Romans 8:1, Romans 8:10–11

The unspoken conclusion of Romans 7:1–25 is that, because of the weakness of our human nature, we are condemned even under the good law. It is good for the Christian to be discharged from that law in order to now belong to a different Lord (Romans 7:6), for there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). Having died with Christ and being buried with him, we have now been liberated from the condemnation of the law, which can no longer affect us. In later times, this statement was sometimes read out of context as if believers will no longer have to face any kind of judgment and are no longer subject to any law. Yet Paul is not here speaking about judgment as such, but specifically about condemnation (he also used the word here translated as such, katakrima, in Romans 5:16, Romans 5:18). In this context, he is referring to the condemnatory verdict on the basis of the law of Moses. Christians can be certain that they will be acquitted form condemnation, for Christ liberates us from what would have been inevitable under the law. The only question that remains in the judgment is whether you truly belong to Christ, for if you do not have the Spirit of Christ, you do not belong to him (Romans 8:9b). Through the death of Christ, the Christian has been released from condemnation under the domain of the law (Romans 7:6) and brought into the domain of the Spirit of Christ.

In Romans 8:10–11 the apostle indeed shows that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus precisely because the Holy Spirit leads us to life. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.¹