Romans 8

10 Apr 2026 - Theology

Walking after the Spirit

No Condemnation Now (1-17)

Romans 8:1 - “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

condemnation - Strong’s Concordance [2631]

• to divide, separate, judge
• Something to be decided against anyone, a condemnatory judgment
• A judgment of condemnation in the sense of the economy of redemption

Why is there no condemnation for the believer of Christ Jesus?

Romans 8:2 - “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus [ao] hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”

[ao] = aorist tense, a simple one-time action

Paul emphasizes the fact and certainty of our freedom from the law of Sin [noun] and death, despite the continued presence of sin [verb] in our unredeemed physical flesh (Romans 7).

How can we be certain of our freedom? By remembering the law of the Spirit, that God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, down to earth in a physical flesh of Sin [noun]. And by His sacrifice for Sin, He condemned Sin in the physical flesh: that the righteousness of the law should be fulfilled in those believers who walk not in the flesh, but who walk after the Spirit (3).

Paul is not dividing believers into two groups: those who are carnal and those who are spiritual; rather, he is describing the new identity of those who are “in Christ Jesus”. Paul is stating that believers, by definition, are no longer characterized by a life ruled by the flesh but by the Spirit. This “walk” is possible only because the Holy Spirit now dwells within the believer - a shift from being controlled by Sin to being led by the Spirit of God.

The minding of the flesh is death because it is enmity against God, but the minding of the Spirit is life and peace (6,7). The minding of the flesh is not and can never be subject to the law of the Spirit of God, and thus those who are in the flesh can not please God (8).

However, for the believer who possesses the Spirit of God, we are not of the flesh, but of the Spirit, which dwells in us (9). Because of the ongoing effects of sin, the physical body is still subject to physical death. Because of Christ’s righteousness credited to the believer, the Spirit within a believer is alive with eternal life.

Romans 8:11 - “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.”

The indwelling Spirit is a “down payment” or guarantee that your physical body will one day be raised and glorified, just as Jesus’s body was.

Romans 8:12-13- “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, [infg] to live after the flesh. 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.”

[infg] = denotes purpose (Ex: “in order to”)

Paul is saying the believers owe nothing to the flesh. Sin no longer has a legal right to dictate the actions of a person who has been saved.

Living according to the desires of the flesh results in death (physical and eternal). True change, which leads to life, requires the Holy Spirit in order to put to death the sinful deeds of the body (13).

Romans 8:14 - “For as many as [pinp] are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”

[pinp] = present indicative passive

This means that the Spirit is the actor, the one doing the guiding, and the believer is the recipient, the one being led. The “leading” is the internal pressure the Spirit puts on our conscious, moving us towards God. We don’t “kill sin” by our own sheer willpower, we kill sin by being led by the Spirit to do so.

This is evidence that bears witness that we are children of God. If we feel the Spirit prompting us to righteous living, it is evidence of our identity as children of God.

Romans 8:17 - “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.”

Believers are joint-heirs with Christ - we share the same inheritance, not a separate or lesser one. The verse adds a vital qualification: glory is inseparable from suffering. Just as Christ entered glory only after suffering, believers must follow the same redemptive path. While this suffering will likely not be the physical persecution that Christ faced, this suffering also encompasses disease, death, and the daily “putting to death” of sinful desires due to our mortal bodies.

The Revelation of God’s Glory Through Believers (18-30)

Romans 8:18 - “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.”

Not only is our future glory that much more than our present suffering, but our suffering isn’t even worthy to be compared to the glory which will be revealed in us by God.

Man earnestly waits for the manifestation of the sons of God, because we will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God (20-21). Until then, all of man groans in pain, including believers, who wait for the adoption as sons and for the redemption of the body (22-23).

Exodus 6:5 - “And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant.”

Romans 8:24-25 - “For we [aop] are saved by hope: but hope that [ppp] is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.”

[aop] = single, one time action (passive)

[ppp] = continuous, repeated action (passive)

“are saved” - Strong’s Concordance [4982]

• The spiritual and eternal salvation granted immediately by God to those who believe on Christ

While we experience the power of the Spirit through signs like miracles, we hope with patience for our salvation, which is not fully seen.

Salvation begins with justification, when a sinner (someone who is a slave to the kingdom of Sin) believes on Christ. The rest of salvation is a lifelong process which includes this justification, sanctification, and the future glorification.

In the meantime, believers have the Spirit to help us in our infirmities. Just as the Spirit intercedes for us, we also intercede for others, according to the will of God.

Romans 8:28 - “And we know that all things work together for good to them that [ppt] love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

God will work everything for good in the lives of believers. It is our job to rest and let him do this work. Everything in verses 29-30 is passive for the believer: God foreknew us before we were born, He predestined us to be conformed to the image of Christ, that we might be the firstborn among many brethren. Those whom God predestined, He also called, and to them He justified, and to them He also glorified. This process all starts with God as the initiator.

Nothing Separates the Believer From God’s Love (31-39)

Romans 8:31 - “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?”

“things” referring to Romans 8:28

God gave His Son, Jesus, to us to die for our deliverance. How much more will God freely give to those who ask (32)?

Who will use a thing to accuse God’s chosen people, or to [ppt] condemn a believer? It is Christ who died, and rose again, and who is at the right hand of God, interceding on our behalf. It is God who justifies a person (33-34).

Romans 8:37 - “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”

Nothing will separate us from the love of God, in Christ Jesus our Lord: not tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, the sword, death, life, angels, principalities, powers, things present, things to come, height, depth, any other thing that is created (35,38-39).

References

1. The Hebrew - Greek Key Study Bible (KJV Version)
2. Romans 8 - Greek Interlinear