told them that they were
to “love one another,” and this meant to love each other with the same type
and quality of love that He had loved them with. Again, we Christians need to be committed to
loving others unconditionally just as the Lord loves us.