Romans: The Glory of the Gospelಮಾದರಿ

Your Best Life Now - And Always

No condemnation! That’s the reality for everyone who’s united to Christ by faith. Nothing we’ve done or will do will ever again change God’s determination to bless us and bring us safely home to heaven. This eighth chapter of the epistle not only assures us that we’ll reach our eternal destiny but empowers us to live confidently until we get there. Today, we see how God uses even our griefs and trials to bless us and how he turns every bad thing into something good for his people. We also get vital insights about running hard after holiness, and we find a lot of encouragement for our prayer life. Here, more than anywhere else in the letter, we see how the Holy Spirit works in us and for us. All these things—every blessing held out to us in this chapter—are rooted in God’s unshakable love for us in Christ Jesus.

Christ paid the penalty for our sin on the cross—he took on himself the condemnation that belonged to us, justifying us before God. Now that we are “in Christ Jesus,” the threat of the law has no power over us, and we’ve been set free to live in a radically new way. Look how Paul illuminates the difference between Christians and unbelievers:

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. 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. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:5–8, ESV)

Before Adam and Eve sinned, life in the Garden of Eden was perfect. Everything God made flourished in harmony. When sin entered, all that changed. Plants and animals and all creation were negatively affected by human sin. God told Adam, “Cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you” (Genesis 3:17–18, ESV). Paul reflects on sin’s marring of creation here in Romans 8.

Paul is honest about our “inward groaning” as we wait for future glory, our “adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:22–23, ESV). In Christ, we have already been adopted - permanently - into God’s family. He is speaking here about the time when everything that accompanies our adoption is completed in heaven.

In addition to battling sin, we face all the varied sufferings of life in a fallen world, which Paul indicates in verse 39 when he quotes from Psalm 44. Although the outcome is sure, we need help for the battlefield.

Reflection: Romans 8:13 tells us that by the Spirit we must “put to death the deeds of the body.” Unlike our justification, which we play no part in, we play an active role in our sanctification, our progressive transformation into holy women. Talk about this cooperative work, what the Spirit does and what we are to do. How do we “put to death” our sinful cravings and desires? You might find Philippians 2:12–13 helpful here.