Ver. 25. The exclamation of thanks- giving shows that the longed-for deliver- ance has actually been achieved. The regenerate man’s ideal contemplation of his pre-Christian state rises with sudden joy into a declaration of his actual eman- cipation as a Christian. διὰ Ἰ. Χ. τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν: Christ is regarded as the mediator through whom the thanksgiving ascends to God, not as the author of the deliverance for which thanks are given. With dpa οὖν αὐτὸς ἐγώ the Apostle introduces the conclusion of this whole discussion. ‘‘So then I myself—that is, I, leaving Jesus Christ our Lord out of the question—can get no further than this: with the mind, or in the inner man, I serve a law of God (a Divine law), but with the flesh, or in my actual outward life, a law of sin.” We might say the law of God, or of sin; but the absence of the definite article emphasises the
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ἁμαρτίας. VIII. 1. Οὐδὲν dpa νῦν κατάκριµα τοῖς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ ajohnviii. , . a ‘ A ns 1 32-36; Ch. μὴ κατὰ σάρκα περιπατοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ πνεῦμα.
νι 18, 22; a a a A a A Gal, v. 1. τοῦ πνεύματος τῆς ζωῆς ἐν Χριστῷ ᾿Ιησοῦ " ἠλευθέρωσέ pe? ἀπὸ τοῦ
2. ὁ γὰρ νόμος
1 µη κατα σαρκα περιπατουσιν αλλα κατα πνευμα om. NIBCD!F 47, Egypt. and Ethiopic versions, Orig. and Athan. and all crit. edd. The first part of the addition, µη + . + περπατονσιν, is found in AD*, vulg., Syr.; the rest, αλλα κατα πνευμα, in §8°D°KLP and most later authorities.
2 ηλενθερωσεν µε ACDKLP, vulg., Syr. For µε, σε is found $$BFG, and also in Latin and Syriac authorities. ημας is supported by Egypt. and Aeth. versions. The case is a very difficult one. σε is the harder reading, and Weiss, who adopts it, argues that it was changed into µε under the influence of the. preceding para- graphs in which the first person rules. Sanday and Headlam think σε can hardly be right because it is nowhere suggested in the context. W. and H. suspect a primitive error. ‘ The distribution of documents, combined with internal evidence, favours the omission “of both pronouns, which is supported by some MSS. of Arm(enian version), and perhaps by Orig. loc., Ruf. com.; oe, a very unlikely
reading, is probably only an early repetition of -σε” (Appendix to N.T., p. 108).
x Bee
character of law. αὐτὸς ἐγὼ:- see 2 Φδτι κ. αεα- Zt
CHAPTER VIII. For the place of this chapter in the argument see chap. vi., ad init. The general subject is the life in the spirit, by which the power of sin is broken, and the believer enabled to live to God. It falls into three parts (1) vers. 1-11, in which the spirit as opposed to the flesh is described as the principle of righteousness and life; (2) vers. 12- 27, in which it is regarded as a spirit of adoption, the first fruits of a heavenly inheritance for the children of God; and (3) vers. 28-39, in which Paul concludes the argument, glorying in the assurance of God’s immutable love in Jesus Christ.
(1) Vers. 1-11. The Spirit as the principle of righteousness and life.
Ver. 1. οὐδὲν Gpa viv κατάκριµα τοῖς ἐν Χ. Ἰ. The οὐδὲν is emphatic: con- demnation is in every sense out of the question. viv is temporal: it dis- tinguishes the Christian from the pre- Christian period of life. The bold asser- tion is an inference (apa) from what is implied in the thanksgiving to God through Jesus Christ (vii. 25). The de- scription of Christians as “those who are in Christ Jesus”? goes back to the words of Jesus Himself in John xv.
Ver. 2. There is no condemnation, for all ground for it has been removed. ‘<The law of the spirit of the life which is in Christ Jesus made me [thee] free from the law of sin and death.” It is subjection to the law of sin and death which involves condemnation; emanci- pation from it leaves no place for con- demnation. For the meaning of ‘the law”? see on vii. 23. The spirit which