Introduction
This chapter is a continuation of the subject discussed in the previous chapter, and is intended mainly to show that the gospel could effect what the law was incapable of doing. In that chapter the apostle had shown that the law was incapable of producing sanctification or peace of mind. He had traced its influence on the mind in different conditions, and shown that, equally before regeneration and afterwards, it was incapable of producing peace and holiness. Such was man, such were his propensities, that the application of law only tended to excite, to irritate, to produce conflict. He proceeds to show in this chapter the power of the gospel to produce that which the law could not. In doing this, he illustrates the subject by several considerations.
(1.) It produces a spirit of adoption, and all the blessings which result from the filial confidence with which we can address God as our Father, in opposition to the law which produced only terror and alarm, Romans 8:14-17.
(2.) It sustains the soul amidst its captivity to sin, and its trials, with the hope of a future deliverance-a complete and final redemption of the body from all the evils of this life, Romans 8:18-25.
(3.) It furnishes the aid of the Holy Spirit to sustain us in our trials and infirmities, Romans 8:26,27.
(4.) It gives the assurance that all things shall work together for good, since all things are connected with the purpose of God; and all that can occur to a Christian comes in as a part of the plan of him who has resolved to save him, Romans 8:28-30.
