Romans 8:1-5 Commentary

I am doing a small commentary on some of the most critical verses in the whole Bible regarding the atonement and living by the Spirit.

I will be drawing from the CSB translation on this.

Romans 8:1 CSB17

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus,”

I have always thought the “Therefore” here was strange, given Romans 7. I think the answer is found when it says, “with my mind, I myself am serving the law of God.” This is contrasted with Romans 8:5, which says how we live dictates our mind states by living by the flesh or Spirit. Notice also how Paul says, “those in Christ Jesus.” The natural understanding I can gather from this is that the key word here is “those” about Romans 7. This means he includes Himself as a direct consequence of God saving him. But also, Paul says he is serving God with His mind but not with his flesh. Therefore, there is always a war within the Christian between serving God and our sinful nature. “In” is also interesting from Romans 8:1. The implication is that we are one with Christ. Not to belabor the point, but this is precisely what Christ prayed for in the garden of Gethsemene in John 17.

Romans 8:2 CSB17

“because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.”

So the natural conclusion is that there is a “law of the Spirit of life” found “in Christ Jesus." Therefore, the law of the Spirit is all that Christ did. In this way, Christ is synonymous with the Spirit. They are to be thought of as the same because they are both God. This unification of God is also found in Romans 8:9, where there is one Spirit but three manifestations of the Spirit. First, in that there is the Spirit as its own entity, then the Spirit of God is mentioned, and the Spirit of Christ is mentioned last. Also, I must note that two different laws are spoken of here. One of the Spirit and one of, as we see in Romans 8:4, the flesh. And it is the Spirit that allows us to follow God as Spirit, the Spirit which represents God in three different ways, yet all distinct in some manner.

Romans 8:3 CSB17

“For what the law could not do since it was weakened by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering,”

There is a lot going on here. Paul is alluding to the Law of the Spirit, which cannot operate in the flesh, but Christ accomplished in the flesh. This expands on the flesh/Spirit dichotomy he sets up for the next two verses. It is said here that the Father condemned the law of sin and death in the body of Christ. So when it speaks of the "Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" combined with "He condemned sin in the flesh," it is saying it's only because Christ is synonymous with the Spirit and the Father that this condemning in the flesh can be done. This is because of the language of "a sin offering," which says it requires condemning the best lamb that you would have (taken from the sacrificial system of the Old Testament). Notice also that Christ is in the "likeness of sinful flesh." I take this to mean that it is not synonymous with God being synonymous with each person of the Trinity. Rather, the key difference is that Christ is 100% flesh yet completely distinct from the flesh because of Christ's Spirit. Paul is also saying the law, the requirements for the Jews to follow is impossible to keep for anyone in the flesh. But only Christ is in the flesh but of the Spirit. In this way, the Spirit is more fundamental to the essence of God than the flesh. I do not speak of Idealism as the Spirit is not mind itself, but God of God and being of being such that the Spirit has life-giving properties which the mind cannot do. It also should be seen that when it says the law was weakened by the flesh it is saying much more than that Christ just fulfilled the law, but that the law was not as perfect as Christ is. So Christ is more perfect than if one were to fulfill the entire law.

Romans 8:4 CSB17

“in order that the law’s requirement would be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

The last thing I addressed from the previous verse was that here we could fulfill the law but what Christ did was greater than the law. Therefore, what we can do by following the law is not as great as what Christ can do. And God condemned sin in the flesh by Christ's perfect atoning death so that we could follow the law by the Spirit. Here the dichotomy is seen; we follow not the law of the flesh but the law of the Spirit. It says the law is fulfilled in us by us obeying the law of the Spirit. This is not necessarily done by our own willing it to be, but rather that it is guaranteed that we will obey the law of the Spirit because Christ has given us His Spirit. This is seen in Romans 8:9, where it says, “You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.” This is such exquisite articulation here by Apostle Paul. He is saying here what he said in Ephesians 1:14, which states, "The Holy Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of the possession, to the praise of his glory.” The way Paul uses the word "walk" is often a form of lifestyle and behaviors one does and lives by. Like a lived-out worldview. Therefore, when it says we walk according to the Spirit, it means more than just having a vague idea of theology we live out our theology as Christians.

Romans 8:5 CSB17

“For those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on the things of the Spirit.”

This is a good summary of what it looks like to be filled with the Spirit. The result of us living by the law of the Spirit is that it controls our minds and our behaviors. But it is not so much that it originates from our minds. Rather, our lived experience is such that it influences our minds by living according to the Spirit. This is the verse where the dichotomy between the law of the flesh is opposed to the law of the Spirit is the clearest. It is a simple concept if you have had a change done to you by the Spirit. The biggest thing here is that to set your mind on the things of the Spirit is to hate your fleshly nature, not in a Gnostic way, but in a way where you hate your sin because you want to live according to the Spirit. Going back to what I said about verse 1, "there is always a war within the Christian between serving God and our sinful nature," This is the case we can see with Paul drawing from his own experience, in my opinion, as Romans 7 is written from the Point of view of Paul wrestling with his flesh.

God bless you! Until next time!