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Romans 8:2

in Romans 8

For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death.

KJV

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

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This verse in Romans 8

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

on Romans 8:1-2

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath freed me from the law of sin and of death." What difference there is among those who, placed as it were in a kind of contest, live with the mind according to the law of God but are driven by the desires of the flesh into the law of sin, he taught in the preceding passages.

This site's exposition

no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus

on Romans 8:1-2

Condemnation here is the sentence a judge hands down, and for everyone in Christ Jesus that sentence is void. Verse 2 names a second law, the law of the Spirit of life, which overrides the law of sin and death that chapter 7 exposed. The freedom is stated as a fact already done.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Tertullian

On Modesty · Written before 220.

For even if he has affirmed that "good dwelleth not in his flesh," yet (he means) according to "the law of the letter," in which he "was: "but according to "the law of the Spirit," to which he annexes us, he frees us from the "infirmity of the flesh.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus,.... These words are of difficult interpretation. They may be understood of the Gospel revealing and declaring deliverance from the law of Moses; wherefore there can be "no condemnation", Rom 8:1, by it.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

The covenant of grace made with us in Christ is a treasury of merit and grace, and thence we receive pardon and a new nature, are freed from the law of sin and death, that is, both from the guilt and power of sin--from the course of the law, and the dominion of the flesh.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

We think it wrong, therefore, to render the words (as in the Margin) "by a sacrifice for sin" (suggested by the language of the Septuagint and approved by CALVIN, &c.); for this sense is too definite, and makes the idea of expiation more prominent than it is. condemned sin--"condemned it to lose its power over men" [BEZA, BENGEL, FRASER, MEYER, THOLUCK, PHILIPPI, ALFORD].

The words behind it

20 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

John 8:32Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”93 works2 Corinthians 3:17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.86 worksRomans 6:14For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.85 worksJohn 8:36So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.66 worksGalatians 5:1It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery.51 worksRomans 6:18You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.49 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
2 Corinthians 3:6And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.41 worksRomans 8:10–11But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.39 works1 Corinthians 15:45So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being;” the last Adam a life-giving spirit.36 worksRomans 8:11And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.34 worksJohn 11:25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies.34 worksGalatians 5:25Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit.29 worksRomans 6:22But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the fruit you reap leads to holiness, and the outcome is eternal life.22 worksJohn 6:63The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.21 worksRomans 7:4Therefore, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.20 worksEphesians 2:1And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,20 worksColossians 3:3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.19 worksJohn 4:10Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”18 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    2 Corinthians 3:17

    Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

    it leads to

    • John 8:32

      Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Galatians 5:1

      It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • John 6:63

      The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Galatians 5:13

      For you, brothers, were called to freedom; but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another in love.

    • Galatians 4:6

      And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”

  • Through

    Romans 6:14

    For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

    it leads to

    • Galatians 5:18

      But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

  • Through

    2 Corinthians 3:6

    And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

    it leads to

    • Romans 7:6

      But now, having died to what bound us, we have been released from the law, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the…

    • Jeremiah 31:31

      Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

Where this verse is studied

About Romans

The Crucifixion — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)
The Crucifixion — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)
Romans: the study guide →Read Romans 8 →

This page draws on Charles Hodge, Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS and Tertullian, On Modesty.

Read on in Romans 8 →