The Holy Spirit is related to the new disposition of the Christian in at least two ways. In the first place, the Holy Spirit is the agent by whom Jesus Christ implanted the new disposition in the Christian. In 2 Corinthians 3:3 Paul says to Christians: "You are a letter of Christ . . . written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts." As noted earlier, that which was written on the heart was the law of God or the new disposition. Paul is saying that Jesus Christ uses the Holy Spirit to place the new disposition in the believer through regeneration.

The second way in which the Holy Spirit is related to the new disposition is that the Holy Spirit works together with the new disposition to enable the Christian to do God’s will. The new disposition prompts the believer to will to do what is right. The Holy Spirit supplies the power necessary to put that will into effect. Both the Old and New Testaments indicate that this is the function of the Holy Spirit.

As noted earlier in Ezekiel’s prophecy concerning the new covenant, God promised not only to put a new human spirit (the new disposition) within the regenerate person but also to put His Spirit within him. As a result of this, the regenerate person would submit to God’s rule.

In this passage, God’s concept is that of the Holy Spirit being in the regenerate person for the purpose of empowering him to do what God wants. Snaith declares that in the Old Testament "the idea of a more-than-human power runs through the whole of the use of the phrase [Spirit of the Lord]. As a result of this special endowment of divine power men are able to do that which, in the ordinary way and relying upon purely human resources, they are quite unable to do."¹ Again he says that the phrase "Spirit of the Lord" "stands for that special power by which God inspires the individual man, enabling him to do the will of God, and thus to do those things which in his own strength he is wholly unable to do."²

Concerning the function of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, Snaith states that in Paul’s writings the Spirit of God "takes hold of a man, controls him, gives to him a power that is not his own…. He is God Himself, manifest once in the flesh in the Lord Jesus Christ, and now manifest in human lives."³ He is "a transforming Power."⁴ That Snaith is correct can be seen from several New Testament passages.

Immediately after talking about the defeat of the Christian and God’s provision of victory through Jesus Christ, Paul enlarges upon the provision by writing Romans 8:1-4.

In Romans 8:1 Paul makes the following announce-ment: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Scholars disagree concerning what Paul means by "no condemn-ation." Some believe that Paul is referring to the believer’s justification from the guilt of sin.⁵

Others believe that Paul is saying that the believer is not condemned to a life of servitude to the sinful disposition. Bruce is convinced that the term "condemnation" refers to "penal servitude" and that Paul is teaching that "there is no reason why those who are ‘in Christ Jesus’ should go on doing penal servitude as though they had never been pardoned and never been liberated from the prison-house of sin."⁶

The author agrees with the latter view for several reasons. Firstly, Romans 6-8 deals with the subject of sanctification, not justification. As a result the first view would be contrary to the context.

Secondly, the next verse (Romans 8:2), which presents the reason why believers are under no condemnation, deals with freedom from the controlling power of the sinful disposition, not with freedom from guilt. This will be demon-strated later.

Thirdly, the sentence in which the words "no condemnation" appear is joined to the immediately preceding context by the word "therefore." This indicates that Romans 8:1 is a conclusion drawn from what Paul has just said in Romans 7. Since Paul has just dealt with the problem of the believer being overpowered by the sinful disposition and God’s provision of deliverance from the power of that disposition (7:24-25), his conclusion in Romans 8:1 must be referring to no condemnation with regard to the power of the sinful disposition, not to no condemnation with regard to guilt. Paul is saying that, since God has provided the believer with deliverance from the power of the sinful disposition, the believer is not condemned to a life of servitude to that disposition.

Paul’s use of the word "now" in his announcement of no condemnation indicates that the believer is free from this condemnation now, during this present lifetime. He does not have to wait until death or future glorification to have freedom from servitude to the sinful disposition.

Paul begins Romans 8:2 with the word "for." This indicates that he is giving the reason for the believer not being condemned to a life of servitude to the sinful disposition: "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death." In other words, God has provided a means of deliverance. That means is the law of the Spirit of life.

Several significant things should be noted concerning Paul’s statement in Romans 8:2. Firstly, he refers to two distinct laws: the law of the Spirit of life and the law of sin and death. Law, no matter what kind it may be, is established for the purpose of governing or controlling. In light of this, the law of the Spirit of life is the controlling power of the Holy Spirit, which controlling power produces newness of live (Romans 6:4; 7:6).⁷ As noted earlier (7:23), the law of sin is the controlling power of the sinful disposition, which controlling power works death.⁸ The reason that the believer is not condemned to a life of servitude to the sinful disposition is that the controlling power of the Holy Spirit has set him free from the controlling power of the sinful disposition.

Secondly, the freedom from the sinful disposition to which Paul refers in Romans 8:2 is different from the freedom from that same disposition to which he refers in Romans 6:7. Two things indicate this. Firstly, Paul uses two distinct words for freedom in these passages. As noted earlier, the word in 6:7 is a legal term. The word in 8:2 is not a legal term. Secondly, the freedoms of these two passages are obtained through two different means. The freedom of 6:7 is obtained through death with Christ; the freedom of 8:2 is obtained through the controlling power of the Holy Spirit.

The sense in which the two freedoms differ is that the freedom of Romans 6:7 involves freedom from a position; the freedom of Romans 8:2 involves freedom from a controlling power. As seen earlier, in Romans 6:1-14 Paul teaches that through death with Christ the person’s position of slave and his sinful disposition’s position of master are terminated once-for-all. Never again will the sinful disposition hold the position of master over that person.

Although the sinful disposition has lost its position of master over the believer, it still remains with him and tries to exercise control over him. Even if the believer reckons that he no longer holds the position of slave under his sinful disposition, he cannot experience freedom from its controlling power as long as he tries to gain that freedom through self-effort. Every time the believer tries to get away from the controlling power of his former master on his own, it takes him captive against his will. Unless someone more powerful than the sinful disposition intervenes on behalf of the believer and sets him free from the controlling power of his former master, the believer is doomed to a life of servitude to a disposition which has no right to exercise power over him.

The tense of the verb translated "has set free" indicates that the Holy Spirit set the believer free in the past. Shedd is convinced that this refers "to the time and act of regeneration, when the freedom was begun and established."⁹ In the past, when the believer was regenerated, the Holy Spirit established freedom from the controlling power of the sinful disposition.

The author is convinced that Shedd is correct. At the time of regeneration the believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. This is evident from the fact that "if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him" (Romans 8:9). Certainly it is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit which provides the basis for the Spirit’s controlling power being made available to the believer.

Although the Holy Spirit set the believer free at the time of regeneration, the believer does not always experience that freedom. When he uses self-effort against the power of the sinful disposition (such as when he relies upon the old covenant law as the means of sanctification), he experiences domination by sin. Only when he appropriates the controlling power of the Holy Spirit, as a result of relying upon God’s grace as the means of sanctification, does he experience the freedom that is his.

Paul teaches that the "no condemnation" (Romans 8:1) is to those who are "in Christ Jesus" and that the law of the Spirit of life is "in Christ Jesus" (verse 2). The implication is that these things are true as a result of the believer’s union with Christ. This concept of union with Christ reverts back to Paul’s teaching in Romans 6:3-5 and 7:4. There Paul teaches that believers have been united with Christ in the likeness of His death and in the likeness of His resurrection.

Through union with Christ in the likeness of His death the believer has been freed from the position of slave under the sinful disposition. Through union with Christ in the likeness of His resurrection the believer has been freed from the controlling power of the sinful disposition. The latter freedom makes it possible for the believer to "walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4), to "serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter" (7:6) and to "bear fruit for God" (7:4). He has been set free to do what his inner self wills to do: the will of God.

From what has been seen it is evident that the grace of God through the power of the Holy Spirit is able to do something which the old covenant law through the self-effort of the believer is not able to do: free the believer from the controlling power of his sinful disposition.

In Romans 8:3 Paul gives the reason why the grace of God can do what the old covenant law could not. It is because God did something which the old covenant law was powerless to do: condemn sin in the flesh.

In what sense did God condemn the sinful disposition in the flesh? There are two possibilities: firstly, He condemned it in the sense of pronouncing a sentence of judgment upon it; or secondly, He condemned it in the sense of actually executing judgment upon it.¹⁰

For several reasons the author is convinced that Paul is primarily using the second sense in Romans 8:3. Firstly, the condemning of sin which God did is something which the old covenant law could not do. Certainly the old covenant law pronounced a sentence of judgment upon sin, but it could not execute judgment upon it in the sense of nullifying its power within a human being. Indeed, the old covenant law actually aroused the sinful dis-position to a more vigorous exercise of its power.

Secondly, the verb which Paul used for "condemned" carries the idea of execution of judgment as well as pronouncement of judgment when used of divine condemnation as it is here.¹¹

The reason why the old covenant law could not execute judgment upon the sinful disposition in the sense of nullifying its power within a human being was that it was weak through the flesh. The old covenant law was totally external to human beings. It could pronounce sentences of judgment against the sinful disposition from outside the person, but it could not get into human flesh to execute judgment upon the sinful disposition in the very sphere of its activity.

The inability of the old covenant law to execute judgment within human flesh forced the law to rely upon human flesh itself to execute judgment against the sinful disposition. But, as noted earlier, one of the major ideas associated with human flesh is that of weakness. Human flesh by itself does not possess the power necessary to execute judgment upon the sinful disposition. Thus, the law was rendered weak through the very instrument upon which it relied for strength.

The manner in which God executed judgment upon the sinful disposition in human flesh was this: He sent "His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin." Through the incarnation God placed His Son in the sphere of human flesh, the very sphere in which the sinful disposition operates. The incarnated Son of God was a powerful enemy of the sinful disposition who could execute judgment upon it within its own sphere.

It is important to note that, although Christ became flesh (John 1:14), His flesh was void of the sinful disposition. Thus, Paul does not say that God sent His Son in sinful flesh, but in the likeness of sinful flesh.

If Christ’s flesh was void of the sinful disposition, then how did Christ execute judgment upon that dis-position in the flesh? This is difficult to answer. Some scholars say that it was through the death of Christ that God executed judgment upon the sinful disposition in the sense of nullifying its power in human flesh.¹² They support their view with 1 Peter 2:24, which indicates that Christ died in order that believers might live to righteousness. Since, as is being seen in Romans 8, believers are able to live righteously only as a result of God executing judgment upon sin, the death of Christ must have great bearing upon the execution of this judgment.

Others say that God executed judgment upon sin through the holy life which Christ lived.¹³ Throughout His life Christ did God’s will perfectly, obeying even unto death (Philippians 2:7-8). Thus, Christ executed judgment upon the sinful dis-position by totally excluding it and its power from His human flesh throughout a whole lifetime. For the first time since the fall of man the sinful disposition had not been able to inhabit or exercise controlling power over human flesh. Its power had been nullified in human flesh by a greater power. Now, that greater power is available to those who are united with Christ.

Since both views seem to have scriptural support, the author is led to believe that God executed judgment upon the sinful disposition through both the life and death of Christ.

In Romans 8:4 Paul states that the purpose for which God condemned sin in the flesh is "that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us." Paul is saying that God executed judgment upon the sinful disposition for the purpose that the holy life required by the old covenant law might be fulfilled in the believer.

Footnotes:

6. F.F. Bruce, "The Epistle of Paul to the Romans," in Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, p. 159.

7. Ibid. p. 160.

8. Ibid.

9. William G. T. Shedd, A Critical and Doctrinal Commentary on the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans, p. 227.

10. John Murray, "The Epistle to the Romans," Vol. 1, in New International Commentary on the New Testament, p. 278.

11. Friendrich Buchsel, "katakrino," Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Vol. 3, p. 951.

12. Murray, The Epistle to the Romans, I, 278.

13. F. Godet, Commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, Vol. 2, p. 66.

Practical Freedom In Christ By The Holy Spirit part 2 will be in the next edition of the GFJ. Look for it!