Antinomian is a word that combines a Greek preposition that means “against” with the Greek word for “law.” It may seem as if this is a good way to describe Paul’s view. Yet in Romans 3:31 Paul asserts the opposite: “Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.” How does faith uphold the Law? By the Spirit!

In Romans 8:2, Paul says that “the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” This is a contrast between two “laws” or controlling principles that shape behavior. One operates in the realm of flesh, which “cannot please God” (v. 8). The other is the rule of the Spirit, who “gives life because of righteousness” (v. 10). Those who are in Christ are still subject to mortality. We will die. However, when we are indwelt by the same powerful Spirit who raised Christ from the dead, death is not our ultimate destiny because “if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you” (v. 11).

The hope of resurrection lies in the future, but its power is something that those who belong to Christ have already begun to experience. The reality of the indwelling presence of the Spirit obligates those who belong to Christ to live out of the realm of the Spirit (v. 12). The Law, even though it is “holy, righteous and good,” can only operate externally (7:12). It reveals the standard but does not enable us to meet it. Its weakness is the flesh, which “does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so” (8:7).

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