Romans 8:1 - Meaning and Application

The apostle begins here with one great privilege of true Christians and describes the people who have it: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). This is his victory song after the sad struggle in the previous chapter. Sin is still present, and it still troubles and bothers believers, but, blessed be God, it does not destroy them. He speaks first of his own comfort, then passes that comfort along to all true believers, because all of them share in it.

This is the unspeakable comfort of all who are in Christ Jesus: there is now no condemnation for them. He does not say there is no accusation against them, because accusations do come. But the accusation is thrown out, and the charge is dismissed. He also does not say there is nothing in them that deserves condemnation, because there is much that does. They see it, admit it, grieve over it, and condemn themselves for it. Yet it will not ruin them. He does not say there is no suffering, no correction, or no displeasure in their troubles, because there may be. But there is no condemnation. They may be disciplined by the Lord, but they will not be condemned with the world.

This rests on their being in Christ Jesus. By faith they are united to him, and so they are safe. They are in Christ as in a city of refuge, protected from the avenger of blood. He is their advocate, and he brings them through. There is no condemnation because they share in the payment Christ made to the law by his death. In Christ, God does more than simply not condemn them, he is pleased with them (Matthew 17:5).

It is also the clear mark of everyone who is in Christ Jesus and freed from condemnation: they do not walk after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Notice that this mark is given from their walk, their whole course of life, not from one isolated action. The great question is this: what principle guides the walk, the flesh or the Spirit, the old nature or the new, sin or grace? Which one do we care about, make room for, follow, and support?

The apostle then explains this great truth in the verses that follow and shows both how we receive this privilege and how we answer to this character. How do we come by these blessings, the privilege of justification, meaning being counted right with God, and the privilege of sanctification, meaning being made holy? For walking after the Spirit is not only our duty, it is also our privilege. First, the law could not do it (Romans 8:3). It could neither justify us nor make us holy, neither free us from sin’s guilt nor from its power, because it had no promise of pardon or grace. The law made nothing complete. It was weak. It did make some attempt toward these blessed ends, but it could not finish them. Its weakness was not the law’s fault, but ours. Our sinful nature made us unable to be justified or sanctified by the law. We had become unable to keep it, and if we failed, the law as a covenant of works gave no rescue and left us as it found us. Or this may point to the ceremonial law, which was like a bandage too small for the wound. It could never take away sin (Hebrews 10:4).

Second, “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” does this (Romans 8:2). The covenant of grace made in Christ is a storehouse of merit and grace, and from it we receive pardon and a new nature. We are set free from the law of sin and death, that is, from both the guilt and the power of sin, from the rule of the law, and from the rule of the flesh. We are under another covenant, another master, another husband, under the law of the Spirit, the law that gives the Spirit, the spiritual life that prepares us for eternal life. The foundation of this freedom is in Christ’s work for us, which Paul speaks of in Romans 8:3, when God sent his own Son. When the law failed, God provided another way. Christ came to do what the law could not do. Moses brought Israel to the edge of Canaan and then died, leaving them there. Joshua did what Moses could not do and brought them into the land. So Christ did what the law could not do.

To make the verse clearer, we may read it this way: God sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and as a sacrifice for sin, and by this he condemned sin in the flesh, which the law could not do because it was weak through the flesh (Romans 8:4). Christ came in the likeness of sinful flesh, not sinful himself, for he was holy, harmless, and undefiled. Yet he truly took on our human nature, which was corrupt, though he was himself free from corruption. His circumcision, his redemption, and his baptism by John all showed this likeness to sinful flesh. The bronze serpent healed the bites of the fiery serpents. It had the shape of the snakes that had bitten the people, though it had none of their poison. It was a great act of humility that the Son of God should come in human flesh. It was even greater that the holy one should come in the likeness of sinful flesh.

The words “and for sin” mean “as a sacrifice for sin.” The best Greek copies place the pause there. God sent him in the likeness of sinful flesh, and as a sin offering. That is how the Septuagint often speaks of a sin offering, and Christ was sent to be that sacrifice (Hebrews 9:26).

By his coming, sin was condemned. This means that God showed his hatred of sin more clearly than ever before. More than that, for all who belong to Christ, sin’s condemning power and ruling power are broken and taken away. One who is condemned can neither accuse nor govern. His word carries no force, and his authority is gone. In this way sin is condemned through Christ. Though sin still lives and remains, its life in believers is only like the life of a condemned criminal. By condemning sin, death was robbed of its power, and the devil, who held the power of death, was destroyed. The condemning of sin saved the sinner from condemnation. Christ was made sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21), and when he was condemned, sin was condemned in his flesh, in his human nature. In this way satisfaction was made to divine justice, and a way was opened for the sinner’s salvation.

The happy result is this: “that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us” (Romans 8:4). In both our justification and our sanctification, the law’s righteous requirement is fulfilled.

Christ’s complete and perfect righteousness covers the breach of the law, because God counts it to us. That righteousness answers the law’s full demands, much like the mercy seat was as long and as broad as the ark. The law’s obedience is also fulfilled in us when the Spirit writes the law of love on the heart, and love becomes the fulfilling of the law (Romans 13:10).

So, even if the righteousness the law requires is not fulfilled by us, blessed be God, it is fulfilled in us. In all true believers, there is something that answers the law’s intent. This promise belongs to those who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. That means they live from spiritual principles, not carnal ones. For everyone else, the righteousness of the law will be fulfilled in their ruin.

We can test whether we belong to this class by looking at our minds, as Romans 8:5 and following teach. What do we care about most, the things of the flesh or the things of the Spirit? The things of the flesh are carnal pleasures, worldly gain, honor, and the things seen in this life. These are what unregenerate, that is, unconverted, people focus on. The things of the Spirit are God’s favor, the soul’s good, and the matters of eternity, and these are what spiritual people seek.

A person is shaped by what fills the mind. The mind is the workshop where thoughts are formed. As a person thinks in his heart, so he is (Proverbs 23:7). What do our thoughts move toward most easily? What do we dwell on with the most delight? The mind is also the center of wisdom, so we should ask where our plans and choices lead. Are we wiser for the world, or wiser for our souls? The word used here means to savor or set the mind on things. It matters greatly what we most enjoy, what news we welcome, and what comforts feel right to us.

To warn us against carnal-mindedness, the apostle shows how bitter and harmful it is, then sets it beside the beauty of spiritual-mindedness. Carnal-mindedness is death, in Romans 8:6. It is spiritual death, the sure road to eternal death. It is the death of the soul, because the soul is cut off from God, and true life is found only in union and fellowship with him. A carnal soul is a dead soul, dead in the deepest sense. She who lives for pleasure is dead, even while alive (1 Timothy 5:6).

Death includes every kind of misery, so carnal souls are miserable souls. But to be spiritually minded, to have a spiritual savor and a gracious principle within, is life and peace. That is the true happiness of the soul. The soul lives when it is joined to spiritual things by the mind. A sanctified, that is, set apart and made holy, soul is a living soul, and that life brings peace. All the paths of spiritual wisdom lead to peace. This life is already the beginning of eternal life and peace, and it is a sure pledge of their full perfection.

Carnal-mindedness is also enmity against God, as Romans 8:7 says, and that is even worse. Death shows the carnal sinner as a dead man, but enmity shows him as a man set against God. It is not just hostile, it is hostility itself. It is more than distance from God, it is resistance to him. It rebels against his authority, blocks his purpose, opposes his work, and spurns his kindness. There is no greater hatred than that.

This should humble us and warn us against carnal-mindedness. Why would we shelter what is enmity to God, our Creator, owner, ruler, and benefactor? The proof is clear: it does not submit to God’s law, and it cannot. The holiness of God’s law and the uncleanness of the carnal mind are as unlike as light and darkness. By God’s grace, a carnal person may be brought under the law of God, but the carnal mind itself cannot. It must be broken and driven out. This shows how deeply human will is enslaved to sin. Wherever the carnal mind has sway, there is no true desire for God’s law. So when change happens, it is by God’s grace, not by the freedom of man’s will.

From this the apostle concludes, in Romans 8:8, that those who are in the flesh cannot please God. People in a carnal, unregenerate state, under sin’s ruling power, cannot do what pleases God. They lack grace, which is the principle that makes a person pleasing to God, and they lack an interest in Christ, the one who pleads for us and brings us near. Even the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination (Proverbs 15:8). Since pleasing God is our highest purpose, those in the flesh must fall short of it. They cannot please him, and in fact they cannot help but displease him.

We can also test our state by asking whether we have the Spirit of God and Christ, as Romans 8:9 says. “You are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit” describes two very different conditions of the soul. All believers still have both flesh and spirit within them, but to be in the flesh or in the Spirit means to be ruled by one or the other. We use the same kind of language when we say a person is in love or in drink, meaning overcome by it. So the question is whether we are ruled by the flesh or by the Spirit, and the way to tell is by asking whether the Spirit of God lives in us.

The Spirit’s indwelling is the best proof that we are in the Spirit, because this indwelling is mutual (1 John 4:16). He who dwells in God, and in whom God dwells, belongs to him. The Spirit comes to many unconverted people with stirrings and warnings, but they resist and suppress him. In all who are sanctified, he dwells there, stays there, and rules there. He is like a man in his own house, where he is at home, welcome, and in authority. So we should ask our own hearts, who lives here, who rules here, who keeps house here, and whose interest has the upper hand?

The apostle adds a broad rule of testing: if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. To be Christ’s, meaning truly a Christian, one of his children, servants, friends, and united to him, is a great honor. Yet many claim it who have no true share in it. None are his unless they have his Spirit. That means, first, they must share his disposition, meek, humble, patient, peaceable, and charitable, as he was. We cannot walk in his steps unless we have his spirit, because our soul’s frame must match his example.

Second, they must be guided and directed by the Holy Spirit of God as their sanctifier, teacher, and comforter. Having the Spirit of Christ is the same as having the Spirit of God living in us. These two are closely joined, because all who are led by the Spirit of God as their rule are shaped to Christ’s spirit as their pattern.

This description of the kind of people who receive this first blessing, freedom from condemnation, should also be understood as applying to all the other blessings that follow.