No Condemnation in Christ Jesus: the Bright State of Christians Under the Faith (Romans 8:1–3)

Having depicted a cheerless picture of our moral corruption, the Apostle sets against it a radiant picture of moral perfection attained by the Christian in Christ Jesus through the grace of the Holy Spirit. Before grace, he says, people serve the law of sin; but grace, having come, restores the power of the spirit, and the Christian no longer thinks and lives according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. In this: aa) lies the essence of the restoration of our fallen nature (Rom. 8:1–10). Yet here only the beginning of our restoration is laid; bb) in its full glory it will appear at the resurrection, when we enter into the promised inheritance as sons of God (Rom. 8:11–17). In this glory shall also be sharers: cc) all creation, now groaning for it (Rom. 8:17–22). The holy Paul concludes this portrayal with an indication: dd) how firm are the foundations of our hope in the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:23–39).

Aa) Its essence (Rom. 8, 1–10)

Rom. 8:1. There is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, not walking according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

“Therefore”—indicates the drawing of a conclusion. From what, then, and from which facts? From verses 24 and 25. Having asked, “Who will deliver me?” — and answering, “I thank God through Jesus Christ”—the Apostle said everything, set forth all the blessings received by believers in the new-covenantal economy of grace for salvation—and the chief: sins are forgiven and the grace of the Holy Spirit is given, by which, resisting sin, we are able to live not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. We are no longer slaves of sin—liberated from its yoke and its deception. He brought all this to mind with a single word: “I thank God” and so forth. Now he draws the conclusion from all that: therefore, there is no condemnation for us, because we do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

But why did he say “no condemnation”—when one might have expected rather: no slavery and servitude to sin—as is said immediately after: “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2)? It is in order to remind us that sin, however it is committed, always brings righteous condemnation upon itself. From the explanations offered earlier regarding what is the sin living in us and how it works, some might derive self-justification in sin: what are you to do? sin overpowers; you cannot master it. But in reality things are otherwise: though sin seduces and draws, yet the sinful deed is always committed of one’s own will. Consequently, it is subject to condemnation, from which one cannot escape with such an empty excuse. Who is to blame? Why do you incline and let yourself be drawn away by the pleasure of sin? This side of the matter the Apostle did not address: he was setting forth only the fact of our sinfulness as it is. But that all sinfulness is subject to judgment—this he had expounded in the first chapters, preceding them with such a law of God’s righteousness: “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men” (Rom. 1:18). This law he now recalls, directing the thought: people sin, though yielding to the action of the sin living in them, yet they remain subject to judgment; but we believers—thanks be to God! — are not subject to this judgment and condemnation, because we are freed from the law of sin acting in the flesh—we do not live according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Before the coming of Christ it was, he says, thus, but after His coming it became otherwise. Yet not for all, as if by some law of necessity, but only for “those in Christ Jesus,” who cleave to Him by faith and love, receive the holy baptism, regenerating to new life, and the grace of the Holy Spirit, giving them strength to live by the law of this new life. Those who draw near to the Lord leave behind all that is sinful (Satan and his works), and, repenting of it, make a firm resolution to live the rest of their days in holiness, guarding their union with Christ. For this resolution they receive grace and are clothed with power truly to live in holiness in union with Christ. Such are “those in Christ Jesus.” Wherefore they are “not walking according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” The Apostle prescribes no commandment here, nor does he remind of any condition, but only sets forth the reality of life in Christ Jesus, as it is, just as he had depicted the reality of life in sin, as it is. Those in Christ Jesus, inasmuch as they are such, do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit: so that as soon as anyone does not walk according to the Spirit, he is no longer in Christ Jesus. Blessed Theodoret writes: “now, if we do not will it ourselves, the passions do not overcome us; for we have received the grace of the Spirit of God.”

Rom. 8:2. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death.

He said that, abiding in Christ Jesus, we do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit, and therefore are not subject to condemnation, since we do not sin—now he enters more deeply and explains how it came to pass that we began not to walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit, and therefore not to sin. How so? A new spirit has entered and freed me from the law of sin—and I do not sin. Now the Apostle speaks in the person of the Christian renewed in Christ Jesus, just as he had previously spoken in the person of fallen man.

To be subject to the law of sin is the same as to walk according to the flesh and to sin, as is evident from the preceding chapter. Man fell under the yoke of this law in consequence of the fall, or turning away from God. We must recall what ensued from that. Man is: spirit—soul—body. The spirit is meant to live in God, the soul—to order earthly existence under the guidance of the spirit, the body—to carry on and maintain visible, material life on earth under the direction of both. When man turned away from God and resolved to arrange his own well-being, he sank into self-centeredness, whose very essence is self-pleasing. Since his spirit presented no means toward this, on account of its separated nature, he turned wholly into the realm of soul and bodily life, where self-pleasing found ample nourishment—and became soulish and fleshly. To be soulish and fleshly was in itself a sin against man’s nature: for he was meant to live in the spirit, spiritualizing both soul and body. But the harm was not limited to this. From self-centeredness were born a multitude of passions, which together with it invaded the soulish and bodily realm, distorted the natural powers, needs, and functions of soul and body, and, beyond that, introduced much that has no foundation in nature. The soulish and fleshly state of fallen man became passionate. Thus, fallen man is self-centered; in consequence he is self-pleasing, and he nourishes his self-pleasing through passionate soulish and fleshly existence. In this lies his pleasure, the very strongest chain holding him in the bonds of his fall. In its totality, all this is the law of sin, “existing in our members.” In order to free him from this law, it is necessary to break these bonds—pleasure, self-pleasing, self-centeredness.

How is this possible? Within us there is a separated power—the spirit, breathed into the human person by God, seeking God and able to find rest only in life in God. In the very act of his creation—or inspiration—he was placed in communion with God; but fallen man, turning away from God, turned the spirit away from God as well. Yet his nature remained unchanged—and he ceaselessly reminded the fallen one, mired in passionate soulish and bodily existence, of his needs and demanded their satisfaction. Man did not reject these demands and in quiet moments resolved to do what pleased the spirit. But when it came to action, passion rose up from soul or body, flattered him with its pleasure, and took hold of man’s will. In consequence, the spirit was refused in the present action, while passionate soulish and bodily existence was satisfied, on account of the promised pleasure in feeding self-centered self-pleasing. Since this manner of proceeding happened with every deed, such a way of acting was rightly called the law of sinful life, holding man in the bonds of his fall. The fallen man himself was aware of the weight of these bonds and groaned for freedom, but found no power within himself to free himself: sinful pleasure was always beckoning and inciting him to sin.

The reason for such powerlessness lies in this: in the fallen man, the spirit lost its determining power: it passed from him to passionate soulish and bodily existence. According to man’s original constitution, he ought to live in the spirit and be determined by it in his activity—complete, that is, both soulish and bodily—and to spiritualize all his powers within himself. But the power of the spirit to hold man in such an order depended on his living communion with God. When this communion was broken by the fall, the power of the spirit dried up as well: he was no longer able to determine man—the lower parts of nature began to determine him, and those corrupted ones at that—therein lie the bonds of the law of sin. It is now evident that in order to be free from this law, it is necessary to restore the power of the spirit and return to it the authority taken from it. This is precisely what the economy of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ accomplishes—the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. And it accomplishes it thus.

The grace of the Holy Spirit descends upon man and, quickening his spirit, restores him to his natural rights. From this moment begins in the fallen man a new, or is restored his original, life, in which the power that determines his deeds passes into the hands of the spirit, taken away from the passionate soul-and-carnality—and man’s life acquires the character of a spiritual life, separated from the self-will of self-gratification and sensual pleasure. This is the general testimony of the change that occurs in a man who becomes Christian. The particulars in this are as follows.

The elements of the spirit are fear of God, conscience, and the hunger for God, manifested as discontent with everything created. In the fallen state all these are manifest, but they are weak and unheeded. The grace of God, through the gospel of the Gospel, entering within, awakens fear of God; fear of God awakens conscience; these two sober and separate. Through consciousness and will passes the conviction: all is vanity, and meanwhile you will perish because of it. From this moment begins living concern for salvation, which “is the one thing needful” (Lk. 10:42). Work proceeds within, as God’s grace aids and directs. Fear of God threatens judgment; conscience torments on account of deeds according to soul-and-bodily passion. Comes the decision to change everything, according to the Gospel’s direction, which promises peace with God through the cross of the Lord and the calming of conscience on account of the resolve to live the rest of one’s life by its promptings or according to the commandments received by it as law or renewing the law written in it—promising to accomplish this through the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit. This decision transforms one’s entire former life: instead of self-will, it establishes self-denial; instead of self-gratification, God-pleasing; instead of pleasure, readiness for all sorrows and even death in the hope of eternal rest. When such a decision is formed and strengthened under the action of faith and grace (still acting outwardly and turning), man is prepared to receive grace within, through the divinely appointed sacraments, according to the arrangement of those set over the grace-filled house of God and his treasures. He receives the sacraments and is filled with grace, which in its first moment of dwelling gives man the taste of the full sweetness of life according to God, compared to which all previously tried pleasures are nothing. This grace makes man strong for life according to God. Raising up his spirit, it brings him into living communion with God; having entered into which he begins to live in God, standing ever before Him inwardly in consciousness, and directing all his activity, in its every least manifestation—words, deeds, thoughts—toward what pleases Him, not only not heeding the self-will and sensual self-gratification, but even arming himself intentionally against it, finding pleasure in acts of self-denial and self-mortification, according to the promptings of grace, which guides and strengthens him. It is evident that the former law of sin has fallen away from man; into operation comes the new law of life, which is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

The passions approach even now; but since they no longer have within the former supports, through the removal of self-will and self-gratification, they no longer have any determining power such as they had before, and are driven off by mere scorn and disregard. The pleasure of sin attempts to entice, creeping in somehow, but it cannot stand even for a moment before the recollection of that surpassing sweetness which grace gives to taste in the moment of its dwelling within, and before the thought of the unspeakable future rest or, in the case of yielding, of terrible eternal torments.

We may define the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus thus: the self-devoted life of the spirit in God, beginning to work in a man who clings to Christ the Lord by faith and has been filled with grace, and giving authoritative direction to his soul and bodily activity, turning all of it toward the pleasing of God, while trampling and scorning the former self-willed self-gratification in passionate soul-and-carnality—in which consists liberation from the law of sin.

The Apostle joins with the liberation from the law of sin the liberation from death. For just as at the beginning, subjection to the yoke of sin brought death, so now the destruction of the sinful yoke must bring the destruction of the dominion of death. And people die after receiving grace; but the significance of death now is not the same. It is a passage into blessed immortality, not into unbearable torments, in which there is ceaseless dying without death. The seed of blessed immortality is laid together with the arising of spiritual life through the grace of the Holy Spirit. That is why, together with mention of the beginning of this life, the Apostle also mentioned the ending of that immortal dying.

All this is brought about by the grace of the Holy Spirit, but nothing happens within mechanically. God’s Spirit transforms our inner constitution, but not by creative power and force alone, but following after the conscious and free decisions of man himself and conforming to them. Yet notwithstanding all this, everything is from the Spirit: for man himself could not produce anything in himself, however much he might strain. All our interpreters understand by the law of the Spirit of life the Holy Spirit with His grace, which sanctifies us. Theodoret writes: “As the Apostle called sin the law of sin, so he called the life-giving Spirit the law of the Spirit of life. His grace, he says, through faith in Christ has granted you twofold freedom, for it not only broke the dominion of sin but also ended the torment of death.”

Holy Chrysostom sets forth more extensively the power of the present text. He says: “By the name of the law of the spirit, the Apostle means here the Spirit: for just as he called sin the law of sin, so he calls the Spirit the law of the Spirit. But he also named the law of Moses spiritual, saying, ‘We know that the law is spiritual’. So what is the difference? Great and immeasurable. That is a spiritual law; and this is a law of the Spirit. How do they differ from one another? In this: that one was given by the Spirit alone, while this law of the Spirit abundantly gave the Spirit to those who received it. Therefore the Apostle named it also the law of life, in distinction from the law of sin, and not from the law of Moses… By the law of sin is understood the law that wars against the law of the mind. This grievous battle grace of the Spirit ended, mortifying sin, making the struggle easy for us and first crowning us, and then bringing us forth under strong protection to the struggle. And as in other cases the Apostle, passing from the Son to the Spirit, and from the Spirit to the Father and the Son, ascribes all that is perfected for us to the Holy Trinity: so he does here. After the words: ‘Who will deliver me from the body of this death?’ he showed that the Father accomplishes this through the Son. Then he again ascribes this to the Holy Spirit together with the Son; for he says: the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed me. Then again he ascribes it to the Father and the Son.”

Rom. 8:3. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did: He sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and because of sin He condemned sin in the flesh.

The Apostle pointed out that the new spirit of life in Christ Jesus freed us from the law of sin. The force of the affirmation lies in the words “in Christ Jesus,”—as in the first verse: “there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” Now he explains that otherwise it would have been impossible for this to come to pass except in Christ Jesus. God sent His Son “in the likeness of sinful flesh,” and He condemned sin, or the law of sin, took from it its former power and strength and freed us from it. That this should be so admits of no doubt and requires no particular proof, that we must, living in the spirit, walk according to the will of God, written in the conscience and personally declared by Him. But through the fall, another law “in our members” came to prevail and gave another direction to our life and deeds. To aid the conscience the Law was given; but it did not improve matters: the law of sin became even more active in its operation. The need for a new economy is evident, and God was pleased to grant it to us in His Son, Who, having become incarnate, condemned—destroyed sin in His flesh and ordained that we too, cleaving to Him through faith and becoming one with Him in the mysteries, might become partakers of His power, which trampled sin, and by this power trample it in ourselves; in which consists freedom from the law of sin. Thus we obtain the possibility to live not according to the flesh but according to the spirit, to walk in the will of God, in faithfulness to the demands of conscience and law, and to be righteous before God—and our original destiny is fulfilled.

Such is the sense of the present verses, in connection with the preceding and following course of discourse. But the text itself requires special explanations.

“What the law could not do” does not have a corresponding verb, which must be supplied by one’s own thought. It seems that the most fitting completion will be: was supplied. What the law was not able to accomplish, this was supplied by a special economy of God—by the fact that God sent His Son for this. The law in itself is holy and pointed out the true path to holiness and righteousness. But in man, to whom it pointed this path, the flesh held sway—self-willed sensual passion—and did not allow him to walk this path. But the law only pointed out what ought to be and forbade what ought not be, forbade and this very passion itself (“You shall not covet”), but gave no strength to overcome the latter. In this consisted its weakness. It was good and beneficial that it clarified the matter; but since it went no further than that, the flesh, or passion, remaining in its strength in man, did not allow him to follow the law’s direction, and the law did not achieve its goal; nor was man’s original goal achieved—to be holy and blameless before God. This is what is meant by: “through the weakness of the flesh”, δια της σαρκός—on account of the flesh—or on account of extremely fleshly thinking (holy Chrysostom)—the passionate and self-loving self-gratification, this law of sin living in our flesh, “in our members” of our nature. “What”, εν ω—may be expressed thus: “what the law could not do”—namely, inasmuch as it “was weak through the flesh”; but better thus: what the law could not do—that in which it was weak on account of the flesh—was supplied by the sending of God’s Son, Who, coming, condemned this very flesh, took from it its power over us.

“God sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh”. Since the law did not lead to holiness and righteousness, and these constitute man’s original destiny—without which man is not man—the boundless goodness of God arranged another wondrous way for the sanctification and justification of man—this: that the only-begotten Son of God was made flesh and, overcoming sin, gave man the possibility not to yield to sin’s power and to be holy. The Son of God was sent in “the likeness of sinful flesh”. Having said before that the law “was weak through the flesh”, “by flesh he meant not the very essence of the flesh, but a thinking excessively fleshly, which removes guilt from the body” (holy Chrysostom). Now by flesh he means the very nature of flesh, without the fleshly thinking or the law of sin that had entered into it. In people the flesh was usually sinful, but in the Lord Jesus it was not participant in this unnatural addition. It was in Him as the natural flesh of all men, except for the unnatural sinfulness. That is why it is said: “in the likeness of sinful flesh”. If he had said only: “in the likeness of flesh”—it would follow that He came not in our true flesh but in an apparent one. If he had said: “in sinful flesh”—it would make the incarnate Lord himself a participant in sin. But, saying: “in the likeness of sinful flesh”—he gives to understand that He came in our true flesh, only without the sin living in it. Holy Chrysostom says: “If it be said that God sent His Son ‘in the likeness of flesh’, do not conclude from this that the flesh of Christ was different. But since human flesh has been called ‘sinful flesh,’ the word ‘likeness’ is added. For Christ had not sinful flesh, but, although like our sinful flesh, yet sinless and by nature the same as ours.” And let us add the words of blessed Theodoret: “The Apostle did not say: in the likeness of flesh—but: ‘in the likeness of sinful flesh’. For the Son of God took upon Himself human nature but did not take upon Himself human sin. That is why what He assumed the Apostle called not a likeness of flesh, but: ‘a likeness of sinful flesh’. For Christ, having one and the same nature as us, did not have one and the same direction of will.”

“And because of sin He condemned sin in the flesh”. The words: “and because of sin” may be related to: “He sent”—thus: “God sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and because of sin”, περί αμαρτίας—on account of sin—the sin that tyrannized over men—conjoining with this the thought: to atone for sin through the sacrifice of His flesh, as the Russian translation does, or: to expunge sin by His power, first in His own flesh, and then through living communion in all believing men, or: not conjoining a definite thought as to the exact reason why, but keeping in mind generally—on account of sin—with the indication of the actual reason seen in: “He condemned sin.” One may also relate this word to: “and because of sin He condemned—He condemned sin because of sin”—showed that sin is sinful, by revealing sinless flesh. On account of the universal sinfulness, one might think that sin is inevitable—the flesh is so constituted that one cannot avoid sinning; consequently, sin is sinless. The Lord, revealing sinless flesh, showed that sin is not from the nature of the flesh but from evil will, and therefore is sinful—subject to judgment and condemnation—“showed the injustice and sinfulness of sin” (blessed Theophylact). And He condemned it—not by a mere condemning judgment, for the law also did that, but as another ruler seizes a criminal, condemns him and banishes him to hard labor or delivers him to death—condemned it by overcoming it and making us victors over it, so that we can despise it as a worthless insolence and trample upon it.

Our interpreters do not pay attention to the structure of speech, but rather discuss more generally the purpose and power of the sending of the Son of God—that He was sent to overcome sin, to take from it all its power, so that He might make us victors over it.

Only blessed Theophylact, among other things, remarks: “the expression: ‘and because of sin’—may be understood more simply, thus: the Father sent His Son ‘because of sin,’ that is, to overcome sins.” And Oecumenius brings as something another has represented as a possible arrangement of words here: “two arrangements of words may be taken here; one may separate ‘and because of sin’ from: ‘He condemned,’—so that it would be: ‘God sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and because of sin,’—that is, on account of sin, to take it away and free us from it. How to take it away? By condemning it—not by a mere trial, but by overcoming and capturing it. One may also conjoin them, so that it would be: ‘and because of sin He condemned sin in the flesh’—condemned it because it is thoroughly sinful, like one who did good by committing evil, of which the Apostle spoke above, bringing to mind that sin is thoroughly sinful. How did He condemn it? In the flesh, that is, by His flesh. This is marvelous, that by flesh, once subject to sin, He condemned sin. How? By keeping it sinless. Having overcome sin in this way by His flesh, He also punished it. For the punishment of sin is its destruction.”

But whatever arrangement of words one accepts, it is evident that the chief thought of the Apostle here concerns the purpose and significance of the sending of the Son of God in the flesh, namely—to overcome, punish, and destroy sin and to make us victors and punishers of it. For since the Son of God came to supply what was lacking in the law, and what was lacking in the law was the ability to overcome sin in us or to make us victors over it, in the words that define the purpose of the sending of the Son of God we ought to see precisely this supply of what was lacking in the law—that is, the overcoming of sin and making us victors over it. Such indeed is the sense that should be seen in the words: “He condemned sin in the flesh”—condemned sin in His flesh, took from it its power and made us victors over it. The word: to condemn—also in ordinary speech has a similar meaning, for when we say: they condemned the criminal—we mean not only the pronouncement of a condemning judgment but also the depriving of the criminal of the ability to commit crime, by imprisonment or death. The same applies here: sin is condemned—bound and deprived of unbridled freedom to tyrannize over us. The incarnate Son of God accomplished this in two ways: by delivering His sinless flesh to death for the sins of the world, He gave us the ability to obtain forgiveness for the sins we have committed; and by revealing in Himself sinless flesh and instituting sacraments for communion with Himself, He gave us the ability to receive from Him the sin-conquering power, so that we might not commit other sins. Both of these have their treasury in Him. We become partakers of this treasure by cleaving to the Lord with all our heart. The first is indicated here, and the second in the words that follow.

Blessed Theodoret writes: “The Apostle declares here that since the law could not fulfill its own appointed task, on account of the weakness of those receiving the law, for they had mortal and passionate nature, the only-begotten Word of God, having become man, by human flesh crushed sin, fulfilling all righteousness; not having accepted the shame of sin (that is, being sinless) and suffering death like a sinner, He exposed the injustice of sin, for He delivered to death a body not subject to death. Yet He Himself both crushed sin and death. For the Word of God, as not subject to death because it committed no sin, but having taken death upon itself by an unjust verdict of sin, became, as ‘free among the dead’ (Ps. 87:6), a just redemption for those justly held under the dominion of death.” Here the justification-accomplishing power of the coming of the Son of God in the flesh is chiefly indicated. But Saint Chrysostom portrays rather the sin-conquering power of this coming. He says: “Imagine that the king’s son, seeing at the marketplace that they are striking a woman of low station and homeless, calls himself her son and thereby frees her from the hands of her abusers. The same is what the Son of God did; He, confessing Himself the Son of Man, appeared to aid the flesh and condemned sin. And sin dared not strike it anymore; or, more precisely, although it struck with a deadly blow, yet—what is most wonderful—not the struck flesh but the striking sin came under condemnation and perished. If the victory had been accomplished not in the flesh, this would be less wonderful. But it is wonderful that Christ, being in the flesh, raised a trophy (Trophy—Greek: τροπαΐον—a monument of victory and properly victory itself), and that very flesh which sin had cast down thousands of times achieved over it a brilliant victory. Behold how extraordinary this is! First, that sin did not overcome the flesh; second, that sin itself was conquered, and conquered by flesh; third, that the flesh not only conquered but also punished. Christ, by not sinning, appeared invincible; but by dying, He conquered and condemned sin, making for it terrible that very flesh which had previously been despised. By this He destroyed the power of sin and destroyed death, introduced into the world by sin. Do you see how many victories were won?! The flesh was not overcome by sin, sin itself was conquered and condemned, and not merely condemned, but as guilty of sin.”