Moving our focus from self-satisfaction to pleasing God
The opening words of Romans chapter 8 look back at what has been established in the first seven chapters of the epistle. The basic message of the gospel in those chapters was that the believer is justified when he exercises faith. That is, he is legally free from condemnation because of the work of Christ, in whom he has placed his trust. Chapter 7 has shown that the believer is not accepted on the basis of keeping the Law of Moses. It was a law which said, “Do this and you will live.” But nobody could achieve life in this way because all fell short. This is the sense of chapter 7 verse 10: “And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.” Failure to keep the Law in its entirety led to conviction of sin and a realization that this was a death sentence. The question in chapter 7 was, “How can we be set free from this condemnation?”
Chapter 8 explains how a person who has seen the value of the death of Christ and rested his hope on Christ, is freed from this condemnation which haunts chapter 7. The believer now does not suppose that he can be right with God by his relationship with the Law of Moses. It established his sin and could only promise him death. It was therefore a “law of sin and death.”
God has now intervened in grace—we are justified freely by God’s grace. Christ has shed His redeeming blood—we are justified by His blood. We have put our confidence in Him for our acceptance with God—we are justified by faith.
The law of the Spirit
The new life into which God’s grace has now brought us is energized, not by our determination to rise to God’s standards, but by the indwelling Spirit of God. This is the first dimension of a new principle: the law of the Spirit. It is God’s intention to change us from within by His Spirit. Our confidence before God is based on what Christ has done at the cross. The Spirit within us works a change, but our security is based on the work of Christ on the cross. The Spirit’s work within us is the evidence of our new life in Christ. This new principle is contrasted with the old bondage to a law which declared us guilty and in itself gave no assurance that we could be free.
The law of life
The positive nature of the Spirit’s enabling is expressed in this new principle being described as a “law of life.” The Law of Moses said, “Do this and live,” but it led to death because it exposed people’s sin. The new law of the Spirit brings us through Christ’s justifying blood into a place beyond condemnation. It is a place where life is now enjoyed by God’s grace, where the Spirit actively leads us in the formation of Christian character to please God. This theme, developed in chapter 8, brings us to a new confidence and a clear hope of glory. The law of life is a law of liberty, the liberty of the sons of God.
In Christ Jesus
It is vital that we see this all as found “in Christ Jesus.” Who shall condemn us now? The answer to this question is found, not in our being so holy, so victorious, that no accusation can be brought against us. The chapter does show that genuine faith in Christ will be evidenced in a changed life and a new loyalty. But the triumphant note of confidence in our freedom from condemnation is struck in verse 34. The work of Christ for us, His resurrection, and His present place and work at God’s right hand—these are our sure anchor.
How the Spirit works
Much of Romans 8 sets out how the Spirit works in our experience to bring about what people’s best endeavors could never achieve as they sought to obey the Law of Moses. In verses 5-11, we see the Holy Spirit working in the believer to produce a new mindset, a new vision of life. Self-will and self-centeredness can be replaced by a mind that is alive to what God wants for us and in us. Every believer is indwelt by the Spirit of God. His gracious influence within us moves our focus from self-satisfaction to pleasing God. The Spirit is said here to “dwell” in the believer—He is not just an occasional guest.
We learn in verses 12-17 that the indwelling Spirit makes us conscious of our place as sons of God. Shortly after the conversion of Saul of Tarsus the evidence was seen: “Behold, he prayeth.” The Lord Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Our Father…”; this involves an awareness of relationship and an intelligent acceptance of our position as we approach God, our Father. This can be experienced only as we know our link with Christ and our place “in Christ Jesus.” We are joint-heirs with Christ. This inevitably involves our suffering as He did. But it will also entail—praise God!—our being glorified with Him before long. This is all ours as we are in Christ. The Spirit leads us into this awareness.
Verses 18-25 teach us to set our suffering with Christ in a broader context. In Christ, we have a great inheritance. This helps us to look at our suffering as something which we can endure because we look confidently to future glory. Without this confidence, our suffering would overwhelm us with despair. The work of the Spirit in our hearts and lives assures us of our future. He is a kind of firstfruits of our future inheritance (v.?23). We need not bow numbly beneath the burden of groaning which rests on a sin-stricken world. The indwelling Spirit enables us to persevere as we wait expectantly for the future day of what is here called “the redemption of the body.”
In verses 26-28, the help of the Holy Spirit is developed further. Our power to persevere is not a matter of our being strong enough to bear trials stoically. The Spirit “helps our infirmities.” There is a power here which goes beyond even great courage and human heroism. It is the divine upholding of people who are conscious of their weakness and inadequacy. Our wordless groanings are taken up by the gracious Spirit of God as He gives them articulacy before the throne of God. Prayer is not a matter of eloquence! It is an expression, however limited, of our inadequacy and the confidence we have in the God of all sufficiency, the God of all comfort. We have in the Spirit an intercessor who can give form to our formless, clinging cries to our God. And we know that the suffering is a prelude to the glory.
And where does all this lead?
Chapter 6 ended with the assurance that “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” This is the climax of the truth of justification, our judicial standing before God. Chapter 8 emphasizes the role of the Holy Spirit in working out this eternal life through the phases and affairs of life. Sanctification is a vital aspect of this process, but it is wider than that. It is inevitable that this doctrine should be climaxed with a triumphant look at the end of the believer’s life in Christ Jesus. That end is glory. At this point, Paul goes back to the sovereign purpose of God as the spring of every blessing. God’s grace carries us through justification and quickly through brief suffering to certain and eternal glory.