8th Chapter of Romans

Romans 8:1 (all verses are from the New International Version)

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

THERE IS NO CONDEMNATION FOR THOSE IN CHRIST

This chapter concludes the doctrine of our complete salvation and redemption in Jesus Christ, bringing about the solid conclusion that only in Christ is one not condemned, therefore not a recipient of the wrath of God that is being revealed against all godlessness and wickedness (Rom_1:18).

Paul makes an important distinction that enforces his previous arguments of trying to be justified by the Law. He uses the temporal word now to distinguish that only those who are in Christ from this point onward will be excluded from any condemnation brought upon by their sin.

Whereas in chapter seven we understood how wretched and hopeless we are in trying to fulfill law-keeping, here in chapter eight we begin to understand the blessings available to us through incorporation into Jesus Christ.

The Blessings of Incorporation

1. No condemnation (v. 1).

2. Free from the law of sin and death (v. 2).

3. Righteous requirement fulfilled in us (vs. 3, 4).

4. Life (v. 6).

5. Peace (v. 6).

6. The indwelling of the Spirit (v. 9).

7. A possession of Christ (v. 9).

8. Our human spirit made alive (v. 10).

9. Our body is given life (vs. 11).

10. Deeds of the body put to death by the Spirit (v. 13).

11. Led by the Spirit (v. 14).

12. Adopted into the Royal (Divine) Family as sons of God (v. 15, 16).

13. Heirs of God and fellow-heirs with Christ (v. 17).

14. Future glory with Christ (vs. 17, 18).

15. Our bodies will be redeemed (v. 23).

16. The help of the Spirit in our weakness (v. 26).

17. Intercession on the Spirit's behalf (vs. 26, 27).

18. All things working for our good (v. 28).

19. Conformed to the image of Christ (v. 29).

20. God is for us (v. 31).

21. Justification and glorification by God (v. 30, 33).

22. Christ interceding on our behalf (v. 34).

23. Nothing can separate us from God (v. 35).

24. Conquerors of all things (v. 37).

25. Inseparable from God’s love (vs.35-39).

This list of blessings is similar to the one Paul writes at the beginning of Ephesians (Eph_1:3).

Some may use this verse and even this whole chapter to try to justify the erroneous doctrine of "once saved always saved". We have already reviewed why this doctrine is baseless, especially when trying to use the book of Romans to justify it, since it teaches that salvation comes by obedient faith. Paul also makes it clear in this next verse that our salvation is conditional on our faithfulness:

2Ti_2:12 ESV The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful-- for he cannot deny himself.

If you deny Him - kick him out of your life, like some in Laodicea did, (Rev_3:14-21) He will deny you as well. This destroys that dangerous teaching of Calvinism. This verse, though, along with many others, destroys those fables (Mat_10:32-33). You can loose your salvation so be careful (Heb_10:26-29)(Jud_1:24)!

From the beginning of Romans we know saving faith comes upon those who are obedient (Rom_1:5; Rom_6:17; Rom_16:26). God will judge us based on our actions. Our conduct will be final criterion and determinator of where we will spend eternity (Rom_6:15; Rom_7:25).

No condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus—As Christ, who “knew no sin,” was “made sin for us,” so are we who believe in him “made the righteousness of God in him” (2Co_5:21). And thus, since we are one with him in the divine reckoning, there is to such “no condemnation.” (Joh_3:18; Joh_5:24; Rom_5:18-19.) -- New Commentary on the Whole Bible

Romans 8:2

because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

The Law of the Spirit of life has set us free

There is another law we are subject to now. This law is the only one that can truly set us free from the former law: the law of sin and death. This is the law of the Spirit. This is the New System: The New Covenant brought by the blood of Jesus (Luk_22:20). We enter this covenant, as Paul taught previously, by voluntarily dying to self in the person of Jesus through immersion. As we are incorporated in Christ, effectively dying the death He died to the Law and to sin, we are now justified and meet all the righteous requirements of that law by way of the law of the Spirit that we now live through our sanctification in the Spirit.

The old Law said: You sin - you die!

The new Law is grace: forgiveness of sins!

The old law had no grace because it could not love. - God loved us and showed us grace through His Son.

What exactly is the law of the Spirit?

Perhaps what is the wrong question to ask when we learn about the law of the Spirit. When we think of laws we always tend to ask: what are those laws and who enforces them? But in the Spirit it has to do more with Who. Whereas the laws of the letter are external regulations to our person that help us extrinsically, the law of the Spirit begins when our core identity is transplanted into Christ, becoming something intrinsic - regenerating us from within as opposed to acting on us from without (Jer_31:31-34). External laws attempt to shape our behavior and chastise us when we fall - in hope of producing in us a desire for obedience. The law of the Spirit, the ultimate higher law of God, is a work of redemption and regeneration. A law that is "written in our hearts" and put "inside us"; as God expressed through Jeremiah. This has to do with the transplantation of our inner core values by willing incorporation (obedience of the Gospel through immersion) into the person of Jesus Christ, our faithfulness and righteousness before the Lord God Almighty. By being in Christ we are made new, regenerated in spirit and attitude (Eph_4:22-24), being intrinsically motivated to conform to Jesus because of our salvation; not to be saved.

You are set free by the law of the Spirit by:

1 - Obedience (Faithfulness) to Christ - Who saves you (vs 3-4)

a- Leads to incorporation - Who you become

b- Is how we fulfill the requirement of the law - in Christ Jesus

(1) Because we acquire the righteousness of Jesus (Justification)

(2) Because we are given the Holy Spirit who regenerates us (Sanctification)

2 - Setting your minds on the things of the Spirit - How He helps you (vs 5-17)

a- Produces life and peace

b- Puts to death the deeds of the body - What you do as a result of who you become

c- Helps you think like children of God

(1) In your heart of hearts you cry out to the Father as His child

e- Turns you away from the world and away from your passions for fulfillment

(1) You turn to the Spirit to help you in prayer

(2) You turn to Jesus for intercession

3- Hoping in the redemption of your body - Where He's taking you (vs 18-39)

a- By being conformed to Jesus

b- By trusting God works everything out for your good

c- By looking forward to your glorification - Where your hope is planted

d- By knowing you are more than a conqueror

e- By confidently being reassured nothing can separate you from the love of God

The scope of the four opening verses in this chapter is to show how “the law of sin and death” is deprived of its power to bring you again into bondage and how the holy Spiritual law of God is received in you through obedience of the Gospel. The Hebrew author quotes Jeremiah twice to help the readers understand the scope of the law of the Spirit which is limitless when compared to the law of the letter:

Jer_31:31-34 ESV 31 Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. 33 But 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. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor 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.

So even though the nature and the scope of the laws have changed, the laws are still laws. In other words, there are a set of laws we need to continue to obey in Christ. It is not like we are above the law. What has happened is that, in Christ, our former self, overridden with debt, was done away with. It was a corrupt self, unable to embrace these new laws in the Spirit. We needed to be recreated again to be able to worship God in Spirit and truth: according to the Spiritual Laws. So now, in our new self - we can delight in the laws of God and be eager to be obedient children of His.

If then Christianity is, at least in part, a system of law, what about the question of legalism? Who is a legalist? A legalist is one who obeys the rules and regulations of Christianity, at least to some extent, and then falls into the error of supposing that he has thereby merited salvation, and as a result of such error develops an attitude of self-righteousness similar to that of the ancient Pharisees. Never in a million years could it be correct to define a legalist as one who shall "do and teach" the commandments of Christ, for Jesus said of such a person as that, that he "shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." The practical use of the term "legalist" today is as an epithet hurled at persons who reject the heresy of salvation by "faith only." -- Coffman

Mat_5:19 ESV Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Romans 8:3

For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man,

God did something that the law could not do. God showed us His mercy: something the law was unable to do. The argument here is that the law was weakened by the flesh. It could not justify us because it was ready to condemn us since we were obedient to sin in our flesh.

What did God do? He sent His own Son, in the flesh, to

1. Condemn sin in the flesh

2. Atone for sin on our behalf

3. Fulfill that law in those who walk by the Spirit

Only God's Son, made in the likeness (homoioma: abstract resemblance: - made like to, likeness, shape, similitude.) of sinful flesh could satisfy because:

1. He was perfect - he was the only one capable to fulfill the law perfectly in the eyes of God. He was perfect in His obedience (1Pe_3:18; Heb_2:10; Heb_5:9).

2. He was adequate - (Rev_5:2-9) By dying in our place as one of us (in the flesh), He loosed us from the previous testament that we may be free to join Him in a New one. Only He was able to satisfy the requirements of the holy Law of God and also atone for our sins before God (2Co_5:21). He was the only one adequate to die in our place that now we may live in Him (Heb_2:9-10).

3. He was willing - By His perfect faith (Heb_12:2) He completed the task, unwavering and determined. He showed us His perfect love for God and for us on the cross (Joh_3:16).

4. He is glorified! - By being raised on the third day Jesus gives us true hope. It is through the power of the Spirit, the same power living in us now (Rom_1:4; Rom_15:13), that Jesus was raised giving us a preview of what lies ahead for those who walk in the Spirit (Eph_4:8). Jesus is the firstfruit of many more to come: those who are His (1Co_15:20; Rom_8:23; Jam_1:18)!

Paul's use of the expression likeness of sinful flesh is an important distinction from other phrases he used throughout his letters in reference to Jesus. I believe his point is to show that only Jesus, being completely human yet completely divine, was the only one able to satisfy God's righteousness and mercy and undo what the first Adam did. He was the perfect Adam. Humanity perfected. Like us in every way except for the propensity to sin. He gives us hope that we can attain that perfection in Him. Jesus had to die in our form to be able to completely disarm the power of the law and to be able to incorporate us now into His glorified form.

1Pe_3:18 NIV For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit...

Heb_2:9-10 NIV 9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.10 In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.

Romans 8:4

in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

Walking in the Spirit fulfills the righteous requirement of the Law

Since Jesus was God's perfect and adequate answer to our sin and death dilemma, now in Jesus we are able to be rescued from our doom since we meet the righteous requirement of the Law. Notice that the requirement can only be met in Him, which has been the theme throughout Romans: incorporation and transplantation of identity: walking according to the Spirit.

This verse also shows that those who remain walking according to the flesh will not be able to meet this requirement in Christ even though they may have been united to Him in His death through baptism. This shows the necessity of the process of sanctification to secure our victory when the end comes. Being immersed only does not fulfill (pleroo: complete, perfect accomplish) the requirement of the Law: you also have to walk in the Spirit. You have to be an active participant in the sanctification afforded by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

When you are walking according to the Spirit in Jesus you have:

1. Justification - Rom_3:24; Rom_5:18

2. Righteousness - Rom_3:22; Rom_4:24

3. Faith - Rom_3:22; Rom_3:28

4. Obedience - Rom_1:5; Rom_5:19

5. Holiness - Rom_6:19, Rom_6:22

6. Perfection - Heb_10:1, Heb_10:14; Heb_12:23

7. Glory - Rom_2:10; Rom_5:2; Rom_8:17

If you decide to walk after the flesh you will experience:

1. The wrath of God - Rom_1:18

2. The fruit of death - Rom_2:5, Rom_2:8

a- Stubbornness

b- Unrepentant heart

c- Self-seeking

d- Reject the truth

e- Follow evil

3. Condemnation - Rom_8:1

Walking after the flesh is seeking after the things of the world, indulging in your fleshly passions and ignoring the law of the Spirit. Walking after the flesh is also used here as a synecdoche for living according to rules and regulations, seeking to be justified by them in the eyes of God.

Psa_1:1-2 ESV Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

Romans 8:5

Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

The Mind Set on the Flesh

People who walk according to the ways of the world, seeking to be justified based on their actions, are continually looking for excuses and ways to exculpate themselves from their lying, stealing and sinning. They cheat and lie to try to prove themselves innocent; and after going on a sinning binge, they try to make themselves look good by doing a few "good" things. They set their mind (they focus, they actively think of) the fleshly needs and passions. This is the manner of the flesh, constantly trying to put forth an "image" of something that is completely false. Of course, there are also those who care nothing of what others think about them and will not even make an effort to "look good". These are sold as slaves to the flesh without any effort to try to justify themselves in the eyes of men. Their only justification is their fleshly appetite and their continual lust for more (Eph_4:19).

Notice what the Spirit teaches us here about the importance of our mindset. You will either have a mind set on (phronousin). Present active indicative of phroneo, to think, to put the mind (phren) on; deliberately setting the mind upon a certain thing) the flesh or set on the Spirit. What you set your mind on determines your outcome:

Rom_12:1-2 ESV 1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Conforming signifies submitting; adapting: in this case to the world and its ways - the way of the flesh. It doesn't require energy or effort - it is a downward spiral; the broad way that leads to destruction (Mat_7:13). Conforming to the world is the easy way - the broad way tread by the many. This is definitely not a holy (different) sacrifice! Holiness comes through sacrifice, implied by the use of the word transform (metamorphoo: change; transform). This new way of the Spirit requires a transformation; a change from worldliness to holiness. Of course, the transformation is achieved through the Spirit's work (regeneration and renewal) in you once you are in Christ (Tit_3:5-7).

Mat_16:23 ESV But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man."

Phi_2:5 ESV Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus

In the next few verses Paul will elaborate on what these mindsets produce in us:

The Mind Set on the Flesh

1. Is Death

2. Is Hostile to God

3. Cannot Please God

4. Does not belong to God

The Mind Set on the Spirit

1. Is Life and Peace

2. Gives Life to the Body

3. Puts to death the deeds of the body

4. Belongs to God as His children

5. Is an heir with Christ

6. Will be glorified with Christ

Romans 8:6

The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;

To try to live under a law system means that sooner or later you will violate the law and sin. All who try to justify themselves under such a system are bound to die not just physically, but spiritually as well since a meritorious system cannot save you.

The state of death derives from and automatically accompanies such a mind that is set on the flesh, a condition called death "in trespasses and sins" (Eph_2:1). In a simplistic view, man's entire trouble lies in his inmost mind. Who is in charge there? If the inner throne is occupied by Satan, sin and death reign. If Christ is on the throne, life and peace reign. -- Coffman

Joh_8:31-36 ESV 31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." 33 They answered him, "We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, 'You will become free'?" 34 Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

The Jews who thought they were righteous were actually slaves to sin since they were trying to be justified by a meritorious system, albeit a temporary one designed by God.

Romans 8:7

the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.

A mind set on the flesh is hostile (echthra: hostility; by implication a reason for opposition: - enmity, hatred). It does not submit to God because it cannot submit.

This kind of mind:

1. Hates what is from God

2. Opposes the things of the spirit

3. Does not submit to God

4. Cannot submit to God

Those who walk according to God's Spirit have their mind set on what God wants for us: life and peace; not vengeance or restitution or death - not a sense of entitlement or a hunger for justice on our behalf. Human restitution cannot fulfill anything, not even your sense of justice. All it does is feed our sense of self-righteousness and makes us even more hostile to God and our fellow man.

As long as you remain in this mindset you will die forever. Only a mind that desires change and desires to change lordship will be able to be set free in Jesus!

Romans 8:8

Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

As long as a mind is set on the world, the love of God cannot be in him:

1Jo_2:15-17 ESV Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.16 For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world.17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

This does not mean that the sinner has no responsibility and cannot be saved. He is responsible and can be saved by the change of heart through the Holy Spirit. - Robertson

Since one cannot keep the law perfectly, then those who are trying to be justified by a law system cannot please God. Remember:

Rom_3:23 NIV ...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...

Trying to be justified by a law system will only make you fall shorter of God's glory.

If we live listen to what the flesh desires we are not listening to the Spirit. This does not please God. He will not be able to re-generate you unless it is your desire. Remember, God looks for willingness, not ability. Things that are not done by faith cannot please God (Heb_11:6).

Romans 8:9

You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.

IN CHRIST WE ARE IN THE SPIRIT - THE LIFE OF THOSE IN THE SPIRIT

Now we switch over to the blessings possessed by those who have chosen to be incorporated and have died to self. Clearly, the Spirit teaches us here that WE ARE NOT IN THE FLESH! We have died to it in Christ!

Notice the condition for not being in the flesh is having possession of the Holy Spirit when you are baptized (Act_2:38). This happens when we have fully obeyed the Gospel as God has stated in the Word (Act_5:32; 1Jo_3:24).

So we can now summarize that the Spirit of God will dwell in you when you:

1. Believe - Joh_3:16

2. Repent - Luk_13:3

3. Confess - Rom_10:10

4. Are baptized - Act_2:38; Mar_16:16

5. Persevere - Jam_1:12; Rev_2:10

In essence, when you obey the Gospel:

1. You need to receive it

2. Take your stand in it

3. Hold firmly to it - 1Co_15:1-4

4. By dying with Jesus in baptism

5. Being immersed in water for forgiveness - Rom_6:3-4

6. And you will receive the Spirit - Act_5:32

If you don't have God's spirit you do not belong to God:

Joh_8:47 NIV He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.

You won't even be able to hear what God says without having His Spirit. The Spirit himself helps us understand the mind of God by giving us the mind of Christ:

1Co_2:16 ESV “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

We belong to God when we have died to the law and to the flesh in Christ - by water baptism into His death that we may live with Him!

Rom_7:4 NIV So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.

1Pe_2:9 NIV But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

This clearly shows that only those who obey the Lord belong to Him. Make sure you have received His Spirit! There are not many ways to Heaven, as many people suppose, but ONE! Through Christ, as He himself said in Joh_10:9-10. Our union with Christ is not through some mystical self-realization or inspiration, but through understanding His words and simply obeying them.

Gal_3:2 NIV I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?

Tit_3:5 ESV he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

Without God's Spirit there is no regeneration and no renewal, therefore, no salvation; regardless of what works you have done or how religious you say you have been.

Remember, believing in the invisible is what pleases God, walking by faith, not by sight (2Co_5:7). Some invisible things the Spirit works in us are in Gal_5:22-26.

2Co_4:17-18 NIV For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

FALSE DOCTRINE REGARDING THE HOLY SPIRIT

There is great confusion amongst many between two fundamental doctrines concerning the Holy Spirit: the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Joe_2:28) and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Act_2:38). Even within the indwelling of the Spirit we have to make distinctions extrapolated from Scriptures concerning the outward ability to perform miraculous signs (and wonders) and the inward ability for the purposes of regeneration and renewal in the disciple: one is permanent and the other was temporary, as Paul mentions in 1Co_13:8-13.

1 Corinthians 13:8-13 ESV 8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Obviously the temporary one was the outward ability to perform miraculous signs and wonders. Many believe Paul is speaking of Christ's return when he mentions the "perfect" (teleion: What is complete; finished; the perfect , the full grown, the mature). However, the word is used as a conditional adjective, not as a person, indicating a coming state of more mature (complete) revelation where the temporal use of the miraculous to confirm the word (Mar_16:20) was not necessary. This is supported by the interpretation Paul himself provides in describing the difference between his speaking and reasoning as a child and then as an adult. We are talking about the completion of a process initiated for temporary purposes. Once something is confirmed it does not need confirmation over and over, therefore; the scaffolding needs not to be used to support the finished structure. Here are other false doctrines concerning the Holy Spirit:

1. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a commandment of God; on the other hand, the baptism of the Holy Spirit it is not a commandment at all but a promise. You cannot obey the baptism of the Holy Spirit since it was something promised (Joe_2:28) - something to be fulfilled in its time (Act_2:16). Once fulfilled it needed not to be promised again.

2. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is followed by speaking in tongues; and, while it is true that the apostles did speak in tongues on Pentecost after the power of the Spirit came upon them, the kind of tongues manifested there was nothing like the incoherent, unintelligible jabberings of the so-called "tongues" affected today. Tongues (Gk. glossa: language) are languages spoken miraculously (without having learned them). Other people from different countries were able to understand them clearly (Act_2:6-12).

3. The Holy Spirit baptism was promised to all Christians; but this promise was to the apostles alone (Luk_24:49);

4. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a subjective experience within men's hearts; to the contrary, it was a visible and outward manifestation of God's power, as exemplified by the two New Testament examples of it at Pentecost (Act_2:2-4) and at the house of Cornelius (Act_10:44-46).

5. The Holy Spirit is promised to all believers; on the contrary, He is promised to all believers who repent and are baptized for the remission of sins (Act_2:38); to all those who obey the Gospel (Act_5:32).

6. The Holy Spirit is imparted to make people sinless; yet Peter sinned after he had received even the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is given for regeneration and renewal (Tit_3:5). No one can be sinless (1Jo_1:8)!

7. The Holy Spirit must work directly upon an unbeliever before he can obey God; there are no New Testament example of any conversion in which the convert did not first hear the word of God preached and then upon believing it, obey it by being baptized (immersed in water).

8. The Holy Spirit is God's power; yet, the Holy Spirit is a divine person of the Godhead (Eph_4:30). A force cannot be grieved - only a person.

9. The Holy Spirit is the Word of God; yet, the Holy Spirit inspired God's word, He works along with God's word to renew us. He is our divine co-worker, not an impersonal thing (1Co_6:19; 1Co_3:16; Gal_4:6; Joh_14:17)!

Romans 8:10

But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.

If Christ is in you...

Same synecdoche as "In Christ". Refers to the regenerated person. Christ being in us is the same as the Holy Spirit being in us:

Col_1:27 NIV To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

the body is dead because of sin...

Paul ties the reception of the Spirit with the dying to sin and in the next verse with being raised with Christ as described in the Romans Chapter 6. He is presenting the reasons as to why we are no longer in the flesh, but in the Spirit. We now are spiritually minded and need to leave behind the things that we associated with the flesh in our former lives. The Jews needed to be reminded that they couldn't depend on the flesh for justification. The flesh is sinful and no matter how much religion you practice or how pious you think you are the flesh cannot be justified. Only in the Spirit can we find justification by putting to death the flesh in Jesus Christ!

Gal_2:16 ESV (KJV) ...yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through the faith of Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by the faith of Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

Paul repeats some things he said in the previous chapter:

1. The body is dead because of sin

2. The Spirit is life

the Spirit is life...

If we still consider ourselves in the flesh, then we will follow that mindset. We need to die every day to remember we are alive in the Spirit! There is hope in the Spirit! Because the Spirit lives in me I can be justified through the righteousness gained in Christ! The life the Spirit gives is because of righteousness! Remember what righteousness is? Obedience to God! That's how Moses was deemed righteous, because he was obedient (Romans CH 4).

Romans 8:11

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 through his Spirit, who lives in you.