Romans 8: Inseparable!

Read Romans 8:31-39

Inseparable!

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or
persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? … For 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.
~Romans 8:35,38-39

Digging Deeper: Thank God for Romans 8.  It is chock full of encouraging theology that reminds us of the great and unstoppable effort God exerted to redeem us from sin, remake us into the image of Jesus, and ready us to fit into His eternal purposes. From among many other reasons, this is so encouraging because often, on the surface of things, it seems as if precisely the opposite of redeeming, remaking and readying us for glory both in this life and especially in the next is the farthest thing from what is actually happening.

You see, we live in a dual reality.  While the work of God mentioned above is inexorably marching toward a glorious conclusion, we are still trapped in the sinful flesh, living in the sin-infested world, under the assault of the king of sin, Satan.  And often our sense of reality is that sin—our sin, the world’s sin, the unrelenting pressure of the sin-maker—is dragging us in the opposite direction of our redemption.

But the greater reality is that while that may seem to be true, God is at work in you, working out His eternal purposes.  And here is the good news: His work is unstoppable!  Moreover, while you are living in that dual reality between the awful pull of sin and the unstoppable work of redemption, you are inseparable from the stubborn, persistent, irrevocable love of God.

Did you catch that twice in these verses Paul reminds us of this glorious truth—that between you and God’s love the only thing that stands is the word “inseparable”?  What is it that can separate you from God’s ever-abiding, redeeming, providing, sustaining love?  Nothing!

Within the category of “nothing” is a pretty exhaustive list of things that cannot come between you and God’s love: Trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, the sword; not even 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.  I think that pretty much covers it, don’t you?

Yes, not even your sin—past, present and future—can come between you and God’s love. Christ Jesus made sure of that on the cross.

Inseparable!

“God loves each and every one of us as if there were only one of us.”
~St. Augustine

This Week’s Assignment:

  • Re-read Romans 8:1-39
  • Memorize Romans 8:32, “Since God did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all—won’t God, who gave us Christ, also give us everything else?”
  • Meditate on how this verse is to be understood in light of your sinful past (Romans 8:1), your moral weaknesses (Romans 8:5-13), your spiritual identity (Romans 8:14-17), your circumstances, past and present (Romans 8:28), and Satan’s attempts to separate you from God’s love (Romans 8:38-39).

Romans 8: What More Could He Do?

Read Romans 8:32

What More Could He Do?

Since God did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all—
won’t God, who gave us Christ, also give us everything else?
~Romans 8:32

Digging Deeper: The great thinker C.S. Lewis made a profound observation:

“There is no neutral ground in the universe: every square inch, every
split second is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.”

From what I understand of God’s Word, Lewis was right. And the grand prize in this cosmic conflict is you! The battle is most fiercely waged on the field of your trust in the goodness and sovereignty of God. And whoever lays claim to your confidence will command your emotions, capture your thoughts, color your behavior, and very likely, control your destiny—in this life, for sure, and very possibly, in the next.

One of the most potent weapons Satan unleashes in the fight is to get you to doubt God’s love and sufficiency. If Satan can get you to question God’s commitment to you, to go wobbly on your steadfast belief in God’s care for you and waver in your belief in God’s competence to perfect everything that concerns you, you will live in something far less than the abundance that God desires for you. (John 10:10)

But why would you ever doubt God’s care and competence? How could you ever doubt His unconditional, immeasurable love for you? How could you be anything less than confident in His power to perfect His flawless plan in your life, no matter what your circumstances might be at the moment? What more could He do to prove to you that He’s got you covered?

If God didn’t spare His very own Son from death; if He allowed Jesus to hang for six torturous hours on the cross, receiving the wrath that was rightly meant for you, what more could He do to demonstrate beyond any shadow of doubt His all sufficient grace and more than enough provision for you? I would submit to you that nothing will convince you if that doesn’t!

Hopefully, if you are in any way doubting God right now—about your past, your future, your sins, your hurts, your circumstances, your finances, your relationships, your place in God’s kingdom—this will be a little reminder to reject doubt and recommit yourself at the very core of what you believe to this inalterable truth: God loves you and has an incredible plan for your life! Period.

“Think of your place and privilege in Christ, and expect great things!”
~Andrew Murray

This Week’s Assignment:

  • Re-read Romans 8
  • Memorize Romans 8:32, “Since God did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all—won’t God, who gave us Christ, also give us everything else?
  • Meditate on how this verse is to be understood in light of your sinful past (Romans 8:1), your moral weaknesses (Romans 8:5-13), your spiritual identity (Romans 8:14-17), your circumstances, past and present (Romans 8:28), and Satan’s attempts to separate you from God’s love (Romans 8:38-39).
  • Take a moment to worship God as you watch this video that reminds you how how deep the Father’s love for you really is.

Romans 8: Bottom Line—We Win!

Read Romans 8:28-39

 

Bottom Line: We Win!

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who
love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
~Romans 8:28

Digging Deeper: Romans 8 has to be one of the most uplifting chapters in the entire Bible. And this section, Romans 8:28-39, is the summit of encouragement.  I hope you will read all twelve of the section’s verses today—and perhaps every day for the rest of the week.

I’m not sure what I would do without the theology of Romans 8:28—that God causes everything that happens to me, both good and bad, to work to my good and His glory. How disheartening—even depressing—life would be if we were nothing more than the helpless victims of the circumstances life flings our way.  But no, God causes good to come to me through my circumstances!

Now please understand, Paul isn’t saying that God causes all things, but that He causes all things that occur in my life to work as instruments of His purpose for me.  God sovereignly orchestrates every single event in my life to my benefit both in this world and in the one to come. On the one hand, leverages my successes, accomplishments and blessings for good, and on the other hand, He turns suffering, sickness, and yes, even my sin for good as well.

But keep in mind that He gets to define what is beneficial and good for me.  After all, He is God and I am not.  And what He has defined as good for me is found in the very next verse, Romans 8:29,

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed
to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the
firstborn among many brothers.

For the time being, put aside your questions about predestination and focus on the word “conform.” The word in the Greek text is the same from which we get our word, “morph,” or “metamorphosis.”  What is the good that all things are being divinely leveraged in your life?  Simple, yet profoundly this: That you are being chiseled by circumstances and events and interactions each and every day into the very likeness of Jesus Christ.   And that is the highest good possible, my friend, because that’s the one thing that lasts for both time and eternity.

That is God’s great and unstoppable purpose for you.  He is committed to that as much as He is committed to anything in this universe.  So therefore, “if God is for you, who can be against you?” (Romans 8:31)  If God was willing for His Son to die such a horrible death on the cross just to morph you into that which was worthy of eternal life, what else could prove both the depth of His indescribable love and the irresistibility of His divine purpose for you? (Romans 8:32)  Is there anything in all of creation that can stop God’s love or thwart God’s purpose in remaking you into the image and likeness of Jesus?  Nothing…nada…zero…zilch…zip! (Romans 8:33-39)

The fact is, “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37)  How is that? God is using “all these things” as his divine chisel to morph you into an uncanny likeness of His Son.  What’s the bottom line: We win!  And I mean, really win in the only way that counts—which is looking, thinking, acting and being just like Jesus!

You are a winner!  Go with it!
 

“There is nothing that is more dangerous to your own salvation,
more unworthy of God and more harmful to your own happiness,
than that you should be content to remain as you are.”
~Francois Fenelon

This Week’s Assignment:

  • Read Romans 8:1-39
  • Memorize Romans 8:1-2, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”
  • Memorize Romans 8:38-39, “For 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.”

Romans 8: Guess Who’s Praying For You

Read Romans 8:18-27

Guess Who’s Praying For You

We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself
intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And
he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit,
because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in
accordance with God’s will.
~Romans 8:26-27

Digging Deeper: Need some encouraging news today?  How about this:  You’ve got quite a team praying for you!

Paul says the Holy Spirit is actively engaged, even at this very moment, interceding within you and through you, taking your case before the throne of the Heavenly Father and praying the Father’s perfect will for your life. God, who knows all things, knows exactly what you’re up against in this world, which from a human perspective, looks pretty overwhelming much of the time (just read the context of this verse, Romans 8:17-27 and you’ll see what I mean). But God knows his plans for you (a perfect plan by the way, according to Jeremiah 29:11), and both Father and Spirit are in a continual dialogue, strategizing how to turn the circumstances of your life, both good and bad, into that which will bring the greatest glory to Him and produce the greatest good in you.

The best part of God’s plan, Paul says, is that through those very circumstances God is working to conform you to the image of the Son, Jesus Christ our Lord:

“We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.”

But that’s not all.  Not only are Father and Spirit in a constant conversation about you, the Son is in on the discussion as well.  Paul writes in Romans 8:34, “Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”  Hebrews 7:24-25 tells us that “Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”

Did you catch that? Jesus’ job description now that he is the resurrected Lord is to be your personal high priest. That means he stands night and day before the Father representing your case. And he intends not just to help you get through whatever you are going through, his mission is to save you completely!  Of course, you are already saved if you have placed faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior—that part of your salvation is complete. What Jesus is also doing is bringing to bear all of heaven’s resources to enable your salvation to be practical and powerful in your moment-by-moment life right here and right now!

Furthermore, The Triune God is willing and able to then bring both your positional salvation (when you received Christ) and your practical salvation (your daily walk with Christ) to the finish line in glorious fashion (Philippians 1:6, Jude 24) in the next life.  In other words, Father, Son and Holy Spirit are actively engaged on your behalf at this very moment, and they won’t stop until they see that the Father’s perfect plan is fully worked out in you, for you and through you both in time and for eternity.

That’s quite a prayer team you got, isn’t it?  And I’ll bet you hadn’t even realized that.  So dwell on that a little bit, and you’ll walk through this day with a lot more confidence and purpose, knowing that the eternal God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—has invaded your gritty reality with the best of heaven.

“Beware in your prayers, above everything else, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do. Expect unexpected things, above all that we ask or think. Each time, before you Intercede, be quiet first, and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, and how He delights to hear the prayers of His redeemed people. Think of your place and privilege in Christ, and expect great things!”
~Andrew Murray

This Week’s Assignment:

  • Read Romans 8:1-39
  • Memorize Romans 8:1-2, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”
  • Memorize Romans 8:38-39, “For 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.”

Romans 8: Royal Family Kids

Read Romans 8:12-17

Royal Family Kids

“Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”
~Romans 8:14

Digging Deeper: “You are a princess—now walk like one!” So goes the story of the queen, whispering to her daughter as the young lady is about to make a public appearance.

In essence, that’s what the Apostle Paul is saying to you and me: You are a prince…a  princess—a kid in the royal family of God—now walk like one!  We have been adopted (spiritually, a legal reality—Ephesians 2:5, and internally, a sense of identity, intimacy and security produced by the indwelling Holy Spirit—Romans 8:15-16). We are in the family of God—no if’s, and’s or but’s about it.  By Christ’s redeeming work, we who were once far from God have been brought near to God and firmly, fully and forever implanted in his family. (Ephesians 2:13-14)

You are a prince…a princess, now walk like one!  Get this: You and I are now heirs of all the same promises God made to the children of Israel. We are not second-class citizens to the Jewish nation—we have been given a ticket that has a first class seating assignment!  And to seal the deal, God even sent his Holy Spirit to dwell within us (Ephesians 1:13-14) to guarantee our spot for both time and eternity.

That sense of family is what the presence of the Holy Spirit causes in you; that’s what his indwelling work produces in the deepest parts of your being: An expectant reaching out to God as your very own Father.  I love how the Messages renders Romans 8:15-17,

This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance!

That is not just something you naturally do. It’s not how you normally think. It is not a usual human instinct to act that way.  However, once the Spirit gets a hold of you, you begin to live with a sense of royal family. You can’t help it when he is there reminding you of your true identity and your eternal destiny.

So now that you’ve been reminded of your new and true identity, walk like the prince or princess you are. Act like the royal family kid that you really are.  That’s why Paul begins this section by reminding us of the obligation we now have:  “Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it.” (Romans 8:12)  Rather, we are to say no to the old family identity (the sinful nature—Romans 8:13) and yield to the moment-by-moment leading of the Holy Spirit who dwells within. (Romans 8:14)

You are a princess…a prince, now walk like one!  Yield to the Spirit—it proves you are a royal child of God.  Be led by the Spirit—it is what God’s true children do.  How?  Look for the Spirit’s direction in your circumstances.  Submit to the Spirit’s sanctifying work in your daily life (Galatians 5:16,17,25). And primarily, saturate yourself in God’s Word, allowing the Holy Spirit to illumine your spirit with Divine truth and empower your will to obey it. (Ephesians 5:17-19, Philippians 2:12-13).

You are fully and forever in God’s royal family—now walk like it!

“Whom God legally saves, He experientially saves; whom He justifies, them He also sanctifies. Where the righteousness of Christ is imputed to an individual, a principle of holiness is imparted to him; the former can only be ascertained by the latter. It is impossible to obtain a Scriptural knowledge that the merits of Christ’s finished work are reckoned to my account, except by proving that the efficacy of the Holy Spirit’s work is evident in my soul.
~Arthur W. Pink

This Week’s Assignment:

  • Read Romans 8:1-39
  • Memorize Romans 8:1-2, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”
  • Memorize Romans 8:38-39, “For 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.”

Romans 8: Sin Doesn’t Stand A Chance

Read Romans 8:1-11

Sin Doesn’t Stand A Chance

“If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your
mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”
~Romans 8:11

Digging Deeper: I have heard this particular verse quoted most of my life—usually in the context of praying for the healing power of the Holy Spirit for a physical malady. I have received prayers, and I have offered prayers using this verse as a faith builder—that the same Spirit of God who raised the body of Jesus from death is dwelling in us, and we can expect that same resurrection power to bring divine life to our physical bodies as well.  And to be sure, I believe that to be true.

What never hit me until this moment is the larger context in which we find this verse. Up to this point in Romans, Paul has been extensively contrasting the bondage to sin we experienced while living under the law with the freedom from sin we have living under the lordship of the resurrected Christ. Paul has shared his own struggle with sin—of doing what he shouldn’t and not doing what he should. And he has been quite realistic about this back-and-forth wrestling match that goes on in our lives between sin-bondage and Spirit-freedom.

Then he drops this truth on us: We are not alone in this struggle with sin. We do not have to be disheartened by the overwhelming nature of the spiritual contest we are in. For sure, we experience a strong pull back into the slavery from which our sinful natures were freed. However, we have an infinitely stronger, incomparably more powerful, indefatigable Person who is dwelling within us and is fighting for us. And that Person is the Holy Spirit, who is helping us to overcome sin.

With God’s Spirit residing in us and working for us, we cannot lose—if we will cooperate with him. If we work with and walk with the Holy Spirit, we then can tap into the same force he exerted in the lifeless body of Jesus to reconstitute each dead cell and catalyze life in his breathless spirit to produce something that had never happened before, something that the master of sin, the devil, never counted on: The first fully resurrected man.

Not only that, this first fully resurrected man was just the beginning. Now, we who accept Jesus by faith enter into that same resurrection life by that same indwelling resurrection Spirit. And the indwelling Spirit enables us to live in that same resurrection power that will not only heal our sick bodies, and not only guarantee our immortality, but will empower us each and every day to resist the pull of sin and live the victorious, overcoming Christian life.

Think about that! On this day, at this very moment, the same Holy Spirit that coursed through the body of our Lord and brought him back to life again is coursing through you.

Wow! Suffering, sickness and sin—especially sin—doesn’t stand a chance!

“Even while we wait for the full enjoyment of the good things in store for us,
by the Holy Spirit we are able to rejoice through faith in the promise
of the graces to come. If the promise itself is so glorious,
what must its fulfillment be like?”
~Basil

This Week’s Assignment:

  • Read Romans 8:1-39
  • Memorize Romans 8:1-2, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”
  • Memorize Romans 8:38-39, “For 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.”

Sin Doesn’t Stand A Chance

Read Romans 8

“If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your
mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”
(Romans 8:11)

Food For Thought… I have heard this particular verse quoted most of my life—usually in the context of praying for the healing power of the Holy Spirit for a physical malady. I have received prayers, and I have offered prayers using this verse as a faith builder—that the same Spirit of God who raised the body of Jesus from death is dwelling in us, and we can expect that same resurrection power to bring divine life to our physical bodies as well. And to be sure, I believe that to be true.

What never hit me until this moment is the larger context in which we find this verse. Up to this point in Romans, Paul has been extensively contrasting the bondage to sin we experienced while living under the law with the freedom from sin we have living under the lordship of the resurrected Christ. He has shared his own struggle with sin—of doing what he shouldn’t and not doing what he should. He has been quite realistic about this back-and-forth wrestling match that goes on in our lives between sin-bondage and Spirit-freedom.

And then he drops this truth on us: We are not alone in this struggle with sin. We do not have to be disheartened by the overwhelming nature of the spiritual contest we are in. For sure, we experience a strong pull back into the slavery from which our sinful natures were freed. But praise God, we have an infinitely stronger, incomparably more powerful, indefatigable Person who is dwelling within us and is fighting for us, helping us to overcome sin—and that Person is the Holy Spirit. With him in us and for us, we cannot lose—if we will cooperate with him.

If we work with and walk with the Holy Spirit, we then can tap into the same force he exerted in the lifeless body of Jesus to reconstitute each dead cell and catalyze his breathless spirit to produce something that had never happened before, something that the master of sin, the devil, never counted on: The first fully resurrected man.

Not only that, this first fully resurrected man was just the beginning. Now, all who accept Jesus by faith enter into that same resurrection life by that same indwelling resurrection Spirit. And the indwelling Spirit enables them to live in that same resurrection power that will not only heal their sick bodies, and not only guarantee their immortality, but will empower them each and every day to resist the pull of sin and live the victorious, overcoming Christian life.

Think about that! On this day, at this very moment, the same Holy Spirit that coursed through the body of our Lord and brought him back to life again is coursing through you.

Wow! Suffering, sickness and sin—especially sin—doesn’t stand a chance!

Prayer… Holy Spirit, quicken my mortal body today so that I may live above sin, be healed from all my diseases, and face every circumstance, good or bad, with the knowledge that victory is mine through the resurrection reality of my risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

One more thing… “We are to be re-made. All the rabbit in us is to disappear—the worried, conscientious, ethical rabbit as well as the cowardly and sensual rabbit. We shall bleed and squeal as the handfuls of fur come out; and then, surprisingly, we shall find underneath it all a thing we have never yet imagined: a real Man, an ageless god, a son of God, strong, radiant, wise, beautiful, and drenched in joy.” —C.S. Lewis