'There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus."
We are no longer in the flesh. How good to have a sense continually of being in Christ and no longer occupied with self as the man described in the previous chapter where everything was I, I, I. Deliverance is on the same basis as salvation, accomplished at the cross of Calvary. It is now past, and faith believes and is delivered.
Sin in the flesh is judged, not forgiven, but condemned, and that in the death of Christ on the cross. The believer is now alive in Christ, the power of that life is in me, in my life, and what is true of Christ as a man is true of me. What a deliverance!
Our life in the Spirit is a continual one, without interruption. Our failure cannot change this.
The law of Moses is not a measure for the believer's walk. The law of God and His claims are fulfilled in us who walk according to the Spirit desiring the things of the Spirit-heavenly things.
Those of the flesh mind the things of the flesh, but when one is renewed in his mind, the Holy Spirit produces holy thoughts in the heart.
We can say that we are not in the flesh when we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The prodigal son was on his way to his father's house, but not yet clad in the best robe, and he did not know the father's heart. He entered into Christian standing upon meeting his father, then we hear no more of him, only his father.
At the beginning of chapter 8 the believer is seen in Christ Jesus. Now we see the other aspect of our position, "If Christ be in you." Here are the ground and measure of our responsibility.
The full answer to the question in chapter 7, "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" follows: 1. "Spirit of God" in contrast with sinful flesh.
2. "The Spirit of Christ," the formal character of the life which is the expression of His power. (This is the Spirit acting in man according to the perfection of the divine thoughts.)
3. "The Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus Christ from the dead." Here is the perfect and final deliverance of the body itself by the power of God, acting through the Spirit.
Instead of our being subject to a law, the Holy Spirit is our life and acts in us. "To be spiritually minded is life and peace." The Spirit is inseparable from the new life. The Spirit of Christ raised from the dead is the formative power of the new man. "He that raised up Christ from the dead" is the pledge in us of resurrection, the glorious end of deliverance.
Those who live after the flesh shall die.
Those led by the Spirit of God are sons. We "have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." We know we are the children of God by the witness of the Spirit.
The world is for us the source of many sorrows of sin because of God's holiness, of grief and sorrow because of His love in us.
Surely we are grieved when we see the condition of all creation. This is suffering with Christ, not for Him. We cannot be Christians without suffering with Him. To suffer for Him is a special gift of God, a privilege. The present sufferings can in no way be compared with the glory to come which shall be revealed in us. A groaning creation with which we suffer and sympathize is now our lot.
Verses 19,20,21: "The manifestation of the sons of God" will be a visible display of reigning with Christ. Then the creature will be delivered from bondage into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. The glory in which we shall be will reach out in blessing to the entire creation.
We groan waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our bodies, so as to be physically like Christ; we wait in patience to possess that which is our hope.
If the body lives in virtue of its own life, it produces nothing but sin.
Groanings that cannot be uttered belong to a new nature that feels the ruin of creation. "We know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered," and according to God.
God makes all things work together for good to those who love God and are called "according to His purpose."
The counsels of God for eternity are not the subject of this epistle. Still, Paul gives us a small preview of what will be found later in doctrine in other epistles.
Those foreknown are predestinated to be conformed to the image of Christ as man. Such are also called and justified as we have seen in this epistle, and now, when He comes He will glorify us. We are glorified already in God's counsels.
Nothing in the entire creation can separate us from the love of God; we belong to Christ.