罗马书 8:1

This great chapter is, in a sense, the heart of Romans, being a shout of victory contrasting with the wail of despair which closed the seventh, the transition from the bleak and depressing condition of the unregenerated there, to the enthusiastic and joyful optimism of the eighth, being signaled by the adverb "now." "There is therefore NOW no condemnation, etc." Thus, in the very first clause of this chapter, one encounters the dramatic affirmation and proof that the condition just described in Romans 7 was not describing Paul's or any other Christian's experience, but was a depiction of something prior to and diverse from the situation prevailing "now." Brunner commented on this fact thus:

With a sharp turn, Paul now breaks off reflections on man under the Law; again, a "now" stands here as the signal of the new train of thought.[1]

Actually, Paul here returned to a train of thought he had already followed in Romans 5 and Romans 6; but he took it up here again, following the interruption of Romans 7, that theme being the blessing and privilege of the life "in Christ."