2018 STUDY OF ROMANS

Chapter 8, Verses 1-3

Sin Conmdems; But Has Now Been Condemned!

[9-23-18]

Review: “That Stupid Flesh Of Our!”

Romans 7:18-25) [NIV] I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.

*NOTE: Paul is telling us that we will not triumph in our struggle against sin by looking inward to our own abilities. Our self-determination will not win this battle. The required strength does not come from the who-we-are as an individual, but rather, from the who-we-are in Christ.

19) For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing.

NOTE: Paul is writing to believers, not unbelievers! Our flesh, that is, our bodies are not yet saved [Romans 8:23]. Sin dwells in the members of our bodies [Romans 7:20, 23]. As Christians we can want to do the right thing and end up doing the wrong thing! Why? We listen to the impulses of our flesh!

20) Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

21) So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.

NOTE: He said, “When I want to do good,” in other words, when I take matters into my own hands I will always discover that “evil is right there with me.”

**NOTE: Again, we will not find the strength to overcome by looking inward to our own abilities. When I try to live the New Covenant with an Old Covenant strategy, I WILL ALWAYS FAIL! My strength doesn’t come from my trying harder, but it comes by my believing God’s promises.

22) (ERV) In my mind I am happy with God’s law.

“There is a debate among Christians as to if Paul was a Christian during the experience he describes. Some look at his struggle with sin and believe that it must have been before he was born again. Others believe that he is just a Christian struggling with sin. In a sense this is an irrelevant question, for this is the struggle of anyone who tries to obey God in their own strength. This is something that a Christian may do, but something that a non-Christian can only do” [Guzik].

23) (NLT) But there is another law at work within me that is at war with my mind. This law wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.

24) What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

NOTE: As a Christian I especially like God’s rules in my intellect; I know they are right. However, I discover “another law” at work in the members of my body; a natural law that longs to give in to my passion to sin. Human effort fails to consistently do what my intellect, as a believer, wants to do because my passion to sin, that is a result of having a fallen nature, is stronger that my passion to do what my intellect tells me is the right thing to do.

25) Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

This Week’s Lesson: “Sin Condemns; But Has Now Been Condemned!”

Romans 8:1-3) [NIV] Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

(KJV) [There is] therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,

***{who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.}

NOTE: Many commentators disallow the last part of this verse because it’s not in the oldest manuscripts.

“While it is true that those who are in Christ should not and do not consistently walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, this is not a condition for their status of no condemnation. Their position in Jesus is the reason for the standing of no condemnation” [Guzik].

*NOTE: Some commentaries believe it to be authentic. However, I agree with Guzik’s note above.

QUESTION: Why did some translators add the phrase “who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit”?

**ANSWER: Who knows for certain? If it isn’t in the original it could have initially been a footnote added by the one translating this passage and was then later assumed to be part of the passage. In my E-Sword program 14 translators have omitted the last part of this verse; 10 translators include them.

QUESTION: How does this verse tie into the end of the previous chapter?

ANSWER: The revelation that rescues us from the “what a wretched man I am” syndrome is the revelation of our being “in Christ Jesus.”

NOTE: The Law condemned me because I had broken its rules. But now, I am in Christ! That means that the blood of Christ has paid for my sins. The Law has no hold on me because my debt, the penalty for my sin, has been paid; Jesus paid it!

2) [NIV] because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

(MSG) A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.

QUESTION: What does this verse mean?

ANSWER: Until Jesus died the Law was in operation, and that Law said:

“It is the one who sins who will die. A son is not to suffer because of his father’s sins, nor a father because of the sins of his son. Good people will be rewarded for doing good, and evil people will suffer for the evil they do” [Ezekiel 18:20].

We were all sentenced to death before we were ever born! THEN CAME THE CROSS! Jesus paid my debts! When I placed my faith in Him, and received Him as my Lord and Savior, His payment for my sins took affect. The Law says that when I sin, I die. Grace says that when I am “in Jesus” it changes my destiny. I am now free from the penalty of death that I had earned through my conduct. In Christ I live free from the sentence of death.

QUESTION: What else does this verse mean?

ANSWER: I am now free from living my life under the Law. I have a new way to live now; it’s the way of the Spirit. The Old Testament model has been replaced with a new model; I now live my life through the power of grace. The fear of the Law no longer restrains me from sin; love is now my restraining force.

NOTE: If I love God first, and people second, then I will not sin against either.

3) [NIV] 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,

[AMP] For God has done what the Law could not do, [its power] being weakened by the flesh [the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit]. Sending His own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, [God] condemned sin in the flesh [subdued, overcame, deprived it of its power over all who accept that sacrifice],

QUESTION: What does this verse mean?

ANSWER: The Law passed sentence on me; Jesus passed sentence on sin!

QUESTION: In what way did God, by the giving of His Son, condemn sin in a way that the Law could not do?

**ANSWER: God, by the death of His Son, condemned sin’s ability to have power over me! God broke the power that sin had to control me! Let me quote a great man, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty we are free at last!”

Regarding “condemned sin in sinful man,”

“(2) the word “condemn” may be used in the sense of destroying, overcoming, or subduing; 2Pe 2:6, “And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow.” In this sense the sacrifice of Christ has not only condemned sin as being evil, but has weakened its power and destroyed its influence, and will finally annihilate its existence in all who are saved by that death” [Barnes]. {1875}

“Deposed from its dominion, a thing impossible to the law, which could pronounce judgment and inflict penalty, but not dethrone” [Vincent]. {1886}

“‘condemned it to lose its power over men’ [BEZA, BENGEL, FRASER, MEYER, THOLUCK, PHILIPPI, ALFORD]” [JFB]. {1871}

NOTE: God has broken sin’s power over our lives! So, why do we sometimes live as though sin is in absolute control of us? We live that way because we believe that way. WE ALL LIVE BY FAITH; i.e., we walk out what we believe to be true. God Almighty, help us all believe what you have stated as fact!

1 John 5:4-5) [KJV] For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

5) Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

John 16:33) [ERV] “I have told you these things so that you can have peace in me. In this world you will have troubles. But be brave! I have defeated the world!”

Colossians 3:3) [KJV] For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

A CLOSING NOTE: Jesus overcame the world! I am in Christ! Therefore I have overcome the world! Therefore I can be brave in the face of whatever the world throws at me!

2018 STUDY OF ROMANS

Chapter 8, Verse 4

The Righteous Requirements of the Law!

[9-30-18]

Review: “Sin Condemns; But Has Now Been Condemned!”

Romans 8:1-3) [NIV] Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

QUESTION: How does this verse tie into the end of the previous chapter?

ANSWER: The revelation that rescues us from the “what a wretched man I am” syndrome is the revelation of our being “in Christ Jesus.”

2) [NIV] because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

NOTE: Until Jesus died the Law was in operation, and that Law said:

NOTE: We were all sentenced to death before we were ever born! THEN CAME THE CROSS! Jesus paid my debts! I am now free from living my life under the Law. I have a new way to live now; it’s the way of the Spirit. The Old Testament model has been replaced with a new model; I now live my life through the power of grace. The fear of the Law no longer restrains me from sin; love is now my restraining force.

NOTE: If I love God first, and people second, then I will not sin against either.

3) [AMP] For God has done what the Law could not do, [its power] being weakened by the flesh [the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit]. Sending His own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, [God] condemned sin in the flesh [subdued, overcame, deprived it of its power over all who accept that sacrifice],

NOTE: The Law passed sentence on me; Jesus passed sentence on sin!

NOTE: This verse cannot mean that God, by the death of His Son, condemned sin; i.e., pronounced it to be evil! God, by the giving of the Law, had already done that! That would be old news! God, by the death of His Son, did something that the “law was powerless to do”! God, by the death of His Son, condemned sin’s ability to have power over me! God broke the power that sin had to control me! L

1 John 5:4-5) [KJV] For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

5) Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

A CLOSING NOTE: Jesus overcame the world! I am in Christ! Therefore I have overcome the world! Therefore I can be brave in the face of whatever the world throws at me!

This Week’s Lesson: “The Righteous Requirements of the Law!”

Romans 8:4) [NIV] in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

(ERV) He did this so that we could be right just as the law said we must be. Now we don’t live following our sinful selves. We live following the Spirit.

(NLT) He did this so that the requirement of the law would be fully accomplished for us who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.

QUESTION: Is verse 4 telling us that now that sin’s power is broken in our lives we will now live out the moral law in perfection?

ANSWER: Absolutely not! It is telling us, however, that we now have the wherewithal to perfectly keep the moral law of God. God has done all that is necessary to free us from sin! He has left nothing undone! We believers all have the power to live right!

Galatians 5:14-18) [NIV] The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

15) If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

16) So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

17) For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.

18) But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

QUESTION: Then why don’t we live out the moral law in perfection?

ANSWER: When we “live by the Spirit” we always live right! We never do what the fallen nature wants us to do when we “walk in the Spirit.”

QUESTION: English, dude, English! What does that mean?

ANSWER: Let’s re-examine what walking in the Spirit means:

*Galatians 3:1-3) [KJV] O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

2) This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

3) Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

Received ye the Spirit are ye now made perfect

(Verse 2) (Verse 3:)

by the works of the law by the flesh

by the hearing of faith in the Spirit

QUESTION: What does “by the flesh” mean?

ANSWER: It refers to a human effort to make God love us more by trying harder to keep His rules.

QUESTION: What does “in the Spirit” mean?

ANSWER: It refers to our believing what God says about the matter.

NOTE: We were saved when we believed, and acted upon, the Gospel message. We will grow towards perfection the same way we received salvation, by believing what God says about the matter.

QUESTION: Getting back to Romans 8:4, what else might be meant by “in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit”?

ANSWER: Jesus kept the Law for us! He took the blame for our sin and gave us the credit for His righteousness. We were “baptized” into His resurrection/His life. Positionally we were in Christ when He “fully met” the “righteous requirements of the law.”

“Now the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. As we turn over the control of our lives to the Holy Spirit, He empowers us to love God and to love our neighbor, and that, after all, is what the law requires” [BBC].

“Because Jesus fulfilled the righteous requirement of the law, and because we are in Christ, we fulfill the law. The law is fulfilled in us in regard to obedience, because Jesus righteousness stands for ours. The law is fulfilled in us in regard to punishment, because any punishment demanded by the law was poured out upon Jesus. Paul does not say that we fulfill the righteous requirement of the law. He carefully says that the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us. It isn’t fulfilled by us, but in us. Simply put, Jesus is our substitute. Jesus was treated as a sinner so we can be treated as righteous” [Guzik].

A CLOSING NOTE: When we walk “in the Spirit” we are walking in the belief that Jesus did what He did for us. He kept the Law for us, because we could not keep it ourselves. When we walk “in the flesh” we are still trying to win God’s favor by keeping the Law. Consequently, by virtue of our being in Him “the righteous requirements of the law” are “fully met in us” because we are living “according to the Spirit.” To put it plainly, we believe that what the Law could never do for us because of the weakness of our flesh, Jesus did for us. If we could have kept the Law, then the Law would have declared us righteous. We couldn’t keep it, but now, in Christ, all the Law’s requirements have been met for us/in us. In other words, WE ARE RIGHT WITH GOD!

2018 STUDY OF ROMANS

Chapter 8, Verses 5-10

How To Walk This Walk!

[10-7-18]

Review: “The Righteous Requirements of the Law!”

Romans 8:4) [NLT] He did this so that the requirement of the law would be fully accomplished for us who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.

QUESTION: Is verse 4 telling us that now that sin’s power is broken in our lives we will now live out the moral law in perfection?

Galatians 5:14-18) [NIV] The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

15) If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

16) So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

18) But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

NOTE: We never do what the fallen nature wants us to do when we “walk in the Spirit.”

*Galatians 3:2-3) [KJV] This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

3) Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

NOTE: We were saved when we believed, and acted upon, the Gospel message. We will grow towards perfection the same way we received salvation, by believing what God says about the matter.

NOTE: Jesus kept the Law for us! He took the blame for our sin and gave us the credit for His righteousness. We were “baptized” into His resurrection/His life. Positionally we were in Christ when He “fully met” the “righteous requirements of the law.”

This Week’s Lesson: “How To Walk This Walk!”

Romans 8:5-10) [NIV] 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.

(GNB) Those who live as their human nature tells them to, have their minds controlled by what human nature wants. Those who live as the Spirit tells them to, have their minds controlled by what the Spirit wants.

(NLT) Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.

6) The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;

(NLT) If your sinful nature controls your mind, there is death. But if the Holy Spirit controls your mind, there is life and peace.

7) the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.

(KJV) Because the carnal mind [is] enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

8) Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

(KJV) So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

In regards to “those who live according to the sinful nature/after the flesh” from vs. 5:

“that is, those who are unconverted” [BBC].

“The unconverted” [PNT].

“To be in the flesh, as the word is used here, is to be in the unregenerate state” [Zondervan].

QUESTION: What are these four verses telling us?

ANSWER: You can see by the above comments that many teach this to mean the unsaved. I disagree!

QUESTION: What is Paul teaching his readers throughout the first seven chapters?

ANSWER: Now that you’re a Christian you have to choose if you’re going to live for God through human effort, or through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Again, from vs. 5: “Set their minds on the things of the flesh: Paul gives an easy way for us to determine if we walk in the Spirit or walk in the flesh – to simply see where our mind is set. The mind is the strategic battleground where the flesh and the Spirit fight” [Guzik].

***NOTE: You couldn’t live right through the power of your will before you were a Christian, and you can’t live right by the power of your will now that you are a Christian.

Romans 7:24) [NIV] What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

NOTE: The futility of trying harder is that we will always fail to some degree. Why? Because our mind/our will “does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so,” and “those controlled by the sinful nature/they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”

ANOTHER NOTE: Paul is telling us that the only way we will enjoy Spiritual victory in our Christian walk is if we are drawing from the resources of the limitless power of the Holy Spirit, rather than from our resources.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Dedication and abstinence are not the pursuit of the Christian! They are not the “products” that we seek to produce. They are the by-products of our pursuit to know Jesus better. In other words, dedication and abstinence happen when we have our mind set on knowing Jesus better!

Galatians 5:19-23) [KJV] Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are [these]; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

20) Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

21) Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told [you] in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

23) Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

*NOTE: Verses 19-21 show us what the flesh produces! It’s incapable of producing, on a consistent basis, anything else. If a Christian lives his/her life for God by trusting in the flesh then he/she will produce these works of the flesh. Guaranteed!

QUESTION: What else in noteworthy in the above passage from Galatians?

ANSWER: It isn’t Law that keeps us from turning Christian liberty into an excuse for sin; it’s love!

QUESTION: What else?

ANSWER: Walking in the flesh/human effort will always produce the works of the flesh; walking in the Spirit will result in our bearing the fruit of the Spirit. Paul doesn’t draw a comparison between the works of the flesh and Christian works; but rather, the works of the flesh and Spiritual fruit.

9) 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.

(NLT) But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them are not Christians at all.)

10) But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.

QUESTION: What are these two verses telling us?

ANSWER: We have the Holy Spirit living in us; we need to trust Him! Positionally He is in control of our lives. We need to allow what is positionally true to play itself out practically.

QUESTION: What is verse 10 telling us?

ANSWER: Sin dwells in the members of our bodies [Romans 7:17, 23]. We can’t trust ourselves! We must learn to trust the Holy Spirit to produce its fruit in our lives [Galatians 5:22-23]!

NOTE: Paul’s entire argument is that living for God through human effort has never worked! The Law failed because “it was weakened by the sinful nature,” my sinful nature. Salvation doesn’t empower our flesh/our will so that we can now keep the Law by trying harder. God’s nature is produced in us as we seek a closer relationship with Him. When we do that, then dedication and abstinence become by-products of that relationship.

2018 STUDY OF ROMANS

Chapter 8, Verses 11-17

How To Walk This Walk!

[10-7-18]

Review: “The Righteous Requirements of the Law!”

Romans 8:8) [NIV] the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.

9) [NIV] 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.

10) [NIV] But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.

QUESTION: What are 3 two verses telling us?

ANSWER: We have the Holy Spirit living in us; we need to trust Him! Positionally He is in control of our lives. We need to allow what is positionally true to play itself out practically.

QUESTION: What is verse 10 telling us?

ANSWER: Sin dwells in the members of our bodies [Romans 7:17, 23]. We can’t trust ourselves! We must learn to trust the Holy Spirit to produce its fruit in our lives [Galatians 5:22-23]! THERE IS NO VICTORY TO BE HAD THROUGH THE STRENGTH OF THE FLESH!! STICK A FORK IN IT! IT IS DONE; IT IS DEAD! This chapter will go on to teach us that even though we are saved, our bodies are not!

This Week’s Lesson: “How To Walk This Walk!”

Romans 8:11-17) [NIV] And 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.

QUESTION: Does the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God Almighty, live in you?

ANSWER: Emphatically, yes!

QUESTION: When will God “give life” to my body that “is dead because of sin” [vs. 10]?

Concerning “will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit,”

“This will be the final act of our redemption—when our bodies are glorified like the Savior’s body of glory” [BBC].

“The sense is, that under the gospel, by the influence of the Spirit, the entire man will be made alive in the service of God. Even the corrupt, carnal, and mortal body, so long under the dominion of sin, shall be made alive and recovered to the service of God” [Barnes].

NOTE: Though most commentators agree with the remarks that the BBC commentary expresses, that being that this quickening is speaking of the eventual resurrection of our bodies; I agree with Barnes. Our bodies will receive a life giving jolt from the Holy Spirit enabling us to walk out the righteousness which we have received in Christ; BUT this will only happen when we quit trusting our flesh/human effort and begin trusting the Spirit.

QUESTION: What does that mean?

ANSWER: We must quit trying harder to keep more rules so that God will love us more, and begin believing what God has said about us; i.e., that we are new creatures/creations in Him, etc.

NOTE: Allow me to stress this point: God has never loved you more than He loves you now; He will never love you more than He loves you now. We must quit trying to win His love and instead, we must learn to accept/receive His love.

I John 4:19) [KJV] We love him, because he first loved us.

QUESTION: How does the above verse fit in with this discussion?

ANSWER: When we question His love for us, it affects our love for Him.

12) Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation-but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it.

QUESTION: What do we learn from this verse?

ANSWER: The flesh failed us before we were saved, and it continues to fail us now. We owe it nothing!

13) For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,

QUESTION: What do we learn from this verse?

ANSWER: Whenever we live “according to the sinful nature” {“after the flesh” [KJV] death results. Sin always kills something. It kills our confidence towards God! It kills relationships! It kills our peace! It always brings death!

NOTE: And obviously, if we live our lives apart from God, always walking in the flesh, we will ultimately face eternal death!

QUESTION: What else do we learn from this verse?

ANSWER: The only thing we can do to defeat sin in our lives is to walk in the Spirit.

NOTE: As we’ve taught previously, Galatians 3:2-3 teaches us what it means to “walk in the Spirit.” It means that we are walking according to the promises God has made to us. Just as we believe the promises that spoke of salvation we now believe the promises that speak of spiritual victory.

14) because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

QUESTION: Is this verse telling us that if aren’t following the leading of the Holy Spirit on a constant basis that we’re not saved?

ANSWER: No! Only the Lord Jesus always did the will of His Father.

QUESTION: Then what is it telling us?

ANSWER: The children of God are the individuals that are “born again” [John 3:3], “born of the Spirit” [John 3:8], “born of God” [1 John 3:9, 4:7, 5:1 and 5:4]. Galatians 3:2-3 shows us that we were “born again” when we believed the Gospel message. It then shows us that we mature/grow spiritually the same way we began/were born again, by believing God’s promises to us.

QUESTION: Then who are the children of God?

ANSWER: The children of God are those who were led by the Spirit of God to believe the promises of God regarding salvation, and consequently, put their faith in Jesus.

15) 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.”

QUESTION: What is this verse teaching us in relationship to the context of this chapter?

ANSWER: The Holy Spirit, the One Who lives inside of you, has not led you into slavery, but rather, out of it. He has led you into a relationship with a Holy God, your Father in Heaven. You now call God, “Father!”

NOTE: The slavery this verse is speaking about is slavery to the Law. The Holy Spirit does not lead an individual who comes to Christ into servitude to the Law. He has led you to the freedom “of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life” [2 Corinthians 3:6].

16) The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

QUESTION: What does the Holy Spirit do to convince us we’re saved?

ANSWER: The very Holy Spirit that leads us “testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children,” not slaves to a system that was put in place to condemn us as sinners. We are children, not slaves.

17) 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.

QUESTION: What does this verse want us to understand?

ANSWER: If we are children of God then we are rightful heirs to all the promises and provisions of the last will and testament of the Lord Jesus Christ. God has equipped us through the promises of His Word to walk out the righteousness that we have received through our union with Christ.

QUESTION: What does sharing “in his sufferings” refer to?

ANSWER: In order to save us Jesus stepped out of the splendors of Heaven and into the pain and suffering of this world. After He saves us He leaves us in this same world of pain and suffering. Jesus promised that the suffering would continue until the day of our leaving this world [John 16:33].

QUESTION: Why does He leave us here, on this planet, to faith trouble? Why not take us to Heaven?

ANSWER: He leaves us here for the same reason He came here; he wants us to be a light of the Gospel shining brightly in a often dark world.

2018 STUDY OF ROMANS

Chapter 8, Verses 18-30

“Our Glorification Later TRUMPS Our Suffering Now!”

[10-14-18]

Review: “How To Walk This Walk!”

I John 4:19) [KJV] We love him, because he first loved us.

12) Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation-but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it.

13) For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,

NOTE: Sin always kills something. It kills our confidence towards God! It kills relationships! It kills our peace! It always brings death! And if we live our lives apart from God, always walking in the flesh, we will ultimately face eternal death!

14) because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

NOTE: The children of God are the individuals that are “born again” [John 3:3], “born of the Spirit” [John 3:8], “born of God” [1 John 3:9, 4:7, 5:1 and 5:4]. Galatians 3:2-3 shows us that we were “born again” when we believed the Gospel message. It then shows us that we mature/grow spiritually the same way we began/were born again, by believing God’s promises to us.

15) 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.”

16) The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

NOTE: The very Holy Spirit that leads us “testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children,” not slaves to a system that was put in place to condemn us as sinners. We are children, not slaves.

17) 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.

NOTE: In order to save us Jesus stepped out of the splendors of Heaven and into the pain and suffering of this world. After He saves us He leaves us in this same world of pain and suffering. Jesus promised that the suffering would continue until the day of our leaving this world [John 16:33].

This Week’s Lesson: “Our Glorification Later TRUMPS Our Suffering Now!”

Romans 8:18-30) [NIV] I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

Romans 8: 30) [NIV] And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

QUESTION: What “glory” is going to be revealed in us?

ANSWER: The “glory” Paul is speaking about is the end of the process of going from being predestined to being called to being justified to being glorified.

QUESTION: What does “glorification” involve?

ANSWER: Note the following verses:

19) The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.

QUESTION: What is “creation” itself waiting for?

ANSWER: Creation is waiting for the “sons of God to be revealed.”

QUESTION: What does that mean?

ANSWER: Creation is waiting for the full revelation of what God has in store for His children.

NOTE: Notice how Paul personifies “creation” in order to make his point, just as he personifies “sin.”

20) For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope

(NLT) Against its will, everything on earth was subjected to God’s curse.

21) that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

(NLT) All creation anticipates the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.

NOTE: Our planet suffered a “fall” along with mankind. It is no longer the environment that God initially created for Adam and Eve. Our planet will one day enter into “the glorious freedom of the children of God.”

NOTE: Our planet will be vastly superior to its current self.

22) We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

23) Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

NOTE We’re groaning for the day when the full revelation of what God has in store for His children is revealed. We are saved right now; our bodies are not! We are groaning for the day our bodies are redeemed!

24) For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?

25) But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

QUESTION: What don’t we currently have that we are hoping for?

ANSWER: Redeemed bodies; we are waiting for the day when we will be housed in bodied free of the sin principle. When our bodies are saved we will never sin again!

26) In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.

NOTE: The Holy Spirit is praying for us to grow spiritually. We don’t know how to, or what to pray for so that the end result will be accomplished; the end result being our entering into the glory God will reveal in us.

QUESTION: Is verse 26 speaking of the Holy Spirit praying through us by our praying in tongues?

ANSWER: No! This intercession is not an “utterance” [KJV]; Acts, chapter 2 tells us that “speaking in tongues” is an utterance.

QUESTION: In the above verses who is doing the groaning?

ANSWER: Our planet groans; we groan; and the Holy Spirit groans!

**NOTE: Our planet, you and I, and the Holy Spirit are all groaning for God to finish His work in glorifying His children.

27) 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.

28) 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.

QUESTION: Why will the groanings/intercessions/prayers of the Holy Spirit be answered?

ANSWER: God, the Father will answer the prayers of God, the Holy Spirit because the Spirit always prays for the will of God to be done.

QUESTION: What is the result of the Holy Spirit praying for us?

ANSWER: God is in the process of bringing us to the point of perfection that He has planned for us.

QUESTION: Is verse 28 telling us that everything that happens benefits believers?

*ANSWER: Yes! But, it doesn’t necessarily benefit us in this life. However, it will definitely benefit us if we look at it with eternity in view.

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.

30) And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

“The only thing predestinated, or foreordained, is that those who love God as revealed in Christ shall become Christlike in life, and like Christ in eternity. This is the only decree in the passage” [PNT].

“That a predetermination of God is clearly stated as accompanying or (humanly speaking) succeeding, and grounded upon the foreknowledge” [Vincent].

QUESTION: What are these verses telling us?

ANSWER: God predestined to conform believers to “the likeness of his Son.”

QUESTION: How does this predestination work?

ANSWER: God “foreknew” who would love Him. He then predestined their glorification.

Also in regards to “those God foreknew he also predestined,”

“That this predetermination is to the end of conformity to the image of the Son of God, and that this is the vital point of the passage” [Vincent].

2018 STUDY OF ROMANS

Chapter 8, Verses 31-32

“God Gives Us All Things!”

[10-21-18]

Review: “Our Glorification Later TRUMPS Our Suffering Now!”

Romans 8:18-19; 22-23; 26; 29-30) [NIV] I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

Romans 8: 30) [NIV] And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

NOTE: The “glory” Paul is speaking about is the end of the process of going from being predestined to being called to being justified to being glorified.

19) The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.

NOTE: This means that Creation is waiting for the full revelation of what God has in store for His children.

22) We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

23) Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

26) In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.

NOTE: Our planet groans; we groan; and the Holy Spirit groans! We are all groaning for God to finish His work in glorifying His children.

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.

30) And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

NOTE: God predestined to conform believers to “the likeness of his Son.”

NOTE: God “foreknew” who would love Him. He then predestined their glorification.

“That this predetermination is to the end of conformity to the image of the Son of God, and that this is the vital point of the passage” [Vincent].

This Week’s Lesson: “God Gives Us All Things!”

Romans 8:31-32) [NIV] What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

QUESTION: “What, then, shall we say in response” to what?

ANSWER: “What, then, shall we say in response” to the fact that God foreknew us, He predestined us “to be conformed to the likeness of his Son,” He called us to be His children, He justified us, and He already sees us as glorified.

QUESTION: “What, then, shall we say in response” to all of this?

ANSWER: We should say, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Actually, that’s not a statement; it’s a question. But, in a sense it’s a rhetorical question with the understood answer that if God is for us it doesn’t matter who are enemies are.

Psalm 118-6) [NLT] The LORD is for me, so I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?

QUESTION: What does the Psalmist tell us?

ANSWER: We don’t have to be afraid of anything or anyone in this life; after all, what can “mere mortals do to me”?

NOTE: People and things in this world have the capacity to kill us; no doubt about it. However, those people and things have absolutely no capacity whatsoever to separate us from God. God is greater than all those people and things; and He is always with us; rather it be in life or in death.

Joshua 1:5-6) [NLT] No one will be able to stand their ground against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.

6) “Be strong and courageous, for you will lead my people to possess all the land I swore to give their ancestors.”

QUESTION: Moses was now dead. Joshua had some huge shoes to fill. What did God tell him?

ANSWER: God told him that He would be with him in the very same way He was with Moses!!

QUESTION: What does that have to do with you and me?

Hebrews 13:5-6) [KJV] Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

6) So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

ANSWER: The Holy Spirit inspired the author of Hebrews to apply God’s promise to Joshua to everyday Christians like you and me!!!

NOTE: God wants you and me to always be aware that He is with us. We can’t lose with Him always being with us! If this life kills us, and one day it will, we still win!

Matthew 10:28) [KJV] And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

“Note ‘soul’ here of the eternal spirit, not just life in the body. ‘Destroy’ here is not annihilation, but eternal punishment in Gehenna (the real hell)” [Robertson].

“The worst that men can do is kill the body. Physical death is not the supreme tragedy for the Christian. To die is to be with Christ and thus far better. It is deliverance from sin, sorrow, sickness, suffering, and death; and it is translation into eternal glory. So the worst men can do is, in a real sense, the best thing that can happen to the child of God.

The disciples should not fear men but should have a reverential fear of Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. This is the greatest loss—eternal separation from God, from Christ, and from hope” [BBC].

QUESTION: What is Robertson telling us in his above note?

ANSWER: The worst thing the devil, or any human, can do to us is kill us; God can both kill us and cast our eternal soul into Hell. Jesus tells us that it is God that man should fear.

QUESTION: What is the BBC commentary telling us?

ANSWER: As bad as death sounds while we cling so desperately to life it is just a doorway to Heaven to all who have placed their faith in Christ!

James 2:26) [TLB] Just as the body is dead when there is no spirit in it, so faith is dead if it is not the kind that results in good deeds.

32) He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

QUESTION: What is Paul’s point here?

ANSWER: Paul is pointing out to us that if God gave His only Son, His greatest treasure, to save us then surely there isn’t anything He will now withhold from us. In other words, if He gave His only Son to save us then He will surely give us all things that are required to finish the process that begins with His foreknowledge and ends with our glorification.

NOTE: Our glorification includes our becoming like His Son. We will receive “things” at that time that are unimaginable to us at this time. Our future reality will exceed our wildest dreams by an infinite amount.

**Ephesians 3:20) [GW] Glory belongs to God, whose power is at work in us. By this power he can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.

QUESTION: What are some of those “all things” that God will “graciously give us”?

We are free from ALL condemnation before God [vs. 1].
We are free from “the law of sin and death,” which is the Law of Moses [vs. 2].
The power of sin in our lives has been broken [vs. 3].
The righteous demands of the Law have been fulfilled in us who have put our faith in Christ [vs. 4].
We now enjoy life in Christ and the peace of God in our lives [vs. 6].
We now enjoy true LIFE because we are right with God [vs. 10].
We now enjoy the knowledge of knowing we will be a part of the resurrection [vs. 11].
Knowing that we are now the children of God we realize that we are heirs of His promises [vs. 15-17].
We now know that we are predestined to be fully “glorified,” to become fully like Him [vs. 29-30; 1 John 3:2].

2018 STUDY OF ROMANS

Chapter 8, Verses 33-39

“Separate You From God? Never!”

[10-28-18]

Review: “God Gives Us All Things!”

Romans 8:31-32) [NIV] What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

NOTE: “What, then, shall we say in response” to the fact that God foreknew us, He predestined us “to be conformed to the likeness of his Son,” He called us to be His children, He justified us, and He already sees us as glorified.

NOTE: We should say, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” If God is for us it doesn’t matter who are enemies are.

Hebrews 13:5-6) [KJV] Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

6) So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

NOTE: God wants you and me to always be aware that He is with us. We can’t lose with Him always being with us! If this life kills us, and one day it will, we still win!

Matthew 10:28) [KJV] And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

NOTE: The worst thing the devil, or any human, can do to us is kill us; God can both kill us and cast our eternal soul into Hell. Jesus tells us that it is God that man should fear. As bad as death sounds while we cling so desperately to life it is just a doorway to Heaven to all who have placed their faith in Christ!

32) He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

NOTE: Paul is pointing out to us that if God gave His only Son, His greatest treasure, to save us then surely there isn’t anything He will now withhold from us. In other words, if He gave His only Son to save us then He will surely give us all things that are required to finish the process that begins with His foreknowledge and ends with our glorification.

**Ephesians 3:20) [GW] Glory belongs to God, whose power is at work in us. By this power he can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.

This Week’s Lesson: “Separate You From God? Never!”

Romans 8:33-39) [NIV] Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.

(GNB) Who will accuse God’s chosen people? God himself declares them not guilty!

(CEV) If God says his chosen ones are acceptable to him, can anyone bring charges against them?

(ERV) Who can accuse the people God has chosen? No one! God is the one who makes them right.

(GW) Who will accuse those whom God has chosen? God has approved of them.

(WNT) Who shall impeach those whom God has chosen? God declares them free from guilt.

(NLT) Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? Will God? No! He is the one who has given us right standing with himself.

QUESTION: What’s the good news revealed in this verse?

ANSWER: The devil might still accuse us before God, but God reminds Satan that He has declared us to be “not guilty” be reason of our faith in the One Who died for us.

2 Corinthians 5:19) [NIV] that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

(TLB) For God was in Christ, restoring the world to himself, no longer counting men’s sins against them but blotting them out. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others.

(ERV) I mean that God was in Christ, making peace between the world and himself. In Christ, God did not hold people guilty for their sins. And he gave us this message of peace to tell people.

QUESTION: How was a Holy God able to justify us (NIV); declare us not guilty (GNB); say that we, his chosen ones, are acceptable to him (CEV); make us right (ERV); approve us (GW); declare us free from guilt (WNT); give us a right standing with Him (NLT)?

ANSWER: 2 Corinthians 2:19 tells us that it was because He wasn’t counting our sins against us (NIV); He was blotting our sins out (TLB); He wasn’t holding us guilty for our sins (ERV).

34) Who is he that condemns? 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.

(NLT) Who then will condemn us? Will Christ Jesus? No, for he is the one who died for us and was raised to life for us and is sitting at the place of highest honor next to God, pleading for us.

QUESTION: Who can condemn us?

*ANSWER: Jesus won’t! He died to save us! God, the Father, won’t! Jesus sits at His right hand constantly pleading our cause. Satan can’t! He doesn’t have the authority.

35) Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

QUESTION: What is Paul showing us here?

God is for us, not against us (vs. 31).
God has already given us His greatest treasure: His Son (vs. 32).
God will therefore utilize any, and all of His infinite treasures/abilities to finish the job of our glorification (vs. 32).
God has already justified us; consequently, He no longer entertains any accusations against us (vs. 33).
God won’t condemn us because Jesus paid for our sins (vs. 34).

QUESTION: What is the conclusion to the above points?

ANSWER: Nothing can separate us from the God Who loves us!

36) As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37) No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

(GW) The one who loves us gives us an overwhelming victory in all these difficulties.

QUESTION: What is Paul showing us here?

ANSWER: Paul personally faced trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, and danger to his very life; so he identified with the Psalmist. However, he concludes that whatever happens to us in this life we are still “more than conquerors” because of what God has prepared for us in the next life.

38) For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,

39) 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.

QUESTION: What does Paul conclude to have no ability to separate us from God because of His love for us?

Physical death;
Anything life throws at us;
Fallen angels;
Demons;
Anything we have done up to the present;
Anything we will do in the future;
Any natural or supernatural powers;
Spiritually high powers;
Spiritual powers from below;
Anything anywhere in all of creation.

QUESTION: What do I need to know?

ANSWER: God loves me and nothing can ever change that!

NOTE: Let me remind you one more time:

God has never loved you more that He does right now.
God will never love you more than He does right now.

In conclusion, God will not love you when you are glorified in Heaven, when you have been clothed in perfection, any more than He loves you right now!

Walk of Grace Chapel | Council Bluffs, IA

Walk of Grace Chapel is a Church In Council Bluffs, IA dedicated to sharing God's Grace and love with you. Sunday Morning and Tuesday Evening services.

Romans Chapter 8 Study Guide

Chapter 8, Verses 1-3

Sin Conmdems; But Has Now Been Condemned!

2018 STUDY OF ROMANS

Chapter 8, Verse 4

Chapter 8, Verses 5-10

How To Walk This Walk!

2018 STUDY OF ROMANS

Chapter 8, Verses 11-17

2018 STUDY OF ROMANS

Chapter 8, Verses 18-30

2018 STUDY OF ROMANS

Chapter 8, Verses 31-32

2018 STUDY OF ROMANS

Chapter 8, Verses 33-39

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Chapter 8, Verses 1-3

Sin Conmdems; But Has Now Been Condemned!

2018 STUDY OF ROMANS

Chapter 8, Verse 4

Chapter 8, Verses 5-10

How To Walk This Walk!

2018 STUDY OF ROMANS

Chapter 8, Verses 11-17

2018 STUDY OF ROMANS

Chapter 8, Verses 18-30

2018 STUDY OF ROMANS

Chapter 8, Verses 31-32

2018 STUDY OF ROMANS

Chapter 8, Verses 33-39

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