Romans 8:1-17 Study

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Romans 8:1-17, My Translation

Verses 1-4

8.1 Οὐδὲν ἄρα νῦν κατάκριμα τοῖς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ· 2 ὁ γὰρ νόμος τοῦ πνεύματος τῆς ζωῆς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ ἠλευθέρωσέν σε ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου τῆς ἁμαρτίας καὶ τοῦ θανάτου. 3 τὸ γὰρ ἀδύνατον τοῦ νόμου, ἐν ᾧ ἠσθένει διὰ τῆς σαρκός, ὁ θεὸς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ υἱὸν πέμψας ἐν ὁμοιώματι σαρκὸς ἁμαρτίας καὶ περὶ ἁμαρτίας κατέκρινε τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐν τῇ σαρκί, 4 ἵνα τὸ δικαίωμα τοῦ νόμου πληρωθῇ ἐν ἡμῖν τοῖς μὴ κατὰ σάρκα περιπατοῦσιν ἀλλὰ κατὰ πνεῦμα·

1 Consequently, now there is no guilty verdict pronounced[1] against those who are in Christ Jesus;
2 for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus set you[2] free from the law of sin and of death.
3 For God did what was impossible for the law to do, because it was weakened by the flesh: God, by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as a sin offering, pronounced the guilt sentence on sin in the flesh,
4 in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not in the flesh but in the Spirit.
[1] Or condemnation (Greek: κατάκριμα)– the idea of rendering a guilty verdict in a courtroom setting.
[2] You here is singular.
Comments:
Your struggle with sin doesn’t define you; your relationship with Jesus Christ does.
The law could not save — not because the law wasn’t good, but because human flesh is weak
It required an act of God to rightly deal with sin and its consequence of death, just like in the Garden of Eden.
The evidence that we are free from sin and united to Christ is that we increasingly follow the spirit instead of the flesh.
Schreiner: “Christ's work on the cross provides the basis for delivering believers from condemnation, while the Holy Spirit supplies the power for conquering sin so that the law can now be kept (Rom 8:1-4), though such obedience is flawed and imperfect in this present evil age.”

God no longer maintains the charge of disobedience for those in Christ. There are two reasons for this: the law has been dissolved, and God did what the law couldn’t do.

The law is not fulfilled by Christians but in us and by Christ.

Verses 5-8

5 οἱ γὰρ κατὰ σάρκα ὄντες τὰ τῆς σαρκὸς φρονοῦσιν, οἱ δὲ κατὰ πνεῦμα τὰ τοῦ πνεύματος. 6 τὸ γὰρ φρόνημα τῆς σαρκὸς θάνατος, τὸ δὲ φρόνημα τοῦ πνεύματος ζωὴ καὶ εἰρήνη· 7 διότι τὸ φρόνημα τῆς σαρκὸς ἔχθρα εἰς θεόν, τῷ γὰρ νόμῳ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐχ ὑποτάσσεται, οὐδὲ γὰρ δύναται· 8 οἱ δὲ ἐν σαρκὶ ὄντες θεῷ ἀρέσαι οὐ δύνανται.

5 For those who are in the flesh keep on thinking about the things of the flesh, but those who are in the Spirit keep on thinking about the things of the Spirit.
6 For the mindset of the flesh is death, but the mindset of the Spirit is life and peace;
7 because the mindset of the flesh is enmity toward God, for it does not subordinate itself to God’s law, for it is not even able to do so.
8 Those who are in the flesh are not able to please God.
Comments:
Patterns of thinking lead to patterns of behavior, and they both reflect what’s true on the inside.
“Enmity” in v. 7 recalls the hostility God placed between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman in Genesis 3:15.
If those who are in the flesh cannot please God, it means that those who are in the flesh cannot have faith, without which it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Regeneration precedes faith. God’s work must precede (and serve as the basis of) man’s response.

Unregenerate people (Gk en sarki; lit “in the flesh”) are hostile to God and unable to submit to God’s law because they lack God’s Spirit, which makes submission possible.

Verses 9-11

9 Ὑμεῖς δὲ οὐκ ἐστὲ ἐν σαρκὶ ἀλλὰ ἐν πνεύματι, εἴπερ πνεῦμα θεοῦ οἰκεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν. εἰ δέ τις πνεῦμα Χριστοῦ οὐκ ἔχει, οὗτος οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτοῦ. 10 εἰ δὲ Χριστὸς ἐν ὑμῖν, τὸ μὲν σῶμα νεκρὸν διὰ ἁμαρτίαν, τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα ζωὴ διὰ δικαιοσύνην. 11 εἰ δὲ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ ἐγείραντος τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἐκ νεκρῶν οἰκεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν, ὁ ἐγείρας ἐκ νεκρῶν Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν ζῳοποιήσει καὶ τὰ θνητὰ σώματα ὑμῶν διὰ τὸ ἐνοικοῦν αὐτοῦ πνεῦμα ἐν ὑμῖν.

9 But you are not in the flesh; rather, you are in the Spirit, if indeed God’s Spirit resides in you. And if someone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
10 But if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit[3] is life because of righteousness.
11 And if the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead resides in you, the One who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also cause your mortal bodies to live because of His Spirit who resides in you.
[3] Or Spirit
Comments:
The Spirit’s work of regeneration is like a preview of the resurrection — if He has given you new spiritual life, He can certainly give you new physical life someday as well. The indwelling Spirit is the guarantee that we will rise from the dead as Jesus did.
v. 10 connection back to Rom 7:24.

Notably, Paul describes the Holy Spirit here as the Spirit of Christ, showing the unity of the Father, Son, and Spirit.

The Spirit’s presence is the mark of Christ’s ownership.

Verses 12-14

12 Ἄρα οὖν, ἀδελφοί, ὀφειλέται ἐσμέν, οὐ τῇ σαρκὶ τοῦ κατὰ σάρκα ζῆν, 13 εἰ γὰρ κατὰ σάρκα ζῆτε μέλλετε ἀποθνῄσκειν, εἰ δὲ πνεύματι τὰς πράξεις τοῦ σώματος θανατοῦτε, ζήσεσθε. 14 ὅσοι γὰρ πνεύματι θεοῦ ἄγονται, οὗτοι υἱοί εἰσιν θεοῦ.

12 Consequently, then, brothers, we are debtors – not to the flesh, to be living in the flesh –
13 for if you continue living in the flesh, you are going to die, but if by living in the Spirit you are putting to death the actions of the body, you will live.
14 For as many as are being brought along by God’s Spirit – these are sons of God.
Comments:
Genuine spiritual life will manifest itself in a battle with indwelling sin. If you’re fighting against sin in your life, that’s evidence that God’s Spirit lives in you and will raise you from the dead.
I think “brought along” or “led” here implies those taken captive, as if by the Spirit, God has plundered the enemy and taken us captive — but now we’re not slaves in the same way that we were (though Rom 6 describes our relationship to God in these terms), but now we’re also sons — children of God, being restored to the purpose for which He made humanity.
Schreiner: “The passive form of the verb [ἄγονται, brought along] is significant; it suggests that the Spirit is the primary agent in Christian obedience, that it is his work in believers that accounts for their obedience. Although such leading does not exclude the need for believers to follow the Spirit, the verb emphasizes that human obedience is the result of the Spirit's work.”

The leading of God’s Spirit is his providential sanctification (

Verses 15-17

15 οὐ γὰρ ἐλάβετε πνεῦμα δουλείας πάλιν εἰς φόβον, ἀλλὰ ἐλάβετε πνεῦμα υἱοθεσίας ἐν ᾧ κράζομεν· Αββα ὁ πατήρ· 16 αὐτὸ τὸ πνεῦμα συμμαρτυρεῖ τῷ πνεύματι ἡμῶν ὅτι ἐσμὲν τέκνα θεοῦ. 17 εἰ δὲ τέκνα, καὶ κληρονόμοι· κληρονόμοι μὲν θεοῦ, συγκληρονόμοι δὲ Χριστοῦ, εἴπερ συμπάσχομεν ἵνα καὶ συνδοξασθῶμεν.

15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery again, leading to fear; rather, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
16 The Spirit Himself testifies to our spirit that we are children of God.
17 And if we are His children, we are also His heirs – we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ – if we are suffering together with Him so that we may also be glorified together with Him.
Comments:
Our relationship with God is not one that leaves us in fear, but calls us to rejoice in our new family relationship — He is our dear Father.
Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22)
We are heirs of God!

Abba is the Aramaic word for father (not “daddy” as is sometimes thought). As children of God, we can be heirs. Female children could also inherit, both in Jewish and Roman law. As partners in inheritance with Christ, we display the same family likeness: suffering and then glory (v. 17).

The Holy Spirit is not an agent of bondage but is instead the means of our adoption into God’s family.

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