Romans 1-8 Analysis

“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.” Paul’s opening to Chapter 8 is indicative of the participatory nature of justification realized in sanctification. Those who are in Christ Jesus are no long defined by the past, but rather are defined a future reality being realized through the Spirit of life. Spirit-enable participation in the life of Christ is one of transformation. Continuing Paul writes, “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.” To live according to the Spirit is to follow the cruciform model of Christ himself. As Greathouse …show more content…
Earlier in Romans 5:8, Paul shows that the character of the cruciform God is above all else love. The cross represents God’s deep love for us expressed in Christ Jesus dying for the ungodly to make a way for restored relationship. Likewise, Paul, in Romans 12:9-21 and 13:8-14, extols the marks of Christian character as most importantly an expression of love. Paul writes, “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor,” and later “Own no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who love another has fulfilled the law.” Additionally, this love culminates in the end of violence. Just as Paul commands in Romans 12:19 to never avenge yourself, so Gorman writes, “a fundamental characteristic of cruciform existence in Christ: a life of nonviolence and reconciliation. That is, for Paul this kind of life is an integral part of his vision of justification and of participatory holiness,” which leads to the third and final expression of sanctification: