From Lost to Loved: A 30-Day Study of Romans 8Sample

Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher, taught everything in creation has a telos. It’s a Greek word for the fulfillment, goal or intended end of something.[1] A pen has a telos: communicating through ink and paper. A hammer has a telos too, driving a nail into wood.

Romans 8:4 unveils the telos of what the Trinity accomplished in verses two and three: “that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us.” That clause matters more than we realize. It defines the aim of the Gospel itself. If we get the Gospel’s telos wrong, we’ll proclaim a message that bears Christ’s name but misses His mission.

False gospels elevate what we want over what God has done. They tell people Jesus came to give them their dream job, a healthier gut, or the perfect family with 2.5 children. (Where did the other half of that kid go?) It’s like insisting the real reason we have hammers is to stir your oat milk latte. The swirl feels productive, but misses the point. Hammers were made to build, and the cross was meant to save, but not through vague sentiment. The cross accomplished something concrete, and Paul now turns to show us exactly what that saving work was meant to produce.

Romans 8 opened with the shock of no condemnation. Verses two and three unveiled its cost. Now verse four shows us what that costly freedom is for. God’s goal was not just to get you off the hook of eternal judgment. It was to fulfill the demand of the law in you. That life becomes reality in those who “walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” The walk Paul describes here isn’t about flawless perfection. It’s a Spirit-led life, set in steady direction toward Jesus.

Your walk is not powered by self-discipline or striving. It’s life “according to the Spirit.” Notice Paul doesn’t say how we fulfill the law; instead, he points out the law is fulfilled in us. Romans 8:4 describes divine grace doing divine work so we can live lives that are truly free. Righteous living isn’t a performance chasing applause. It’s a Spirit-led life received in full and walked out daily with trust and obedience. Anything less isn’t freedom; it’s slavery dressed up as spirituality.

REFLECT:
What parts of your life look Spirit-led in public but bow to the flesh in private?

[1]Gerhard Kittel, Gerhard Friedrich, and Geoffrey William Bromiley, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 1985), 1161.