No Condemnation (Rom. 8:1-3)
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Benefit of Being in Christ
Benefit of Being in Christ
1 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.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus”, not that there is no thing in us that may be condemned, nor exemption from the condemnation of man(whether justly or unjustly), nor that we are not worthy of chastisement from the Lord and those who have charge of our souls(our elders), but that on the last day we will stand before the Lord justified by the blood of Christ by faith i.e trusing in the promises of the Lord and in His Identity as God.
“who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” This is not additive as a requirement to be pardoned from condemnation, but is a descriptor of those who, “are in Christ Jesus”, which is not a statement of sinless perfection as seen with the struggles the Christian has with the Old Man in the previous chapter, but denotes by what principle guides the individual. With the Christian the Spirit guides him, with the unbeliever it is their sin nature.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
“For the law of the Spirit of life...” i.e the gospel, grace and holiness that comes with Christ, and/or the regeneration of the soul.
“...In Christ Jesus...” being unified with Christ we have the benefits of Christ and the Spirit that He gives (John 15:26).
“...has made me free from the law of sin...” that is from original sin, the bondage and tyranny of our sin nature (Rom. 7:23,25).
“...death...” from the second death, that is the Lake of Fire in which all who are not covered by the righteousness of Christ shall bear their sins and be condemned along with the fallen angels (Rev. 20:6,10-15).
3 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,
“For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh...” The law was weak, not because of any lack or defect in the law in and of itself, but because of man’s own weakness of flesh i.e our sin nature, therefore we can not be justified or sanctified by the law due to our lack and defect, though due to such wickedness within us all the law can do is condemn us.
As Matthew Henry states, “We had become unable to keep the law, and, in case of failure, the law, as a covenant of works, made no provision, and so left us as it found us.” note: the law Matthew Henry is referring to as the Covenant of works isn’t the law of Moses, but that law which was given unto Adam and Eve.
“The law is weak to us, because we are weak to it: the sun cannot give light to a blind eye, not from any impotency in itself, but merely from the incapacity of the subject it shines upon.” - Matthew Poole
“...God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh...” This is the only way that God can saved His people, for God is just and so His Justice must be satisfied by a propitiation (1 John. 4:10, Rom. 3:25, 1 John. 2:2), for His people are sinners and can not be reconciled unless their debt is paid.
Christ had to come in the likeness of sinful flesh, that is He came in a human body, yet He could not come in sinful flesh i.e with original sin for three reasons.
First is that the sacrifice for the atonement of sin must be blameless (Lev. 22:20, Hebrews 9:21-28)
Second is that for Jesus to be bameless by nature, He must be God (Rom. 3:10-12, Luke 18:19, Hebrews 10:4-14,18-22, Hebrews 1:2,3)
Third is that Jesus had to take one the likeness of sinful flesh, that is a human body and nature (Hebrews 2:14-18, 4:14-16)
“...on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh” Christ was made an offering for us because of our sin (Isaiah 53:10) and that punishment was paid by Christ taking that condemnation for us (1 Peter 2:24)
4 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.
“that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us...” Christ had to come in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a blameless offering for us because of our transgressions that they could be paid for as we can not pay them to the satisfaction of God’s justice ourselves, so that we could be accounted as righteous by Christ’s works through faith.
“...who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” here again we see the identifier that was seen in Verse 1, Viz. those who are in Christ as these two things are inseparable
