Paul’s Letter to the Romans: Chapter 8:1-17–Life in the Flesh vs. Life in the Spirit (Part 13)

We now come to Romans 8—the point Paul has been building up to throughout his entire argument.  So pay attention…

Now, Romans 7:7-25 is, to say the least, quite the bummer, full of pain and frustration, and that whole “I don’t do what I want to do, and I do what I don’t want to do” mindset of a Jew living under the Torah. And Paul ought to know—after all, he’s describing himself before he came to Christ. Ironically, Romans 7:7-25 also strikes a chord with many people who have grown up in church. The inner guilt and frustration many Christians feel is clearly there. We’ve grown up in church, know right from wrong, but still find ourselves “doing the wrong” when nobody is looking, and then feeling guilty for it.

I think it’s time we own up to the fact that the situation for many people in the church today is exactly the same as it was for the typical 1^st century Jew: the outward form of religiosity is there, and the well-meaning desire to please God is there, but the inner heart has not yet been changed. Now, before you go off into some guilt-trip and say, “What? Are you saying I might not be saved? Can’t I do anything right? What do I have to do? Damn it, I’m always screwing up!” …just take a breath. Paul knows this frustration from firsthand experience. He’s been there. And he’s saying that such guilt-induced paranoia (let’s face it, we’ve all felt it at some point) is the indication that we’re still trying to prove ourselves to God…and that’s his point—you can’t. As long as you’re trying to prove yourself to God, you’ll be living a frustrated, guilt-ridden life, and Romans 7:7-25 will be the description of your life…and that’s not the Christian life. It’s a life dominated by the Flesh. This does not mean your “physical lusts and desires.” This is Paul’s way of talking about still being a slave to the “Old Age” way of thinking, the one dominated by fear, guilt, sin, and death.

So, now that I’ve completely depressed you, there’s good news…and I mean Good News: Romans 8 is all about the Gospel, and living in the power of the Holy Spirit, and no longer living in a fleshly “Old Age” existence. Just as an added treat, I’m including the audio of a portion of Gordon Fee’s teaching on Romans 8:1-4.

Romans 8:1-4: Whew! Life in the Spirit is So Much Better!
In contrast to the despairing existence of life in the flesh expressed in Romans 7:7-25, Paul describes in Romans 8:1-17 what life in the Spirit is like. Those who have put their faith in Christ no longer are slaves to sin and no longer live their lives “according to the flesh.” The difference can be said this way: Those in Christ are no longer “Fleshly Torah-doers,” they are “Spirit-walkers.” Simply put, what we seen in Romans 7-8 is a description of two worldviews:  do you walk according to the worldview of the flesh or to the worldview of the Spirit? That is what Romans 8:1-17 is all about.

Romans 8 starts off by answering the question of 7:24 (“Who will rescue me from this body of death?”). Paul states, “There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.” This statement is hugely significant because traditional Jews expected this “no condemnation thing” would happen at the end of the Old Age, and it would signal the beginning of the New Messianic Age and the Kingdom of God. For Paul, though, this “no condemnation” has happened—or more precisely is happening—and serves as a sign of the eschatological end. What does that mean? Simple: The Christian proclamation of the Gospel is that in the death and resurrection of Christ, the “end times” have begun. The Holy Spirit has been poured out, and the Old Age Kingdom is being destroyed. The completion of everything hasn’t happened yet, but the ball is now rolling.

Paul explains it this way: in “Pre-Torah” times, the “law” that held sway was the Law of Sin and Death. With the giving of the Torah through Moses, there had been essentially a war between the Law of Sin and Death and the Old Testament Torah—with the results being what Paul just described in 7:7-25: sin overpowering a powerless Torah. But the Good News Paul is declaring is that the long-awaited New Messianic Age has dawned, and the Holy Spirit has been poured out into the hearts of those who put their faith in Christ, thus empowering them to live out the faith-filled righteous life that the Old Testament Torah had been pointing to all along. That is why Paul can say in 8:2 that the “torah of the Spirit of Life” has freed you from the “torah of Sin and Death!” And thus, Paul connects the dots between the work of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit (8:3-4). Basically, Christ destroyed both sin and death so that the righteousness of the Torah could be fulfilled in those who walk in the Spirit. For Paul, the way in which we fulfill Torah is by walking in the Spirit.

Romans 8:5-17: “Kata Sarka” vs. “Kata Pneuma”—Two Contrasting Worldviews
From this point on, in 8:5-17, Paul sets up a fundamental contrast between the two different mindsets/worldviews: you are either one who walks kata sarka (i.e. according to “the flesh”), or one who walks kata pneuma (i.e. according to the Spirit). It’s important to realize that Paul is describing here two different kinds of people, not two different ways within one person.

In 8:7-8, Paul gives a description of the kind of person who lives according to the flesh. He says that such a person’s mindset is death; and that person is antagonistic to God, disobeys Torah, and isn’t even able to please God. Why is that?

Well, I can think back to when I was in high school—I was a “good kid” who kept all the rules, and was pretty proud of the fact that I was a “good kid” who kept all the rules! But inside, I was terrified of God. Why? Because every year, when the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition came out, I secretly bought it and then proceeded to lust after all those swimsuit models! I was sure God was going to send a “word of prophecy” to someone at my church and announce to the entire congregation what a lust-filled pervert I was! Furthermore,

I was angry at God. Why? Because I was a pretty good kid, and I couldn’t get a girlfriend to save my life! I was lonely and insecure, and despite the fact that I was doing God a favor by being such a good kid (except, of course, when I had that swimsuit edition!), God hadn’t rewarded me with a girlfriend! Simply put, I was still walking “according to the flesh.” I was enslaved to my sins and passions, feeling guilt-ridden for those sins, trying to “be good enough” so that God would overlook my secret sins and reward me with what I wanted, and all the while, angry at God for not doing what I wanted! That is a real life example of living “according to the flesh.” It’s a miserable existence.

By contrast, in 8:9-11, Paul gives a description of the kind of person who walks according to the Spirit. He says that such a person’s mindset is life; such a person is at peace with God because the Spirit of God, indeed Christ himself, dwells within him; such a person can rest in the hope that, despite the fact he clearly isn’t perfect, that God, “the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies.” In other words, the one who walks according to the Spirit can take comfort in the fact that there is sort of a “Spiritual evolution” at work within him, where God is transforming him from a sinner enslaved to sin and death, to a Son and co-heir with Christ, the ruler of Life.

Here’s the Key
The key, though, is to walk in the Spirit, and not try to do the Torah on your own strength. Christians are Spirit-walkers, not Torah-observers. Simply put, to live “according to the flesh” is to be a slave to fear and sin, and to be on the brink of death. We’ve all been there—it sucks. To live, though “according to the Spirit,” is to truly live. It is to be adopted as children of God, and to call God “Abba.” It is to be co-heirs with Christ, the one who will inherit and rule over God’s New Creation…and as co-heirs, that is the destiny also of those who walk in the Spirit. Good News, indeed.

And Here’s the Catch
Oh, but there’s a catch! Paul ends this section in 8:17 with something that will launch into his final section in his argument: we will be children of God and co-heirs with Christ, provided that we suffer with him!

Dang it.

But there it is: we must suffer with Christ, so that we can also be glorified with him! Or as I tell my students, you can’t enjoy the Resurrection-Life unless you first go through a crucifixion. Or as my professor Gordon Fee said, “We must live cruciform lives so that we can be glorified with him.” And it is this very topic of suffering in relation to the Christian life, indeed to all of creation, that Paul now turns.