5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit
6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
flesh, carnal — the old nature
mind = habit of thought, total interest — not understanding. It’s the same word translated “set affections on” in Colossians 3:1-3.
peace — not reconciliation but the enjoyment of it
Christians can be dead as far as experiencing the fruit of the Spirit — dead experientially
Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light (Ephesians 5:14).
For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting (Galatians 6:8).
The death spoken of in Romans eight must be understood as the loss of a life that is dedicated to God and blessed in Him on earth. There are many Christians who have physical life, and who go about their tasks, even religious tasks, but who are not rejoicing in the great triumphant realities that are available for us, but which remain unclaimed and unused. Life, in this passage, is nothing less than the abounding triumph of the believer in the joy of the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Anything less than this, when it is possible, is death. Death, then, in this passage, is the living existence of a born-again believer on a spiritual level that is lower than that which God has designed for us. When this is understood the passage returns to its place in a logical sequence and becomes a powerful exhortation to high and holy Christian living. — Barnhouse, page 30-31.
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I was somewhat puzzled when I realized how many times the word “things” was being used by the Holy Spirit in presenting this teaching to us. “The things of the flesh … the things of the Spirit” are found in our text. And in Corinthians we have “the things of a man,” “the deep things of God,” “the things that are freely given to us of God.” We are reminded that “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit,” but that “he that is spiritual judgeth all things” (1 Corinthians 2:10-15). In Colossians we are exhorted to “seek those things which are above,” to “set our affection on things above and not on the things which are on this earth” (Colossians 3:2). It would not be difficult to extend this list.
I think the explanation lies in the fact that while the great central truths are the same for all men, and the life of Spirit carries all believers in the same general direction, God is so diverse in His dealings with al His children that no two of us pass through the same experience. I am beginning to believe that I have a different concept of “the things of God” from anyone else, and that every believer has his own experience of these divine “things.” When we understand this we will be very hesitant about judging any other man, but will learn that the Lord is leading each individual in ways that are His own, forming Christ in us within the boundaries of our responsibility, exalting Himself by the great diversity of His dealings with us. — Barnhouse, page 35.
3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,
4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
It was impossible for the law to 1) give freedom from condemnation, 2) justify, or 3) impart life by means of the flesh. The Law itself is perfect, but it couldn’t achieve its end because the flesh is weak (Romans 6:19).
sending His own Son — from glory to the world via the Incarnation. “Son” is stressed to show Christ’s power and greatness in contrast to the Law’s weakness — And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight (Colossians 1:21-22).
likeness — form. More than simple resemblance. He was in reality flesh, but without sin — identification and contrast.
and for sin = and as an offering for sin (Romans 3:25). A propitiation, not an atonement. (An atonement, or covering, describes Old Testament sacrifices.)
condemned sin — by the example of His life and by His crucifixion
righteousness of the Law — all it demands as right
fulfilled in us, not by us — It is the work of God in us, accomplished by the Holy Spirit.
walk — entire activity of a believer’s life
spirit — renewed inward man through whom the Holy Spirit operates.
1 Corinthians 1:30-31 — But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
God doesn’t give us the power to live righteously, but does it in us and for us when we walk after the Spirit.
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
“who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” — This phrase isn’t in the original manuscripts.
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17)
therefore — pointing back to chapter 7, but also to everything said since Romans 3:19.
no condemnation — “no” is heavily stressed in the Greek. This is a judicial matter.
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To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved (Ephesians 1:6).
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And ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power (Colossians 2:10).
condemnation — same as in Romans 5:16-18. The judgment for sin passed to all men from Adam.
Spirit of life = Spirit who gives life — It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life (John 6:63). The law of the Spirit is stronger and supersedes the law of sin and death.
“In Christ Jesus” goes with “hath made me free” — In Christ, the believer is set free — And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life (1 John 5:11-12).
free — the tense indicates a definite time in the past
law of sin and death — see Romans 7:13, 21, 23, 25
It would be just as impossible to condemn Christ as it would be to condemn a man who is now in Christ.
“Therefore,” as we know, is a key word in the study of logic … It is not strange, then, that we find this word used, in one form or another, no less than 70 times in the Romans Epistle, for Romans is a logical, as well as a theological, treatise.
… The word “therefore” stands out prominently in Paul’s discussion of the logic of the plan of salvation, in which he presents a series of logical propositions.
The first of these propositions is found in Romans 2:1 where, having proved that all men are sinners, including even the most self-righteous, he declares:
Therefore thou art inexcusable …
Then, demonstrating the fact that the Law cannot justify, but can only condemn the sinner, he offers his second logical proposition in Romans 3:20:
Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His [God’s] sight …
Following this declaration with the good news that now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested … through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, he takes a third logical step in the proposition of Romans 3:28:
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
Then an in-depth discussion of the imputation of the believer’s sins to Christ and of Christ’s righteousness to the believer leads the Apostle to his fourth logical proposition in Romans 5:1:
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
This, in turn, leads him into a discussion of the believer’s deliverance from the bondage of sin (Chapter 6) and of the Law (Chapter 7), to his fifth logical proposition in Romans 8:1:
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.
This proposition is his introduction to a precious chapter, in which the utter inefficacy of the Law is set over against the glorious efficacy of the Holy Spirit’s working in and through the believer, a chapter which opens with “no condemnation” and closes with “no separation.” — Stam, page 180-181.
24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
body — physical body, the instrument of sin.
Paul doesn’t ask “What shall I do?, but “Who shall deliver me?”
I thank God — Paul’s answer to the question in verse 24. The Lord will deliver us when He returns and our bodies are redeemed.
law of God and law of sin — the stress is on the nature of each law.
21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.
22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members
law (verse 21) — probably referring to the principle laid out in the rest of the verse, but perhaps to the Mosaic Law
law (verse 22) — the same as “the law of my mind” in verse 23.
law in my members (verse 23) — principle that evil is present despite the desire to do good.
mind = new nature (in contrast to the flesh)
law of sin (verse 23) — the “another law” earlier in the verse
19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.
20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
Verse 15 contrasts good desires with bad acts.
Verse 19 contrasts good desires with a failure to act.
17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.
But now = this being the case (not referring to time)
Do = practice, as in verse 15
no longer = it can no longer be maintained as an argument
flesh (as in Romans 6:19) = human nature apart from divine influence
good (agathos — first usage in verse 18) = beneficial
nothing good — even those things that seem good from a natural point of view are void of goodness without a right relationship with God
good (kalos — second usage in verse 18) = intrinsically good
Paul is saying that he is incapable of doing anything beneficial in his flesh that will produce real good.
15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.
16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.
understand — to recognize as a result of an experience. Paul is saying he doesn’t understand the results and character of being sold under sin.
that I do not — “do” (here) should be “practice” — it’s an ongoing activity to not do what he would
that I do — “do” (here) is a different word indicating mechanical acts without conscious aim.
law = moral excellence — Paul agrees with the law by disapproving what the law forbids. He acts contrary to the law but has a good opinion of it. His conflict isn’t with the law but with sin.
It is indeed true that a Christian is not the servant of iniquity. A Christian tries to resist the impulses of sin that dwell within him. To say that a Christian yields himself up to sin, that he cannot help obeying sin, this is sheer lawlessness — antinomianism. So also is the attempt to take these words the evil I would not, that I do, and make them mean that the Christian does and must serve sin. I do not deny that lawlessness has been taught from this passage, but certainly not rightfully so. Are the words “to do evil” capable of no other meaning than that in which we apply them to the habitual service of sin? Is there no inner man, no inward world of thought and feeling which His eye scrutinizes? Is not a thought of foolishness sin? (Proverbs 24:9). Is not sin the slightest bias toward anything false or wrong? Or the slightest turning from the path of holiness? We do things which in “the new man” we hate. Although the world will call it not sin but human frailty, the law of God determines otherwise. It is characteristic of lawlessness to say that impulses to sin are not sin, if resisted.
Grace, it is true, does not impute these impulses to a believer as sin; but we are here discussing not the pardoning power of grace, but what grace pardons. If an active power within us hinders, mars and taints our efforts toward good and renders hopeless the performance of perfect good, and if we cannot free ourselves from the presence of this evil power, or its working, then we are subject to its actions which, in “the new man,” we hate. — Barnhouse, page 240.
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It is reported that near Tarsus, where Saul was born, a tribe of people lived who inflicted a most terrible penalty upon a murderer. They fastened the body of the victim to that of the killer, tying shoulder to shoulder, back to back, thigh to thigh, arm to arm, and then drove the murderer from the community. So tight were the bonds that he could not free himself, and after a few days the death in the body communicated itself to the living flesh of the murderer. As he stalked the land, there was none to help him. He had only the frightful prospect of gangrenous death. He could well cry in horror, O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? — Barnhouse, page 241.
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Even though the believer can live in triumph over eruptions of sin, the old carnal nature is still within, contaminating everything. Suppose sewage is carried away in a wooden flume which passes a clear-flowing spring. The flume loses a board, and the sewage pours into the spring, thoroughly contaminating it. Its waters become unsafe to drink. Just as this condition can be remedied, the sewage of the believer’s Adamic nature also can be contained, its death dammed so that it cannot completely contaminate the spring. The Holy Spirit enters the believer, and holiness flows from His presence. But in some Christians the Adamic nature spurts through at weak spots. Such Christians are carnal, living like unsaved man (1 Corinthians 3:3). This need not be, for God tells us, Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). There are no ifs, ands, buts or maybes about that promise. It is categorical and final. To apply my illustration, the flume need not lose any boards; the restraining power of the Holy Spirit will confine the sewage so that the contamination of death need never more flow.
However, my illustration in no way supports the false doctrine of the eradication of the old nature. The first phase of the illustration condemns the doctrine of antinomianism. But that flume and its sewage are within every one of us. Even though no boards come off to foul the spring, there is always seepage; this keeps the water from having the unmixed perfection of Jesus Christ, which we shall possess only in Heaven. When technicians analyze the water of natural ponds, lakes and springs, they never find it completely sterile. Although it may be fit for human use, every analyst reports “traces” of contamination. — Barnhouse, pages 242-243.
