Latest Commentaries

Christians have been spiritually adopted by God. We are not slaves who are afraid of their old evil master, but sons taken in by a new master, whom we endearingly call "Father." The Holy Spirit indwelling us is a sign that we are indeed children of God.

Paul wants the Roman Christians to realize, since we have the Holy Spirit, we are free from our sin nature and can continue to follow Him rather than our selfish desires. We are now obligated to God, who has saved us, and has empowered us to live real life while fighting off our sin. We put our sinful actions to death, ending them and choosing our new life in the Spirit. If we are following the Spirit, we are living as sons of God; we are living out our new identity in Christ.

If you don’t have the Spirit, then you’re not a Christian, which means all Christians have the Holy Spirit, the Helper, living inside them. The only way to truly live the fulfilling life God has for us, despite our sinful body, is through the Holy Spirit, through His power, and through our willingness to follow Him in faith.

Every believer has the power to choose to follow the Spirit, rather than the flesh. If we dedicate our thoughts to the desires of our flesh/sin nature, we’ll live that way. We’ll live a sinful, selfish life and gain adverse consequences as a result. But if we dedicate our thoughts to the Holy Spirit and live our daily life in obedience to God, then we’re living a new life in the Spirit. The flesh results in death and disconnection, while the Spirit results in experiencing life and peace. The flesh is a total enemy of God; it does everything it can to fight Him, and it only leads to ruin. 

God sent His son, Jesus, as a sacrifice to free us from sin and the condemnation of the law. Christ died and resurrected to restore our relationship with God and to save us from eternal condemnation. Now, saved from Hell, we can also be delivered from the earthly consequences of sin, if we walk by the power of the Spirit. We do not have to suffer from sin. Although we are not under the law, we fulfill the requirement of the law when we walk by faith in the power of the Spirit.

It is through faith in Jesus that we are set free from our carnal desires and the sin nature that produces them. While we are still on this earth our sin nature will always be fighting against our deep-down desire to serve God.

Evil is present in us, even when we are redeemed. Sin’s desire is to hold us captive and obedient to it, acting through the sin nature within us.

The sin nature in each person influences what we do and the choices we make. In these verses, Paul is telling us that even if we want to do what we know is good, the sin inside of us can cause us to do those things we don’t want to. Making mistakes is an inevitable part of being a human because we all have a sin nature.

The perfection of the Law makes our sin clear, just as any dirt in a glass of clear water would be easy to see. But the water is not the problem, rather the dirt. In this same way, sin is the problem, not the Law. Our sin nature is shown more clearly because it is carnal, it leads the flesh into sin, whereas the Law is perfect and of the spirit.

The Law is perfect, but we are not. Therefore, the Law shows our imperfection and sin nature very clearly. Because the Law is perfect and we are sinful, we cannot follow the Law.

The law is not sin, but it shows us our sin. More rules always mean more lawlessness, not more morality. The law gives our sin nature more opportunities to rebel.

Our faith in Christ separates us from the Law and allows us to live in our new nature that comes from the Spirit.

Through faith in Jesus we can bear fruit for God. But if we remain devoted to follow the law and not our faith in Christ, we will continue to follow our sinful desires which the law brings out in us.

Paul is telling his audience of believers in Rome that, like the widow who is no longer bound by the covenant of marriage to a dead husband, Christian believers are no longer bound to the covenant of the Law.

Paul is asking the Roman Christians: What good did it do for you to live in sin? Was it really good? It kept you from righteousness. Worse yet, the outcome of sinful living is death.

Paul thanks God that the Roman believers are living out his teaching already. They have become obedient to God after believing in Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. They are freed from sin and have dedicated themselves to living harmoniously as God designed.

Paul dismisses the false notion that he endorses sinful living among Christians. God will always forgive our sins; we cannot out-sin His grace. Even though God will always forgive our sins, we shouldn’t consider it an advantage to sin, because there are still dire consequences for living sinfully.

Since we have died to sin and share a new life in Christ’s resurrection, we have been empowered to live righteously (harmonious living, which is what God designed for humanity). Paul’s warning is simple: don’t let sin continue to lead you. Don’t obey it. Our old self—our sin nature—will always try to drag us back to our dead way of living before we had faith in Christ.

Paul emphasizes the reality that we have a new nature and can walk in it—we have the power to choose to live the resurrection life of Christ. We should have a mindset of being free from sin (dead to sin) and living for God (alive to God in Christ).

We are now united with Christ because we have put our faith in Him. He died and was resurrected, and we who believe in Him have died to sin and have been spiritually resurrected with a new power to live without following our sinful nature. We are empowered to choose to follow God.