Epistles
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Romans 8:1-11
#1 – The Genre
The genre of the book of Romans is demonstrated in its alternative title, “The Letter to the Romans.” This “book” is a letter, an epistle, written to the church at Rome. It is Pauline. Romans is the longest of Paul’s canonical letters. Unlike the general epistles, whose audiences are either not known (for example, Jude) or are broadly written to all believers (for example, 1 Peter), Romans was written to both the Jewish and Gentile believers who were living in Rome around 57 A.D.
#2 – Generic Conception (“Big Idea”)
Those who are in Christ have been set free from the law of sin and death by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and now belong to Christ, having been made alive to the Spirit, resulting in peace, and in willing obedience to the law of the Spirit, which effects our progressive sanctification.
#3 – Observation about the Passage
When interpreting Scripture, it is easy to isolate verses and examine them microscopically, rendering ourselves unable to see the full picture of why those verses were written. This is especially easy in letters, which abound with instructions, directives, exhortations, and pleas, all of which are directed at specific people in specific situations at a specific slice of time-space history, but which can be pulled out of their context (or, less maliciously, have their context ignored) and still seemingly allow those verses to remain intact. If this is a danger in letters, it is a particular danger in Romans, the largest of the letters, in which one must labor to follow the overarching program without becoming enmeshed in the rich detail found in nearly every verse. I would like to begin my observations, then, by “zooming out” quite a ways and then “zooming in” slowly until we reach the focus of our verses in chapter eight.
Paul is writing “To all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints.” Such a greeting is uncharacteristic in that Paul does not refer to a church. “To the church of God which is at Corinth,” says 1 and 2 Corinthians; “To the churches of Galatia,” reads Galatians. Even those letters that are addressed to “the saints” rather than “the church” (e.g. Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians), Paul’s letter makes clear that he views them as a church (see Eph. 3:21; Phil. 4:15; and Col. 1:18). In Romans, however, Paul never refers to them as the church. The five times “church” is used in Romans are all in the last chapter. Paul uses four times to refer to church congregations located elsewhere and one to refer only to those who meet in Prisca and Aquila’s house. The lack of “church” language, not to mention the rest of the letter, signifies a severe unity problem. There is deep division between the Jewish believers and Gentile believers.
Jew/Gentile disunity is the backdrop for much of the action in Romans. Paul’s theme is that Jews and Gentiles are both saved through faith in the risen Christ and on account of His sacrifice are declared righteous. Romans 3:10 says none are righteous of themselves. Romans 3:30 expresses that Jews and Gentiles have an identical justificatory source and an identical justificatory means: “God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.” If this wasn’t enough, Paul asks rhetorically in Romans 3:29 “Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also.”
This shared source of justification (by faith) is set up against justification by obedience to the Mosaic Law. Paul levels the playing field by knocking out the supports from under the Jewish believers. He says (2:25) “circumcision is of value if you practice the Law; but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision,” effectively making them the same as Gentiles. And since no one obeys all of the Law all of the time, this means everyone. Furthermore, Paul asks (2:26), “if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?” With the ground leveled, Paul now emphasizes that God supplied a righteousness “apart from the Law” which is “through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction” (3:21-22).
After some further discussion of historical examples of justification by faith and the believer’s new life, Paul turns in Romans 7 to stress the ineffectiveness of attempted obedience through the Law, after which comes our passage.
#4 – Interpretation of the Passage
In the Greek text of Romans 8:2 the “you” is singular, indicating that the “you” Paul is referring to is the “I” of Romans 7:25, two verses earlier. Setting these verses side-by-side—or, to put it another way, removing the artificial chapter barrier that did not exist in the original letter—we see the representation of the Jew under the Mosaic Law: “So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.” And this is immediately followed by Paul’s response, which says, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you [you, the Jew under the Law] free from the law of sin and of death.” (my brackets)
In contrast with existence under the Law, which was expressly given to display sin and thus declares condemnation, existence under Christ Jesus brings “no condemnation” (8:1). That Law was unable to restrain one from doing evil, and even less able to motivate one to act in supererogatory ways, which is why Paul says the Law was “weak” (8:3). Believers are set free from the Mosaic Law, and are under obligation to it no longer. Instead, Paul said earlier, “having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness” (6:18). In the very next verse Paul explains that slavery to righteousness “result[s] in sanctification” (6:19). That is the message of Romans 8:1-11: You are no longer under obligation to the Law, but are now a servant of the Spirit. Your obedience is not in the strength of your flesh because now “the Spirit of God dwells in you” (8:9) and God will “give life to your moral bodies” (8:11) through that same Spirit. You are now alive because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
#5 – Application
We were never under the Mosaic Law, but many of us know the futility and despair inherent in our endless efforts to achieve righteousness and gain God’s favor by being perfect people. Praise the Lord that we are set free from that and can have peace now that the Spirit of God dwells in us and our righteousness is not based on our obedience to a relentless law. This does not mean we are free to sin, however, as we have a new master. We are to set our minds on “the things of the Spirit” (8:5) and we are to “not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (8:4). We are not bound to sin and death, but to God. By the Spirit of God and the victory of Jesus Christ on the cross, we can overcome sin.