81 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus . 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death . 3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh , God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin , He condemned sin in the flesh , 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit . 5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh , but those who are according to the Spirit , the things of the Spirit . 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death , but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace , 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God ; for it does not subject itself to the law of God , for it is not even able to do so, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot e please God . 9 However , you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit , if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ , he does not belong to Him.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Romans 8:1-9
Commentary on Romans 8:1-9
(Read Romans 8:1-9)
Believers may be chastened of the Lord, but will not be condemned with the world. By their union with Christ through faith, they are thus secured. What is the principle of their walk; the flesh or the Spirit, the old or the new nature, corruption or grace? For which of these do we make provision, by which are we governed? The unrenewed will is unable to keep any commandment fully. And the law, besides outward duties, requires inward obedience. God showed abhorrence of sin by the sufferings of his Son in the flesh, that the believer's person might be pardoned and justified. Thus satisfaction was made to Divine justice, and the way of salvation opened for the sinner. By the Spirit the law of love is written upon the heart, and though the righteousness of the law is not fulfilled by us, yet, blessed be God, it is fulfilled in us; there is that in all true believers, which answers the intention of the law. The favour of God, the welfare of the soul, the concerns of eternity, are the things of the Spirit, which those that are after the Spirit do mind. Which way do our thoughts move with most pleasure? Which way go our plans and contrivances? Are we most wise for the world, or for our souls? Those that live in pleasure are dead, 1 Timothy 5:6. A sanctified soul is a living soul; and that life is peace. The carnal mind is not only an enemy to God, but enmity itself. The carnal man may, by the power of Divine grace, be made subject to the law of God, but the carnal mind never can; that must be broken and driven out. We may know our real state and character by inquiring whether we have the Spirit of God and Christ, or not, ver. 9. Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. Having the Spirit of Christ, means having a turn of mind in some degree like the mind that was in Christ Jesus, and is to be shown by a life and conversation suitable to his precepts and example.