Notes on verses one through four: The parameters of differentiation between the law and grace are stark. Within those demarcations, how, then, is the righteousness of the law brought about? The law is weak because of the flesh, subject to the instabilities of the passions, and the ultimate futility of death. How does the author, a man of self-confessed captivity to the law of sin present in his members, hope to support his argument?
He has laid the foundation of two laws. One is the law of sin. Two is the law of grace. The law of sin is not the sin of the law but, rather, the sin of the flesh. It is the weakness of the body and the instability of the passions. Where the law fails because of the weakness of the body, the law of grace prevails because of the strength of the renewed mind. Where the flesh was a clenched fist pounding against the door of the law, the renewed mind was and is a key – a perfect fit for the lock that opens the law – for a law that the author conceded was actually spiritual. By spiritual, I take the author to mean mental.
A man can choose one of two paths through life. That is collectively termed his 'walk.' He can choose the walk of the flesh or the walk of the spirit. Either choice is an affiliation to a particular proclivity. To be affiliated to the flesh is a reactionary attempt to stave off the painful, hampering, and disagreeable intrusions of one's present predicament. To be affiliated to the spirit is a broader approach that recognizes a planned path in full acceptance of losses and suffering in the course of realizing a higher moral goal.
In other words, it is commendable to align oneself with Christ and to affiliate oneself to the Christ-like mindset. There may be losses and suffering but the goal is worth it. To follow the Christ-like mindset, that is, to walk after the spirit rather than the flesh, by which spirit we should understand to mean the spirit or mindset of life, overrides the machinations of the mortal passions, the weakness of the flesh, and the ultimate futility that after everything, we die anyway. We altogether bypass the condemnation that is inherent to that path.
The law, which is spiritual, failed because of the weakness of the flesh. I might also say it this way: the law, which is of the mind, failed because of the weakness of the flesh. There is no confidence in following that path. The flesh, the passions, neither can affect the success of the law – only the spirit, the mind can bring about the successful application of the law. And, no – not just any mind, a renewed mind, a mind that has overcome the pull of the flesh and passions, a mind like that of Christ.
In answer to the failure of the law because of sinful flesh, God sent his son into the world to represent sinful flesh and, thus by his death for sin, judge all failing of spiritual law. With the matter of failing the law through weakness of the flesh set aside, all those who follow the Christ-like mindset of life were and are in a position to realize the righteousness of the law.
Notes on verses five through eight: The evidence. That which is on a person's heart, by which I mean, the things that fill his or her mind, will also be found on the lips. For example, a history professor will take every opportunity to speak about history. All of his words and efforts are bent around the mindset that is filled with love and admiration for history – like iron filings are bent around a magnet.
The added parameter. Those with a worldly mindset mind the things of the world, the facts and figures, the self-limiting standards, the passions, the body. Only being concerned with that small and unfulfilling aspect of our whole existence brings turmoil. Those who walk after the mind seek and find additional aspects of our existence. Instead of limitation, turmoil, and death, those who walk after the mind find liberation, peace, and life.
A limited mindset simply cannot reach the escape velocity needed to please God. The worldly-minded are trapped within a self-imposed circuit of futility and disappointing tokens. I see it as akin to Esau, who sold his birthright for a bowl of gruel. He made his choice. Likewise, the mind of the world chooses the world and despises all else. The carnal mind chooses to be the enemy of God, chooses to reject the righteousness of the law of God. These minds are adamant in their decisions and can be understood in those heard to say, “I would rather die than do such and such.”
Notes on verses nine through fifteen: How it works. If the mind of God is alive and well inside of you, you are “in the Spirit” not “in the flesh.” Any person found without the mind of Christ, that person has no connection to Christ. The title of 'Christian' is empty and vain for all people who do not harbor the “Spirit of Christ.” However, if you do have the same mind as Christ, this how it will play out for you. Because of sin, the body is dead; the instabilities of the passions and the futility of ultimate demise still apply but the Spirit within you, the mind of Christ, is life because of righteousness.
That is not to say that you will drag about the heavy burden of a lifeless corpse as if shackled with ball and chain. The same God who raised Jesus from the dead will quicken your mortal bodies by the Spirit, that is to say by the mind that is in you. If the mind of God is alive and well in you and if the mind of Christ is alive and well in you, that Spirit will affect the flesh and the world around you. Let us take a look at the word 'quicken.' Merriam-Webster gives us these definitions of the word quicken: to make alive, to revive, to stimulate, to kindle, to enter a phase of active growth and development, to shine more brightly.
As many as are led by the Spirit of God, that is to say, as many as follow the mind of God – who are people who employ the thoughts of God in their thinking – these may genuinely claim to be the children of God. This Spirit does not lead one back around to the bondage once known, nor should we fear again the flesh and its passions or deeds. Through the mind of God, you have risen above and beyond such things. You have placed the body and its deeds on a back burner, you have left death to its own devices for this is no longer your arena. You owe nothing to the flesh but everything to the new mind. Your new mind, your new center, is the mind of an adopted child of God. Your new mind is the mind of Christ which reverences God – as does Christ – as one's Father.
Notes on verses sixteen and seventeen: As to the fact that we are the children of God, the author makes this claim: “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit.” What does it mean to bear witness? I found these definitions: attestation of a fact or event, testimony, personal knowledge of something. Notice, also, that the author duplicates the word spirit, marking a differentiation within a union. There is the big spirit and the little spirit; there is the Spirit with a capital letter and our spirits in lower case.
It is the big Spirit that bears witness. That bearing of witness is not an isolated fact but one in union with our own smaller spirits. The attestation, the testimony, the personal knowledge – all are presented within the framework of a close relationship. Basically, the big Mind and the little mind have joined, have wed, have become one. The personal knowledge is a shared attribute equal in either case. What our minds are sure of, we know through our relationship, and from a quality of sameness, with the greater mind. Likewise, the higher minds of God and of Christ are assured and strengthened in our lower case upgrades.
What is that quality of sameness of which I speak? It is exactly the same mind. There is the upper case Mind of Christ and all the little lower case minds of Christ. For any of us to be a child of God, we must share in the Mind of the Son of God. When we share that mind, we share, also, the mind of the heir of God; our quality of sameness makes us joint-heirs with Christ – but there is one precondition. For any of us to share in Christ's glorification as son and heir, we must first share in his burden. We must begin with the taking up of similar crosses and sufferings. It is the whole nine yards or nothing; we must take the bad with the good.
Notes on verses eighteen through twenty-two: Sufferings and glory. Embrace the birth pangs of your own elevation. The things we suffer, quite frankly, hurt like hell. None of it is easy. Yet, all of our broken bones, scrapes, and scars, all of our dashed hopes and disappointments will inevitably make us who we are meant to be.
The creature we are. We have an earnest expectation that is core to our very nature. We expect greatness. We strive to be more than what we are at present; we eagerly look forward to and even work toward a higher better self. None of us wants to be found at our lowest state, yet, here we are. Many, I repeat, many have been the failings of mankind. We are like the dumb caterpillar, blissfully munching away on a small plant, leaving a trail of pellets that begs the question: is this all we will ever do?
We are the creature, yet, the creature is change. We spin our cocoons in earnest expectation of a real transformation. Some of us seem colorful and decorated while others of us seem hairy and vile, yet, one fact unites all of us – we are change. We are smack dab in the middle of a grand process. Despite our personal ignorance, something is going to change in us. Not all of us but in each of us willing to spin our cocoon. Spinning a cocoon leaves us vulnerable but we suffer willingly for the hope of wings.
What is a creature – according to the author? Anything that affects our present condition, anything that affects us with adversity, suffering, struggling. In verses thirty-eight and thirty-nine, the author gives us a shortlist of creatures. We see that we are not the only ones; we suspect, also, that all creatures are change and immersed in the grand process of change. The list includes events and operations such as life and death. It includes higher creatures such as angels. It includes constructs such as principalities and powers. It includes the forces of time and space, past and present. It includes all the intangibles that we suspect but cannot prove.
Those of us who know and believe, hope for, struggle to achieve, and can hardly wait for the liberating glory of what we shall become – are the children of God. All of existence is bound to this grand process. We are small, we men and women. We are not the main attraction, just a very very small part of the bigger picture. However, our hope for the change to come is as big as the big picture. All of existence is the process – some still at the munching stage, blissful and blind, some beginning to spin. All of existence groans and travails to give birth to the higher and the better.
Notes on verses twenty-three through twenty-seven: All of existence, the grand process of change, itself, is mirrored in each of us individually. We groan within ourselves with fervent desire for both body and soul to reach their proper destinations together. We hope to be adopted into the Kingdom Family through Jesus Christ the son of the King and the heir of the Kingdom. More than just the adoption of the spirit, we expect, by the same faith, to receive the redemption of our bodies. Every aspect of our being waits patiently for the one-up. As the spirit shall be in all respects a more capable spirit, in turn, the body it will inhabit must necessarily be a more capable vehicle.
To be saved from our low estate, we must first hope for salvation. We know our disease, we see the cure – but the cure is not present. It is promised to the hopeful, to the patient. So, we believe and we wait. We place ourselves advantageously to receive the cure. We can not see it but it is promised. We hope for a thing we cannot see but, on the other hand, if we could see it, we would stop hoping. We would stop waiting patiently and we would reach out and take it. From the aspect of hope, it is either on its way or it is in our hand.
While we wait in hope, not seeing the thing that is promised, our minds assist and bolster our infirmities – and they are many. We are unsure and confused. While we are sure of the general direction we should take, every step along the road we walk is new territory, unfamiliar territory. We have no manual to go by. If we knew, we might ask for this help or that help along the way but, that is the problem, we just don't know. Our small minds are not complete – they only wait to be complete. In the meantime, the big mind, of which our minds are only small aspects, asks on our behalf for all that we need to make the journey of hope.
There is a real connection between the big mind and the one who searches and knows all minds. It is a true connection and a viable connection for one reason: the big mind, the Holy Spirit, prays for us and intercedes for us, not according to our wills or even according to the will of the Holy Mind but according to the will of God. The will of God is the one condition that must always be met for there to be any forward movement. No action comes without the will of God. Jesus always met the will of God and in his physical body he walked on water, raised the dead, healed the sick, cast out demons, and overcame his own bodily demise.
Notes on verses twenty-eight through thirty-one: Fragile, uncertain, fighting the constraints of a reckless nature – just what is it that we think we know? Our small spirits get this from the big spirit – we are the ones who love God. We love the Father with the love of a Jesus. We are the ones whom God called, not according to our need but according to his own purpose. He knew us from the beginning; he knew us completely, and from the beginning, he assigned each of us a definite and fixed final end – that all of us who love God should be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son, whose destiny was to be the first fruit of many just like himself.
For this reason, we are sure that all things in our lives, including the hard parts, work together for our ultimate good. We know that since he fixed our personal destinies, he also called us to them. Since it was God's call, he also justified each one of us, making us fit and right for that personal destiny. We know that the justified are also glorified along with the Son of God. We know that God did all of this according to his own will and by his own power. He took care of everything. So, what is there left to say about the matter? We must admit that if God is for us, the matter is settled in advance. No one can alter the will of God.
Notes on verses thirty-two through thirty-nine: As authors go, the guy who wrote this book is comprehensive in his ruminations, touching some points more than once. He ends up merging many points into a whole. In reaching the end of this chapter, we see the author expand upon the justification of the elect. Who, exactly, is he painting a portrait of? It is the person the world deems to be weak, ineffective, foolish; the beaten, the hopeless, the prey. We may be all of that, yet, I take note that the author sees all of that about us – and more. He sees the part the world cannot.
No one can lay a charge against God's elect, no one can condemn those whom God has lifted above condemnation. It was the almighty who justified his elect and, in setting the parameters of his work, He spared no effort, took no shortcut. He delivered up his only begotten son for our justification. In that regard, it is also through that only begotten son of God that God shall freely give his elect all things.
All complaints, all condemnations, all charges, and pointing fingers aimed at the elect fail to reach us. They break themselves against the protective wall that is Christ. It was Christ that died – and more – it was Christ that rose from the grave, ascended to heaven, and is now at the right hand of God pleading our case.
Can anyone or anything undo that complete work? No. Not tribulation, persecution, distress, the sword, or peril, neither famine nor nakedness. It is written in Psalms forty-four verse twenty-two, “Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. ” We cannot deny the fact that persecutions of Godly men and women continue into our modern era. Be that as it may, we are not weak, we are not beaten, we are not foolish, hopeless, or ineffective. Rather, through the love of God which is in His son Jesus Christ, we conquer the world as a whole. Paint us victorious.
From such a complete and all-encompassing love, the world may not separate us. No power or being has the ability to remove the arms that are wrapped around us – not the powers or principalities of the world, not things past or present, not even the unknown future. Time, itself, may not wear away that Holy embrace. Whether in height or depth, there is no measurement or standard greater than the will of God. The lives and deaths we endure are like waves against the beach. The waves may get bigger, they may rage but, in the end, there will always be a beach where the waves fall short. Not even angels, in all their might and wisdom, have power against the certain will of God.
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