Sermon notes April 6th, 2025

ROMANS 8 part II

The opening scripture of Romans 8 as well as the closing verses of this chapter are like book ends that hold together what I think is some of the most beautiful writing in Apostle Paul’s career. These two scriptures are some of the most celebrated scriptures by Christians and rightfully so, because they have strength and security for our lives.

ROMANS 8:1                                                New King James Version

1   There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.  

ROMANS 8:38-39                                           New King James Version

38   For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,

39   nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Back to our study intitled “The Battlefield of the Mind III”

ROMANS 8:15-17

15   For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 

• Those living under law are like minor children, bossed around as if they were servants, and shadowed by the fear of punishment. But when a person is born again, he is not born into a position of servitude. He is not brought into God’s household as a slave. Rather, he receives the spirit of adoption; that is, he is placed in God’s family as a mature son. 
• By a true spiritual instinct he looks up to God and calls Him “Abba, Father.” Abba is an Aramaic word which suffers in translation. It is an intimate form of the word father—such as “papa” or “daddy.” While we may hesitate to use such familiar English words in addressing God, the truth remains that He who is infinitely high is also intimately nigh. (near)
• The Apostle Paul is doing his very best to show us it’s all about relationship, one like you should have had with your earthly mother or father. 

16   The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 

• There is a spiritual instinct in the newborn believer that he/she is a son of God. The Holy Spirit tells him that it is so. The Spirit Himself bears witness with the believer’s spirit that he is a member of God’s family. He does it primarily through the word of God. As a Christian reads the Bible, the Spirit confirms the truth that, because he has trusted the Savior, he is now a child of God.

17   and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

• Membership in God’s family brings privileges that boggle the mind. All God’s children are heirs of God. An heir, of course, eventually inherits his father’s estate. That is just what is meant here. All that the Father has is ours. We have not yet come into the possession and enjoyment of all of it, but nothing can prevent us from doing so in the future. And we are joint heirs with Christ. When He returns to take the scepter of universal government, we will share with Him the title deeds to all the Father’s wealth.
• What, then, does it mean to suffer with Christ? It may include the idea that Christians can expect to be persecuted for our close identity with Christ (John 15:20). It may refer to what Paul wrote earlier that to put our faith in Jesus is to be so closely associated with Him that we ourselves die to sin on a spiritual level (Romans 6:5–8). Or perhaps this suffering is the suffering that Jesus experienced in daily life on a sin-ravaged world, something that every person lives through. 
• Paul will describe this universal "groaning" of existence in verses 22–23. Those in Christ, however, suffer with Him on their way to being glorified with Him once this life has ended. For Christians, suffering in this life is never meaningless (Romans 5:3–5)

ROMANS 8:18-20

18   For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 

19   For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 

• Now in a bold statement Paul personifies the whole creation as eagerly looking forward to the time when we will be revealed to a wondering world as the sons of God. This will be when the Lord Jesus returns to reign, and we return with Him.

20   For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 

• First lets explain “futility”: ματαιότης (mataiotēs): This noun, meaning "emptiness, futility, frustration," is commonly used in the New Testament to convey the idea of something that is without purpose or value. When Adam sinned, his transgression affected not only mankind, but all of creation, simply said everything. The ground is cursed. Many wild animals die violent deaths. Disease afflicts birds and animals as well as fish and serpents. The results of man’s sin have rippled like shockwaves throughout all creation.
• Thus, as Paul explains, the creation was subjected to futility, frustration, and disorder, not by its own choice, but by the decree of God because of the disobedience of man’s first federal head, Adam.

ROMANS 8:21-23

21   because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 

• Creation (us) look back to the ideal conditions that existed in Eden. Then it surveys the havoc that was caused by the entrance of sin. Always there has been the hope of a return to an ideal state. 
• When creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption to enjoy the freedom of that golden era when we as God’s children will be revealed in glory.

22   For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 

23   Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. 

• Believers are not exempt; we live in a broken world. Although we have the first fruits of the Spirit, guaranteeing our eventual deliverance, we still groan for that day of glory. The Holy Spirit Himself is the first fruit. Just as the first handful of ripened grain is a pledge of the entire harvest to follow, so the Holy Spirit is the pledge or guarantee that the full inheritance will be ours.
• Specifically, He is the guarantee of the coming adoption, the redemption of the body (Eph. 1:13-14).

Ephesians 1:13-14

13   In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 

14   who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

• In one sense we have already been adopted, which means that we have been placed into God’s family as sons. But in a fuller sense our adoption will be complete when we receive our glorified bodies. That is spoken of as the redemption of our body. Our spirits and souls have already been redeemed, and our bodies will be redeemed at the time of the Rapture (1 Thess. 4:13–18).

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

13   But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 

14   For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.

15   For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 

16   For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 

17   Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 

18   Therefore comfort one another with these words.

ROMANS 8:24-26

24   For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 

• We were saved in this attitude of hope. We did not receive all the benefits of our salvation at the moment of conversion. From the outset we looked forward to full and final deliverance from sin, suffering, disease, and death. If we had already received these blessings, we wouldn’t be hoping for them. We only hope for what is in the future.

25   But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

26   Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 

• Just as we are sustained by this glorious hope, so the Spirit sustains us in our weaknesses. We are often perplexed in our prayer life. We do not know how to pray as we should. We sometimes pray selfishly, ignorantly, narrowly. But once again the Spirit comes alongside to assist us in our weakness, interceding for us with groanings which cannot find expression. In this verse it is the Spirit who groans and not we who groan, though that is also true.
• There is a mystery here. We are peering into the unseen, spiritual realm where a great Person (Holy Spirit). 
• Great forces are at work on our behalf. Some say this is the Spiritual Language speaking in tongues, I don’t think so, I believe if it were, Paul would have said so. 
• And although we cannot understand it all, we can take infinite encouragement from the fact that a groan may sometimes be the most spiritual prayer.

ROMANS 8:27-29

27   Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

• If God searches the hearts of men, He can also interpret the mind of the Spirit, even though that mind finds expression only in groans. The important thing is that the Holy Spirit’s prayers for us are always according to the will of God. And because they are always in accordance with God’s will, they are always for our good. That explains a lot, as the next verse reveals.

28   And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 

• “God is working all things together for good to those who love Him, to those who are called according to His purpose”. It may not always seem so! Sometimes when we are suffering heartbreak, tragedy, disappointment, frustration, and bereavement, we wonder what good can come out of it. 
• But the following verse gives the answer: whatever God permits to come into our lives is designed to conform us to the image of His Son. When we see this, it takes the question mark out of our prayers. Our lives are not controlled by impersonal forces such as chance, luck, or fate, but by our wonderful, personal Lord, who is “too loving to be unkind and too wise to err.”

29   For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 

• First of all, God foreknew us in eternity past. This was not mere intellectual knowledge. As far as knowledge is concerned, He has known everyone who would ever be born. 
• But His foreknowledge embraced only those whom He foreordained or predestined to be conformed … to the image of His Son. So, it was knowledge with a purpose that could never be frustrated. 
• It is not enough to say that God foreknew those whom He realized would one day repent and believe. Actually, it is His foreknowledge that insures eventual repentance and belief.
• That ungodly sinners should one day be transformed into the image of Christ by a miracle of grace is one of the most astounding truths of divine revelation. The point is not of course that we will ever have the attributes of deity, or even that we will have Christ’s facial resemblance, but that we will be morally like Him, absolutely free from sin, and will have glorified bodies like His.
• In that day of glory, He will be the firstborn among many brethren. Firstborn here means first in rank or honor. He will not be One among equals, but the One who has the supreme place of honor among His brothers and sisters.

ROMANS 8:30-32

30   Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

• Everyone who was predestined in eternity is also called in time. This means that he not only hears the gospel but that he responds to it as well. It is therefore an effectual call. All are called; that is the general call of God. But only a few respond; that is the effectual (conversion-producing) call of God.

 

• All who respond are also justified or given an absolutely righteous standing before God. They (we) are clothed with the righteousness of God through the merits of Christ and are thereby fit for the presence of the Lord.

31   What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 

• When we consider these unbreakable links in the golden chain of redemption, the conclusion is inevitable! If God is for us, in the sense that He has marked us out for Himself.

32   He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 

• What marvelous words! The logic that flows from this is irresistible. If God has already given us the greatest gift, is there any lesser gift that He will not give? If He has already paid the highest price, will He hesitate to pay any lower price? If He has gone to such lengths to procure our salvation, will He ever let us go? How shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? The language of faith is ‘How shall He not?’

ROMANS 8:33-36

33   Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 

34   Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 

• We are still in a courtroom setting, but now a remarkable change has taken place. While the justified sinner stands before the bench, the call goes out for any accusers to step forward. But there is none! How could there be? If God has already justified His elect, who can bring a charge?
• Another challenge rings out! Is there anyone here to condemn? No one, because Christ has died for the defendant, (the guilty one the sinner) has been raised from the dead, is now at the right hand of God interceding for him. 
• If the Lord Jesus, to whom all judgment has been committed, does not pass sentence on the defendant but rather prays for him, then there is no one else who could have a valid reason for condemning him.

35   Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 

• Now faith flings its final challenge: is there anyone here who can banish the justified from the love of Christ? 
• nor the brutality of persecution, inflicting suffering and death on those who dare to believe. Nor can famine and waste down to the skeleton. 
• Nor can nakedness, with all it means in the way of exposure, and defenselessness. Nor can peril—the threat of awful danger. Nor can the sword—cold, hard, and death-dealing.

36   As it is written:

“For Your sake we are killed all day long, we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

• If any of these things could separate the believer from the love of Christ, then the fatal separation. would have taken place long ago, because the career of the Christian is a living death. That is what the psalmist meant when he said that, because of our identification with the Lord, we are killed all day long, and are like sheep that are doomed to slaughter (Ps. 44:22).

ROMANS 8:37-39

37   Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Instead of separating us from Christ’s love, these things only succeed in drawing us closer to Him. We are not only conquerors, but more than conquerors.                                                                   

• But all of this is not through our own strength, but only through Him who loved us. Only the power of Christ can bring sweetness out of bitterness, strength out of weakness, triumph out of tragedy, and blessing out of heartbreak.

38   For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 

39   nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The apostle has not finished his search. He ransacks the universe for something that might conceivably separate us from God’s love, then dismisses the possibilities one by one— death with all its terrors.

• life with all its allurements.
• angels nor principalities, supernatural in power and knowledge.
• powers, whether human tyrants or angelic adversaries.
• things present, crashing in upon us.
• things to come, arousing fearful forebodings.