The apostle has now removed all objections against the perfect justification of the sinner and its practical consequences, and in this chapter he places the condition of the delivered Christian before us, whose deliverance is founded upon the work of Christ only, whose joy is a consequence of partaking of the life of Christ, and whose redemption will be extended to his body also.
This chapter divides itself into three parts: 1, it represents the life in the Spirit and the Spirit considered as life (verses 1 to 14); 2, the personal presence of the Holy Ghost, as dwelling in us—and not the fruit of His personal presence (verses 15 to 30); and 3, it shows that God is for us (verses 31 to 39). First then we have the life in its fullest result, even to the resurrection of the body, then the presence of the Holy Ghost in us, and finally the power which gives full security of what God is for us externally in His counsels, &c.
The first three verses give us in few words the result of the truths unfolded in chapters 5, 6, 7. In chapter 5 we have “the justification of life,” and the result of it is here in verse 1. In chapter 6 we are “dead to sin” and risen with Christ, and this answers to the second verse, and finally in chapter 7 we are “dead to the law,” which is expressed in verse 3.
“There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (verse 1). Christ has submitted Himself to the judgment which was necessary because of sin, and then rose from the dead. He left sin behind Him in laying down the life in which He bore the same, and in which He satisfied the demands and curse of the law, and entered into a new position before God. He was under the judgment of condemnation, because of sin, and in our stead, and there can be, therefore, now no more question of sin, wrath, judgment, and condemnation for us believers, because He is risen from the dead, and has appeared before God. We are united to Christ, and placed in a new position in the resurrection-life of Christ, and therefore delivered from sin and its consequences. Because we have died with Him, and are raised up again with Him, as we have seen already in chapter 6, because we live through the life of Christ, there can be, therefore, now no more condemnation for us. We are in Him, and as risen in Him we have our position in the presence of God. It is not only that we cannot be condemned any more, but, what is far greater, there is no more condemnation! There is an end of the whole condition to which it would be applied. Just as surely as there is no condemnation for the risen Christ, even so is there none for all that are in Him. “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death” (verse 2).
The expression, “law of the Spirit of life,” denotes the lasting eternal principle of life which is in Christ Jesus. In Him we find the living power of the Spirit, which through union with Him transplanted us into a new position, a position in which we find ourselves forever out of the reach of condemnation, as said already— “free from the law of sin and death.” Death reigns no longer over Christ, and therefore also no more over us, for we are risen in Him. In that Christ first wrought our reconciliation, we enter with Him into life, freed from sin and death, the wages of sin. We have part in the life of the risen One. We are become of a new creation through the power of God, and this power has been fully proved in the resurrection. It may be well to remark that it is not here a question of experience, but of the fruit of what God has wrought in Christ, and what has been given us in the new life, of which we have been made partakers.
“For what the law would not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh” (verse 3). It was not the defect of the law that its claims could not be fulfilled by man, but the fault lay solely in the powerlessness of the flesh. Nothing perfect can be made out of a bad material. If the law seeks to work upon the flesh it will annihilate it; the material will break under it; the law never works the gift of righteousness. Well does it promise life to them that keep it, but because there is no one that does keep it, it also does not give life to any; Christ only gives life.
The great point in question in this verse is not the forgiveness of past sins, but the deliverance from sin in the flesh. It is this that so often disturbs the heart of the believer, if he does not know deliverance in truth, which God has wrought for him in Christ. Though he is convinced of the blotting out of his sins, yet it will work with power in him as a law in his members, by which he is the servant of sin. But thanks be to God, who has prepared a full redemption for us, in that He sent His only Son. What love! In Him He has fully accomplished the work of deliverance for us, according to His grace and purpose; He has executed His judgment in Christ upon root and branch of sin, so that it has no more right over us; yea, it is no longer present for the conscience between God and the soul. “They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the passions and lusts” (Gal. 5:24).
Sin in the flesh is judged, therefore, for them who are in Christ. Can the presence of sin now disturb us, when it is judged, and we have not to expect any more judgment for it? Certainly not. We judge sin before God, because God has judged it in Christ, and we testify thereby that we are one with Him and no longer with sin; but its presence cannot disturb us, it can neither defile our conscience, nor hinder us from communion with God or from walking in His presence. But when we walk after the flesh, or allow the flesh to work, then we are defiled, and practical communion with God is interrupted. This interruption continues until we confess our sins in uprightness of heart, because God then, according to His faithfulness and justice, forgives us and cleanses us (1 John 1:9). But if we neglect this confession or self-judgment, then we go on with an unclean heart, and have never any real practical fellowship with God. Therefore it is not the presence of the flesh or of sin that defiles us, or hinders our practical communion with God, but our allowing sin to work. But our position before God is not touched or changed by this in the least. We are in Christ, the risen One, and therefore no more condemnation can befall us. There is no more judgment for Him, and therefore none for all who are in Him. Though the flesh is in us, yet we are so far separated from it, as Christ Himself, who sitteth at the right hand of God, because we are in Him. Every question, both as regards sins, as well as in reference to sin, is set aside for us in Christ on the Cross, and now we find ourselves beyond the Cross in the risen One—there, where there is no more judgment and no more condemnation. Christ Himself is now the true expression and character of our position before God.
We see further here that the Christian life through grace is inseparably connected with the deliverance from condemnation, and this in virtue of the resurrection of Christ. The law must condemn the sinner; but God, dealing in grace, has condemned sin, and allowed the sinner to pass out free. What now is the result of this act of God? “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (verse 4). This verse forms a passage from the position in which grace has placed us before God, to the practical life, in which this grace introduces and guides the Christian. It is therefore a question of conduct here; the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us. It is not an outward law, which has to operate through the flesh, but a new life in power.
The next following verses (verses 5 to 10) present the full contrast between those, who are in the flesh—in the condition of the flesh—and those who are in the Spirit. “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit” (verse 5). The expressions “after the flesh” and “after the Spirit” denote the condition or the whole being of the carnal, i.e., of the natural man, and the spiritual, i.e., the Christian. Every one sets his mind upon things which are according to his own peculiar being, or his nature. The one thinks of that which is of the Spirit, the other of that which is of the flesh. But “to be carnally minded is death” (verse 6). This is to be without any real fear of God, and to lie under the judgment of the old Adam. Death comes in to seal this condition. “To be spiritually minded is life and peace” (verse 6). This is in perfect harmony with God, and its innermost being therefore is life and peace. “ The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (verse 7). The law of God not only declares that which is right, but also the authority of the lawgiver. But the flesh has not only desires which are against God, but also a will which is not subject to His law. As soon as the authority of God steps in, the rebellion of the flesh appears; for the flesh says continually, “I will,” and “I will not;” and if I now transgress against one commandment I am guilty of the whole, because, both in the transgression against one commandment as well as in the transgression against all the commandments, shows the same unwillingness to subjection. Already the mere presence of the will in the flesh manifests its opposition against God. Our duty is to obey God, but to have one’s own will means to disobey Him. The flesh, therefore, is not only against the will, but also against the authority of God: “So then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (verse 8).
Our relation to God is now no more characterized by the flesh but by the Spirit: “Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you” (verse 9). The Spirit of God dwelling in us is now our power to fulfill the desires and inclinations of the new nature and to keep down those of the flesh. This indwelling of the Spirit is of the greatest importance, for thereby we are assured that God Himself is in us. Yet He does not thereby cease to be God, nor does He cause man to cease to be man; but divinely He produces a life in man, a character, a new man, and in this sense a new creature. At the same time it is the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit by whose power Christ acted, lived, and offered Himself, and through whom He rose again. The whole life of Christ was the expression of the operation of the Spirit—of the Spirit in man; and this whole power dwells in us. “Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his” (verse 9). To belong to Christ, to have His Spirit, is the real and only possession, the eternal reality. And here we find reality. Christianity realizes itself in us, in a nature conformable with God, without which we cannot be in communion with Him; and it is God who has given us this conformity with Himself. We could not be born of God if He did not impart life to us, and the Spirit is the source and power of this life. If anyone has not the Spirit of Christ, if the power of this spiritual life is not in him, he does not belong to Christ. But when Christ is in us then do we possess in Him, who is our life, the power of our spiritual life. “The body is dead,” because it has a will; it is nothing but sin; “but the Spirit is life” (verse 10), the Spirit by which Christ has lived. Christ, in Spirit in us, is the life, that righteousness may be present, for in the activity of this life lies the only possible, practical righteousness; the flesh can never accomplish it (verse 10). We live through Christ, for righteousness is in the life of Christ; outside it is nothing but sin. He only exists now for us, and He is our life, all else is death.
But the Spirit has yet another character. It is the Spirit of Him who raised up Jesus out of the dead: “ But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies because of his Spirit that dwelleth in you” (verse 11). The body, therefore, is not forgotten. It will have full part in the resurrection power. We shall have a body, which is in conformity with the life which we possess through the Spirit of Christ— “fashioned like unto his body of glory” (Phil. 3:21). Therefore it is on account of His Spirit that dwelleth in us that we shall be raised up, but the wicked will not be raised up, for this reason, they have not the Spirit of Christ, but by the mighty word of Christ they shall be called before His judgment seat.
So far we have three characters of the Spirit: He is the Spirit of God, in contrast to the flesh, sin, the natural man; He is the Spirit of Christ, which characterizes our conduct in this world, and lastly, “the Spirit of him who raised up Christ from the dead,” the power which shall deliver the body completely and forever from the chains of death.
The apostle then speaks in the two following verses of the result of our deliverance in Christ as regards our relations to the flesh, and our conduct towards it: “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh” (verse 12), and then he puts the two great principles which are followed by death and life, before the conscience of the Christian for solemn consideration, that he may choose his path in practical life accordingly: “For if ye live after the flesh ye shall die, but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body ye shall live” (verse 13). The “life after the flesh” here is synonymous with the “walk after the flesh,” which is in question in verse 4. The position of the believer before God is not “in the flesh” but “in the Spirit,” and the result of this position is, that he walk not “after the flesh.” We are, therefore, no debtors to the flesh in this present world, because in Christ Jesus we are delivered from the law of sin and death. If we live after the flesh, then do we walk in the path of death, but when we, through the Spirit, mortify the deeds of the body, then do we live. Paul here does not say, as in contrast to “debtors to the flesh,” ye are “debtors to the Spirit,” for thereby he would have brought us unto a far higher law than that of Moses—unto a law the fulfillment of which would have been still more impossible for us. The Spirit of God Himself is the power by which we mortify the deeds of the body. We are led, not by the principles of the world, but through the divine love and power in Christ Jesus, not by the flesh, but through the Spirit of God. We live before God in the liberty of redemption. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the children of God” (verse 14); they are not carried away as prisoners, but led as sons.