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Scripture Text (NRSV)
Romans 8:1-11
8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of
sin and of death.
8:3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his
own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the
flesh,
8:4 so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not
according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
8:5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the
flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the
Spirit.
8:6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life
and peace.
8:7 For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not
submit to God's law--indeed it cannot,
8:8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
8:9 But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells
in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
8:10 But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is
life because of righteousness.
8:11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised
Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that
dwells in you.
Comments:
To set the mind on the life of the Spirit rather than
the life that the "flesh" wishes for us to follow is
one of the problems Paul deals with in the previous chapters.
And yet, that is also the key to the living a life in which
sin has been relegated to is proper place, a temptation
which cannot be eradicated, but can be prevented, through the
work of the Spirit, from leading to our downfall - even as
Christians. The problem with the Law was that it identified
those things which are sins, but could not help us overcome
them. Being "In Christ" leads us into a life in which the
temptations can be overcome, in which sin cannot become
the central focus because that focus by which we determine
our actions is already steadfastly fixed on Christ through
the Spirit. That is part of the preaching of this text we
cannot ignore.
Hope someone else out there is looking at this text.
God Bless;
Rev. Rick in SoGA.
As I read this passage in my planning time a couple of weeks ago the idea of what we mean when we say "in the flesh" really grabbed me. I am preaching this text this week, Rick, so hope you are still giving it consideration. I'm involved with a wedding this weekend and haven't got my thoughts put together for Sunday's sermon yet, but here's what I've been mulling over.
First, the phrase "in the flesh" has come to mean something solid, concrete, factual. We can touch or grasp flesh and therefore it is far easier to consider the "matter" of fleshly things to be true.
It is not so easy to accept the truth of things spiritual and so we are quick to reject the Spirit.
Second, 8:9b says that we can't belong to Christ if we do not have the very Spirit of Christ. How is it that those of us who call ourselves Christian think we can really belong to Christ if we hang onto the things of the flesh and reject the truth of the Spirit?
Third, the power of the "flesh" cannot save us or lead us to righteousness but the power of God who raised Christ from the grave can through the Spirit lead us to a life that is far beyond and above the life we have in the flesh.
Wow, 3 points? I don't usually do that as it's hard to do in a 10-12 minute message which is all I have time for in the 45-50 minutes I have for services in my 3 little churches! As I said, though, I'm still trying to pull my thoughts together. Anyone else have insights on this passage?
StudentPastor in KS
In 8:3 it says God sent his own son in "he likeness of sinful flesh" In otherwords, in the likeness of a bodied, human person. If you use human person to replace the words flesh throughout the remainder of the text, it may clarify. I haven't looked at the Greek text to see whether the word used for flesh is the same as the word for human person/human being/body throughout the text. Sorry.
Janel in ND
As we preach this text, we should be careful to avoid implying inadvertently that our bodies are themselves the origin of sin. Many people on first hearing this text read from the lectern may assume that Paul is calling us to some form of ascetic (sp?) way of life; that the way to deal with sin is to deny the body. This misconception seems to have a lot of resonance with people; I find that often the struggle with sin is reduced to avoiding certain actions or habits.
Yet Paul says in verse 11 that God "will give life to your mortal bodies" so he doesn't have a negative view of our bodies as such. What we do with our bodies is a reflection of whichever power has lordship in our lives--sin(self) or Christ. Paul is concerned that we surrender to the Lordship of Christ which frees us, bodies and all, from the distorting power of sin so that what we do with the body is appropriate to the goodness of God's creation and a source of genuine pleasure to us.
Jim in IA
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