In the first 5 chapters of Romans, Paul sets out his argument that the whole world is in trouble because nobody can live up to Godâ€"s just demands. Although we are created in His image and He intends us to live in relationship with Him, we just canâ€"t do it. We offend Him because we cannot by our own effort live in ways that match His kind of holiness. Jesus of course is the solution to this dilemma. By grace through faith in Him we are set free from trying to please God and we can rest in the work that Jesus has done for us. Chapter 6 talks about grace and how a life of grace can set us free from the old way of living that kept us in slavery to sin. Chapter 7 is biographical as Paul describes his own struggle with sin. Now in Chapter 8 Paul wants us to understand what it means to live life through the power of the Holy Spirit. He is building on the comment in 7:6 “we serve in the new way of the Spirit.â€� He helps us understand what he means by the new way of the Spirit. It is different in many ways from the old way of the law. As different as light from darkness. As different as life is from death. Life through the Spirit is powerful, freeing, peaceful and joy filled. Quite a difference from the old way of trying to live up to the demands of the law.