Live According to the Spirit not according to the Flesh

Chapter 8 is by far my favorite book in Romans and possibly in the whole Bible, specifically verses 28-30. It is beneficial, however to look at this passage in context of the whole chapter or even the whole book. It settles some arguments as to salvation in relation to a sinful life as well as some long argued misconceptions regarding the will of God.

Throughout Romans, the law is a major theme. It explains that the law was to keep men righteous, but men chose to ignore it and that is why Christ would come; not “to abolish them [the laws] but to fulfill them,” that is to fulfill the purpose of the law, righteousness (Matt. 5.17). Paul writes that the “mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit [of Christ: v.9] is life and peace” (Rom. 8.6). So if our minds are focused on Christ, then we are alive spiritually and are the fulfillment of the law through Christ. This is an elaboration of Rom. 8.1 where it says that “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Going forward, the chapter provides more evidence of the life lived through the Spirit and then in verse 18 we start to see the chapter come to a peak as Paul begins to write about all creation and the will of God for creation through verse 27. This is where it gets really interesting. Remember that in context, we are talking about the justification of man in relation to the will of God.

Verse 28 says that God caused all things to “work together” for the good of those who are faithful to Him. This is not talking about peace on earth, rather peace in eternity. This verse is wrapped up with an apparent Calvinistic statement that says, “to those who are called according to His purpose.” This is a liberal interpretation. It is more accurate to say, “All this through a purpose appointed to happen.” So the meaning is that all things work together for salvation of those who would choose Christ because God decided that it would happen this way. In context it is saying that God has a plan for His people, not that there is an individual calling of a single man.

Verse 29 says, “For those He foreknew [the ones that God knew would choose Christ] he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son [All Christians were predestined to become like Christ. They were not predestined to choose Christ.] so that He [Christ] would be the firstborn among many brethren [Jesus as the head of the church.].”

Verse 30 says that he also called those whom he predestined to be like Christ. Remember we are not talking about a call to salvation. This is a call to be like Christ according to the context. We as Christians are not to live according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. This says we are called to be holy.

Going on in verse 30, those who were called were also justified. God called us to holiness, but he knew before creation that we would fail and so he set up His plan for our justification. And for what purpose? That we might be “glorified” along with Christ, through his blood.

OK, at this point, many would say, “Who cares?” “Why does this require explanation?” If God did not have a purpose in explaining predestination versus free will, then Paul would not have written the conclusion to this chapter the way he did. There are two major applications that we can pull from this section, remembering the direct context: that we were predestined to be like Christ through the foreknowledge of our choosing him and that we are justified through Christ by the will of the Father.

1.) Do not fear the world. God predestined justification for those who would choose him before the beginning of time. “If God is for us, who is against us?” (Rom. 8.31). “Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies” (Rom. 8.32). (The elect is a term used in the bible to identify those who are in Christ, not to identify those whom God chose to be saved.) God is the judge, not man, so don’t fear the world. To fear the world is to live according to the flesh, but to fear God is to live according to the Spirit.

2.) There is nothing that can separate us from the plan of God. He decided it from the beginning. There is nothing that can separate us from God—not “death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor heights, nor depth, nor any other created thing” (Rom 8.38,39).

Through the context, it is easy to see that Paul was unconcerned with determining the calling of man and more concerned with giving those who are Christian’s tools to live according to the Spirit, free from worry.