But Why?
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. Romans 8:2 NASB
For – Maybe we should look at this verse in the NIV: “because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” You’ll notice that the Greek term, gar, has been translated “because,” rather than “for.” They are equivalent in English in this sense: they both assign reasons for a preceding thought. The NIV just makes this a bit clearer.
You might have thought that the really important word in this verse would be “law” or “free.” Yes, those are important, as we shall see, but at this moment, the most important word is that Greek particle, gar. Why? Because Paul gives us the reason we are not condemned. Remember “Therefore (oh, same word, by the way) there is no condemnation . . .” ? There is no condemnation because of something else. That something else is found in the previous verses, namely, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” As a result of the action of Yeshua HaMashiach, therefore I am no longer condemned . . . and therefore, the law of the spirit of life in Yeshua HaMashiach has set me free from the law of sin and death. This is one continuous argument, not separated by chapter and verse numbers. That’s the way we must read it. No pauses. No breaks. It’s “this follows from this which follows from this.” God recognized the miserable condition of human beings struggling without Him. The war was within. They were losing. He sent the Messiah to bring peace to the warring parties. When we shout, “Thank you, Lord,” we acknowledge that the war has ended, and since the war has ended, there is no condemnation for us. It’s over!
Therefore, something else follows. We operate according to a different protocol. That new protocol is called “the law of the spirit of life.” It is the result of “no condemnation.” In other words, the playing field has changed. Instead of goalposts at the end of the field, there’s a net in the middle. Instead of off-tackle plays, there are drop shots and backhands. And the ball is small and yellow, not a “pigskin.” The old rules do not apply in the new game. In fact, they don’t even make sense anymore. What is a “foot fault” in football or “illegal hands to the face” in tennis? Different game. Different rules. And, by the way, that’s how the word “law” is used here. It isn’t Torah. It’s nomos, a Greek word that has many different meanings depending on the context. If you read this verse as “Because the rules of the spirit of life have set you free from the rules of sin and death,” would you ever think Paul was talking about the Torah? Of course not. He’s talking about the game, and Yeshua is the “game changer.” Because of the game changer, everything about how we live has also changed. We don’t play the same old game with a new referee. We play a whole new game with a different coach.
Why can we play a different, new game? What made that possible? Ah, that’s why Paul starts this verse with gar (therefore, because). We can play a completely different game because we are no longer judged (krínō, remember katakrima?) by the same rules. Think of it like this: Once there was a time when you just couldn’t get out from under your failures and the constant reminders of your failures. You were guilty and you knew it. Then someone did something (you’re not sure what, but does it matter?) that changed all the rules, and the number one rule it changed was “You’re guilty!” That rule is gone. Wiped out! Disappeared! What do you do now? Since you’re not under the “I’m guilty” rule, you can decide not to live the “I’m guilty” life. You can live a different kind of life—a life that begins with the rule “I’m worthy.”
How does that change things?
Topical Index: guilty, condemnation, law, rule, therefore, gar, Romans 8:2
