The New Testament with Commentary Romans 8

Deliverance

1 Now then, there is no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit,* 2 because the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me† free from the law of the sin and the death. 3 Further, what the law could not do, in that it was weak due to the flesh, God has done by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned the sin in the flesh,‡ 4 so 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.

Spirit X flesh

5 Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 Further, the mindset of the flesh yields death, but the mindset of the Spirit yields life and peace; 7 because the mindset of the flesh represents enmity against God, since it does not submit to God's law, nor indeed can it. 8 So, those who are ‘in flesh’ cannot please God.§ 9 You, however, are not ‘in flesh’ but ‘in Spirit’, if indeed God's Spirit dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10 But if Christ is in you, the body is dead through sin, but the Spirit is life through righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, then He who raised the Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies* because of His Spirit who dwells in you.†

Sonship

12 So then, brothers, we have no obligation to the flesh, to live according to it; 13 because if you live according to the flesh, you are about to die; but if you put to death the practices of the body, by the Spirit, you will live. 14 Because as many as are led by God's Spirit, these are God's sons‡ 15 —you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fear all over again, but you did receive the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!”§ 16 That Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are God's children 17 —if children, also heirs: heirs of God and coheirs with Christ* (if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him).†

Redemption of the body

18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is going to be revealed in us. 19 You see, the creation waits with eager anticipation for the revelation of God's sons; 20 because without choice the creation was subjected to futility, due to the One who did the subjecting, based on the hope 21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage to decay into the freedom of the glory of God's children.‡ 22 Yes, we know that the whole creation has been groaning and in labor pains until now. 23 Not only that, we ourselves also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we groan within ourselves, eagerly awaiting adoption, the redemption of our body. 24 Yes, we were saved in the hope,§ but a hope that is seen is not hope—why would anyone hope for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly await it with endurance.

26 Likewise also the Spirit comes to the aid of the hope in our weaknesses, since we do not know what we need to pray for. Indeed the Spirit Himself intercedes on our behalf with inexpressible groanings, 27 while He who searches the hearts knows what is on the Spirit's mind, since He prays for the saints in accordance with God.*

Glory

28 Further, we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to purpose. 29 Because whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son,† so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 Further, whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.‡

Summary to this point

31 What then shall we say to these things? Since God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up on behalf of us all, how shall He not with Him also graciously give us all things?§ 33 Who will bring a charge against God's chosen ones? God is He who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? Christ is He who died, but even more, was indeed raised, who indeed is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes on our behalf.*

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Will it be affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? 36 (As it is written:

“For your sake we are being put to death all day long;

we are accounted as sheep for slaughter.”†)

37 No, in all these things we prevail completely through Him who loved us. 38 Because I am persuaded that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities nor powers, neither things present nor things to come, 39 neither height nor depth nor any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.‡

* 8:1 “Who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” is omitted by 2.3% of the Greek manuscripts (of inferior quality, objectively so), to be followed by NIV, NASB, TEV, LB, etc. Those who follow the 2.3% like to claim that the clause was imported from verse four. But Paul is a Jew, and they like to repeat things. In Romans 7:14-23 Paul described the conflict of the two natures within himself—he was not ‘home free’. That he is not through with the topic is clear from verses 5-17 below, where he describes in detail the conflict between flesh and Spirit. The reader may rest assured that the 97% are correct. Anyone who insists on walking according to the flesh will discover that there is indeed condemnation. † 8:2 Less than 1% of the Greek manuscripts read ‘you’ singular, to be followed by NASB and LB. But ‘you’ in English is ambiguous as to number, and neither NASB nor LB tells the reader that ‘you’ is singular (because in the context it is obviously wrong). Both versions favor the reader with a footnote informing that “some” manuscripts read “me” [their way of referring to 700 against 4, which to my mind is a dishonest use of language]. ‡ 8:3 The sin in our flesh having been condemned, it is now possible to walk according to the Spirit. § 8:8 This is a ‘genetic’ incapability, so we need a new birth. * 8:11 Where, down here? If it is “because of His Spirit who dwells [present tense] in you”, presumably so. Consider 1 Thessalonians 5:23—“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” I take it that the grammatical structure of this phrase, “the spirit and the soul and the body” (in Greek), demands a tripartite/trichotomous view of the human being. I confess that I have trouble imagining complete sanctification for the body, in this life, but there it is. Still, verse 11 here does not demand ‘complete’ sanctification; obviously we use our mortal bodies as we serve God down here, and the more we use them to serve God, the more sanctified they will be. † 8:11 In these verses we have ‘Spirit of God’, ‘Spirit of Christ’, ‘Spirit’ and ‘Spirit of Him who raised Jesus’; so how many spirits or persons are there? I would say that Paul is just using different ways of referring to the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Triune God. Comparing all the relevant passages, the Godhead is made up of just the three persons. ‡ 8:14 Hey, wait a minute; this is not what I was taught in Seminary! The Text says that in order to be God's son you must be led by God's Spirit! Verse 12 is addressed to ‘brothers’, and verse 13 says that to live according to the flesh results in death. But someone living according to the flesh is obviously not being led by the Spirit. You cannot die unless you are alive; notice also the “if indeed” in verse 17. § 8:15 ‘Father’ is a translation of the Aramaic ‘Abba’. * 8:17 Wow! If we are coheirs, then whatever the inheritance is belongs to us too. I leave it to the reader to research the contents of Christ's inheritance! † 8:17 The clear implication is: no suffering, no glory. In the next verse the sufferings are treated as a fact. ‡ 8:21 In the beginning, when the Creator turned the administration of this planet over to Adam, everything was ‘good’. But then came the Fall, and the administrator was no longer good. How could a fallen ruler administer a perfect creation? Since the creation was merely a setting for the man, the Creator reduced it to the same level, based on ‘the hope’ of a future restoration for both man and nature (see 1 Peter 1:19-20). § 8:24 Since the restoration of the planet depends on the restoration of Adam's descendants, at least some of them, and since this is a time consuming process, we start out in ‘the hope’. * 8:27 The intercession of the Spirit represents two members of the Trinity! We do not know what we need to pray for (altogether too often), but the Spirit does, and for that He certainly deserves our thanks. † 8:29 If you are not being conformed to the Son's image, there is something wrong, because this is probably the ‘purpose’. ‡ 8:30 All the verbs in verse 30 are in the past tense, reflecting God's sovereignty. Note the sequence: foreknowledge, predestination, calling, justification and glorification. § 8:32 2 Peter 1:3 again. * 8:34 Comparing this with verse 27, all three members of the Trinity are cheering us on! † 8:36 See Psalm 44:22. Our turn is coming; it is on the doorstep. ‡ 8:39 God's love is like a sphere, with us on the inside—nothing can reach us without first passing through the ‘filter’ of that love. (There are times when it is easier to say that than to believe it.)