Today we'll be looking into Romans chapter 8 where the apostle Paul
continues to speak about the Christian life. And as Paul says all
the way back in chapter 1 that he is eager to preach the gospel to
them, so also both among you whose names are written in the book of
life and if there are any here who yet need to be saved I am eager
to share what Paul wrote in chapter 8, which is the most encouraging
chapter in Romans starting all the way from the first verse
where he says, "Therefore, there is now no
condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" all the way
to the end of the chapter where says, "I am
convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,
neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height
nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to
separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our
Lord." As was stated previously, those who have been saved
are eternally secure. For as is stated throughout the New Testament,
eternal life is a gift received freely, simply by putting your faith
in Christ, independent of whether you had been a good or bad person.
For those of us who have put our faith in Christ Paul writes in Eph
2:5 "God made us alive with Christ even
when we were dead in transgressions— it is by grace you have been
saved." and goes on to say, "For it
is by grace you have been saved, through faith— and this not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works." And
consequently, having been saved, you're not responsible to maintain
your salvation status. God does that.
He goes on in the second verse of Romans chapter 8 to give the
reason why those who are in Christ are eternally secure. He says, "because through Christ Jesus the law of the
Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." Rom
8:2 The law of sin and death is that if you sin, you're
condemned. It says in Ezekiel, "The soul who
sins shall die." That's the law of sin and death. That's
the Old Covenant.
If you're a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ you've died to that
law though the New Covenant engendered in the blood of Christ which
he shed for the forgiveness of sins. Consequently sin no longer
affects your salvation status. If, as a believer, you were to sin,
that doesn't affect your final destiny. And Jesus himself had
stated, "I tell you the truth, whoever hears
my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not
be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." John
5:24 Or as Paul says in Col 3:3,4 "You died, and your life is now hidden with Christ
in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will
appear with him in glory."
He says in Romans 8 verses 3,4 "For
what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the
sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of
sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful
man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be
fully met in us." No one would be saved if salvation were
contingent upon our performance because of the natural tendency we
all have to comply with our sinful nature. In Eph 2:3
Paul speaks of non-Christians and says, "All
of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings
of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like
the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath."
But also as we will see in this chapter, God gives His Holy Spirit
to those who have come to faith, which affects our behavior. The law
of the Spirit of life is, having been saved, and now eternally
secure, the Holy Spirit, whom is given to believers, will now
influence your behavior to behave as children of God should behave,
giving you a new attitude and a new perspective, which is why he
characterizes Christians in Col 3:7 saying, "You used to walk in these ways, in the life you
once lived." In 1Cor 6:9-11 he says, "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit
the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually
immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor
homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor
slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that
is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were
sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ and by the Spirit of our God." Why does he used the
past tense, saying, "that is what some of you
were"? It's because "if anyone is in
Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
2Cor 5:17 This is the effect the Holy Spirit has on
the life of the believer. And this is the New Covenant promise - the
guarantee of Justification by faith and Sanctification by the Holy
Spirit.
And in this sense he goes on in Romans 8 to characterize those who
have been saved and consequently have received the Holy Spirit where
he continues in verses 4-9 saying that those who are in Christ, "do not live according to the sinful nature but
according to the Spirit. Those who live according to the
sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires;
but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds
set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death,
but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the
sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law,
nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot
please God.You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature
but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if
anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to
Christ." Rom 8:4b-9
The natural state of those who have not been born of God is to have
their mind set on the desires of their sinful nature. But this
is not the natural state for those who have been born of God. The
natural state of those who have been born of God is to have our
minds set on what the Holy Spirit desires. It doesn't always
perfectly work out this way, but it is characteristic of those born
of God, such that the apostle John, also characterizing those born
of God says, "No one who has been born of God
will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot
go on sinning, because he has been born of God." 1John
3:9
And everyone who comes to faith, does indeed receive the Holy
Spirit, as Paul also writes in Eph 1:13,14"And you also were included
in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal,
the promised Holy Spirit,
who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance"
Then in Romans 8:10 he continues, "If
Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your
spirit is alive because of righteousness." Whether we're
saved or not, our bodies will likely end up in the grave. But for
those who are in Christ, your spirit will live on. And no only so,
but he writes, speaking of the resurrection from the dead, "if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the
dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will
also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives
in you." Christ died and rose from the dead. So also for
Christians. In fact I was thinking of using the epitaph on my
tombstone, "I'll be back". (Which may also alarm anyone
happened to walk through that graveyard at night)
But even now that Spirit is working in us putting to death the
misdeeds of the body. And this even an identifying mark of those
born of God. Thus is says in Gal 5:24, "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified
the sinful nature with its passions and desires." And we do
so because that's what comes naturally to us as those born of God.
Or as Paul puts it in Romans 8:14 we do so "because those who are led by the Spirit of God
are sons of God." Jesus said, "My
sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." John
10:27 They do so because that's simply characteristic of
sheep. "For you did not receive a spirit that
makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of
sonship. And by him we cry, <"Abba,> Father." Rom
8:15
"The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit
that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are
heirs— heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share
in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."
Rom 8:16,17
WONDERFUL GRACE OF JESUS Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus ALL THE WAY MY SAVIOR LEADS ME