SPIRIT OF LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS

This glorious and climactic chapter details the decisive role of the Spirit in the sanctification of those who by faith have received God’s gift of righteousness. Whereas in the previous part of the letter there are only a few references to the Holy Spirit, Rom. 1. 4; 5. 5; 7. 6, in Romans chapter 8 there are at least nineteen, indicating the pivotal nature of the Spirit’s ministry.

The opening verse connects with Romans chapter 7 verse 6 and draws out the significance of chapter 7 verses 1 to 6. As a result of the death and resurrection of Christ, ‘now’ those who are in Him are free from the condemnation of the law. This is a fundamental liberation, and it is further confirmed by the fact that ‘the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death’, v. 2. ‘In Christ Jesus’ indicates the necessary basis for this glorious emancipation.

The ‘law of the Spirit of life’ is in stark contrast to ‘the law of sin and death’, and the ‘law of sin’, Rom. 7. 23, 25, and has been explained by C. E. B. Cranfield as ‘the authority and constraint exercised upon believers by the Holy Spirit’.

Significantly, this early reference designates the Spirit as the ‘Spirit of life’, that is, the life-giving Spirit. This glorious gift has been imparted to the believer at conversion and has freed him from the tyranny of sin. Not that sin ever ceases to be a factor in his life; rather a new countervailing power is present, just as a beautiful plant is able to grow heavenward in the energy of natural life despite the universal law of gravity.

The result is that ‘the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, v. 4, RSV. God’s purpose in sending His Son and condemning sin is that the law’s requirement will be met by the Spirit’s enabling of us again and again to choose obedience over sin and thus realise true freedom and holiness.

These opening verses of this great chapter contrast with the struggles of chapter 7. God has not left us to struggle home through an unending quagmire of sin and defeat. The life-giving Spirit Himself indwells us to offer the constant opportunity to gain the victory over indwelling sin.