Romans 8:1-4: "Living in the Spirit"

Coming to Romans 8 we have found Paul making a case for salvation through faith alone through Christ alone. We have found Paul defending the Law, yet explaining its inability to save. He has explained to us that as unbelievers we are slaves to sin and that as believers we are slaves to righteousness. We have just finished the section in which Paul has explained that as Christians we will still sin because of the sinful human flesh we still have. Yet, our spirit has been renewed and is no longer a slave to sin, and we can choose righteousness. It is an everyday battle as we choose to fight with sin and holiness, but ultimately the believer will be glorified one day to never have to battle with sin again. We now come to a transition in Romans 8, in which the believer is called to practically walk in the new spirit he has been given through salvation. How, we might ask, can Paul in Rom 7:14 say, "For we know that the Law is spiritual; but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin", and then in Rom. 8:1,2 "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death". I have had this written in the back of my bible for years. I forget the commentator, but he had this to say about these two verses not contradicting one another, "How can I be sold as a slave to sin but also through Christ Jesus the Law of the Spirit of life set me free? How wonderful is the Word of God! What a true picture it draws of the person I really am! On the one hand I am a slave, a prisoner, for sin has such control over me that I cannot lead a sinless life (Jer. 17:9, Matt. 6:12, I John 1:8, 10) yet, on the other hand, I am a free person, for though Satan tries with all his might and trickery to keep me from doing what is right - such as trusting God for my salvation, invoking Him in prayer, rejoicing in Him, working for His causes, etc. he cannot throughout stop me from doing so. He cannot completely prevent me from experiencing the peace of God that transcends all understanding. The sense of victory, which I possess in principle even now and will possess in perfection in the future, sustains me in all my struggles. I rejoice in the freedom which Christ has earned for me! (Gal. 5:1)".

So after all Paul has said in the past 7 chapters he now writes, "There is therefore now no condemnation". What beautiful words for the sinners ears. The 'therefore now' refers to those who have received Christ as Lord and Savior. Paul will now begin and continue in explaining the wonderful results of justification. According to MacArthur condemnation comes from the Greek word katakrima which, "appears only in the book of Romans, here and in 5:16, 18. Although it relates to the sentencing for a crime, its primary focus is not so much on the verdict as on the penalty that the verdict demands". We have been told that all are guilty and all have fallen short of the glory of God. We know that the wages of sin is death (3:23), and apart from Christ we will spend eternity under his wrath and judgment. However, we get the wonderful and amazing news that we are no longer under the power of sin and have "now no condemnation". MacArthur writes, "That is the heart and soul of the gospel - that Jesus completely and permanently paid the debt of sin and the penalty of the law (which is condemnation to death) for every person who humbly asks for mercy and trusts in Him". This is a complete washing of sin and a right standing before a Holy God. What a wonderful sentence for us who deserve full condemnation and death.

Paul qualifies his statement for who no longer receives condemnation, it is only, "for those who are in Christ Jesus". For those of us who now have Christ in our hearts, we are cleansed from all unrighteousness and can stand just before a Holy and sinless God. Just as we have been "baptized with Christ" and have been "resurrected with Christ", so we also partake in the sinlessness of Christ, for those of us who are "in Christ Jesus". Paul tells us because, "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. MacArthur writes, "Those who believe in Jesus Christ are delivered from the condemnation of a lower divine law, as it were, by submitting themselves to a higher divine law. The lower law is the divine principle in regard to sin, the penalty for which is death, and the higher the law is the law of the Spirit, which bestows life in Christ Jesus . . . it should not be concluded that the law Paul is speaking of in this passage has no relationship to obedience. Obedience to God cannot save a person, because no person in his unredeemed sinfulness wants to obey God and could not obey perfectly even if he had the desire". However, it can be said that a believer will now desire complete obedience because of the new spirit he has received.

Paul, now focuses his attention on Christ as the substitute for us. He writes, "For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did". MacArthur writes, "This verse is perhaps the most definitive and succinct statement of the substitutionary atonement to be found in Scripture". As expressed earlier, Paul has told us that the Law has never had the ability to save. The misconception of the Jews that salvation through obedience to the Law, was the very fallacy Paul was trying to expose. He begins, "For what the Law could not do", that is grant salvation, "weak as it was through the flesh". Again, Paul upholds the Law as righteous and good, and the reason it was unable to save was not because it is deficient, but rather, because our flesh is deficient. If we were able to follow the law perfectly and never transgress against it, there would be no need for a Savior, however, we have established the fact that, "for all have sinned" . . . "there is no one who is righteous", and therefore are in desperate need for an alternative way to please God. And Paul gives us this alternative way, he tells us that "God did". God, "sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh", provided that way. Since our flesh is weak and unable to fulfill the demands of the Law, God in His perfect love and mercy, provided the way for reconciliation. He sent His perfect Son, as "an offering for sin". Christ was the only offering that would have been acceptable to God. No other person or thing could have been worthy to take on the sins of the world. It was Christ, who lived a perfect life, upholding every word of the Law, that was able to propitiate God's wrath against the world. It is against God and God alone that we have sinned, therefore, Christ being 100% God, was able to forgive us our sins. He had the right and the power to do so. There could have been no other acceptable substitute. MacArthur writes, "Jesus Christ condemned sin in the flesh. Whereas sin once condemned the believer, now Christ his Savior condemns sin, delivering the believer from sin's power and penalty".

All of this was done "in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us". MacArthur comments, "The believer's freedom from sin results in his present as well as in his ultimate sanctification. The true Christian has both the desire and the divinely-imparted ability to live righteously while he is still on earth. Because God sent His own Son to redeem mankind by providing the only sacrifice that can condemn and remove their sin (v.3), the requirement of the Law is able to be fulfilled in us, that is, in believers". When a person accepts Christ in their life and believes in Him in faith, they are immediately restored in their relationship to God. God now looks down on the believer through the life of Christ. Christ took all of our sins on Him at the cross, and imputed His perfect righteousness to us. In that way we have met "the requirement of the Law". What takes place after justification, is the process of God shaping us into Christ-likeness. This process of sanctification takes place over time as He desires us not to "walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit". God, through the Holy Spirit, allows our works to be of righteousness and pleasing to him. Whereas, before salvation every single deed was as a filthy rag. MacArthur writes, "It is God's great desire that believers live out the perfect righteousness that He reckons to them when they are saved - that they live like His children and no longer like the children of the world and of Satan. Positional righteousness is to be reflected in practical righteousness. Christ does not want a bride who is only positionally righteous but one who is actually righteous, just as He Himself is righteous. And through His indwelling Spirit, He gives believers that desire".

It is truly amazing to know that God not only desires for us to be reconciled to Him, but then desires us to live a life in holiness to Him. He knows we are of sinful flesh temporarily here on earth, however, he gives us His Spirit in order to allow us the ability to fight sin and be fruitful. However, he will even use the sinfulness in our own lives for His glory as He draws us back in repentance and restoration, constantly reminding us of our need for Him.