Are You a Slave to King Sin? Another Look at Romans 8:1

What is the context of Romans 8:1: justification or sanctification? People often think of Romans 8:1 in reference to eternal condemnation, and while it is certainly true that believers “in Christ” will not be eternally condemned, is this the best understanding of the condemnation that the apostle Paul is referring to in the context of Romans chapter 8? A Free Grace understanding of Romans 8:1 is here explained.

To begin, I’d like to simply quote my New Tribes Bible Institute class notes on the verse(s) as it provides commentary and illustrations that I believe will be helpful:

ROMANS 8:1
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Rom. 8:1, KJV)

 

“no condemnation”: emphatic
“condemnation”: Greek katakrima (cf. Rom. 5:16, 18)
 

What does “no condemnation” mean?
 

A.) No white throne judgment (Jn. 5:24)? This is true, but katakrima doesn’t refer to this here in Romans 8:1.
 

B.) No bad feelings (guilt, shame, etc.)? No, because if a Christian is living carnally, it’s okay to feel bad about it. Christ wants you to get back on your feet (cf. 1 Cor. 15:34-36; Jms. 4:4, 6-10).
 

C.) No disapproval of God? This isn’t the meaning of katakrima in Romans 8:1 either. The wretched man as a Christian is accepted by God in Christ, but the man’s behavior isn’t (Rom. 4:8; 1 Cor. 1:30, 3:1-4, 5:5; 2 Cor. 5:21; Eph. 1:6). Christians may face God’s disapproval (katakrima, to judge against) at the judgment seat of Christ (Jms. 5:9, in the Received Text).
 

D.) It signifies the condemnatory sentence handed down by a judge for a crime, i.e. slavery: the sentence of absolute bondage to king Sin and the resulting death (talking experientially, i.e. in the believer’s experience). The bitter cycle of sin, defeat, despair. The “Slough of Despond” / mirky quicksand / bondage in The Pilgrim’s Progress that Christian becomes caught in. This is the sense of katakrima / “condemnation” that is meant in Romans 8:1.
 

“in Christ Jesus”: the believer’s position, forever joined to my Lord

-no slavery to sin (i.e. no “penal servitude”, see F. F. Bruce, Romans, p. 159) for those who are in Christ Jesus!

-who gets out of the Slough of Despond experientially? Those who appropriate the positional truth of who they are in Christ, i.e. in their daily walk. See Romans 7:22, 25.

-The second part of Romans 8:1 is taken out in some Bibles, but is retained in the KJV and NKJV. This second part reads: “who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

-The second clause in Romans 8:1 makes sense if you look at condemnation not as the white throne judgment but as the sentence of bondage to sin in my experience / walk.
-The second clause of Romans 8:1 is the key to experiencing victory (cf. Gal. 5:16) and its truth is affirmed in Romans 8:4.
-The clause is conditional, i.e. only when I appropriate my position in Christ can I have practical victory. Practical victory depends on laying hold of my position (in Christ) by faith and practically appropriating the life of Christ in my daily walk.
-practical victory: lay hold of my position (in Christ) by faith and practically appropriate the very life of Christ; i.e. “walk after the Spirit”
“walk”: walk about
“after”: according to, under the power and control of the Spirit of God; walk in dependence on the power of and under the governmental control of the Spirit
 

4 Parts of Appropriation (cf. Romans chapters 6-7):

1. know (meditate, memorize)

2. reckon (agree with God these things are so)

3. yield (one time act I make early on, but a continuing mindset)

4. walk

 

ROMANS 8:2

“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Rom. 8:2, KJV)

 

“law”: a principle by which I now operate
“the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus”: my deliverance is thru the power and control of the Holy Spirit who reproduces Christ’s life in me as I depend on Him and trust Him to do so.
-the law of the Spirit overrides the law of sin and death (just like the law of aerodynamics in a plane overrides the law of gravity)
“set me free”: experiential freedom; made real in my experience
 

ROMANS 8:3
“For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:” (Rom. 8:3, KJV)

 

Christ came and died . . .
1. “for sin”: substitution (cf. 1 Cor. 15:3)
2. “in the likeness of sinful flesh”: identification (cf. 2 Cor. 5:21)
 

-Christ accomplished our sanctification
“He condemned sin in the flesh”

“condemned” (Greek katakrino): to put an end to a criminal’s power to injure or do harm, to deprive sin of its power in the human nature
 

-Illustration 1: We are billionaires who move into a condemned building (our body controlled by the sin nature). We don’t have to, it’s dangerous, dingy, etc.
 

-Illustration 2: When king Sin shows up at the workshop we say, “I’m sorry but there’s a new owner here now (Christ). You deal with Him now.” And you step out of the conversation. When king Sin sees the new owner (Christ), he flees!
-means of righteousness: not I, but Christ (Gal. 2:20)
 

This interpretation of Romans 8:1 is consistent with Lewis Sperry Chafer’s basic outline of the book in which he writes that Romans 6:1—8:17 concerns “salvation for the believer from the power of sin, or unto sanctification” (Systematic Theology, 3:340).