SET FREE
Romans 8:1-4, 18-21
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 18 For I consider that our present sufferings cannot even be compared to the glory that will be revealed to us. 19 For the creation eagerly waits for the revelation of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility — not willingly but because of God who subjected it — in hope 21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children.
We have been taking these Communion Sundays to talk about the gospel as It is presented by the apostle Paul in the book of Romans. There is so much in chapter 8 about the gospel that it’s going to take us several months to cover it all. But today, I want us to focus on a message in this text. That message is quite simple. It is a message of emancipation. It is a fact that believers in Christ have been set free by Christ. Today, we will discuss how believers are set free and why they are set free. There are several ways that we can talk about the gospel. But one advantage of describing the gospel as a means of freedom is that everyone wants to be free. Everyone feels the struggle of slavery in some way. I believe that liberty is an inalienable right. But I also think that slavery is a universal reality. I want us to look at today’s text and understand what God wants us to know about freedom. I want us also to know how we can describe the gospel to others by explaining what this text means.
Let me begin with a summary of what this passage says about freedom. After that, I will take each section individually and describe what it means. But we see freedom in this passage touching those in slavery in three ways. The first is the freedom that we see in verse 2. It says that Christ has set us free. For the believer, the gospel declares that Christ has set us free. We also see freedom in the revelation described in verse 18 and verse 19. This is the freedom we will experience the moment we see Christ when he returns. Finally, we see freedom for the whole creation in verses 20 and 21. We are told that the creation will be set free from the bondage of decay. Today, I want to examine these three kinds of freedom described in this chapter.
We were set free (1-4).
The first verse says there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. The freedom that the apostle Paul is talking about is freedom from condemnation. What is the source of the condemnation? If you look back to the previous chapter in Romans, you’ll notice that Paul spends a lot of time discussing how hard it is to follow God. He shares his struggles in that chapter. He says he wants to do what is right, but every time he does something, it turns out to be a sin. He’s living in a body of condemnation. He wants to do what is following God’s law. But he fails to live up to that law every time he tries. And so, he asks, “Who will rescue me from this body of death?” His answer is, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
Paul knows that Jesus is the answer to the slavery that he is experiencing. That is why he begins chapter 8 with this word: therefore. Jesus is the reason for the therefore. If it weren’t for Jesus, he would still be in condemnation. But something that Jesus has done has set him free from that condemnation. Also, everyone else who is in Christ Jesus has experienced the same freedom. Paul says in this verse that freedom is for those in Christ Jesus. This freedom is not for everyone. Many still live under God’s condemnation. Many are still not free. But for everyone who is in Christ Jesus, freedom is a present reality.
Now, the question is what has happened to cause us to be free. What is it that we are in slavery to? I will walk you through verses 2 to 4 to explain what Paul discusses. Note that in verse two, there are two laws. There is the law of sin and death. There is the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus. I want to talk about laws. Laws define who are the criminals and who are not. Suppose you do something that the law says should not be done. That makes you a criminal. That puts you under the condemnation of the law. But if the legislators pass a new law that contradicts the previous law, the latest law changes who are determined as criminals.
The law of sin and death Brought condemnation for everyone until it was rescinded and replaced by the cross of Jesus Christ. A new law is in effect because of what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. That law is the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus. Because of this new law, all in Christ Jesus have been set free from the consequences of the old law. Those who are not in Christ Jesus are still under the condemnation of the old law. But for those in Christ Jesus, the old law no longer applies.
In verses 3-4, Paul describes what God did to put the new law into effect. He sent his son to condemn sin in the flesh. He did this by living a sinless life and dying for us on the cross. He fulfilled the law in his own flesh by living a sinless life. By dying on the cross, he served as our substitute to apply the reward of that sinless life to all those in him. Christ fulfilled the righteous requirement of the law, and his fulfillment of that law was applied to us.
As a result of what Christ did for us, we are now free from condemnation. No one is going to condemn us for the sins we have committed. Those sins have been forgiven. They are now separated from us. When God looks at us, he sees the finished work of Christ on the cross. We can be declared not guilty because of what Jesus did for us. So, we are set free from condemnation. We are set free from the consequences of the old law. We are also free to walk according to the Spirit. We still have flesh. But we do not have to walk according to the flesh. We can walk in the newness of life because of what Jesus has done for us. We have been set free. But there’s more.
We will be set free (18-19).
In verse 18, Paul says that we presently suffer. Why do we suffer if we have been set free? We suffer because God’s plan is not yet totally fulfilled. The apostle Paul talks about two ages. This present age in which we are suffering is the first age. But there will come an age and which we will no longer be suffering. That age begins with what Paul calls the revelation of the sons of God. Our revelation is something that is revealed. That means God has a plan for us that has not yet been revealed. There will no longer be suffering when God’s plan for us is revealed. But until that revelation takes place suffering is part of our experience. What Paul is talking about here is another kind of freedom. The first freedom was freedom from condemnation. The second freedom is freedom from suffering. It is freedom from all those things that are part of this fallen world in which we exist.
What is the event that will trigger the beginning of the new age and the ending of the old age? Paul describes that event in this passage. He calls it the glory that will be revealed to us. That is future tense. It has not happened yet. But when it does happen, it will mark the end of suffering for all Christians. It will mark the end of our mortality. After this event, there will be no more death. Jesus described this event. He said that he is coming back again. He said that when he comes back, he will raise the dead. He is going to undo our mortality. He has promised us eternal life. At the revelation of the sons of God, we will receive this inheritance.
Paul says that he considers our present sufferings cannot even be compared to that glory. Who we will be will far outshine what we are now. Who we will be is far more critical than what we are now. Everything we do today is merely a prelude to God’s plan for us in our future. God has a tremendous plan for each of us. He has adopted us into his family. When Jesus returns, the reason for that adoption will be made clear. When that happens, all the things we have suffered on this earth during this age will be insignificant compared to the future we will experience for God at that time.
You may think that your life is relatively insignificant. You may not have had the opportunities you wish you would have had. You may not have received the respect you thought you deserved. All kinds of handicaps and problems may have hindered you. You may have suffered needlessly many trials. But the gospel message for you is you ain’t seen nothing yet. There is much more importance to your life than you could imagine. You are an adopted son or daughter of God. You are significant. You are important. Nothing you experience during this age can dampen the brightness of your future. When you see your Savior coming in the clouds, all those problems you experienced will be meaningless. You will finally realize that you have been highly blessed. You will finally realize that you are important to your heavenly Father. He has not abandoned you. He was only preparing you for a tremendous eternal future. But there’s more!
Everything will be set free (20-21).
God has set believers free from condemnation by Jesus’ work on the cross. God will set all believers free from suffering at the return of Christ. But he is going to do much more than that. He will undo the damage that sin has done to this whole creation. Paul says that the creation was subjected to futility. The word futility signifies Impermanence. It speaks of the fact that everything eventually decays and dies in this creation. Paul calls it the bondage of decay. The universe suffers decay and death not because of some accident. The universe is in slavery to decay and death. That slavery will continue until there is emancipation. Emancipation will only happen at that event in which the children of God are set free. That event is a revelation.
Here, I want to draw attention to the difference between conservation and restoration. Conservation is when we see something in danger of being destroyed and protect it. But restoration is when we see something has already been damaged or destroyed, and we put it back. The gospel message concerning this world we live in is a message of restoration, not conservation. We certainly should protect the world in which we are living. But we can only go so far in protecting the world. The reason is that this world is already in slavery to decay and death. Decay and death are natural in this present age. But God’s plan for the universe is not conservation but restoration. In God’s plan, the creation will also be set free from the bondage of decay. That freedom will not come through human conservation. That freedom will come through divine restoration.
God’s plan for the universe is to restore it to a pre-sin state. Before sin entered the world, God pronounced his creation as very good. He put humanity in a garden — a paradise. But because of sin, humanity was banished from that paradise. God plans to restore the universe to that original state of paradise. That is his plan for humanity. The human beings who will inhabit that paradise are the sons of God. God’s plan is not to take us to a faraway place. He plans to restore the place he gave us to begin with.
The gospel is all about being set free. If you are an unbeliever today, you are living under the condemnation of sin. The only rescue from that condemnation is being in Christ Jesus. God offers you this day a rescue from that condemnation. But there’s more. He also provides you with future glory. He offers you glory that cannot be compared to your present sufferings. He offers you a glorious, immortal, eternal existence. But there’s more. The universe itself eagerly waits for the revelation of the sons of God. God is going to restore the universe itself. And the only ones who will inhabit this restored universe are the ones who are in Christ Jesus.
Accepting Christ today means being set free from condemnation. It guarantees a future in God’s Kingdom and a home in God’s restored universe. Rejecting Christ today means remaining under condemnation. It means that you will have no future and no future home. The choice is simple, and it is yours. Choose freedom, choose life, and choose restoration.
For further reading:
Pate, C. Marvin. Romans. Baker Books 2013. pp. 166-167; 172-174.
Pettingill, William L. Simple Studies in Romans. 3rd ed. Philadelphia School of the Bible 1915. pp. 97-100; 109-112.
Pilch, John J. Galatians, and Romans. Liturgical Press 1983. pp. 48-50.
Plumer, William S. Commentary on Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. A.D.F. Randolph 1870. pp. 367-374; 396-410.
Rhymer, Joseph. Good News in Romans: Romans in Today’s English Version. Collins World 1977. p. 121.
Rhys, Howard. The Epistle to the Romans. Macmillan 1961. pp. 94-98; 105-108.
Richardson, John R and J. Knox Chamblin. The Epistle to the Romans. Baker Book House 1963. pp. 85-91.
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