Romans 8:1-4 – Freedom in the Spirit

As believers we have union with Christ as we identify with Him in His death and resurrection. However, we know that as believers, we still do struggle with the sin nature because of the nature of the flesh. Nonetheless, our struggles with sin do not undermine our salvation. How? Paul tells us in Romans 8 that despite our struggles with the sin nature, we can grow. He reveals the different aspect of the works of the Holy Spirit in our lives to show us that we can find assurance of our salvation, in the face of our continual battle with the pattern of sin in our lives. 

In the first four verses, Paul shows us that while the principle of sin is at work, the believers’ lives are not at its mercy. Why? That is because there is another principle that is in operation in our lives as well. He calls it the law of life in Christ.  There are two undeniable truths we need to know so that we will be free from condemnation. Firstly, we know that God Himself had already accomplished our justification. Secondly we know that God Himself through the Holy Spirit is still working in us.

The law of life in Christ frees us believers from our struggles with the law of sin and death. The Spirit of life is the Gospel that came to us through the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is God’s agent for our salvation. He takes us out of sin’s crutches and ensures our freedom. He liberates us from the power of sin so that we now need not succumb to it.

What the Law could not do, i.e. to free us from condemnation, God did it. How? Through God’s Son, Jesus Christ, who took on flesh, gave His life as an offering and condemned sin by what He did at Calvary. In that act, He fulfilled the demands of the Law. He condemned sin in His flesh, so that God’s righteous requirement of the Law are now fully met in us because of our identification with Him. We now do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

What Paul meant is this: the Holy Spirit brings about a new human order characterized by people who are walking according to the Spirit. As people of this new order we are given power to live in a way that pleases God. Everything that the Law requires are now realized in our lives that are being controlled by the Holy Spirit. Hence, the principle of sin and death no longer can hold us because we find freedom in the principle of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. We no longer have to sin. Hallelujah!