COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS. For Paul, it only happens through the spirit of God that, once it infuses a believer, changes mindsets and moves the believer from death to life. A. No condemnationThere is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.. a. A resource for the whole church from Luther Seminary. Romans 8:6-11 is thus an important part of Paul’s developing argument that believers are taking on the form of Christ. But if the Spirit, etc. Such conduct is marked by self-sacrificial love and enables a diverse community to glorify God together (Romans. Thus, “according to the flesh,” Paul identifies Jesus as a descendant of David (1:3); himself and his Jewish compatriots as descendants of Abraham (4:1); and the messiah as a descendant of Israel (9:8). In order to preach this passage carefully, one must wrestle with Paul’s argument about flesh and spirit, as well as the treachery in taking the analogy Paul uses too far. The sin-sick cycle that determines the thinking and actions of individuals, of groups, of the world is complex and requires divine help. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Romans 8 is the pinnacle chapter in Paul’s most formidable epistle. Preachers of this text must, therefore, be careful to read it not as an ethically prescriptive text but rather as an anthropologically descriptive text, a metaphor for the act of salvation that only God is able to do. Psalm 130 is the eleventh of the fifteen Songs of Ascents in Book Five of the Psalter (Psalms 120-134).1, Commentary first published on this site on. Romans 8:6-11 Common English Bible (CEB). 7 So the attitude that comes from selfishness is hostile to God. In these verses, Paul builds on his description of the believer’s life in Christ, for which he has laid the foundation in Romans 6. Commentary on Romans 8:10-17 (Read Romans 8:10-17) If the Spirit be in us, Christ is in us. 9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. Romans 8:6-11 The whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now. - This verse confirms the sense given to the preceding. Instead, Romans 8:6-11 form a small part of a larger discourse Paul is having on the dichotomy between flesh and spirit. Being made free from the reign of sin, alive unto God, and having the prospect of eternal life, it becomes believers to be greatly concerned to advance thereto. For Paul’s argument here and in Romans overall is not that one’s family of descent matters, but rather that through Christ Jesus, God has created heirs of the Abrahamic covenant through the spirit and the promise of God rather than through the flesh. In Romans 8, Paul develops this line of thought by characterizing the contrasts of Romans 6 as “flesh” versus “Spirit.” This is an antithesis between the old age ruled by sin that results in unrighteousness and death; and the new eschatological age ruled by the Spirit that results in righteousness and life. A New and Wonderful Life in the Spirit. 9 But you aren’t self-centered. Romans 8:6, ESV: "For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace." Now if we be dead with Christ — Conformed to his death by dying to sin; we believe that we shall also live with him — We have reason sufficient to assure ourselves that we shall be conformed to him in life too, by living an uninterrupted life of grace here, and glory hereafter; and shall die no more, even as Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more, Romans 6:9. While last week’s epistle created an ethical choice for the community of faith, in Romans we hear a word of assurance, a promise that the very thing we are unable to do, breathe life into ourselves — for, we are mortal — is that which the Spirit of Christ has already done in us. Romans 8:5 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. And the Spirit performs the process of transformation into the image of Christ individually and corporately as the members of Christ’s body discern righteous thinking that is manifest in righteous conduct that pleases God (12:1-5). It doesn’t submit to God’s Law, because it can’t. One task a preacher might take, then, in preaching this epistle is one that challenges a community’s assumptions about status or lack of status based on biology and family heritage. Romans 8:6 Parallel Verses [⇓ See commentary ⇓] Romans 8:6, NIV: "The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace." NIV 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. NIV 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. In the meantime, this Spirit bears witness that believers are children of God and co-heirs with Christ of God’s glory (8:14-18). It is the death of the soul for it is its alienation from God, in union and communion with whom the life of the soul consists. When my boys were young, they would don a chestnut hooded cape, grab a light saber and cry “may the Force be with you” and set out to destroy evil as they saw it. 8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Preachers must weigh carefully the extent to which, in upholding Paul’s theology, they strengthen already unhealthy or detrimental attitudes toward the embodied people in their churches. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Believers are obligated to live now according to the Spirit (8:12) because this Spirit has a future claim on them: Just as God appointed (horizo) Jesus to be Son of God with power by the Spirit through the resurrection from the dead (see also 1:3-4), God has pre-appointed (proorizo) that believers will be conformed to the image of his Son by this same Spirit (8:29). Check out these helpful resources Biblical Commentary Sermons Children’s Sermons Hymn Lists. 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, Read verse in New Revised Standard April 10, 2011. Romans 8:11. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Paul is clearly influenced, here, by the dualism of his age that considers the flesh to be imperfect because it is capable of deterioration. Throughout Rom 8:6-11, Paul juxtaposes life in the realm of the flesh and life in the realm of the Spirit by repeating the language of the mind: Those who live in conformity with the flesh think things that are of the flesh, while those who live in conformity with the Spirit think things that are of the Spirit. Commentary on John 11:1-45. According to Romans 8:10, there was still left one power of death, that over the body. "Preachers of this text must, therefore, be careful to read it not as an ethically prescriptive text but rather as an anthropologically descriptive text, a metaphor for … It stands as an affirmation of the changed status and mindset of the believer because of God’s action. A carnal soul is a dead soul, dead as a soul can die. At the same time, the honor due a particular blood line or family heritage is undercut by this passage. Romans 8:11 Parallel Verses [⇓ See commentary ⇓] Romans 8:11, NIV: "And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you." Paul explains the presence and work of the Spirit in two important ways. Throughout the letter, Paul is tackling a thorny issue: how one is brought into the covenant community of God as those who are heirs of the divine promises. In order to preach this passage carefully, one must wrestle with Paul’s argument about flesh and spirit, as well as the treachery in taking the analogy Paul uses too far. Romans 8:6-11 English Standard Version (ESV). The First Presbyterian Church, Shreveport, D. Thomason Professor of New Testament, A resource for the whole church from Luther Seminary. In these verses, Paul builds on his description of the believer’s life in Christ, for which he has laid the foundation in Romans 6. Read verse in New International Version He dwells in the heart by faith. Our sufferings now are nothing compared to the glory that will be revealed to us. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. 6 The attitude that comes from selfishness leads to death, but the attitude that comes from the Spirit leads to life and peace. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. Romans 8:6-11 fits into a larger discussion about the way believers take on the form of Christ. 1. First, while he had earlier argued that believers’ living is based on being “in Christ Jesus” (6:11), he now states that it is based on “Christ in you” which he defines as “the Spirit of God in you” (8:9-12). This same work makes us family to one another and members of God’s household. Romans 6:8-11, contain the application of the truth taught in the preceding passage: ‘If we are dead with Christ, we shall share in his life. Commentary on Romans 8:6-11. That is, believers take on the form, or image, of Christ by dying and rising with him (Romans 6) and by living in conformity with the Spirit (Romans 8). Paul discusses flesh in two ways. For, it is not by the flesh but by the spirit of Christ that the community of faith receives its life and peace. Robert Tanehill comments, “Christ’s death and resurrection are continuing aspects of the ‘form’ of Christ … so that believers take on the same ‘form.’”2 That is, believers become like Christ; they are transformed into his image by dying and rising with him. Romans 8:6-11 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. there is to such \"NO CONDEMNATION.\" (Compare John 3:18 , 5:24 , Romans 5:18 Romans 5:19 ). Romans 8:6, KJV: "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." (6) Translate, For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace. There, Paul exposes the incongruity of sin in the life of the believer (6:1-4), and then develops a series of contrasts to explain the radical new life in Christ: it is characterized by the movement from one state of being to another (death to life), from one master to another (sin to God), from one principle to another (law to grace), and one kind of activity to another (wickedness to righteousness). For this reason, the Spirit does not merely characterize a realm or an age; the Spirit also works in believers and communities. Adam Clarke Commentary. Romans 8:6-11 fits into a larger discussion about the way believers take on the form of Christ. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. In the world, this would happen through physical descent or, perhaps, through physical adoption. For, Paul argues, that, if the Spirit of Christ dwells in you, it has the power to change your mindset to one of life and peace, and even to enliven the fleshly part of your existence: your bodies. The Holy Spirit continues the work of producing the form of Christ in believers. Commentary on Romans 8:6-11 View Bible Text Paul is convinced that because of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection a new reality is available for humankind. In fact, Paul steers clear from the purely Docetic (anti-flesh) argument, suggesting instead that, through the Spirit of God, even mortal bodies become life-filled. A close friend nearing death and the dry bones of a nation command our attention this Sunday. Reading Romans. 6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. If he lives, we shall live also. Later, he even argues that this inspiration by the Spirit of Christ turns unrelated bodies into kinfolk, family members of the household of God. And echoing through this assertion of faith is the credo that ends Romans 8 and which undergirds all those who, through God’s intervention, are spirit-infused: nothing created can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into … Romans 8:12-25. 8 People who are self-centered aren’t able to please God. It is spiritual death, the certain way to eternal death. 9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit … When they admire someone, they tend to dress like them, talk like them, and act like them. Grace in the soul is its new nature; the soul is alive to God, and has begun its holy happiness which shall endure for ever. For Paul, the power of sin is not only personal, but also cosmic. It is a marker of privilege, at least initially, for it stands as a means of determining those with whom God has made covenant and from whom God will bring forth the Messiah. This is the fourth in a series of encounters with Jesus in the book of John this Lent and offers us another long, beautifully developed text for preaching. Romans 8:6-11. A preacher must note, then, that the flesh has its place in Pauline theology. It is death, Romans 8:6. Instead, Romans 8:6-11 form a small part of a larger discourse Paul is having on the dichotomy between flesh and spirit. Quite the opposite: he argues that, despite human descent and fleshly failing, God is able to blow such a spirit-inspired mindset into anyone God may choose, Jew or Gentile. Romans 8:6-11 must thus be understood as a text of affirmation, affirmation of what God has already done in the life of the believer and of the church as a whole through the incarnation and death of Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1-5). As they have grown through the years, their heroes have changed from superheroes to sports personalities to historical figures to people they know. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. As such a metaphor, it is a powerful statement of the nature of the community of faith: that we are all spirit-infused mortal bodies, brought to life by the work of God through Christ Jesus. School children are often asked to name their heroes.1. In these verses, Paul builds on his description of the believer’s life in Christ, for which he has laid the foundation in Romans 6. They appear to take on their form. 6 and 8 together, we might say that Paul presents unbelievers as belonging to the realm of the flesh where sin reigns and enslaves people to unrighteousness, resulting in death; and believers as belonging to the realm of the Spirit where God enslaves people to righteousness, resulting in life. Romans 6:8-11. God does what the law was unable to do, first through Christ’s atoning death (8:3) and now, on that basis, through the transforming work of the Spirit (8:4-11). As a result, Paul regularly assigns to the flesh characteristics such as death, “enmity to God,” an incapacity to live under the law of God, and imperfection. The Spirit’s work is to replicate the life of Christ in believers both at the present time through obedience in righteousness (1:18; 6:13, 16, 18, 20)—“the Spirit is life because of righteousness”—and in the future through resurrection—“he who raised Christ … will give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit” (8:11). 12-13; see also 6:11). Paul now disposes of this also, and hence takes up again, not indeed what had just been inferred (Hofmann, in accordance with his view of τὸ πνεῦμα, Romans 8:10), but the idea conditioning it, εἰ δὲ Χ. EXEGESIS: ROMANS 8:1-11. It is significant that the story of Lazarus, unique to the Gospel of John, is the Gospel reading for the last Sunday in Lent, First Reading. Our culture seems obsessed with death imagery. 12-15, especially 13:8-10; 15:1-6). In 5:12-21, Paul contrasted Adam and Christ. Nevertheless, while it is possible for the preaching of this text to become dangerously disembodied, the same text can be used to underscore the impact of the presence of Christ’s spirit upon a disparate group of previously unrelated human bodies. Romans 8:6-11 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. Romans 8:1-11. But this is no mere legal arrangement: it is a union in life; believers, through the indwelling of Christ's Spirit in them, having one lif… The caution for today’s preachers is that such dualism can lead to an unconcern for bodily matters that can be harmful in communities that have significant physical needs for pastoral care and intervention (obesity, cancer, diabetes, AIDS, eating disorders, etc.). 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 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 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