The Freedom of the New World (8:1-9)

Here in Romans 8, Paul is attempting to help believers grapple with what it means to no longer be under the Law’s influence, but to now live under the Holy Spirit’s influence. Essentially, Paul is announcing our standing in a New World; Christians have entered a new sphere, a new reality-we are no longer “in the flesh” but “in the Spirit” (8:9). On our good days, we are in the Spirit; on our bad days, we are in the Spirit. There is permanence to being in the Spirit because it is a new reality, independent of how we do.

It is as if the cross of Christ is a passageway into a new realm; as we pass through the cross (by believing) God’s condemnation of our past sins is removed (8:1), we are set free from the domination of sin’s power over us (8:2), we are set free from the Law’s “wretched” effect (7:23-24) of making us prisoners to its demands (8:2), and we are given the Holy Spirit making a life of loving God and neighbor actually possible (thus, fulfilling the Law-8:4).

Our experience of the “Old World,” life “in the flesh,” before we passed through the cross, was miserable. Many of us felt guilty because, in reality, we were guilty. Most of us felt a sense of shame, as if we didn’t measure up…because we didn’t measure up. Paul described himself under the Law as having a “body of death,” totally being unresponsive and unable to meet the Law’s standards. But we have been set free!

It is like emigrating from a country in which we were slaves to a country in which there was no slavery, only a loving Ruler who desires relationship with His servants. We stand in the New World, right now, in the forgiveness (8:1), the freedom (8:2), the life & peace (8:6), the acceptance (8:9), and resurrection power (8:11) of God. For me, adjusting to the New World hasn’t been easy. I am blinded by its light, and though I believe what my new King tells me, I still hear the voice of my previous ruler; I still feel the chains as if they are still there. And so, I have wrestled with many questions…

How do I live like a free man, yet in reverence and holiness toward my great King?

How can knowing that I am always “in the Spirit” help me?

What do I do with the feelings of “the Old World,” which scream of guilt and shame and duty?