This week, we are going to look in particular at how we live our life in the Spirit of God without any condemnation.
 
Romans 8:1 (ESV)
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
 
But, first we must address…
A TEXTUAL ISSUE: 
 
If you are reading from the King James version you will read this:
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
 
There is an entire discipline called “Textual Criticism.” The goal is to examine all of the text of the Bible that have been found in order to determine what was in the original writings.  it may come as a surprise to some, but we do not have one piece of an original parchment of the Scriptures. Only hand written copies.  In the early church, it was common to make handwritten copies of the church leader’s writings and distribute them to other churches. There are hundreds of such copies.  It would not be uncommon for mistakes to be made in doing so. 
 
The evidence of earlier manuscripts seems to show that this phrase, “who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit,” formed no part of the original text of this verse. It most likely was a miss-copy since this exact phrase is found in verse 4, but is not found in verse 1 in earlier manuscripts. Some think it was added intentionally by a scribe to correct what he may have felt was faulty theology. In other words, our lack of condemnation is qualified by whether or not we walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. This may seem insignificant to some. However, to add this phrase reverses the entire intent of what Paul was saying back to law over grace.  
 
Now, let’s examine the text using the English Standard Version…
A BIBLICAL EVALUATION:
 
Romans 8:1–4 (ESV)
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 
 
Romans 7:6 (ESV)
But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.
 
Paul has been examining the controversy of living out of the law as a means to being right with God versus living by the power of the Holy Spirit.
 
Note the therefore in verse 1: because of the new way of the Spirit, there is therefore no condemnation.
 
Paul says right “NOW” we are not condemned – not just when we get to heaven, but right now and from now on.
 
Paul says there is “NO” condemnation. This is full of meaning.  There is entirely, completely and  absolutely no condemnation.
 
The word, “CONDEMNATION” is a judicial term. One stands before the judge and is either acquitted or condemned.
This is our position with regard to the law. The law no longer holds us condemned.
 
John 5:24 (NIV) “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”
 
But, it is also an experiential term. In verse 2, Paul says, “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”
 
The MESSAGE puts Romans 8:1 this way, “With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud.” 
 
The point is simple. If we are in Christ, we are free from condemnation. PERIOD!
 
Tomorrow, we get into some of the implications of our freedom.