in order that the righteous requirement of the law should be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to flesh but according to Spirit.
Romans 8:4 gives the purpose of what God did in sending His own Son to deal with sin in the flesh. But if the believer is not under law, why does the law's demand appear here, and how is it met?
Many read the verse as if the Spirit helped a believer keep the law and so be justified. One writer rules that out.
God worked in Christ so that the requirement of the law — its righteous claim — might be fulfilled in us ... This, I gladly grant, applies not to justification, as so many teachers wrongly teach. It is the practical consequence of justification, or rather of the infinite work of the Saviour, in those who receive Him.
So why does the law's claim appear at all, for people set free from law? One writer traces the answer back to Romans 7.
The connection shows that this is worked out in the delivered soul — in those who have passed through the experience of Romans 7. ... But if we have been delivered from the law, and from efforts to fulfil it, why are we told that the righteous requirement of the law is still fulfilled in us? ... We can gather the reason from the previous chapter. There the standard before the soul was obedience to the law. The apostle points out that "the good," which could never be attained while under law, is now reached in a new and better way. What the law required, but never obtained, is now produced in those who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
One writer shows the difference with a school bell that rings twice in one day.
They hate the sound of that bell at that hour, and obey its command with great reluctance and only because they must. The law of the school is fulfilled by them, not because they love it, but from fear of the consequences of disobedience.
The same bell rings again at dinner time.
It is now as pleasant to them as before it was hateful ... they drop whatever they are doing and rush to the dining room. The command of the dinner bell is fulfilled IN them, for there is that in them that gives an instant response to it.
The verse describes how a believer walks, and it names two possible sources of that walk.
He is not taking up the old nature here, but the walk. Note that there are two principles of walk — after the flesh, and after the Spirit. Flesh is not changed; if it were, why warn us not to walk after it? The flesh is the same as ever, but the believer now has power over it. He does not walk after it, although it is there. The flesh is in him, but he is not in the flesh. There is no excuse for a Christian walking in flesh, because the Spirit of Christ is in him.
One writer adds a sober admission.
This verse states normal Christianity. We must also admit that none of us, not even the most spiritual, walk fully according to the Spirit. So none of us fully meet what the law righteously demands.
The law never supplies the power for such a walk.
Too many believers live under law in practice, working to correct and improve the flesh — the case described in the second half of Romans 7. There is no power in that. ... Christ is the only power of holiness, not the law — Christ in grace and truth, Christ dead and risen. That power works through the Holy Spirit in us, and the heart answers in love to God and man.
The believer who is free from law does not end up below its demands, but above them.
Find us a Christian who recognises how God has condemned sin in the flesh at the cross, and who therefore disowns the flesh and does not walk by it. Find us one who also rejoices in the new life in Christ Jesus, and in the Spirit of that new life who is its power and energy. We will at once show you a Christian who is fulfilling what He had so righteously required of men. Indeed we will show you one who goes beyond those requirements. He is learning to walk as Christ walked, and that is a far higher standard than the law of Moses.
- Cause. The verse opens with "in order that" — it is the goal of what God did in sending His Son, not a condition we meet to be accepted.
- Gift. The demand is fulfilled in us, not by us. New life and the Spirit answer God's will the way hungry boys answer a dinner bell.
- Power. Working to improve the flesh gives no power. Christ, dead and risen, is the only strength for holiness, and He works by the Spirit.
- Walk. Two principles are open to a believer: flesh and Spirit. The flesh remains, but it no longer has to rule — and no one walks wholly by the Spirit.
- Result. What the law asked for and never got is now produced. And more: the standard is now Christ Himself, not Moses.
For they that are according to flesh mind the things of the flesh; and they that are according to Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
Paul has just described a Christian as someone who walks "not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." This verse explains why. Each of the two orders of person has its own set of interests, and every reader is left with one question: what is your mind set on?
The verse sorts people, not moods. It describes what each kind of person is by nature, and what follows from that.
There are two classes to consider: those "after" or "according to" the flesh, and those according to the Spirit. The first mind the things of the flesh; the second, the things of the Spirit. The mind of the flesh is death: the mind of the Spirit life and peace. The two classes stand in complete contrast in nature, character and end. They move in two completely separate spheres. Paul is of course speaking in general terms. He is looking at the whole position as it is by inward nature, not at particular people or their differing experiences.
To "mind" something is not to think about it occasionally. It is where your desires settle, what you are after.
The mind — phronema — is what the desires are on. Their mind is set on those things, and so you get, "The mind of the flesh is death." That is what the flesh is after.
Every nature is drawn to what suits it, and two natures are in view here.
It is "after the Spirit." Here the man's condition is seen as spiritual. Every nature has its object, and that object is its "mind." Two principles are at work here, and each has its own object. Even the animals have their desires; the flesh has objects it chooses more deliberately. The spiritual man obeys the tastes and appetites of the Spirit instead of the flesh.
The verse links three things: what a person is by birth, what marks him, and how he lives. The two natures never turn into each other.
If they were after flesh, the mind and affection would be on the things of the flesh. Source, character, and conduct go together. Flesh is never refined into spirit, and spirit never sinks or changes into flesh. As the Lord said, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." Even Adam before the fall was not spirit.
The believer now belongs to the other order, and that is why his mind turns where it does.
We belong now to another order; we are after the Spirit. And we mind the things of the Spirit. There are those that are after the flesh, and they mind the things of the flesh; this is the natural order. They know nothing about the things of the Spirit; they are not of that order… Our minds are turned away from the lusts and pride of man and fixed on the love of God, the excellence of Christ and heavenly things.
The phrase is not vague. It has real content, and that content reaches far past anything the law regulates.
If we walk according to the Spirit we shall mind the things of the Spirit. This will take us a great way beyond fulfilling the requirements of the law. The law does not go beyond regulating our conduct on earth in the varied relationships of life. The "things of the Spirit" are heavenly things, tied to the heavenly relationships that belong to the life in Christ Jesus. He leads us "into all truth": things to come, the Father's things, and the things concerning Christ.
The two sets of objects belong to two different worlds. So the verse is not a label to wear but a question to answer.
Those who walk according to the desires of the flesh will have their minds set on the things of this world, which only the flesh can appreciate. The Spirit has nothing to say to the things of this world apart from the interests of Christ. We may well challenge our hearts with this question: are our minds set on the things of the flesh or the things of the Spirit?
That challenge is fair, because the flesh is still in the believer.
We have to confess that, though we are not after the flesh, we still have the flesh in us. So we can turn aside from minding the things of the Spirit and mind the things of the flesh instead. As far as we do, we meet death instead of life and peace. But let us make no mistake: if we go in for the things of the flesh, we are not seeking things that truly mark a Christian. Such things are completely abnormal and improper for us.
- Nature — Every nature has its object; what you are by birth decides what draws you.
- Mind — To "mind" is not passing thought but settled desire: what the heart is after.
- Order — Two orders, two spheres. The natural order knows nothing of the things of the Spirit, and flesh never turns into spirit.
- Objects — The things of the Spirit are heavenly: the Father's things and the things concerning Christ. They reach far beyond what law regulates.
- Test — Ask where your mind is set. The flesh is still in you, and turning to its things is abnormal for a Christian.
For the mind of the flesh [is] death; but the mind of the Spirit life and peace.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.