Romans 8:1-17 as a Summary of Paul's Thoughts

Throughout passages in Paul’s letter to the Romans, there are many themes that we have seen before in his other letters to the Corinthians, Galatians, and Thessalonians. Paul’s passage in Romans 8:1-17 is a summary of all of his main thoughts that he wants every Christian to live his or her life according to. Paul uses references of the “Spirit” and the “Flesh” to communicate his ideas.

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom 8:1-2). Paul believes if you are in Christ Jesus, then you will be saved. Because of Jesus’ selflessness, he has freed us from sin and death. God had created the world through wisdom and with Adam we then were under the reign of sin. Then, with the resurrection of Jesus, He freed us from the law and we entered into a period of grace with God. We are living by the Spirit in an era of grace, so therefore we should be dead to sin. Paul explains this in greater detail in the beginning of Romans in 3:9.

Paul summarizes all this preaching in seventeen stanzas by referring to the “Spirit” and the “Flesh.” We are first introduced by Paul of these topics/words in his letter to the Galatians. Paul contrasts the two ways of living in a community in chapter five of Galatians. “Spirit” is the caring of others and builds interpersonal relationships within a community. The “Flesh” is a self centeredness and a natural way to live of only caring for oneself. The “works of the flesh” will break apart a community.

In Romans 8:4-5, “…who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 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.” If God is equal to Love, then walking in the Spirit is walking with others and bringing one another into the community. Paul’s focus is aimed at the building up of a community. Similarly, Paul states in Galatians 5:16 to “walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.” One of Paul’s themes in Thessalonians is for the community to have hope that the Day would save us. Paul reminds us to “love one another” in Thessalonians 4:9 so we may join together in a community. This theme of “community” is constant throughout Paul’s entire letters and he summarizes all this important thoughts through 8 Romans.

In 8:6-7, Paul is telling us to set our minds and make a commitment to what the values of a Christian are. By doing this is living by the Spirit and not of the flesh. The values of a Christian are told to us by Paul in Galatians 5:22: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. “The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, indeed it cannot” (Rom 8:7). The works of the flesh such as enmity, strife, impurity, selfishness, and jealousy were qualities that Paul warned us about in Galatians that “shall not inherit the kingdom of God (Gal 5:21). The total commitment we make to our values Paul is talking about refers back to his second letter to the Corinthians, “for we walk by faith, not by sight” (5:7). “Walking” is referring to the fundamental choices we make in our lives and the total commitment we give to something. By the giving of self in service to the community we are walking by faith and being changed into his likeness.

In 8:10 Paul refers to his thought about “righteousness” again. “But if Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive because of righteousness.” Paul makes references