1. Romans 8 verse 2
ROMANS CHAPTER EIGHT AND VERSE TWO
Charles e Whisnant, Pastor-Teacher
“THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS HATH MADE YOU FREE”
November 13th and Novbember 20th 2011
Expository preaching is preaching whose subject matter emerges directly and demonstrably from
a passage or from some passages of Scripture. In other words, its content and structure
demonstrably reflect what Scripture says, and honestly seek to illuminate it/
But one non-negotiable characteristic of expository preaching is that its subject
emerges directly and demonstrably from Scripture
As the word of God, the text of Scripture has the right to establish both the substance and
the structure of the sermon. Genuine exposition takes place when the preacher sets forth
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the meaning and message of the biblical text and makes clear how the word of God
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establishes the identity and worldview of the church as the people of God.

2. Romans 8 verse 2
Paul’s theme in this chapter eight is the assurance of salvation, as ans Lloyd-Jones says it:
“The final certainty of the ultimate glorification and entire deliverance in every respect of
those who are in Christ Jesus.”
FOR THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE IN Christ Jesus hath made me free from
the law of sin and death.”
As a pastor-teacher (and Charity tells me I am a better teacher than a pastor, and
others say I am a better teacher than a preacher. And maybe both are correct.
Nevertheless, I sense my responsibility is to teach you what the Scriptures are
saying. If I am going to teach the scripture book by book, chapter by chapter and
even verse by verse, and then I am going to have to go word by word.
In order to have a full understanding of what Paul is saying in this chapter, its going to take some
time to make an investigation of the chapter. I realize I generally am trying to help you
understand the meaning of each verse one at a time, and yet at the same time trying to keep the
flow of the chapter at hand.
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I am hoping when I give understanding of the words that I can help us understand
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3. Romans 8 verse 2
the whole verse, and how it fits into Paul‟s overall thinking and the point that what
he is trying to make.
In order to produce a good interpretation we are going look at the words as Paul said them. Paul
in verse two is going to give us reasons for his statement in verse one is true.
HO GAR
FOR:
The purpose of verse two is to give us a reason for verse one. And FOR reminds us that verse one is
not a detached statement. There is a reason for, an explanation of, what has just been said.
You could use the word “BECAUSE.”
We are going to learn the reason that there is “no condemnation to the one in Christ.‖
Or and because are small words that is often overlooked, but which are frequently used in
Scripture at the beginning of a passage or in the middle of a passage. Although listed under the
category Terms of Conclusion, these words are more accurately classified as terms of
explanation. In these occurrences for (because) often functions as a connective word which
seeks to make something clear and/or understandable. In other words, for (because) functions
like a marker which shows the cause or reason for something, specifically expressing the
reason for what has been stated before... thus the logic for designating them as a "term of
explanation". Be aware that for may sometimes be used to introduce a detailed description of
something as alluded to earlier, so you will always need to examine the context to determine if
it is being used as a "term of explanation". In many (if not most) of the uses of for as a
conjunction one can substitute the synonym because which in my opinion is somewhat easier
to understand. And because there as so many occurrences of "for" in the Bible, the diligent
inductive student will have many opportunities to pause and ponder passages.
http://www.preceptaustin.org/observation.htm#TERMS%20OF%20CONCLUSION
AS A FOOTNOTE
Train you eyes to observe the text carefully for words or phrases like the ones listed
below and mark them by highlighting them. These are words that are used to identify a
summary, a conclusion or a result.
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Therefore: For: So : Because or For: So that: So them:
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4. Romans 8 verse 2
For this reason
Note the number of times ―FOR‖ is used in chapter 8! I know most of you would rather read a
novel or go to the picture shows than study. Few really want to give the mental attention the
text demand. And I would say a chapter with 17 ―fors‖ in it is closely knit, and must be
patiently followed.
Now I want to address the reading of the second verse.
KJV reads “hath made me free” . What the Apostle Paul wrote: “The law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus freed me,‟ or „made me free.‟ Which Paul was meaning here was ―it
happened ―once and for ever‘.
“The rule, the life-giving Spirit, in Christ Jesus has “set free” me from the law of
sin and death.”
The point here is the law of the Spirit freed me‘ – made me free. It is not hath made‖ but
‗made‘. It has already happened ‗once and for ever‘ it is completed; it belongs to the past.
And again the word “me” should be “you” Paul is writing about the Christian generally,
and not about himself. That anyone who is a Christian.
THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS
Which means: The work of the Holy Spirit in the Believer.
Romans 8:10-11; John 4:10,14; 6:63; I Corinthians 15:45; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Revelation
11:11; 22:1;
Let me give you what I believe (Lloyd-Jones) this does not mean:
False teaching of sanctification and the life of the Holy Spirit in the believer.
1A The teaching of the “second blessing.” Or a “second experience”.
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2A The teaching of “entire sanctification.”
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5. Romans 8 verse 2
Some want to teach verse two our use this verse that our being set “free from condemnation” is
the result of our sanctification, in fact that it depends upon it.
“There is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, for (because) the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath freed me from the law of sin and death.‖
There is no condemnation facing us because the Holy Spirit working in us has delivered us
from that ―law of sin and death,‖ that was in our members, that was getting us down, and
keeping us in a state of defeat. In other words.
We are no longer in a state of condemnation, because we are sanctified. (which would
be against what Paul has said, ―There is no condemnation because we have been justified.‖
We have been set free from the Law of sin and death because we have been justified, not
sanctified.
FIRST Sanctification does not bring justification. We are not set free from sin and death
by sanctification but only through justification.
SECOND: Paul is NOT saying here in this chapter. He is not describing what can or may
happen to a Christian. He is not describing what happens only to certain Christians, in Christ
Jesus who seek and receive a further blessing.
What he is saying, Because you are Christians, in Christ Jesus, this has already happen to you.
He is not saying, “you have believed in Christ, you are justified and forgiven; but there is
another blessing possible for you. BUT there is another blessing possible for you. You are
having a struggle, and are failing and being defeated; but listen, there is a further experience
open to you which will deliver you and turn defeat into victory.
HERE IS WHAT PAUL AGAIN SAYS: If you are in Christ Jesus at all, if you are a
Christian at all, this has already happen to you. “You have been freed from the law of sin
and death.”
 THIRD: Some want to say that this verse two is the introduction of the Holy
Spirit in to the life of the Christian believer.
Romans 5:5 tells us when the Holy Spirit entered into the believer. 7:6 also.
In other words it would be incorrect to say that a person is ―saved‖ here at this time,
and at another time he receives the Holy Spirit. (I may be finally getting this point,.)
FOURTH: Some want to use this verse two to teach the doctrine of “entire sanctification”.
Some on to interpret this verse as:
―Since the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus freed you from the law of sin and death,
(and if you believe that refers to sin remaining in the Christian believer AND to that law
in my members that wars against the law of my mind, and which brings me into captivity
to the law of sin which is in my members.) then you could say Paul was saying or means,
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―that I am no longer in captivity to the law of sin which is in my members, I have been
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6. Romans 8 verse 2
entirely delivered from it.‖ The point that is made: If this has happen to me, it is not
progressively happening; it has happened and if that therefore has happened to me, if sin
has been taken entirely out of me, then I am entirely sanctified.

SO CAN WE SAY WE ARE ENTIRELY FREE FROM ANY SIN IN OUR MEMBERS?
God‟s word is a living, powerful, moving and effective force that is absolutely and unequivocally
evidenced in a faith produced walk. THE Gospel produces tremendous results when believed!
Hebrew 4:12: "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any
twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints
and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
http://b4u2c.hubpages.com/hub/THE-EPISTLE-OF-ROMANS-Part-13-of-16-Romans-
712-88
 Look at what Paul says in 8:12-13 read. If the above is right this would be wrong to say.
SO WHAT IS THE INTEDRPRETATION OF THE PHRASE „THE LAW OF SIN AND
DEATH?”
And now we will try to interpret the rest of this verse.
Paul is telling us the principle of the spiritual life. As the law of gravity is, it is. Well in the life of the
Believer, the life of Christ Jesus is its natural function. Its like our heart beating, so is Christ in us. In
other words we don‘t have to tell the heart to beat, it will any way. We do not have to say ―heart
beat.‖ Wit will anyway.
Therefore in the same way the law of the Spirit of life‘ works constantly and will ultimately
accomplish His goal of conforming each believer to the image of God‘s Son.
As Genesis 28:15 tells us.
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7. Romans 8 verse 2
"And behold, I am with you, and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to
this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you
So too the "law of the Spirit" will accomplish what God has promised. There is a new law for the
new life. It is here the breathing principle by which the Holy Spirit acts as the Imparter of life.
Vine notes that
The phrase “the Spirit of life,” is not subjective, ―the Spirit who has life,‖ but objective,
―the Spirit who gives life.‖ ―It is the Spirit who quickeneth‖ (John 6:63 "It is the Spirit who
gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are
life."). (
(3551) (nomos) ho gar nomos tou pneumatos tes zoes en Christo Iesou: (
LAW
anything established, anything received by usage, a custom, a law, a command
a. of any law whatsoever
1. a law or rule producing a state approved of God 1a
b. by the observance of which is approved of God
1. a precept or injunction
2. the rule of action prescribed by reason
c. of the Mosaic law, and referring, acc. to the context. either to the volume of the law or to its
contents
d. the Christian religion: the law demanding faith, the moral instruction given by Christ, esp. the
precept concerning love
e. the name of the more important part (the Pentateuch), is put for the entire collection of the sacred
books of the OT http://www.searchgodsword.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=3551
Is used in this context to stand for the regulative (control something) principle which exercises
a control over one.
It is analogous to the phrase, the "law" of gravity. Law in this use is not a reference to the
Mosaic law or to other divine commandments or requirements.
Law is a general "principle" or rule, norm and/or standard of judging or acting. It is the
principle by which something else operates (see note)
The law of the Spirit is higher and more powerful than the law of sin and death.
Here the law of the Spirit exercises a control over the life of the believer. .
The regulative (will bring and control the activity of the believer) over a believer's life is
exercised by the Holy Spirit (although He can be resisted, quenched, grieved, etc which
thwarts the efficacy of His supernatural power and work in one's life!).
This control is in the form of the "supernatural energy" given the believer both to desire
and to do God‟s will (Ezekiel 36:27 and Philippians 2:13), this energy coming from the life
that God is, which IN the believer is given him by reason of his position in Christ Jesus.
The "principle" of the sin and its association with death is abundantly clear from Romans 7, where
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we saw the power of sin which brings death as demonstrated by every sin we commit and every

8. Romans 8 verse 2
cemetery we see.
But now in the Risen Christ, Paul instructs us that the "operating principle" of the Spirit of life
is stronger than that associated with Sin, and in fact has the inherent power to free us from the
operating principle of sin and death, which controls all those who are still "in Adam" and
which can still exert its deleterious effects upon those are now "in Christ".
But Paul knows that the truth about these two principles has the potential to set his believing readers
free to be all they have the potential to be "in Christ."
In short, the power of this new life is the Holy Spirit Who becomes the Almighty Agent within the
believer, securing him wholly, making effectual in experience the deliverance which Paul saw when
he cried in Romans 7:24-25:
Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free (rhuomai = rescue by drawing or
snatching another to oneself and invariably from danger, evil or an enemy) from the
body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So
then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on
the other, with my flesh the law of sin.
Of course, the deliverance is through Christ, for it is Christ's Own risen life which every
believer now shares ("Christ our life" –Colossians 3:4. But it is the blessed Holy Spirit as
"the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus", Who makes the deliverance a reality in our
everyday experience. It is the Spirit Who is constantly at work in us to make
effectual the deliverance from the "law of sin and of death".
OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE
How does this life come into us? By the Holy Spirit. The Spirit that
was in Christ is the same spirit that is in us. 1 Corinthians 12:13
The "law (principle) of the Spirit" is equivalent to the "law (principle) of
aerodynamics" and it's effect on lifting a plane off the ground thus "countering" effects of
the "law (principle) of gravity" (see F B Meyer's note).
The Spirit similarly lifts believer's lives to a new plane, to "fly" at a new altitude that
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heretofore was not possible under the "law of sin and of death" when they tried to attain
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9. Romans 8 verse 2
righteousness in their own power and/or by keeping the Law (or religious rules - anything
that we do with the intent to try to make us more pleasing to God.
God does not desire our fleshly works or sacrifices but obedience, a broken spirit, a broken
heart). We were not justified by faith and we cannot be sanctified by faith (Galatians 3:3)...it
is a supernatural work of grace of the Holy Spirit of God (Galatians 5:1,7).
Watch that prior to Romans 8 the Spirit was only mentioned for four times in this letter, but
in Romans 8 He is mentioned 19 times making Him clearly a "keyword"!
In the process of salvation, God implants in us a new law for a new life. “The spirit of
life.” Here is given the believer upon the New Birth, a “Spirit who quickeneth” John 6:63 and
it is the Spirit who gives life.
Here is what Paul is saying, as a Christian we now have a new controlling principle in us.
The principle of the Holy Spirit. “Why do I do what I do?” Here is what I am learning, I want
Spirit to energize me and you.
SO THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH means “the Law of God.” We have been set entirely
free from our old relationship to the Law of God. 6:4, and 7:4, 6.
OKAY Paul says “WE HAVE BEEN SET FREE FROM THE LAW.” So what is it that has
set me free from the Law?
The answer: THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS.”
WHAT HAS HAPPEN TO THE PERSON WHO HAS BEEN LOSTED, NOT SAVED, AND
NOW IS A PERSON WHO NOW HAS BECOME A CHRISITAN, SAVED, BORN AGAIN?
The SAVED person is no longer in the same POSITION as he was in his LOST state.
What was the position before salvation? He was ―under the rule and the reign and the power of the
LAW.
BUT NOW AS A BELIEVER, he is under a new and different position. Which is? THE LAW OF
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10. Romans 8 verse 2
THE SPIRIT OF LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS.‖
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
 It is another way of describing the GOSPEL, the good news of salvation.
So why does Paul use the term “LAW”?”
How can we use the term “law” possibly mean that he is talking about the gospel, or the way of
salvation by faith, as over against an attempt to justify ourselves by works under the law?
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Well the answer is found in Romans 3:26-27:
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11. Romans 8 verse 2
26
 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him
which believeth in Jesus. 27Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works?
Nay: but by the law of faith.‖
What is the meaning of ―the law of faith?‖ It is the new way of salvation in Christ mentioned
in 3:23 ―it is the righteousness of God which is by faith.‖
So Paul uses the term ―LAW‖ in the very context of the gospel, and he not only uses it there,
but also in Romans 5:20 and 21
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 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound: 21That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
Notice the ―reign unto death‖ and the ―reign through righteousness‖. So Paul uses ―reign‖
both for sin and grace. So he uses the term ―law‖ the same way.
2 Corinthians 3:5, 6 and 8
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Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency
is of God; 6Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of
the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. 8How shall not the ministration of the
spirit be rather glorious?
SO THEN PAUL IS SAYING THIS:
 We are under a new covenant now, under a new testament; there is a new principle or power
reigning over us and in us. The gospel has set us free, we are under ―the law of liberty‘.
Instead of calling it ―the law of faith‖ as in Romans 3:27; or ―the reign of grace as in Romans
5:20-21, he calls it here in Romans 8:2 ―the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.‖
The work of salvation planned by God the Father (in eternity past) and carried out by the Son (the life
and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ) and is applied to us by the Holy Spirit.
"The "law of the Spirit of life" has invaded and opposed "the law of sin which is in my members"
thus freeing us from its bondage We cannot obey God's law in the strength of the flesh, but as we
reckon (that is, deliberately acknowledge) ourselves to be dead to sin and "alive unto God this
doctrinal truth increasingly becomes practical truth in our lives." (Defender's Study Bible)
HAS SET YOU FREE
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12. Romans 8 verse 2
(1659) (eleutheroo = the ending " -oo"
Has set you free
 Means not only will it be set free but it will be seen as set free) .
 Means to cause someone to be freed from domination.
 The picture is that of the emancipation of slaves.
 The idea is that the one set free is at liberty, capable of movement, exempt from obligation or
liability, and unfettered.
 Although the act of setting free results in freedom and liberty we must understand that this
new freedom is not a license to sin. In fact true liberty for the believer is now living as we
should and not as we please.
In short, the Spirit, Who brought the life of God Himself into us, has set us free from the power of our
flesh and free to be the person God wants us to be.
In Romans 7:24 Paul asked "Who shall deliver me?" The answer given in this verse is that:
"Christ has already delivered me!"
The last part of Romans chapter 7 was a description of a believer's struggling, failing
condition.
In Romans 8 Paul encourages the believer to focus upon his perfect, unfailing position in
Christ Jesus!
The more we believe God‘s facts about our position the more this will affect our actual
condition! 12
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13. Romans 8 verse 2
FROM THE LAW OF (the) SIN AND OF (THE) DEATH
I have been delivered and set free from the law of sin and death. If I were still under the law of sin and
death then I would be under God‘s condemnation because sin demands judgment, death and
condemnation -- the penalty for sin must be paid!
The law of sin is that principle in us that pulls us downward into death and that used to control
and condemn us. Now, it can only operate when it is put under law by our own foolish choices. It
commands us to work "in the energy of our flesh," and then condemns all that we do. It has no
control over us unless we foolishly fall into the trap of performance and law, which is the
beachhead for this principle to operate.
This is Romans 6 in a nutshell. Paul presents two opposite laws or principles. The characteristic
principle of the Holy Spirit is to empower believers for holy living. The characteristic principle of
indwelling sin is to drag a person down to death. It is like the law of gravity. When you throw a ball
into the air, it comes back down because it is heavier than the air it displaces. A living bird is also
heavier than the air it displaces, but when you toss it up in the air, it flies away. The law of life in the
bird overcomes the law of gravity. So the Holy Spirit supplies the risen life of the Lord Jesus, making
the believer free from the law of sin and death.
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14. Romans 8 verse 2
The law of the sin and death reigns both strong and secure (as demonstrated by every sin we commit
and every cemetery we see); but the law of the Spirit of life in Christ is stronger still, and frees us from
the law of sin and death. We are free from the law of death; death no longer has any sting in it for the
believer. But we are also free from the law of sin; the Christian does not have to sin (though he
inevitably does) because we are freed from sin‘s dominion.
Romans 8:1 speaks of being free from the Guilt of sin
Romans 8:2 speaks of being free from the Power of sin
The contrasting principle or "law" is that of "SIN & OF DEATH" which "pulls us"
downward into death, whereas the Spirit of Christ works to pull us upward toward God.
When we were in Adam we had no choice but to be pulled by the "law of sin and of death". Now
that we are in Christ this "law" has no control over a believer unless we foolishly fall into the trap
of performance under the Law which creates the "beachhead" from which SIN is able to operate in
our mortal bodies (see Romans 7:8-note "Sin"… takes… "OPPORTUNITY through the
commandment" where "opportunity" was a Greek military term describing the base camp, in this
case, the base camp from which sin launches its deadly assaults.).
So there is a law or principle working (like gravity) and if I choose to ever try to live by the flesh
again, this "law" is going to pull me downward and away from the "Godward" life that the Spirit
is seeking to pull me toward. The law of the Spirit is higher and more powerful than the law of sin
and of death and it has set your free.
"Set you free" is the verb free - The "-oo" means it not just simply gives you freedom but proves
you to be free (it puts your freedom on display). Jesus used eleutheroo in John 8:32
"you shall know the truth, and the truth shall MAKE YOU FREE."
The Spirit works according to law,--"the taw of the Spirit of Life." Do not grieve Him by any
act of insincerity or hatred. If you are aware of the subsidence of His energy, go back till you have
discovered where you dropped the thread of obedience to His gentle promptings. Pick it up by
confession and restitution, and again you will become conscious of His mediation to you of a Law
of Life that laughs at sin and death! Yours will be the wings of an eagle's flight, the soaring of a
lark, sunward, heavenward, Godward! But you must take time to be holy--in meditation, in prayer,
and especially in the use of the Bible.
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15. Romans 8 verse 2
―The first and principal duty of a pastor is to feed the flock by diligent preaching of the Word…This
feeding is of the essence of the office of a pastor, as unto the exercise of it, so that he who doth not, or
can not, or will not, feed the flock is no pastor whatever outward call or work he may have in the
church.‖
John Owen 15
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16. Romans 8 verse 2
„THY FREE SPIRIT‟
‗The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.‘—
ROMANS viii. 2.
We have to distinguish two meanings of law. In the stricter sense, it signifies the authoritative
expressions of the will of a ruler proposed for the obedience of man; in the wider, almost figurative
sense, it means nothing more than the generalised expression of constant similar facts. For instance,
objects attract one another in certain circumstances with a force which in the same circumstances is
always the same. When that fact is stated generally, we get the law of gravitation. Thus the word comes
to mean little more than a regular process. In our text the word is used in a sense much nearer the latter
than the former of these two. ‗The law of sin and of death‘ cannot mean a series of commandments; it
certainly does not mean the Mosaic law. It must either be entirely figurative, taking sin and death as two
great tyrants who domineer over men; or it must mean the continuous action of these powers, the
process by which they work. These two come substantially to the same idea. The law of sin and of death
describes a certain constancy of operation, uniform and fixed, under the dominion of which men are
struggling. But there is another constancy of operation, uniform and fixed too, a mighty antagonistic
power, which frees from the dominion of the former: it is ‗the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.‘
I. The bondage.
The Apostle is speaking about himself as he was, and we have our own consciousness to verify his
transcript of his own personal experience. Paul had found that, by an inexorable iron sequence, sin
worked in himself the true death of the soul, in separation from God, in the extinction of good and noble
capacities, in the atrophying of all that was best in himself, in the death of joy and peace. And this iron
sequence he, with an eloquent paradox, calls a ‗law,‘ though its very characteristic is that it is lawless
transgression of the true law of humanity. He so describes it, partly, because he would place emphasis
on its dominion over us. Sin rules with iron sway; men madly obey it, and even when they think
themselves free, are under a bitter tyranny. Further, he desires to emphasise the fact that sin and death
are parts of one process which operates constantly and uniformly. This dark anarchy and wild chaos of
disobedience and transgression has its laws. All happens there according to rule. Rigid and inevitable as
the courses of the stars, or the fall of the leaf from the tree, is sin hurrying on to its natural goal in death.
In this fatal dance, sin leads in death; the one fair spoken and full of dazzling promises, the other in the
end throws off the mask, and slays. It is true of all who listen to the tempting voice, and the deluded
victim ‗knows not that the dead are there, and that her guests are in the depth of hell.‘
II. The method of deliverance.
The previous chapter sounded the depths of human impotence, and showed the tragic impossibility of
human efforts to strip off the poisoned garment. Here the Apostle tells the wonderful story of how he
himself was delivered, in the full rejoicing confidence that what availed for his emancipation would
equally avail for every captived soul. Because he himself has experienced a divine power which breaks
the dreadful sequence of sin and of death, he knows that every soul may share in the experience. No
mere outward means will be sufficient to emancipate a spirit; no merely intellectual methods will avail
to set free the passions and desires which have been captured by sin. It is vain to seek deliverance from a
perverted will by any republication, however emphatic, of a law of duty. Nothing can touch the
necessities of the case but a gift of power which becomes an abiding influence in us, and develops a
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mightier energy to overcome the evil tendencies of a sinful soul.
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17. Romans 8 verse 2
That communicated power must impart life. Nothing short of a Spirit of life, quick and powerful, with
an immortal and intense energy, will avail to meet the need. Such a Spirit must give the life which it
possesses, must quicken and bring into action dormant powers in the spirit that it would free. It must
implant new energies and directions, new motives, desires, tastes, and tendencies. It must bring into play
mightier attractions to neutralise and deaden existing ones; as when to some chemical compound a
substance is added which has a stronger affinity for one of the elements, a new thing is made.
Paul‘s experience, which he had a right to cast into general terms and potentially to extend to all
mankind, had taught him that such a new life for such a spirit had come to him by union with Jesus
Christ. Such a union, deep and mystical as it is, is, thank God, an experience universal in all true
Christians, and constitutes the very heart of the Gospel which Paul rejoiced to believe was entrusted to
his hands for the world. His great message of ‗Christ in us‘ has been wofully curtailed and mangled
when his other message of ‗Christ for us‘ has been taken, as it too often has been, to be the whole of his
Gospel. They who take either of these inseparable elements to be the whole, rend into two imperfect
halves the perfect oneness of the Gospel of Christ.
We are often told that Paul was the true author of Christian doctrine, and are bidden to go back from him
to Jesus. If we do so, we hear His grave sweet voice uttering in the upper-room the deep words, ‗I am
the Vine, ye are the branches‘; and, surely, Paul is but repeating, without metaphor, what Christ, once
for all, set forth in that lovely emblem, when he says that ‗the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus
made me free from the law of sin and of death.‘ The branches in their multitude make the Vine in its
unity, and the sap which rises from the deep root through the brown stem, passes to every tremulous
leaf, and brings bloom and savour into every cluster. Jesus drew His emblem from the noblest form of
vegetative life; Paul, in other places, draws his from the highest form of bodily life, when he points to
the many members in one body, and the Head which governs all, and says, ‗So also is Christ.‘ In another
place he points to the noblest form of earthly love and unity. The blessed fellowship and sacred oneness
of husband and wife are an emblem sweet, though inadequate, of the fellowship in love and unity of
spirit between Christ and His Church.
And all this mysterious oneness of life has an intensely practical side. In Jesus, and by union with Him,
we receive a power that delivers from sin and arrests the stealthy progress of sin‘s follower, death. Love
to Him, the result of fellowship with Him, and the consequence of life received from Him, becomes the
motive which makes the redeemed heart delight to do His will, and takes all the power out of every
temptation. We are in Him, and He in us, on condition, and by means, of our humble faith; and because
my faith thus knits me to Him it is ‗the victory that overcomes the world‘ and breaks the chains of many
sins. So this communion with Jesus Christ is the way by which we shall increase that triumphant
spiritual life, which is the only victorious antagonist of the else inevitable consequence which declares
that the ‗soul that sinneth it shall die,‘ and die even in sinning.
III. The process of the deliverance.
Following the R. V. we read ‗made me free,‘ not ‗hath made me.‘ The reference is obviously, as the
Greek more clearly shows, to a single historical event, which some would take to be the Apostle‘s
baptism, but which is more properly supposed to be his conversion. His strong bold language here does
not mean that he claims to be sinless. The emancipation is effected, although it is but begun. He holds
that at that moment when Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus, and he yielded to Him as
Lord, his deliverance was real, though not complete. He was conscious of a real change of position in
reference to that law of sin and of death. Paul distinguishes between the true self and the accumulation
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of selfish and sensual habits which make up so much of ourselves. The deeper and purer self may be
vitalised in will and heart, and set free even while the emancipation is not worked out in the life. The
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parable of the leaven applies in the individual renewal; and there is no fanaticism, and no harm, in Paul‘s

18. Romans 8 verse 2
point of view, if only it be remembered that sins by which passion and externals overbear my better self
are mine in responsibility and in consequences. Thus guarded, we may be wholly right in thinking of all
the evils which still cleave to the renewed Christian soul as not being part of it, but destined to drop
away.
And this bold declaration is to be vindicated as a prophetic confidence in the supremacy and ultimate
dominion of the new power which works even through much antagonism in an imperfect Christian.
Paul, too, calls ‗things that are not as though they were.‘ If my spirit of life is the ‗Spirit of life in
Christ,‘ it will go on to perfection. It is Spirit, therefore it is informing and conquering the material; it is
a divine Spirit, therefore it is omnipotent; it is the Spirit of life, leading in and imparting life like itself,
which is kindred with it and is its source; it is the Spirit of life in Christ, therefore leading to life like
His, bringing us to conformity with Him because the same causes produce the same effects; it is a life in
Christ having a law and regular orderly course of development. So, just as if we have the germ we may
hope for fruit, and can see the infantile oak in the tightly-shut acorn, or in the egg the creature which
shall afterwards grow there, we have in this gift of the Spirit, the victory. If we have the cause, we have
the effects implicitly folded in it; and we have but to wait further development.
The Christian life is to be one long effort, partial, and gradual, to unfold the freedom possessed. Paul
knew full well that his emancipation was not perfect. It was, probably, after this triumphant expression
of confidence that he wrote, ‗Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect.‘ The first
stage is the gift of power, the appropriation and development of that power is the work of a life; and it
ought to pass through a well-marked series and cycle of growing changes. The way to develop it is by
constant application to the source of all freedom, the life-giving Spirit, and by constant effort to conquer
sins and temptations. There is no such thing in the Christian conflict as a painless development. We
must mortify the deeds of the body if we are to live in the Spirit. The Christian progress has in it the
nature of a crucifixion. It is to be effort, steadily directed for the sake of Christ, and in the joy of His
Spirit, to destroy sin, and to win practical holiness. Homely moralities are the outcome and the test of all
pretensions to spiritual communion.
We are, further, to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord, by ‗waiting for the Redemption,‘ which is not
merely passive waiting, but active expectation, as of one who stretches out a welcoming hand to an
approaching friend. Nor must we forget that this accomplished deliverance is but partial whilst upon
earth. ‗The body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness.‘ But there may be
indefinite approximation to complete deliverance. The metaphors in Scripture under which Christian
progress is described, whether drawn from a conflict or a race, or from a building, or from the growth of
a tree, all suggest the idea of constant advance against hindrances, which yet, constant though it is, does
not reach the goal here. And this is our noblest earthly condition—not to be pure, but to be tending
towards it and conscious of impurity. Hence our tempers should be those of humility, strenuous effort,
firm hope. We are as slaves who have escaped, but are still in the wilderness, with the enemies‘ dogs
baying at our feet; but we shall come to the land of freedom, on whose sacred soil sin and death can
never tread.
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/maclaren/rom_cor.ii.xvi.html
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19. Romans 8 verse 2
The Roman Catholic Hermeneutic
It‘s important to understand, when Catholics and Protestants approach a given topic in Scripture or in
history, they approach things in different ways. And it‘s this difference, often unspoken, that often
renders the subsequent discussions so maddening. You‘ll hear things like ―You have your interpretation,
I have mine‖. But what are these ―interpretations‖ based upon?
This blog post describes what I‘ve called ―the Roman Catholic Hermeneutic,‖ and once you understand
how this principle works, you can locate it anywhere. Any time you‘re discussing Scripture with Roman
Catholics, look for this method.
For Protestants, understanding begins with exegesis, and exegesis begins with a patient and humble
listening to the text, with the willingness to hear an alien word,‖ according to Thomas Schreiner (citing
―Romans,‖ from the Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament‖ series, pg. 2). ―We are all
prone to read our own conceptions into the text. Thus our first task is simply to see what the text
actually says.” The Protestant seeks to understand what God is genuinely saying, through his
Revelation in Scripture, from start to finish. The Protestant is concerned to track ―what God‘s people
knew, and when they knew it,‖ and in the process, to understand what God revealed of himself over
time, and finally in His Son, as is witnessed by the New Testament.
The Roman Catholic approaches Scriptures in a different way. Rather than trying to understand
the text, and then allowing it to speak its word, the Roman Catholic starts with modern Roman
doctrine, and then uses Biblical texts in such a way that they can seemingly provide support for
those doctrines. We can and do call it ―proof-texting‖ – pouring Roman Catholic ―interpretations‖ back
into ―proof-texts‖. In many cases, this means taking a verse that has nothing at all to do with Roman
Catholicism, but nevertheless hijacking it, frequently contrary to its original meaning, and using it to
support Roman Catholicism.
I‘ve already outlined, in my post on The righteousness of God, how, early in church history, Augustine,
who did not understand the Hebrew concepts of the Old Testament, substituted for those concepts a
―popular culture‖ understanding of ―righteousness‖. Subsequently, the ―infallible Church‖ wrote
Augustine‘s lack of understanding into an ―infallible‖ dogma of ―justification‖ at Trent.
That was a seminal example of how Roman Catholicism simply misunderstands something, dogmatizes
it, and then looks for further support of its errors. One might call it a ―twisting‖ of the Scriptures. Do
you think I‘m being overly harsh with this? Look at what some leading Roman Catholics have to say
about this ―method‖.
Joseph Ratzinger, before he was pope, in his 1990 work Called to Communion invokes ―the internal
continuity of the Church‘s memory‖ as ―the standard for judging what is to be considered historically
and objectively accurate‖.
This Roman Catholic hermeneutical method – ―the mind of the church‖ – is well described by popes and
scholars. It is, in fact, a blatant form of revisionism.
Pius IX‘s articulated this method in his Letter, ―Gravissimas inter,‖ to the Archbishop of Munich-
Freising, Dec. 11, 1862. Pius XII cited and reiterated this in his statement in Humani Generis:
“theologians must always return to the sources of divine revelation: for it belongs to them to point
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out how the doctrine of the living Teaching Authority is to be found either explicitly or implicitly
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20. Romans 8 verse 2
This is further explained in a variety of sources. One Roman Catholic theologian wrote, “We think first
of developed forms for which we need to find historical justification. The developed forms come
first and the historical justification comes second.” (―Ways of Validating Ministry,‖ Kilian
McDonnell, Journal of Ecumenical Studies (7), pg. 213, cited in Carlos Alfredo Steger, ―Apostolic
Succession in the Writings of Yves Congar and Oscar Cullmann, pg. 322.) Steger calls this type of
historical revisionism ―highly questionable if not inadmissible.‖
Aiden Nichols, ―The Shape of Catholic Theology‖ (253) notes that for the last several hundred years,
according to these popes, “the theologian‟s highest task lies in proving the present teachings of the
magisterium from the evidence of the ancient sources.” One internet writer called this method
―Dogma Appreciation 101‖ (related in a discussion of his studies in a Catholic seminary.) Nichols calls
this, ―the so-called regressive method,‖ and notes that Walter Kasper (now a Cardinal) has traced the
origins of this method to the 18th century.
Roman Catholicism is a ―big tent‖, and you‘ll find all kinds of nonsense in it. But in this feature that I
call ―the Roman Catholic Hermeneutic‖, the method outlined here of revisionism, of ―reading back in‖
something that is not there, is major.
Next time I‘ll describe a particular example of this from comments that appeared below.
Labels: Aiden Nichols, John Bugay, Joseph Ratzinger, The Roman Catholic Hermeneutic, The Roman
mindset
Justification by Faith Alone: A Plea for Understanding
by Dr. C. Matthew McMahon
Most of the 21st century church despises doctrine. They simply hate to learn. They would much rather
―feel‖ their way through a church service than listen to sound preaching. It may not necessarily be that
they hate to learn, as if everyone hated such a thing (something they engage in every moment of every
day) but surely their disability to think properly lends to their incapability to sit through a preaching
service of two hours. (And such a length of time was not uncommon in the puritan era – as a matter of
fact, many were just getting started at that point.)
I suppose that it would be politically correct to say they are ―mentally challenged.‖ We often use this
phrase as a joke, but when it concerns the everlasting abode of the never dying soul and the theology
they believe, then it is no laughing matter. This is not something profound or new. Far be it for a modern
congregation to heartily cling to sound doctrine and teaching in this day and age of relative thought and
its strategy towards the dissolution of absolute truth. If you are among the remnant of God who has been
so blessed to find a biblically sound church, peace be unto to, and happiness be granted to your soul by
the Lord Jesus! But for the rest of the church, they are steeped in false doctrine taught by false
―prophets.‖ Ignorance is not bliss here. Most of the time the church has lent itself to this rejection of
truth because they have not learned how to think. People simply do not have the skills to think rightly.
Ask them what the law of non-contradiction is and they could not tell you, though they follow it all day
long. But their long settled ignorance affords no excuse to beginning anew even now. The saying ―you
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can‘t teach an old dog new tricks‖ is not true for the Christian walk. The Christian should be learning
about the Lord Jesus and the doctrines of the Bible every day.
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21. Romans 8 verse 2
In this plethora of sound doctrine to learn throughout the Bible, there are some doctrines which are
certainly more important than others. For instance, the teachings concerning the genealogical lines of the
Old Testament are not as important as the New Testament doctrine of adoption. I hope you agree with
me that the genealogies are very important, and should be studied and read (yet most skip them in their
daily Bible reading!). There are jewels to be found there in the book of Numbers, and Chronicles, and
the like. But I think you would also agree that genealogies are not as important as the doctrine of
Adoption. I would certainly teach the doctrine of Adoption much earlier before I would engage the
church to listen to a sermon on the genealogies listed in Numbers or Chronicles.
However, in the sea of doctrine which we are all to be familiar with throughout the Word of God, there
may be a doctrine which is more important than any other; one which is the most important of all. Some
may vouchsafe for the atonement. I must admit, the atonement is crucial, critical and the crux of saving
grace for the believer. But, the importance of a doctrine does not simply fall on the kind of doctrine or
the content of the doctrine, but also on the need of the doctrine as well. Eschatology is very important,
but not as important as the need to understand the atonement. Today, I believe, as it was in the sixteenth
century, the need to regain lost ground in understanding the doctrine of Justification by faith alone has
come to the forefront. Most people, even those in Reformed circles, those who claim Luther as a hero,
have little to say about justification. I have been a member of solid reformed churches for quite a long
time. Yet, I have heard very little about justification by faith alone. I cannot remember a sermon
dedicated to the subject. It has been neglected in the school setting, in the home study groups, and in the
pulpit. It is a vital doctrine that we cannot do without. Its urgency dictates the difference between one
going to heaven and one going to hell. It is of crucial significance and should be rightly understood by
those who claim Christ as their banner. If justification is misunderstood, being the pillar upon which the
church stands or falls, then what will the rest of our doctrine look like? Will it be a nominal Christianity?
Would it be works righteousness? I think it would. To understand that we must be clothed in the
righteousness of Christ for safety in the Day of Judgment is of vital import.
As I believe the doctrine of seeking is all but lost in our day, I also believe the doctrine of justification is
slowly being forgotten. Friends, without it we are lost. Without understanding it we will not truly
perceive the great wonder of the grace of God in Christ. It is my hope that in this section of the website
such a glorious truth may be exalted beyond measure, that it may bring a great amount of glory to the
one true and living God of the Ages. Let us think rightly about one of the most, if not the most important
doctrine in the entire bible, the Doctrine of Justification by Faith alone.
C. Matthew McMahon
May 1, 2002
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