Chapter # 8 Paragraph # 1 Study # 1
December 18, 2016
Humble, Texas
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Thesis: The imposition of the judgment against Adam's posterity has been lifted for those "in Christ Jesus".
Introduction: In Romans 6 Paul declared that Grace had moved those who believed "out of" Adam and "into" Christ. In Romans 7 Paul declared that those whose "faith" was twisted into "self" confidence were reduced to the wretchedness of interminable internal conflicts. Now, as we begin to look into Romans 8, we are going to see that God has decreed a totally different, and effective, method for living.
- I. The Third Conclusion.
- A. The first conclusion in this immediate context is found in 7:21 where Paul announces his "discovery" of a most fundamental "fact of life": "the evil" is dominant even over the one who desires to do "the good".
- 1. This ruins any expectation that any man will, of himself, be able to do, practice, or accomplish any "good".
- 2. But it goes further and also ruins any expectation that even the man who wishes to do "the good" will be able to overcome "the evil" that resides within.
- B. The second conclusion in this immediate context is found in 7:25 where Paul announces another most fundamental "fact of life": believers serve the law of God with their minds, but serve the law of sin with their flesh.
- 1. This drives a distinctive wedge between what has most fundamentally happened at regeneration and what continues to be a potent reality.
- a. At regeneration, the mind of the believer is turned toward God with "desire" to do "the good".
- b. But, regeneration does nothing about the on-going existence and power of the believer's "flesh".
- 2. This statement, however, follows Paul's exclamation of deliverance that God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, is the One Who delivers us from our wretched condition of interminable internal conflict.
- C. The third conclusion in this immediate context is the one before us in 8:1.
- II. The Content of This Third Conclusion.
- A. As a "conclusion", the strong implication is that it exists because of the previous two.
- 1. The logic seems to be thus: because there is absolutely no basis for expectation that any man will, of himself, accomplish "the good", there must be (a conclusion) some kind of reality that moves man "out of" the dominion of his "flesh" so that he is able to do that "good".
- 2. Thus, the logic must be seen as initiating a revelation of just what has actually happened for the believer to be moved out of his bondage to "the evil".
- B. The beginning of the explanation of "just what has actually happened".
- 1. In this text, Paul uses a word, translated "condemnation", that he alone uses in the New Testament and that only three times, all of which are in Romans.
- a. The word is "katakrima", a composite noun that takes a basic word that means "a judgment rendered" and adds a preposition that intensifies and gives direction with the result that the rendered judgment is, or will be, imposed.
- b. The uses in Romans are instructive.
- 1) In 5:16 both the basic word (translated "the judgment" Authorized Version) and this intensified form are found in a sentence that means "the judgment that was rendered because of the one [Adam] pointed to the inevitable result of the actual execution of that decision upon all affected by that one".
- 2) Then, in 5:18 Paul uses the intensified word in a direct contrast with "justification", a decision by God to determine to "qualify" the person under consideration for "life".
- 3) In both verses, the issue is this contrast between "condemnation" and "justification".
- 4) Thus, in 8:1 Paul is declaring that what Adam did to his entire progeny has been suspended for a certain category of men in that progeny.
- 2. The declaration.
- a. What Adam did inevitably affected everyone born of his genetic flesh, but, according to Romans 6, "grace" moved everyone of his genetic flesh who "believed" out of him and into "Christ Jesus".
- b. Also, what Adam did in providing for the "indwelling" of "The Sin" has been blocked by the fact that "The Law", in its twisted form, has been completely removed from its position as "judge" over those who have believed in Christ (Romans 7).
- 3. The attempt to reinstate the satanic deception.
- a. The Authorized Version attempts to add two phrases to the basic declaration.
- 1) Some versions add "who walk not after the flesh", thus qualifying the scope of the elimination of the condemnation.
- 2) Later versions add "but after the Spirit", also qualifying the scope of the elimination of the condemnation.
- b. This is nothing more than the attempted reinstatement of the deceptive use of "Law" as it makes "justification" the outcome of those who properly respond to the grace of God's regeneration.
- 1) If the elimination of condemnation is only upon those who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit, we are back to the "problem" of "law", which is: how much of the time must a person not walk in the flesh but in the Spirit?
- a) Anything less than perfection in "walking" effectively reimposes "condemnation".
- b) There is a reason for both God's refusal to impute sin to those who "work not, but believe" (Romans 4:8) and His refusal to listen to anyone who would seek to reimpose "katakrima" (Romans 8:34, where the verb "katakrino" is used).
- 2) Thus, 8:1 without the distortions of the text introduced by copyists is reinforced in 8:34.
- C. The Point: the first aspect of "just what really happened" is this reality that being moved into Christ by grace through faith inherently means that we have been moved "out of" Adam and the consequent "condemnation" that came upon us all by him.
- 1. Without this, there is no point to going any further because without this there is no actual salvation.
- 2. That we have been irrevocably removed from condemnation does not, of itself, lead into the deliverance of the wretched, but it does lay the groundwork for it.
