This week's epistle text covers significant topics - the status of the law, the essence of the incarnation, the baseness of humanity (but our aspiration for greater things), the presence of the Spirit, the miracle of the Resurrection, inklings of Trinitarian theology and the gift of everlasting life. In these few short verses Paul manages to pack some of the toughest, touchiest subjects in Christian theology.

In Romans 7, Paul had focused on the negatives that infiltrate human life even when there is a genuine attempt to follow the law. Now in chapter 8, Paul speaks of positive, miraculous things. Verse 1 states a phenomenal truth straight-out: There is "no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Based on his discussion of baptism in chapter 6, it is reasonable to assume that when…