Session 4.20: May 8, 2026
Study session scripture: Romans 8:1-14
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, 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. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 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. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
Study session topics:
Assurance of Hope
Freedom from condemnation by the law (vv. 1-4)
v. 1: a thesis and a summary -"therefore"--the biggest one yet
No condemnation
Points back to the first few chapters, summed up in 3:9-11 -"in Christ Jesus"
Points back to Paul's discussion of being united to Christ in Ch. 5, continued in v. 2
Here we see all 3 persons of the Trinity active in salvation
God the Father: Sends His Son to Earth and condemns sin in the flesh through Christ's death, thus justifying the Christian
God the Son: Becomes like us, dies as the perfect sacrifice, and breaks the power of sin through His death
God the Holy Spirit: Joins us to Christ in His death and resurrection, and gives us power to live a holy life
In this passage we begin to see how our freedom from condemnation leads to a holy life -Holiness is the goal of justification
Holiness consists of fulfilling the law's just demands
Holiness is the work of the Holy Spirit
Holiness is mandatory
We see Christ illustrate how freedom from condemnation works in John 8:1-11
Deliverance from our sinful natures (vv. 5-14)
In vv. 5-8 Paul contrasts the unsaved person and the Christian
The unsaved person is characterized in 4 ways:
His thinking: his mind is set on fleshly things
His state: spiritually dead
His religion: anti-God
His present condition: unable to please God
The Christian is characterized in 2 ways:
His thinking: set on what the Spirit desires
His state: spiritually alive and at peace
In vv. 9-11 Paul encourages his audience to examine themselves to assure them that they are included in God's new covenant
The Christian's past (v. 9) -The Christian's present (v. 10)
The Christian's future (v.11) -vv. 12-14 describe the process of sanctification as a moral imperative
If you live like a non-Christian, you will die like a non-Christian--because you are not a Christian -If you live like a Christian--as only a true Christian can--you will live forever