January 31 - Romans 8:35-39

Romans 8:35-39 – Who Can Separate Us?

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 
         “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”  

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul has been writing of the relationship between the Father, The Spirit and Christ Jesus as they work to bring us all into righteousness and by verse 35, he is ecstatic. The strength of the Trinity stands firm as Paul lists those things which attempt to separate each of us from the love that comes down from heaven and was expressed on the cross.

Troubles, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger or sword. These things can't stop love. In fact, they become nothing when we realize that ultimately our safety is in eternity, not in this life and they are nothing in comparison with the one who will keep us safe because of his great love for us.

Paul turns to Psalm 44:22 as he attempts to remind his readers that facing trouble is nothing new and is not limited to each of us in our own time. God's people have always faced death. The entirety of the human race faces death, but we are so much more because of our relationship with God. We have the love of Christ with us as we face these things. We are victors and that love gives us power to overcome … to conquer whatever the world sends our way.

Paul's climactic words in the last two verses ask us to consider that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ. He begins with the natural realm – death and life, moves through time - things present or things to come, then to powers from on high or down below and becomes all inclusive with "anything else in all creation."

God is in charge of his creation and nothing can separate us from his love. He has done all of the work and though we may face things that seem insurmountable, in the end, it is not life on earth, but life in eternity with God that is our goal.

January 30 - Romans 8:28-34

Romans 8:28-34 – God Works for Good

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. 

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

This is one of people's most favorite passages and sometimes we forget to read it completely in context. While it is a new paragraph in Paul's letter, he is still considering the work of the Spirit in bringing us into a relationship with God through prayer. Those things that we have no words to speak, the Spirit says. He "intercedes for the saints according to the will of God" (Romans 8:27b).

It is the Spirit's work in our lives, interceding … helping us in our weakness … that brings us to this moment. It is God who searches hearts who works all things for good. Paul is clearly not speaking of the 'good' in verse 28 as something that is a temporary pleasure or easing of pain. It is not about what we believe is good, it is the final good, the bringing together of all things under the will of God.

In the next verses, we find the foundation for the doctrine of predestination and this space is not nearly enough to discuss the opposing understandings of Paul's teaching. But consider that God knows us all from long before we were born. And, consider that this predestination is not necessarily WHO will become a believer, but that those who do become believers will become like Christ. Those who are justified … saved by grace … are "conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers" (Romans 8:29). This was the plan God had and set in place … that we who believe will become like Jesus Christ.

What are we to conclude from this chapter? We have been adopted (v. 15), we are co-heirs with Christ (v. 17), we have received the Spirit (v. 23) who takes our prayers and intercedes for us and lays them before God (v. 26). Through faith we are justified (v. 30) and our future is so certain that it is spoken of in the present tense (v. 30).

With all of this in place – if God is for us, who can be against us? God didn't spare his Son to redeem the world, why would he also not graciously give us all things. And to finish out this verse, Paul asks who is it who condemns us. Not Christ. He died for us and is sitting at the right hand of God interceding for us. If anyone has the authority to condemn the world, it would be Jesus and he refuses to do so.

January 29 - Romans 8:18-27

Romans 8:18-27 – Future Glory

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

In verse 17, Paul wrote that we are heirs – if indeed we share in Christ's sufferings, we do so that we might also share in his glory.  The suffering we deal with right now is nothing in comparison to the glory that will be revealed.

If we allow the worries of our life now to preoccupy our thoughts, we miss the glory that is revealed in us. We quench the glory that Christ reveals to the world through us.  Creation waits for the time when the future of God's children is revealed. But that time is now and will be again when His kingdom comes on this earth.

Isaiah 55:12 says "For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands." Creation is waiting for the reversal of sin's work to be done in each of us so that it can be set free.

Paul tells us in Romans 8:22 that all of creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. Not only creation, but we who have the firstfruits of the Spirit groan as we wait for the redemption of our bodies. The Spirit is evidence that we are the sons of God and is the downpayment … the firstfruits of the inheritance. The time is now and the glory of God is waiting to be revealed in each of us.

In Romans 8:24-25, Paul writes that salvation involves hope. We can't see the redemption of our bodies – it hasn't happened yet. Salvation is something that has happened to our spirits right now and to our bodies in the future. It is a process that begins with our acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior and ends with eternal life with God. It is characterized by hope and hope is nothing if we can see it … hope is faith in the unseen.

Because we are human and hope often eludes us, the Spirit helps us (Romans 8:26) in our weakness. He intercedes for us with groanings beyond the words we recognize. He knows our hearts helps us pray when we are inadequate. When hope is gone, when we lack faith, it is the Spirit who lifts our prayers and helps us move past those moments of fear back into the will of God.

January 28 - Romans 8:12-17

Romans 8:12-17 – Heirs With Christ

Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. 

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Because of the gift Christ gave us we have an obligation … a debt … a responsibility. We are not obliged to live according to the demands of our sinful nature. The person we were before Christ came into our lives no longer has any right or claim to us. In fact, if we return control to our sinful nature, Paul reminds us that this leads to death.

When Paul writes, "but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live" (Romans 8:13b), he uses a verb tense that suggests this is a continuous action. We are constantly putting to death the sins of our former selves. It doesn't happen in one fell swoop. And … we do it according to the Spirit's prompting.  Every choice we make to set aside the sins of our past and live according to the Spirit is a choice that leads us into holiness … a life that shows the world how we honor our obligation to God.

In Greek and Roman culture, when an adoption occurs, it severs all former relationships. The new family exercises complete control and with that comes all of the privileges and responsibilities of that new family. When we are adopted into God's family, we bear the responsibilities as well as enjoy the privileges of being a Christian and we leave behind all that had come before.

It is so easy to forget that we are children of God … it is so easy to question whether or not we truly have a relationship with him and in Romans 8:16, Paul tells us that the Spirit himself bears witness. This was a question I often asked when I was young and each time, I was told that I never need to worry. God had called me. I responded and the Spirit within me would never leave.

January 27 - Romans 8:5-11

Romans 8:5-11 – The Desires of the Flesh and Spirit

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

In yesterday's reading, Paul spoke of those of 'us' who do not walk in the flesh, but in the Spirit and now he examines the two separate manners of living.  Living according to the flesh isn't just living out the worst sins that we can identify. Jesus rebuked Peter saying "your mind is not set on the things of God but the things of men" in Matthew 16:23. Peter wasn't being sinful, but looking at life from the world's point of view, rather than from God's point of view. Paul would tell you that all of that is encompassed in the verb he used here.  There are many good people who do not have the mind of God. They still live according to the flesh and will find that this leads to death.

On the other hand, those of us who choose to live according to the Spirit, no longer live according to the world. And here is where Paul finally says what we've been waiting to hear. He has written all along that sin bring death and everyone knows that there is no one who escapes death.  Paul writes "even though your body is subject to death because of sin; the Spirit gives life because of righteousness" (Romans 8:10).

The body will die because death is the result of sin and we are by nature, sinful beings. However, when we are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1) and the Spirit of God lives within us … that is the Spirit of righteousness and Paul tells us in Romans 8:10 that although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. The Spirit that is within us gives life to our mortal bodies and it is this life and this righteousness that translates from death to eternal life.

January 26 - Romans 8:1-4

Romans 8:1-4 – No Condemnation in Jesus

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,  God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.  And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

I think that sometimes, as Christians, we hear specific verses often enough they lose their power and importance. This is one of those verses and one of those chapters.

Paul uses the word 'therefore' to connect this chapter to the preceding one on sin. When you read words like 'therefore' and 'so' at the beginning of a paragraph or sentence, those are generally deliberately placed there by the author for a reason. It's taken me some time to learn to pay attention to those and see what has been written on either side of the word. In this case, Paul has talked about sin's hold on our lives and he is about to show us how a life in Christ through the Holy Spirit means freedom.

With a life of sin, all we ever face is condemnation because of the fact that sin leads to death. The Law, Paul says, was weakened by our sinful nature … that part of us that exists no matter how good we think we are.

That changed when God sent his own Son.  Jesus came in our likeness … he took on the form of a sinful man. God lived as a human in order to conquer that sinful nature.

We are no longer condemned, but sin is condemned by Jesus because of his sacrifice.

What does this mean? It means that "the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit" (Romans 8:4). We are no longer bound by our sinful nature. It has been conquered and in Christ Jesus we are made free to live according to the Spirit.

January 25 - Romans 7:21-25

Romans 7:21-25 – The Law of Sin

So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Beginning with the word 'so,' Paul presents a logical consequence for his argument and this time when he uses the word 'law,' he is speaking of one which is as essential as the law of nature, or the law of gravity. Evil exists within him and it is waging war within him. Even though he wants to do good, that law of sin constantly works within him.  His nature … obeys that law. For Paul, there is no getting around it … by himself. No matter what he does or what he desires, sin remains within him.

He is a prisoner to that sin … a slave to sin.

These words bring the presentation of his case to a close. Paul concludes that we are each a slave to the law of sin, even though in our minds we are a slave to God's law.

Slavery to sin brings one final consequence … death. By ourselves, we are unable to do anything about that. We will die. Our sinful nature leads us to death. When we believe that we are able to deliver ourselves and that all the good we do on our own will lead us beyond death, we are lost.

Deliverance from death and from sin can only come from something beyond ourselves. "Thanks be to God, who delivers me (us) through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:25).