1 Therefore those in union with Christ,
Jesus have no condemnation [this is
a conclusion of all the former discussion, from Romans 1:16 to this verse].
2 For the law of that spirit [which
is the law for those born of the spirit] which gives
life in union with Christ Jesus has
set you free from the law of sin and of death [the
law of Moses, a law for those born of the flesh of Jacob which made those
subject to it slaves to prescribed works][John 8:36 Therefore if the Son sets you free, you will be
actually free].
3 For, there being an incapability on the
part of the Law, while it was weak through the flesh [the
law could identify sin and bring guilt, but could not give a clean conscience
and make one guiltless before God], God, by sending his
own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh [he
being a real human in flesh but without sin] and concerning sin,
condemned sin in the flesh [By keeping the law
of Moses perfectly. Acts 13:39 'and that from all the things from which you could not
be declared guiltless by means of the law of Moses, everyone who believes is
declared guiltless by means of this one'. The law of the flesh condemns by
exposing sin. The law of the spirit forgives in advance on the basis of faith.
This forgiveness is the gift of a clean conscience which is the baptism in holy
spirit, which is the entrance into the baptism test of faith, whic is being born
again, which is having an angel generated in heaven for you.]
4 that the righteous requirement of the Law
might be fulfilled in us [The righteous demand
of the law, its substance, is a loving obedience to God and a love of our
brothers] who walk, not in accord with the flesh, but in accord with
the spirit. [Although not under the law of the
flesh, we obey the law more closely than those who were, since we focus on
spiritual matters rather than fleshly regulations]
5 For those who are in accord with the flesh
set their minds on the things of the flesh [guided
by our corrupt nature. Minding the things of the flesh, having our thoughts and
affections fixed on such things as gratify corrupt nature, on things
visible and temporal, on things of the earth, on pleasure, (of sense or
imagination,) praise, or riches.], but those in accord with the
spirit on the things of the spirit. [under his
guidance. Minding the things of the Spirit - Thinking of, relish, love things
invisible, eternal, the things which the Spirit has revealed, which he works in
us, moves us to, and promises to give us.]
6 For the minding of the flesh [to
focus on the things of the flesh] means death [It
is the mark of spiritual death, and the way to the second death in Gehenna], but the minding of the spirit
[to focus on the things of the Spirit.] means life [It
is the mark of spiritual life, and the way to judicial life.]and peace
[The peace of God, which is the foretaste of
everlasting life; and peace with God, opposite to the enmity mentioned in the
next verse][Galatians6:8 'because he who is sowing with a view to his flesh will
reap corruption from his flesh, but he who is sowing with a view to the spirit
will reap everlasting life from the spirit.];
7 because the minding of the flesh means
enmity with God [A reason and proof why the
wisdom of the flesh is death: because, it is the enemy of God.], for it is not under subjection to the law of God, nor, in fact,
can it be. [A reason why the wisdom of the
flesh is enmity to God, because it neither wants to nor can be subject to him.][James4:4
'Adulteresses, do you not
know that the friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever, therefore,
wants to be a friend of the world is constituting himself an enemy of God']
8 So those who are in harmony with the flesh
cannot please God.
9 However, you [the
Saints] are in harmony, not with the
flesh, but with the spirit [our personal God
given spirit], if God's spirit [the
Holy Spirit] truly dwells in you [For
then we
are minding spiritual things and we are a new creature, born from above, focussing on the things of the
Spirit]. But if anyone
does not have Christ's spirit [i.e. the
general character of Jesus Christ], this one does not belong to him [even
though he may be intellectually convinced of the truth of Christianity he is not
a true Christian][John14:23 'In answer Jesus said to him:
“If anyone loves me, he will observe my word, and my Father will love him, and
we shall come to him and make our abode with him.']
10 But if Christ is in you [i.e.
you are his son, his spiritual genes have taken root inside your character, you
are a saint], the
body indeed is dead on account of sin, but the spirit is life [already
truly alive, judicially living] on account of righteousness [not
our own, but the righteousness of Jesus given through the spirit baptism].
11 If, now, the spirit of him that raised up
Jesus from the dead dwells in you [we have the
very same Spirit of God that raised Jesus], he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead
will also make your mortal bodies alive [again
physically by human resurrection into the kingdom of God] through his spirit that resides in you.
12 So, then, brothers, we are under
obligation, not to the flesh to live in accord with the flesh;
13 for if you live in accord with the flesh
you are sure to die; but if you put the practices of the body to death by the
spirit, you will live. [Paul is not satisfied
with assuring us that we are under no obligations to the flesh, he also reminds
us where it will end if we do; and he uses the word "put to death" as
a kind of play upon the word "die" just before. "If you do not
kill sin, it will kill you!" He tempers this by the alternative, that if we
through the Spirit overcome the deeds of the body, it will lead us to
"life".]
14 For all who are led by God's spirit, these
are God's sons. [sons, gr. uioi,
not children, gr. tekna] [How
are we led? We have given up our own wills to do God's will, and seek to obey
him in all things.][John1:12 'However, as many as did
receive him, to them he gave authority to become God’s children, because they
were exercising faith in his name.' Revelation21:7 'Anyone conquering will
inherit these things, and I shall be his God and he will be my son.']
15 For you did not receive a spirit of
slavery causing fear again [not the spirit of
bondage, of slavery to sin, so that we would obey its dictates, and thus be in
fear of death], but you received a spirit of adoption as sons, by
which spirit we cry out: Abba, the Father! [developing
the same tender bond of dear affection Jesus had with Jehovah. Mark14:36 'And he
went on to say: “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you; remove this cup
from me. Yet not what I want, but what you want.”']
16 The spirit itself bears witness with our
spirit that we are God's children. [tekna][Paul
had before called us "sons of God," referring to our adoption; here
the word changes to "children," referring to our new birth. The one
expresses the dignity to which we are admitted; the other the new life which we
receive being generated from above.]
17 If, then, we are children, we are also
heirs: heirs indeed of God [who
does not die but does give you an inheritance], but joint heirs of/with Christ [joint
heirs of and in fact with Christ. Since the resurrected dead can be their own
heirs, hence Hebrews1:2 calls him "Heir of all
things". Jesus appeared at the reading of his own last will and testament!
He had some life insurance policy!], provided we suffer
together that we may also be glorified together. [2Corinthians1:7
'And so our hope for you is unwavering, knowing as we do that, just as you are
sharers of the sufferings, in the same way you will also share the comfort.']
18 Consequently I reckon that the sufferings
of the present season do not amount to anything in comparison with the glory
that is going to be revealed in us. [In the
saints when we shall have received the inheritance which God bestows on us][2Corinthians4:17
'For though the tribulation is momentary and light, it works out for us a
glory that is of more and more surpassing weight and is everlasting']
19 For the eager expectation of the creation
is waiting for the revealing of the sons of God. [in
contrast with the revelation of verse 18. This is the external revelation in
2008Sivan, the month of Pentecost][Colossians3:4 'When the Christ, our life,
is made manifest, then you also will be made manifest with him in glory.']
20 For the creation was subjected to futility
[vanity; i.e. became empty; lost its original significance. The Greek word
mataiotes, rendered futility, means to seek without finding], not by its own will but through him that subjected it, on the basis of
hope [that is a very deep statement. As the
LWs understand, Satans interference, Adam's sin, the 6000 year leasehold of
Satan with all it's dire consequences etc. were forseen by Jehovah and are now
used by him for the eternal good of all creation]
21 that the creation itself also will be set
free from enslavement to corruption [decay and
death] and have the glorious freedom of the
children of God [a freedom from sin and
corruptibility][2Peter3:13 'But there are new heavens and a new earth that we are awaiting according
to his promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell.'].
22 For we know that all creation keeps on
groaning together and being in pain together until now.
23 Not only that, but we ourselves also who
have the firstfruits [of angelic life], namely, the
spirit [as a pledge], yes, we ourselves groan within
ourselves, while we are earnestly waiting for adoption as sons [Persons
who had been privately adopted among the Romans were often brought forth into
the forum, and there publicly owned as their sons by those who adopted them. So
the sons of God shall be publicly owned by him in the greater forum, the
assembly of men and angels], the release from
our bodies by ransom. [2Corinthians5:2 'For in
this dwelling house we do indeed groan, earnestly desiring to put on the one for
us from heaven]
24 For we were saved in [this] hope; but hope
that is seen is not hope, for when a man sees a thing, does he hope for it? [hope
is necessarily joined with faith: seeing then that we believe those things which
we are not yet in possession of, and hope does not refer to the thing that is
present][Hebrews11:1 'Faith is the assured expectation of things hoped for, the
evident demonstration of realities though not beheld'. In other words it is
seeing with your mind from the scriptures what you cannot see with your eyes in
the world]
25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we
keep on waiting for it with endurance. [If we
hope for a realization to come, we can work for it and wait for it with
patience. Only the hopeless ones despairs]
26 In like manner the spirit [Holy
Spirit] also joins in
with help for our weakness; for the [problem of] what we should pray for as we
need to we do not know, but the spirit [Holy
Spirit] itself pleads for [uperentugcanei
wordplay on entugcanei in verse 27. Here
'pleads for' or 'interceeds for'] us with groanings unuttered [by
us]. [a linguistic climax: The creation
groans; we ourselves groan; the Spirit itself groans. The mother pleading for
her children to the father]
27 Yet he who searches the hearts knows what
the meaning/attitude of the spirit is [Gnostic use of
“spirit”, here it is our spirit. God searches the hearts using the holy
spirit to do so], because [that one] [the
holy spirit] is addressing-a-matter [entugcanei.
Here 'addressing-a-matter' or pleading] according with God [in
harmony with God's will] over/onbehalf of the holy
ones.
28 For we know that God makes all his works
cooperate together for the good of those who love God, those who are the ones
called [by the gospel. Those who have accepted
the call. Many others are called, Jews and Gentiles, but only those who hear and
obey are chosen] according to his purpose [all
things, even our sorrows, trials and persecutions, work together for our
blessing][Ephesians1:11 'in whom we were also
assigned an inheritance, in that we were foreordained according to the purpose
of him who operates all things according to the way his will counsels.']
29 because those whom he foreknew [because
they were sons of faith sons of the 1AC] he also foreordained to be patterned after the image of his
Son [They were born again as angels in the
image of his true sons. Augustine says: ‘There can be no predestination without foreknowledge; but
there can be foreknowledge without predestination.’]
that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. [firstborn
among the human angelic sons adoption, but also actually amongst all angels of
creation][Ephesians1:5 'For he foreordained us to
the adoption through Jesus Christ as sons to himself, according to the good
pleasure of his will'. 2Timothy1:9 He saved us and called us with a holy
calling, not by reason of our works, but by reason of his own purpose and
undeserved kindness.]
30 Moreover, those whom he foreordained are
the ones he also called [into the true church
through the good news]; and those whom he called
[by the preaching of the gospel, as in
2Th2:14: 'To this very destiny he called you through the good news'. All saints
are called into the true, but not all make it in and not all remain in so as to
be declared righeous from following the law of the church]
are the ones he also declared
to be righteous [When you gain everlasting
life, being sealed]. Finally those whom he declared righteous are the ones he also
glorified. [By being resurrected as angels]
31 What, then, shall we say to these things?
If God is for us, who will be against us? [reader
questions] [There are three tenses progressively used in the next
verses][Psalms118:6 'Jehovah
is on my side; I shall not fear. What can earthling man do to me?']
32 He who did not even spare his own Son but
delivered him up for us all, why will he not [surely] also with him kindly give us all
other things? [Past tense reader question. He that spared not his own Son, how shall he not
freely give us all things? If he gave his Son to die for us, it is impossible
that he should refuse us anything that will help or bless us. For all other gifts
are of lower value than his son, and are actually given through his son]
33 Who will file accusation against God's
chosen ones? [Present tense reader question - No one
can affect God's decree. But someone can accuse them of sin. Paul and Gordon do
this to the entire body of saints in TCC1 and in TCC3] God is the One who declares [them] righteous.
34 Who is he that will condemn? Christ Jesus
is the one who died, yes, rather the one who was raised up from the dead, who is
on the right hand of God [The right hand of
the king was anciently the seat of honor (compare 1Sa 20:25; 1Ki 2:19; Ps 45:9),
and denoted participation in the royal power and glory], who also pleads for
us [being the head of the holy
spirit].
35 Who [Calvin
remarks: The apostle says not: What, but Who] will separate us from the love of the
Christ? [Future tense reader question. The
answer is: The man of lawlessness, the Good for nothing slave.] Will tribulation or distress
or persecution or hunger or nakedness or
danger or sword [Paul
proceeds in order, from less troubles to greater. Perhaps 2008Sivan to
2008Heshvan, 7 months from the start of the Great Tribulation to Zoar]?
36 Just as it is written: For your sake we
are being put to death all day long, we have been accounted as sheep for
slaughtering. [Psalms44:22]
37 To the contrary, in all these things we
are coming off completely victorious through him that loved us. [1Corinthians15:57 'But thanks to God, for he
gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ']
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor
life nor angels nor governments/principalities nor things now here nor things to come nor
powers
39 nor height nor depth nor any other
creation will be able to separate us from God's love that is in
Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8). [God's
love being perfect conquers all, whereas our love being less than perfect may
fail from challenge to challenge] [Amen]