Life: A Survey of Romans 8:1-17

Author’s note: This blog post is part of an ongoing series about the book of Romans. To see other Romans resources, click here. 

Believers have been set free from the law! The law was unable to free them from bondage to sin, and was even co-opted by sin to increase the transgression (see notes on Romans 7). Instead, believers rely on the Spirit to live victoriously over sin. This is what Paul now sets out to explain in Romans 8:1-17.

Freedom that Delivers from Condemnation (8:1-4)

After spending a significant amount of time describing ‘condemnation,’ Paul returns to the theme that he mentioned in Romans 5:18: “So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.”

The reason for this release from condemnation is because of the freedom that comes from being under a different ‘law.’ Here the word νομος (nomos, ‘law’) does not refer to a legal code but to a different principle, rule, or administration. Believers have been transferred to a different ‘administration’ that does not aggravate but squelches sin.

All of this is because of their new identity ‘in Christ Jesus.’ This is a significant phrase, although it only shows up three times in the chapter. However, the location of the occurrences is noteworthy. Paul bookends chapter 8 with the phrase, indicating that everything in this chapter is related to the believer’s standing ‘in Christ Jesus’ – legally and spiritually subsumed into him.

Put another way, we are released from condemnation because God did the opposite of the law’s attempts. The law, which we hoped would free us from condemnation, turned out to be sin’s instrument of condemnation. But God stepped in and condemned sin. Even more surprisingly, God used the flesh to condemn sin—the flesh of his son, Jesus. This is surprising because flesh is exactly what we would have assumed would not be his means of delivering us, since the law is weak precisely because it is operative on flesh.

The result of sin’s condemnation (i.e., our being delivered from its power and transferred from Adam to Christ) is that we are set free to accomplish the law’s purpose, but outside the administration of the law. Instead of living according to the dictates of the flesh, we are able to live according to the Spirit. The next section explains the meaning of this.

Identity that Leads to Life (8:5-11)

Paul begins by distinguishing between two different groups of people. These groups have different core identities, which is revealed through the different things they set their minds on. To ‘set the mind on’ is to have a mindset oriented toward and involves fixing the will on. One group of people have mindsets centered around the ‘flesh,’ a term with negative connotations. This does not mean that such people are always thinking about sin, but their lives are oriented toward what is spiritually meaningless and often detrimental. The other group of people have their lives oriented around and focus on what is spiritually significant and in line with what God’s spirit directs people toward.

The end results of these two groups are spelled out in verse 6. Death is the end-game for the fleshly-minded; life and peace is the end-game for the spirit-minded.

Verses 7-11 provide commentary on why this is the end result of these two groups.

First, the negative. The mind set on the flesh results in death because it falls under condemnation. This is because of its inability to obey God’s law; indeed, it is completely powerless to gain favor from God.

Second, the positive. The mind set on the flesh results in life and peace because God’s spirit is operative within such a person. Christ (including his Spirit) has residence in such a person, and this will lead them to a unique life.

Hence, although Christians have a body which will die (indeed, it may already be accounted as ‘dead because of sin’), they have a more powerful force within them, the Spirit, which is not only alive, but actually life-giving’ because he is the source of life itself ‘because of righteousness’. This results, ultimately, in the resurrection of the body. It is as though the Spirit is so full of life that anything that it takes residence in will ‘spontaneously enliven,’ even if it was previously dead!

Privileges that Bring an Inheritance (8:12-17)

Paul’s conclusion is that we are not ‘debtors’ to the flesh. It has no power, authority, or claim on us. We live under a different administration, and we have a different power operative within us.

This does not mean that righteousness is ‘automatic’ or happens without effort. We may not be ‘in the flesh,’ but we are constantly tempted to ‘live according to the flesh.’ Such a path leads inevitably to death. As Murray points out, “The believer’s once-for-all death to the law and to sin does not free him from the necessity of mortifying sin in his members; it makes it necessary and possible for him to do so.”

To prevent this gory result, we must actively ‘put to death the deeds of the body.’ Such language is bloody, and that is intentional. It is not an easy process. It is difficult and painful. To live in the Spirit is not to live an easy life. As Tom Schreiner notes in Romans (second edition), “…the desires to carry out the deeds of the body are incredibly strong, so strong that the overcoming of them is best described as putting to death that which is longing to burst forth into life…Human beings must summon and harness their wills to overcome sin, which desires to manifest itself in bodily actions. The squelching of sinful impulses is not finally attributed, however, to the agency of human willpower.” It is instead through the Spirit, by relying on the Spirit and the power which He brings.

As the Spirit is operative within us, giving us strength to kill the deeds of the body, we recognize that we are the sons of God, for we are being led by the Spirit.

The Spirit gives us further confirmation of our status as God’s son because we relate to God by crying out ‘Abba’ (something like ‘dear Father’), rather than shrinking away from him in fear. This is because the Spirit we have is the Spirit that comes with adoption, rather than a spirit that comes from slavery, i.e., slavery to sin.

Hence, as the Spirit is at work in our lives, we develop this gradually dawning certainty that we are God’s children. This is not just a personal conviction; it is something which the Spirit fosters. Such a status as God’s children means that we are heirs of God, with all the blessings that implies.

Paul throws in a final line— suffering is necessary. Lest he has given us an overly-rosy view of the Christian life, he reminds us that the Christian life is a path of suffering. In the next section of Romans, however, he will go on to show that the sufferings we endure are really quite minor in comparison to all the implications of being God’s heirs.