CHAPTER 8
Romans 8:1-4
- Nulla igitur condemnatio est iis qui sunt
in Christo Iesu, qui non secumdum carnem
ambulant, sed secundum Spiritum.
1.There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not
after the flesh, but after the Spirit.^237- Lex enim Spiritus vitæ in Christo Iesu,
liberum me reddidit a lege peccati et mortis. - For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. - Quod enim impossibile erat Legi,eo quod
infirmabatur per carnem,misso Deus Filio suo in - For what the law could not do, in that it
was weak through the flesh, God sending his own
similitudine carnis peccati, etiam de peccato
damnavit peccatum in carne;
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin,
condemned sin in the flesh:- Ut justificatio Legis impleretur in nobis
qui non secumdum carnem ambulamus, sed
secundum Spiritum. - That the righteousness of the law might be
fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but
after the Spirit.
1.There is then,etc. After having described the contest which the godly have perpetually with
their own flesh, he returns to the consolation, which was very needful for them, and which he had
before mentioned; and it was this, — That though they were still beset by sin, they were yet exempt
fiom the power of death, and from every curse, provided they lived not in the flesh but in the Spirit:
for he joins together these three things, — the imperfection under which the faithful always labor,
— the mercy of God in pardoning and forgiving it, —and the regeneration of the Spirit; and this
indeed in the last place, that no one should flatter himself with a vain notion, as though he were
freed from the curse, while securely indulging in the meantime his own flesh. As then the carnal
man flatters himself in vain, when in no way solicitous to reform his life, he promises to himself
impunity under the pretense of having this grace; so the trembling consciences of the godly have
an invincible fortress, for they know that while they abide in Christ they are beyond every danger
of condemnation. We shall now examine the words.
After the Spirit. Those who walk after the Spirit are not such as have wholly put off all the
emotions of the flesh, so that their whole life is redolent with nothing but celestial perfection; but
they are those who sedulously labor to subdue and mortify the flesh, so that the love of true religion
seems to reign in them. He declares that such walk not after the flesh; for wherever the real fear of
God is vigorous, it takes away from the flesh its sovereignty, though it does not abolish all its
corruptions.
2.For the law of the Spirit of life,etc. This is a confirmation of the former sentence; and that
it may be understood, the meaning of the words must be noticed. Using a language not strictly
correct, by the law of the Spirit he designates the Spirit of God, who sprinkles our souls with the
blood of Christ, not only to cleanse us from the stain of sin with respect to its guilt, but also to
(^237) This clause, “who walk not,” etc., is regarded as spurious by Griesbach: a vast preponderance of authority as to MSS. is
against it; and its proper place seems to be at the end of the fourth verse. It being placed here does not, however, interfere with
the meaning. — Ed.