Grace Presbyterian Church, Montclair, New Jersey

Paul now turns away from the inner conflict the Christian faces with the law, sin and death to the solid basis of the Christian life. Basically Paul here is amplifying his first major concluding statement in Romans 5:12-21. On one side of the human situation was Adam, helpless under sin, law and death. On the other side was Christ, whose death brought forgiveness and life and whose effect was “much more” than what lay under Adam’s heritage (Romans 5:15-17). Following this monumental assertion with the implication of an “eschatological universalism” (Romans 5:18-21), Paul spent the next two chapters dealing first with the continuing possibility of sin (“Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound?” Romans 6:1) and second, with the law’s inability to do anything to correct the problem of sin (chapter 7). After dealing with those questions he now returns to the main subject of his argument, life in Christ.  What does it mean to live in terms of the grace of Christ as opposed to living under the power of sin, death and the law in Adam? Paul begins to build toward his second conclusion.

1. Paul begins with a central affirmation that can never be compromised: There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). Early Christian scribes apparently felt that this was too bold an affirmation. Therefore they added, “who walk not according to the flesh,” and also “but walk according to the Spirit” (cf. King James translation 1611). But this compromises the pure confidence of the gospel that Paul has been outlining throughout this epistle. This basic affirmation is essential both for what has gone before (the only hope of the “wretched man” of Romans 7:24) and what will come next.
2. Paul reaffirms the central point that the law with its inevitable corollary of “sin and death” no longer controls the Christian. We have been set free from its demands and its condemnation (Ephesians 2:15; Colossians 2:13-14). Yet Paul speaks here of the “law of the Spirit of life” (Romans 8:2). What is this? Paul seems to be referring to “law” in a general sense, not in the specific sense of the Torah, the Old Testament law. He is setting this law of the Spirit of life over against the former, the law of sin and death. Paul then is speaking of the Spirit of life (in the sense of the Holy Spirit) as a rule, a standard, indeed a new authority for Christians which now replaces the law of sin and death. The Mosaic law of the Old Testament has played its role. This law was and is, “holy and just and  good” (Romans 7:12). The law as our “tutor” (Galatians 3:24) played (past tense) an important role. The law accomplished the following purposes:
   1. It defined the will of God and sets the standard for human conduct — Leviticus 18:5; Galatians 3:12
   2. It defined sin — Romans 3:20; 7:7
   3. Its goal was to lead us to Christ — Galatians 3:19; Romans 10:4
3. The great truth, Paul continually reminds us, is that God himself has fulfilled the law (something we could never do) by sending Jesus Christ to die on the cross. Several things are crucial here:
   1. Christ was born “in the likeness of sinful flesh” (Romans 8:3).  Jesus was not a second Adam in the sense of an original creation.  Adam and Eve’s flesh, or humanity, was not inherently sinful.  It became sinful once they had disobeyed God.  Jesus, with the humanity of Mary’s lineage, is born with a predisposition to sin.  Yet Jesus never succumbs to this (Hebrews 4:15).
   2. Jesus in his death as a perfect sin offering condemned sin in his own flesh by taking upon himself the full consequences of all its guilt (Romans 8:3).
   3. Jesus therefore has fulfilled “the just requirement of the law” on our behalf.  The law can demand nothing more of us.
   We experience the full benefit of this as we walk in the Holy Spirit.  For Paul the Spirit grafts us onto Christ (Romans 5:1-5; II Corinthians 1:21-22) so that in fact Christ lives in us and we live in him (Galatians 2:20).
4. There is a warning here. We are not to walk according to the flesh, setting our minds on the things that come from it. Our flesh for Paul, is our sinful self. It is the opposite of life in the Spirit (Galatians 5:17). Living in the flesh is far more than committing sins in our flesh. It is returning to the dead end of chapter 7. It relates to our effort to please God, to follow him to obey his commandments. Conventional wisdom would want to say that this is what we should do but for Paul this is to fall back into the thinking of the law (“Do this and you shall live,” Leviticus 18:5). Our flesh is the center of our pride, our ego. In the flesh we can will to do what is right but we don’t have the power to carry it out (Romans 7:18). Setting our minds on the flesh can only lead to death since the law continually rises up against our flesh to condemn us (“The person who sins shall die,” Ezekiel 18:20). All the efforts and effects of the flesh are “hostile to God” (Romans 8:7). The law plays a continuing role for us in that whenever we are tempted to follow our flesh, to live in our own strength, to focus on ourselves, it rises up before us identifying our sin whatever that may be. More often than not it is the sin of pride (Leviticus 26:14-20).
5. Paul assures us that we are not “in the flesh.” We can no longer be defined by our sinful humanity with all its desires and illusions. Paul tells us that we are in the Spirit because through faith Christ is in us. Our bodies (a more limited idea than flesh) remain spiritually dead since sin still dwells within them. Paul here is defining the tension in the life of the believer. Our mortal bodies will respond to sin throughout this life. Yet the Holy spirit given to us on account of Christ’s righteousness brings us new life (Romans 8:10-11).
6. The critical difference between the situation Paul describes in chapter 7 and the one here in chapter 8 is the reality of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers. Paul appears to be radical enough to say that the law really plays no positive role in the life of the believer. The law just keeps bringing us back to the Romans 7 dead end. The entire Christian life for Paul is led in the Spirit: “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God (v. 14).” 
7. This raises an important question. Is there a need for regulations in the Christian life? Obviously a Christian community (the church) needs some structure and definition. But at the individual level do Christians need some kind of rule that defines what a Christian does or does not do? By the second century, within a century after Paul’s death, such rule books were beginning to appear. Throughout history most theologians have turned to at least the Ten Commandments for such a standard. In reality this is not Paul’s position. As he will say later, all of the law is summed up in the statement that we should love one another (Romans 13:8-10). In Christian history only Augustine and Luther have really come close to this position (Augustine said at one point, “love God and do as you please”). Dietrich Bonhoeffer, looking back on his great book The Cost of Discipleship, acknowledged potential problems in it. Presumably he was referring to the danger of legalism. John Calvin saw the value of the law as a prod or model for Christians. However within a century of his death many of his descendents, such as the Puritans, had fallen into the trap of legalism.
8. The technical name for what appears to be Paul’s position is antinomism (“nomism” refers to the law so antinomism is literally “against the law“). This position has been the subject of major debate in Lutheran and Reformed circles. Certainly in its more extreme form, that a Christian can do anything she wants, it was already circulating in the New Testament period (cf. Romans 3:8, 6:1, 14:14; I Corinthians 10:23; Acts 21:27-28). These issues are very much with us to this day and underlie much of the debate over homosexuality in the contemporary church. 
9. Paul insists that if we really follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, which he believes all Christians have (I Corinthians 12:3), we will not be dominated by the “deeds of the body.” For Paul “flesh” is synonymous with sinful life. To live according to the flesh is death (Romans 8:13). What Paul seems to be saying is that if we define ourselves by “the deeds of the body” we are placing ourselves under slavery and eventually death. We do not need the Law to tell us that our earthly desires can overpower us and destroy us. Paul does not believe that the world and our desires for the things of the world are inherently sinful (I Timothy 4:4). Yet Paul knows our sinful selves. If we become debtors to the flesh (focusing on the flesh) our flesh will destroy us. We have received a spirit of adoption through what Christ had done for us. We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17). To follow the Spirit is to follow the pattern of Christ. In Christ we have same intimacy with the Father that Christ had (“Abba“ literally means “Daddy” Romans 8:15).
10. Jesus himself shows us the true meaning of freedom in the Spirit. He turns water into wine (John 2:1-11). He enjoys eating and drinking (Matthew 11:19). He plucks grain on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1-8). He eats with tax collectors and sinners (Mark 2:15). He accepts women of dubious reputations and even allows them to touch him (Luke 7:36-50; John 8:1-11). Most importantly he loves everyone even those who are not willing to follow him (Mark 10:21-22).
11. For Paul the leading of the Holy Spirit is incompatible with a life lived in the “flesh,” the focus of sinful desires. This doesn’t mean that he believes Christians don’t sin. However they are not enslaved to sin (Romans 6:6). When Paul warns that leading a life “according to the flesh” will lead to death he is acknowledging a tension. Christ has brought “justification and life for all” (Romans 5:18). This is especially the case of those who confess and believe in him (I Timothy 4:10) . Yet to give oneself over to the flesh is to contradict this essential truth (Galatians 5:19-21). Some may ask, is Paul saying that a Christian can lose his salvation? Yet this is not a question that fits Paul’s thought. Salvation is never a possession of ours. It is always a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9). We can never despise that gift. It is also important to remember that for Paul grace always has the last word (Romans 5:20-21).
12. The irony of Christian history is that a failure to follow Paul’s teaching has led at times to a legalism that goes beyond anything in the Old Testament. For example, Christian observance of the Lord’s Day often has been more strict than anything in the Torah, forbidding not only work but almost any form of pleasure. The requirements regarding divorce were more liberal in the Torah than in later church law (Deuteronomy 24:1-4). Jesus does not reject the Torah’s view. He points out that it falls short of God’s original intention and was given because of Israel’s “hardness of heart” (Matthew 19:8).
    
    In a related issue the church’s view on sex and marriage was hampered by an overdependence on Greek philosophy and even mythology. Later church teaching, including Augustine, took the view (from Plato not the Old Testament) that sex was inherently sinful. Therefore the erotic sections of the Old Testament were either reinterpreted or overlooked. In particular the texts celebrating the beauty of the female body were almost entirely ignored (Proverbs 5:18-19; Song of Solomon 7:6-9; Ezekiel 16:6-8). Paul’s warning about the “law of sin and death” was often not taken seriously enough.
13. Paul’s final statement in this section is to remind us that suffering with Christ is necessary to our sharing in his glory (Matthew 10:38; II Corinthians 1:5).
14. Questions for us –
    1. Why do you think it is so important that Christ came into the world “in the likeness of sinful flesh?”
    2. Why do you think that Christians so many times have chosen to try to live by the law rather than the Spirit?
    3. What are some of the ways that the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God?

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