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Romans 8
1There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Jesus, who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
2For the law of the Spirit of life in Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death.
3For what the law couldn’t do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,
4that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
5For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
6For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace;
7because the mind of the flesh is hostile toward God, for it is not subject to God’s law, neither indeed can it be.
8Those who are in the flesh can’t please God.
9But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that dwells in you. But if any man doesn’t have the Spirit of , he is not his.
10If is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive because of .
11But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
12So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
13For if you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14For as many as are led by , these are children of God.
15For you didn’t receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God;
17and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with , if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him.
18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us.
19For the creation waits with eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.
20For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it, in hope
21that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.
22For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.
23Not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption, the of our body.
24For we were in hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for that which he sees?
25But if we hope for that which we don’t see, we wait for it with patience.
26In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we don’t know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which can’t be uttered.
27He who searches the hearts knows what is on the Spirit’s mind, because he makes intercession for the saints according to God.
28We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.
29For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
30Whom he predestined, those he also called. Whom he called, those he also . Whom he justified, those he also glorified.
31What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
32He who didn’t spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how would he not also with him freely give us all things?
33Who could bring a charge against God’s chosen ones? It is God who .
34Who is he who condemns? It is who died, yes rather, who was , who is at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
35Who shall separate us from the love of ? Could oppression, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36Even as it is written, “For your sake we are killed all day long. We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
38For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
39nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from God’s love which is in Jesus our Lord.
Slow reading
Read Romans 8 three times
Guided passes through short verse groups: read it whole, watch the words, then pray it back. Phrases to stop on along the way, with deeper explanation held back until you have read the verses yourself.
Full chapter study
Romans 8: No Condemnation, No Defeat, No Separation
The chapter walked slowly with stopping points along the way, then verse by verse, word by word, through to Christ. Your place is kept as you read.
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What this chapter is saying
What is Romans 8 about?
The chapter opens with a verdict rather than with advice. Read verses 1 and 2 first and notice the word therefore, which reaches back into chapter 7.
1There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death.
- Written by
- Paul, writing to a church he had not yet visited, Romans 1:10-13
- Written to
- believers in Rome, both Jewish and Gentile
- Why
- the turn from the fight described in Romans 7 to life in the Spirit
Romans 8 answers the wretchedness of Romans 7:24 with a legal word. No condemnation is not a feeling but a standing, and it rests on being in Christ Jesus rather than on how the week has gone.
The chapter then shows what the Spirit does: gives life, verses 10 and 11, leads the children of God, verse 14, teaches them to call God Father, verse 15, and prays in them when they do not know what to ask, verses 26 and 27.
From verse 18 the tone turns to groaning. Creation groans, we groan, the Spirit groans with us. Verse 28 sits inside that groaning, not above it, which is why it must be read as a promise about God's working rather than as a claim that everything is good.
The last section, verses 31 to 39, is a series of questions with no accuser left standing. It ends by listing the things that cannot separate us from the love of God in Christ, and death is the first on the list.
What the chapter does not tell us
The chapter does not tell us why any particular suffering was allowed, and verse 28 does not say we will be shown the reason. It says God works in it for good for those who love him.
Questions this passage answers
Who is the Holy Spirit?
Scripture speaks of the Holy Spirit as a person rather than a force. Jesus calls him another Counselor whom the Father sends, and says he teaches, reminds, guides, convicts and speaks. Peter calls lying to the Holy Spirit lying to God. He is the one who gives new birth, dwells in believers, produces Christlike character, and always points to Christ rather than to himself.
How should I pray?
When the disciples asked this, Jesus answered with a pattern rather than a technique. Pray to your Father, in private, without performance and without needing many words, because he already knows what you need. The prayer he gave begins with God's name, kingdom and will, then asks for bread, forgiveness and protection. Scripture adds that we may bring everything, that the Spirit helps our weakness, and that we can ask with confidence when we ask according to God's will.
How do I stop committing the same sin over and over?
Scripture answers a repeated sin by changing what the believer reckons to be true, then by naming the ordinary means: consider yourself dead to sin, stop presenting your body to it, bring it out of secrecy by confession, walk by the Spirit, and remove what feeds the desire. It does not promise a single moment that ends the struggle, and it does not treat repeated falling as proof that grace has run out.
Why does God allow suffering?
Scripture never gives one tidy reason for all suffering. It says that pain entered a good world through sin, that God is neither its author nor its prisoner, that he uses it without approving of it, and that he entered it himself in Christ rather than explaining it from a distance. The Bible answers the question with a person before it answers it with an argument.