Romans 8.1-11
So now there isn’t any condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 The law of the Spirit of life
in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 God has done what was impossible
for the Law, since it was weak because of selfishness. God condemned sin in the body by sending his
own Son to deal with sin in the same body as humans, who are controlled by sin. 4 He did this so that
the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us. Now the way we live is based on the
Spirit, not based on selfishness. 5 People whose lives are based on selfishness think about selfish
things, but people whose lives are based on the Spirit think about things that are related to the
Spirit. 6 The attitude that comes from selfishness leads to death, but the attitude that comes from
the Spirit leads to life and peace. 7 So the attitude that comes from selfishness is hostile to God. It
doesn’t submit to God’s Law, because it can’t. 8 People who are self-centered aren’t able to please
God. 9 But you aren’t self-centered. Instead you are in the Spirit, if in fact God’s Spirit lives in you. If
anyone doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, they don’t belong to him. 10 If Christ is in you, the Spirit is
your life because of God’s righteousness, but the body is dead because of sin. 11 If the Spirit of the
one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give
life to your human bodies also, through his Spirit that lives in you.
Devotional Thought
Chapter 8 of Paul’s letter to the Romans marks a shift in focus from the previous chapters. Leading
up to this part, Paul has been spending a lot of time talking about God’s covenant with Abraham, the
reality of God’s Law, the benefits of faith and the consequences of sin. For many it is a difficult read,
and for all it is a sobering read. The wages of sin is death? All have sinned and fallen short of God’s
glory? Before the Law we stand condemned? Sin has made it impossible to overcome these things.
Then Chapter 8 shifts in focus by saying: ‘Now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus.’ Wow! That is good news! We drink this in and suddenly are filled with joy. No condemnation!
Yes! But wait, how is this possible? How did Jesus ‘set you free from the law of sin and death’?
You may have grown up in a Christian environment where the answer to this question is simply: the
Cross. Jesus set us free by taking our place on the cross. And you wouldn’t be wrong with this
answer, but in my years of study on the person and work of Christ, I have come to understand that
the cross is only a part of the full reconciling work of Jesus. Verse 4 of Chapter 8 says, ‘God condemned
sin in the body by sending his own Son to deal with sin in the same body as humans, who are controlled by sin.’
In the same body as humans. It is the full life of Jesus, the embodied life of Jesus
(conception, birth, childhood, adulthood, death, resurrection and ascension), the whole life of Jesus
which sets us free from the law of sin and death. Christ ‘in the same body as humans’ not only took our place
on the cross, but fully revealed God’s purpose for humanity. The purpose of humanity is found in the
person of Christ. According to Paul, whatever Christ is, that is who we are called to be.
An early Christian leader, Athanasius of Alexandria, put it this way, ‘He (Jesus) became what we are,
so that we might become what He is.’ In other words, Paul says, Jesus has made what seemed
impossible possible.
Prayer
God of all grace, we thank you for making the impossible possible. We thank you for the gift of
salvation made possible through the life of Christ. We thank you for the Spirit who transforms and
empowers us to be the people you have called us to be. May we always be receptive to your
reconciling love for us and all of creation. Through Jesus Christ we pray, amen.