Posted on 11/12/2010 2:17:26 PM PST by pastorbillrandles
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.For what the law could 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:That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.(Romans 8:1-4)
One thing I have always puzzled over is the “Therefore” of Romans 8:1, because it doesn’t seem to spring out of the teaching of Romans 7, with its teaching about the failure of the Law of God to sanctify us. What is the “Therefore” there for?
Martyn Lloyd Jones is helpful here in his masterful commentary on Romans, makes the helpful point that though,
“there is no natural connection there(with Romans 6-7),.The only natural connection for this statement …is fund at the end of chapter five, indeed the whole of chapter five.” (Jones,Martyn Lloyd Romans cha 7:1-8:4 ,pg 259 Banner of Truth).
Romans 6-7 is parenthesis to the teaching of the total adequacy of justification by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, as taught in Romans 3-5. Romans 6 addresses the problem of indwelling sin, positing that our sanctification is sure, by virtue of our being “in Christ”. Sin shall indeed not have dominion over us, not now nor ever!
Romans 7, explains the role of the Law of God, and why we had to be delivered of it as well. The Law is good and beautiful and Holy, but it cannot make us holy, it is a barren husband that cannot “bear fruit”unto God. We have died to it and are joined unto another, that is we are “In Christ” now, our sanctification is assured.
“Therefore”, because the Last Adam has out-done the first Adam in his effect upon humanity, there is no condemnation to those of us who are “in Christ”! Because we have died already with Jesus, we are not under any sort of condemnation, we have been justified before God!
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those of us who are in Christ Jesus.”
When? Now! Romans 8:1 is not an ideal status we seek to attain to some day in the future, it is nothing less than a present reality. Jesus has purchased a status for s that takes us out of al condemnation forever.Do you believe this?
We who are in Christ, cannot be condemned! we have been condemned already in the cross, in Jesus, and have passed out of condemnation. The conclusion of the chapter is just another way of stating what we have in verse 1, that there will not be anything that can ever separate us from the Love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Why is this true of us? Because when God justified us, He placed us also, “In Christ”. It is by our union with and in Christ that we have passed out of the condemnation, we inherited through our union with and in Adam.
How is it that there is therefore now no condemnation to us who are “In Christ”? By being set free from “the Law of Sin and death”, that is, from the Law of Moses which only aggravated indwelling sin, and always results in death, as the preceding 7 chapters of Romans has taught us.
“For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ has freed us from the law of sin and death”
What has liberated us from the law of sin and death? Something called the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. For us, the old principle of being ‘under law’, has been superseded by a new principle,that of receiving Life in Christ!
Accepting Jesus, is receiving Life, eternal life, in Jesus. Another name for it is grace. We are not condemned to the cycle of sin,law,condemnation and death by God’s law, we operate out of a new principle now, we have eternal Life! We are now in the reign of grace.
“For what the Law could not do,weak as it was in the flesh,God has done.”
We have already seen that though the Law is good, and moral, and true, and heavenly, it has limits, as far as our fallen race is concerned. The law cannot make us perfect, make us Holy, bring us to God, justify,nor sanctify us. The Law isn’t the answer, eternal life is.
The goal is the same, but the means are different. Those who seek by law to be either justified or sanctified, are doomed to frustration and defeat.In fact there is a curse of futility on the law.
But God has made a way for a new principle to operate within us, the principle of “life in Christ Jesus”. Freed from condemnation and allowed to develop in the wholesomeness of faith in Jesus and the gospel, “The righteousness of the Law is fulfilled in we who walk not in the flesh ,but in the Spirit”.
I consider the “good news” of religions other than Christianity to compare to the “grace” of Christianity as outlined in the bullet points below. By “good news” I mean, nirvana, eternal life, or whatever it is that your religion offers, and I use the analogy of a “dresser” that a person desires.
- With non-Christian religions, you are offered “plans” for making your own dresser.
- For pseudo-”Christan” religions (e.g. Mormonism), you get an Ikea dresser in a small box with “some assembly required”.
- With Christianity, the delivery guys show up at your door with a fully constructed dresser.
Ping
The greatest chapter in the entire Bible.
thank you for your reply. It just followed along beautifully with more insight on grace.
Hello PBR, I really enjoyed your Joel commentaries. But now we are back to Paul...ugggh. Paul is just plain wrong! Sometimes I think Paul didnt either read the minor prophets or he didnt understand them!
The whole purpose of the Law of G-d was not to sanctify us but to provide an anchor point, from which to do G-ds will on earth. As Rabbi Solomon says: The Oar does no good without the clee. Love, Justice, Mercy and Righteousness are the Oar, the Law is the clee. Anytime a person ritually does the commandments without a true relationship with G-d, or without true love of HaShem, or without understanding of what G-d is actually after.....IT IS GARBAGE. G-d HATES ritual, without love of our fellow man. G-d HATES ritual without mercy. G-d HATES ritual without justice.
That is the whole message of the Prophets!
Micah 6:6 With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
The spiritual comes first and then the physical. We love G-d, we show kindness and mercy to our fellow man, then we are compelled to do the mitzvot, commandments and in the process, we do G-ds will on earth and repair a broken world. Persue the physical and you will have nothing. When you pursue the spiritual first, you then elevate the physical to the spiritual. This is what G-d wants.
King David is a good model. Was he perfect? No. A murderer? An Adulterer? Yes. Yet he was sanctified and justified by G-d. How? Through the ritual law? NO! By Teshuvah! He returned to G-d...asked for forgiveness...sought G-d with all his heart, showed love, mercy and justice. Did he follow the Law? Yes! to the best of his ability. He delighted in the Law! Psalm 119...the longest chapter in scripture, 176 verses of David proclaiming the love and beauty of the Law! Why? If the Law was flawed would David do the Law? Why would he delight in it? Because it pleased the LORD. "The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure. They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness". Psalm 111:7-8
Everytime the prophets speak of Israels redemption and return, in EVERY case, the prophets say Israel will walk in G-ds ways and keep his commandments. So is the Law dead? NO! The Law is forever!
And I shall give them one heart, and shall put a new spirit within them. And I shall take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances, and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God. Ezekiel 11:19-20
My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees. Ezekiel 37:24
And many peoples shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths," for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Isaiah 2:3
What are his ways? Return to G-d, repent, love him with your entire heart, soul and might, love your fellow man as yourself, show Mercy to your fellow man, persue Justice for the oppressed and live in righteousness. And when you do, like David, you will love the Law.
Joel 2 :13 Rend your heart and not your garments.
greetings blasaster- I am glad you enjoyed the Joel commentaries, The Word of the Lord is timeless, Wisdom cries out Loud! I am rushing out now, but will respond to the rest later- Good to hear from you my friend!Pas Bill
Praise God for In Christ truths!
Yes, we have passed out of condemnation by the FINISHED WORK of Christ on the Cross
We are eternally saved; and nothing can ever separate us from the Love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I have been trying to plea this case to many FR on the Catholic blog here; but it is so sad that they have rejected God Grace and NO CONDEMNATION by the FINISHED WORK of Christ on the Cross; but these Catholics persist in "looking forward to Purgatory and its eternal fire to purify them... and some have said that a "so called Christian" can lose their salvation. The fact remains that the Catholics are not saved by their another gospel of another kind...
"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing..." (Jn 6:63) Great start to chapter 8 Pastor Bill. Keep up the good work - Preach the Word! Been waiting for you to get back to Romans. ;-)
Actually, we’re saved by Christ and believe in Him. I don’t know what gnostic beliefs your grouping believes in
Your "RC organization" denies Christ as Head of the Church (Colossians 1:18); your RC organization is of the doctrine of Belial and its doctrines are of the ultimate source of unbelief by Satanic doctrines. You do not believe in Jesus Christ, you only believe in the gospel of another kind, which is not of Christ, not of Paul. You are not saved by grace, therefore, not saved at all.
Actually, no, your group is a Gnostic group that denies God the Father as a demiurge. This is pure gnosticism and is not Christianity. This group lies and distorts the Bible by making statemetns about secret knowledge and only smaller congregations can find out the mystery. This group preaches a whole different bible, not just a whole different gospel. It would be good for people to leave your group and become Christian.
Thank you.
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