I’ve been working my way, bit by bit, through the book of Romans and have just arrived at the gloriously victorious first few verses of chapter 8. But to get there, I had to work my way through chapter 7. We’re probably all aware of the discouraging tone of verses 15-24: “…For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do…For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good, I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do, but the evil I will not to do, that I practice…For I delight in the law of God, according to the inward man. But I see another law within my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”
In my Bible, I have circled all the “I’s”, “me’s” and “my’s” in those verses. “I” shows up 23 times in my New King James version, “me” is there 6 times and “my” another 4. (Just a hasty counting. It may be off a little, if anyone actually checks up.) This seems to indicate to me that this is the condition of someone who is trying by self-effort and will-power to live right. Verse 25 introduces a new tone: “I thank God - through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Then comes the exultant joy of chapter 8:1-4: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
A law in physics is something that functions exactly the same way all the time, everywhere. The law of gravity never fails. If I drop something here or in China, at any time of day or in any season, it falls just as it always has. Paul’s complaint in chapter 7, specifically in verse 23, is about the law of sin in the members or parts of his body. It is at work all the time to beat and defeat us. We do not have the power in our own strength to defeat it. Our will power may carry us for a while, but we always give in eventually, if our endeavour is by our own strength.
We see airplanes take off and fly, apparently defying the law of gravity. Actually, gravity is still at work, but another law, that of aerodynamics, the law of lift, is temporarily superseding it. This gives us a picture of what Romans 8:2 is saying: “…the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death”. The law of sin, with its temptations and subsequent condemnation, guilt and shame, will always be there trying to drag us down, but there is victory over it by the greater law of the Spirit. Any time we shut off the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we’re going down as surely as any jet that shuts off its power when it’s up in the air.
The law of Moses could not free us from this law of condemnation. Though the Law itself was perfect, it was connected to a weak component, our sinful flesh. All of mankind was born with a sin nature ever since Adam sinned. We did not have to commit sin to qualify as sinners; we just had to be born as human beings. Then our sinful nature caused us to sin. It's a hopeless situation, "captivity to the law of sin". But Paul gives us the answer.
Romans 8 starts out with “There is therefore now.” This ability to live above condemnation is a present-tense, ongoing experience for the believer. And then the word “no” means not one bit, nada, nil, zilch, zero, zip. “There is therefore now no condemnation” for us who are in Christ Jesus. How can this be? All of our sin with its attached condemnation was laid on Jesus, who came “in the likeness of sinful flesh”. He came in the flesh, but His flesh was not sinful flesh; it was only like sinful flesh. He was the only One who ever lived sinlessly. But by accepting our sin, our guilt and condemnation, He bought for us the freedom from the power of the law of sin and death.
Some of us may feel we are disqualified because this is only for those who “do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit”, right? But what does that mean? Does it mean living really good lives, not yielding to temptation ever? Thankfully, the answer to that is "no!" since that's impossible. To walk according to the flesh refers here to conducting our lives or behaving and trying to do right in the power of our own abilities, exactly what Paul was describing in the previous chapter. To walk according to the Spirit is to live our lives in the victory and power of the Holy Spirit who has been given to us and lives in us, relying on Him and His power.
We need always to be reminding ourselves of who we are because we are in Christ Jesus. We are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37), overcomers because He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world (I John 4:4), etc., etc. This has been dealt with in previous blogs. (I also wrote a blog a couple of years ago about our “default” mode of always wanting to live under a cloud of self-condemnation.)
But, let’s rejoice in the victory Jesus won for us. Let’s walk around aware of exactly Who is living inside of us. Let’s enjoy our life, living it with “no condemnation...according to the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus...free from the law of sin and death.”
