Freedom from Condemnation and Carnality
Bob Yandian
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” Romans 8:1
Walking according to the flesh or the Spirit has absolutely nothing to do with your salvation. Salvation is a free gift, received by faith in Jesus Christ. It is ours eternally. Discipleship, however, comes afterward, and that’s what walking after the Spirit refers to.
Walking after the flesh as a Christian does not mean we lose our salvation. We don’t become unsaved. What we become is carnal. Paul addressed this clearly in 1 Corinthians 3, where he spoke to believers and called them carnal Christians. But thank God for 1 John 1:9! Carnality can be dealt with quickly. If you sin as a believer, you confess your sin, and God is faithful and just to forgive you and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. This is not a sinner being forgiven for salvation—this is a Christian being forgiven for fellowship. You are already a child of God who has sinned, but by confessing that sin, you are restored to fellowship and back in step with the Holy Spirit.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” We will never face condemnation in this life, and we will never face it in eternity. We may be disciplined in this life if we step out of line, but that’s a whole different thing from condemnation. Condemnation speaks of the wrath of God, and we have been set free from that completely through Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:2 continues, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death." We still carry the law of sin and death in our physical bodies. The sin nature resides in our flesh. But our spirit—where the Holy Spirit lives—is completely clean and made alive. The Holy Spirit has moved inside us and taken up permanent residence. The key to the Christian life is this: renewing the mind. While this chapter mentions it, the full emphasis comes later in chapter 12, where Paul talks about presenting your body and renewing your mind.
What Romans 8 is doing is setting the goal before us—the picture of a joyous, Spirit-filled life and a Spirit-filled eternity. We can walk free from sin. We can fulfill the will of God. And not only that, but the earth itself waits for redemption. Nature is groaning under the curse, just like our bodies are still under the curse of sin and death. But one day, we will have a resurrection body, and the earth itself will break free into glorious liberty along with the children of God.
The Law
Verse 3 picks up the theme of what the law could not do. The law couldn’t save anyone. That was never its purpose. The law was given to reveal our sin and point us to Jesus Christ. The law was weak—not because it was flawed—but because our flesh couldn’t keep it. That’s the whole problem: the weakness of the flesh. Yet people still try to get to heaven by their own works, thinking their good deeds will outweigh the bad. But all their deeds—good and bad—come from the flesh, and in the flesh dwells no good thing.
What did God do? Romans 8:3 says, "God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh." Notice the word "likeness." Jesus was born in the likeness of sinful flesh but was without sin. This speaks to the virgin birth. Jesus didn’t inherit Adam’s sin nature. He was born outside the curse.
God couldn’t redeem us as God alone. Redemption required a human being. But it had to be a perfect human being. That’s why God became a man—Jesus Christ. The humanity of Jesus provided our redemption. It was His sinless, perfect life and His death on the cross that satisfied both the claims of God and the claims of man. Jesus fulfilled the law completely—every jot, every tittle, every prophecy about His coming, His life, and His death.
When Jesus said from the cross, "It is finished," He meant the law was fulfilled. The plan of redemption would continue through His resurrection, but the law, as far as being a means to righteousness, was over. Jesus condemned sin in His flesh so that we could conquer sin in our own flesh—by walking in the Spirit.
The law could never set an unbeliever or a believer free from the control of the flesh. In fact, the law strengthened the flesh. It stirred up rebellion in us. But Jesus came, walked in the flesh without sin, and gave us victory over the flesh through the Holy Spirit living in us.
When you mention other religious leaders—Muhammad, Buddha, Joseph Smith—they all came in sinful flesh. They cannot redeem anyone. Only Jesus Christ, the God-man, can redeem us because He alone lived without sin. That’s why Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." That’s not arrogance—that’s truth! Jesus told us plainly so that we wouldn’t wander down the wrong path. He wants everyone saved, and He made the way clear.
"That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (vs. 4). Notice, this is after salvation. Walking according to the Spirit doesn’t save you—it matures you. This is discipleship. This is where the rubber meets the road. After we saved, we choose daily whether to walk in the Spirit or to follow the flesh.
This is where the renewing of the mind comes in. Our minds determine whether we yield to the flesh or to the Spirit. The mind is the swing vote between carnality and spirituality. The Holy Spirit lives in us, but He doesn’t force control. If you choose to listen to your flesh, the Holy Spirit folds His arms and waits. But the moment you confess your sin and choose to walk in the Spirit again, the Holy Spirit resumes control.
Works done under the control of the flesh—even if they look good—are corruptible. They will burn up at the judgment seat of Christ. God wants incorruptible works—works done while under the control of the Holy Spirit and empowered by the Word of God.
The Choice is Yours
"For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit” (vs. 5). The flesh wars against the spirit, and the spirit wars against the flesh. The deciding factor is your mind. The choice is yours. You get to decide every day whether you will walk by the Spirit or by the flesh. You can choose to remain carnal, or you can choose to confess your sin and become spiritual again.
"For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (vs. 6). This is not talking about dying physically or spiritually losing salvation—it’s talking about the quality of life you produce. Carnal thinking produces dead works. Spiritual thinking produces life and peace.
The flesh produces temporary, doomed-to-perish results. The Spirit produces eternal fruit that will last forever. Your mind is the swing vote. Fill it with the Word of God. Let the Holy Spirit bring the Word to your remembrance when temptation comes. Your spirit will shout, "This is the way!" But the decision is still yours.
If you want works that last, let the Holy Spirit produce them through you. Whatever the Spirit produces is eternal. So, let’s be spiritually minded. Let’s fill our minds with the Word. Let’s choose every day to walk in the Spirit. Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. The Holy Spirit and your recreated spirit inside you are more powerful than the flesh.
You will never be free from the presence of the flesh in this life, but you can be free from its control. One day, you’ll have a resurrection body. Until then, your mind remains the battleground. Will you yield to the Holy Spirit or the flesh? The choice is yours.
Make the decision today. Be spiritually minded. Walk in the Spirit. Let the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit produce works in you that will last for eternity. This is the victorious Christian life. This is discipleship. This is growing up in Jesus Christ.
