Peter Duckworth Romans Series, Autumn 2017 NO More Condemnation: Romans 8:1-11 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set 3 you[a]free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,[b] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.[c] And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life[d] because of righteousness. 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 because of[e] his Spirit who lives in you. Study Guide: PRAY that the Spirit of Live will inspire your study: READ: Romans 8: 1-11 Which verses stand out to you as 1) difficult? 2) important Have a brief discussion on them as a group and then read the passage again slowly twice through. Peter in his talk below describes the law of sin and death as being ‘like gravity’. In what ways have you found that to be true? The law in verse 3 is the ‘law of Moses’: as a recap on previous passages why did that law fail? What is the ‘flesh’ (also know as ‘sinful nature’ / ‘self’)? What power does it have? – look at vv.3,5,6,7,8. 1 Peter Duckworth Romans Series, Autumn 2017 What does it mean that Jesus came in the ‘flesh’? How has he dealt with our flesh! According to vv.9-11 are you as a Christian believer still in the flesh? Why/why not? What does it mean then to live in the spirit? How powerful is that Spirit? 28 days of prayer: Spend time praying for each other to receive the Holy Spirit afresh, and especially the power to put to death any lingering tendency to operate in the ‘flesh’ (like the Romans 7 man) rather than the ‘Spirit’ like the Romans 8 man. NO MORE CONDEMNATION Which version? There are so many to choose from. Try verse 2 in different translations. NIV: ‘… because through Christ Jesus the law of the SPirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death’. A bit cumbersome. That extra Parenthesis (‘who gives life’) makes the sentence more convoluted than necessary. (Actually, older NIV has ‘law of the SPirit of life’) Living Bible: This is good – v 2 ‘For the Power of the life-giving SPirit has freed me from the vicious circle of sin and death.’ Fresh and conveys the meaning well. But I don’t want to get away from the idea of a law of sin and death. The Passion Translation (TPT) is a very good Paraphrase if you want to understand the Passage1. But I want to get down to the text, and in order to do so, I’m going to stay with the one I grew uP with – the RSV.: 1 ‘So now the case is closed. There remains no accusing voice of condemnation against those who are joined in life-union with Jesus, the Anointed One. 2 For the “law” of the Spirit of life flowing through the anointing of Jesus has liberated us from the “law” of sin and death. 3 For God achieved what the law was unable to accomPlish, because the law was limited by the weakness of human nature. Yet God sent us his Son in human form to identify with human weakness. Clothed with humanity, God’s Son gave his body to be the sin-offering so that God could once and for all condemn the guilt and power of sin. 4 So now every righteous requirement of the law can be fulfilled through the Anointed One living his life in us. And we are free to live, not according to our flesh, but by the dynamic Power of the Holy SPirit! 5 Those who are motivated by the flesh only Pursue what benefits themselves. But those who live by the imPulses of the Holy SPirit are motivated to Pursue sPiritual realities. 6 For the mind-set of the flesh is death, but the mind-set controlled by the SPirit finds life and Peace. 7 In fact, the mind-set focused on the flesh fights God’s Plan and refuses to submit to his direction, because it cannot! 8 For no matter how hard they try, God finds no Pleasure with those who are controlled by the flesh. 9 But when the Spirit of Christ empowers your life, you are not dominated by the flesh but by the Spirit. And if you are not joined to the SPirit of the Anointed One, you are not of him.’ 2 Peter Duckworth Romans Series, Autumn 2017 ‘8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the SPirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the SPirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the SPirit set their minds on the things of the SPirit. 6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the SPirit is life and Peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, indeed it cannot; 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot Please God.’ What is the argument here? 1 Chap 8 follows on from chap 7 and is linked by the word ‘therefore’. As someone once said, when you see the word ‘therefore’ in a Passage, you should ask what it’s there for. 2 Last week we considered chap 7 which, I think we would all say, resonates with our exPeriences. 7.15: ‘I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.’ Paul states a Paradox – no matter how hard I try, I end by screwing uP. Some PeoPle even think this is the normal Christian life: trying our best but failing rePeatedly and continuously. 3 Friends, if that’s what you think, you haven’t exPerienced Romans 8. You see, Romans 8 is the comPlete answer to Romans 7. Paul could hardly make it clearer: ‘Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the SPirit of life has set me free from the law of sin and death.’ Let’s unPack this a bit further. 4 ‘Condemnation’ does not mean judicial sentencing—guilty as charged, and therefore deserving of Punishment. Paul has already dealt with that issue in chapter 5 when he begins with the wonderful Passage that converted Martin Luther: ‘Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ’. No, the argument has moved on, over three chapters. 5 In chapter 6, Paul discusses the illogicality of living in sin when, through Christ, we have died to sin. In chapter 7, he deals with the Problem of fulfilling the law [ie the righteousness of God] when our human nature, inherited from Adam, is Pointing the other way. He then discusses a different kind of law—not of commandments, but an emPirical exPerience, like the laws of physics—by which, whenever I try to do the right thing, my human nature is PromPting me to do the oPPosite. Paul calls this ‘the law of sin and death’—because desPite my best intentions, it is always dragging me down, and down, and down, and down. 6 This is the ‘condemnation’ to which chap 8 refers. It’s not judicial sentencing, but self-condemnation. We all know about that. Not just a guilty conscience when do I something wrong (everyone has that), but a feeling that however hard I try, I just don’t make the grade with God.