Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

8:1 Therefore indicates that Paul is stating an important summary and conclusion related to his preceding argument. The "therefore" is based first on the exclamation of victory that comes "through Jesus Christ our Lord" (7:23-25), which in turn is linked back to 7:6, where the idea of the "new life of the Spirit" is first mentioned. But more broadly Paul seems to be recalling his whole argument about salvation in Christ from 3:21-5:21. The now in 8:1 matches the "now" in 7:6, showing that the new era of redemptive history has "now" been inaugurated by Christ Jesus for those who are "now" in right standing before God because they are united with Christ. But the summary relates further to the whole argument presented in chs. 3, 4, and 5. No condemnation echoes the conclusion stated in 5:1 ("Therefore . . . we have peace with God") and underscores the stunning implications of the gospel first introduced in 1:16-17. As Paul immediately goes on to explain, there is "no condemnation" for the Christian because God has condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own Son (8:3) to pay the penalty for sin through his death on the cross. The following verses then show that indwelling sin is overcome through the power of the indwelling Spirit, with ten references to the Spirit in vv. 4-11.

8:2 The evidence that believers are in Christ is that the power of sin has been broken in their lives by the work of the Holy Spirit. Law in both instances means principle.

8:3 The law (in this instance, the Mosaic law) could not solve humanity's problem because sin employs the law for its own purposes, as ch. 7 explained. God sent his Son as a sacrifice for sin (an idiomatic phrase designating a sin offering) and paid the full penalty for sin in his sacrifice (condemned sin). In the flesh refers to Christ's body, and in the likeness of sinful flesh means that Jesus became fully human, even though he was sinless.

8:4 righteous requirement of the law . . . fulfilled. This could mean the requirement is fulfilled in the new life that Christians live on the basis of Christ's work, or it may refer to the full penalty of the law being met at the cross.

8:6 To set the mind on the flesh means to think continually about and constantly desire the things characteristic of fallen, sinful human nature, that is, to think just the way the unbelieving world thinks, emphasizing what it thinks important, pursuing what it pursues, in disregard of God's will.

8:7 Those who are in the flesh behave as sons and daughters of sinful Adam and are hostile to God. They do not keep God's law, and indeed they are unable to keep it because they are slaves to sin (6:6, 17, 19-20).

8:8 Because unbelievers (those who are in the flesh) are in bondage to sin and unable to do what God commands, they fail to please God.

8:9 By definition, Christians are not in the flesh, for all who believe in Christ are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Paul alternates between the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ here, showing that Christ and God share the same status.

8:10 The previous verse speaks of the Spirit's indwelling, but here Paul describes Christ's dwelling in Christians. This does not mean that there is no difference between Christ and the Spirit (which is the ancient heresy of modalism), but it does suggest that Christ and the Spirit are both fully God, and work cooperatively. Since the bodies of Christians are not yet redeemed, they still die, even though they are freed from the condemnation of sin. Yet the presence of the Spirit within believers testifies to the new life they enjoy because of the righteousness of Christ that is now theirs.

8:12 A conclusion is drawn from the previous verses. Since Christians live in the Spirit, they are no longer captive to the flesh and should no longer live according to the flesh.

8:13 Those who give their lives over to the flesh will face eternal death, but those who slay the desires of the flesh through the power of the Spirit will enjoy eternal life. God and believers each have a role in sanctification: it must be by the Spirit and his power, but you put to death shows that one must take an active role in battling sinful habits.

8:14 Those who are led by the Spirit of God (i.e., those who yield to the Spirit; see notes on Gal. 5:16; 5:17; 5:18) are those who are God's sons, i.e., they truly belong to his family.

8:15 Christians are no longer slaves to sin but are adopted as sons into God's family, as evidenced by the Spirit that cries out within them that God is their father. sons. See note on Gal. 3:26. Abba is the Aramaic word for Father. Paul's use of the term likely stems from Jesus' addressing God as Abba (Mark 14:36).

8:16 The witness of the Spirit gives the Christian's spirit assurance that he or she is God's child.

8:17 All who are God's children are also heirs of his promises, but a willingness to follow Christ in suffering is another sign of being God's children.