1. Read Romans 8:1–17 slowly and carefully. What word or words stand out to you?
2. Read the passage again. Ponder the words that stand out to you. Spend a few moments thinking about them. Why might they be standing out to you?
3. Read the passage a third time. Let the words of the passage guide you in prayer. How can you praise God? How does the passage prompt confession? What requests for yourself and for others do you need to make based on the truths of the passage?
Romans 8 begins with a strong connection to the preceding section where Paul has identified the devastating effects and bondage of sin. Freedom from these effects is impossible in our own strength. This is what makes the gospel such good news—Christ has done what we could never do! Consequently, Paul draws this conclusion in Rom 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” “No condemnation” is an astonishing claim that sits over the whole chapter. Freedom from condemnation is the reality for all who are “in Christ Jesus.” To be “in Christ Jesus” is to be incorporated into him so that his life, work, and righteousness are ours. This is in contrast to our former state “in Adam.” Paul spells all of this out in Rom 5:12–21.
Not only are we free from condemnation in Christ, we are empowered to live new lives (see Jer 31:31–34; Ezek 36:24–32). This empowerment comes from God’s Holy Spirit (v. 2). Jesus’s death breaks the hold of sin in our hearts (v. 3) and produces righteousness in us (v. 4).
According to vv. 5–8, the pathway to true righteousness that is pleasing to God is only possible through the work of the Spirit. The Spirit’s indwelling presence is the distinctive mark of a Christian (v. 9). The contrast Paul makes between the flesh/body and the Spirit is a matter of what governs our day-to-day lives. Are we ruled by the flesh or the Spirit?
The life-giving work of the Spirit also has physical implications. Christianity explicitly affirms the redemption of the physical world (vv. 11, 19–23). The idea of disembodied souls in heaven is a pagan notion not a Christian one.
As a result of Jesus’s work and the Spirit’s empowering presence, we have an obligation—an obligation to obey the promptings of the Spirit, to resist the flesh, and to be governed by the Spirit (vv. 12–13). This obedience reveals the reality of new creation in our hearts. It is evidence that Christ’s righteousness has been applied to our hearts. A desire to be led by the Spirit is the mark of a Christian (v. 14). The Spirit’s activity in our hearts is proof that the gospel has taken root in our lives (vv. 15–17).
Christianity is not an attempt to live a good, moral life in order to go to heaven. It is a life where we are incorporated into Christ and where the Spirit begins the work of new creation in our hearts prompting us to put off the enslaving governance of sin and be obediently shaped into God’s own children.