Romans 8 Bible Study
Romans 1-3 Everyone’s condemned
Romans 4-5 start talking about “but God” but God intervened. There’s this gift of Righteousness and it’s free. There’s nothing you can do to earn it. Nothing you can do to lose it once you have it.
Romans 6-7 starts talking about the Christians Struggle with sin. There’s something that excites sin. It’s called religion. Law. And you need to get apart from religion and law. It’s not grace and part law, it’s apart from law.
Question: Does God give life to our mortal bodies, or does he hold it until after we die?
Question: Does He get all the glory, or do we get some too?
Question: Do you think we know what to pray for and is there a secret to making it work?
In Chapter 7 we discussed “Life under law” and today we discuss what “Life in the Spirit” looks like.
8 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
What does that mean to you?
This verse alone should shut down religious talk and guilt-driven messages. There’s no blame. He’s taken our sins away.
No sin will be held against you. Not now. Not later.
This is NOT a grace message held until death. It’s for “now”. Here on planet earth.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
It did not say WILL set you free. It said it HAS set you free.
Two Laws. Which are you:
Sin and Death / Law of the Spirit of Life
Before the Cross / After the Cross
Old Covenant / New Covenant
Unforgiven / totally forgiven
Under Law / Under Grace
Guilty / Justified
Old Creation or New Creation in Christ
3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,
This verse says what the law “could not do, God DID”. Past Tense.
4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
These are people who ARE according to…
Those living according to the flesh are unsaved. Those living according to the Spirit are the ones saved.
We are looking at two different kinds of People in this chapter.
6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,
This is not Mosaic Law. But more like the power of God.
8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 10 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
Some teach that we are righteous but only positionally.
They say God sees you through a filter of Jesus, but behind it is a dirty sinner. The bible says our sins were washed and the Spirit gives us life and makes us righteous. This is here and now!
God is NOT pretending we are righteous.
11 But 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.
Did you see it? He said he gives life to our MORTAL bodies. That’s here and now. It’s not positional and it’s not waiting until we get in heaven.
Heirs with Christ
12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh
There’s no condemnation and this is not a guilt passage. It means “hey guys, God is in you, think about all the Christ has done for us and isn’t this just motivating you to serve him”.
13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die;
This is not addressed to the saved, but the unsaved. They LIVE according to the flesh. Paul just told us in VS 9 we are NOT in the flesh.
Christians who struggle with sin are NOT living according to the flesh. If you were, you would be DEAD spiritually. You’d be in Adam, not Christ
but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
News flash, ALL saved people are being led by the Spirit. This is talking about the Spirits role, NOT yours.
It’s not a message of when you sin the Spirits not leading you. That’s walking in the flesh, and it’s what you do.
15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again,
So we’re NOT supposed to be afraid of God’s wrath and salvation anymore but religious people try and scare us. They tell us were positionally forgiven, and out of fellowship. But God calls us his adopted children.
but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,
We ARE children of God. Not Going to be, future tense. But now.
17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ,
We’re fellow heirs WITH Christ. We’re getting the same stuff. Wow.
if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
If we’re not in the flesh, we’re in the Spirit, and Guess what – There is suffering.
The bible says we’re not of this world, we’re strangers. We’re aliens. We will be persecuted for our faith. So if we’re suffering these things because of our faith we can be also be glorified with him.
Next, Paul is going to be zeroing in on Christian TROUBLE. Physical Trouble. Prayer trouble. Then he talks about giving up our rights of having your needs met from creation and getting it from the creator.
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
So even Paul was not free from suffering. Paul has given up his right to be rescued from present trouble, but he doesn’t have some death wish and he did NOT want to suffer but he knew it didn’t compare to Jesus.
This fallen world is part of God’s plan to redeem us. So the name it and claim it prayers sound great but that’s not always going to happen.
Yes, prayers get answered. But just as Jesus gave up His rights, as did all of the apostles, so do we. We are not guaranteed healing, great jobs, etc. But we have something much greater to look forward to.
I say this because if we’re not careful we start thinking it’s about who believes more. If it’s God’s will it will happen. But don’t expect it.
19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
If suffering wasn’t true Romans 8 would not need to exist.
But all things will soon pass away and the new will come.
We all understand Glory to God. But did you read the last line? “obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God”.
Jesus prayed in John 17:22 “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one JUST as we are one”.
22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.
There is something we’re waiting on. The righteousness is now, the justification is now, but this shell we live in and this broken earth were on hurts.
23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
So we are already sons. He’s talking about the redemption of our body.
So what’s the reason we have to suffer and wait for new bodies and our escape from this world? Hope. Faith. It’s all part of salvation.
24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
Now Paul talks about prayer trouble
Anyone ever felt like I don’t know how to pray for this or that? The answer is no one really knows how to pray, your role is to just talk to God and let the Spirit take care of the rest. Leave the rules behind.
26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;
So the Spirit (God) is praying for you. This is NOT about tongues, it’s about God communicating on our behalf.
27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
So I don’t have to know what the will of God is in everything. The Spirit intercedes and makes sure you get it right. By the way, You’re a Saint.
28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God,
Good means for God’s perfect will for us. It does not mean you’ll be healed or get a better job or whatever.
You give up your right to have your needs fulfilled by other people. Now your contentment should be in Christ alone, in all circumstances, good or bad.
to those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
This predestination term is not an I pick you, but not you verse. God wrote the book of revelation so we know He knew the future.
It means He foreknew what you would do and who would accept Jesus.
God predestined us, the church, to do what (see vs 29)? to grow and be conformed to the image of His Son.
30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;
God Justifies. The Law Condemns. Religious teaching condemns.
34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
You can keep adding to the list. And he will a second. Nothing can separate us.
36 As it is written,
“For Your sake we are being put to death all day long;
We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
Stuff happens on planet earth. We surrendered our rights for people to meet our needs. But none of the sufferings will separate us from God’s love.
37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
He said nothing in ALL creation will be able to separate us from the love of God. That’s not positional. And it includes sinning.
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