In Romans 8:2 Paul also characterizes the work of the Spirit of life [who] has set you free in Christ Jesus
as a law. Yet it is called a law here only for Paul’s purpose of comparing the domain of the Spirit with the domain of the law of Moses and the domain of sin. By typifying all three as a law
here, it becomes possible to demarcate these three areas of influence from each other. In Romans 7:23, Romans 7:25 Paul had characterized the power of sin as an alternative kind of law.
Whereas the law of God wants to lead us to life, the law of sin functions as a competing law
that ultimately leads to death. In Romans 8:2 Paul maintains this same characterization when he says that we are freed from the law of sin and death.
Yet if this deliverance cannot be accomplished through the law of Moses, what law is able to do it? The answer is that it is the law of the Spirit of life [that] has set you free in Christ Jesus.
This compressed expression stands in connection with what he had just written in Romans 8:1: those who are in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:2 therefore concisely expresses that we receive the Spirit through Christ. This Spirit of God is life and creates life. He is the Living One himself. He is stronger than the negative law
of sin, which, after all, is only destructive and cannot generate life, but always leads to death. The law of the Spirit of life
is his new law
under which we now live, and this law
does indeed have power to resurrect unto eternal life. For when it comes to judgment it will not be the law of Moses, but the law
of the Spirit that will be the deciding factor for Christians.1
2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.