8:1 [There is] {1} therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who {2} walk not after the {a} flesh, but after the Spirit.
(1) A conclusion of all the former discussion, from Ro 1:16 to this verse: seeing that we, being justified by faith in Christ, obtain remission of sins and imputation of righteousness, and are also sanctified, it follows from this that those who are grafted into Christ by faith, need have no fear of condemnation.
(2) The fruits of the Spirit, or effects of sanctification, which are begun in us, do not ingraft us into Christ, but declare that we are grafted into him.
(a) Do not follow the flesh as their guide: for he is not said to live after the flesh that has the Holy Spirit for his guide, even though he sometimes takes a step off of the path.
8:1 The Privileges of the Children of God
SUMMARY OF ROMANS 8:
No Condemnation to Those in Christ. Walking After the Spirit. To Be Carnally Minded, Death. To Be Spiritually Minded, Life and Peace. The Spirit of Adoption. Heirs of God. The Sufferings of Saints. The Groanings of the Creation. All Things Working for Good to Saints. The Purpose and Foreordination of God. God's Protection of His Children.
[There is] therefore. The therefore points to the argument of chapter 7, which shows that in Christ we are delivered from sin and from the curse of the law.
No condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. As those in Christ have died with him, Ro 6:1-4, they have in him satisfied the law, and hence they cannot be under condemnation. He, the sinless One, was made sin for us; so we, forgiven through him, are made the righteousness of God in him (2Co 5:21). This blessed condition depends on a vital union with Christ. Baptized into Christ (Ro 6:3), we must walk in him, not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Compare Joh 15:1-7 Eph 1:23.
Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. See PNT Ro 8:4.
8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation - Either for things present or past. Now he comes to deliverance and liberty. The apostle here resumes the thread of his discourse, which was interrupted, Rom 7:7.
8:1-9 Believers may be chastened of the Lord, but will not be condemned with the world. By their union with Christ through faith, they are thus secured. What is the principle of their walk; the flesh or the Spirit, the old or the new nature, corruption or grace? For which of these do we make provision, by which are we governed? The unrenewed will is unable to keep any commandment fully. And the law, besides outward duties, requires inward obedience. God showed abhorrence of sin by the sufferings of his Son in the flesh, that the believer's person might be pardoned and justified. Thus satisfaction was made to Divine justice, and the way of salvation opened for the sinner. By the Spirit the law of love is written upon the heart, and though the righteousness of the law is not fulfilled by us, yet, blessed be God, it is fulfilled in us; there is that in all true believers, which answers the intention of the law. The favour of God, the welfare of the soul, the concerns of eternity, are the things of the Spirit, which those that are after the Spirit do mind. Which way do our thoughts move with most pleasure? Which way go our plans and contrivances? Are we most wise for the world, or for our souls? Those that live in pleasure are dead, 1Ti 5:6. A sanctified soul is a living soul; and that life is peace. The carnal mind is not only an enemy to God, but enmity itself. The carnal man may, by the power of Divine grace, be made subject to the law of God, but the carnal mind never can; that must be broken and driven out. We may know our real state and character by inquiring whether we have the Spirit of God and Christ, or not, ver. 9. Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. Having the Spirit of Christ, means having a turn of mind in some degree like the mind that was in Christ Jesus, and is to be shown by a life and conversation suitable to his precepts and example.
