Study of ROMANS 8:1

Romans chapter 8 is one of the most blessed, encouraging and thrilling chapters in the Bible for the person who is "IN CHRIST JESUS" (compare verse 1, verse 39). The chapter begins with NO CONDEMNATION (v.1) and it ends with NO SEPARATION (verses 35-39). The key word, in the first part of this chapter, is the word "SPIRIT" (occurring 20 times in chapter 8 whereas it only appears 4 times in the first 7 chapters!).

The person who is "IN CHRIST JESUS" is safe and secure forever (v.1). Romans chapter 8 is one of the key chapters in the Bible which so clearly sets forth the doctrine of eternal security.

"No condemnation (judgment)" (v.1). Not one bit of condemnation! Compare also John 3:18; 5:24 and 1 Cor. 11:32. The word "condemnation" literally means "judgment coming down (on someone)." God’s judgment is not going to come down upon me! Why not? See Romans 7:24; 8:2 -- I have been delivered and set free from the law of sin and death. If I were still under the law of sin and death then I would be under God’s condemnation (sin demands judgment, death and condemnation -- the penalty for sin must be paid!). But, praise God, Calvary took care of it all. God condemned His Son (Rom.8:3) so that I might never be condemned (Rom.8:1)! God’s judgment came down upon His only begotten Son so that His judgment would not need to come down upon me! I am not condemned; rather I AM JUSTIFIED! Keep in mind the teaching of the last part of Romans 5. IN ADAM I am condemned, but IN CHRIST I am justified!

The true believer will not come into condemnation or judgment (John 5:24). There is "no condemnation" for him (Rom. 8:1). All of his sins have been take care of at the cross. The believer's judgment for sin took place about 2000 years ago when Christ was judged and condemned for us! He was punished and condemned for my sins. God's wrath was poured out on Him. "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. . .the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquities of us all" (Isaiah 53:6). And when we come to Christ in faith we are justified and declared "NOT GUILTY" by the Judge of all the universe! "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Shall God that justifieth? Who is he that condemneth? Shall Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us?" (Romans 8:33-34). If God is never going to condemn us and if God is never going to charge us with guilt, then we need not worry!

We are "in Christ Jesus," the One who is OUR LIFE. We are so identified with the risen and glorified Christ that as He is so are we. Condemnation could never fall on us because we are identified and attached to Him. In other words, we are so identified with Christ that if God were to condemn us, He would have to condemn His Son also. Impossible! "Herein has love been perfected with us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because even as He is, we also are in this world" (1 John 4:17).

On the one hand we are told that the believer will not come into judgment (John 5:24 and Romans 8:1) and on the other hand we are told that every believer will stand before the judgment seat of Christ (Romans 14:10). How can these two seemingly contradictory facts be understood? 1) The believer will never stand before God as JUDGE to be condemned for his sins and punished for his sins. This condemnation and punishment has already fallen upon Christ our Substitute (Romans 8:3 and see the previous paragraph). Remember, if the believer were to be condemned for only one sin, that would be enough to condemn him to the lake of fire forever. 2) The believer will stand before the BEMA or judgment seat of Christ to give an account of how faithfully he has lived the Christian life since the day he was saved. The issue then will not be condemnation or no condemnation, but the issue will be rewards or loss of rewards (1 Cor. 3:12-15). Loss of rewards does not mean loss of salvation. Even the most unfaithful Christian at the judgment seat of Christ "shall be saved" and not condemned (1 Cor. 3:15).

Who can claim and enjoy this wonderful statement of "NO CONDEMNATION"? Only those who are "IN CHRIST JESUS" (v.1). There is no safer place to be! In the days of Noah there was only one safe place to be--in the ark! God’s judgment came down upon everyone who was not in the ark. Today Jesus Christ is our Ark of safety! Those who are positioned in Him are safe and secure and are not in danger of the judgment of God.

"In Christ Jesus"--all of the wonderful things that Paul is going to tell us about in Romans 8 apply only to those who are in Christ Jesus. Every true believer is "in Christ" (see Gal. 3:26-28: "baptized into Christ" by faith!). The last time we came across this expression "in Christ Jesus" was in Romans 6:23. In Christ we have eternal life (Rom.6:23)! In Christ we have no condemnation (Rom.8:1)! In Christ we are truly blessed (Eph.1:3)!

"Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." There is a question as to whether these words belong in the inspired text of Scripture. Those who study the Greek manuscripts tell us that some Greek manuscripts contain these words and other Greek manuscripts do not contain these words. See for example the NT translations by John Darby and William Kelly of Romans 8:1: "There is therefore (then) now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus." [Compare also other translations.] We should note also that these very same words are found at the end of verse 4 (where all the Greek manuscripts are unanimous), and it's possible that a scribe took these words from verse 4 and wrongly added them to verse 1.

Most textual variations in the Greek New Testament are of such minor import that they do not affect the sense of the text in any way and normally they are not worth mentioning, but the textual variation here in Romans 8:1 does have some doctrinal significance. The key question is this: Does our blessed state of "no condemnation" depend upon our position "in Christ Jesus" or does it also depend upon the way we walk and live the Christian life? Does it depend upon Christ and His finished work or does it also depend upon our WALK?

If our lack of condemnation depended upon our walk, we would all be in trouble! Who among us has such a perfect WALK that he could present it to God and God would find no fault, no condemnation in it? Who among us always walks after the Spirit and never walks after the flesh? Who among us would say that our walk is perfect and without sin (1 John 1:8-10)? Who among us would say that we do not need an Advocate with the Father, Christ Jesus the Righteous One, for those times when our walk is not what it should be? All thanks be to our gracious and merciful Saviour that our justification and freedom from condemnation depends only upon our Lord Jesus Christ, His shed blood and His unending LIFE! If it depended upon our walk we would all bathe in the lake of fire forever.