Spirit-Powered Living

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JOHN BOTKIN

A Devotional Commentary on Romans 8

SPIRIT-

a devotional commentary on romans eightLIVING



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© John Botkin

ISBN 978-0-557-24475-1

Published 2009

All Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible: English

Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007 by Crossway Books, a

division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights

reserved.



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Contents

Preface 5

Romans 8 9

1 Spirit-Powered Freedom (8:1-11) 11

2 Spirit-Powered Sonship (8:12-17) 35

3 Spirit-Powered Hope (8:18-25) 53

4 Spirit-Powered Prayer (8:26, 27) 71

5 Spirit-Powered Assurance (8:28-30) 79

6 Spirit-Powered Triumph (8:31-39) 106

Recommended Resources 127

Notes 129



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For Bangor Baptist Church

“May grace and peace be multiplied to you

in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.”2 Peter 1:2



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Preface

Some Christian teachers over the years have called Romans 8 the

“greatest chapter in the Bible.” That may or may not be true, but it’snot hard to see why many would say that. In many ways, Romans 8 is

a climatic summary of all Paul has been saying in the previous chapters

of his letter to the Roman Christians.

In Romans 8, Paul reminds Christians that though they are sinful and

cannot earn salvation, it has been given to them as a gift of God’s free

and sovereign grace. Therefore, though we struggle with sin there is

no condemnation from God, for Christ himself became condemned inour place. Being adopted as God’s sons, we not only have an

assurance of salvation and an intimate relationship with God himself,

we are also empowered to say no to our sinful hearts by the Spirit.

We are not only declared righteous by God (justified) we are now able

to become righteous (sanctification). All of this comes to us by faith in

Christ, whom God gave for us. Since God gave us Christ—the very

best he had to give—he will surely now give to his people all that they

need. Despite all the difficulties of this sin-damaged world, Godpromises to always be with us and even the most trying and powerful

things will never separate from his love.

Paul ties all of these things very closely to God’s Holy Spirit. It is

through the reception of the God’s Spirit that his people are united to

Christ and have Spirit ual life. The Christian life is very much meant to

be lived by the power of the Spirit God provides. The burden of this

book is help believers both realize what God has done for them ingiving salvation to them in Christ, as well as to see how these benefits

are applied and lived out through the Spirit.

In this way, this short book is meant to drive you back to God’s Word;

especially Romans 8. By reading and believing the truths found there,

believers can be built up in faith, encouraged to continually trust

Christ so that they pursue godliness. If the fight of sin is helped by

filling up our minds with God’s word (cf. Romans 12:1-2), then Romans8 provides the heavy artillery that we need to make war against flesh

and live by God’s Spirit!



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This devotional commentary is not meant to be an exhaustive teaching

on this part of the Bible. Instead, it’s meant to be a pastoral

explanation and application of each verse in the chapter. Some verses

are dense with teaching and get more than one week of explanation.

Many readers will want more than what is provided here. So, a list of

recommended resources has been included in the back. There you

will find basic commentaries or topical works based on what Paul

teaches in this chapter. Everything there is accessible to the everyday

Christian who longs to better know God through his Word.

It is my hope and prayer that this work be an encouragement to you as

you seek to live for God’s glory by the power he provides!

John Botkin

December 25, 2009



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Romans 8

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ

Jesus.2

For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesusfrom the law of sin and death.

3For God has done what the law,

weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the

likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,4in

order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in

us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.5For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things

of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds

on the things of the Spirit.6

For to set the mind on the flesh is death,but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

7For the mind that is

set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law;

indeed, it cannot.8Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

9You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit

of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ

does not belong to him.10

But if Christ is in you, although the body is

dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.11

If theSpirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who

raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal

bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

12So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according

to the flesh.13

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if

by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.14

For

all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.15

For you did notreceive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received

the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”16

The

Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,17

and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ,

provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified

with him.

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For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthcomparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

19For the

creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.20

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because



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of him who subjected it, in hope21

that the creation itself will be set

free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the

glory of the children of God.22

For we know that the whole creation

has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.23

And

not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the

Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the

redemption of our bodies.24

For in this hope we were saved. Now

hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?25

But if

we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

26Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know

what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us

with groanings too deep for words.27

And he who searches hearts

knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for

the saints according to the will of God.28

And we know that for those

who love God all things work together for good, for those who are

called according to his purpose.29

For those whom he foreknew he also

predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he

might be the firstborn among many brothers.30

And those whom he

predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified,

and those whom he justified he also glorified.

31What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be

against us?32

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us

all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?33

Who

shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.34

Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than

that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is

interceding for us.35

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness,

or danger, or sword?36

As it is written, “For your sake we are being

killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”37

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him

who loved us.38

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels

nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,39

nor

height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to

separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.



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Spirit-Powered FreedomRomans 1:1-11



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Romans 8:1

Paul begins this great chapter with a ‘therefore.’ That word signals a

conclusion that’s he arrived at based on what he has said in theprevious chapters. Because he speaks of condemnation, he is

probably thinking back to chapter 5. There he is speaking of the sin

that has come into all of creation through the sin of the first man,

Adam, in contrast to the work of the Second Adam, Jesus Christ. Paul

says the gift of Christ “is not like the result of that one man's sin. For

the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation” (5:16).

What is the result of the first sin? God’s judgment, which results in

condemnation. In fact, that is the consequence of all sin—condemnation.

Yet, here in Romans 8, Paul makes the bold assertion, “There is

therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Somehow, through Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation for sinners.

The word condemnation is a legal term. It speaks to the penalty that a

guilty verdict demands. If you are found guilty of a crime, then that

“guilty verdict” demands punishment—it requires condemnation.

As sinners, our sinfulness requires condemnation. And yet, God says to

us ‘there is no condemnation in Christ!’ Paul talks about this more

than a few times in his letters, and often he uses the word,

‘justification.’ Justification is the opposite of condemnation. If there is

no condemnation in our lives, it means that we have been justified

before God. We have been declared righteous; we are cleared of all

charges. Though deserving judgment for our sins, that judgment hasremoved. Though we once stood condemned, now there is no

condemnation from God because of our faith in Christ.

It’s a glorious thought! One that causes Charles Wesley to pen, and us

to sing, the great hymn, “And Can It Be?”:

And can it be that I should gain

an interest in the Savior’s blood?. . . No condemnation now I dread;

Jesus and all in Him is mine.

Alive in Him, my living Head,



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I’m clothed in righteousness divine.

Bold, I approach the eternal throne,

and claim the crown, through Christ, my own.

Consider what Paul is saying: all of God’s condemning wrath and all of

his omnipotent hostility to us in our sin has been replaced by almighty

mercy and omnipotent assistance. If, as the verse says, you are in

Christ Jesus, then all of God’s action toward you is almighty mercy and

omnipotent assistance. It is never mixed. It is not as though some days

he is against you with wrath, and those days are bad days, while other

days he is for you with love, and those days are good days.

Now it may seem that that is what our lives are like. This is why we

need the truth of God’s word. Our emotions and experiences betray

reality. To understand what things are really like and what is really

happening, we need to view life through the lens of God’s word. So

what does Paul say—is God gracious sometimes and wrathful at other

times? He emphatically says, ‘No!’ There is no condemnation for those

in Christ Jesus. There is only love and mercy and support. Always.



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Romans 8:2

Paul says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are

in Christ Jesus.” Why? “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you freein Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” Paul says there is no

condemnation for sin because we have been set free—we have been

liberated—from the law of sin.

Notice that law appears twice in this verse. There is the law of the

Spirit of life and the law of sin and death. What are these laws? Well,

they are in fact the same law. This is the Mosaic Law, but Paul is

describing it as functioning in two realms. Pastor and New Testamentscholar Tom Schreiner explains it like this: “If the law is appropriated

in the realm of the Spirit and by faith, then one is liberated from using

the Mosaic law in such a way that it leads to sin and death. . . .

Without the Spirit the law only produces death. But for those who

have the Spirit the law plays a positive role.”1

Have you seen how this is worked out in the lives of God’s people in

the Bible? From our New Testament perspective, we see how thePharisees and others abused the law. We read Paul writing in

Galatians saying, ‘you’re not under law but grace.’ We talk about

wanting to avoid legalism. So, we often tend to think of the Mosaic

Law in very negative terms.

But then you come to a passage like Psalm 19. And there David says,

“The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the

Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord areright, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure,

enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;

the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be

desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than

honey and drippings of the honeycomb” (Ps 19:7-10). Then there is

Psalm 119: one hundred, seventy-six verses that do nothing but

describe the perfections of the law and its benefit for God’s people.

At the same time, Paul can call the same law, ‘a law of sin and death!’What’s the difference? The Spirit of God in the life of the one seeking

to keep the law.



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Without the Spirit, the law is just an external list of do’s and don’ts. A

list you cannot keep. So, the law simply frustrates and furthers your

sin. You read the law and say ‘oh, I didn’t realize that was sin.’

Suddenly, your list of sins to be rid of gets longer, and your life

becomes one legalistic attempt to gains God favor. You become

enslaved to the very thing that keeps pointing out your sin.

But now Paul says, if you are in Christ, then you have the Spirit! Now

you have been set free from the law of sin and death! In Christ, you

have been liberated from an external law, and in fulfillment of the

promises given to people like Jeremiah (31:31-34) and Ezekiel (36:22-

27), you have the law written on your very hearts. Now, the law is a

law of life.



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Romans 8:3

Verses 3-4 continue help explain and expand on what Paul has said in

vv. 1-2. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are inChrist Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ

Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law,

weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the

likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.”

Paul tells us why we were set free from the law of sin and death. He

says that we were set free from the law because the law could not

produce righteousness. Why not? Because it was “weakened by theflesh.” What does all this mean?

Think about it like this. When I was younger my grandmother had a

tree in very back of her yard, and that tree grew crab-apples. For those

of you that have never had a crab-apple, they’re not like Red Galas or

Jonathan apples. They taste horrible! But every year, against the

advice of my grandmother, I would eat these apples. And for some

reason, I always thought they would taste better than they did the lasttime I ate them. I usually thought I picked them too early and if I could

just wait longer, they would be better. But they were crab-apples;

they were not going to get any better.

Likewise, we are born sinners, and sinners, sin. You cannot expect

righteousness from sinners because their hearts are filled with iniquity

and transgression. So, even when God sends down his good and

perfect law, his people are still sinners. Thus, the problem is not thelaw; the problem is us. The law was weakened by the flesh.

And so what does God do? Paul says that God did what the law could

not do since it was weakened by the flesh. “By sending his own Son in

the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.”

What did God do? He sent his own Son to be our substitute. Notice

the language he is using? It’s shocking. Christ was made in the likeness

of sinful flesh. God sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh! Paulis saying that Jesus experienced all the infirmities of living as a human

in a fallen world, yet without sin. He was made in the likeness of

human flesh, in the likeness of sinful flesh.



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Be careful not to slip into misunderstanding here. Paul is not saying

that somehow Christ became sinful. Or that somehow his flesh, his

body, was sinful and his soul was not. No, he is choosing his words

carefully, ‘he came in the likeness of sinful flesh.’ Paul is saying that

God brought his Son into the closest possible relation to us, yet

without sin. And in doing so, he actually stood in the place of his

people. Christ took upon himself the punishment his people deserved

for their sin. Thus, God condemned sin in Christ so that we would not

be condemned.

What response is there to such love but worship? A worship that

trusts not in one’s sinful heart to produce good works, but one that

humbly acknowledges his needs of a Savior. A heart that calls out to

God in faith, trusting him alone for salvation. For in Christ Jesus, there

is no condemnation.



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Romans 8:4

So far in the first three verses of Romans 8, Paul has shown us how

God has declared our justification, accomplished our liberation, and hehas provided our substitute. Now we see him enabling our

sanctification—our growth in holiness. Paul tells us what God has

done for us in Christ, and now in verse 4, he tells us what God hopes

to accomplish through that work.

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ

Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus

from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law,weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the

likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in

order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in

us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit”

(8:1-4).

Notice that in all these verses, we aren’t doing anything! God and

Christ are the subjects of all these sentences. And even here, it is nodifferent. Through the saving work of Christ, his substitutionary death

for us, that results in us being freed from sin and death, and being

found not guilty for our sin, through that work, God lays the

foundation for our sanctification. That is, while he has declared us

righteous in Christ, he also works to make us righteous. Specifically, he

works so that the law might be fulfilled in us.

You may have been expecting Paul to say that God ‘condemned thesin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law

might be fulfilled for us.’ But he doesn’t say that. He says “in us.”

Christ died so that we could be holy. In fact, if Christ had not died,

then we could not be holy. Remember what Paul said—we could not

keep the law because of our sinfulness. We cannot achieve holiness on

our own. We are dependent on God for holiness. And even here, we

are looking for the law to be fulfilled in us. The verb is passive—an

action is being performed in us by someone else. God is working in ourlives, by his Spirit, to produce righteousness.



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Earlier I talked about my grandma’s crab-apple tree. If as sinners our

hearts are that tree, producing sour, foul fruit, then in salvation God

does something miraculous. He changes us so that we no longer

produce rotten fruit, but good, sweet fruit—fruit that manifests itself

in a life that is lived in such a way that the law of God is fulfilled.

Righteousness is the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.

It’s important that we think carefully here. There is certainly room for

growth in the Christian life. Hopefully, you are closer to God now than

this time last year. That being said, if your life does not produce the

righteous fruit of God’s Spirit (cf. Gal 5:22, 23), then you should begin

asking God if you are really one of his children. For just as a sinner

produces sin, so a Christian who is filled with the Holy Spirit will

produce the fruit of the Spirit. The Christian cannot help himself any

more than the apple tree can help but produce apples; it’s who he is.

The true believer will produce righteousness.

Freedom from sin and death does not give us a license to live however

we want. No, it gives us the freedom to live a life of holiness. Jesus

himself said, “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it

is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and

I will love him and manifest myself to him” (John 14:21).

One pastor was struggling with his sinfulness and spiritual mediocrity

while he was in college. Then he came across our passage. And he

grabbed a piece of notebook paper and wrote the following: “I’m so

full of myself. I’m so frustrated. I’m so defeated. I’m so discouraged.

I’m so sad. BUT, Christ is SUFFICIENT. Christ is VICTORIOUS. Christ is

SOVEREIGN. Christ is CAPABLE. Christ is LOVING. And I’m FORGIVEN.

So PRESS ON! AND DON’T LOOK BACK!”2



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Romans 8:5

Sometimes you will find Christians and churches that hold to the

mistaken belief that somehow a person can become a Christian, butnot a disciple of Jesus Christ. That is, a person can believe in him for

salvation, but not believe in him enough to obey his commands. Thus,

there are two classes of Christian—the committed disciple and carnal

Christian.

Again, let us be clear that there is more than enough room for growth

and maturity in the Christian life. No one becomes sinless upon initial

faith in Christ. For the Christian, there is a natural growth process thattakes time. But understanding that and believing that one can have

salvation yet live and think like the world with no regard for Christ is

vastly different. Paul is clear in our text: there are not three kinds of

people in the world—the saved, the worldly saved, and the lost. No,

there are only two kinds of people—those that are saved from their

sins and those that are not.

If you are a Christian, then Paul wants you to understand that you nolonger live according to the flesh. Because that is true, then your life is

dramatically different from the rest of the world, who live according to

the flesh. He begins by showing this difference in verse 5: “For those

who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the

flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the

things of the Spirit.’

The flesh primarily refers to the physical, fleshy part of our bodies. Butit also implies the weakness of humanity as well as its sinfulness. Paul

says that those who live according to the flesh, set their minds on the

things of the flesh. To ‘set our minds’ on something is to have our

patterns of thinking, attitudes, affections—the very orientation of our

heart and life—centered on and shaped by that thing. So, to set one’s

mind on the things of the flesh is to set one’s mind on anything and

everything apart from God.

In contrast, “those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on

the things of the Spirit.” Their basic, core orientation is no longer

according to the flesh, but the Spirit of God. But what about our



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struggles with sin? Are those struggles evidence that we are not living

according to the Spirit, with our mind set on the things of the Spirit?

Consider what it means to walk on a path to somewhere. I can

remember hiking with my dad one time at a park. I love my dad, and

he has tremendous spiritual wisdom, but an outdoorsman he is not!

We got on the wrong path and wound up on the other side of the

park. He had to walk four blocks through a subdivision to get back to

the car and go home. What happened? We were on the wrong path,

and as long as we were on the wrong path, we had no hope of getting

to where we wanted to go. Now consider what it would have been like

for us to be on the correct path. I could have fallen and skinned my

knee. We could have had to back-up because of some wild animal on

the path. We may have had to stop and rest. But if we were on the on

the right path, we were guaranteed to end up at the right destination.

Likewise, Paul is telling us that if we have been born again—

regenerated—by God’s Spirit, then our basic orientation is of the

Spirit. We are on the right path, heading in the right direction, and

nothing can change that. Yes, we may stumble and fall and be delayed

in our progress by sin. But all the while, we have what a lost person

doesn’t have: a desire to follow after God’s ways. We have a deep

affection for God that causes us to feel both grief for sin and joy in our

obedience to him.



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Romans 8:6

In verse 6, Paul continues his thought on the difference between those

who live by the flesh and those who live by the Spirit. Here, Paul tellsus the result of our differing mind-sets. In verse 6 he says, “To set the

mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and

peace.”

What will become of those who live according to the flesh? They will

suffer death. Not just physical death (we will see later that even the

Christian suffers that), but spiritual death—separation from God

forever in hell.

Paul has already told the Romans in chapter 1 that God is passionate

about his glory. Speaking of those who walk according to the flesh, he

says, “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or

give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their

foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling

mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gavethem up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of

their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth

about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than

the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen” (Rom 1:21-25).

Because God’s glory is supreme in the universe, because of all

creation’s purpose is to glorify God and enjoy him forever, those that

refuse that purpose and reject the glory of God must be punished.That punishment is eternal spiritual death.

But the Christian has a different destiny. For Paul says, “to set the

mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” The Spirit is effective in shaping

our mind and shaping our walk because he is alive. He imparts spiritual

life. He does not just speak laws or rules and tell us to keep them. He

brings the law of God and writes it on our hearts and creates the life

that loves the law and delights in God and treasures Christ. But thiswork is more than just a righteous life now. When the Spirit imparts

life, it is eternal, spiritual life and peace with God—ultimately salvation

in its fullest.



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Of course, what underlies Paul thought here is that the gift of Christ

was the most loving, generous gift God could have given us. But how

many of us actually believe this? How many of us actually see Christ

as the treasure that he is? How many of us see Christ as God sees

him—the greatest gift of love that could be given?

This is part of the reason I love reading older books. Older books give

a perspective that might be missing from today’s authors. But, more

than anything, it seems like so many of the older authors have a much

clearer vision of the glory of Christ. That vision of Christ’s glory led

them to do and say things that hardly anyone is doing or saying today.

Many people today just don’t seem to love Christ as deeply as those

who have gone on before. When you read people like Spurgeon and

the Puritans, you come away thinking, ‘Do I worship the same Christ?

Do I know the same Christ that these men love? If I do, then why

don’t I love him as much they do?’

I am convinced that part of the answer lies in the culture in which we

find ourselves. We live in a culture that has so much stuff. And, like

the world, we have become entranced by that stuff. We look past

Christ and ask for other kinds of gifts. We ask God for new jobs, new

cars, new marriage—all kinds of things. When we do not get those

things we then somehow feel unloved. But, the problem is not God;

the problem is us. The problem is that we have devalued Christ. Our

affections are so misaligned, that we find more joy in a job, more

satisfaction in a car, than we do joy and satisfaction in God’s Son.

We have lost sight of his glory. We have lost sight of his supreme

worth above all things. We have lost sight of One who alone is the

greatest treasure of our lives. Like Paul, we must pray for less things

and more of Christ. In Philippians he says, “I count everything as loss

because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For

his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as

rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ … that I may know him.”



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Romans 8:7

In verses 7 and 8, Paul tells us why those in the flesh are consumed

with worldly thinking and will one day be punished. He begins bysaying, “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God.”

Charles Spurgeon says that because the Scriptures are the Word of

God, they are true and we are to accept what they say. Nevertheless

he says, we are able to look around us and see the truthfulness of

what they say. This is especially true when it comes to sinful

humanity’s hostility to God. Spurgeon says,

I would conjure up the nations of antiquity; I would unroll the

volume of ancient history; I would tell you of the awful deeds of

mankind. It may be I might move your souls to detestation, if I

spake of the cruelty of this race to itself, if I showed you how it

made the world an Aceldama, by its wars, and deluged it with

blood by its fightings and murders; if I should recite the black list

of vices in which whole nations have indulged, or even bring

before you the characters of some of the most eminentphilosophsers, I should blush to speak of them, and you would

refuse to hear; yea, it would be impossible for you, as refined

inhabitants of a civilized country, to endure the mention of the

crimes that were committed by those very men who, now-a-days,

are held up as being paragons of perfection. I fear, if all the truth

were written, we should rise up from reading the lives of earth's

mightiest heroes and proudest sages, and would say at once of all

of them, ‘They are clean gone out of the way; they are altogetherbecome unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not

one.’3

We probably have some idea of the kinds of things Spurgeon was

thinking about when he wrote those words. We might ever be able to

add some stories from history since then. The point is that hostility to

God doesn’t necessarily involve cursing his name. It doesn’t have to

be raising our fist toward heaven. Paul says, it is as simple as refusingto heed his Word: “the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God,

for it does not submit to God's law .”



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So, here’s the test we have to put ourselves to: when our thinking, our

desires, our actions bring us into conflict with God’s word, who wins?

Do you yield to God or do you refuse and continue to live according to

your own ideas? It’s sometimes a small crisis like this that reveals

where our hearts really lie. When our thinking, our choosing, our

desiring comes into conflict with God’s word, some will show they are

not of God; they do not have his Spirit. Others will show the opposite:

they are God’s people who delight in his ways.

It’s important that we reiterate that Paul is not teaching a kind of

perfectionism here. The apostle John after all writes to Christians and

says, “If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word

is not in us” (1 John 1:10)! Christians can struggle and stumble. Yet,

even in the midst of sin, there is still a consistent desire to bend to

God and his word. They feel conviction for choosing their own way

over God and repent. They are willing to grow and trust God with

their lives. They have a trajectory of life that reveals they have been

born of God and have his Spirit.



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Romans 8:8

In these final verses, Paul tells us why those in the flesh are consumed

with worldly thinking and will one day be punished. He says, “For themind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God.”

Last week we saw something of what this hostility to God looked like.

But Paul pushes us further, showing us why sinful humanity is so

hostile to towards God. He says, “For the mind that is set on the flesh

is hostile to God [how?] for it does not submit to God’s law; [why?]

indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

Hostility to God is nothing less than a refusal to submit to his lordship.

But why do the lost have hostility towards God? Why do they not

submit to him? Paul is clear: they can’t. They cannot submit to him.

They cannot please him. Paul is fleshing out the Bible’s doctrine of sin

and its consequences. He is not speaking of some physical inability to

please God, but a moral inability that causes you to neither want to,

nor succeed in pleasing God.

I love seeing my children respond to my affection, especially when

they are very young. I love seeing them giggle when I tickle them. I

love to kiss their cheeks and their foreheads and see them smile. I love

to pick them up out of their crib in the morning and hug them and feel

them relax and snuggle in, responding to the embrace.

That’s why it is so hard for me to think about a friend my wife,

Melinda, had in Louisville. She was another nurse on Melinda’s floor.While we were living there, the woman had a child who died shortly

after birth. At the viewing before the funeral, the family tried to

experience something of what was lost. They passed the dead child

around, taking turns holding it, stroking its hair. But the child was

dead. It wouldn’t, it couldn’t respond as a living child could.

Likewise, apart from Christ and God’s indwelling Spirit, we are

spiritually dead. As sinful humans, we are spiritually incapable ofresponding to God in a way that is pleasing to him. This is the great

predicament of humanity. We are enslaved to sin, held captive by its

pervasive, damning influence. We are so steeped in sin that we will



28

never even want to submit to God and his ways. It’s not as if we are

raging against our chains, trying to break free. No, we delight in our

sin! We have no reason to submit to God. This is what makes the

plight of humanity apart from Christ so tragic.

But this is also what makes God’s salvation so glorious! The Christian is

not like the lost person. When God sends his Spirit into our hearts, he

gives us new life so that we can submit to him. It’s his Spirit that

enables us to believe the gospel and repent of our sin.

Paul has just told us in 8:4 that because of God’s Spirit in our lives, God

was working in us so that the law might be fulfilled in our lives; that

we might live in a way that is pleasing to God. Thus, the only hope of

having a right relationship with God comes in being united with Christ

and so receiving God’s Spirit.



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Romans 8:9

Paul makes clear his contrast between those in the flesh and those in

the Spirit. He leaves no room for the “carnal Christian.” He says, inverses 5-8, here is the unsaved person who lives according to the

flesh, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the

Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of

Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the

body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of

righteousness.”

You can only have spiritual life, you can only be a Christian, you canonly experience life with God if God’s Spirit dwells within you. More

than that, Paul says those that have the Spirit of Christ belong to

Christ. So, as Christians, we should think of ourselves as belonging to

Christ, as Christ’s possession. But that begs the question, ‘what does it

mean to belong to Christ?’

In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul connects these two ideas—indwelling and

possession—in a way that helps us better understand our passage.There he says, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the

Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your

own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1

Cor 6:19-20).

Back in the early years of this country’s life, there was a great desire

for men and women to move West. And at the expense of those

Native to this land, the government supported this movement. Theywanted the United States to expand from sea to shining sea. So, for a

time, you could lay claim to a piece of land in the west by something

called homesteading. Homesteading was done by simply building a

house and farming the land. Of course, there is also the more common

way of obtaining land—the way the majority of us have done it—by

buying it.4

Here in Romans 8, Paul says Christ has done both to obtain us. Christmakes us his own by purchase and habitation. “You are not your own,

for you were bought with a price.” That’s the purchase. “Your body is

a temple of the Holy Spirit within you.” That’s the possession. He



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bought us with his blood, and he moves in by his Spirit. If you are a

Christian, you are not your own; you belong to Christ. We are

inhabited by Christ, under the sway of Christ, and owned by Christ.

Notice that Paul tells this to the Romans to encourage them. You see,

knowing you belong to Christ means there is absolute security in your

life. Christ takes care of his own people. He did not buy us to lose us.

He bought us to have us and keep us. In John, Jesus himself said, “I

give [my sheep] eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will

snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:28).

This kind of security is something to treasure because Paul says, “if

Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is

life because of righteousness.” We still experience physical death

because we are sinners. Even though we have forgiveness, even

though sin is no longer our master, we still experience the effects of

sin, like sickness and death. And Paul is reminding the Romans, and so

us today: even in the face of death, remember that you belong to

Christ.



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Romans 8:10

Thomas Goodwin was one of the greatest of the Puritans of the

seventeenth century. He was Chancellor at Oxford University, so partof his responsibilities would be to interview prospective students. As a

Puritan, Goodwin was not just religious and part of the Church

because he was raised that way; he loves Christ and the gospel. So, in

the course of these interviews, he was concerned for the spiritual

welfare of the students. Now, try to imagine his room at the university

in Oxford. This is the late 1600’s, so imagine some old, dark, and dingy

room. Imagine an office that might have had a small little window

perhaps. During the interview of one young man—probably fifteen orsixteen years old—Goodwin looks at this young man in this office and

he asks him, “Are you ready to die?” Well, the poor student was so

terrified he left the building!5

While we can feel sorry for that student, we can’t escape Goodwin’s

question. Are you ready to die? How would you know? Paul makes

the issue clear to us here. He says to the Romans, “if Christ is in you,

although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because ofrighteousness.”

Everyone—including Christians—face the dilemma: the body is dead

because of sin. Because of our first parents, our physical frames are

fragile and broken. We are dust and will one day return to dust (Cf.

Gen 3:19). So far as we remain in this world, our bodies remain

mortal. We will grow old, get sick, feel joints breaking down, and

watch others go through the same. We are, in every way, human.

Yet, Paul says, “if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of

sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” Here is a difference

between God’s people and the rest of humanity: though, physically we

are dying like everyone else, spiritually, we are alive! We have the

Spirit who gives life because of the righteousness that was secured for

us by Christ on the cross. Our life was paid for by Christ through his

death and now his presence in our lives makes that life a reality.

Now, though the body will one day die, we are alive together with God

(cf. Rom 6:11). That means we can never really die. The body may be



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laid in the ground, but we will be in the presence of God forever. Even

before he redeems our physical body, raising it back to life, glorified

like Christ, we have life with him! Because we have the Spirit, we have

Christ, and because we have Christ, we have spiritual life.

One of the effects of this reality is the Christians view of death. On the

one hand, we need not fear death. The Bible does present death as an

enemy to be defeated—an unnatural element in the life God intended

us to have (cf. 1 Cor 15:36; Gen 2:17). Nevertheless, because we do

have life n the Christ, death is a defeated enemy!

Then on the other hand, though, the reality of death makes our

imperative as Christians all the more urgent. We know people who do

not have life by God’s Spirit, because they do not have faith in God’s

Son. Knowing that death is not a defeated enemy for them means we

must be all the more zealous to tell of the Christ who died that sinner

might live.



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Romans 8:11

A minister and well-known Bible speaker, Harry Ironside, was a giant

in his day. One day as Ironside was traveling on a train in southernCalifornia, A gypsy woman boarded and sat down beside him. She

said, “How do you do, gentleman. I can give you your past, present,

and future. I will tell all.”

To this, Ironside said, “It’s not really necessary for me to have my

fortune told, because I have already had it told. It is written in a book.

And I have that book in my pocket.”

The gypsy was astonished. “You have it in a book?”

“Yes,” he said. “And it is absolutely infallible. Let me read it to you.”

Ironside reached into his pocket and pulled out his pocket New

Testament and began reading from Ephesians 2: “And you were dead

in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the

course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, thespirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom

we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires

of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like

the rest of mankind” (2:1-3). “That is my past” he said.

The women was startled when he pulled out his New Testament and

tried to get away. “That is plenty, I do not want to hear anymore.”

Ironside persisted, “But wait there is more. Here is my present too:

‘But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he

loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive

together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up

with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ

Jesus,’” (2:4-6).

Again she said, “No more, no more.”

But Ironside would not be put off. “But you have to hear my future.

And you do not even need to pay me a quarter for it. I’ll give it to you



34

for nothing!” It says, “so that in the coming ages he might show the

immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus”

(2:7).

By then the gypsy woman had gotten up and was half-way down the

aisle of the train, yelling, ‘I took the wrong man!”6

Like Ephesians 2, here in Romans 8, Paul has presented our past,

present, and future. Our past was that we used to be dead in sins,

living according to the flesh. Our present is that now we have been

made alive to Christ, and walk according to the Spirit. Finally, in verse

11, he presents our future: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from

the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will

also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in

you.” Here the glimpse of the future we received from verse 6 is more

fully seen.

Who raised Christ from the dead? Paul says it was the Spirit of him—

that is, the Spirit of God. But what does he also say? That same Spirit

of God is dwelling in you. The Spirit of the Father is dwelling in you.

And then Paul wants you to meditate on that for a minute. If God the

Father by the power of the Spirit raised Jesus Christ from the dead,

what is it that is at work in me? Who is it that is at work in me? It is

the Spirit of the Father who is at work in me. And if He raised Christ

Jesus from the dead, then I am assured that I, too, will be raised from

the dead. And not only raise me from the dead, but He will continue to

perfect in me that which God has first begun.



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Spirit-Powered SonshipRomans 8:12-17



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Romans 8:12

In verse 12, Paul reminds the Romans of the reality of their new life in

Christ: “So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to liveaccording to the flesh.” Remember that those who have faith in Christ

have been given new life by God’s Spirit. Specifically, Paul says we

have been liberated from our enslavement to sin. All humanity is born

in sin, and in slavery to sin. That sin separates us from God and causes

us to be condemned in judgment for our sins.

But Paul is reminding them of their faith in Christ, and the change that

has now come by the Spirit of Christ. We have new life by his Spirit.Thus, we owe nothing to the flesh. As Christians we are not in debt to

the flesh, to follow it or obey it. It’s the work of God that has given us

this new life, and, therefore, we ought not to live for the flesh or for its

goals.

Imagine working as a slave for a slave owner in the earlier years of this

country. From morning to night, whatever the slave desired, you did.

He was the master, you were slave, and you obeyed his will. But thenone day, someone comes, and he buys you. He pays the slave owner

what you’re worth and you’re free. Months later you see your old

master, and he begins telling you what to do. Do you obey? Absolutely

not! You have been set free from him. You have no obligation to

follow him or obey; he’s no longer your master. That’s exactly what

Paul is reminding the Romans of. Likewise for you today—if you are a

Christian—you have been set free from the rule of sin; you are under

no obligation to serve the flesh. Instead, you are free. Free to pursuethe righteous life that God desires you to have.

Most Christians fail in their attempts at holiness at this very spot.

They forget their past. They forget the reality of who they are in Christ.

And so they approach sanctification in a number of wrong ways. Some

try methods. It may be a special approach to Bible study or prayer. It

may be a special way of ordering one’s day.

Do not mistake—methods of prayer and Bible study may be helpful in

our sanctification, but they do not guarantee it. Others try formulas,

following the credo, “WWJD?” for example. The attraction to such



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things is that they make the Christian life simple and easy. But at the

end of the day, they don’t work because there is no simple formula for

complex realities of life. Still yet, many approach sanctification by

seeking some life-changing experience. Often, this is associated with

the charismatic movement. People seek ‘a second blessing’ or ‘second

baptism of the Holy Spirit.’ Such a moment is supposed to mark a

turning point whereby the Christian life becomes full of holiness and

victory, not sin and defeat. The problem is, none of this is consistent

with the picture presented of the Christian life and the Spirit in

Romans 7 and 8.

Paul tells us that sanctification doesn’t begin with methods, or

formulas, or experiences—it begins with the realization of who we are

in Christ. Christ has set us free from the bondage of sin. With his own

blood, he has ransomed us from any obligation to obey the master of

sin. We have been given new life by the Holy Spirit, and that freedom

empowers us to resist sin and pursue sanctification.



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Romans 8:13

In verses 12-13, Paul says that it is by the Spirit that we must be

sanctified. Specifically he says, “So then, brothers, we are debtors, notto the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to

the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of

the body, you will live.” Here, Paul says that sanctification involves

putting to death the deeds of the body. To put it more succinctly,

sanctification is about killing sin.

No one in all of Christian history has written more on sanctification

than the Puritan John Owen. In fact, he wrote an entire 68-page bookon one verse—Romans 8:13. The book was called The Mortification of

Sin in Believers. Today, we use the word mortify to mean ‘embarrass’

or ‘shamed.’ But it comes from a Latin word which means ‘death.’

Thus, mortification means, ‘putting to death’ or killing. Owen sums up

his entire book in one little sentence: “Be killing sin or it will be killing

you.”

That is exactly what Paul is saying here. A central part of yoursanctification involves killing sin—putting to death the deeds of the

body. The problem comes in that very few Christians today actually

know how to do this. They often know they should. Sometimes they

even try. But very few actually know what the Bible says about killing

sin in their lives because it is not just about changing behavior.

Remember what Jesus said about cutting off our members? He said,

“If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throwit from you... And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it

away.” Jesus is not speaking literally here. He is teaching the principle

that lies behind killing sin. He says, if you sin with your body parts—

say, steal with your hand, walk to some place you shouldn’t be with

your feet, lust with your eye—so, what are you to do? Jesus says it is

not enough to say, ‘I shouldn’t have done that, and I’ll try not to do

that again.’ No, he says, get rid of the thing that led to your sin. Cut it

out of your life and throw it away!

Again, we are not expected to be self-mutilators! At the end of the

day, it wouldn’t do any good to gouge out of eyes because we used



40

them to lust; our eyes aren’t the source of our sin. So what we are to

do? We are to put the death the deeds of the body, and Jesus says

those deeds come from the heart: “The things that proceed out of the

mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the

heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts,

false witness, slander. These are the things which defile the man”

(Matthew 15:18-20).

Jesus says there is a condition of the heart that gives rise to the “deeds

of the body.” It’s not a body issue; it’s a heart issue. The work of killing

sin is heart work. If we are to put to death the deeds of the body, If we

are to kill sin in our lives, we must cut off the lifeline between our

hearts and the sinful actions that flow from them.

In 1993, Donald Wyman was clearing timber in a remote Pennsylvania

forest. Late in the day a tree fell on him, pinning his leg. For over an

hour, he screamed for help, but no one heard him. No one came to

rescue him. Realizing that if he did nothing, he would die, Wyman tied

a tourniquet around his leg with a leather boot lace from his free leg.

He then took out his pocket knife and began to cut off his leg about six

inches below his knee. Once his leg was fully amputated, he crawled

back to his truck and drove himself to the hospital.7

How could he cut off his own leg? He understood about his physical

life what Paul wants us to understand about our spiritual life—“if you

live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to

death the deeds of the body, you will live.”



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Romans 8:13

Paul puts before us a choice between life and death: live according to

the flesh and you will suffer spiritual death. But kill the deeds of thebody by the Spirit and you will experience spiritual life. Does this mean

that we earn our salvation? Do this and die; do this and live? No, that’s

not what Paul is saying at all; quite the opposite, in fact. Putting to

death the deeds of the body by the Spirit—the daily practice of killing

sin in your life—is the result of being justified and the evidence that

you are justified by faith alone apart from works of the law. One

scholar writes “If you are making war on your sin, and walking by the

Spirit, then you know that you have been united with Christ by faithalone. And if you have been united to Christ, then his blood and

righteousness provide the unshakable ground of your justification.”

Likewise, if you are living according to the flesh—if you are not making

war on the flesh, and not making a practice out of killing sin in your

life—then there is no compelling reason for thinking that you are

united to Christ by faith or that you are therefore justified. In other

words, putting to death the deeds of the body is not the way we get justified, it’s one of the ways God shows that we are justified. So Paul

commands us to do it: be killing sin. Because if we don’t, if growth in

grace and holiness mean nothing to us, then we show that we are

probably false in our profession of faith, and that our church

membership is a sham and our baptism is a fraud, and we are probably

not truly Christians after all and never were.

What are we to do? Exactly what Paul says—put to death the deeds ofthe body. We are to be killing sin. Paul has told us what we must do

and how we are to do it. Paul says, in v. 13, “[it is] by the Spirit you put

to death the deeds of the body.” That means, it is not me versus the

flesh; it’s the Spirit of God versus the flesh. If I am to be successful in

killing sin, then I must draw on the power of the Spirit. So how do I do

this? Let me suggests two things.

First, set your mind on the things of the Spirit. Do you rememberRomans 8:5-6? “For those who live according to the flesh set their

minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the

Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on



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the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”

There is the same contrast as in our passage today. Putting to death

the deeds of the body by the Spirit involves “setting the mind on the

things of the Spirit.” There was a campaign in the 1980’s to fight drug

use among children and teens. It was called ‘Just Say No,’ and the

point was to just say no to drugs. While the intention was great, the

success was not. If it difficult to just say no to temptation in any form.

Paul says, you need to do more. You need to direct your mind, your

heart, your spiritual focus another way, namely to the “things of the

Spirit.”

What are these things? They are the words of God and realities they

stand for. This is clear from Ephesians 6 where the word of God is

called the sword of the Spirit. The Spirit inspired the word of God, and

uses it in our lives to convict us of sin and lead us to righteousness. So

in the hour of temptation, we are to fix our minds on the word of God

its promises about God and his goodness; and the power of the Spirit

to empower us against sin; our freedom from sin’s reign in our lives;

and it’s teaching that God is worth far more than any sin. John Piper

says, “Kill the deeds of the body, by the Spirit, by fixing your mind on

‘the things of the Spirit.’ That is, by welcoming and embracing the

‘word of God’ in your mind and heart, that is, by taking the Sword of

the Spirit which is the deadly sword for sin-killing.”8



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Romans 8:13

Last time we looked at what Paul says about says killing sin. Paul says,

in v. 13, “[it is] by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body.”We said that means the fight is not me versus the flesh; it’s the Spirit

of God versus the flesh. In order to be successful, then, we must draw

on the power of the Spirit. We said that one way to do this was to set

our minds on the things of the Spirit. Now, I want to suggest a second

thing: hear with faith the things of the Spirit.

Very practically how do you bring the power of the Spirit by the word

of God into vigorous, sin-killing action? The answer is clear inGalatians 3:5, “So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and

works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by

hearing with faith?” The answer is that the Spirit is supplied to us for

the miraculously mighty killing of sin, not by works of the law but by

“hearing with faith.” Paul says, ‘hearing by faith’ to emphasize that

what faith hears and receives and embraces is something heard,

namely, “the word of God,” which is the sword of the Spirit, which kills

sin.

How does the Spirit apply the word so that sin is killed? Consider an

example from the mission field. A few years ago, three missionary

families were forced out of Tanzania. They were to be gone within

thirty days. One of the missionary wives compared their situation to

the disciples after the death of Jesus and before the resurrection:

“They are sitting quietly and numbly at someone’s house . . . and they

don’t know about the resurrection that is to come. That’s what thistime feels like to us in many ways: darkness, and an unknown future.

Out of the blue, we’re packing up and leaving the country, our home

for the last 7 years, the only home our children have known.”

Now what are the dangers of sin here? What are the sins that need to

be killed before they get the upper hand? Anger. Despair. Self-pity.

Fear. Impatience and irritability. How do you put to death those sins

and the deeds of the body that might come from them? Here is theanswer from that same email from the missionary wife: “We are

clinging to these truths: God is good, He is in control, He loves us more

than we can comprehend, and He has plans to give us hope and



44

future, plans to prosper us (Jeremiah 29:11). Our spirits are

understandably low, we are emotionally and physically exhausted.

BUT . . . ‘because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, for

his compassions never fail. They are new every morning’

(Lamentations 3:22-23).”

What were they doing? They were killing sin by the Spirit. They were

hearing the promises of God and believing them. And by that means

the Holy Spirit is flowing and sustaining and sanctifying. So very often

we listen to our hearts too much and fail to listen to God. When trials

and difficulty and temptation come into our lives, we fail to listen to

the One who is sovereign over all things. Instead, we wallow in depths

of our own sinfulness. The result is not a looking in faith toward God

and his promises, but an embracing of the promises of sin.

Sin promises to be good for us, to satisfy us, to be an escape from our

problem. But the sad truth is that the opposite is true! Sin may give

us pleasure, but it’s fleeting; it never lasts. Yet God says he is the True

Source of all that sin promises to be. He promises to be the Source of

our lasting joy and eternal good. Therefore, when sin comes, we must

not listen to our own sinful hearts, but listen to the promises of God,

trusting God to be all that he says he is for us.

This then is what biblical sanctification is all about. It is not about fads

and programs and empty methods. It is about a living relationship with

God by his Spirit. It is about relying on the power of the Spirit to

enable us to kills the sinful deeds of the body. It is about displaying our

justification in Christ by pursuing a life of holiness out of gratitude and

love to the God who saved us.



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Romans 8:14

Have you ever been confused with your mother or father? This

morning the question Paul wants to ask Christians is, ‘Have you everbeen confused with your heavenly Father?’ What about your spiritual

brother, Jesus Christ? It is often said—sometimes in an unflattering

way—“like father, like son.” Here in Romans 8, Paul teaches this as a

true spiritual principle, and explains what it means for God to adopt us

as his spiritual children in Christ.

Paul begins by saying, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons

of God.” Christians talk a lot about being led by God, or by seeking tobe led by God. Usually, this involves decisions about life. We hear

things like, “I am seeking the Lord’s leading about my job” and “Will

you pray for the Lord to lead me as to whether or not I should marry

this person?” There is nothing wrong with that. It is good to seek to

live according to God’s leading for your life. But, that is not what Paul

is talking about. He is not talking a leading in everyday matters of life.

Remember the context here. Look back up at v. 12. “So then, brothers,we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if

you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put

to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by

the Spirit of God are sons of God” (8:12-14). Do you see the

relationship? Verse 14 is the ground for vv. 12-13. By that I mean,

verse 14 is the explanation for why vv. 12-13 are true. So, we could

read it like this: “if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the

body, you will live. [Because] all who are led by the Spirit of God aresons of God.” Paul is saying that one evidence that you truly are one of

God’s children is that the Spirit is leading you to kill sin and pursue

holiness. Those that are truly part of the people of God, those that are

truly sons of God, are led by the Spirit of God to kill sin.

Paul says we have become sons of God. What does that mean? It

means we are going to act like our heavenly Father. The Spirit leads us

to kill sin because we are the sons of the God and God hates sin.Because God hates sin, his children will also hate sin. As they mature,

the children of God are going increasingly have the values and



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priorities and preferences and tastes of their Father. They are chips off

the old block, as it were.

The Spirit leads God children into lives of holiness. This begs the

question, how does the Spirit lead? Whenever you watch old

westerns, you almost always see the Indian guide. It’s almost a stock

character. It’s the Native American that takes the cowboys across the

mountains, through the treacherous passes because he knows the

way. Many of us are tempted to think of the Spirit’s leading in that

way. That you pray and the Spirit somehow says ‘go that way’ and

we’re done.

But that’s not how he works. The kind of leadership Paul talks about is

much more of a governing kind of leadership. In other words, it’s not

like the Spirit comes into your life for three or four minutes, helps you

out, then leaves again until the crisis comes up. No, he is a constant

presence in our life. Being led by the Spirit is to be the everyday,

normal experience of the son of God. He is there empowering you to

apply the truths of God’s word to your life and live in such a way that

sin is defeated and righteousness reigns.

So, if you want to know if you are being led by the Spirit, look to the

Bible. Is your life matching up? Is the decision you’re making in line

with what it says? Just because someone says, ‘I feel God leading me

to do this’ doesn’t mean that God really is leading them to do that.

The same is true with you. Satan is not called the father of lies without

good reason. He excels as convincing God’s people they doing what is

right, when they aren’t. But God doesn’t expect us to go on subjective

feelings. That’s why we have the Word!



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Romans 8:15

Again, Paul says, “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall

back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, bywhom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” As a Christian, God has adopted you as

his son. And because of that adoption, you are able to cry out to God

in prayer as ‘Abba, Father.’ How has God done this? According to this

verse, he has done it by replacing the fear of a slave toward a master

with the love of a son toward a father. He is contrasting the fear of a

slave with the affection of a son. The work of the Holy Spirit in our

lives is to change our slavish fears toward God into confident, joyful,

peaceful affection for God as our father.

This is how the Spirit leads us into a life of righteousness. The Spirit

does not lead by stirring up slavish fear. He leads by stirring up family

affection. He does not get you to kill sin by making you a slave who

acts out of fear, but by making you a son who acts out of faith and

love. I recently read about an interview with a Vietnamese Christian.

He was asked if the people in Vietnam liked Communism. He said no,

but “They have the guns.”9

In that case it was the use of guns thatbrought fear, and through fear, compliance. But that external

compliance doesn’t mean that there is an internal compliance, or an

internal agreement with Communism.

The Holy Spirit works in a different way. Instead of using an external

code of conduct to force us to comply out of fear, He creates within us

a genuine love for God. God’s Spirit awakens within us a childlike

affection for God as our heavenly Father. This is why Paul says, it is byreceiving the Spirit of adoption as sons that we cry, “‘Abba! Father!’”

The reason Paul uses the word ‘cry’ and the Aramaic word ‘Abba’ is

because both of them point to deep, affectionate, personal, authentic

experience of God’s fatherly love. Notice that Paul didn’t say that the

testimony of the Spirit was that we affirm doctrinally that God is

Father. James says that even the devil knows that doctrine. Doctrinal

affirmations, as important as they are, don’t make children.

What he said was that the testimony of the Spirit that we are God’s

children is that from our hearts there rises an irrepressible cry—a cry,



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not a mere statement, a cry: ‘Abba! Father!’ This is the heart cry of a

child to his parent. This is a deep, genuine love for God that Spirit gives

to us. This is why John can say, “we love because God first loved us.”

The Spirit-led response to God’s love for us in Christ is love back to the

Father.

In our day we often have a problem with respect and reverence. We

don’t understand how to respect those that deserve it, or show the

appropriate reverence for certain people and situations. However,

sometimes in relation to God we go to the opposite extreme and

display what Raymond Ortlund calls an ‘irreverent reverence.’10

Think

about it like this. Imagine I am at home watching television or

something and my son, Joshua, comes up to me and said, ‘Pastor John,

can I ask you a question?’ I would probably say something like, ‘Why

are you calling me that?’ He may say, ‘well I want to show you the

proper respect.’ I would say, ‘That’s fine son, I appreciate that, and yes

I am your pastor, but above all else, I’m your father !’

Many times we fail to show God the proper reverence and make jokes

or say humorous things in prayer to him. Sometimes we do the

opposite and raise unnecessary barriers of icy formality. Not just in

prayer but in how we live our lives. We lose the balance of seeing God

as our heavenly Father. There is a reverence and respect that comes

with relating to the God of the universe. But, there is also an intimacy

that comes with relating to God as “Abba, Father.”

This intimacy is driven by God’s display of love for us, and our

response of love in return.



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Romans 8:16

When Paul says, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that

we are children of God,” he is drawing an explicit contrast betweenthis verses and previous one. Above, it is our spirit affirming we are

God’s children by calling out to him in love. Here, it is God’s Spirit who

assures us of our adoption as sons. So what is this assurance? What is

this testimony of the Spirit, bearing witness with our Spirit?

In answering these questions, I have to be careful because I do not

want to be misunderstood, and many others will undoubtedly

disagree with me. This is one of the places where you either let yourtheology drive your understanding of the text, or you let the biblical

text shape your theology. What I mean is, there are many who see

the wrongful excesses and errors of others and do not want to repeat

them. But instead of following the text, they let their fear of error

drive them away from what the text says. So they understand what

the Bible says by what they want it to say and not what God intends

for it to say.

So what does the text say here? “The Spirit himself bears witness with

our spirit that we are children of God.” I do not see how you can

interpret this as anything other than an experience. I believe Paul is

teaching here that there is such a thing as a direct witness of the Holy

Spirit to believers that they are children of God, even apart from the

other evidences we have seen in this passage.

Do not misunderstand what I am saying. God is not giving you amessage that nobody else will ever receive. He is not giving you some

special revelation apart from his word. That’s not what we’re saying.

Rather, Paul is saying that God can pour out his love into our hearts in

a special way through the Holy Spirit. This is not something we

logically infer from Scripture. It is something we feel. If you walk out

on a bright sunny day in August and feel the warmth of the sun

beating down on you, slightly raising your body temperature, causingyour body to begin to perspire to cool down, do you need to look for

evidences and lines of reasoning that the sun’s light is falling on you?

No, it is so obvious that you don’t need to verify it.



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Likewise, when the Spirit bears witness with our spirits of the certainty

of our relationship with God, We do not need to find validation for it.

The testimony itself is witness enough.

Now, am I saying that we should live by experience alone? Not at all—

our experiences are tested, validated, and given meaning by the

Word. More than that, the best experience is one in which we may

not be able to see right away—the on-going transformation into the

image of Christ.

Imagine going to the grocery, doing the normal weekly shopping for

supplies; or perhaps walking around your neighborhood, interacting

with your family and your neighbors; or maybe being at work, just

doing your job, and someone walks up to you with an astonished look

on their face and they wing you around and then look even more

shocked when they see that’s you. “I’m sorry,” they say. “The way you

were talking, the way you were acting with your family and those

strangers, I could have sworn you were Jesus Christ!”

That is the true test of our assurance. God says, ‘I have adopted you as

my child. But, before I did that, I sent my own Spirit into your heart,

making it new and spiritually alive. Through him, I am making my

imprint on your life. I am changing your character so that you truly

resemble your heavenly Father.

So, don’t resist. Follow the Spirit’s leadership. Let him lead you into

battle against sin. Let him empower you for godly living. And, when

you see yourself living as my child, rejoice and be assured I have

forgiven your sins and given you eternal life. But more than that, I

have given you the greatest blessing of all—I have adopted you as my

child and become your heavenly father.’



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Romans 8:17

Verse 17, flows out of verses 16: “The Spirit himself bears witness with

our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him

in order that we may also be glorified with him.” Paul teaches us two

great truths in this verse. First, we are heirs to God with Christ, which

means we can expect to receive a great inheritance. Second, we are

going to have to suffer to receive that inheritance.

Isn’t that what Paul says? “Heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ,

provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorifiedwith him.” That’s not exactly the kind of message that you want to

hear most of the time! But that’s what Paul says, and it’s what the

New Testament consistently says. Jesus said it in Luke 9:2, “If anyone

would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily

and follow me.” Paul said it elsewhere in 2 Tim 3:12, “Indeed, all who

desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” The author of

Hebrews said it in Heb 12:6-7, “For the Lord disciplines the one he

loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. It is for disciplinethat you have to endure. God is treating you as sons.” Peter said it in 1

Pet 4:13, “To the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep

on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice

with exultation.”

One pastor puts it like this: “No pain, no gain. No cross, no crown. No

suffering, no inheritance. That’s the way it is.”11

What kind of

suffering is he talking about? He is talking about sufferings ofpersecution? Or is it simply the miseries of this life? As we will see in a

few minutes, all of life is affected by sin and groans out for the

redemption of God’s people. So, Paul has in mind here any suffering

that you encounter in this life—sickness, poverty, emotional distress,

the death of lost loved ones; anything. We live in a sinful world, and as

a result we will suffer under the effects of that sinfulness.

As we consider this, surely we then ask, why we must suffer withChrist in order that we might be glorified with him? The answer is

simply this—suffering works the perseverance of faith. Earlier in

Romans 5:3, Paul says, “we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that



52

tribulation brings about perseverance.” But how does this work? How

does suffering or tribulation bring about perseverance? Suffering

forces us to trust in God rather than ourselves. It forces us to depend

on him and his strength, not on what we can muster.

Furthermore, if we really understand the gospel, we will not burdened

by the suffering we experience. In places like China, they fully

understand what Paul is saying. In 1982, a Christian community in

central China sent a missionary team in response to the calls for help

in another area. After months of work, several churches were started.

But then most of that missionary team was arrested by the Chinese

government. One fourteen-year-old girl was forced to kneel for three

days straight. After finally fainting from the pain and dehydration, she

was released. Others were made to suffer the same way and were

released after eight days. When the girl found this out, she began

crying. “Why are you crying?” they asked. She said she was crying

because they had been called to suffer eight days, while she had only

been called to suffer three. Here is this fourteen-year-old girl who

understands that suffering for Christ is a privilege, not a burden.

Do you know what is happening in China? The church is growing by

leaps and bounds. They estimate that over a million people come to

Christ every year. Jesus said, “Blessed are you when others revile you

and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my

account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for

so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matt 5:11-

12).

Paul is clear, Jesus is clear—Christians will suffer during this life. I

know it’s hard. God knows it’s hard. But if we can keep sight of our

inheritance, then like Paul we will be able to say, “For I consider that

the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the

glory that is to be revealed to us” (8:18).



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Spirit-Powered HopeRomans 8:18-25



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Romans 8:18

Paul continues his thought from the previous verse in 18. There he

said that as God’s children we are heirs of God who will receive aninheritance. Here he describes that inheritance as “the glory that is to

be revealed to us.” So, what is this future inheritance? What is this

glory and why is it so incomparable to the suffering of this world?

When we look to the Scriptures, we see that our inheritance consists

in at least two things. First, we inherit God Himself. Consider Romans

5:2—“We exult in hope of the glory of God.” In other words, the great

joy of our hope is that one day we will see and savor the glory of Godhimself. And lest you think that his glory is something different from

God himself, consider verse 11 of that same chapter, “And not only

this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul says,

‘In God!’ Not the gifts of God, and not in this verse even in the glory of

God, but in God. The great high hope of the Christian church is

described in Rev 21:3 like this: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is

with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and

God himself will be with them as their God.” This is our greatinheritance: the Lord himself! Isn’t this what we sing?

I want you more than gold or silver, only you can satisfy;

You alone are the real joy-giver. . .

You alone are my heart’s desire, and I long to worship you.12

If you sang that and you meant it, then rejoice! Because Paul says,

you’re going to get what you want. I fear, however, that many of usreally do not want God. If we do, it is very difficult to tell by how we

live. Thus, John Piper exhorts us: “O how we need to cultivate a great

taste for him and his fellowship. If he is not precious to you, what a

stranger you are to your inheritance! If you love his gifts, think on how

wonderful the giver must be. And think what an insult it is to take a

gift from someone’s hand and delight in it more than you delight in

the giver. God himself is our portion. We were made for him. And all

the good things that he has made for us are meant to reveal more ofhim and send our hearts singing to God” (1 Tim 4:1-5).

13



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Second, we will also inherit redeemed and glorified bodies. Never

believe that Christianity isn’t concerned with the physical. Some

religions value the spiritual to the point that anything physical is

disdained or ignored. Sometimes Christians latch on to this as well. But

make no mistake: central to the Christian faith is the doctrine of the

resurrection. Just as Christ himself was raised from the dead, so one

day we will too. Not just brought back to life, but transformed by the

glory of God. Sin and corrupting effects it brings will be eradicated. No

more bad hearts, trick knees, or aching backs, and more importantly,

no more struggling with things like pride, lust, hypocrisy, or

selfishness.

A key part of what it means to be glorified is that we will share in the

glory of God. We will share in God’s glory in the sense that we are

enough like him—conformed to the image of his Son—to enjoy him

and all his gifts the way he does. It will all be from him and through

him and to him, and our joy will be full, and his glory will be

unmistakably central.

So, let’s be clear as to what Paul is saying here. He is not saying,

‘You’re going through these enormous trials now, but what you see

when you get to glory is just going to blow your mind, and it’s going to

cause what you’ve gone through to pale in comparison.’ He is not

saying, ‘Look, what you’re going to see then, is going to cause

everything that you’ve experienced to pale in comparison.’ No, he is

saying that this is a glory not simply revealed to you, but upon you and

in you. Paul is speaking of your own glorification.

The change is not in perspective, the change is in who God is going to

make you to be. Paul is saying to you it’s not only the glory that you

will see when He comes, but that glory which you yourself will be

made to share in when He comes, will cause everything that you have

endured now to pale in comparison.



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Romans 8:19

As you read and take in what Paul is saying about suffering and our

future glory, there is a chance that you may not buy it. In the midst ofsuffering and difficulty, there will be a real temptation to throw-in the

towel and simply say, ‘It’s not worth it. If this is the payoff of trusting

Christ, then I’m done.’

But, Paul didn’t want that for the Romans, and as you sit hearing

Paul’s message to them today, understand that God doesn’t want that

for you either. He wants you believe. Not just intellectually, but with

passion in your heart, Paul wants you to believe the truth of verse18— “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth

comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

So what does Paul do? How does he go about trying to convince us of

this? Listen to what he says in vv. 19-22. “For the creation waits with

eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation

was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who

subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from itsbondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children

of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning

together in the pains of childbirth until now.”

Paul puts our suffering in a global context. Now, I have to admit that

this is not the first thing that would have come to my mind for easing

those experiencing affliction. But under the guidance of the Holy

Spirit, it is exactly what Paul does. He says that all of creation awaitsthe future glory of God’s people because creation itself has been

subjected to futility. Paul is of course taking us right back to the

beginning, isn’t he? Right back to creation and its fall through human

sinfulness.

It is important to see this because it means that suffering is not just a

natural phenomena. What do I mean by that? I mean that suffering

and futility and corruption and the groaning of creation against allthese things has purpose behind it. What does Paul say? “For the

creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him

who subjected it.” Who subjected the creation to futility? It was God



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wasn’t it? Again, we are back to Genesis 3. Adam and Eve sin and

what happens? God not only curses them, but creation itself suffers.

God decreed the futility and corruption and groaning of the world in

response to sin. It is a judicial act, not just a natural consequence.

This has massive implications for how we think about suffering in the

world. The meaning of all the misery in the world is that sin is horrific.

All natural evil is a statement about the horror of moral evil. If you see

a suffering in the world that is unspeakably horrible, let it make you

shudder at how unspeakably horrible sin is against an infinitely holy

God. The meaning of futility and the meaning of corruption and the

meaning of our groaning is that sin—falling short of the glory of God—

is ghastly, hideous, repulsive beyond imagination.

Unless you have some sense of the infinite holiness of God and the

unspeakable outrage of sin against this God, you will inevitably see the

futility and suffering of the universe as an overreaction. But in fact the

point of our miseries, our futility, our corruption, our groaning is to

teach us the horror of sin, and the preciousness of redemption and

hope. It is for that redemption that the creation groans. It longs to see

God’s people in full glory.

This week, or this month, as you experience suffering or hardship,

consider this: you are not alone in your sufferings. Sometimes it will

feel like everyone else’s life is all hearts and flowers. That everything

is fine and you are the only one with troubles. But friends, this just

isn’t so. All of creation is groaning under the futility that sin has

brought.



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Romans 8:20

Paul says, “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but

because of him who subjected it.” Who subjected creation, and whydid he do it? The answer begins all the way back in the book of

Genesis.

The short answer is: God subjected the creation. The answer as to

why he did it is a little longer. Originally, God blessed Adam and Eve,

and commanded them to “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth

and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the

birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on theearth” (Gen 1:28). Humanity was given the privilege and responsibility

of serving God by caring for and watching over his creation.

In the process of this calling, humanity was given both an immense

blessing and a sobering warning: “the LORD God commanded the man,

saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,17

but of the

tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day

that you eat of it you shall surely die” (2:16-17). The blessing was ‘allthings for their good,’ except one tree that they were forbidden to eat

from.

In the end, though, that wasn’t good enough. Tempted by the serpent,

Adam and Eve rejected God’s goodness, glory, and grace, instead

believing that God was holding something back from them. They took

and ate and plunged the world into sin. Through the sin of humanity a

curse comes upon all of creation. Why is the world so bad? Why arethe elderly run over in parking lots or allowed to freeze to death in

their own homes? Why do marriages have problems and nations go

to war? We made it that way .

Thus in Romans 5, Paul says, “sin came into the world through one

man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because

all sinned” (5:12). You see, as the first person ever created, Adam

stood as our representative before God. Because he sinned, the guiltof Adam’s sin is credited not just to Adam himself, but to all of

humanity. We are regarded as having sinned in Adam, and hence as



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deserving of the same punishment. His condemnation is our

condemnation.

Sometimes that sounds hard to ours mind because we love our

individual freedoms. We don’t want someone else to be responsible

for us. But think of it like this. Remember the Old Testament story of

David and Goliath? Here you have two armies lined up for battle—the

Israelites and the Philistines. One extraordinarily large Philistine,

Goliath, says ‘Instead of everyone fighting, I’ll be my people’s

champion. You send out a champion for Israel. We will fight and

whoever wins will secure the victory for their people.’ In other words,

one man will stand for the nation, and the nation will win or lose by

the acts of that one man.

Likewise, Paul says Adam represented the whole of humanity. When

he fell, we all fell. Because he sinned, we’ve all sinned. Not just in

guilt before God, but now we are born sinners with sinful hearts and

actually commit sins of our own. Adam’s sin brought condemnation

for himself and for all of us.

Now, because of their sin, our calling to be stewards of God’s creation

becomes difficult to do. God says now we see that women must

endure hard labor while giving birth (Gen 3:16). Now men must

endure resistance from the earth as he tries to cultivate it (3:17-18).

The plow won’t slide through the earth as easily. Weeds of every kind

will grow up along with the crops. Thus, the entire created order is

dragged into humanity’s sin.

It’s this subjection to futility that comes, not just as a punishment for

sin, but as a sign that something is not right. As we live in this

subjected creation, our hearts are meant to long for something more,

something better, something our first parents had with God in the

garden. This subjected creation is meant to drive us to long for the

Savior who is Christ.



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Romans 8:21

Last time, we saw that all of creation is groaning under the futility that

sin has brought. But remember this as well: the subjection to futilitywas not meaningless or pointless. In fact, Paul says, “the creation was

subjected to futility . . . in hope that the creation itself will be set free

from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the

children of God.” Even in the midst of suffering and futility in life,

there is hope.

Most people love spring or summer, but my favorite time of year is the

fall. Yes, I love the colors and the cool crisp air, but there is somethingmore than that as well; something deeper. The autumn season is very

much the temperament of my life sometimes. You can remember the

warmth of the good times and fun of the past, but you also feel it

getting colder, your friends and family are dying around you. The

joyful experiences you have in life bring with them painful ones. All

the while, you know winter is coming. Maybe you feel like I do

sometimes—weighed down by the futility and suffering of life.

I read a testimony a while back about a situation that was almost too

horrific to think about. D. A. Carson was sharing about a friend of his in

Illinois. This man is married and they have seven children. All seven

children are hemophiliacs. Six of the seven children have died of AIDS,

contracted through blood transfusions through no fault of their own.

Now what in the world do you do? How do you even begin to pray

about that? It’s one of those times when you’ve been beaten up by

life so badly, that you almost cannot pray. You close your eyes andkneel down, but no words come. You just sit and weep. How do pray

for that?

It is times like that when you feel the weight of the curse brought

upon this world because of sin. It’s almost a palpable feeling of

pressure on you. You hear a story like that and know this is not the

way it’s supposed to be.

But friends, spring is coming! Not just the season, but the reality that

the season points to. Christ is returning and one day we will receive

our inheritance of glory, sin and futility will cease to exist. And all we



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will know is the continual summer of joy in the presence of God. This

is what gives us hope.

If we only heard the stories—maybe even experienced the kind of

stories—that Carson tells, it would be easy to not be able to go on.

But that’s not all that we hear. We also hear that one day all of

creation will be set free from its bondage to see. We have the certain

hope of future glory that imagines a world without aids and dying

children and grieving parents. It’s a world where Christ reigns

supreme, and even now by the Spirit, we long for it!



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Romans 8:22

Some of the greatest moments of my life have been experiencing the

birth of my children. For nine months there has been an eagerexpectation, even a longing, to see this tiny creation emerge from its

mother. The birthing process itself, though, is frustrating. How could

something so beautiful be so painful? Yet, after the waiting and the

pain and pushing, the baby seems even more precious. Even though

you know exactly what’s coming, it’s still more amazing than you could

have imagined.

It’s all of that imagery—the pain and pleasure of childbirth—that Paulinvokes to speak about the creation subjected to futility. He says, “For

we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the

pains of childbirth until now.” Creation is groaning, as it were, in labor

pains. Why? It’s laboring because God is bringing about a new

creation. While this world is subject to futility, marred by sin, and not

what it was designed to be, the new heavens and new earth which

God is preparing will be amazing. The prophet, Isaiah, looks forward

to this new creation which will be brought about the promisedMessiah:

“The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down

with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened

calf together; and a little child shall lead them.7The cow and the

bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion

shall eat straw like the ox.8The nursing child shall play over the

hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on theadder’s den.

9They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy

mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD

as the waters cover the sea” (Isa 11:6-9).

What a beautiful picture of the new creation! It’s a world that is not

just as wondrous and diverse as this one, but more even glorious.

Furthermore, this is why the creation is said to be struggling now as if

in labor. All of the earthquakes, and tsunamis, and tornadoes arecrying out for this new creation—one free from sin, more glorious

than before.



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Knowing this makes all the difference in the world. Think again about

seeing the birth of your children. Men, when you hear your wife cry

out, it makes all the difference that she’s in the birthing room and not

strapped to a gurney in the Emergency Room. The pains of this world

are the pains of labor, not the pains of death.

The glory of this, then, for God’s people is that all of the pains of this

life—even the pains of death—are not defeat in any sense of the

word. Like the rest of creation, our bodies are growing and creaking

and awaiting the glory that God will one day reveal in his children.



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Romans 8:23

During Old Testament times, the law made no provision for legal

adoption. Have you ever noticed that before? There are all kinds oflaws on what foods you can and cannot eat, but nothing about

adopting children into your family. Now, surely part of the reason for

that was the nature of families in Israel. Relationships were so

integrated within families that there would have been no need for any

formal, legal adoption. Nevertheless there were instances of adoption.

The most powerful being David’s adoption of Jonathan’s crippled son,

Mephibosheth (cf. 2 Samuel 9).

Still yet, God uses the language of sonship to describe his people

relationship to himself. In Hosea 11, the Lord says, “When Israel was a

child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son” (11:1). But this

language of Israel’s sonship is a generic language. There isn’t a clear

teaching about adoption, and in that verse and others like it, the

entire nation of Israel was seen as God’s Son.

With the coming of Christ and the new covenant, something more hasbeen accomplished. Now God’s people have been adopted as

individuals. Paul’s language of adoption is probably taken from the

Roman culture of his day. There the legal procedures for adoption

were very specific. In Roman culture, it was usually a wealthy adult

who had no heir who would then choose one for his estate. Once the

son was adopted, all of his old debts were instantly cancelled, and for

all intents and purposes, he began a new life as part of this new

family. On the one hand, the new father owned all of the new son'sproperty and had the authority of controlling his personal

relationships and disciplining them for inappropriate behavior. On the

other hand, the father was liable for the actions of the adoptee and

each owed the other reciprocal duties of support and maintenance.

It’s this kind of specific adoption of individuals into God’s family that

Paul has in mind when he speaks of our adoption as sons. For all those

who have looked to Christ in faith, God has looked at them and calledthem his child. And it’s important that we understand that this isn’t

necessary for our salvation. It’s one thing for God to provide

atonement for our sins through the cross and for him to provide us



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with the righteousness of Christ so that we can be reconciled to him,

and not perish in our sins – that’s all that’s required for us to be saved.

But God does more than that. God goes a step further and brings us

into relationship with him as children. In every way, he becomes our

heavenly Father. Thus, J. I. Packer can say that though justification is

the “primary and fundamental blessing of the gospel” it’s our adoption

as God’s sons that is the “highest blessing” God provides in the gospel.

Here in Romans 8, Paul says, “not only the creation, but we ourselves,

who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly

for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” In a legal sense,

our adoption has already occurred. When we place our faith in Christ,

God adopts us as his children. Yet, here Paul pushes the metaphor to

have a future meaning. In other words, our adoption isn’t just legal.

It’s more than that. When God redeems our bodies, we will be

transformed in glory. In fact, John says “we shall be like him, because

we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:1). It’s at this moment, when we

are transformed into the likeness of the glory of Christ, that our

adoption will be complete. We will finally look like what the sons of

God should look like.



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Romans 8:24

As far as we are able to know with the historical information we have,

the people of the New Hebrides Islands had never heard of JesusChrist until James Harris and John Williams arrived there in 1839.

Coming from the London Missionary Society, both of these men were

killed and eaten by cannibals on the only minutes after going ashore.

This was devastating to the Missionary Society, and when only a few

years later, John G. Paton wanted to go to the same chain of islands,

the memories of those deaths were fresh in people’s minds. It was no

surprise then, that when Paton announced his intention to go, a mannamed Mr. Dickson exclaimed: “The cannibals! You will be eaten by

cannibals!”

Paton knew the risks and his simple, yet amazingly bold reply was this:

“Mr. Dickson, you are advanced in years now, and your own prospect

is soon to be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms; I confess to

you, that if I can but live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus,

it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by Cannibals or byworms; and in the Great Day my Resurrection body will rise as fair as

yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer.” 14

The heart of the Christian message is the belief that Christ is the

savior; in his death on the cross, he willingly stood in the place of

sinners and bore God’s righteous wrath against their sin. Because of

that offering, whoever trusts in Christ, God promises to forgive them.

The cross stands at the center of the Christian faith.

But what makes the cross believable? What gives the Christian and

those who would become Christians a basis to trust that Christ is the

Savior the Bible says he is? It’s the resurrection of Christ. The Bible

says that Christ died for sinners, but he didn’t stay dead. It says that

on the third day after his death, he came back to life, and it’s clear

that he didn’t just appear to be alive. Luke tells us that while the

disciples were talking about the Christ’s body being missing and thestory that he appeared to some disciples as they walked to the city of

Emmaus, Jesus appeared to them (Luke 24-36-40).



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Christ is alive! And in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul says the fact that Christ is

alive is so important, that if it isn’t true then Christianity is bunk. It’s

all meaningless if Christ has not been raised from the dead. However,

the opposite is also true: if Christ has been raised from the dead, then

it’s all true. Everything he taught, everything he did—it’s all true. It

means he was really was God in the flesh as he claimed to be. It

means that because of his death on the cross, he really is the only way

that sinful men can be made right with God. It means he deserves the

complete worship and utter devotion of our lives.

Moreover, it means Christians have a hope of their own resurrection

from the dead one day. Paul says, “For in this hope we were saved”

(8:24). Because Christ was raised from the dead, we know that we will

likewise one day be raised from the dead—incorruptible, sinless,

shining in the glory of the eternal God.

It’s this hope of the resurrection that allows Christians to do the kinds

of things Paton did. Later in life, he would write about the effects of

the Missionary Society’s time in the New Hebrides:

“Recall . . . what the Gospel has done for the near kindred of these

same Aborigines. On our own Aneityum, 3,500 Cannibals have

been lead to renounce their heathenism . . . In Fiji, 79,000

Cannibals have been brought under the influence of the Gospel;

and 13,000 members of the Churches are professing to live and

work for Jesus. In Samoa, 34,000 Cannibals have professed

Christianity; and in nineteen years, its College has sent forth 206

Native teachers and evangelists. On our New Hebrides, more than

12,000 Cannibals have been brought to sit at the feet of Christ,

through I mean not to say that they are all model Christians; and

133 of the Natives have been trained and sent forth as teachers

and preachers of the Gospel.”15

This is what a realized belief in the resurrection can lead to: men and

women who are completely unafraid of what this world con do,

because they were saved into a hope of the future—an eternal future

with the risen Christ in a risen body.



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Romans 8:25

Paul has been teaching the early Christians about the reality of

suffering in this world and in the Christian life: “For we know that thewhole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth

until now.23

And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the

firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly.” (Romans 8:22, 23a).

Paul has encouraged us in the midst of sufferings, by reminding us of

the future that awaits us as God’s people: “we ourselves, who have

the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for

adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

24

For in this hope wewere saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for

what he sees?25

But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it

with patience” (Romans 8:24, 25).

It is this final clause—“wait for it with patience”—that is the most

difficult for most of God’s people. Paul is encouraging the Romans to

remember that they must wait for the final act of God’s salvation.

And, in having to wait, they must endure hardship and difficulty.

As a child, I used to have to wait to open Christmas presents. There

they would sit—sometimes weeks before Christmas—and all the while

the excitement and expectation is building! What was in them? I

knew it was something good, but I couldn’t tell exactly what it was.

Furthermore, as Christmas loomed closer, all other gifts and special

treats were eliminated. I was about to get more than I needed, so the

there were no frills leading up the end of the December. Now, I grewup in a Christian home. Christ was clearly at the forefront of our

Christmas celebrations. We read the Story from Luke. We attended

Christmas Eve and Candle light services. But, as a kid, the desire to

open those gifts was very powerful!

And yet, I had to wait. Dad and I would try to nag Mom into letting us

open them early each year. We would argue that since we celebrated

Christmas Eve with extended family, then Christmas Day withextended family, then we should celebrate Christmas Eve-Eve with our

own gifts. I think she gave in once, but that was it. Mom was the

traditionalist and we were made to wait.



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Now, that was just Christmas a kid. Think about all that Paul is saying

awaits us here. The Christian is waiting for the full adoption as sons

of God; the removal of sin’s stain on this world; the ending of pain,

suffering, and death; the glorious redemption of our bodies up to the

glories of heaven, in the very presence of God.

Yet, we have to wait. And, as we wait, we aren’t just lacking some

special frills the few weeks before. We have to endure suffering. We

have to struggle and fight against sin. We have to watch the world

profane the name of the Savior who died for us. We have to bear the

reproach of that Savior as we try to spread the good news of his work

on the cross. We have to feel our bodies wearing out, giving in to the

hardships of this world. All the while, Paul says, wait patiently.

Ultimately he says, we can wait because “the sufferings of this present

time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to

us” (8:18). This is the key to enduring until the end—gazing ahead to

the glory that awaits us in the presence of Christ.



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Spirit-Powered PrayerRomans 8:26, 27





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Romans 8:26

Paul says God’s Spirit prays for us because we are weak. He says, “the

Spirit helps us in our weakness.” Then, he tells us what our weaknessis: “For we do not know what to pray for as we ought.”

If you are like me, you are almost depressingly aware of your

deficiencies in prayer. You don’t pray enough. When you do pray, you

cannot stay focused in prayer and your mind wanders, and you pray

for the same things over and over again. I was reading an article from

Pray! Magazine a while back, and they made the comment that we do

not default to spontaneity and insight in our prayers, we default to rut.We say the same old things, and make the same old requests. Most of

us who desire a vibrant prayer life would love to come up with a

prayer like Paul’s in Ephesians 3, all on our own.

However, our weakness is about more than those kinds of things, isn’t

it? Paul says our weakness lies in that we do not know what to pray. I

think Paul is talking about a common weakness we all have in prayer.

We do not know the will of God. We do not know what his will is forour life or the lives of others, and so we do not know what to pray for.

Notice we are speaking of his secret will here. This is an important

distinction. We know God’s moral will for our life and lives of others.

You never need to be in doubt as to what to pray for in terms your, or

someone else’s, need of salvation, growth in holiness and

sanctification. That is his revealed will in his word, and there is enough

there to fuel for your prayers until you die or Christ returns.

Here, though, we mean his secret will. That is, his sovereign plan

decreed from before the creation of world. We have little access to

that. God gives us hints in his word, but really when it comes to our

lives, we know nothing. So, when we encounter sickness and

hardships, we don’t know what to pray. We don’t know whether we

should pray for healing or for strength to endure. There is a sense in

which both are right, and it’s not wrong to pray for either. But, welong to pray with great faith, and we groan because we are not sure

what God’s way will be with this sickness or this loss or this difficulty.

We just don’t know. And we are not alone in this. Men and women all



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over the world today and throughout church history have had the

same experience. Paul doesn’t say to the Romans Christians, ‘This is

your problem.’ He says, ‘this is true of all Christians.’

Even in Paul’s own life, we see this, don’t we? Do you remember this

thing he called his “thorn in the flesh” in 2 Corinthians 12? He says

that on three specific occasions, he poured out his heart to God and

begged him to take it from his life. Yet, finally it was revealed to him

that it was God’s will not to take it away. Surely, that experience

would leave Paul wondering with every sickness and pain and hardship

and imprisonment what God’s will was: Healing or not? Deliverance or

not? And when he was in prison in Rome he seemed to be unsure

what to pray for—life and ministry, or death with courage. He said in

Philippians 1:22-24, “If I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean

fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am

hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be

with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh

is more necessary for your sake.” What I am to pray for? What’s God

will for me? Do you struggle with this, too?

Consider the Puritan pastor, John Bunyan.16

Over three hundred years

ago, he stayed in prison for twelve years for conscience sake. He

believed he was called to preach God’s word, and by all accounts it

was obvious from his preaching that he indeed was called by God to

do that. But he wasn’t ordained by the Church of England. Therefore,

it was illegal for him to preach. He could have gotten out if he had

agreed not to preach the gospel. He had a wife and four small

children, one of whom was blind. But he said, like the apostles, ‘are

we to obey God or man?’ So, he stayed in prison. Was this an easy

decision? Stay in prison for conscience sake, or get out and take care

of your family? What about us today? At some point, we will face

similar situations; what are we to pray for? Should I take this risk or

shouldn’t I? Should I endanger myself, my family, my business, my

church, etc.?

Paul tells us that all of us have this weakness. We just don’t always

know what we are to pray for. But, he says take hope; be encouraged.

Take comfort in the reality that the Holy Spirit helps us in our

weakness and prays to God on our behalf.



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Romans 8:26

Last time we saw that Paul says the Spirit prays for us because we are

weak, but how does he pray for us? This is the second thing we wantto see in this passage. Again, Paul says, “the Spirit helps us in our

weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the

Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

What are these groanings? Some say that they are the groanings of

the Holy Spirit himself. Others insist the Spirit would never groan,

therefore it must be our groanings. I think it best to see it as

somewhere in the middle. If the Holy Spirit is simply communicatingwith the Father about what we need, I cannot imagine why he would

have to use wordless groans. He knows exactly what he wants to ask

for. There is not the slightest confusion in his mind, and he is never at

a loss for how to communicate with the Father. So, it seems wrong to

see these groans coming from the Spirit as he addresses the Father.

Furthermore, notice that the one who hears and understands and

answers these groans is said in verse 27 to search our hearts. I thinkthis speaks to the fact that the groans are coming from us, from our

hearts. “The Spirit himself intercedes for us with wordless groanings.

And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit.” In

other words, the Spirit doesn’t send his groanings to the Father in

heaven directly. He registers them in our hearts. That is where they

are experienced as groans—in our hearts.

So where do these groans come from? Remember what he said in theprevious verses? We live in a fallen world that is affected by sin. That

sin brings frustration and suffering and death. Even though we as

Christians have forgiveness and life through the death and

resurrection of Jesus Christ, we still struggle in this world. Paul says

our great hope is our glorification—to obtain our inheritance as God’s

children and be forever free from our struggle with sin.

But, we aren’t there yet! So, we still struggle and experience sufferingand pain and death. We get to points in our experience, where we

don’t know what to say. We desire holiness, we desire blessings, we

long for glory, but we don’t experience it. We only get frustration and



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suffering. All we can do is cry out in the depths of our soul, not with

words, but with gut-wrenching groanings of sorrow. Here is the

apostle Paul saying the Spirit makes our groanings his own, and he

makes them as acceptable and understandable as the intercession of

Christ. Let that seek in.

As we consider what Paul says, here we should be struck by the fact

that prayer is not easy. If we are serious about prayer, we will soon

discover that prayer is work. Prayer involves struggle and tears and

groaning because of the fallen world in which we live.

Sometimes, life comes at us in such a way so as to leave us speechless.

We see loved ones going through pain and difficulty of such intensity

we can only groan and weep for them deep in our souls. We do not

even know where to begin to pray for them. Others of us have

difficulty in our own lives. We are Christians and we trust God, but our

suffering is so intense and brings us such sorrow, we cannot even

know where to begin to pray. So we weep and groan and long to be

close to God, and see our situations resolved.

It is those times of intense pain, we must remember that the Holy

Spirit takes the groaning of our hearts and makes them his own, and

offers prayers to God on our behalf. What is unutterable becomes an

acceptable prayer by the Spirit. Loved ones, take hope. Do not

become discouraged in your prayers. For even when we do not have

the words to pray, God’s Spirit prays for us with groanings too for

words. In our moments of weakness, we are not far from God, but our

brought near by the Spirit who intercedes for us.



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Romans 8:27

Previously we talked about the pain of life in a world marked by sin

that leaves us speechless; grieved to the depths of our soul. We sawhow the Spirit helped us to pray in those times. But, there are other

times when we don’t know what to pray. As before, we can take hope

because the Holy Spirit is praying for us. He is making up for our

weakness. Here again, we are given a great word of encouragement.

We can have hope in prayer because as the Spirit prays for us, he does

so according to the will of God. He knows that we do not know—God’s

will for our lives. Paul says, “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. For

we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himselfintercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who

searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the

Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (8:26-27).

How often do we tell God what to do in prayer? Sometimes, if done

with the right attitude, praying that way is a good thing. We read a

passage like, ‘be holy as the Lord your God is holy’ (1 Pet 1:15). So we

pray, “God, work in my life to make me holy.” That’s good, and it’sright to pray that way because God’s will is clear.

But, often in the unclear times, we still try to tell God what to do. We

identify the problem and then go on to tell him how to fix it. That’s the

wrong approach. Instead, we should be like Jesus’ own mother. In

John 2, they are at the wedding in Cana and what happens? The wine

runs out. What does she do? Does she tell him, ‘turn water into

wine’? No, she simply goes to him and presents the problem. ‘Son,they have no more wine to serve their guests’ (2:3). I imagine that she

actually got more than she thought she would when he performed the

miracle!

Paul is helping us see here that God knows what’s best for us. More

than that, as the Holy Spirit hears the groans in our hearts, he knows

our hearts and what we need, and he knows the Father’s will . So

when he intercedes for us, he always prays according to the will ofGod. He always prays for exactly what we need. Thus, even we do not

what to pray for, we have hope.



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For the Christian—for the one who longs for God’s will to be done, and

his glory to be shown in the lives of his people as a testimony to the

world—the Spirit begins to work. He hears and understands the

groans of our hearts and begins to pray for us. More than that, he

prays a prayer perfectly in line with the perfect will of our heavenly

Father.

Do you see how encouraging that is for us? Do you see how

comforting that is? Every groan, every sigh, every moan, every

unuttered and unutterable expression, every word that gets stuck in

the throat and cannot come out, the Spirit makes it to be as

acceptable and understandable as the intercession of our perfect

Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ.

As we hear what God is saying to us through his word, we should walk

away encouraged. Be encouraged that you are not expected to know

the will of God in every respect. This text says it is okay not to know

because there is One who knows, and he is praying the way one ought

to pray who knows the Father’s will. Don't add to your burdens the

worry that you don't know all the will of God. Be encouraged that in

your perplexity and groaning you are being understood. God is

searching your heart, and he is finding in your holy groanings a

meaning deeper than words—the meaning of the Spirit himself.

Be encouraged that God's work for you is not limited to what you can

understand and express with words. Be glad that God is able to do

exceedingly above all that you ask or think. Finally, be encouraged that

God the Father hears the prayer of the Spirit. This prayer is for you.

And it is always heard!



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Spirit-Powered AssuranceRomans 8:28-30





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Romans 8:28

If you have been reading magazines and watching television in the last

few years, you have probably heard of postmodernism. Post-modernism is the term used by scholars to speak about the kind of

culture in which we live. Unfortunately, some Christians have gone

from addressing the culture, to embracing the culture of

postmodernism.

This is a problem because, among other things, postmodernism is

characterized by a devaluing of truth. The mindset behind this

movement says that if you cannot know something absolutely—withcomplete omniscience, then you cannot know it at all. So, you de-

emphasize truth and elevate personal experience.

But, Paul doesn’t buy that, does he? No, he begins this verse with the

words, ‘we know.’ At the end of the day, postmodernism isn’t right

and it won’t work because it is not biblical. Scripture teaches us that

we can have certainty about things. It is a false dichotomy to say we

must know everything about a subject, or we can know nothing abouta subject.

I mean, we can see this in everyday life. My eight-year-old son knows

something about the English language. He can construct coherent

sentences and recognize letters and words. But can he read

Shakespeare? Can he write essays on the development of the English

language from its roots in the German language? No, he doesn’t know

English exhaustively, but he does know something about English.

Likewise, Scripture teaches that we can have knowledge of something,

without knowing everything about it. Consider some other verses:

“This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who

desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the

truth” (1 Tim 2:3-4).

“I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because

you know it, and because no lie is of the truth” (1 John 2:21).



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Luke says, “it seemed good to me also, having followed all things

closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most

excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the

things you have been taught” (Luke 1:3-4).

We could go on. I found six pages of verses that speak to what we can

know! Now, why in the world am I saying all of this? I’m making this

point for the simple reason that I do not want you to miss the

incredible importance of the words at the beginning of this verse.

Paul says, “we know .” There is a certainly, a confidence, that we can

have in life, because we know that God is at work. Paul is speaking of

God’s providential work. After God created the world, he didn’t just

leave things to run on their own.

You know, you can play notes a couple different ways on a piano. You

can just strike the keys and hear the note. Or, you can strike the keys

while holding down the peddle and hear the note carried out for

several seconds. Likewise, God didn’t just speak creation into

existence, then leave it to itself. No, he is continuing to be involved in

all that happens. Specifically, he is working in our lives. And Paul

says, we can know this with the kind of certainty that brings us

comfort and strength and assurance of his goodness in our lives.



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Romans 8:28

Again, “all things work together for good” (8:28). It should not come as

a surprise that this comes where it does in Romans 8. Remember Pauldidn’t just come up with verse 28 and have it in his pocket as some

sort of cure-all for the Christians he was ministering to. No, it comes at

a crucial point in his argument here.

Do you remember what he has just said? Paul says, “For the creation

was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who

subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its

bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the childrenof God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning

together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the

creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan

inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of

our bodies” (Rom 8:20-23).

All of creation, all of life has been ravaged by sin. So, disease and

sickness, war and distress, famine and want, all flow from the sinfulhearts of humanity, and the curse God brought upon the creation

itself because of our sin. And in the midst of all this distress because of

sin, Paul goes on to say in verse 26 that we often do not even know

what to pray for. We look around and things appear to be chaos

sometimes. How do even pray about this? What is God doing through

this?

And so Paul comes in and wants to encourage the Romans Christians.He says in the midst of all these things, remember that God is at work.

But, we must even go further—if Scripture says, all things, it means, all

things. This means that God’s providential working extends even to

the sinful actions of humanity. Consider the most sinfully heinous act

ever committed by humanity—the murder of Jesus Christ.

What did the apostles say about it? In Acts 4, the disciples pray, “for

truly in this city there were gathered together against your holyservant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate,

along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your

hand and your plan had predestined to take place” (4:27-28). In other



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words, even though Jesus’ going to the cross involved the sins of

Herod and Pilate and Gentiles and Jews, nevertheless it was God’s

sending. They meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. In sending

Christ to the cross, God punished the sin of his people. He poured out

his wrath against sin his own Son instead of them, so that they might

be forgiven, and brought into right relationship with him.

This great and gracious salvation was not plan B. God didn’t just bring

good out of the evil and pain of the cross. He planned the cross, just as

he planned the pain in your life. The comfort and encouragement of

this comes in knowing that God is sovereign over all things. There is

nothing that takes him by surprise. And even in the worst of

situations, we know that God is at work. God plans and purposes and

works all things together for your good.



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Romans 8:28

Notice that Paul says, “all things work together for good” (8:28). This is

what we need to hear isn’t it? We need to hear that God isn’t just atwork, but that he is working to bring about something good in our

lives.

But we need to clarify what we mean by ‘good.’ First, we do not mean

that all is well in the world. Robert Browning once wrote, “God’s in his

heaven / All’s right in the world.”17

Surely Paul didn’t believe that, and

neither should we if we simply look around. Unlike in Browning’s day

of Victorian optimism, when the world was basically at peace, we livein an age of violence and war. Paul did not want the Romans to believe

that everything was rosy. He was not thinking of Doris Day, singing,

“Que sera, sera . . . whatever will be will be.” He wasn’t saying, ‘Don’t

worry about anything; it’s all good.’ That’s not the kind of ‘good’ he is

speaking about.

Furthermore, we should not understand Paul to say that only good

things will happen. I had a Sunday School teacher in college who wasa very sincere and godly woman. But, she did not have a good grasp

of the Bible’s teaching. And as an arrogant twenty-two year old

getting ready to graduate with a Bachelor’s in Biblical studies, what

she taught used to irritate me sometimes. Many times it was only

slightly wrong and not a big deal. But other times, it was more

seriously wrong. Once, it involved the theology of this very verse.

This lady’s son had decided to go to Bible college and she was proud ofhim—as she should have been. But she began to look for any little

good thing that happened as a confirmation of the promise of Romans

8:28. So when her son got a small scholarship, she insisted that he got

that because his grandmother loved God and prayed everyday for a

couple hours, and would say ‘And of course we know that “for those

who love God all things work together for good, for those who are

called according to his purpose.”’ This was a good thing, so God was

keeping to his word.

Well, what about the girl that sat next to him in his gen-ed chemistry

class, who was not Christian, and received an academic scholarship for



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more money than him? Why did something good happen in her life?

Doesn’t that go against the promise of this verse? The answer is no,

for while God certainly deserved thanks for her son’s scholarship, it

could have just as easily come from his hand of common grace as his

hand of special providence. What I mean is this: Jesus teaches that

God gives a measure of grace to all humanity—good and wicked. In

Matthew 5, he says, “[God] makes his sun rise on the evil and on the

good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” If we were to use

the language of our day, we could say, “Good things happen to bad

people, and bad things happen to good people.”

My point in all this is to say that the ‘good’ of this verse that Paul is

speaking about is not a worldly good. It is not concerned with health,

finances, success, or even the popular sense of happiness. Instead,

God is working for our spiritual good, our eternal good, our true and

lasting happiness. Paul says that this good is nothing less than

salvation of his people, ultimately reaching its climax in their

glorification before God in heaven. So, despite sin and evil in this

world, our own mistakes and the those of others, God remains

sovereign, working out his plan for the ultimate good of his people—

their salvation in Christ.



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Romans 8:28

Though it has been assumed up to this point, it is important to see

that the truths of Romans 8:28 are not to be taken as a promise foreveryone in the world. God is not causing all things to work together

for good for the unbeliever. Paul puts a very specific qualification on

this verse: “And we know that for those who love God all things work

together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

John MacArthur says that nothing more characterizes the true believer

than genuine love for God.18

God’s people are able to respond to him

in love, because they have first received love from God. They haveexperienced his loving forgiveness for their sins in Christ. And so their

obedience and faith is not driven by fear of hell or the earning of

salvation, but a love for their Creator and Savior.

More than that, Paul describes Christian as those ‘who love God’ and

as those “called according his purpose.” God is not interested in

accomplishing random acts of kindness as it were. Thus, Pastor Ligon

Duncan says, “This is not just a mechanistic principle in the universe.This is a specific activity of the sovereign God on behalf of His children

whom He has drawn into a saving relationship. It is only for believers.

It’s only for those who have trusted and rested in Jesus Christ.”19

So, what is this purpose by which God’s people have been called?

Listen to the passage in context of our passage—“And we know that

for those who love God all things work together for good, for those

who are called according to his purpose. For those whom heforeknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his

Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he

called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be

against us?” (Rom 8:28-31).

This is God’s definition of good: conformity to the image of Christ.That means transformation from a sinful, marred image of God, into a

gloriously radiant, righteous image of his Son. This is the purpose that

stands behinds your life in Christ. All that God is doing in your life is



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working towards this goal. The good, the bad, the ugly are all

conspiring under God’s provide to shape you into a reflection of the

glory of Christ, and nothing—NOTHING—will stand in God’s way of

accomplishing this great work.

As God’s people, this should not only give us great encourage, but

spark within us great boldness. As one pastor explains, “If you are a

believer, then you will not respond to this message and to the truth of

Romans 8:28 with passivity toward the devil and resignation toward

evil and a casual attitude toward American consumerism and

materialism. What you will hear in Romans 8:28 is a battle cry. If all

things work together for my good, then I cannot be ultimately

defeated in the cause of Christ. This is a call to take risks to spread a

passion for God’s supremacy in all things for the joy of all peoples. This

is a call to go to a hard place or do a hard thing in the cause of love.

This is call to spend yourself for Christ and his kingdom. This is a call to

do something radical and crazy in the eyes of the world.”20



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Romans 8:29

Over the last few weeks, we have looked at the incredible promise of

Romans 8:28 – “we know that for those who love God all things worktogether for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

We saw how this promise should support us, and provide an anchor

for us in the midst of the storms of life.

We saw that this promise was for those who love God. Human nature

being what it is, we have a hard time accepting something freely

offered to us. ‘What’s the catch?’ we wonder. ‘What do I have to do?’

we ask. In this, there is a great temptation to think that it is our lovefor God which dictates his working all things together for our good.

But, Paul corrects such wrong-thinking. What he shows is that the

good that is working for us is in fact part of his larger loving plan of

salvation for his people. In that way, verse 28 serves as a lead in for

verses 29-30: “And we know that for those who love God all things

work together for good, for those who are called according to his

purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to beconformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the

firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he

also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those

whom he justified he also glorified.” Here we see not what we do for

our salvation, but what God does for us in salvation.

Right around the year 1600, William Perkins was one of the greatest

theologians alive. Perkins loved God, and he loved studying his Word.He once said that theology is “the science of living blessedly forever.”

Perkins taught theology at Cambridge University in England. Among

other things, he is famous for writing a book—his magnum opus. It

was called The Golden Chain and was based on this text.

It’s well-named as that’s exactly what you have here. Verses 29-30

provide five great evidences of God’s love for us: a golden chain of

five links. Together, these links—forged in the fires of God’s sovereigngrace—serve as our golden chain of salvation. This chain links together

God’s eternal love for sinners with our present experiences and our



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future glory in heaven with God. It is a sweeping display of God’s love

and glory, showing his purpose in our salvation.

All of this comes right after Paul has said that all things together for

the good of God’s people (8:28). In other words, every detail of your

life, from the smallest blessings to the largest disasters, is being

sovereignly worked to the ultimate good of your glorious salvation in

Christ. God stands as the victor, the One who has conquered all in

love for his people.

In this golden chain, we find every reason to respond to God’s love,

with confident faith, humble gratitude, and loving obedience.



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Romans 8:29

In the middle of this sweeping description of God’s work in salvation,

Paul tells us the purpose of God in saving us. In fact, we see a two-foldpurpose in verse 29. First, we see that, in saving us, God desires our

conformity to Christ.

Paul says, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be

conformed to the image of his Son.” Here is the definition of ‘the

good’ that Paul spoke of in v. 28. The good work that God is bringing

about through all things is the conformity of his people to the image of

his Son, Jesus Christ.

God originally created humanity as his image-bearers. And yet,

through sin, that image has been marred. We do not reflect God as we

should. The day I got back from my first trip to Niger, I had been

traveling for something like twenty-one hours. One of the first things I

did was take a long, hot shower. As I got out, the mirror had steamed

up pretty badly. I could see a reflection in the mirror, but I could not

have told you it was my reflection. You could make out dark hair, lightskin—it was a person, but that was about it.

Likewise, humanity still bears the image of God, but we no longer

clearly reflect God as we should. The fall of our first parents into sin

has left the image of God defaced. Now every faculty of our person

has been affected by sin—how we think, reason, feel, love, worship,

and live. Though each and every person born still bear the image of

God, it is not the clear mark with which we were originally made.

Through Christ, God intends to reverse this effect of the Fall. God will

not only restore the image we once bore, he will perfect it by

conforming us to the image of his Son. God’s purpose in saving us is to

transform us so that we will reflect the glory of the Christ. God has

already begun this work in our lives, and he will complete on the day

of our resurrection.

If it is God’s plan for us to look like Christ, ask yourself this morning,

how well you are coming along in that plan. Are you more Christ-like

than you were six months ago? A year ago? Do you seek to become



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more Christ-like, or do you enjoy your sinful habits and personalities?

Knowing this is God’s will for our lives, it is nothing but sin that would

keep from striving for it.

Practically speaking, the best way to become like someone is to spend

time with them. Get on your knees and pray—talk to Christ. Open the

gospels and see how he lived, how he treated people, how he obeyed

God. And then pray more and ask God to help you, by the power of

the Holy Spirit, to live more like Christ.



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Romans 8:29

Picking up from last time, we saw Paul telling us the purpose of God in

saving us. We saw that it was a two-fold purpose that involved God’sdesire for our conformity to Christ. Now, want to see that God also

purposes to display the preeminence of Christ through our salvation.

God desires our conformity to the image of the Christ. Why does he

desire that? “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be

conformed to the image of his Son, in order that [very important

phrase] he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” What does

it mean that Christ is the firstborn of many brothers?

Remember the culture from which Paul is writing. In fact, here, the

culture is not far from our own. Think about large families today.

Which of the children is usually looked up to the most, given the most

responsibility, and in general has privileged status? It’s the first-born.

This was even more so, in Paul’s day. In Jewish culture, the phrase

first-born always refers to the first-born son, unless a daughter is

specifically stated. And, the first-born son of a family was givenprivileged status. Eventually, the idea of someone being firstborn

came to indicate one’s preeminence. That’s exactly what we see here.

Specifically, here, Christ is said to be the firstborn among many

brothers. In saving us, God adopts us as his children, and Christ

graciously deigns to call us his brothers and sisters in God’s family.

Nevertheless, he is not the first among equals. Christ is supreme.

And God’s purpose in salvation involves establishing that supremacy

of Christ. God desires for him to be exalted and made known as his

preeminent Son—the Lord of all things. This is intimately related to

our being conformed to the image of Christ. How better to bring glory

to Christ, than to recreate us into the image of Christ?

If you want to promote something today, what do you do? You plaster

it everywhere you can think of—billboards, posters, flyers, televisionand radio ads. Likewise, God establishes the preeminence of Christ,

our Savior, by establishing him as the pattern of future glory. Let us

never forget that God does not save us simply for our good. Behind



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the loving intentions of God to save a people for himself, there also

lies the greater purpose of bringing glory to himself. By saving sinful

humanity, God’s holiness, grace, mercy, and love are all put on display.

He is glorified in the salvation of sinners.

Such glory is most clearly manifested in Jesus Christ. As a Christian,

your purpose in life is to bring glory to Christ. How? You glorify him by

resting in the righteousness and atoning work of Christ, by living a life

of obedience to the lordship of Christ, by enjoying intimacy with God

through the intercession of Christ. When we magnify—make great—

the worth and work of Christ, we bring him glory, and find ultimate joy

and fulfillment in life. Thus, God’s glory and our good come together in

Christ.



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Romans 8:30

Here we begin to examine the ‘golden chain of salvation.’ Paul says,

“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined . . . . And thosewhom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he

also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” Here we

have the five unbreakable links in the golden chain of salvation. The

first is the link of God’s foreknowledge.

Who does God seek to conform to the image of his son? Paul says,

“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to

the image of his Son.” Very often think of foreknowledge as simplyknowing something in advance. So, some have interpreted Paul to

mean that God simply knows in advance who will have faith in Christ.

Now, there are some logical problems with this understanding of

God’s foreknowledge. But more basic than that, to say God simply

knows in advance, misunderstands the nature of the word ‘foreknows’

and how the Bible uses it. Yes, God has that kind of foreknowledge.

He knows the beginning from the end. We affirm his omniscience—his knowledge of all things past, present, and future.

But in the Bible, the word ‘know’ more often than not is used as a

relational term. Throughout the Old Testament, husbands are said to

“know” their wives; the expression is used to denote sexual intimacy.

In places like Psalm 1, we see the Lord “knows the way of the

righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” Clearly, he knows

what the wicked are doing. The expression ‘knows’ here means hewatches over, he cares for the righteous. In Amos 3:2, the Lord says

to Israel, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth.”

Again, God didn’t know about the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the

Babylonians? Of course he about them, but he set his affection on

Israel alone. In this way, he only knew Israel.

We consider this so we can see and understand what scholars like

John Murray have written for years. He says, “‘[the word] Know’… isused in a sense practically synonymous with ‘love’ … ‘Whom he

foreknow’… is therefore virtually equivalent to ‘whom he foreloved.’

Foreknowledge, is sovereign, distinguishing love.’”21

So, the first link



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in this golden chain is God’s sovereign, gracious love. Before you were

born, before you did anything to merit his attention, God set his

affection on you.

What effect should this have on you, Christian brother or sister? At the

very least, it should strip you of any pride about your relationship with

God. God didn’t look through the corridors of time and think you were

something special. No, he only saw the sinfulness of your heart. He

saw that apart from his grace, you would get the punishment you

deserve for your sinfulness. And yet, we are told in Roman 5:8, “God

shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for

us.” And so we say along with the apostle, “we love God because he

first loved us.” We owe our salvation to nothing we have done, but

only to God’s love for us.



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Romans 8:30

This week we come to the second link of God’s salvation for sinners.

Paul says, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to beconformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the

firstborn among many brothers.”

Many begin to squirm at the mentioning of words like predestination.

Like verses that say God elected and chose us for salvation, we hear

predestination and imagine human beings as automaton droids with

no will or ability to make decisions. Instead we are puppets in a divine

marionette show.

Let me immediately set that aside by saying that is simply not what

the Bible teaches. Even the most direct passages about God’s

sovereignty are never intended to diminish human responsibility. We

are never to excuse our laziness or our inaction in ministry by

appealing to God’s will. We cannot say, ‘Well, I never did make it visit

Susie in the hospital so it must not have been God’s will for me to visit

her.’ There is a wonderful theological word for that—hogwash. Youcannot excuse your behavior, or blame your sin on God and his

sovereignty. It just doesn’t work that way.

Nevertheless, we must not back away from what the Scriptures teach

about predestination. We must choose to become Christians; to

accept him as our Savior. But before we choose Christ, the Bible

teaches that God has chosen us. And he chose for us what we will look

like for all eternity—we will be conformed to the glorious image of hisson, Jesus Christ.

Some want to say that if God predestines us for salvation, why do we

need to preach the gospel? Listen to what Jesus says: “All things have

been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son

except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and

anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who

labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke uponyou, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you

will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is

light.” (Matt 11:27-30).



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Do you see what he did? Jesus says in one breath only those that the

Father chooses can come to him for salvation. Yet in the next breath

Jesus freely offers himself to all who would come! For Jesus, there

was no conflict between God’s sovereign election and evangelism.

Because it is through the call of the gospel that God’s election is

manifest. In other words, God doesn’t ever save someone apart from

them hearing the good news of Jesus Christ. The gospel is the means

God draws people to himself. This is why evangelism and election are

not at odds with each other, but go hand-in-hand in God’s plan of

salvation.

Furthermore, it is precisely the fact that election is God’s choice and

therefore a display of his mercy that makes it the cause of our praise.

What is the ultimate purpose behind God’s election of sinners to

salvation? Paul says God chooses to save sinners, adopting them as

his sons, working to make them righteous all “to the praise of his

glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved” (Eph 1:5)

If salvation in some way, ultimately depended on us, then it would

mean salvation was not entirely by grace and God would lose some

glory he deserves. It would be mean we did something to earn

salvation and so we deserve some of the praise. Instead, grasping God

work of predestining his people for salvation should move us to

humble worship and zealous mission.



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Romans 8:30

“And those whom he predestined he also called .” Here is where our

experience of salvation begins: God’s calling on our life. Specifically,this is the divine call to repentance and faith.

The Bible shows us two kinds of calling to salvation. First, there is the

call we give to the lost. We proclaim the gospel; we call men and

women to trust Christ for salvation. But more than that, there is the

divine call. That is what Paul is speaking about here. When a sinner

genuinely responds to our call, it is evidence the call of God himself

was present as well.

Francis Schaeffer used to tell his students at L’abri that what they

were trying to do—convince people of the truth of the gospel and see

them saved, was not just a difficult thing—it was an impossible thing.

Schaeffer got this from the Jesus himself. When Jesus told his disciples

about how difficult it is for men to be saved, in Matthew 19, the

disciples asked, “how can anyone be saved?” Jesus responded by

saying, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things arepossible” (19:26).

Why is it impossible for people to be saved on their own? Why do they

need God? Consider what we are like naturally. The Bible says that

those that are lost are spiritual dead, blind to the glories of God,

enslaved to the passions of their sinful hearts. And yet, God calls to

such people and gives them spiritual life so that they may see the

beauty of the gospel and believe. In this way, our calling to salvation ismuch like the Jesus’ calling of Lazarus from death to life. If I went

down to the cemetery and started yelling at corpses to come out of

the grave, what would happen? Well, first I would probably be put in

a nice, padded room. But before that, would I get anyone out of the

grave? What if I begged and pleaded? What if I told them how

wonderful it would be to live again? What if I promised them

happiness and joy and a better life? Would they come out of the

grave? Even one? No! I could offer them all the money in the worldand the graves aren’t opening. Why? Because they are dead .





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Romans 8:30

Paul continues the golden chain: “and those whom he called he also

justified .” The doctrine of justification is in many ways, thecornerstone of the multi-faced doctrine of salvation.

Justification is a legal term. If you’ve been justified by God, it means

he has made a legal declaration that you are not guilty. In

justification, we stand before God legally innocent of the crimes, the

sins, we’ve committed. More than that, God credits to us the

righteousness we need to stand before him. Christ’s righteousness

becomes your righteousness in justification.

The question that must be asked, answered, and understood is simply

this: how is a man justified before God? How is it that a person who

has committed sins can be declared to be ‘not guilty’ before a holy and

righteous God? Justification says your salvation is not about a work

you have done; it is all about what Christ has done for you. On the

cross, the wrath of God was poured out on Christ. This was not

because of any sin he did. It was because of the sin of his people.Christ died in the place of sinners.

More than that, he died as a perfect sacrifice. Christ was completely

righteous before God. He kept God’s law and lived in a way we never

can. This work of Christ becomes ours when we receive it by faith.

Thus, justification is more than forgiveness, more than acquittal, more

than acceptance. It is the act whereby God declares us righteous. He

doesn’t make us righteous at the moment of justification. He imputesChrist’s righteousness to us; God credits Christ’s righteousness to us.

So, though we are still sinners, we may stand faultless before the

throne of God.

Think about it like this. You are about to stand before the King of a

mighty, ancient kingdom. Before this King, you must show all of the

honor and deference that is due him. However, in the course of your

travel, a rider on a horse comes charging down the road, and as thehorse gallops past you, you are splattered with mud.



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You panic at first, but then think you might be able to clean up before

you enter the throne room and continue on. Then just outside the

city, a robber confronts you and demands your money. You resist and

in the scuffle, your cloak is ripped, and you fall again—this time in the

street, where more mud and grime cover you. Now, there is nothing

to be done. You can’t afford new clothes, nor dare you refuse the

King’s invitation to stand before his throne. So dejected you enter the

palace and wait to be called upon.

As you begin to approach, the guards lower their pikes and forbid you

from entering saying, ‘You cannot see the king like that! It’s a

disgrace! It’s dishonoring to the King!’ All hope seems lost until you

see the King’s Son. He hears the commotion and comes to see what’s

happening. He sees your predicament. In a moment of fear and

confusion, you hear him command the guard to strip off your outer

garments, soiled and filthy and throw them out. But, then you see the

compassion in his eyes, and he takes off his gleaming white robes of

his royal position as the King’s Son, putting them on you. As you stand

in awe and disbelief, he leads you before the throne of the great

King.22

This is what God does for us in Christ. He forgives and discards the

stain of our sin, and makes us fit to stand before him by counting the

righteousness of his own Son as our own!



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Romans 8:30

The golden chain comes to an end with a vision of our final salvation:

“those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he calledhe also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified .”

Our glorification is that final act whereby God causes us to become in

reality, what we have been declared to be ‘positionally’ in Christ. In

justification, we have been declared righteous. In glorification, God

makes that declaration a reality. He eradicates sin from our lives,

physically and spiritually. He makes us truly Spiritual people. That is,

we are fully led by the Spirit of God in all that we do.

Paul is saying God is going to finish what he began. And, when he is

finished you can be sure you will be a lot better off than the way God

found you. God made provision for salvation in Christ. God called us

out of a life of sin to put our faith in Christ. God has declared us

righteous in Christ. And God will complete our salvation by causing us

to reflect the glory of Christ.

God does this because, as the first to be resurrected from dead in

glory, Christ is said to be the firstborn of many brothers. In salvation,

God adopts us as his children making us—spiritually speaking—

brothers and sisters with Christ. And just as he was glorified through

his resurrection, so one day we will follow after him in our own

glorious resurrection. That means that just as Christ’s physical body

was transformed into something immortal and heavenly, so will the

bodies of his people.

You see, the Christian hope is not about floating around like ghosts in

robes with halos and wings. It’s about God doing a miracle. It’s about

God taking the rotting corpse in a coffin, or the smallest dust of long

faded remains and recreating them into a radiant, everlasting body fit

the glories of God’s presence, so that God and his people can enjoy

face-to-face fellowship for all eternity. That’s the Christian hope; the

hope of the resurrection.

This is of course, still a future event for our lives. Yet, what is amazing

is that Paul speaks of it in the past tense. Did you see this? “Those



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whom he justified he also glorified.” Such is the certainly that Paul has

in God’s plan, that he can speak of our glorification as a past event.

This is part of God’s plan for our salvation, and so we can be confident

that it will happen. If we have been loved by God, predestined to

reflect Christ’s glory, called to faith, and justified, then nothing will

stop our final glorification. Nothing will stop the completion of our

salvation before God.

As Christians, we can know with certainty what our future is—life of

joy and love forever with God in the new heavens and the new earth.

A life unstained by sin, where God is perfectly glorified and his people

are completed satisfied. If we have that certain hope of the

resurrection, Paul says then our lives should reflect it here in this life.

If the end is already secured, then we are called to live lives in keeping

with work God is bringing about in our lives.



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Spirit-Powered Triumph

Romans 8:31-39



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Romans 8:31

We live in an age of uncertainty. The loss of jobs in certain industries

that no one thought would ever go away. There are the seeminglyendless diagnoses of cancer or AIDS. We see the continual destruction

of unborn or partially born infants for our comfort and ease of life,

while thousands of lives are snuffed out through terrorist attacks to

accomplish ideological gains. We live in uncertain times.

But in the midst of this age of uncertainty about so many things, Paul

reminds us that there is one thing that we can still be certain of: the

love of God for his people. As we enter into the final verses of ourstudy of Romans eight, Paul stops and looks back to what he has

written. His argument was advancing, driving, laying out the totality

of God’s gracious plan for his people in Christ. Now, he’s hit the

climatic statements of verses 29 and 30. Now, he stops and looks back

on what he has written and he asks the question, “What then shall we

say to these things?”

He has talked about humanity’s sinfulness before God, God’s justification of sinners through the death and resurrection of Christ,

the gift of the Spirit that serves as a guarantee of our salvation, and

brings us into relationship with God, so that we might call him, ‘Abba,

Father.’ By that same Spirit, we cry out with the rest of creation for

the return of our savior, Jesus Christ, and the eradication of sin from

this fallen world.

Although, until that happens, we suffer under tribulation and often donot even know how to pray, and so depend on God’s Spirit to take up

are unutterable groanings and make them an acceptable prayer to

God. Paul has spoken of God’s plan from before the creation of the

world to save a people for himself, and to transform them from the

inside out so that they reflect the glory of Christ.

Now, as Paul has ascended this mountain of divine truth, describing

what it means to live as God’s children by God’s Spirit, he turns andasks, “What then shall we say to these things?” The answer he gives is

striking. Amidst all the uncertainty of life, we can be confident in

God’s love for us in Christ:



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“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 with him

graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against

God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ

Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who

is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who

shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or

distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or

sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the

day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all

these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved

us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers,

nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor

depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us

from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The amazing certainty of God’s love for his people, the invincibility of

his good purposes for the Church, should build us up and sustain and

give us confidence to pursue righteousness and obedience to our Lord

and Savior!



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Romans 8:31

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be

against us?” Notice that Paul doesn’t just ask, ‘who is against us?’ Toooften we can think of many people who are against us. Not just us,

here today, but Christians everywhere for all time. We think of the

hostile world, persecuting God’s people, driving them underground,

punishing them for their faith. Or, our adversary the devil; an enemy

who though defeated is by no means dead. Perhaps, most sinister of

all, there is our own sinful hearts.

If we were to attempt to face these enemies head on, in our ownstrength, by our own virtue, it would be a disaster. We are already

defeated. It would be like someone charging a battalion of tanks with

a bow and arrow. This is why Paul doesn’t just ask, ‘who is against

us?’ For he knows the barrage of replies he would get from the Roman

Christians.

Instead, he asks, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Of course,

the answer that Paul expects is ‘no one!’ Since God is for us, no onecan ultimately be successful in their attempt to stop us. But, this is not

true for everyone.

One of the most fearful statements imaginable is found several times

in the Old Testament. It is when we read, “‘I am against you,’ declares

the Lord” (Jer 21:13). We usually see this directed against nations like

Assyria, Babylon, and Egypt, but on some occasions, more terribly still

God says this to Israel. He says this when they practice idolatry, andwhen their false prophets and false shepherds lead the people astray.

Imagine someone even now, sitting week after week under the

preaching and teaching of God’s word at a church, yet never trusting

Christ. They sit there with no new spiritual nature, but only the old

fallen, sinful nature. They don’t really love Christ; they don’t cherish

his fellowship and long to know him and follow him more closely.

Instead they love pretty much what the world loves and trust what theworld trusts. They love looking cool. They love being in control and not

letting anybody dictate to you how to sit or walk or dress or talk or

drive or work or play or study or spend your money. They love doing



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things in a way that will show nobody tells you what to do. They

especially love to be made much of by cool people, and to be thought

pretty or strong. And, they love physical pleasures like sexual

stimulation and foods and drink and crawling inside the skin of a TV

soap sister, or sitting through a violent, suspenseful, mind-hammering

movie and walking out of the theater supremely unaffected.23

Such a person feels secure because they are in church. They are

surrounded by the things of God. Yet they do not know God.

Therefore, in reality, God is not for them, but against them. His wrath

still hangs over them. Eternal, spiritual death waits them.

But Paul says this is not the case for believers. Because of God’s love

for us in Christ, we can have confidence that God is for us, and so no

one can stand against us. God is the One who has loved us. He has

just told us that in Christ we have been foreknown, predestined,

called, justified, and gloried. All the powers of hell could come against

us but they will never prevail, because God is for us.

Today—if there is any doubt—make sure Christ is your Treasure.

Make sure that you trust him and find worship him more than

anything else. Make sure God is for you in Christ, and not against you

in wrath.



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Romans 8:32

One pastor was preaching to a group of prisoners in Illinois during Holy

Week. At one point in his message, he asked them, “do you know whokilled Jesus?” Some said the soldiers, others said Pilate, still yet some

said the Jews. After there was silence, the pastor simply said, “His

father killed him.” This is the foundation of the promise Paul is

making, and it’s what the whole of the Bible says:

“Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we

esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. . . . Yet it was

the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief” (Isaiah 53:6,10).

“This Jesus [was] delivered up according to the definite plan and

foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23).

“God put forward [Christ] as a propitiation by his blood, to be received

by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine

forbearance he had passed over former sins” (Romans 3:25).

God was able to stop Abraham from killing Isaac, the son of promise,

because he knew that another Son of promise—his own Son—would

die on a cross many years later. God did not spare his own Son, but

why? Why did God not spare his own Son? The answer comes in the

rest of the verse: “God did not spare his own Son but gave him up for

us all.”

Elsewhere, Paul says, “For our sake [God] made him to be sin who

knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of

God” (2 Cor 5:21). God did not spare his own son, because it was the

only way he could spare us. This is the gospel—the good news!

Christ, the righteous Son of God suffered and died, satisfying the

wrath of God, and was raised to life again, so that those who believe in

him will not face the judgment, but have forgiveness and life from

God. That’s the foundation. Now, here’s the promise: “He who did notspare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with

him graciously give us all things.”



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Paul argues from the greater to the lesser. Paul argues, if God didn’t

spare his own son, why would he withhold anything else? He has

already given us the best, the greatest thing he could, in his Son. He

has already given us the most beautiful, glorious, all-satisfying gift that

is imaginable, why would he now keep something from us?

In fact, Paul asks, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up

for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”

What are these ‘things’? These are all the things that we need to

progress in this life towards our final salvation; all that we need for life

and godliness. Elsewhere Paul says that these are the things that “no

eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God

has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor 2:9).

Octavius Winslow was correct to write: “who delivered up Jesus to

die? Not Judas, for money; Not Pilate for fear; not the Jews, for envy –

but the Father, for love!”24

God continues to love his people—to love

you—even now as he gives all things we need for life and godliness.

“He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will

he not also with him graciously give us all things?”



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Romans 8:33

How are we saved? How are we made right with God? Many believe

God accepts us because of the kind of life we live. For example,Mormons believe that it is a mixture of grace and works that save a

person. Robert Millet, a professor at BYU says, “the grace of Christ is

not sufficient for salvation. The works of man—the ordinances of

salvation, the deeds of service and acts of charity and mercy—are

necessary for salvation.”25

The same is true with Islam. In Surah 5:9 of

the Qur-an, we read, "To those who believe and do deeds of

righteousness hath Allah promised forgiveness and a great reward."

However, the Bible says that God has never saved anyone by works.

In fact, it’s just the opposite, and as Paul is writing to a church made

up of Jews and Gentiles he wants to make this clear. Back in Romans

4, Paul says, “What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our

forefather according to the flesh?” (4:1). Do you remember

Abraham? Well, the Jews of Paul’s day certainly did! Traditionally, he

was considered the most righteous of all the people of God, and

certainly the most favored. After all, Abraham was the physical fatherof the Jewish people. All of Israel could trace their descent directly

back to him.

You can read in Genesis 12, how God chose him and called him out

from among the pagan peoples of the world. Abraham was a

descendent of Noah, but he worshipped idols. Yet in his grace, God

called him out of that, and in Genesis 15, he made a covenant with

him, promising to bless him and his descendents and through him theentire world, and we are told that Abraham believed God. He trusted

him and obeyed him. But, the rabbis of Paul’s days believed that it

was Abraham’s obedience that caused him to be justified. They

believed it was his righteousness that made him right with God. So,

when we look to the ancient rabbinic commentary on the Old

Testament called, The Book of Jubilees, it says, “Abraham was perfect

in all his dealings with the Lord and gained favor by his righteousness

throughout his life.”

Now, Paul is writing to say, they got it wrong! Abraham was not

justified by his own righteousness. He wasn’t made right with God by



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his own works. You need to understand that the gospel to be received

by faith is not something new. It’s not some flash in the pan kind of

things, but is rooted in all that God has done before, including the

salvation of the Patriarchs. So Paul says, “For if Abraham was justified

by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For

what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was

counted to him as righteousness’” (4:2-3). Abraham was not made

right with God because of anything he did. Instead, God counted him

as righteous – declared him to be righteous. God justified him as a gift

of his grace.

Now, we can see more clearly Paul’s argument here in Romans 8:33—

“Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who

justifies.” If we justify ourselves, then we would feel open to attack

and charges brought by Satan, the world, or anyone. We would feel

vulnerable that our salvation might be at stake. But, it’s God that

justifies! We do not justify ourselves; God is one who determines

whether or not we are right with him, not by what we do, but by what

Christ has done for us. Thus, we need not fear any accusation that is

brought against us. Our salvation is from the Lord.



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Romans 8:34


justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—morethan that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who

indeed is interceding for us.” The two questions that Paul asks in these

two verses are virtually the same. For here, the point of bringing the

charges is to condemn.

It was interesting that one of the Christians in Niger—my translator,

Muhammed—used these very words to describe the way of life there.

He said, “Everyone is trying to condemn you.” By that, he meanteveryone is looking for a crack in the armor. Everyone is looking for

some way to discredit your beliefs, or your life. He talked about being

challenged by Muslims who came to him, with chests puffed out,

believing they had found the hole in Christianity that make it collapse.

Moreover, many would try to attack him personally. He talked about

one time in particular where a Muslim man was saying how horrible

Christians were; how they were all bad people and always fighting

with others. Muhammed didn’t say anything and let the man go onhis rant. But eventually another man, who was not a Christian, looked

to Muhammed and said, “This man is not always fighting—he never

has trouble with anyone.”

That stuck with me, because in many ways, it was a picture of the

ministry of Christ that Paul speaks about here. We can imagine Satan

himself pointing out our moral failings to God, much as he tried to do

with Job. ‘See, God, look how they sin! They lie, cheat, and steal! Theylove other things more than you, making gods of money and sex and

sports! Surely, they cannot be your children?”

Yet, Christ is there to stand as our advocate. He is there to say, ‘No,

they are God’s children. I died for them, and was raised back to life

again. Now they stand faultless before God, not because of their own

sinfulness but because my righteousness, which I have given them.’

We can imagine such a scene, but an all-too-real one plays out on a

regular basis for most of us. It is the scene that unfolds when Satan

comes to us and seeks to condemn us with similar words. He wants us



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to feel condemned. He delights in dragging us through the mud of our

own sin, reminding us of our failings, whispering to us that we have no

right to enjoy God or believe we can really have forgiveness.

Thankfully, Paul reminds us that our salvation does not depend on us,

but on the justification that comes through the death and resurrection

of Christ for us. So, we can sing with all humble and hopeful faith –

When Satan tempts me to despair,

And tells me of the guilt within,

I look to heav’n, and see Him there

Who made an end of all my sin.

Because the sinless Savior died

My sinful soul is counted free;

For God, the just, is satisfied

To look on Him and pardon me.26


justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more

than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who

indeed is interceding for us.”



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Romans 8:35

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or

distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we

are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we

are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure

that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present

nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything

else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in

Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Paul’s last question brings together all the others questions he has

posed. Here, he asks the essential question: “Who shall separate us

from the love of Christ?” After asking the question, Paul considers

some of the things that might cause us to believe that we have been

pulled from Christ’s loving grip of grace: tribulation, distress,

persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, or sword. The truth of the

matter is, this is life, isn’t it? Not just life out there for the world, but

life for the Christians as well.

There is a kind of approach to life today that says to just forget your

problems. Just don’t think about it. Keep your head down and keep

going. But, that kind of attitude fails to consider God’s involvement in

our lives. Paul tells us these things to force us to confront the issues;

to face our unspoken fears about God’s love or lack of love for us in

the midst of difficulty. And yet, he also wants to show you that those

difficult times do not define you.

People say ‘your experiences define you.’ Yet, Paul says ‘no’ to this. If

you are a Christian, God’s love defines you. His love is what gives

meaning to the story of our life. Christians have no reason to think of

themselves as victims. This is why Paul says, “in all these things we are

more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Even in the bad

times, God is using those things to bring you to glory. Nothing is going

to happen to you apart from his will, and nothing is going to separateyou from his love. Paul says, “For I am sure that neither death nor life,

nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor



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powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be

able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

When we understand the love of God in this way, it will produce

within us the kind of zeal and passion for ministry that Paul had. When

we realize that God loves us, not because he has to, not because he is

obligated to, but because he chooses to, and that nothing can ever

separate us from his love, then nothing will be able to stop us from

pursuing the glory of God in all things, and finding ultimate satisfaction

and joy in him.

This is seen in the life of William Borden. Borden was on his way to

work as a missionary in China, but he never made it. He was struck

down with disease and died in Egypt. As he lay dying, he wrote a final

note for his friends and family. It simply read, “No reserve, no retreat,

and no regrets.”27

Not even death itself could hinder his spirit? Why?

Because he understood the all-surpassing worth, the incredible glory

and power, of God’s love.



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Romans 8:36

In the midst of his argument, Paul quotes from Psalm 44 to remind us

just how brutal life can be. He says, “As it is written, ‘For your sake weare being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be

slaughtered.’” We want to observe a few things about this quotation.

First, notice closely what the text says: “For your sake we are being

killed all the day long.” Israel is suffering not for faithlessness, but for

their loyalty to the Lord. Likewise, Paul says if God’s people go

through difficulties and trials, it will often be for the sake of bearing

the reproach of Christ. When we cling to the gospel, and seek to livefor Christ, bearing witness to his death and resurrection, the world will

resist us. Like Paul himself, then, we will become partakers in the

afflictions of Christ—not just for salvation, but in our identification

with Christ, suffering like him (cf. Col 1:24-27). So, Paul can tell

Timothy to endure hardship remembering that “all who desire to live a

godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim 3:12).

Then, secondly, notice the original context of the quotation. In Psalm44, the psalmist is lamenting the distress of his people, calling on the

Lord to “Rise up” and to come to their help—“Redeem us for the sake

of your steadfast love!” (44:26). This is probably where most of our

praying exists. Sign up for a prayer chain or attend most prayer

meetings and you are likely to find almost all of the praying to be for

the removal of some pain or suffering.

Certainly there is a place for that kind of praying. Paul prayed thatway. But, if we are going to pray that way, then we have to also be

prepared to receive the same answer he did. Jesus said to Paul, “My

grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”

(2 Cor 12:9). In other words, ‘No, I will not take it away. But if you

depend on me in faith, I will be with you and enable you to get

through this, displaying my glory in you.’ That was also the motivation

of the psalmist—the glory of God. He said you’ve pledged your

steadfast love, now for the sake of your promise—the sake of yourcharacter—be our help! How often are our prayers motivated by a

genuine concern for the glory of God?



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For our third observation we begin by quoting Reformation pastor and

theologian, John Calvin: “it is no new thing for the Lord to permit his

saints to be undeservingly exposed to the cruelty of the ungodly.”

Surely this is even the testimony of Scripture, let alone Church History.

Hebrews tells us, “Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even

chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two,

they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep

and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was

not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens

and caves of the earth” (Heb 11:36-38).

As God’s people, we should not be surprised when our lives involve

suffering, tribulation, or distress. Yet, we can also take comfort that

we are not alone in this. All of God’s people have suffered for their

faithfulness. At the same time, all those that suffered also experienced

the grace of God in their lives. He was always with them (Heb 13:5),

shielding them from more than they could handle (1 Cor 10:13),

holding them secure by his Spirit (Eph 1:13-14), enabling them to

endure the trial (Jude 24-25), even with joy (1 Peter 1:3-9). Those who

are in Christ today can expect God to do the same for them as well.



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Romans 8:37

Paul asks the question, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness,or danger, or sword? As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being

killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who

loved us.”

Paul has been talking about suffering in the world. He’s been showing

that while suffering is inevitable in this sinful world, even for God’s

people, God is at work in and through us during the suffering.

As we think about this, first, notice that we are not just conquering.

Paul says that are more than conquerors. That means you’re not just

defeating your enemies, you’re subjugating them. You’re not just

bringing to futility the intentions of the enemy; you’re making him

work for your own purposes.

So does this mean that the Christian will never experience such thingsas “Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or

nakedness, or danger, or sword”? No. In fact, just the opposite is

true. The Christian will surely go through these things, even as Christ

himself did! The difference is that even in experiencing these things,

we will be more than conquerors.

Secondly, notice how it is that we become more than conquerors. Paul

says that it’s “through him who loved us” that we conquer. In otherwords, it is specifically though Christ that we are able to conquer. The

enemy desires to separate from the love of God in Christ. His desire is

for us to forsake Christ’s love. But, in so far that we continue to look

to Christ in faith, trusting in his love for us, we will be victorious. More

than that, we will grow in the conflict—we will grow in our love for,

and faith in Christ. In this way, every tribulation, distress, persecution,

famine, nakedness, danger, and sword become our servants, used to

draw us closer to Christ!

September 11, 2001 remains a stinging, haunting memory for many of

us. Many stories of faith came out of those events, but probably the



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most powerful was of Lisa Beamer. Her husband, Todd, was one of

the people who tried to take back the plan from the terrorists. Lisa

related the impact of attending the memorial service in Shanksville,

PA—the crash site where her husband died. Just the day before she

said she had been strengthened by the Christ-exalting memorial

service. But Monday turned out to be different. Lisa says, “On

Monday, as I listened to the well-intentioned speakers, who were

doing their best to comfort but with little if any direct reference to the

power of God to sustain us. I felt I was sliding helplessly down a high

mountain into a deep crevasse. As much as I appreciated the kindness

of the wonderful people who tried to encourage us, that afternoon

was actually one of the lowest points in my grieving. It wasn’t the

people, or event, or the place. Instead, it struck me how hopeless the

world is when God is factored out of the equation.”28

Apart from the love of Christ, we have no hope and will always be

defeated by the circumstances of life and the sin in our hearts. But

through Christ, we can forever be more than conquerors.



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Romans 8:38

Paul is reaching the end of his argument in Romans 8, concluding that

because of all that God has done for us in Christ, he will not let us go.He says, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor

rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height

nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us

from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Let’s reflect on this list

so that we can be encouraged by God’s powerful commitment to love

his people.

Death is the first thing he mentions in this list. Death tends to be themost immediate threat in our minds. We fear death. Yet, Paul says

death cannot separate us from the love of God. In truth, death unites

us with God—“to be absent from the body and to be at home with the

Lord” (2 Cor 5:8). Life has already been described in terms of suffering

and hardship. As hard as it is to lose loved ones to death, or go

through suffering in life, Paul wants us to know that it’s not a failing in

the love of God.

Next, Paul moves from the ordinary things of this world, to those

things in the spiritual realm, mentioning “angels” and “rulers.” Later

he mentions “powers.” All three of these words are thought to be

designations of angelic or demonic beings. Paul is saying that more

than just this in this life, there are no spiritual forces that can separate

us from the love of God. Elsewhere, Paul says that at the cross, Christ

defeated the demonic spiritual forces, putting them to open shame

(Col 2:15). No power in hell can separate us from God’s love!

Paul continues to broaden his horizons. He says that neither “things

present nor things to come . . . nor height nor depth, nor anything else

in all creation” can separate us from the love of God. Paul is pretty

much covering all of his bases here! There’s nothing in our past—no

skeleton in the close that separate us. Nor is there anything in the

future, lurking around the corner in the week or years ahead that will

separate us. There is nothing “high or low”—nothing in heaven orhell—that can separate us from God’s love. Paul says there is nothing

in all of the creation that can separate us. Think about it. What could

possibly come outside these parameters?



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When Paul says nothing, he means nothing—including ourselves. In

college I remember having a conversation with a friend about our

security as a believer. We were talking about Jesus’ promise in John

10: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.28

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will

snatch them out of my hand” (10:27-28). My friend’s comment was,

‘That’s right—no one can take us out of hand, but we can take

ourselves out.’

But, Paul will not let us think that! He says there is nothing in all

creation—that includes us!—that can separate us from God’s love.

Those whom God justified he will glorify (cf. 8:30). By his sovereign

grace, what God begins, he finishes. This is the assurance and hope

we have in Christ. No sin, no person, no demon, no angel, no

suffering, no power in all the cosmos—nothing, nothing, nothing will

separate us from God’s commitment to love his people and keep them

secure until the day of his return!



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Romans 8:39

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or

distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we

are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we

are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure

that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present

nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything

else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in

Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Paul began this section with the bold assertion that “There is therefore

now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (8:1). He

ends this section with the comforting assertion that nothing “will be

able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”

(8:39). As we have seen, the two ideas are intimately connected to

one another. Because we are in Christ and no longer under God’s

condemnation for sin, but are adopted as his children, loved before

the foundation of the world, there is nothing in all creation that candestroy the love-born relationship we have with God.

One problem we all face, though, that is we sometimes do not believe

all of that is true. Yes, we believe it as a doctrinal idea, but in the

realities of life, we begin to doubt that it is really true. Therefore, we

end this book of thoughts and application of Romans 8 with a

reminder from Martyn Lloyd-Jones. He used to say, ‘listen to the

Bible, not yourself.’ You see, we will talk ourselves out of believingRomans 8. But if we stop listening to ourselves, and start listening to

what God is telling us though his Word, we will find our hearts

encouraged. This is what Lloyd-Jones says in his book, Spiritual

Depression:

The main trouble in this whole matter of spiritual depression in a

sense is this, that we allow our self to talk to us instead of talking

to our self. Am I just trying to be deliberately paradoxical? Farfrom it. This is the very essence of wisdom in this matter. Have

you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact

that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself?



126

Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in

the morning. You have not originated them, but they start talking

to you, they bring back the problem of yesterday, etc. Somebody

is talking. Who is talking to you? Your self is talking to you. Now

this man’s treatment [in Psalm 42] was this; instead of allowing

this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself, ‘Why art thou

cast down, O my soul?’ he asks. His soul had been repressing him,

crushing him. So he stands up and says: ‘Self, listen for a moment,

I will speak to you’. Do you know what I mean? If you do not, you

have but little experience.

The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know how to

handle yourself. You have to take yourself in hand, you have to

address yourself, preach to yourself, question yourself. You must

say to your soul: ‘Why art thou cast down’–what business have

you to be disquieted? You must turn on yourself, upbraid yourself,

condemn yourself, exhort yourself, and say to yourself: ‘Hope

thou in God’–instead of muttering in this depressed, unhappy way.

And then you must go on to remind yourself of God, Who God is,

and what God is and what God has done, and what God has

pledged Himself to do. Then having done that, end on this great

note: defy yourself, and defy other people, and defy the devil and

the whole world, and say with this man: ‘I shall yet praise Him for

the help of His countenance, who is also the health of my

countenance and my God.’29

As we leave Romans 8, we end this with this exhortation: listen to the

promises of God and believe them. And, in believing them, find your

heart buttressed against the vilest temptations and the most

unbearable sufferings. Remember and trust that God has loved you

from before time began, and demonstrated that love to you through

the life, death, and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ. God has given

you his very best and now give you all things to ensure that nothing

will ever tear you away from his eternal love.

Therefore, press on in this life—in the war against sin, the mission of

the gospel, and the serving of God’s people—strengthened by

presence of God’s Spirit in your life, who enables you to be more than

conquerors in Christ Jesus your Lord.



127

Recommended Resources

Some of you will want to go further in your study of Romans 8. Here

are some resources that will go a long way in helping you betterunderstand and apply God’s word. Some of these works are

commentaries on the entire book of Romans; others are specific works

that specifically look at Romans 8 or the themes that Paul talks about

there. All of these resources are suitable for the average Christian

that desires to drink deep at the well of God’s Word.

Tom Barnes. Living in the Hope of Future Glory . Evangelical Press,

2009.

D. A. Carson. Why, O Lord: Reflections on Suffering and Evil. Baker,

2006.

Douglas Moo. Romans. NIV Application Commentary. Zondervan,

2000.

Raymond C. Ortlund, Jr. Supernatural Living for Natural People: Studies

in Romans 8. Christian Focus, 2001.

John Owen. The Mortification of Sin in Believers. Reprint. Christian

Focus, 1996.

J. I. Packer, Keep in Step with the Spirit: Finding Fullness in Our Walkwith God. Reprint. Baker, 2005.

Philip Ryken. The Message of Salvation: By God’s Grace, for God’s

Glory . InterVarsity, 2002.

John Stott. The Message of Romans: God’s Good News for the World .

Reprint. InterVarsity, 2001.



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129

Notes

1 Thomas R. Schriener, Romans (Baker, 1998), 400.

2 Raymond C. Ortlund, Jr., Supernatural Living for Natural People (Christian Focus,

2001), 21.3 C. H. Spurgeon, “The Carnal Mind Enmity Against God” (sermon on Romans 8:7),

accessed at http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0020.htm4 John Piper, “Christ, Know Who You Are” (sermon on Romans 8:7-11), accessed at

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/2001/77_Christian_

Know_Whose_You_Are.5Cited by Derek Thomas in “Always Mind” (sermon on Romans 8:9-11), accessed at

http://fpcjackson.org/resources/sermons/Derek%27s_SERMONS/The%20Best%20

Chapter%20In%20The%20Bible%20-%20Sermon%20Series%20on%20Romans%208/

02a_Romans_8_9-11_Always_Mind_Dr_Derek_Thomas.htm.6 Recounted by James Montgomery Boice, Ephesians (Baker: 1997), 76-76.

7 Interview with CNN, accessed at http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0305/

02/lol.10.html.8 John Piper, “How to Kill Sin, Part 3” (sermon on Romans 8:13), accessed at

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/2002/87_How_to_Kill

_Sin_Part_3.9 John Piper, “The Spirit-Led Are the Sons of God” (sermon on Romans 8:13-17),

accessed at http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/2002/

88_The_SpiritLed_Are_the_Sons_of_God.10

This and the following illustration are adapted from Ortlund, Supernatural, 87.11

John Piper, “Children, Heirs, and Fellow Sufferers” (Sermon on Romans 8:14-18),

accessed at http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/2002/

89_Children_Heirs_and_Fellow_Sufferers.12

“As the Deer” by Martin Nystrom, © Maranatha! Music (1984).13

Piper, “Children, Heirs, and Fellow Sufferers.”14 All of the previous information came from John Piper, Filling Up the Afflictions of

Christ: The Cost of Bringing the Gospel to the Nations in the Lives of William Tyndale,

Adonirum Judson, and John Paton (Crossway, 2009), 53-56.

15 John G. Paton, John G. Paton: Missionary to the New Hebredes, An

Autobiography Edited by His Brother (Banner of Truth, 1965, orig. 1889, 1891), 265.16

John Piper, The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John

Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd (Crossway, 2001), 41-79.17

Robert Browning, “Pippa’s Song” in Pippa Passes (1841).18

John MacArthur, Romans 1-8 (Moody, 1991), 452.19

J. Ligon Duncan, III, “The Purpose of God” (Sermon on Romans 8:28-39), accessed

at http://www.fpcjackson.org/resources/sermons/romans/romansvol3to4/

28bRomans8.28to30.htm20

John Piper, “All Things for Good, Part 2” (sermon on Romans 8:28-30), accessed at

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByScripture/10/96_All_Things

_for_Good_Part_2.



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21 John Murray, The Epistle to the Romans, 318-319.

22 This story is based on Zechariah 3.

23

John Piper, “It is God Who Justifies!” (sermon on Romans 8:28-32), accessed athttp://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/BySeries/2/101_It_Is_God_

Who_Justifies.24

Octavius Winslow, “The Gift of God’s Son, the Guarantee of All Other Blessings”

(sermon on Romans 8:32) accessed http://www.gracegems.org/WINSLOW/

TheGiftoGodsSon,theGuaranteeofAllOtherBlessing.htm.25

Referenced from the book By Grace We Are Saved at http://www.watchman.org/

lds/grace.htm.26

“Before the Throne of God Above” words by Charitie Bancroft (1894), originally

entitled, “The Advocate.”

27 Charles Campbell, William Whiting Borden: A Short Life Complete In Christ (n.p.,1909).

28 Lisa Beamer, “Let’s Roll,” World (Vol. 17, No. 31, August 17, 2002), pp. 20-28.

29 D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure (Eerdmans,

1965), 20-21.



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