Romans 8:1, No Condemnation

¹ There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

The word “Christ” is not just a proper name. It means “the anointed one,” the Messiah who sums up Israel’s vocation and destiny in himself.

Jesus accomplishes what the covenant with Israel has all along intended to achieve. We have our story of salvation upside down. God’s purpose for Israel always was the focal point, and the intended means, of God’s purpose for the whole world. God’s plan to put the world right began with the call of Abraham, and focused on the covenant which God made with him. And when Abraham’s people sinned, as God knew they would (since they were themselves children of Adam and Eve), God did not scrap the plan. He didn’t change his mind. The covenant required a faithful Israelite, and that is what God provided in the person of Jesus, Israel’s Messiah. The gospel news is that the world is now under new lordship: Jesus the Messiah.

“Therefore” in verse 1 implies that Romans 8:1-11 is the conclusion to a longer argument (chapter 7) and not the start of a completely new one. Torah (the law) promised life, but could only bring about death, because the material it was working on was the “flesh” in which “Sin” had taken up residence (the idea of inescapable Original Sin). This has had the effect of making Torah apparently do two opposite things (7:22-23: delight in the law and captivation to sin). The problem of chapter 7 was that Israel was itself composed of Adamic humans; and all that Torah could do with Adamic humanity was to produce more sin and death. As soon as Adam (and Eve) heard “You shall not eat,” the desire to eat sprang up within them. As Paul wrote, “For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.” Sin and Satan are almost identical in Paul’s language.

Why is there no condemnation? Because the law of the Spirit of life has released you from the law of sin and death.