Freedom in the Spirit by the
indwelling Christ (Romans 8:1-14)
By
Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce
Christian
Arts Ministries: Biblical precepts & Gospel music
Scriptures
reading Romans 8:1-14
8:1 Therefore, there is
now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,8:2 because through
Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and
death.8:3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was
weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness
of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man,8:4
in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who
do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. 8:5 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their
minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with
the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 8:6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled
by the Spirit is life and peace;
8:7 the sinful mind is hostile to
God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8:8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.8:9
You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not
have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.8:10 But if Christ is
in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of
righteousness.8:11 And if the Spirit of him who
raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead
will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
8:12 Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation--but it is not to the sinful
nature, to live according to it.8:13 For if you live according to the sinful
nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the
body, you will live, 8:14 because those who are led by
the Spirit of God are sons of God.
In the verse 1 the phrase
now then no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus is a strong proof
that the experience illustrated in Chapter 7 is that of a person who is without
Christ. The condemnation implied in 1:18-3:20 and mentioned in 5:16, 18 is
objective, under God’s righteous law, and is the result of our outward sins.
The condemnation mentioned here is subjective, in our conscience, and is the
result of our being inwardly defeated by the evil law of the indwelling sin, as
described in 7:17-18,20-24. The blood of the crucified Christ is the remedy for
objective condemnation (3:25). The Spirit of life, who is Christ processed to
be the life-giving Spirit and who is in our spirit, is the remedy for
subjective condemnation.
In this chapter 8 the
phrase in Christ refers not only to our standing, our position, in Christ, as
mentioned in chapter 6, but also to the reality of our daily walk in our
regenerated spirit. Thus, this chapter speaks of being in Christ as a term or a
condition. This corresponds with being saved in His life in 5:10.
Verse 2 The law of the
Spirit of life is the subject of this chapter. The Spirit and life are
mentioned in this verse, but only in connection with the working of this law.
Life is the content and issue of the Spirit, and the Spirit is the ultimate and
consummate manifestation of the Triune God after His being processed through
incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection ad becoming the indwelling, life-giving
Spirit, who is life to all the believers in Christ. The law that has freed us
from the law of sin, which is of Satan, who dwells in the members of our fallen
body (Rom.7:23,17), is of this Spirit of life. It is this law, not God nor the
Spirit, that works in us to deliver us from the working of the law of sin in
our flesh and to enable us to know God and gain God and thereby live Him out.
This law of the Spirit of life is the spontaneous power of the Spirit of life.
Such a spontaneous law works automatically under the condition that fulfills
its requirements. Both Satan and God, after entering into our being and dwelling
in us, work within us not by outward, objective activities but by an inward,
subjective law. The working of the law of the Spirit of life is the working of
the processed Triune God in our spirit; this is also the working of the Triune
God is us in His life. The Spirit of life
here law, the Spirit and life are in contrast to law, sins, and death. The two
laws are in opposition to each other, the Spirit is in opposition to sin, and
life is in opposition to death. In chapter 5 grace, which is God embodied in
us, is in opposition to sin, which is Satan embodied in us (5:21). In Chapter 8
the Spirit, who is God living is us, is in opposition to sin. Thus, the grace
in Chapter 5 is the Spirit in chapter 8, the very God embodied in us as grace,
living and acting in us.
In the previous chapters
life is mentioned a number of times (1:17;2:7;5:10,17-18,21; 6:4,22-23). In
this chapter life is joined with the Spirit in the phrase the Spirit of life, showing that everything regarding life in the
preceding chapters is included in the Spirit in this chapter. Life belongs to
the Spirit, and the Spirit is of life. These two actually one (john6:63). The
way to experience the divine, eternal, uncreated life is by the Spirit of life.
The spiritual life revealed
in this chapter is fourfold. First, it was the divine life in the Spirit (v.2).
Second, it became life in our spirit through regeneration (v.10). Then from our
spirit it saturates our mind for the transformation of our soul, to which our
mind belongs, and becomes the life in our soul(v.6). Eventually, it will
permeate our body and become the life in the transfiguration of our body
(Phil.3:21), that is, the redemption of our body (v.23). Set me free the major
function of the processed Triune God in indwelling our spirit as the law of the
Spirit of life is to free us completely from Satan who dwells in our fallen
nature as the law of sin and of death (7:21-25). This freeing is not only for
our subjective justification but even more for our dispositional
sanctification.
The law of sin, the power to commit sin that
arises spontaneously in man, causes man to become a slave of sin (John8:34).
Thus, man is helpless, is controlled and manipulated by sin, and does many
things against his will. The law of death, the natural power that causes man to
become weak, to wither up, and to age and die, dwells in man and causes every
part of man to enter into decay and death. On one hand, death disables man; on
the other hand, it desensitizes man. It causes man to be disabled when he attempts
to do good, and to be insensitive when he commits sins.
Verse 3 in the flesh
nothing good dwell (7:18); only sin dwells in the flesh (7:17). Furthermore,
the flesh is of death (7:24). Hence, no man can be justified before God out of
the works of the law through the flesh (3:20). Because of such a weak and
impotent flesh, there is something that the law could not do. On one hand, the
law of God outside man is a law in letters, is dead, and lacks the power of
life to supply man to meet its demands. On the other hand, man’s body has been
corrupted by Satan to become the flesh of death, and as such is incapable of
keeping the law. It is because of these two factors that there is ‘that which
the law could not do”; that is, the law is incapable of pleasing God through
man’s keeping of it.
likeness
of the flesh the flesh is of sin, yet the Son of God
became flesh (John1:14;Heb.2:14;1Tim.3:16). However, He was only in the
likeness of the flesh and did not have the sin of the flesh
(2Cor.5:21;Heb.4:15). This was typified by the bronze serpent lifted up by
Moses for the sinful Israelites (Num21:9;John3:14). The bronze serpent was in
the form, the likeness, of the actual serpent but did not have its poison. It
was such a bronze serpent that bore God’s judgement for the poisoned Israelites
and dealt with the serpents that poisoned them.
Although Christ did not
have the sin of the flesh, He was crucified in the flesh (Col.1:22;1Pet.3:18).
Thus, on the cross He judged Satan who is related to the flesh, and the world,
which hangs on him (John12:31;16:11). Thereby destroying Satan (Heb.2:14). At
the same time, through Christ’s crucifixion in the flesh, God condemned sin,
which was brought by Satan into man’s flesh. As a result, it is possible for us
to walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit that the righteous
requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us (v.4).
Verse 4 Not consciously kept by us throughout outward endeavoring but spontaneously and unconsciously fulfilled in us by the inward working of the Spirit of life. The Spirit of life is the Spirit of Christ, and Christ corresponds with the law of God. This Spirit within us spontaneously fulfills all the righteous requirements of the law through us when we walk according to Him. The requirements that we must fulfill in order that the law of the Spirit of life ( which has already been installed in us) may work are (1) to walk according to the spirit (v.4); (2) to mind the things of the Spirit- to set the mind on the spirit (vv.5-6); (3) to put to death by the Spirit the practices of the body (v.13); (4) to be led by the Spirit as sons of God (v.14); (5) to cry to the Father in the spirit of sonship (v.15); (6) to witness that we are the children of God (v.16); and (7) to groan for the full sonship, the redemption of our body (v.23).
According to the Spirit it is difficult to discern the word spirit
used in this chapter, in Gal.5 and in other places in the New Testament, unless
it is clearly designated to denote God’s Holy Spirit or our regenerated human
spirit, as in v.9 and v.16 of this chapter. According to the usage in the New
Testament, the word spirit, as used in this verse, denotes our regenerated
human spirit indwelt by and mingled with the Spirit, who is the consummation of
the Triune God (v.9). This corresponds with 1 Cor.6:17, “He who is joined to
the Lord who is the Spirit—2 Cor.3;17;1Cor.15:45 is one Spirit—one mingled
spirit.
Verse 5 the things of the
flesh include anything that is in realm of the flesh, whether evil or good. According to the spirit Not only to walk
and have our activities according to the spirit, but to have our entire being
according to the spirit. When we are according to the spirit, our walk also is
according to the spirit. In this spirit the indwelling law of the Spirit of
life, that is, the processed Triune God Himself, works within us spontaneously
and frees us from the law of sin and of death. The things of the Spirit are the
things concerning Christ, which the Spirit receives and declares to us
(John16:14-15). As we exercise our selves to mind these things, eventually our
whole being will be according to the spirit.
Verse 6 the mind set on the fleshes death Lit., the mind of the flesh. In vv.6-8 the
crucial item is the mind. The mind is the leading part of the soul, which is
man’s personality, his person. The mind thus represents the soul, that is, the
person himself. In this chapter the mind is neutral, being between the
regenerated mingled spirit and the fallen body, the flesh. Chapters 7 and 8
show that the mind may have two different actions, by which it can cause us to
be either in the spirit or in the flesh. If it relies on and attaches itself to
the regenerated spirit, which is mingled with the Spirit of God, the mind will
bring us into the spirit and into the enjoyment of the divine Spirit as the law
of the Spirit of life (v.2). If the mind attaches itself to the flesh and acts
independently, it will bring us into the flesh, causing us to be at enmity with
God and to be unable to please Him (vv.7-8).
Life and peace result from
setting our mind on the spirit. When our mind is set on the spirit, our outward
actions are in agreement with our inner man and there is no discrepancy between
us and God. He and we are at peace, not at enmity (v.7). the result is that we
feel peaceful within. When our mind is set on the flesh and the things of the
flesh, the result is death, which causes us to feel separated from the
enjoyment of God. We feel uneasy and deadened instead of peaceful and living.
When we are minding the flesh and setting our mind on the things of the flesh,
the sense of death should serve as a warning to us, urging us to be delivered
from the flesh and to live in the spirit.
Lit., the mind of the spirit. Setting the mind on the spirit is the same
as minding the things of the Spirit in v.5. Verse 6 and vv.7-13 show that
Christ today is the life of God in the divine Spirit (v.2) and also the
indwelling life of God in God’s people, because God’s Spirit of life has become
the indwelling Spirit in us, the Spirit in both aspects being Christ.
Verse 8 if we mind the flesh, or set our mind on the
flesh, we become those who are in the flesh. Verses 8 and 9 emphasize the word
in, showing that the stress here is on the condition and experience more than
on the source and position.
Verse 9 This chapter unveils to us how the Triune God
–the Father 9v.15), the Son(vv.3,29,32 )and the Spirit (vv.9,11,13-14,16,23,26)
dispenses Himself as life (vv.2,6,10,11) into us, the tripartite men- spirit,
soul, and body- to make us His sons (vv.14-15,19, 23, 29,17) for the
constituting of the Body of Christ.(12:4-5). The Spirit of God Dwells in you Makes home, resides (Eph.3:17). If
we allow the Spirit of the Triune God to make His home in us, that is, to
settle Himself in us with adequate room, then in our experience we are in the
spirit and are no longer in the flesh. If we are so, the Triune God as the
Spirit will be able to spread from our spirit (v.10) into our soul, represented
by our mind (v.6), and eventually He will even give life to our mortal body
(v.11). This shows that our being of Christ depends on His Spirit. If there
were no Spirit of Christ, or if Christ were not the Spirit, there would be no
way for us to be joined to Him and to belong to Him. However, Christ is the
Spirit (2 Cor.3;17), and He is in our spirit (2 Tim.4:22) and is one spirit
with us (1Cor.6:17).
The Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ are not two
Spirits but one. Paul used these titles interchangeably, indicating that the
indwelling Spirit of life in v.2 is the all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit of
the entire Triune God. God, the Spirit, and Christ- the three of the God head-
are all mentioned in this verse. However, there are not three in us; there is
only one, the triune Spirit of the Triune God (John 4:24;2Cor.3:17; Rom.8:11). The Spirit of God implies that this
Spirit is of the One who was from eternity past, who created the universe and
is the origin of all things. The Spirit
of Christ implies that this Spirit is the embodiment and reality of Christ,
the incarnated One. This Christ accomplished everything necessary to fulfill
God’s plan. He includes not only divinity, which He possessed from eternity but
also humanity, which He obtained through incarnation. He also includes human
living, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. This is the Spirit of Christ
in resurrection, that is, Christ Himself dwelling in our spirit (v.10) to
impart Himself, the embodiment of the processed Triune God, into us as
resurrection life and power to deal with the death that is in our nature (v.2).
Thus, we may live today in Christ’s resurrection, in Christ Himself, by living
in the mingled spirit. of Him Referring to the unchangeable source and
position rather than to the changeable condition and experience. We have the
Spirit of Christ according to the source, the new birth; hence, we are of
Christ and belong to Him. In our present experience and spiritual condition,
however, we need to be not only of Him but also in Him.
Verse 10 In this verse the Spirit is not mentioned, for
here the emphasis is that Christ today is the Spirit and that the Spirit of
Christ is the very Christ is us. According to the fact, it is Christ; according
to experience, it is the Spirit. In our experience of Him, He is the Spirit; in
our worshipping Him, calling on Him, and speaking of Him, He is Christ. We
receive Him as our Savior and Redeemer, but He enters into us as the Spirit. As
the Redeemer, He has the title Christ,
as the indweller, He has the title the Spirit.
These are not two who dwell in us but one dweller in two aspects. “Christ …is you” is the crucial point of the
book of Romans. In chapter 3 Christ is on the cross, shedding His blood for
our redemption; in chapter 4 He is in resurrection; in chapter 6 we are in Him,
now in chapter 8 He is the Spirit in us. Body
is dead Before we believed in the Lord, our spirit within was alive. Now
that we have Christ in us, though our body without is dead because of sin, our
spirit within is life because of righteousness. Christ’s coming into us as life
exposes the death situation of our body. In our spirit is Christ the Spirit as
righteousness, resulting in life; but in our flesh is Satan as sin, resulting
in death. Through the fall of man, sin, bringing death with it, entered the
human body, causing it to become dead and impotent in the things of God.
Although God condemned sin in the flesh (v.3), this sin has not been uprooted
or eradicated from man’s fallen body. Hence, our body is still dead. The spirit is life the regenerated human
spirit, in contrast to the fallen human body. This spirit is not the Spirit of
God, for the spirit mentioned here is life only under the condition that Christ
is in us. For the Spirit of God to be life, no particular condition is
required. Hence, the spirit’s being life because of righteousness can refer
only to our human spirit, not to the Spirit of God. Our spirit has not only
been regenerated and made living; it has become life. When we believed in
Christ, He as the divine Spirit of life came into our spirit and mingled
Himself with it; the two spirits thereby have become one spirit (1Cor.6:17).
Now our spirit is not merely living but is life. Because of righteousness In God’s justification, we have received
righteousness, which is the Triune God Himself entering into our being, into
our spirit. This righteousness results in life (5:18,21); hence, our spirit has
now become life.
Verse 11 the objective facts revealed in chapter 6
concerning our death and resurrection in Christ become our subjective
experience only when we are in the indwelling Spirit, who is revealed in
chapter 8. In this verse we have (1) the entire Triune God-“the One who raise Jesus
from the dead,” “Christ,” and “Holy Spirit who indwells you”, (2) the process
required for His dispensing, as implied in the words Jesus (emphasizing
incarnation), Christ (emphasizing crucifixion and resurrection), and (3) His
dispensing of Himself into the believers, as shows by the words give life to
your mortal bodies, which indicate that the dispensing not only occurs at the
center of our being but also reaches to the circumference, to our whole being. Also give life to your motel bodies This does not refer to divine
healing but to the result of our allowing the Spirit of God to make His home in
us and saturate our entire being with the divine life. In this way He gives His
life to our mortal, dying body, not merely to heal it but also that it may be
enlivened to carry out His will.
Verse 12
After we are saved, it is still possible for us to live according to the flesh
by setting the mind on the flesh. But when we are in spirit and walk according
to the spirit, we are freed from the flesh and are no longer obligated to it as
debtors.
Verse 13
in this verse, to die, to put to death and to live are spiritual matters, not
physical. We must put to death the practices of the body, but we must do it by
the Spirit. On one hand, we must take the initiative to put to death the
practices of the body; the Spirit does not do it for us. One the other hand, we should not attempt to deal with our body
by relying on our own effort without the power of the Holy Spirit. The putting
to death here is actually our coordinating with the Spirit who indwells us.
Inwardly, we must allow Him to make His home in us that He may give life to our
mortal body (v.11). Outwardly, we must put to death the practices of our body
that see may live. When we take the initiative to put to death the practices of
our body, the Spirit comes in to apply the effectiveness of Christ’s death to
those practices, thus killing them. It
is not the body itself but its practices that we must put to death. The body
needs to be redeemed (v.23), but its practices need to be put to death. There
practices include not only sinful things but also all things practiced by our
body apart from the Spirit.
Verse 14 The leading by the Spirit is not outward but inward and is composed of the law of the Spirit of life (v.2), the Spirit
(vv.9-13), and life (vv.6-11). This verse speaks of our being led by the Spirit
rather than of the Spirit’s leading us, indicating that although the Spirit is
ready to lead us, we must take the initiative to be led by Him. This means that
we must take Him as our life and everything and that we must put to death
everything of the old creation in us. WE do not need to seek after the Spirit’s
leading, since it is already present within us, dwelling in our regenerated
spirit. If we live under this leading, we will walk and behave in a way that
proves that we are God’s sons.
The leading here is not merely an action of the Spirit.
It is the Triune God Himself becoming the leading gin our spirit. If we would
care for Him as a person who indwells us, we will spontaneously be led by Him.
The
central thought of the book of Romans is that God’s salvation makes sinners His
sons, who have His life and nature so that they can express Him, that they may
become members of Christ to constitute the Body of Christ for His expression.
Hence, sonship is stressed in this chapter (vv.15,23), Sons here indicates a
more advanced stage of growth in the divine life than does Children in v.16,
yet not as advanced as heirs in v.17. Children refer to the initial stage of
sonship, the stage of regeneration in the human spirit. Sons are the children
of God who are in the stage of the transformation of their souls. They not only
have been regenerated in their spirit and are growing in the divine life, but
they also are living and walking by being led by Spirit. Heirs are the sons of
God who, through the transfiguration of their body in the stage of
glorification, will be fully matured in every part of their being. Hence, they
will be qualified as the legal heirs to claim the divine inheritance
(vv.17,23).
Bibliography,
Friberg, Timothy,
Barbara Friberg, and Neva F. Miller et al., eds. Analytical
Lexicon of the Greek New Testament.1st ed. Victoria BC:
Trafford Publishing, 2005.
King
James, The Holy Bible, Cleveland, OH: The world publishing company
Lee,
Witness. The New Testament (R.V.) Anaheim, CA: Living Stream
Ministry, 1985.
Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie study Bible (NIV).Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986.
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