With verses 1-4 Paul opens what many consider the greatest chapter in Scripture. The first verse is the theme of the chapter. Everything else flows from it. The rest of the chapter is basically an exposition of this one idea. But verse 1 is not only the theme of Romans 8. It is the theme of the entire Word of God, which is only another way of saying that it is the gospel. Indeed, it’s the gospel’s very heart. This is what Paul has been explaining all along. Always it is the gospel. Paul seems never to have grown tired talking about it.

What about us, do we find the gospel wearisome and grace boring? Many do! Why are we so different from Paul at this point? I think it’s because of what Jesus alluded to in speaking of the woman who anointed His feet with her tears and then wiped them with her hair. She had a sinful past, and those who knew it objected. Jesus answered by telling of a man who had been forgiven a great debt and who therefore loved his benefactor greatly. Jesus’ point was that “he who has been forgiven little loves little” (Luke 7:36-50). Isn’t that it? Isn’t it true that the reason grace means little to most of us it that we do not consider ourselves to be great sinners, desperately in need of forgiveness? We cannot appreciate or even understand what Paul is saying unless we recognize that we are sinners and that we have been saved only by the grace of God.

The point we need to make sure we really understand what is being said is, that there is no condemnation for us because of what God has done. But do we really believe that? Or do we still think that somehow, in some way, we are contributing to our salvation?

Paul writes that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” That is, there are two classes of human beings: those who are in Christ Jesus and who are therefore not under condemnation and those who are not in Christ Jesus and who are therefore still under condemnation. What he is promising is for those in the first class only. But the question is: How do we get out of the one class and into the other? Is this something we do? Do we earn it? Do we attain it “by faith”? If you have understood what the apostle has been saying up to this point, you will know that it is none of the above. It is because of God’s work in joining us to Christ. This is what the last half of Romans 5 and almost the whole of Romans 6 is about. Salvation is from God; it is by God. What the text says is that there is no condemnation for those who have been joined to Jesus Christ by God the Father through the instrumentality of the Holy Spirit.

That statement is a Trinitarian statement – it speaks of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit – and because it is precisely in these terms that Paul goes on to explain what God has done for us and why “there is now no condemnation” – (1) because of the Father’s work; (2) because of the Son’s work; and (3) because of the work of the Holy Spirit. Now it is “no condemnation” for those who are in Jesus. But don’t presume on this security. This is a great doctrine for those who truly are in Christ, but it is only for those who are in Him. Make sure you are. If you are not sure, give the matter no rest until the Holy Spirit Himself plants upon your heart the assurance that you really are Christ’s.

We come now to verses three and four of Romans 8. Verse 1 announces the great welcome news of freedom from condemnation for all who are in Christ Jesus. It means that God has saved, and is saving, a great company of people by the work of Jesus Christ. We have the law. But we are unable to keep it. We are condemned by it. We cannot be set free from the law’s condemnation by law, because the law is powerless. But what the law could not due, God did by sending His Son to be a sin offering. It is as if, in these verses, Jesus is saying to us, “Neither do I condemn you; go in peace” (John 8:10-11).

But as we come to verses 3 and 4 we discover that it is not merely a question of our being delivered from the law’s condemnation. Christ has delivered us from the law’s power, too. He died to start the process of sanctification and not merely to provide propitiation from wrath, on the basis of which God has been able to justify believers from all sin. In other words, to go back to John 8, Jesus is saying, “You are free from all condemnation, but you must now leave your sin.

What this is teaching is that justification and sanctification always go together, so that you cannot have one without the other. Justification is not sanctification. We cannot be saved because of any good we may do. If that were the case, Jesus would have told the woman: “Leave your life of sin, and if you do that, neither will I condemn you.” But Jesus did not say that. It was the other way around. No condemnation! But then a holy life! Nevertheless, just because justification is not sanctification and sanctification is not justification, we are not to think that sanctification is somehow unimportant; on the contrary, according to Romans 8:3-4, sanctification is the very end of which God saved us. By sending His Son to be a sin offering, God “condemned sin in sinful man, 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.”

We cannot live a holy life apart from the Holy Spirit; we must keep close to God in Bible study where God speaks to us, and in prayer in which we speak to God. We must seek the Spirit’s blessing. We must work at this relationship. We must remember that in Romans 6 Paul developed the key to holiness by saying that we are to understand what God has done for us in Christ and then base our entire lives on it, by conforming our conduct to what we know to be true (see Rom. 6:11-13). Paul doesn’t mention the Holy Spirit in Romans 6, but, as we now learn in chapter 8, it is only by the power of the indwelling Spirit of God that we can do this.

It’s mandatory to follow after Christ to be a Christian. When I say holiness is mandatory, I don’t mean that it is merely good to be holy, and I certainly don’t mean that we can be perfect or ever reach a point where we will no longer be in danger of sinning. I mean we must be on the right path. We must actually be walking according to the Spirit of God, if we are Christians.

Romans 8:1-4 Reflection Questions:

When Paul begins this section of Romans with “therefore,” he indicates there is a connection between what he has just said and what he goes on to say. How does Romans 8:1-4 connect with the main themes found in Romans 7?

According to Paul, sin has received its death-wound. Before the Spirit can be unleashed to blow like a spring gale through the dead wood of the world, the power of evil needs to be broken. The way that needs to happen is for sin to be condemned – not just the passing of sentence, but its execution. How, according to 8:1-4, has this “execution” happened?

In the Old Testament, a sin offering (mentioned in verse 3 here) was a sacrifice used when someone committed a sin unwittingly (not knowing it was wrong) or unwillingly (knowing it was wrong but not intending to do it) – the very kinds of sin Paul considers in Romans 7. How is this image of a sin offering helpful to Paul’s line of thought in verses 1-4?

Paul declares exuberantly that “there is no condemnation for those in the Messiah, Jesus!” No condemnation! This assurance can of course only carry its full force for someone who has pondered carefully the seriousness of sin and the reality of God’s judgment. What words of Paul’s in Romans so far have given you a deeper picture of the seriousness of sin and the reality of God’s judgment?