Divine Remedy (Romans 8:1-4)

Two comments can be made about this well-known chapter from Romans. One is that it has been compared to a walk along the high places of the spiritual life, sometimes likened to a walk along the Alps or other mountain ranges; there are profound details mentioned in it by Paul, some of which extend into the period after the return of Jesus.

 

The other is that sometimes chapter 8 is contrasted with Romans 7 with the suggestion that Romans 8 is a truer Christian experience than Romans 7. I would say that a better explanation is to say that they are parallel experiences, and that it is normal Christian experience to have the descent of Romans 7 and the ascent of Romans 8.

 

Connection

The word ‘therefore’ in verse 1 shows that we should look at what Romans 7 says. In that chapter, Paul had detailed his personal dilemma over the fact that, although he strongly loved the law of God, he could not keep it perfectly. He felt condemned by the law even although he wanted to keep it. The ‘therefore’ in verse 1 points to the answer to his dilemma, which is union with Christ.

 

Union with Christ

How is a sinner united to Christ? When does this happen? The reality is that union with Christ is a big subject in the Bible, with many aspects connected to it. For example, it tells us that there is a sense in which Jesus and all believers were united when he died on the cross even although most of them were not living at that time. The way to describe this aspect of union with Jesus is to call it a representative union or a federal union. He stood for them when he died on the cross and paid the penalty of their sins.

 

Another aspect of this union with Christ is termed ‘actual union’ and occurs when a person trusts in Jesus at conversion. He hears the gospel invitation and responds in repentance and faith. When he makes this response through the regenerating power of the Spirit, he finds that the same Spirit now indwells him and connects him to Jesus exalted in heaven.

 

Wonderful though this new relationship is, it is the person who is united to Jesus who has the problem detailed in Romans 7 about an inability to keep God’s law perfectly.

Two laws

Paul’s way of explaining this change is to say in verse 2 that there are two contrary laws. One is liberating, which he calls ‘the law of the Spirit of life’ and the other is enslaving, which he calls ‘the law of sin and death’. The question is, what does Paul mean by ‘law’ in this verse? He does not mean God’s law. Rather, he is referring to two contrary principles. The first principle governs the person who has spiritual life from the Holy Spirit and the second principle governs the person who does not have spiritual life but is spiritually dead.

 

The principle or law of the Spirit is detailed in verses 3 and 4 and explains why God will not condemn those united to Jesus, and why a believer in Jesus should not condemn himself in a wrong sense when he does not keep God’s laws as he wishes as a believer. This principle has two parts, one connected to what Jesus has done for believers and the other connected to what the Holy Spirit is doing within believers.

 

It is important to see that both those divine activities are the outworking of the eternal plan of God the Father. He sent his Son into the world so that sinners would experience the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit. This pair of verses are another reminder of the wonderful fact that the Triune God is the cause and the centre of our salvation. God’s plan is eternal, which means that there is much of it not yet fulfilled, as this chapter itself says in several of its verses. But what each believer has experienced so far is an incredible display of God’s astonishing love.

 

Paul presents this twofold divine activity as an achievement. Through this activity, God has done what the law, his law, could not do without his involvement in this saving manner. The law is good and holy, yet our sinfulness prevents it from fulfilling its purpose in us. We know by experience that our good resolutions do not help us obey God’s law even when we want to obey it. So, Paul exhorts his readers to focus on what God has planned about solving this situation of spiritual weakness that every believer realises often, which is that legalism is not a help to spiritual development or spiritual comfort.

 

What Jesus has done

The first detail that Paul mentions is that Jesus came into the world at the bidding of God the Father. Here we have a mention of an astonishing agreement made within the Trinity from everlasting in which each of the divine persons had specific roles regarding the salvation of sinners. The Father’s role here is to be that of the Sender, with the role of Jesus being the one who was sent by the Father. Paul is not the only biblical writer who refers to this method of fulfilling roles agreed by the Trinity. The apostle John writes in 1 John 1:9-10: ‘In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.’

 

Paul brings to our attention the preciousness of the relationship that has existed between the Father and the Son when he refers to Jesus as ‘his own Son’. This relationship was eternal and satisfying, pleasing and joyous. There is also a pointer to a willingness to sacrifice what was most precious in order that we sinners would eventually be able to keep God’s law.

 

The way that the Son of God came into the world was by becoming a real man. In saying that the Son came ‘in the likeness of sinful flesh’, Paul is reminding us of the depth of the humiliation of Jesus. He did not look like Adam when he came forth from the hand of God. Rather he looked like us, sinners. He did not stand out in the crowd as someone unique, although he was unique. His humanity was holy, even although he looked like sinners. He remained God when he became man, and his possession of two natures is permanent.

 

The Son also came ‘for sin’, which means that he came to deal with sin, which took place at the cross when he suffered in his human nature or ‘in the flesh’. At Calvary, Jesus became a sin offering by enduring the wrath of God and paying the penalty that divine justice required from sinners. Although he was personally holy, he as our representative paid the full penalty. He was condemned instead of his people. This is how the Father provided the way of salvation, and it tells us how far he was prepared to go in order for it to happen. Jesus paid the penalty, but only the Trinity know what it involved as the Father laid the punishment of our sins on his dear Son. He was condemned in our place and, because he was fully condemned, we can be fully pardoned.

 

What is the outcome?

The consequence of this amazing work of Jesus on the cross is that sinners will obey the law of God. Of course, that is not the only outcome. We can think of forgiveness, of how we are accepted in God’s sight as justified. Or we could think of being welcomed into the family of God as full members, adopted by the Father and becoming full heirs with Jesus of his own glorious inheritance.

 

The outcome that Paul highlights here is not justification or adoption but sanctification. Paul does not mean that sanctification is only a possibility. Instead, he says that it will happen and the reason for this is that sanctification is a work of the Holy Spirit. There are a few comments that can be made about this reality.

 

First, Paul is telling us how to view our attitude to the law as described in Romans 7. Of course, his attitude was imperfect. Yet his attitude was a sign that the Holy Spirit was at work within him, changing him from a person who did not love God’s law within his heart to one who longed for perfect holiness. An imperfect conformity to God’s law is not a sign of total failure but is a pointer to the fact that personal holiness is coming.

 

Second, the change of heart is evidence that such belong to those who live under the blessings of the new covenant. Jeremiah promised that a day would come when sinners would experience this momentous change: ‘For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people’ (Jer. 31:33). He also predicted that such would know the Lord and enjoy forgiveness of their sins: ‘And no longer shall each one teach his neighbour and each his brother, saying, “Know the LORD,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more’ (Jer. 31:34).

 

Third, this obedience to the law of God is ongoing as we can see from the illustration that Paul uses when he compares this new way of life to a walk. The illustration points to regularity of practice, and travel to a destination. Moreover, those features mark all who benefit from the work of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. How can they know if they are walking according to the Spirit? By their obedience to the law of God. That is why we should make a proper use of the law of God when examining ourselves. Paul is not describing perfection, but he is describing progress.

 

Fourth, we should note that Paul terms this response to God’s law as a fulfilment of the righteous requirement of the law. What is the singular requirement of the law? If Paul had meant the various commandments of the law, he would have used ‘requirements’ rather than requirement. We know that Jesus said that the entire law is fulfilled when a person loves God and loves his neighbour. It could be therefore that what is meant by the righteous requirement is a life of love for the Trinity and for other believers.

 

Conclusion

These verses teach us much that we can celebrate as Christians. First, the triune God has brought, is bringing, and will bring salvation to us. Second, converted sinners can please God through their imperfect obedience because it is the result of his grace at work in their souls. Third, we should recognise that God is not finished yet in producing holiness in the lives of his people.