Romans 7:24-8:4
24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

So far, in our series, “More Than Conquerors,” we have examined some of the greatest Scriptural truths for believers. Last week, we talked about the believer’s ongoing battle with sin and the flesh in Romans 7:14-25. While sin is no longer our master, we still struggle with sin because we still have the flesh, our old fallen nature that we inherited from Adam.

This week, we make the transition from chapter 7 to 8 in Romans and Paul spends chapter 8 answering the cry that rang out at the end of chapter 7, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death?” In one sense, chapter 8 is the expounding of the answer to his question posed in verse 24. Verse 25 tells us, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Chapter 8 is the unpacking of how Christ delivers His people from the “body of this death.” It is important to remember that when Romans was written, there were no chapter and verse breaks. Chapter 7 and 8 are not divided, but a continuous thought. When 7:24-25 and 8:1-4 are put together they form the crux of all of Romans 6-8. It is all about how believers have a new identity in Christ, serve a new master, have been set free from the condemnation of the Law, face an ongoing battle with sin, and are being delivered through the work of Jesus Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit. Jesus has provided the solution to man’s great dilemma. Through His work on the cross, He has made it possible for people to be set free from sin. There are three things that He has accomplished and is accomplishing for those who put their trust in Him.

First, we are promised that “through Jesus Christ,” believers will be set free from “the body of this death” and, as a result, sin’s presence. There is historical evidence that indicates that near Tarsus (where Paul grew up), when a person committed a murder, their punishment was to be strapped to the dead body of their victim and left in the Mediterranean sun. The rotting corpse that they were attached to would actually work decay and infection into the criminal and slowly kill them. Paul probably uses that analogy here to illustrate that the only way a believer will truly be free from the presence of sin is to be set free from the “body of death,” the flesh. We know that we will not be free from the flesh as Christians until we die and go to be with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). Through what Jesus has done and is doing in His people, He is moving us toward the time when even our bodies will be redeemed and raised incorruptible (1 Corinthians 15:35-58). In fact, Paul says that all of creation looks forward to that time when believers are totally free from the body of death and raised in glory (Romans 8:18-25). This is where Romans 8 is headed. It is about Jesus working through the Holy Spirit to bring about the total redemption of His people. Romans 8:1-17 is about what He is doing in the meantime and Romans 8:26-39 is about how nothing can thwart those purposes of God in the lives of His people.
Second, Paul points out that Jesus delivers us from sin’s penalty, condemnation. Romans 8:1 contains, perhaps, some of the greatest words in the New Testament. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” It is a promise for every believer, unconditionally. Once we are in Christ we are no longer under condemnation. That is because Jesus took our condemnation in our place on the cross. Paul said it this way in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” Christ took our punishment and our condemnation. Therefore, we are made right with God and cleansed of all our sin. Despite the fact that we are in “the body of this death” we are not condemned because of Jesus.

Third, Jesus delivers us from sin’s power. He does so by giving us the Holy Spirit. Through the Spirit’s life in us, believers are empowered to obedience and the putting to death of sin in their lives. The Holy Spirit is the One who applies the righteousness of Christ to our lives. Titus 3:5 says, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” However, the Holy Spirit not only applies this to our lives, but He empowers us to live righteously. Before, we lacked the ability to keep the Law. Now, through the Spirit, He makes us new people with the desire and ability to be obedient children of God through faith (Ezekiel 36:27).

The victory of the Christian is squarely in Jesus and what He has done for us. Any victory we experience is not our own, but Christ’s. Our ultimate victory is Christ’s victory, not ours. We simply share in what He has done through faith. Have you trusted in Christ? Your only hope of victory is not in yourself, but in Jesus. He is our deliverer. He is our Savior.