Matthew Henry Commentary Romans 8

Believers may be chastened by the Lord, but will not be condemned with the world. By their union with Christ through faith, they are thus secured. What is the principle of their walk: the flesh or the Spirit, the old or the new nature, corruption or grace? For which of these do we make provision? By which are we governed?

The unrenewed will is unable to keep any commandment fully. And the law, besides outward duties, requires inward obedience. God showed abhorrence of sin by the sufferings of His Son in the flesh, so that the believer's person might be pardoned and justified. Thus, satisfaction was made to Divine justice, and the way of salvation was opened for the sinner.

By the Spirit the law of love is written on the heart. And though the righteousness of the law is not fulfilled by us, yet, blessed be God, it is fulfilled in us; there is that in all true believers that answers the intention of the law. The favor of God, the welfare of the soul, the concerns of eternity—these are the things of the Spirit, which those who are after the Spirit mind.

Which way do our thoughts move with most pleasure? Which way do our plans and contrivances go? Are we wisest for the world, or for our souls? Those that live in pleasure are dead (1 Timothy 5:6). A sanctified soul is a living soul, and that life is peace. The carnal mind is not only an enemy to God, but enmity itself.

The carnal man may, by the power of Divine grace, be made subject to the law of God, but the carnal mind never can; that must be broken and driven out. We may know our real state and character by inquiring whether we have the Spirit of God and Christ, or not. For, as it is written, Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit (Romans 8:9). Having the Spirit of Christ means having a turn of mind in some degree like the mind that was in Christ Jesus, and this is to be shown by a life and conduct suitable to His precepts and example.

If the Spirit is in us, Christ is in us. He dwells in the heart by faith. Grace in the soul is its new nature; the soul is alive to God, and has begun its holy happiness which will endure forever. The righteousness of Christ imputed, secures the soul, the better part, from death. From this we see how much it is our duty to walk, not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

If any habitually live according to corrupt desires, they will certainly perish in their sins, whatever they profess. And what can a worldly life offer that is worthy for a moment to be compared with this noble prize of our high calling? Let us then, by the Spirit, endeavor more and more to mortify the flesh. Regeneration by the Holy Spirit brings a new and Divine life to the soul, though in a feeble state.

And the sons of God have the Spirit to work in them the disposition of children; they do not have the spirit of bondage, which the Old Testament church was under, through the darkness of that dispensation. The Spirit of adoption was not then plentifully poured out. This also refers to that spirit of bondage, under which many saints were at their conversion.

Many speak peace to themselves, to whom God does not speak peace. But those who are sanctified, have God's Spirit witnessing with their spirits, in and by his speaking peace to the soul. Though we may now seem to be losers for Christ, we will not, we cannot, be losers by him in the end.

The sufferings of the saints strike no deeper than the things of time, last no longer than the present time, are light afflictions, and only for a moment. How vastly different are the judgment of the Word and the sentiment of the world concerning the sufferings of this present time!

Indeed, the whole creation seems to wait with earnest expectation for the time when the children of God will be manifested in the glory prepared for them. An impurity, deformity, and infirmity has come upon creation through the fall of man.

There is an enmity of one created being to another. They are also used, or rather abused, by humans as instruments of sin.

Yet this deplorable state of creation is in hope. God will deliver it from this bondage to human depravity. The miseries of the human race, through their own and each other's wickedness, declare that the world is not always to continue as it is.

Our having received the first-fruits of the Spirit enlivens our desires, encourages our hopes, and raises our expectations.

Sin has been, and is, the guilty cause of all the suffering that exists in God's creation. It has brought on the woes of earth; it has kindled the flames of hell. Regarding humanity, not a tear has been shed, not a groan has been uttered, not a pang has been felt, in body or mind, that has not come from sin.

This is not all; sin is also to be viewed as it affects the glory of God. How appallingly heedless most of humanity is of this!

Believers have been brought into a state of safety, but their comfort consists more in hope than in present enjoyment. From this hope they cannot be turned by the vain expectation of finding satisfaction in the things of time and sense.

We need patience, for our way is rough and long; but He that shall come, will come, though He seems to delay.

Though the infirmities of Christians are many and great, so that they would be overpowered if left to themselves, yet the Holy Spirit supports them.

The Spirit, as an enlightening Spirit, teaches us what to pray for; as a sanctifying Spirit, produces and stirs up the graces for prayer; as a comforting Spirit, silences our fears and helps us overcome all discouragements. The Holy Spirit is the spring of all desires toward God, which are often more than words can utter.

The Spirit who searches hearts can perceive the mind and will of the human spirit—the renewed mind of believers—and advocates their cause. The Spirit makes intercession to God, and the enemy does not prevail.

That is good for the saints which benefits their souls. Every providence tends to the spiritual good of those who love God; in breaking them off from sin, bringing them nearer to God, weaning them from the world, and fitting them for heaven. When the saints act out of character, corrections will be employed to bring them back again. And here is the order of the causes of our salvation, a golden chain, one which cannot be broken.

1. Whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son. All that God designed for glory and happiness as the end, he decreed to grace and holiness as the way. The whole human race deserved destruction; but for reasons not perfectly known to us, God determined to recover some by regeneration and the power of his grace. He predestinated, or before decreed, that they should be conformed to the image of his Son. In this life they are in part renewed, and walk in his steps.
2. Whom he did predestinate, them he also called. It is an effectual call, from self and earth to God, and Christ, and heaven, as our end; from sin and vanity to grace and holiness, as our way. This is the gospel call. The love of God, ruling in the hearts of those who once were enemies to him, proves that they have been called according to his purpose.
3. Whom he called, them he also justified. None are thus justified but those who are effectually called. Those who stand out against the gospel call, abide under guilt and wrath.
4. Whom he justified, them he also glorified. The power of corruption being broken in effectual calling, and the guilt of sin removed in justification, nothing can come between that soul and glory. This encourages our faith and hope; for, as for God, his way, his work, is perfect.

The apostle speaks as one amazed, and swallowed up in admiration, wondering at the height and depth, and length and breadth, of the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge. The more we know of other things, the less we wonder; but the further we are led into gospel mysteries, the more we are affected by them. While God is for us, and we keep in his love, we may with holy boldness defy all the powers of darkness.