Romans — Chapter 8
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1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
2For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death.
3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin. He thus condemned sin in the flesh,
4so that the righteous standard of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5Those 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.
6The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace,
7because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
8Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God.
9You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
10But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.
11And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.
12Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation, but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it.
13For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
15For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption to sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
16The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
17And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him.
18I consider that our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory that will be revealed in us.
19The creation waits in eager expectation for the revelation of the sons of God.
20For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope
21that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
22We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time.
23Not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
24For in this hope we were saved; but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he can already see?
25But if we hope for what we do not yet see, we wait for it patiently.
26In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words.
27And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
28And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
29For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.
30And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.
31What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
32He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?
33Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
34Who is there to condemn us? For Christ Jesus, who died, and more than that was raised to life, is at the right hand of God—and He is interceding for us.
35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
36As it is written: “For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
3For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
4That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
5For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
6For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
8So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
9But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
10And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
12Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
13For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
15For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
16The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
18For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
19For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
20For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
21Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
23And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
24For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
25But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
26Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
27And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
28And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
29For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
31What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
32He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
33Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
34Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.
2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death.
3For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
4that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
5For they that are after the flesh mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after 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 enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be:
8and they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
9But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. But if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
10And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness.
11But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall give life also to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
12So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh:
13for if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the Spirit ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
15For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
16The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God:
17and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with [him], that we may be also glorified with [him].
18For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward.
19For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God.
20For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope
21that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.
22For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
23And not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for [our] adoption, [to wit], the redemption of our body.
24For in hope were we saved: but hope that is seen is not hope: for who hopeth for that which he seeth?
25But if we hope for that which we see not, [then] do we with patience wait for it.
26And in like manner the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity: for we know not how to pray as we ought; but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for [us] with groanings which cannot be uttered;
27and he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to [the will of] God.
28And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, [even] to them that are called according to [his] purpose.
29For whom he foreknew, he also foreordained [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren:
30and whom he foreordained, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
31What then shall we say to these things? If God [is] for us, who [is] against us?
32He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things?
33Who shall lay anything to the charge of God`s elect? It is God that justifieth;
34who is he that condemneth? It is Christ Jesus that died, yea rather, that was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36Even as it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that 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 creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
2For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.
3For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,
4so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5For those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit.
6For the outlook of the flesh is death, but the outlook of the Spirit is life and peace,
7because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so.
8Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him.
10But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is your life because of righteousness.
11Moreover if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit who lives in you.
12So then, brothers and sisters, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh
13(for if you live according to the flesh, you will die), but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.
15For you did not receive the spirit of slavery leading again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba, Father.”
16The Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit that we are God’s children.
17And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ)—if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him.
18For I consider that our present sufferings cannot even be compared to the coming glory that will be revealed to us.
19For the creation eagerly waits for the revelation of the sons of God.
20For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly but because of God who subjected it—in hope
21that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children.
22For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now.
23Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
24For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees?
25But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with endurance.
26In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how we should pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings.
27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes on behalf of the saints according to God’s will.
28And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose,
29because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
30And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.
31What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
32Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, freely give us all things?
33Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
34Who is the one who will condemn? Christ is the one who died (and more than that, he was raised), who is at the right hand of God, and who also is interceding for us.
35Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
36As it is written, “For your sake we encounter death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37No, in all these things we have complete victory through him who loved us!
38For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers,
39nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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.
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 walk not after the flesh, but after 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 towards 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 the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his.
10If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
11But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Christ 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 the Spirit of God, 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 Christ; 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 redemption of our body.
24For we were saved 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, to 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 justified. 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 justifies.
34Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, yes rather, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? 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 Christ Jesus our Lord.
Summary
Paul opens by declaring that believers in Christ Jesus are free from condemnation, because the Spirit's law of life has set them free from the law of sin and death (vv. 1-2). Those who live according to the Spirit, rather than the flesh, are led as God's own children and given a spirit of adoption that lets them call God "Father" (vv. 14-16). Present sufferings are set against future glory, with all creation groaning for its own liberation, and the Spirit interceding for believers with groanings too deep for words (vv. 18-27). Paul closes with the assurance that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him (v. 28), and that nothing in all creation — not death, life, angels, or any power — can separate believers from the love of God in Christ Jesus (vv. 31-39).
Authorship & Background
Deep Dive
Setting: Paul writes from Corinth around AD 57 to a church in Rome he has never visited. Chapters 5–8 form one movement on the security of those God has justified. Chapter 7 showed that the law, though holy, cannot make anyone holy, and it ended with a cry, "Who will deliver me…?", and a first, brief answer: "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" Chapter 8 is that answer in full. The Holy Spirit, mentioned only a handful of times in chapters 1–7, is named about twenty times here. The chapter opens with "no condemnation" (v1) and closes with no "separation" (v39).
Life in the Spirit (vv1–11)
- "There is therefore now no condemnation" (v1). "Now" marks the new age that came with Christ. "Condemnation" (katakrima) appears in the New Testament only here and in 5:16, 18, where Adam's trespass brought it on all. The lexicon gives its sense as the penalty that follows a guilty verdict, not only the verdict. For those "in Christ Jesus," sentence and punishment are both gone. The ground is union with Christ, not a believer's performance.
- A longer ending in some manuscripts (v1). The King James Version adds "who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." The earliest manuscripts lack it, and most scholars think a copyist brought it up from v4, where it describes those in Christ rather than setting a condition.
- "The law of the Spirit of life… the law of sin and death" (v2). "Law" here most likely means a ruling power, as in 7:23, "the law of sin" at work in Paul's members. Sin's power led to death. A stronger power, the life-giving Spirit, has broken its hold. Some manuscripts read "set me free," matching the "I" of chapter 7, and the ESV footnotes it.
- "What the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do" (v3). The fault was never in the law (7:12) but in the material it worked with. "Flesh" in Paul usually means human nature as fallen and turned from God, not the body as such. The law could command but not change the heart.
- "In the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin" (v3). Christ came in real flesh, but only in the likeness of sinful flesh, since he never sinned (2 Cor 5:21; Heb 4:15). "For sin" (peri hamartias) is the Greek Old Testament's regular phrase for the sin offering (Lev 5:6–7), and the ESV footnote offers "as an offering for sin." "He condemned sin in the flesh" uses the root of v1's "condemnation." Believers face none because God carried it out on sin in his Son.
- "That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us" (v4). Fulfilled in us, not by us. Some read this as Christ's obedience credited to believers, others as the Spirit producing in them the love the law always aimed at (13:8–10). Both are Pauline, and "walk… according to the Spirit" leans toward the second. This is the new covenant promise: the law on the heart and God's Spirit within (Jer 31:33; Ezek 36:26–27).
- "Set their minds" (vv5–8). The noun behind "mind" (phronēma) means the content of a person's thinking: outlook, aim, what someone is bent on. It is the direction of a life, not a passing thought. One direction ends in death, the other in "life and peace," peace with God as in 5:1. The fallen mind is not neutral: it "does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot." "Those who are in the flesh" means people outside Christ, not believers who still struggle.
- "You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit" (v9). Every Christian has the Spirit: "Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him." In one verse he is "the Spirit of God" and "the Spirit of Christ," and v10 simply says "Christ is in you." Later teaching on the Trinity grew from texts like this.
- "The body is dead… the Spirit is life" (vv10–11). Believers still die, because sin brought death (5:12), but the Spirit gives life now (the ESV footnote offers "your spirit is alive"). And the God who raised Jesus "will also give life to your mortal bodies." That is resurrection, not only strength for daily living. A few manuscripts read "because of his Spirit," making the Spirit the pledge of resurrection rather than its agent. The point stands either way.
- Commentators: Guzik and JFB both treat the longer ending of v1 as drawn from v4, and Guzik adds that even if original it would describe believers, not set a condition. Henry, working from the King James text, says the character is taken "from their walk, not from any one particular act, but from their course and way." JFB stresses that "no condemnation" is "no mere legal arrangement: it is a union in life." On "for sin" (v3) JFB and the Tyndale notes part ways: the notes take it as a sin offering, Christ bearing judgment as substitute, while JFB calls that rendering "wrong" and reads "on the business of sin." On v7 Henry calls the fleshly mind "not only an enemy, but enmity itself."
Heirs with Christ (vv12–17)
- "Put to death the deeds of the body" (vv12–13). Believers owe the flesh nothing. Its claim has been cancelled. The verb (thanatoō) is the plain word for putting to death, the same one used in v36, "we are being killed." Holiness is a fight to the death, not gentle self-improvement. The tense is ongoing, the work of a lifetime, and it is done "by the Spirit," not by willpower alone.
- "All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God" (v14). Israel was God's son (Exod 4:22; Hos 11:1), led through the wilderness by his presence. Now all in Christ, Jew and Gentile, share the title. Being "led" here is first about the direction just described, putting sin to death, rather than guidance for particular decisions.
- "The Spirit of adoption as sons" (v15). Huiothesia means adoption as a son. In Roman law an adopted son, often an adult, received the full rights of a natural son, and his old debts were cancelled. The Tyndale notes point out that Julius Caesar adopted Octavian, who became Augustus. An adopted son was not second-class. He was heir. Paul uses the word for Israel too (9:4), and in v23 for an adoption still to be completed.
- "Abba! Father!" (v15). Abba is Aramaic, the everyday language of Jesus' home, the family word for father. Jesus used it in Gethsemane (Mark 14:36), and Greek-speaking churches kept the Aramaic word (Gal 4:6) because it carried the memory of how he prayed.
- "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit" (v16). Two witnesses: a believer's own spirit, and the Holy Spirit confirming it. Assurance is not only reasoning from evidence. God himself gives it.
- "Fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him" (v17). Adopted children inherit with the Son. "Provided" sets no price. It describes the path: the road to glory runs through suffering, as it did for Jesus (Luke 24:26; Phil 3:10). This line opens the next section.
- Commentators: Henry balances God's part and ours in v13: "we cannot do it without the Spirit working it in us, and the Spirit will not do it without our doing our endeavour." Guzik also warns that fighting sin in one's own strength breeds pride. On v15 Guzik glosses Abba as "Daddy." The lexicon gives only "father," the emphatic Aramaic form, and grown children used the word too. It is warm and personal, but not baby talk. JFB says the Greek "Father" is added not to translate Abba but because Christ used both. Guzik ties v16's two witnesses to the law's rule of two or three witnesses (Deut 17:6). Henry cautions: "The Spirit witnesses to none the privileges of children who have not the nature and disposition of children."
Future Glory (vv18–30)
- "I consider" (v18). The verb (logizomai) means to reckon or count, the verb used in chapter 4 for righteousness "counted" to Abraham. Paul, who had suffered plenty (2 Cor 11:23–28), has done the sums: present sufferings do not belong on the same scale as coming glory. This is the "hope of the glory of God" of 5:2, now opened out.
- "The creation waits with eager longing" (v19). Apokaradokia comes from roots meaning to watch with outstretched head, like someone craning forward to see. Creation here is the nonhuman world, personified as the psalms and prophets do (Ps 65:12–13; Jer 12:4).
- "Subjected to futility" (v20). Mataiotēs is the Greek Old Testament's word throughout Ecclesiastes for "vanity," a vapor or breath. Creation cannot reach the purpose it was made for. This goes back to Genesis 3:17: "cursed is the ground because of you." "Him who subjected it" is most likely God, since only God could subject it "in hope."
- "Set free from its bondage to corruption" (v21). Creation's future is tied to humanity's. Adam's fall dragged it down, and the glorifying of God's children will lift it up. The Bible's hope is not escape from the physical world but its renewal (Isa 65:17; Rev 21:1–5).
- "Groaning together in the pains of childbirth" (v22). Systenazō, "groan together," is a single compound word. Childbirth pain is real, but it looks toward new life (Mark 13:8). Birth pangs, not death throes.
- "The firstfruits of the Spirit" (v23). At harvest Israel brought the first sheaf to God (Lev 23:10), a pledge that the rest was coming. The Spirit now is that first portion. So believers groan too, from longing, not despair. They are already adopted (v15) and still wait for "adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies." The status is settled now; its bodily completion comes at the resurrection. That is the hope "in which we were saved" (v24), awaited "with patience."
- "The Spirit helps us in our weakness" (v26). Synantilambanomai pictures taking hold of a load together with someone on the other side. Its only other New Testament use is Martha's "Tell her then to help me" (Luke 10:40). The Spirit takes the other end.
- "Groanings too deep for words" (vv26–27). Alalētos means unspeakable, not able to be put into speech. Creation groans, believers groan, and now the Spirit groans. The Tyndale notes take these as the Spirit's own groanings, pleading for believers when they do not know what to ask. Some, especially Pentecostal and charismatic readers, connect the verse with praying in tongues; many others see wordless longing only God can read. "He who searches hearts" (1 Sam 16:7) knows the Spirit's mind, so prayers believers cannot shape are still heard "according to the will of God."
- "All things work together for good" (v28). Not a promise that everything is good, or that believers will see how. It is a promise about outcome, for "those who love God… who are called according to his purpose." Joseph is the classic example: "you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good" (Gen 50:20). The "good" is defined in v29: being made like Christ.
- "God works" (v28). Some early manuscripts add "God" as subject, and the ESV footnotes "God works all things together for good." The lexicon notes that synergeō usually means "work together with," but in Hellenistic Greek can mean "cause to work together," so the grammar allows either reading. On any reading God is the one acting.
- "Foreknew… predestined" (v29). Proginōskō means to know beforehand. Proorizō means to decide beforehand. The goal is shared by every tradition: to be "conformed to the image of his Son." Symmorphos, "conformed," appears once more, in Philippians 3:21, of bodies made like Christ's glorious body. Christ is "the firstborn among many brothers," the eldest of a large family who shares his likeness with them.
- How the traditions read vv29–30. The Reformed view reads "foreknew" in the Old Testament sense of "know," to set one's love on someone (Amos 3:2; Jer 1:5): God first chose people in love, and that choice causes their faith. The Arminian and Wesleyan view, with many Catholic and Orthodox readers, says God foreknew who would freely believe and predestined those believers to be made like Christ. A corporate reading notes that Paul says "his people whom he foreknew" of Israel as a whole (11:2): God chose a people in Christ, and individuals share that destiny by being in him. Lutherans affirm that God chose his own for salvation but refuse to say he chose anyone for damnation. All agree on Paul's purpose: comfort, not a puzzle. Salvation starts with God, and he finishes what he starts.
- The golden chain (v30). Foreknew, predestined, called, justified, glorified. The same people go through every link, and none is dropped. "Called" means more than invited, since all the called are justified. And "glorified" is past tense, though glory is future everywhere else in the chapter (vv18, 21). God's purpose is so sure that Paul speaks of it as done.
- Commentators: Henry calls grace "the first-fruits of glory, it is glory begun," and reads v19's creation as "the whole frame of nature," not the Gentile world. JFB describes the Spirit's groanings as those "which cannot be expressed in articulate language." Guzik and the Tyndale notes agree that v28 covers suffering without calling bad things good. Guzik allows that tongues may sometimes be part of v26 but says it is not limited to that and proves no special spirituality. On v29 all three lean Reformed. Henry's outline makes vv29–30 the ground of every privilege in the chapter, "laid in predestination." JFB rejects the foreseen-faith reading as contrary to "the whole spirit, and even letter," of Paul's teaching and reads foreknowledge as God's gracious delight in his people. The lexicon gives "know beforehand," so that reading rests on the Old Testament sense of "know," not the dictionary alone. Guzik affirms predestination without defining the Greek and stresses that being conformed to Christ involves believers' cooperation. JFB and the Tyndale notes agree the past-tense "glorified" speaks from God's settled decree.
God's Everlasting Love (vv31–39)
- "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (v31). "These things" are everything since 5:1. Paul now fires questions like a lawyer whose case cannot be answered. He does not mean believers have no enemies (vv35–36 list plenty), but that no enemy can win.
- "He who did not spare his own Son" (v32). This echoes Abraham, who did not withhold Isaac (Gen 22:12, 16), and the Greek Old Testament there uses the same verb, pheidomai. At Moriah God stopped Abraham's hand and provided a substitute. At Calvary there was no substitute for the Son, because he was the substitute. The argument runs from greater to lesser: having given his Son, God will not withhold anything else his children truly need.
- "Who shall bring any charge… Who is to condemn?" (vv33–34). The courtroom language echoes Isaiah 50:8–9: "He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me?" The Judge has ruled, "It is God who justifies," so no accuser can reopen the case. Then four reasons: Christ died, was raised, sits "at the right hand of God" (Ps 110:1), and "is interceding for us" (Heb 7:25). The Spirit intercedes within believers (v26), and the Son for them in heaven.
- "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" (v35). Seven hardships follow, from tribulation to sword. Paul had faced most of them (2 Cor 11:23–27), and tradition holds that the sword finally took him in Rome. This is Christ's love for his people, not theirs for him.
- "For your sake we are being killed all the day long" (v36). Psalm 44:22 is a lament by faithful Israelites suffering though they had not turned from God. Suffering for God's sake is nothing new, and no sign that his love has stopped.
- "More than conquerors" (v37). Hypernikaō appears only here in the New Testament: to prevail completely. The victory comes "in all these things," not away from them, and "through him who loved us," a past tense that points to the cross.
- "Neither death nor life…" (vv38–39). The list covers every state of existence, every spiritual power, all of time ("things present nor things to come") and all of space ("height nor depth"). Then Paul closes every loophole: "nor anything else in all creation." Only the Creator is outside that list, and he is the one who loves. That love is "in Christ Jesus our Lord" and cannot be separated from him.
- Commentators: Henry on v31: God's being for us is the ground of the challenge, and "in this he sums up all our privileges." On v32, rather than let man perish, God let his Son go, "though it were out of his bosom." On vv33–34: "This overthrows them all; it is God, the righteous faithful God, that justifieth." On Psalm 44, sheep are killed "not because they are hurtful while they live, but because they are useful when they are dead." Guzik notes that "if God is for us" belongs to those reconciled through Christ, not to everyone automatically. JFB renders v37 "pre-eminently conquerors," which the lexicon supports, and takes the angels of v38 as "probably the good," as if not even holy angels could part believers from God's love. Most modern commentators think hostile powers are meant (Eph 6:12). Henry: Christ "is the Mediator of our love: it is in and through him that God can love us and that we dare love God."
Pointing to Christ
Every comfort in Romans 8 is tied to the Son. Sin was condemned in his flesh, so there is no condemnation for those in him. His Spirit lives in his people, and the God who raised him will raise them. They are heirs because they are joined to the true Heir, and they cry "Abba" because he did, in Gethsemane, on his way to the cross. God's purpose is to make them like him, the firstborn among many brothers. The Father did not spare him, and he now intercedes at God's right hand. The chapter that began with "no condemnation" ends with "no separation," and both rest on one person: "the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Commentary
- Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com Guzik examines no condemnation, life in the Spirit, adoption, future glory, the Spirit's intercession, the golden chain, and the hymn of security (vv.31-39).
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871): blueletterbible.org A critical and explanatory commentary on the whole Bible, more concise than Matthew Henry and closer to the Hebrew and Greek, with attention to historical and geographical detail. Public domain.
- Matthew Henry's Exposition (1710): blueletterbible.org A devotional verse-by-verse commentary in the Puritan tradition, still among the most widely read three centuries on. Public domain.
Videos
Articles
- Crossway: crossway.org On the whole letter: why Romans has carried the weight it has in church history.
- Crossway: crossway.org Why Paul's own story of being overtaken by grace is the right way into the letter.
- GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org On the whole book: an overview of the book of Romans -- who wrote it, when, why, and how it fits the rest of Scripture.
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Reflection
- No Condemnation for Those in Christ (v.1) — Paul opens the chapter declaring that anyone united to Christ faces no condemnation, present or future. Do you live in that freedom, or still carry guilt as if the verdict hasn't actually been announced?
- Adopted as God's Children (v.15) — Paul says believers receive a spirit of adoption that lets them approach God as Father, not as a fearful slave approaching a master. How does knowing you're an adopted child, not a servant on probation, shape how you relate to God?
- Present Suffering, Future Glory (v.18) — Paul puts current hardship in perspective by comparing it to a coming glory too great for comparison. How does the promise of that future glory change the way you endure what's hard right now?
- The Spirit Intercedes in Our Weakness (v.26) — Paul explains that when we don't know how to pray, the Spirit prays for us with groanings beyond words. How does that truth comfort you in seasons where you genuinely don't know what to say to God?
- All Things Working Together for Good (v.28) — Paul doesn't claim every circumstance is good, but that God weaves them together for good for those who love Him. Can you trust that promise for whatever is confusing or painful in your life right now?
- Nothing Can Separate Us From God's Love (vv.38-39) — Paul closes with an exhaustive list — death, life, powers, present, future — insisting none of it can separate believers from God's love in Christ. What are you secretly afraid might be the exception to that promise?