Romans 8:38–39 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. In the year of our 2018, we have Christians contending that their faith would be unshaken if the resurrection never took place....
Romans 8:37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us All of the questions, pushbacks, and opposition that Paul was facing with teaching this one particular truth of God as a through but simple exposition of Christ’s own words when He said: I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand....
Romans 8:36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” So what if a little “tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?”1 comes our way? God promises suffering for his saints. There is no way around it. Just in case you are at odds with the rest of the authors of the Bible and only want the “red letter edition”, let us consider the words of Christ himself:...
And here is love: 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? I am not here to try to define for you what each of these circumstances means. I am 43 years old who lives in the Bible Belt of the United States and have been a believer for a quarter of my life....
Romans 8:34 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. Let’s try to find a verse that sums up the whole Bible concerning the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and you will have your choice of a few verses: John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life....
Romans 8:33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. This world and its inhabitants, princes, rulers, and principalities crouching, and ready to pounce and devour your heart and soul. They are not always going to do it with outright accusations, but they might resort to that. “Look at your life! Look at all the mistakes you’ve made! You can’t even stay married.”...
Romans 8:32 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? I could sit here and blast you with God’s holy words about God alone provides for us, and we need nothing. Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. It is more than “I don’t want” like we are monks in Timbuktu living off the land but rather, because God adopted us, we are co-heirs with the One who has inherited all things....
Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? The love of God cannot be simply defined by the merest of affections and words that we might share with one another. Is our relationship to our spouse, children, family, coworkers, or neighbor compare to one’s relationship with God? Although our relationships should be held in the light of God’s relationship with us, it is preposterous to think that anybody we know would compare to God is perfect in all things especially when it comes to love....
And here is love: “… and for those whom he justified he also glorified.” We look up all of Romans 8:30 as a chain that begins and ends with God. To that end, predestination and glorification are things that our minds cannot fully fathom. But we rest assure that every single person predestined is called is justified is glorified. There is no whittling or dwindling of numbers as we move along the list, Christ said:...
And here is love: and those whom he called he also justified. This is the steadfast chain of salvation that links us to God forever and ever. Predestination is God’s mere thoughts, affections, will, and decisions towards us. From eternity past, God thought of us specifically and was mindful of us intentionally. Calling is the voice of God that actively makes us alive in our dead and sinful state. The calling of God is the voice of the Father bringing us to life and calling us according to His purpose....
And here is love: Romans 8:30b And those whom he predestined he also called… So if there was nothing in us to attract, sway, or convinced God to love us and save us, what did God see in us before He saved us? There is a war in our world to determine the value of a human’s life. Life today is no longer precious. Consider the life of a newborn or the life of a refugee....
And here is love: Romans 8:30a And those whom he predestined We have now established that God loved us not just for the sake of love by itself. It is a warm and sentiment notion to be sure but when it comes to God, it is not just simply His love as though he can be reduced to one feeling. Likewise, while his love remains supreme, it isn’t all that he is....
Romans 8:29 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. When we carefully walked through verse 29 of Romans 8, we saw that there was more than a few questions that rose to the top, namely: What did God saw in us? We now know that he didn’t see anything good, righteousness or lovely....
Romans 8:29 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. This entire series has been trying to pit the world’s definition of love versus God’s definition of love. And perhaps up until this moment, we have never taken that to actual task. What I mean by that is that comparatively speaking, if I speak of God’s love, we can still find something like that in on earth....
Romans 8:29 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. When we speak of Romans 8, most Christians rightfully cling to the verse 1: There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. But Romans 8:1 is not the very first line of this epistle from Paul to the church in Rome....
Romans 8:29 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. So we have firmly established that God did not look into the future and see that I was good enough to be saved. I did not make the right decision to be saved or do a bunch of “good” works to be saved....
Romans 8:29 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. There are many verses that can be used to aptly say what verse twenty-nine so succinctly and definitely says here. I can think of two passages: 1 Peter 1:20–21 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God....
Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Herein lies love: all things work together for good for those who love God. Within our world, one might dare to ask, “What about those who don’t love God? What about my friend or neighbor or co-worker who is basically a good guy or gal?...
Romans 8:27 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. This is a fantastic God What compares to the knowledge of God when He alone reveals all truth and science to us? Yet, he is not merely the best supercomputer in the world with every single piece of knowledge and scientific fact ever....
Romans 8:26 Likewise 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. When coming to the full acknowledgment of the pain and anguish of sin that he seems to never be able to overcome, Paul cries the same incredible prayer in the same spirit as the tax collector in the synagogue:...
Romans 8:24-25 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. What is this hope? Walk backwards from the text. Our hope in adoption as sons? Redemption of our bodies? That creation would be set from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God?...
Romans 8:23 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. My mother abandoned me when I was five years old and I never seen her since. My father physically, emotionally, mentally, and sexually abused me when I was a child. While I have “grown” physically, my heart and my emotional growth stunted to that of a child....
Romans 8:19–22 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 its bondage to corruption 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....
Why even bother? Romans 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. That is why we bother. If your affections, desires, and wants are places on Christ alone, then there is everything that we have endured and suffered will not compared to seeing His glory. What is glory? Here is my weak, futile, mortal attempt to explain what glory is:...
Will there be suffering? Is there life? Do we live in this world? Will you suffer anxiety, worry, depression, angst, anger, frustration, and rage? Will you suffer pain, hurt, torment, cancer, sickness, disease, anguish, and death? Will you suffer forgetfulness, confusion, doubt, and disbelief? Will you suffer? I don’t have to explain all of life and all of mankind to you. You already know this. If you don’t know this, then you are blind and don’t see life around you....
Romans 8:17a and if children, then heirs-heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, What does it mean to be a child of God? To ask that is to ask: What does it mean for the Father to set his affections upon you? What does it mean for Christ to love you, pursue you, die for you, and then live for you? What does it mean for the Spirit to lead you and to bear witness for you?...
Romans 8:16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, What can I say when I am in the presence of the Almighty God? I have no defense! All of my works of righteousness are as used bloody tampons before God. Everything I did before knowing God was regarded as crap. This is what I hold in my hands, bloody tampons and shit, before the incredible, awesome, magnificent, glorious Creator God of the Universe, who is high, lifted up, and exalted far above me, my thoughts, my pride, my sin, my iniquities, and my pitiful gods....
Romans 8:15 For you did not receive 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!” Can you have both the spirit of slavery and the Spirit of adoption? Never mind just twelve verses ago (Romans 8:3-8) that we have already made that distinction. So, let us see what Christ says: “Enter by the narrow gate....
Romans 8:14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. What does it mean to be led? The Holy Spirit is a comfort, a teacher, and a bringer of peace. Never is the Spirit of God associated with violence or forcefulness. So what does it mean to be led? Does this mean that Holy Spirit drags the kicking and screaming sons of God to Jesus Christ?...
Romans 8:13 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. How are you going to live? So what if you live according to your emotions, thoughts, feelings, and instincts? I feel like this is the right thing to do. This is the wrong thing to do but I am in love....
Romans 8:12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. What is the debt? In other words, what is there to give to our old life. What do we owe to our former cold hearts of stone? How can you give dead man anything? Paul said it already in Romans 6: We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin....
Romans 8:11 (CSB) And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through his Spirit who lives in you. What is certain? This is certain: if you have the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from dead, dwells in you, you have life. How can we be certain that we have the Spirit of God in us?...
Romans 8:10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. What is righteousness? Righteousness is when you are constantly, consistently, always perfect. It is continuous thread of how God is able to do everything: love, create, judge, save, redeem, rescue, glorify. None of us, any human being, born of Adam, is able to claim righteousness as our own....
Romans 8:9 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. In modern times, we tend to talk about mankind’s achievements and possibilities. To the modern mind, humans have achieved so much and therefore, mankind’s possibilities are endless. Likewise, to the individual, we can achieve anything....
Romans 8:8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Is this true? We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.1 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one....
Romans 8:7 **For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. What is Paul suggesting here? That the mind that is not renewed by the Spirit of God cannot possibly obey God’s law? So does that mean we are not breaking the law of God and therefore sinless before God?Absolutely, not! The mind of man is broken....
Romans 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. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. What is the flesh? Is it something inherently evil? Is it that this body cannot do anything right?...
Romans 8:3-4 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. What is the law? The world wants to look upon the Bible and see how hard it is to be a Christian....
There are 613 commandments in the Old Testament. Don’t eat pork.1 Don’t eat eel.2 Don’t get tattoos.3 If you have a slave, there are rules on beating your slave.4 Women, if it is that “time of the month”, there are rules for that.5 Don’t marry somebody outside of your faith.6 Be kind to the immigrant—illegal or otherwise—and treat them as you would your own countryman.7 You have to sacrifice every day and sometimes twice a day....
My abusing and the abuse done against me. My lies that I have told. The wicked thoughts in my head. My own foolishness. My sickness. The iniquities of my heart. The lusts that captured me for most of my life. The amount of pornography I have distributed in my lifetime. My disobedience. My distrust. My blasphemy. My anger. The poison from my tongue My hatred. My self-righteousness. My pride. This what defines me....
My life is not my own. My heart, my soul, my flesh, my mind, and my strength: all of it does not belong to me. I used to think that it did belong to me. I use to the think that I was solely in charge of my own life, my own purpose, and my own destiny. But as the years rolled on, I noticed that the more and more that I tried to handle my life on my own, I was inching closer and closer to death—leaving a trail of destruction along the way....
God loves us. So much so, He came to us. The one who thinks of themselves as good or even, not-so-bad thinks that this is acceptable. “God should come to us. Why shouldn’t he? God should come to me and meet me and get to know me and love me and save me despite me.” However, you see, to the renewed mind, the first line of John 3:16 almost doesn’t make sense....
This is the good news for all time: that Jesus Christ has come to make all things right-standing with Him.1 This is the unquenchable thirst of holiness: He will do so by saving His people from Him, by Him, for Him, through Him, and to Him forever and ever.2 This is the weight of the glory: His word will be preached among the dead—the valley of dry bones—and because He is life, he speaks life into the dead and those who were once dead, now they shall live!...
And here is love: 2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Ah ha! Welcome to where things do not make sense in the real world. This is the incredible. The awesome. The audacious. Let us chop this verse up. Who is he who made him to be sin?...
And here is love: Matthew 1:21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” I have heard it said many times from the pulpit, “The Bible does not say, ‘Jesus died on the cross for only his people.’” Then why did Jesus die on the cross? Did He die for the mere possibility that you might be saved?...
And here is love: Psalm 103:15-18 As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.** **But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments....
And here is love: Deuteronomy 7:6-8 “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt....
Here is love: Genesis 3:15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” The cosmos shattered. The universe cracked. The world broken. Sin has entered into our lives and began its wanton destruction leaving billions dead and the sons of Adam damned to the eternal wrath of the Holy God....
Here is love: Romans 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. I am confident that 99.8% of people reading this was born in the 20th century. Historically speaking, Christ died about 2000 years ago. I am going to link these two ideas in one moment. Christ is fully God. That means He fully sees all and fully knows all....
Here is love, vast as the ocean, Loving-kindness as the flood, When the Prince of Life, our Ransom, Shed for us His precious blood. Who His love will not remember? Who can cease to sing His praise? He can never be forgotten, Throughout Heav’n’s eternal days. On the mount of crucifixion, Fountains opened deep and wide; Through the floodgates of God’s mercy Flowed a vast and gracious tide. Grace and love, like mighty rivers, Poured incessant from above, And Heav’n’s peace and perfect justice Kissed a guilty world in love....
What is love? Isn’t that a question for the ages and especially, in our day and time? Some think it is abstract and for some, more substantial. Some flee from love and desire it all the more. Others attempt to change love in order to fit their lives and their hearts. Often, we see these questions in our culture even when culture are not using those three little words, “what is love?...