Shared ground

Paul’s opening claim is explicit: for those who are “in Christ Jesus,” there is “now no condemnation” (v.1). The passage then explains how that can be true: a new governing power (“the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus”) liberates from an older power-pattern (“the law of sin and of death”) (v.2).

Paul also makes an explicit claim about the limits of the Mosaic law: it “couldn’t” accomplish something because it was “weak through the flesh” (v.3). The weakness is not blamed on the law itself but on the human situation described as flesh—the sphere where sin exerts influence and where people fail. God’s decisive action is also explicit: God sent his Son “in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,” and God “condemned sin in the flesh” (v.3).

Finally, Paul connects God’s action to an intended result: “the ordinance of the law” (its rightful requirement/aim) is “fulfilled in us” (v.4). He describes the people in view as those who “walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (vv.1,4), tying the new verdict and new freedom to a Spirit-shaped life.

Where interpretation differs (only where needed)

1. Does “who don’t walk…” belong in v.1 originally? Some argue the earliest wording of v.1 ended at “in Christ Jesus,” and the “who don’t walk…” line was added later (likely echoing v.4). Others treat v.1 as originally including it, as in the provided text. Either way, the passage as a whole clearly connects “no condemnation” with a Spirit-directed walk (v.4).

2. What does “law” mean in v.2? Some read “law of the Spirit” and “law of sin and death” as something like “rule/principle/power that governs outcomes,” not a list of commands. Others hear “law” more closely tied to commands and covenant framework, though still used here in a broadened sense. The immediate contrast (Spirit-life vs sin-death) strongly supports the “governing power-pattern” sense.

3. What does “fulfilled in us” mean (v.4)? Some take it mainly as an outcome God brings about in his people: the law’s true aim is carried out as they walk by the Spirit. Others emphasize a lived alignment: Spirit-led people actually embody what the law pointed toward. Both readings try to do justice to the text’s tight link between God’s action (vv.3–4) and the description of a Spirit-directed walk (v.4).

Why the disagreement exists

The disagreements mostly come from (a) an early-text question about whether a phrase in v.1 was originally there, and (b) Paul’s flexible use of the word “law” (v.2) alongside dense phrases like “condemned sin in the flesh” and “fulfilled in us” (vv.3–4). Those phrases can be read as describing God’s decisive act, the resulting new status, and the resulting new life-pattern—all in just a few lines.

What this passage clearly contributes

Explicit textual claims: “No condemnation” is a present reality for those “in Christ Jesus” (v.1). Freedom is described as release from sin-and-death’s ruling power through the Spirit’s life-giving power in Christ (v.2). The Mosaic law’s inability is traced to human weakness in the realm of flesh (v.3). God’s remedy is sending his Son into that realm and condemning sin itself there (v.3), with the purpose that the law’s rightful requirement/aim would be fulfilled in God’s people who walk by the Spirit (v.4).

Reasoned theological inferences (grounded in the flow): Paul presents Christ and the Spirit as God’s effective answer to the problem Romans 7 raised—human inability under law—so that the verdict (“no condemnation”) and the new way of life (“walk…according to the Spirit”) belong together within the same rescue (vv.1–4; see the lead-in from Romans 7:14–25).