Because the book of Romans is mysterious and abstract, through the years many Bible teachers have not touched it adequately. Without the real experience of what is revealed in Romans 8, it is impossible to understand this chapter. However, we need to realize that with regard to life, whatever is the most mysterious and abstract is the most precious. For instance, what we can see of a human being, that which is physical, is not precious. The preciousness of a human being is not physical, visible, or material but something invisible within our physical body called life. If we do not have life, we become a mere material object, like a chair, which is not precious. We are precious because we have a life. We can speak, listen, and function because we have a life. The life mentioned in Romans 8 is the divine, eternal life of God, which is higher than our physical life. The higher the life is, the more mysterious it is. The plant life, which is not very high, is not difficult to understand. However, the human life, which is higher than the plant life, is more mysterious. The divine life is much more mysterious than our human life; therefore, it is more precious.
We need to realize that according to God’s economy and eternal purpose, what God wants to do in His salvation is to work Himself into us, His redeemed people, as our life. God’s desire to work Himself into us as our life is the focus of the Bible, yet because it is mysterious and abstract, it is nearly altogether missed by Christians today. When most Christians think of God’s salvation, they mainly consider it to be a matter of the forgiveness of sins and salvation from hell. Our conscience is touched when we first receive the gospel, and we are enlightened and convicted, realizing that we are sinful. Because we become conscious of our sins and transgressions, we want our sins to be forgiven and washed away. The Lord shed His blood and died on the cross to take away our sins. Because of Christ’s redemptive death, God forgives us of our sins, and we are saved from eternal perdition. The forgiveness of sins and salvation from hell are great and necessary parts of God’s salvation, yet they are not the central concern of God’s salvation. The central focus of God’s salvation is God working Himself into us as our life.
We thank the Lord that our sins are forgiven and that we are saved from eternal perdition. However, we should not be satisfied merely with knowledge of these facts. Romans 8 does not concern the forgiveness of sins or going to heaven but the law of the Spirit of life, which frees us from the law of sin and of death (v. 2). The law of the Spirit of life is precious. The life mentioned in verse 2 is not our physical life but the divine life. The Greek word for physical life is bios, which is the root of the English word biology. However, the word for life in Romans 8 is zoe, which is a higher life, the life of God.
Our sins have been taken away by Christ’s death on the cross, but the law of sin is still in us. Although we hate to lose our temper, it may seem that we have no control over our temper when it rises up. This is because sin is a natural law, like the law of gravity, which causes things to happen spontaneously and automatically. Gravity is quite strong—billions of people are kept on every side of the globe by the power of gravity. Only the law of aerodynamics can overcome gravity by lifting people off the ground in an airplane. Similarly, only the law of the Spirit of life can free us from the law of sin and of death. Verse 2 says, “The law of the Spirit of life has freed me in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and of death.” Regrettably, many genuine Christians do not realize that within them is the powerful law of the Spirit of life. In order to overcome the law of sin and of death, we need the law of the Spirit of life, which has been installed in every believer. This law is like a great sum of money that has been deposited into our bank account.
In addition to the Spirit of life, Romans 8 mentions the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead. Verse 9 says, “You are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Yet if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not of Him.” Verse 11 says, “If the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.” Thus, the Spirit revealed in Romans 8 is an all-inclusive Spirit who comes not merely to visit us but to indwell us. The Spirit of God is God Himself. Likewise, the Spirit of Christ is Christ Himself, and the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead is the resurrecting One. The all-inclusive Spirit is the ultimate consummation and application of the Triune God—the Triune God reaching us. We need to see that as believers we have within us the law of the Spirit of life and the all-inclusive Spirit.