Romans 8: The Sanctuary

Romans 8 has been called the "inner sanctuary of the Christian faith." The theme has been variously singled out as "the security of the believer," "Life in the Spirit," or Sanctification. Our connection to the Spirit of Jesus is no fiction; it is real and it has supremely powerful results in our lives.

8:1-3 The Liberating Spirit

"For those in Christ Jesus," there is no condemnation, no more sentence to serve. "Law" in verse 2 means something more like principle or authority. There are two regimes: Adam's (sin and death) and Christ's (the Spirit of life). The power of the one sets me free from the dominion of the other. God has done something which the law of Moses could not do, weakened as it was by my own sinful nature. God sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh "for sin" (or "as a sin offering"). This somehow "condemned sin in the flesh." In the very arena in which sin was reigning, God expressed His just judgment on it and pronounced sentence on it. Christ bore this just sentence for us and overcame it.

FF Bruce wrote, “Christ’s indwelling Spirit infuses into them a new principle – the law of life – which is stronger than indwelling sin and sets them free from its tyranny."

8:4-9 The Empowering Spirit

Everything God has done in Christ (verses 1-3) was for this purpose: to fulfill the law's just requirements in us who walk not in the flesh but in the Spirit.

Should we read "fulfill the law's just requirements" as what Christ did for us on His cross, as what Christ does in us now, or both? In the context of what follows, it would be that Christ enables me to put to death my old fleshly mindset and live as the Spirit leads.

The "flesh" here does not mean my human body but rather the fallen nature which so often takes advantages of the weaknesses, desires and limitations of my physical state. Flesh means the unregenerate and sinful part of me I inherited from Adam. By its very nature this part of me is hostile to God; it makes me unwilling and unable to submit to God's reign. But listen to 8:9: "You are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit!" As believers, we are not to be controlled/dominated by this fallen nature but by the new nature implanted in us by Christ.

The indwelling Spirit is a new, pervasive, powerful and pure presence in my life.

8:10-11 The Life Giving Spirit

Even as Christians, our bodies are "dead" in the sense that they are still susceptible to death and to sin. But the indwelling Spirit will give LIFE to our bodies...spiritual life now, and resurrection life to come.

8:12-13 The Death Dealing Spirit

We have an obligation then to yield to the life giving Spirit and not to the fallen nature. By the Spirit's power we are enabled to put to death our sins! Previous generations talked a lot about "mortifying the flesh." We need to relearn what that means!

There is a hint here that salvation can be lost: if we yield to the flesh, we will "die." This is echoed in Gal. 5:19-20:

"The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition,
dissensions, factions & envy; drunkenness,orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did
before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God."

8:14 The Leading Spirit

There is an assurance that the Spirit will lead us; in this context, that would mean the Spirit leads us to mortify the flesh. The Holy Spirit comes to make us holy.

8:15-17 The Adopting Spirit

When we cry out "Abba," Daddy, that is evidence that Jesus is living inside us because that is His cry. If the background here is Roman adoption practice, it was very solemn and serious. Seven witnesses were required, and the child so adopted carried his father's name and was made heir of his possessions. But there is responsibility as well as blessing that comes; we are called to suffer with Christ too!

The glory is not mere compensation for our suffering; somehow, it grows OUT of the suffering and is the completion of it. The crown is connected to the cross.

How do we suffer for Christ? By denying our flesh and by enduring persecution for the sake of His name.

8:18-22 The Glorifying Spirit

This is one of Paul's most beautiful passages, describing all of Creation groaning like a woman in labor, waiting for its redemption. But Creation's redemption will not take place until the people of God are fully saved, fully glorified. When the human race fell, creation itself was subjected to futility and decay; the world fell with us. Some see in this the principle of entropy in Physics; all things run down, energy is expended, heat is lost...is Paul saying that is NOT the way the universe was before human sin??? That the very laws of Physics fell with us, and will be saved with us?

8:23-25 The First-fruits Spirit

We groan too, says Paul, we who have received the Spirit as a kind of downpayment. We long for the redemption of our bodies as well as our souls. Our adoption is not yet complete, and we so ache for it.

8:26-27 The Interceding Spirit

Creation groans; we groan; now we read the the Spirit within us groans, praying for us and praying through us with groans and utterings too deep for words. What a word of comfort, that in our weakness when we don't know how to pray, God comes alongside and does this for us too!