No Condemnation: Romans 8:1-17

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Therefore. The word reaches back to everything before and forward to everything after. Because of justification. Because of peace with God. Because of grace reigning through righteousness. Therefore.

No condemnation. Not less condemnation. Not reduced condemnation. Not condemnation-pending-review. No condemnation. None.

For those in Christ Jesus. Location matters. In Christ—united to him, hidden in him, identified with him. The condemned one bore the condemnation. Those in him share his verdict: not guilty.

Now. Present tense. Not future hope only. Now. This moment. No condemnation now.

Because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

The law of sin and death—we just heard it in chapter 7. The war within. The doing what we hate. The wretched cry.

But another law has entered. The law of the Spirit. The Spirit who gives life. And this law has set you free. Past tense. Completed. The freedom is accomplished.

For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did.

The law couldn't save us. Not because the law was bad but because we were weak. The flesh—our sinful nature—weakened the law's ability to produce righteousness in us.

What we couldn't do, God did.

By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.

His own Son. Not an angel. Not a prophet. His own Son. Sent. In flesh—real humanity. Likeness of sinful flesh—human nature without personal sin. To be a sin offering—the sacrifice language. He became the offering.

And so he condemned sin in the flesh.

Sin was condemned. Not in the abstract but in the flesh—in Christ's flesh on the cross. The penalty executed. The judgment rendered. Sin condemned where sin had reigned.

In order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

The purpose: righteous requirement met. Not by our striving but by his sacrifice. Fully met—not partially, not aspirationally, fully. In us—the benefit applied to us. Who walk not according to flesh but Spirit.

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

Two orientations. Two mind-sets. The flesh desires flesh things—self-gratification, self-promotion, self-preservation. The Spirit desires Spirit things—holiness, love, glory.

The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.

Death or life. The stakes are total. The flesh-governed mind leads to death—not just physical death but separation, decay, the absence of life. The Spirit-governed mind is life and peace—the very things promised in chapter 5.

The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

Hostile. Not just indifferent—hostile. The flesh opposes God. It cannot submit. Cannot. The inability is constitutional, not circumstantial. Those in the flesh—unregenerate, not yet born of the Spirit—cannot please God.

You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.

The pivot to assurance. You, however. The readers are addressed directly. Not in the flesh but in the Spirit. Why? Because the Spirit of God lives in you. The indwelling Spirit changes your address, your realm, your fundamental orientation.

And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.

The negative confirms the positive. No Spirit, no belonging. The Spirit is not optional equipment for advanced Christians. The Spirit is the marker of belonging.

But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.

Christ in you. The Spirit in you. Same reality, different angles. The body still mortal—sin's consequence remains. But the Spirit gives life—the righteousness of Christ applied means Spirit-given life now and resurrection life coming.

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

The resurrection guarantee. The same Spirit who raised Jesus—that Spirit is in you. That power is in you. And that power will raise your mortal body. The resurrection of Jesus is the prototype; the indwelling Spirit is the down payment.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it.

Obligation. But not to the flesh. The old master has no claim. The debt is canceled. We owe the flesh nothing.

For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

The ongoing battle reframed. Not automatic victory but Spirit-empowered warfare. By the Spirit—not by willpower—put to death the misdeeds. The weapon is the Spirit. The action is ours. The result is life.

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.

Led by the Spirit. Not driven, not dragged—led. And those so led are children. Not servants only. Not subjects only. Children of God.

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.

Not fear but sonship. The Spirit doesn't bring a slave's anxiety but a child's confidence. Adoption—chosen, wanted, welcomed into the family.

And by him we cry, Abba, Father.

Abba. The Aramaic intimate address. Father—Daddy, Papa. The Spirit enables the cry. The Spirit gives us the word. Abba, Father. The God of the universe, addressed as Father by those who were once enemies.

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.

Two witnesses agreeing. The Spirit testifies—internal assurance. Our spirit receives the testimony. God's children. The identity confirmed by the Spirit's voice.

Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.

Children inherit. Heirs of God—everything he has, he shares. Co-heirs with Christ—what belongs to the Son belongs to those adopted into the family. The inheritance is beyond calculation.

If indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

The path to glory runs through suffering. Share his sufferings—the fellowship of his pain. Share his glory—the participation in his triumph. Both are ours. Both await.

No condemnation. Life in the Spirit. Children of God. Heirs of glory. This is the Christian's identity. This is who we are in Christ Jesus.