Romans 8:1-11·~1 min

Walking by the Spirit

There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. The Spirit of life has freed them from sin and death, and what the law could not do because of weakness in the flesh, God did by sending his own Son as a sin offering — so the righteous demand of the law is fulfilled in those who walk by the Spirit.

T¹herefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ²For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death. ³For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin. He thus condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴so that the righteous standard of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Paul lays out two ways of setting the mind. The mind set on the flesh is death; the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. The flesh cannot submit to God’s law or please him.

⁵Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. ⁶The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace, ⁷because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. ⁸Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God.

The Romans are not in the flesh but in the Spirit — if the Spirit of God dwells in them. The Spirit who raised Jesus will give life even to their mortal bodies.

⁹You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. ¹⁰But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. ¹¹And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.

Section summaryThere is no condemnation for those in Christ. The Spirit of life has freed them from the law of sin and death, God has condemned sin in his own Son, and those who live by the Spirit rather than the flesh find life, peace, and the life-giving presence of the Spirit in their bodies.

Role in the chapterThis opening section sets the chapter’s whole posture — condemnation lifted, Spirit active, the believer’s life reoriented by the Spirit rather than the flesh.