1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
These verses extend the topic of the previous chapter, which described the desperate situation of the good-intentioned person who wants to serve God but keeps doing sinful things. Thus, the Apostle continues in first person concerning those two laws which war within the soul (Rom 7:25); the one is fleshly and the other is spiritual. Their titles vary throughout these chapters. Here, the Law of the Covenant of Grace is called the Law of the Spirit of life (v2), and elsewhere it is the Law of Faith (Rom 3:27) and the Law of God (Rom 7:25). The fleshly law is here called the law of sin and death (v2); elsewhere we read, the law of sin (Rom 7:25).
While the Apostle’s chief intent in these chapters is to convince the Jews to put all their faith in Christ and break completely from the Mosaic Law just as he had done (Php 3:4-8), his words also depict in clarity that the human condition of self-love and rebellion can only be overcome by the power of the Holy Spirit within the believer. All those under the Law and without the Law are under condemnation, but Jesus Christ came to deliver Mankind from the body of this death (Rom 7:24). The blessedness of the New Covenant of Grace is that the believer is in Christ and the Spirit of God dwells within; he is forgiven, cleansed, sanctified, and shall not come into condemnation (John 5:24). The fullness of Faith in the believer will result in more Grace from God, which leads to even deeper faith and more grace – an ever-increasing circle of spiritual Power.
The Law of the Spirit is able to set Mankind free from the Law of sin and death (see note Rom 6:18). This all-encompassing Law which has come to crush all mankind is prominent throughout the Scriptures: In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die (Gen 2:17); the soul that sinneth, it shall die (Eze 18:4); If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die (Rom 8:13). The Law of Moses figured large in this case, for while it was ordained to life it actually wrought death by sin (Rom 7:10) to all who attempted to follow its just commands. Nevertheless, many Christian Jews put their confidence in the flesh, or the Mosaic Law that Paul had realized he must completely renounce in order to win Christ (Php 3:3-4). Therefore he says elsewhere, Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage (Gal 5:1).
The Apostle has shown that the Mosaic Law leads to sin and death, but this passage speaks to the Gentile Christian as much as the Jewish one. The carnally minded (v6) consist of all those outside of Christ. The Gentiles are also guilty before God, not by the Mosaic Law, but by disobeying the Law of their conscience. But thanks be to God, Christ and His Law of the Spirit has provided a way to be set free from these tyrants.
3 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:
Although the Law of Moses was thoroughly righteous and holy (Rom 7:12; 9:31), it did not have the spiritual power to veritably cleanse a soul from the stains of sin. Lacking as yet the acceptable atonement, God prescribed special interim rituals which would release the offerant from guilt. Sins were forgiven under the Old Covenant, but in a pre-active manner, that is, conditioned upon a future event which God recognized in perfect foreknowledge. Thus, the Lord was ready to forgive the penitential prayer (Ps 86:5) and He put away David’s sin so that he did not die (2Sam 12:13).
Nevertheless, this weakness of the Law to actually take away sins signified a limitation in the relationship between God and His creation which was finally removed by the Atonement of Christ. The result was the blessed coming of the Holy Spirit into the hearts and minds of every believer. In the Old Testament, the Spirit came and went as God deemed best, but in the New Testament, He comes into our hearts to stay (John 16:7). Crucially here the Law was weak, but Jesus Christ effected tremendous steps in reconciling Mankind with his Creator. The new Temple of God is within the hearts of His cleansed and forgiven people.
In these chapters the apostle Paul has delicately and astutely placed his arguments before the Jews (see note Rom 7:12), for with his whole being he wants them to be saved (Rom 9:3). He has readily identified himself as a Jew in order to save the Jews (see 1Cor 9:19-23). Elsewhere however, he speaks more emphatically about the Law, saying that it was disanulled because of this very inability to make its adherents perfect (Heb 7:18-19).
Adam Clarke writes, “The law was a spirit of death, by which those who were under it were bound down, because of their sin, to condemnation and death…The law could not pardon; the law could not sanctify; the law could not dispense with its own requisitions.” I believe this overstates the case unto making the Law an unnecessary evil. In truth, the Law was ordained by God so that Man could truly and effectively find right-standing with Him. Pardon was extended to those under the Law. Guilt was released by doing the statutes of the Law. Favor and blessing flowed to those who honored the Law. Incredible testimonies abound in the era of the Law. The focus is rather upon this crucial fact: the Law was incomplete without the perfect atonement of Christ. Now that He has effected that offering, the era of the Law has ended. A new and living way has been opened into the Holy Place (Heb 10:20). That is a primary theme in the epistle to the Hebrews.
Jesus came to the world in the likeness of sinful flesh. This phrase exhibits in remarkable clarity the deity and humanity of Jesus. He was wholly human (sinful flesh) but in likeness (not real essence), for He is God’s own Son. He was made flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14), made in the likeness of men (Php 2:7), a partaker of flesh and blood (Heb 2:14), in fashion as a man (Php 2:8), in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin (Heb 4:15). Jesus appeared as any normal man and lived in all points as any normal man, but the above verses show that his Being was not human. Thus, He was made flesh, in fashion and likeness a man. Yet in reality, He is the divine Son of God, the Christ. God was manifest in the flesh (1Tim 3:16). Jesus said, he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father (John 14:9). See note on Col 1:15.
The first man Adam disobeyed God and sin suddenly appeared in the world; the last Adam perfectly obeyed God and so condemned sin in the flesh. He overcame sin, defeated sin, destroyed sin. Obviously, sin still exists, but the power of sin has been broken for we who trust in Christ, and on that final day our fleshly bodies will be raised to life celestial, eternal and incorruptible. The prince of this world has been judged, condemned and cast out (John 12:31).
God sent his Son for sin. The NIV and NASB translators dubiously add to the Apostle’s words here. “God sent his Son to be a sin offering.” While God did make His soul an offering for sin (Is 53:10), the aim of this verse is that Jesus, living in the likeness of sinful flesh, condemned sin by His perfect and sinless life. That crucial virtue made Him to be the acceptable offering for sin. Jesus came to this world for sin. Those words carry a considerable weight of meaning which encompasses the plan of God in the reconciliation of Mankind.
Was Jesus a human after the order of historical fallen Mankind, or was He a human after the form of Adam’s pre-fallen state? See note on Rom 5:13.
4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
The Greek word dikaioma is not normally translated righteousness, but “precept, statute, judgment” (see note Rom 5:18). This spotlights the fact that while the precepts and statutes of the Law were beautifully designed and initiated by God, they did not make anybody perfect in the Old Covenant economy (Heb 7:19). Rather, they were completed, fulfilled, accomplished in the details of the New Covenant of Jesus Christ. Or as the Apostle says later on, Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to every one that believeth (Rom 10:4). The types and shadows of the Law all pointed to a better hope which would even more clearly validate and fulfill the designs of Law (Mat 5:17). And after His resurrection Jesus opened the eyes of His disciples to those truths such that their hearts burned within them (Luke 24:27, 32).
So the statutes and decrees of the Law were fulfilled in us who walk…after the Spirit. Their finishing touch was designed to come into focus in the Messiah’s Kingdom within you (Luke 17:21). A concise commentary on this truth can be found after the lengthy list of Old Testament heroes of faith: And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect (Heb 11:39-40). The righteousness of the Mosaic Law came to its intended end in the new Law of Christ.
5 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. 6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
The human mind is the battleground of good and evil. It was there that Satan insinuated his pernicious thoughts to Eve and there that Adam decided to rebel against God’s command. According to James 1:14-15, sin is first conceived in the mind. In fact, the most damaging sins for the individual might not even be made known. Lust, envy, hatred, unforgiveness, bitterness, pride, arrogance, these are conceived and cultivated virtually sight-unseen in the mind. They are death to the soul! The Apostle depicts the scene in two contrasting patterns: “To think and live according to the Flesh is to be an enemy of God and results in spiritual death; to think and live according to the Spirit is to submit to the Law of God and results in life and peace.” A simple axiom with grave consequences.
In this chapter, the carnal mind adds to a growing list of terms for the unsaved natural man: the old man, the body of sin, the flesh (chap 6). The words carnal and flesh are derived from the same Greek word (sarx). The carnal mind will never submit to the law of God. It must be put to death, destroyed, crucified (Rom 6:6); then the mind can be transformed, renewed, reborn (Rom 12:2; 2Cor 5:17) according to the graces of the Spirit. This is not a single divine action, but a sanctifying, maturing process while in this earthy tabernacle of clay. The true seeker must take up his cross daily (Luke 9:23), must die daily (1Cor 15:31), must offer himself in constant living sacrifice to God (Rom 12:1). He must live in the flesh (Gal 2:20; John 17:15) yet never take in mind the things of the flesh (v5). This battle in the mind – flesh against the spirit – is deathly serious. The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak (Mat 26:41).
Only the spiritually minded person can know true life and peace, for the soul that has been made alive by the Holy Spirit is able to discern things that the natural man cannot (1Cor 2:14-15). And the inner peace (see John 14:27) that attends this man in Christ is beyond understanding (Php 4:7). The verses that follow show that to walk after and mind the things of the Spirit requires full commitment and serious effort. We are debtors to live according to the Spirit (v12); we must mortify the deeds of the body (v13); we must allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit of God (v14). God alone can literally purify a human soul, but Man press hard to receive that grace (2Tim 2:1; Luke 16:16). This fact is everywhere evident in the New Testament yet many theologians deny that Man has any work in the effecting of his salvation. Strive to enter in at the strait gate, Jesus said, For many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able (Luke 13:24). They were not willing to give up all and utterly die to Self to win that pearl of great price (Mark 8:34; Mat 13:46) Every man… purifieth himself (1John 3:3); not the actual action, but maintaining the mind of decision and sincerity to yield himself to wholly to Christ. Thus we read that the saints in heaven have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Rev 7:14). Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts (James 4:8).
There is some dispute whether the word Spirit in this passage is a reference to the Holy Spirit, or to the spirit within the individual. To my mind, the translators were entirely correct in capitalizing the word Spirit here. In verse 10 however, the subject seems to require a lower-case “S.” The previous verses spoke of the mind as if it were the spirit of the person (see Rom 7:23-25), but here the Holy Spirit is the primary subject.
8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Again the picture is black and white. We are either in the flesh, or we are in the Spirit. Meaning, we are either living according to the will and desires of the Flesh, or according to the will and desires of the Holy Spirit. We are either in Christ, or we are none of His. We are either a living branch connected to the Vine (John 15:5), or a dead one destined to be burned (John 15:6). That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3:6). The man who is in flesh will display the selfish deeds of the flesh, while the man who is in the Spirit will display the honorable fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23).
This either/or dichotomy concludes in verse ten: either the body is dead and the spirit is alive, or the body is alive and the spirit is dead. There are no other options and no middle ground because there are only two destinies. See note for Rom 6:2. The body (soma) and the flesh (sarx) are used synonymously in reference to the natural man’s fallen nature. Obviously the body is not physically dead when Christ comes to live within (1Cor 6:19), however, the selfish desires of the body must be put to death. In Rom 7:24, it is the body of this death.
In verse ten, the KJV incorrectly capitalizes the word, spirit. For while the Holy Spirit could be characterized as life, the other half of the either/or arrangement reveals the subject to be the human individual. When the Trinity makes His abode in the person (John 14:16, 23) the soul/spirit is quickened, or made alive, but the body is not reborn until the last day. Jesus said, It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing (John 6:63). Meaning, apparently, that God communicates and draws His human creation by spiritual methods as opposed to fleshly methods. No good thing dwells in the flesh (Rom 7:18).
So at the new birth, the spirit of the individual is made alive because of righteousness. God does not quicken the spirit/soul of arbitrary individuals, but by careful election He hath raised us up…to sit together in heavenly places (Eph 2:6). The link between personal righteousness and salvation is a thread that runs all through the book of Romans (see Rom 3:22; 4:13; 5:21; 6:13; 10:10; 14:17).
The triple reference to the Spirit in verse nine makes an interesting allusion to the Tri-une God who is a Spirit (John 4:24). Note: the Spirit…the Spirit of God…the Spirit of Christ.
11 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 by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Even the mortal bodies of the saints will one day be made alive, but in order to experience Heaven, the resurrection of the spirit and soul must precede it (Rev 20:6). The resurrection of the body is the last step of Redemption (more in v23). The three parts of man will all “die,” but Christ is able to quicken them as a new creature. The soul and spirit die spiritually when a man commits sin, but they are made alive by the healing power of Christ (v10) at the new birth. The body though, is conceived in sin and entirely infected by this death-corrupted world. It is not made alive by Christ, but must be kept under and subjected (1Cor 9:27) until the final breath is drawn. At death, the souls and spirits of the saints go to be with the Lord, but their bodies remain in the grave until the end of the world, when at the sound of the Last Trump, they too will be quickened and reunited with the soul and spirit. See notes on 1Cor 15.
The body of death, or carnal mind, is that fallen, depraved part of man which he has naturally on account of being born into this world of sin. However, each man is also born with an untarnished soul, a moral conscience and the honest abilities to think, comprehend and choose. By his own sin, his soul and spirit will die, for all have sinned. The two natures are in stark contrast – the fleshly, selfish nature is constantly impulsing the person to follow its mind, and the Godward spiritual nature calls the person to follow its mind. See notes at Rom 5:12; 6:23; 7:14.
12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13 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.
Seeing that Christ has quickened our spirits (v10) and has also promised to quicken our mortal bodies (v11), we are debtors to Him – under obligation to obey His law and follow the rule of the Spirit (v14). On the other hand, we have no debt to the Flesh, for it is not made alive upon being born again and instead must be mortified daily (v13). The word debtor (see Gal 5:3) implies an outstanding bill or obligation. Man’s debt of sin can only be paid by Christ, but his indebtedness remains – not to the Flesh, but to Christ. This is illustrated in the parable of the ungrateful servant in Mat 18:21-35, where the benevolent Lord re-imposed the great debt He had forgiven when the servant did not follow His good example.
Mortify the deeds of the body. We are debtors to Christ and this is what He has asked us to do. To mortify (thanatoo) is to put to death (see same word used in 1Pet 3:18). This requirement of every believer, all the sons of God, has been strongly shown in the book of Romans. See especially notes on Rom 6:2; 7:24.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
The Holy Spirit dwells in the heart of every born-again person (Rom 8:9), but He does not take over control of the mind, will and actions of the believer. Only those that are led by the Spirit…are the sons of God. The Holy Spirit was sent by Christ to be a Guide for His followers during their earthly sojourn (John 16:13; John 15:26). In a beautiful Old Testament type, the children of Israel were guided through the wilderness by a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire by night (Ex 13:21; Neh 9:19). Those who did not follow the Pillar were not children of Israel.
While the Old Testament experience was closely linked to the physical, the New Testament is a spiritual economy. The work of the Spirit is not literally going before the people of God on an earthly track through the desert. Rather, His primary work is to declare Christ, to illuminate the truth of the Gospel and to lead the Christian into closer communion with God (v26, John 14:26). The Christian must be led by the Spirit (Eph 4:30; 1Thes 5:19), he must relinquish his own will, deny his own desires, reject his own paths and follow the Spirit of Truth.
15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
The coming of the Holy Spirit to live in the heart of the believer is the great difference between the Old and New Covenants. Of course, the Spirit’s coming was only possible because of the tremendous work of atonement that Christ achieved in the likeness of sinful flesh (Rom 8:3). Under the Old Covenant, the Spirit’s work on earth was limited to particular individuals or particular times. In the New Testament, the Spirit has been made available personally to all who yield themselves to His rule (Acts 2:17). Jesus said it was better for Him to go away, for then the Comforter would come to abide with you forever (John 16:7; 14:16). The presence of the Holy Spirit in each believer is an incredible, new step for close communion with God, for He makes intercession for our infirmities before God (v26).
These verses are repeated in Gal 4:5-6. The spirit of bondage apparently refers to the Old Covenant, as in Galatians 5:1. It is characterized as fearful (similar in Heb 2:15; 2Tim 1:7) because its high and holy laws were strictly enforced to the full measure. He that transgressed the Law perished without remedy (see my note at Mat 7:28; Heb 10:28; James 2:10; Rom 3:20). Under the New Covenant and because of Christ, mercy rejoiceth against judgment (James 2:13) and all those who accept His requisites are extended the blessed privilege of adoption into the family of God (John 1:12; 1John 3:1-2).
In the original language, Abba, Father (abba pater) is the word “father” repeated in Hebrew and Greek (also in Gal 4:6; Mark 14:36). Perhaps this is said to remind again that God is no respecter of persons (Rom 2:10-11), being the Father of both Jews and Gentiles (Eph 4:6). Yet the more significant meaning is to develop the comparison of the two covenants – slaves in fear and bondage, or sons of love by adoption. Of course, in one sense we are slaves of Christ (Rom 1:1), yet voluntary ones. And in one sense we do fear God (Heb 12:28; Php 2:12), yet in respect and reverence.
Very rarely is God presented as our Father in the Old Testament and even then it is only in prophetic passages such as Isaiah 56:5; 64:8. Jesus, meanwhile, referred to God as our Father more than a dozen times in the Sermon on the Mount alone. God created Man and so can be considered his father in a material sense (Luke 3:38), but only those who are led by the Spirit are true, accepted children of God (1John 3:10) in a spiritual sense. Outwardly they appear as all other men, but inwardly they have received the Spirit of adoption (see Eph 1:5), which remains within until the day of full adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body, is realized (Rom 8:23).
16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
The Spirit testifies together with our spirit to evidence that we are truly children of God. While the Spirit does speak to Man’s spirit, here the Greek verb means to testify jointly, or along with something. The tree is known by its fruit, so also the man (Mat 7:16-20). Does he bear the fruit of the Spirit, or the thorns and thistles of the flesh? In my mind then, this verse is not saying that the Holy Spirit is constantly testifying to our own spirit that we are children of God, but rather that the joint testimony of the Spirit with our own renewed spirit (Eph 4:23; Rom 12:2) shows us to be the children of God. This renewing of the Holy Ghost (Tit 3:5; 1John 5:10) results in true adoption as sons and daughters of God.
Unfortunately, some have virtually elevated the Spirit to the throne of worship instead of Jesus Christ, who is alone the Author and Finisher of our salvation (Heb 12:2). Yes, the Spirit is the seal of our salvation (Eph 1:13; 2Cor 1:22), but His role is to exalt Christ, not Himself (John 16:13). He ever points the seeking soul to the One with power to heal, save and advocate (1John 2:1). Obsessions with seeking certain gifts of the Spirit instead developing the full fruit of the Spirit has crippled the Gospel in many cases! The Holy Spirit will always guide by the light of the Word and by this we recognize the true Spirit of God (1John 4:1; 1Tim 4:1).
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. 18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
What a marvelous, generous promise! God wants to gift us with amazing, eternal glories. The very idea of God adopting a human is incredible. Yet if we are being led by the Spirit we are truly and legally sons of God (v14), which makes us heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. Jesus, of course, is the Son of God by nature, but we are sons of God by adoption. And just as God raised up Christ, so He will also raise up our mortal bodies at the Last Day (v11). In an interesting type, the Levites were not given land in Canaan, for the Lord is their inheritance (Deut 18:2; Num 18:20).
Do not miss the subtle warning in this verse. We are children and heirs, if so be that we suffer with Him. Indeed, we must die with Him if we wish to live with Him; we must suffer with Him if we wish to reign with Him (2Tim 2:11-12; Rom 6:8; 2Cor 4:10). Yet our present, passing sufferings are minor afflictions in comparison to the wonderful, everlasting glories which have been prepared for us (1Cor 2:9; 2Cor 4:17). The difference is so great that Peter even says we should rejoice in suffering with Christ (1Pet 4:13). And Jesus promised that everyone who suffers for the sake of His name shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life (Mat 19:29).
The word sufferings (pathema) extends to both physical and spiritual trials – hardships, pains, emotional struggles, denying one’s personal affections, etc (Gal 5:24; Php 3:10; Heb 2:10; 1Pet 5:9). The martyrs gave up their lives in order to experience that future glory, but the great trials and temptations of the present age of deception are no less a severe, to-the-death test of suffering! The Prophet warned of exceedingly difficult days at the End, such that even the elect might be deceived (Mat 24:21-25). Let us not be tranquilized by the soothing sounds of pleasure and ease. The Devil knows what he is doing! He is sweeping far more into the horrors of Hell by inflicting spiritual sufferings than He did by inflicting physical sufferings.
The glory that we will begin to experience in that Day is beyond human comprehension. Our mortal bodies will be transformed into celestial bodies (1Cor 15:52; Php 3:21) and we shall be able to see Him in full view and understanding (1John 3:2). That glory will be revealed in us.
19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
The word creature (ktsis) refers to the creation of God, the physical world with its features and creatures. According to God’s word, Adam died spiritually the moment that he disobeyed God and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:17). Sin, decay and death, foreign to the Creation until that point, became the rigid rule of all things. The whole creation was made subject to vanity, or put under the bondage of corruption (v21). In other words, the physical laws of entropy, order-to-chaos and decay were imposed by God immediately after Adam disobeyed, for when Adam sinned, God cursed the ground (Gen 3:17). The word ground (adamah, ge), in both the Hebrew and Greek Septuagint, means “the land, the earth, the soil.” God subjected His whole creation to the Law of decay and death, but with the expectation that someday it will be liberated with Man.
The creation has no mind or soul, so it cannot literally “await with longing” the final Day of Redemption. It is personified as “eagerly waiting” because its liberation is directly linked with Man’s liberation, to wit, the redemption of our body (v23). The whole creation, Man and his World, groans under the effects of sin, but there is an earnest expectation of future liberty and glory. The Psalms and Prophets are filled with descriptions such as the earth rejoicing, the hills singing and the trees clapping their hands when in truth it was Man who was rejoicing (Ps 114:6; Is 49:13; 55:12).
The parallel between Man and Creation in the picture of Redemption is interesting. Man’s physical body will die and decay into dust, only to be remade a glorious body at the end of the world. In a similar manner, the Universe will also utterly pass away, its very elements burned to nothing, only to be remade by God into a new heavens and a new earth of eternal righteousness (2Pet 3:7-13). The full significance of that truth has not been made known to us. Will there be animals in Heaven? See my note in Rev 21:1.
There is little merit to argue against the odd opinion of some commentators that by creature Paul was referring to the “Gentile world.” See Barnes, Clarke, etc. Why would the Apostle have eschewed the normal term in favor of such an obscure figure?
23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
This expels any doubt that Paul is here speaking of a future redemption of the body and the whole creation. In light of this passage and many others, the popularity of Preterism among certain Christian scholars is an unfathomable mystery. The Apostle longs for a full, future adoption and inheritance, in fact, the whole Creation is groaning with us in anticipation of that great Day (2Cor 5:2). And we are to believe that this happened at the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.? See my notes against Preterism at Mat 13:41; 24:34; Rev 20:1.
The Christian has within him the firstfruits of the Spirit, which is another way of saying that God has given unto us the earnest of the Spirit (2Cor 5:5), or the earnest of our inheritance (Eph 1:13-14). The ceremony of Firstfruits in the Jewish religion is typologically linked with resurrection. Elsewhere, Christ is called the firstfruits of them that slept (1Cor 15:23), and the believers are called a kind of firstfruits of His creatures (James 1:18; Rev 14:4). The offering of Firstfruits was that portion pre-dedicated to God in anticipation of the full harvest to come later. It was sealed, or completed, fifty days later by another offering of Firstfruits at the finish of the harvest. See my note at 1Cor 15:20.
24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
One does not hope for something he is already experiencing, but for something he has not yet seen (Mat 5:8). The Christian lives in great expectation and hope of eternal salvation complete with the redemption of his body. In the face of much accusation, Job’s confident expression of this hope is astonishing: For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me (Job 19:25-27). This Hope is exceedingly powerful, able to sustain the spirit in spite of overwhelming sorrow and difficulties; it is an anchor of the soul (Heb 6:19).
We are saved by hope. But aren’t we saved by faith (Rom 5:1), I mean, by grace (Eph 2:8)? Theologians tend to manipulate prepositional phrases such as these in making assertions of serious moment. Here that is revealed to be a dangerous exercise. The safer method is to seek the intent of the general statement so as not to overturn it by a dexterous re-handling of conjunctions and prepositions that have more than one usage. In Rom 5:2 we can see faith, grace and hope in one verse.
The Apostle’s basic thought is this: Our salvation is based upon the hope that our bodies will be resurrected from the grave (1Pet 1:3). This hope we must hold firm unto the end in order to be saved (Heb 3:6; Col 1:23). Faith, Hope and Love are the Great Three that surpass and abide (1Cor 13:13). Paul knew and confessed this hope of eternal life (Tit 1:1-2).
26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for 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.
The Apostle returns to the primary subject of this chapter, the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in the heart of every believer. The third person of the Trinity is of inestimable value to the spiritual good of every Christian. He helpeth (sunantilambanetai)our infirmities. According to Strong’s Greek Dictionary, this verb means “to take hold of opposite together, to co-operate (assist).” Like two workmen carrying a load between themselves, the Spirit assists the Christian in every weakness. He works quietly and invisibly, but the results are sure and powerful (John 3:5-8). We might not even know He is helping, and in fact, many times we are so far from understanding the situation that we do not even know how we should be praying! But the Spirit knows and He maketh intercession to God on our behalf, so that all things work together for (our) good (v28).
The beauty of this truth is that, by praying at all times in the Spirit, we shall always be in tune with God’s will, even though we do not pray knowledgeably. Eloquence of speech, clear understanding, a life of powerful victory, these are not essential to obtain before going to God in prayer. The Spirit will tune the prayer of the humble and fervent person for his spiritual benefit. The important thing is to pray!
27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Jesus Christ is He that searcheth the hearts (Jer 17:10; 1Chr 28:9; Rev 2:23) and also maketh intercession for the saints (Heb 7:25). So the Spirit and the Son work as intercessors for the saved before God. Their intercessions are beyond our comprehension; they work all things for good to them that love God. This last phrase is conspicuously ignored by Calvinist commentators on these verses! Those that love God are the ones that are keeping His commandments (John 14:23) and the one who says He loves God but doesn’t keep His sayings is a liar and the truth is not in him (1John 2:4). The word order and verb tense in the original Greek shows this emphasis: “And we know that to those who are loving God all things do work together for good.” (see YLT).
All things do not work together for good to those who are disobeying God’s Word. “They who say sin works for good to them that love God speak blasphemous nonsense. A man who now loves God is not now sinning against God” (Adam Clarke). This is not to say that God does not take Man’s bad decisions/actions and make something good come out them. His business is to give beauty for ashes (Is 61:3). However, that work is fully grounded in His goodness and mercy. For whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap. A man who sows to the flesh will reap the bad fruits that lead to death. See 1Tim 6:18.
The purpose of God is to work in the good and bad things that come into the life of the Christian such that he emerges a better and more spiritually mature individual. From the beginning, He purposed us unto the fellowship of His Son (1Cor 1:9), that is, His plan is that we be conformed to the image of His Son (v29). This is a life-long process of character-shaping and faith-building. We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them (Eph 2:10). Even affliction can work for our good (Ps 119:71; Heb 12:11) if we persevere patiently in it (James 1:3-4; Rom 2:7; 5:3).
The called. While kletos can refer to the general invitation to be saved, it is more commonly used to refer to the saved, those who have accepted the universal call unto salvation (Rom 1:6-7; 2Tim 1:9; Jude 1:1; Rev 17:14). See my notes at Mat 22:14; 1Cor 1:2. The Greek word for church (ekklesia) is formed from the same root word and means, “the called out” (1Pet 2:9). They that love God…are the called (v28). These elect were foreknown by God, and predestinated, called, justified and glorified.
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Even before the world began and Adam sinned, God had a plan to reconcile man to Himself (2Tim 1:9; Tit 1:2). Since He exists outside of time, He knows the future as plainly as the past and present. His pre-determined (from our time-restricted perspective) program required that to be saved one must be conformed to the image of His Son (also 2Thes 2:13; John 15:6). Notably then, the Covenant to the Jews was not God’s complete program, for to become like His Son is a concept unknown in the Mosaic Covenant.
Of course God foreknew who would be saved and who would reject His plan! If He could fore-ordain that Christ would die for the sins of the world (1Pet 1:20) such that Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8), then surely He has foreknowledge of the elect (1Pet 1:2). There is nothing odd or incongruous to the idea that God foreknew each soul who would be saved. He wrote their names in the Book of Life even before the world began (Rev 13:8; 17:8), because He already knew which ones would choose to serve Him and which ones would reject Him and take their own path. God foreknew and predestinated the Covenants together with the Jewish nation and religion. He foreknew the calling of the Gentiles, which He had afore prepared unto glory (Rom 9:22-24). In His infinite wisdom, He foreknew all the great events of the world. And that is a proof of the infallibility of His plan and will.
The fact that God foreknew each child of God is a great comfort to those in tribulation, distress, famine, peril, or sword (v35), being a proof of His great, inseparable love for the saints. Salvation is voluntary and is open to whosoever will (Rev 3:20; 22:17; Rom 10:13). Some will refuse His offer, and others will be found unworthy. It is a sobering thought that God not only writes names in the Book of Life, but also blots out names too (Rev 22:19; 3:5). But for those who love Him, the called, all things work together for good (v28) and nothing can separate them from the love of Christ.
God predestinated that the called be conformed to the image of His Son, which means He decided beforehand how Man would be saved (Eph 1:5). He did not predestinate the already-holy to be saved, but the willing and receptive. The Calvinist idea of predestination is that God chooses to call and justify a man without respect to man’s will, choice or character. What a low conception of God’s power and person! Is God so controlling and self-oriented that He cannot permit a man to choose for himself? How much greater is He shown to be when we recognize that God is able to control the hearts of kings and the imaginations of the World even while allowing them freedom of choice and will. That is truly a mighty God! His sovereign power and omniscience enables Him to step into His own creation and accomplish His divine will (Is 55:11) even while He allows Man the freedom of his will. That may be difficult to comprehend, but it is glass-clear in comparison to the alternative, which postulates a pre-determined universe in which Man does not have free will.
From the very beginning we see that God’s purpose in creating the world and ordaining salvation included giving Man the option to choose or reject Him. In marked contrast to His other creative acts, God gave Man the ability to understand Him, comprehend and analyze good and evil, and even choose to believe or reject the Truth. Calvinists say that God is not truly sovereign if man has the ability to reject Him, but that is simply not true. The Almighty, Sovereign God is eminently able to set parameters whereby human agents are given the power to choose independently without diminishing His power! Consider the implications if it be true that by sovereign command God did fore-decree every minute event of world history and every decision/deed of all individuals whether good or bad. Would that not make God the very author of sin? And why did He not decree events differently to avoid much human suffering and damnation of souls? For more on the Calvinist belief system, see my notes for Eph 1:11 and Rom 5:19.
That He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Christ is often called the firstborn (Col 1:18; Heb 1:6; 12:23; Rev 1:5) because He was the first to rise from the dead. God purposed that many brethren would be resurrected with His Son. This collective (as opposed to the individual) application of these verses sets the stage for next chapters, which more fully explore the predestination, calling and justification of all Abraham’s children – Jews and Gentiles. Especially in the early days of the Gospel, the Jewish Christians struggled to accept that truth. With his epistle to the Romans, Paul articulates particularly to the Jews the proofs of God’s change of Covenants, and he argues that, far from an improvisation, God foreknew and predestinated many brethren, including the Gentiles, unto justification and heavenly glorification. While He certainly foreknew Israel (Rom 11:2), is He not also (God) of the Gentiles? (Rom 3:29).
31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
The intent of these verses is to impress the Christian of God’s great love for him. God knew all from the beginning and He pre-planned this great communion with His saints before creating the world. He foreknew them, He predestinated them, called and justified them; and He will finally glorify them eternally. In effecting their reconciliation, He did not even spare His own Son (John 3:16). Consider these evidences of His great love for us. Shall He not freely give us all things?
The entire progression is evidence of His love for each child of God. From before the beginning unto eternity, God knows and keeps them. This tremendous soul-comfort is a source of strong affirmation for those that are suffering for the sake of righteousness (Mat 5:10). The tempter knows their thoughts, “Why does God allow me to suffer? He claims in His Word that He loves me. I am alone, forgotten, deserted. Why doesn’t God help me?” According to the Parable of the Sower, discouragement in times of persecution and difficulty is a primary reason for falling away (Mat 13:20-21). Yet, God has not forgotten the persecuted, the distressed, the imperiled! Cruelty and death have always been the experience of God’s people (v36)! Take heart, for over all these things you shall surely conquer and soar to eternal, unspeakable heights.
This passage is a powerful argument against the Agnostics, that group of non-Christians who believe a God did create the universe and mankind, but quickly tired of them and has forgotten them. To them, the widespread evidences of sin, wickedness, suffering and death mean that God has left Man to his own demise. There are no Holy Scriptures, there is no eternity, and God is unknowable and uncaring. Nevertheless, the promises of God are faithful and certain. God has not forgotten His saints, and what he has planned since before the world began will continue until the final Day has come.
33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. 34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
Who can charge the Elect with anything that would keep them from eternal life with Christ? Certainly the Devil will try, for he is the accuser of the brethren (Rev 12:10). Yet, God is the righteous Judge (2Tim 4:8) and Christ is our Advocate (1John 2:1). If we are truly His sheep (John 10:27-29), there is no reason for worry and fear. Those who have fled to Him for refuge have a strong consolation (Heb 6:18).
Who can come to God and condemn the Elect? Our Advocate and Sin-bearer (1John 2:1; 1Pet 2:24) has died for our sins and was raised to life again for our justification (Rom 4:25). He is making constant intercession for us (Heb 7:25; Rom 8:27). The heart-lifting words of Jesus to the adulteress are notable in this context, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more (John 8:11).
The elect (eklektos) and the called (Jude 1:1) are the foreknown/predestinated/called/justified/glorified people of God (see Mat 22:14).
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
There are times when the Christian does feel separated from Christ, times when he feels that Christ is distant and unconcerned with his struggles. In tribulations, distresses and persecutions, yes, we can even feel that Christ has forsaken us, that He doesn’t truly love us. Ah, but remember, physical happinesses and ease are not a token of God’s love! His people have always been slaughtered and oppressed by the wicked (v36). Persecution and death cannot truly separate us from the love of Christ. If we could but see into the spiritual realm we would immediately see that we are the conquerors and they are the defeated! (2Kings 6:15-17). We are on Christ’s side, and He will surely win the final victory.
Make no mistake, the Devil will come in those moments of distress to sow discouragement and doubt. He will hurl insults and accusations, he will whisper that you are not saved or loved, else Christ would help you! He wants to get you to doubt God and to wonder if He is even aware of your plight. Psalm 44, which Paul quotes here, is the cry of the righteous for help. For Thy sake are we killed all the day long…Awake, why sleepest Thou, O Lord?…Wherefore hidest Thou Thy face, and forgettest our affliction and oppression? For our soul is bowed to the dust…Arise for our help, and redeem us for Thy mercies’ sake (Ps 44:22-26).
The Christian will be troubled on every side, perplexed and persecuted, but he will never be forsaken or destroyed (2Cor 4:8-11). He shall completely conquer every and all foes because Christ loves him! And he that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son (Rev 21:7). In the Greek, the word conqueror (hupernikao) is a superlative form of the verb overcome (nikao). “We are not just surviving, we are overwhelmingly conquering all these things through Him that loved us.”
If we are truly in Christ, and walking according to the Spirit (v1-9), then nothing and nobody will ever separate us from His love. Some commentators re-phrase the Apostle’s question to, “Who is able to stop us from loving Christ?” This reversal is an impertinent and self-serving re-writing of God’s Word that is based on their false idea that the saved cannot fall away. According to the Master, persecutions, perils and trials can and have discouraged people from following Christ (Mat 13:20-21; Luke 8:13). Real comfort is knowing that Christ unfailingly loves and cares for us, even in those dark, difficult days when we don’t feel His love. We must walk by faith and not by sight.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The love of God is the ground of man’s salvation, but why did God set His love upon [us] (Deut 7:7)? Certainly not because Man was impressively mighty, surpassingly beautiful, honorable or deserving! Man was God’s creation made after His image, but the corrupting, wicked machinations of Satan had defiled and contaminated Man’s soul to the uttermost. But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us…hath quickened us together with Christ (Eph 2:4-9). God’s nature is to love (1John 4:16) and He so loved us that He gave His own Son to redeem us from the clutches of Satan (John 3:16; Rom 8:32). The angels announced the good tidings of Christ’s birth as God extending peace and good will towards men (Luke 2:14). So the love of God truly is in Christ Jesus. Or as the apostle John said, the love of God was manifested in that He sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might have Life through Him (1John 4:9). And if God did not spare His own Son in the redemption of Man (v32), shall He not keep them secure, fully protect and save them to the uttermost?
And if God redeemed Man because of His great love for him, it is fitting and reasonable that Man love Him in return (John 15:10). He that truly loves God is the one that keeps His commandments (1John 5:3; 2John 1:6). It is the height of stupidity to think that Man does not need to love God, yet in effect that is what the Calvinists teach! They say that salvation is not conditioned upon works of obedience because Christ obeyed for us, and that keeping commandments is legalism. Thus, to them these verses are teaching that a man cannot lose his salvation. God has set His love upon the elect, and they are unconditionally, eternally saved. “God’s grace is irresistible,” they say, and not even a man’s own decision to leave Christ can remove him from salvation!
Yet the Scriptures are abundantly clear that a man can refuse salvation, can take his own path, can fall away from the faith. This chapter has presented the vital importance of living according to the Spirit and not according to the Flesh, for he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption (Gal 6:7-8). Truly nothing can separate the redeemed from the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, but by his own act and will a man may decide to take his own selfish path and leave that safe hold. To follow the Flesh is death, and Self is ever tempting us to reject the righteousness of faith and put Flesh on the throne of worship.
In one of the most beautiful, compelling analogies in all the Bible, Jesus taught this principle of sure salvation in Christ. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand (John 10:27-28). Yet, Christ does not hold a man against his own will. Any sheep may foolishly decide to leave that safety. Love can not be obligated or forced, or it is no longer love. Love is a free-will decision. God did not have to love us, He chose to love us. And the reciprocal must also be true. God does not force us to love Him, He wants us to choose to love Him. That is true love.
The list of adversaries is representative rather than exhaustive. The angels must be Satan’s demons (Rev 12:7), and the principalities and powers are spiritual realms of wickedness (Eph 6:12). Jesus referred to them collectively as the gates of Hell (Mat 16:18). The distances (nor height nor depth) remind of the Psalmist’s words in Psalms 139:7-10.