About Jesus

About Jesus Steve Sweetman

Chapter 8

Life Through The Spirit (ch. 8:1-17)

Chapter 8 opens a whole new topic, even though it is closely related to what Paul has been talking about. Paul has mentioned the Holy Spirit three times to date in his letter. Now he will elaborate more on this important subject.

Paul connects chapter 7 and 8 by the word “therefore”. He goes on to say that “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”. After all the frustration with sin in chapter 7, you might think that Paul would need to deal with the idea of one being condemned. A sense of condemnation would easily come over a person described in chapter 7. You want to do what is right. You try hard, but you can’t. The feeling of condemnation is a natural result.

Paul makes it clear that there is no condemnation for those who are “in Christ Jesus”. One point to be made here is that condemnation really is not a feeling. It is a place in which we stand before God. We are either condemned or not condemned. We are either guilty, or not guilty. Both condemnation and guilt are not feelings. They are judgments placed on us by God.

What does the term “in Christ” mean. Simply put, if we are justified, (pronounced by God as righteous) then we are in Christ. We should not make anything more of this term than that. Being justified, being saved, being a real Christian means that we are in Christ, and stand before God without guilt and condemnation.

There is a lot in these next few verses. Why are we not condemned because we are in Christ? Paul says that “the law of the Spirit of life has set us free from the law of sin and death”. The Law was powerless to help us since it was weakened by our flesh. This means that sin in us saw the Law, and then mounted its attack on us. The Law could not stop that, so in this way the Law was weakened by our sinful nature. Jesus, who came to earth in the likeness of sinful man, died and was punished for our sins. He became a sin offering, just like all those lambs in Old Testament days.

Verse 3 says that Jesus condemned sin in sinful man. Jesus condemned sin so the righteous requirements of the Law might be fully met in us. What does Paul mean when he says that “Jesus condemned sin”? I believe it means this. Ever since Adam, sin had rule over man. All mankind was under the control of sin. Jesus overcame sin in His life. He lived His life free from the power of sin. For the first time in human history sin lost a battle. Jesus lived the perfect life, yet died as one who carried all the sin of mankind. By His resurrection He condemned sin. He pronounced to the whole universe that sin had finally been defeated. Because He was punished for our sin, God’s judgment was satisfied and therefore His wrath and anger were turned from us. This resulted in the fact that His Holy Spirit could come to live within us. Now we had a way to overcome sin in our life. Following the Law could not help us, but God Himself who lives within us; He can and will help us overcome sin. This is what Paul is getting at in verses 1 to 4 of chapter 8.

In verse 5 he says that “those who live according to their sinful nature have their minds always on their sinful nature, yet for those who live according to the Spirit are always mindful of the Spirit”. Paul goes on to say that those who have their minds set on their sinful nature are opposed to God and die as a result. We have seen Paul spend many words on this thought before.

Romans 8:9 is extremely important. He says, “you however are not controlled by your sinful nature, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit lives within you”. I am sure that James would love these words of Paul. James says that he will show the world his faith by what he does. Here Paul says that if you truly have faith and the Spirit of God within, you will not live according to your flesh but according to the Spirit.

Paul goes on in verse 9 to make a very dramatic point. He says, “if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ”. We note a couple of things here. First, note that the Spirit is called “the Spirit of Christ”. The Spirit is often referred to as the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, but here He is the Spirit of Christ. This means, “the Spirit that belongs to Christ Jesus”. This denotes the unity between the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

Secondly, Paul says very clearly that “if you do not have the Spirit of Christ, you do not belong to Christ”. Simply put, if you do not have the Holy Spirit within you, you are not a Christian. These are vital words. Peter, in Acts 2:38 says, “repent and be baptized … and you will receive … the gift of the Holy Spirit”. Receiving the Holy Spirit “must” be a part of our conversion experience. If this is not the case, then you are not “fully converted”. Your salvation has not been sealed. You do not belong to Christ, according to what Paul says here.

If Christ is in you, even though your body is dead because of sin, (meaning a deadly depraved state, with all of it problems), the Holy Spirit will give life to your spirit. Paul takes this thought one step further by saying the Holy Spirit will give life to your mortal body. I assume this life is in the present as well as in the future. when Christ returns.

We have mentioned verse 12 earlier. Paul exhorts us not to live according to our sinful nature. That means, even though we have God’s Spirit within, we do still have our sinful nature, even though it does not rule us as it once did. Yet, if we decide to give in and start living according to our sinful nature, then we will die. Sin will kill us, because that is what sin does. By the same token, if we let the Spirit help us put the deeds of the sinful nature to death, we will live.

Paul goes on to say that for those of us who have God’s Spirit and are led by Him, we are God’s children. God is our Father, and as many have said affectionately before, “God is our Daddy”. If this is the case, we are heirs, along with Jesus Himself. We inherit all of what God has for us. That means we do have the ability to live as we should.

Paul closes this section with a word we probably don’t like. The word is “suffering”. He says, “if we share in Jesus’ suffering, we will also share in His glory”. Paul certainly shared in the suffering of Jesus.

Future Glory (ch. 8:18-27)

Paul, in verse 18 continues with his thinking on suffering. He says that compared to the glorious future for Christians, all that he is suffering now means very little. This statement means a lot coming from Paul, since his sufferings were very great.

Paul makes a point concerning creation here. He says that creation has been subject to bondage and decay. It too is waiting eagerly for the day in which it will be liberated along with the children of God.

God told Adam to have dominion over the earth. (Gen. 1:28) When Adam sinned, he died. He apparently lost the ability to rule the earth as God wanted him to rule. God also cursed the ground that man walked on. (Gen. 3:17 and 5:29) God originally put creation under man’s care and authority. Since man sinned, it appears God put creation under the same sentence of death and decay that he put man under. So all of creation is waiting to be liberated along with all Christians who will be liberated at the end of the age.

Paul continues to tell us that all of creation is groaning, as if in labour pains. This most likely accounts for the turmoil found in nature. Earthquakes, floods, and other natural disasters are probably examples of creation groaning in pain.

In verse 23 Paul says that we as Christians groan inwardly, waiting for the redemption of our bodies that will take place when Jesus returns to restore all things. Paul is hoping for that day to come. Here again, we see the word hope as we did in chapter 5. In verse 24 he says that we were saved for this hope. So hope is important for a Christian. We do hope for the future glory to come, and there is nothing wrong with that hope.

Paul has told us that creation is groaning and that we as Christians groan as well, waiting for our redemption. In verse 26 and 27 he tells us that the Holy Spirit groans too. His groans cannot be expressed in words. The important point to be made here is that the Holy Spirit helps us by interceding for us when we don’t know how to pray properly.

More Than Conquerors (ch. 8:28-39)

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him”. (ch. 8:28) Some other translations, including the KJV read, “and we know that all things work together for good…” Do you see the difference between the two translations. The former says that “God works for our good in all things”. The latter says that “all things work for our good”. It is hard for me to imagine that all things that happen to me is for my good. There are many tragedies in life. What about a family break up? Is that good for me? I am not a language scholar, and I know that some manuscripts translate this verse differently, but the NIV version makes more sense to me. God can work for our good in whatever comes our way.

Paul goes on to quality the idea that God works for our good. He says that God will work for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. I often wonder if I really love God. I am not sure that I do love Him, using God’s definition of love. I do believe that I am called to be part of God’s purpose. I believe that all Christians are first called to God Himself, and then to participate in His plans. Concerning love, we could say that we love God as best we can at the moment. For those of us who try to love God and are called by Him, He will work with us in whatever comes our way, whether it is good or bad

Verse 28 and 29 are hard verses to understand. They have been debated and argued over for centuries. We have two new words here. The word “foreknew” and the word “predestined”. The word foreknew is from the Greek word “proginosho”, which simply means “to know beforehand”. This is an easy concept for us to understand. We have no problem with the idea that God knows all things, even before they happen.

The word “predestined” is a much harder concept to deal with. This is where the debate over the centuries has taken place. The Greek word translated here as “predestined” is “proorizo” This word means, “to determine beforehand” . Some say that God predetermines who would be saved. Those He predetermined have no choice in the matter.

This viewpoint is not my personal opinion. There are too many “believe and you shall be saved” verses to contend with when you think this way. If God makes the choice who will be saved and we can do nothing about it, why then does He ask us to come to faith? Why does He ask everyone to believe when He only chooses some to be saved?

Here in verse 29 Paul says that those God foreknew, He predetermined that they would be conformed into the likeness of His Son. The reason why we are being made into the likeness of His Son is so that Jesus can have brothers like Himself.

Verse 30 says that for those God predetermined, He called, then justified, and lastly glorified. This is the hard verse due to the chain of sequence. If Paul would have said, “those He called, he predestined”, that would be easier to understand, but he said that those who were predetermined were then called. Is Paul saying that God chooses ahead of time those who will be saved? Is he saying that God chooses people out of the world and then calls them to salvation after He chooses them? Once again this thinking neglects all of the ”whosoever will” verses. It takes away man’s free will to deny God’s calling for salvation.

I do not presume to end all the debate that has taken place over the years, so I will not dwell on the subject. I will say one more thing. Is it possible that God has predetermined all mankind to be saved? By sending Jesus to the cross for the sins of the whole world, hasn’t He predetermined that all mankind should be saved? Once predetermining this, which He did at the cross, He then proceeds to call men and women to salvation. At this point they have the choice to respond to the call as free agents. To me this makes sense. It also fits into the sequence of foreknowing, predetermining, calling, justifying and then glorifying.

Verse 31 is a great verse. “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God be for us, who can be against us”. Paul is saying that if we respond in faith to God’s salvation, He has predetermined to call, to justify and glorify us. It is a done deal. Nothing will get in God’s way. It is all wrapped up and finished. There is nothing to worry about when it comes to our eternal destiny.

Paul goes on to say that if God gave His only Son to bring salvation to us, which is the greatest thing He could give, will He not give us all other things to help us in this great salvation? If someone gives you a million dollars, he wouldn’t have any problem giving you ten dollars, would he? The same with God. He already gave the greatest gift, so any lesser gift should not be a problem.

Verse 34 says that Jesus now sits at the right hand of God interceding on our behalf. If this is the case who can possibly bring any false charge against us? Who could possibly condemn us when Christ Himself doesn’t bring condemnation our way.

In verse 35 Paul asks the question, “who or what could possibly separate us from the love of God”? He lists a few things that he has experienced like, hardship, persecution and famine. He goes on to say that he and his fellow workers are like sheep ready to be killed, yet not even death itself can separate us from God’s love. In reality death brings us closer to God’s love. God has predestined us to a glorious future with Him, and if God has decided on that, then nothing can change His plans. Paul closes the chapter by saying that he is “convinced” that there is absolutely nothing that can separate us from God’s love that has been demonstrated in Christ Jesus. May we have this same conviction.

chapter 7

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