Bible Commentaries
Romans 8

Verse 1

8:1 Rom 8:1. No condemnation refers to the deliverance from the dead body in chapter 7:24. However, to continue in the freedom, one must continue to walk according to the inclinations of the "inner man," instructed and guided by the law of the Spirit.

Verse 2

8:2 Rom 8:2. Law of the Spirit is the Gospel, and it is called of life because it will guide one into a spiritual life in this world, and prepare him for eternal life in the next. Sin and death is explained at Rom 7:5-6.

Verse 3

8:3 Rom 8:3. The law was not adapted to meet (through its own merits) the needs of fleshly weakness. Jesus came in the flesh, the same kind of body that sinful men have. While in that body He condemned sin by living free from it, then offering that body as a sacrifice for sin.

Verse 4

8:4 Rom 8:4. Righteousness of the law means that required by it, but unattained on account of the weakness of the flesh as explained in the preceding verse.

Verse 5

8:5 Rom 8:5. See the paragraph of Rom 7:15-21.

Verse 6

8:6 Rom 8:6. Carnally minded denotes a yearning for fleshly pleasure.

Verse 7

7-8 Rom 8:7-8. See paragraph of Rom 7:5-6.

Verse 9

8:9 Rom 8:9. Not in the flesh is explained at verse 1. Spirit of Christ is equivalent to "Christ be in you" in the following verse.

Verse 10

:10 Rom 8:10. The body means the "old man" of Rom 6:6. It died to sin by repentance, and the spirit (inner man) came to life through the righteousness of Christ.

Verse 11

:11 Rom 8:11. The good and bad will all be raised through Christ, but the good only will be raised to life everlasting. (See Joh 11:26; 1Co 15:49-53.)

Verse 12

:12 Rom 8:12. Are debtors. Are obligated, but not to the flesh to live after it.

Verse 13

:13 Rom 8:13. This is the same as verse 6.

Verse 14

:14 Rom 8:14. The Spirit of God operates through the Gospel (Joh 14:16-17). Being willing to be led by that instruction shows one to have been begotten of God.

Verse 15

:15 Rom 8:15. This verse makes a comparison of the difference between a servant and an heir. (See Gal 4:1-7.) These Jewish Christians had been made free from the law through Christ, which entitled them to recognize God as their Father.

Verse 16

:16 Rom 8:16. Beareth witness with all comes from one Greek word, SUMMAR-TUREO, which Thayer defines, "To bear witness with, bear joint witness." Hence the phrase does not indicate any communication between these two witnesses, but that each one gives the same testimony on the subject, namely, that the persons are children of God. That is, the Spirit states through the Gospel what it takes to make one a child of God, and the spirit (mind) of a man knows whether he has done that. If he has, the conclusion is that he is a child of God.

Verse 17

:17 Rom 8:17. This relationship makes one an heir of God, since only his children can inherit the divine riches. Such a man is a joint-heir with Christ in that He too is the Son of God. If so be is virtually the same proviso mentioned in verse 1.

Verse 18

:18 Rom 8:18. Following Christ includes suffering persecutions with him if need be. Such sufferings are nothing in comparison with the glorious reward to be received.

Verse 19

:19 Rom 8:19. The creature signifies human beings in general. Every man (though some unconsciously) wants something better than he is enjoying in his frail, decaying body. Paul calls the state that is thus yearned for the manifestation of the sons of God, and that is the same as the redemption of our body in verse 23.

Verse 20

:20 Rom 8:20. Vanity is from MATAIOTES which Thayer defines in this place, "Frailty, want of vigor." It means the human creature was made subject to decay of the body, and that took place when he was driven from the tree of life. Not willingly. No, he had to be driven out (Gen 3:24). Him means God, who subjected man to an existence that would end in death of the body, but at the same time gave him hope of a deathless body in another• world. (See verse 23.)

Verse 21

:21 Rom 8:21. The promise in this verse is for those only who are faithful children of God. The corruption and incorruption are explained by 1Co 15:52-54.

Verse 22

:22 Rom 8:22. This is the same as verse 19.

Verse 23

:23 Rom 8:23. Not only they means not only the human family in general. Firstfruits of the Spirit means the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that is the possession of all who come into the body of Christ. (See the comments on Act 5:32.) To groan means to sigh or earnestly to long for the redemption of the body, which means the resurrection.

Verse 24

-25 Rom 8:24-25. Saved by hope denotes that our hope for everlasting life prompts us to persevere in the kind of conduct that is necessary to receive everlasting life.

Verse 26

:26 Rom 8:26. A safe rule is to let one passage help us understand another, when both are on the same subject, and one seems more difficult than the other. A companion passage for our present one is Eph 3:20, which the reader should see at once. We know that no communication is given to man today on spiritual matters except what can be read in the Bible. Therefore, that which the Spirit does for Christians is a part of the plan of God and Christ for taking care of the Christians' prayers. The Spirit (which can read our minds) forms our prayers as to the wording, so that they are in presentable form to offer before the throne, doing it with groanings (sighing) which cannot be uttered (by us).

Verse 27

:27 Rom 8:27. This verse verifies the comments on the preceding one. He means the Lord, who not only can read the mind of the saints (Christians), but also knows the mind of the Spirit, since he is the third member of the Godhead, and is subject to the Father and the Son. Therefore, when the Spirit presents the intercessions of the saints to the throne, in groanings that man cannot utter, that form of the prayer virtually becomes the petition of the Christian, addressed to God through Christ who is the official or authoritative Advocate.

Verse 28

:28 Rom 8:28. This verse does not teach "special providence" as some believe. It means that if a man loves the Lord, he will make "stepping-stones" out of his "stumbling-stones." He will so work on the conditions of life (even his sufferings, verse 18), that they will assure him the good reward that God has promised to the faithful. The called refers to the men and women who have heard and accepted the call through the Gospel to serve the Lord. The final reward for such service will be to receive a body that can never die, fashioned after that of Christ. (Php 3:21); and as an evidence that God can do such a marvelous work, He decreed to bestow that very favor on some of the saints before the general resurrection, which is the subject of verses 29, 30.

Verse 29

-30 Rom 8:29-30. Of course the Lord will not grant the glorious resurrection to any but faithful saints, hence Paul begins his account of this particular group with the event of their entrance into His service. That was when they were called by the law in force in their day. Those who accepted the call were justified or made free from their past sins. It was required, also, that these persons be faithful till death, which would constitute them "saints that slept." God never predestinates any certain person as to his character, but He did predetermine what kind of conduct would receive certain favors. The Lord foresaw some who were going to develop such a character, and among them He predestinated a group to come out of their graves to die no more, giving them the same form or bodily image that the Son received, so that he (the Son) could be the firstborn (from the grave to die no more) among many brethren. To be among them would mean to be associated with them in the same event. Hence we read (Mat 27:52-53) about these saints that arose after the resurrection of Jesus. They are the glorified ones of verse 30 here, who were given bodies to die no more. As such, they would not remain on earth, hence when Jesus ascended to Heaven he took them with him. This is what Paul means in Eph 4:8 where he says Christ "led captivity captive." (Marginal, "led a multitude of captives.") These had been captives in the unseen state, but were now made free forever and taken along with their Lord in a glorified state. When Jesus comes again he will bring them back with him to witness the execution of judgment upon the ungodly (Jud 1:14-15).

Verse 31

:31 Rom 8:31. If God can thus give glorified life to thousands of his saints so long before the general resurrection, He certainly can do the same for all others who will be faithful until death. No wonder the apostle said as to these things that since God is for us, no one can be against us.

Verse 32

:32 Rom 8:32. Paul reasons that God will freely give us all -these things, since He did not spare his Son to make the provision on our behalf, who also led the way by being faithful to God, and then going triumphant through the unseen world.

Verse 33

:33 Rom 8:33. God's elect means those who are chosen of God, and such are the ones who obey God's law. It also means those whom God justifieth or declares freed from sin. What reason, then, would anyone have to charge anything to such persons?

Verse 34

:34 Rom 8:34. This question is simlar to the one in the preceding verse. Since Christ died for these chosen ones, and took his place by the Father's right hand after his resurrection, He will intercede for them when enemies condemn them.

Verse 35

:35 Rom 8:35. This question implies a similar answer to the foregoing. When Christ loves us, these hardships cannot separate us from Him.

Verse 36

:36 Rom 8:36. Killed all the day long denotes that the Lord's disciples were threatened with death constantly, as if they were fit only for slaughter.

Verse 37

:37 Rom 8:37. More than conquerors is defined in the lexicon as, "a surpassing victory." A man might win in a physical combat with another athlete, which would be a simple victory only. But if it was a struggle to repossess a treasure that the other contestant had taken from him, the success would be more than a simple victory. Our combat with Satan is to redeem our soul which he had caused to be endangered.

Verse 38

-39 Rom 8:38-39. Note that none of these things can rob us of the love of God. But that does not say that we ourselves could not forfeit it by becoming unfaithful to Him.