Romans: Chapter 8

Priceless Truths: Empowering of the Holy Spirit

The Word of God is inexhaustible. This is especially true of the Book of Romans. Romans is so deep in meanings and multiple applications; we can never ‘master’ this Book.

Review: Creation itself is sufficient to reveal God to all human beings. The heathen, the moral man and even the ‘religious’ man all stand guilty before a Holy and Righteous God. Only God Himself can justify man through His Gift of His Son, Jesus, on our behalf. This is Grace. Our Salvation is a gift from God, we do nothing to earn it. Our Sanctification and maturity as Christians is a slow and life-long process. We, as Believers, have a choice to avoid sin, sin no longer has control over us. The Law shows us continually of our constant need of the Holy Spirit, both guiding and directing us. We fail when we try to live our lives our way instead of God’s way. Even Paul cries out for help in doing what the spirit wants him to do. Only the Holy Spirit can enable us to live righteously. We can only live FOR Christ when we are living IN Christ.

• Justification declares us righteous before God.
• Sanctification is the process that makes us righteous.
• Our lifelong goal should be to make a minute-by-minute, day-by-day CHOICE to hear God and obey Him through the Holy Spirit.
• Glorification is being delivered from the very presence of sin.

JUSTIFICATION, SANCTIFICATION & GLORIFICATION are our ultimate goals for life, now and forever. We are now in the SANCTIFICATION process. Victory in our lives is attainable and insured by the power of the Holy Spirit IF we choose to accept God’s supernatural power only available through His Holy Spirit. Versus 1 -4 are a brief summary of Chapters 5-7.

8:1

Therefore there is now no condemnation to Believers which are in Christ Jesus, who walk after the Spirit and not the flesh. Some versions do not have this last part: “Who walk after the Spirit and not the flesh.” Regardless if this portion is NOT in your Bible; the assumption would clearly mean that we are to live our lives “in Christ” by living according to the Spirit of God; the Holy Spirit within us. Claiming we are Believers in Christ Jesus, yet NOT living our lives according to the Spirit, is self-deceit; you’re lying to yourself! When you memorize this verse, please include the last part.

8:2

The Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed me from the Law of sin and death. Our choice to follow Christ is a struggle because we still live in our sin nature. See John 15. We are in union with Jesus; He is the Vine, we are the branches. We must remain in Jesus in order to bring forth fruit ~ good works ~ We are His Body, referred to as The Body of Christ.

8:3-4

God has done what the Law cannot do. God sent His Son in the form of sinful flesh as an offering for sin. God condemned sin in His flesh and overcame and deprived sin of its power over all who accept the Sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. The power and penalty of sin died at the cross. (4.) So that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who walk and live according to the ways of the Holy Spirit. Our lives are controlled and lived according to God’s standards, not the dictates of our flesh.

8:5

Those who live according to the unholy desires of the flesh; have their minds controlled by the flesh; but those who choose to live according to the Spirit have their minds on, and seek, the desires of the Spirit. This is a battlefield of our mind! As we seek and desire Godly actions, thoughts and beliefs in our lives, they slowly become a reality. We allow ourselves to be controlled in our minds by the Holy Spirit! Think about it: This is True Freedom!

8:6-8

To be carnally (fleshly) minded is death, but to be Spiritually minded IS life and peace!
Why? (7.) BECAUSE, Now here is the reason ~ The carnal mind is hostile to God; totally against God. The mind of that person cannot submit itself to God. (8.) So those who are dominated by their fleshly desires cannot ever please God!

Explanation: Computer Software has no mass, the Real you is similar to ‘software’, we are Eternal, our soul (identity) will always exist. Physical death is when your soul, your identity, leaves the body. Death is the separation of your spirit and soul from your physical body. Without the Holy Spirit, we cannot be with God, ever. Our flesh is NEVER improved. Only after we pass from our earthly body, thereby being freed from our sinful nature, will God give us a perfect and holy body!

8:9-11

But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, IF the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ is NOT His! IF you are Born from Above (Born Again) then you DO have the Spirit of Christ; if not, you are not a Christian. Notice the sequence of IFs. (10.) IF Christ is in you, in effect your flesh is dead; yet your spirit is alive because of the righteousness that He imputes to you. (11.) IF, or since, the Spirit raised Jesus then He will also give life to you, through the Spirit who dwells in you. This is our guarantee that Jesus will give us His Holy Spirit to indwell our soul and spirit within our body!

8:12-14

THEREFORE, (this is the summation of these Truths) We owe the flesh absolutely NOTHING! We are debtors to live according to the Spirit. See Galatians 2:20: “ I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (13.) IF, or since, you are alive in Christ, your deeds will reflect Him. You will put to death the deeds of evil. You will truly live forever! (14.) All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God!

8:15

We received the spirit of ADOPTION so we can cry Abba Father. Notice that the cultural meaning of “adoption” is different than ours. The Jews born in the family remained ‘children’ until they were ‘adopted’ into the family as adult members. Only the adopted adult members could inherit the riches of the Father. Thus anyone who was ‘adopted’ could NOT be disinherited. Thus, a child who refused to accept the dictates of the Father, may never be adopted, thus could never inherit anything!

8:16-17

The Holy Spirit Himself testifies with our own spirit, assuring us, that we are truly sons of God. We have become a New Creation! But it gets even better: (17.) Since we are heirs of God, we are joint-heirs with Christ, IF we suffer with Him that we may also be glorified together with Him. Our Eternal Rewards are contingent on our obedience to the Holy Spirit. Remember, all Believers enter Heaven, but only those who are worthy can INHERIT the riches of Heaven. See:1 Corinthians 3:12-15. Our actions, thoughts, words and deeds will be judged to be either built on the foundation of Jesus; gold, silver and gems ~ or to be on our own desires; wood, hay and stubble.

NO CONDEMNATION IN CHRIST; Romans 8:1 clearly teaches us that there is no condemnation for you who are in Christ. Yet many of us still struggle greatly with guilt and condemnation. Because we love God, we want to do what is right and good, yet there are times when we fail and make mistakes. We sin and make wrong choices. When we realize we have sinned we must immediately and quickly repent. This requires a humble attitude. We must be willing to turn away from the sin, and do what is right in God’s eyes. The Holy Spirit must be sought and obeyed. We CANNOT do it on our own! Once we have honestly repented and asked God to forgive us, He will forgive and forget, and remove our sin as far as the east is from the west. See Psalm 103:12; Hebrews 10:17, 18. The consequences of our sin may still affect our lives, but the guilt is removed.

See:1 John 1:9 ~ Jesus promises to forgive our sins and cleanse us IF we admit them and repent. Jesus died as the perfect sacrifice for our sin, no other sacrifice is or will ever be needed. If we feel guilt, we are allowing Satan to lie to us and make us miserable and not allow ourselves to enjoy life, because we feel condemned and guilty, feeling we deserve to be miserable. Remember, Satan is a LIAR! Since we are forgiven through the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, then we don’t deserve to be miserable. Guilt is an invisible burden that wears us out, makes us miserable, and unable to function as God’s child. It is a LIE from Satan; don’t fall for his schemes and lies. God’s Word assures us HE FORGIVES US COMPLETELY! Believe Him and accept TOTAL FORGIVENESS. As FORGIVEN sons of God, we can have joyous fellowship with God because we can approach Him with faith and boldness.

8:18

The sufferings of this present world are not worthy to be compared with the future Glory. We need God’s perspective. A divine viewpoint is necessary. ALL Rewards are conditional. See 1Corthinians 2: 9. No one can even imagine what glory is coming. Even our wildest dreams will be exceeded beyond anything here on earth! 2nd Corth. 4:7-18. True Success is becoming Christ-like in our lives. Rewards are a direct result of obedience to God’s Word. Read Hebrews 11. Why would we consider it JOY to be suffering trials?:

Ten very good reasons:

1. To Glorify God.
2. As a discipline for sin.
3. To prevent us from falling into sin. 1 Peter 4:1-2
4. To keep us from pride. Paul ~ thorn in the flesh.
5. To build and strengthen our Faith.
6. To cause us to grow as True Believers.
7. To teach us obedience and discipline.
8. To equip us to comfort others. 2 Cor. 1:3-4
9. To prove the reality of Christ living in us.
10. As a testimony to the angels. 1 Peter 1:12

See: James 1:2-4; Count it ALL JOY; NOTHING can be taken for granted.

8:19-21

The entire creation longs earnestly for God’s sons to be made known. All creation is under the curse of sin. Creation awaits ‘redemption’ just as we will be transformed, all of nature will also be transformed at the new Heaven and new Earth. We are a direct creation of God IF we are born from above. We received a new heart and are declared righteous. (20.) In its present state, we and nature, are subject to failure and decay. No one, nothing, lives forever. (21.) Creation itself will be set free from bondage (corruption). We will be transformed into the children of God. (See: 2 Corth)
The laws of entropy bring everything to disorder and decay. Anything not constantly kept in order goes into disorder, a mess. Our lives must be constantly ‘kept up’ or we become a ‘mess’. Look at anything that is neglected, what happens? God designed everything to work perfectly, always. Entropy proves the entire world is corrupted because of sin.

8:22-23

All of creation groans in pain and suffering waiting for Jesus’ return to earth and the new creation. (23.) We groan with creation in anticipation of the complete redemption of ourselves. The Holy Spirit living in us is the ‘first fruits’, the promise and hope, of our complete redemption. Our Glorification, at our transformation at the Rapture, or passing from this life to the next, whichever comes first; will be our complete redemption, freedom from even the presence of sin.

8:24-25

HOPE! We have been saved from the PENALTY of sin. We are being SANCTIFIED from the POWER of sin. We will be GLORIFIED from the PRESENCE of sin, FOREVER! We will also receive new Glorified Bodies, Perfect, never subject to sin or decay. Our Hope is something we cannot see with our eyes, yet we can ‘see’ or comprehend that sure and promised Hope with our spirits. No one who is NOT Born Again can understand this Hope. If anyone says “I just can’t believe”; it is because they refuse to accept the Truth of God’s Word and accept His gift of Faith. (25.) We wait eagerly with patience and composure.

8:26-27

The Holy Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; we do not know exactly how to pray, yet the Holy Spirit Himself prays on our behalf with unspeakable yearnings too deep for words. Have you ever just ‘moaned’ over a deep need? (27.) God Who searches our hearts knows what is in the mind of the Holy Spirit because the Spirit intercedes and pleads before God on our behalf in harmony with God’s Will. Do we realize, and appreciate, that the Holy Spirit within us pleads on our behalf, even when we don’t know what to ask, or even that we have a specific need?

8:28

This is a Truth we should memorize. We know that ALL things work together and are fitting into a plan for good for those who love God and are called according to His design and purpose. When we are persecuted, unfairly treated, lied about, hurt, injured, become ill, suffer with … you fill in the trial or tribulation; ALL things are used by God for our ultimate good! What a comfort to understand, know and BELIEVE this Truth! Not sure? Then also memorize Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Can God’s plans succeed? Always and Absolutely!

8:29-30

Notice this is actually a continuation of the promise of verse 28: For those whom He foreknew (those He loved beforehand before we were even born) He also destined from the beginning (foreordaining them) to be molded into the image of His Son (and share inwardly His likeness) that He might become the firstborn among many Believers. That IS God’s ultimate goal, that you and I might be totally and completely transformed into the very image of Jesus! This ultimate goal for us should always be OUR goal also: You say you want to be in the Will of God? Then make this your goal in life! (30.) Moreover, those whom He foreordained, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified (acquitted and declared righteous, putting them into right standing with Himself) and those whom He Justified, He also Glorified (raising them through Sanctification to a heavenly dignity and condition) This final state of existence is yet to come for us.

God created us for success. Even though we may fail, He wants us to succeed in becoming like Jesus. We were created in His image and likeness, and that is our ultimate goal. He can take our failures and use them to teach, train and change us into his sons IF we will trust and obey Him. We can, and will, experience God’s Miracles in our lives, IF we seek to know Him through His Word and obey Jesus.

God ‘approved’ us before we were born! Even though others, and often ourselves disapprove us; we must remember, He loves us Forever!
Whenever we are discouraged, we can count on this portion of God’s Word to confirm His Truth in our minds and hearts that He loves us and we are His heirs forever.
A True Believer can NEVER lose their Salvation! We can lose some, or all, of our inheritance, because of disobedience, but we can never, ever lose our sonship.
We are all part of the Body of Christ as Believers. Only those who are faithful overcomers will become the Bride of Christ.

This next section continues to confirm to us that we are on the Sanctification part of our Salvation. First, we are Justified, then Sanctified, then Glorified.

8:31-32

What then shall we say to all this? If God is for us, who could be against us? Those who are against us are fighting against God! That is foolish and futile. God chose you, and He never makes mistakes, so you are guaranteed success! Oh, we may not mature as we should because of our disobedience, but cheer up, God never, ever gives up on us! (32.) God gave His own Son for our salvation, so we know with a certainty that He will also continue to give us all we need to grow and mature.

8:33-34

Who could even bring any charges against us as God’s chosen ones? God Himself justifies us and puts us in a right relationship with Himself. Who then could accuse us? God Himself has already declared us ‘not guilty’. (34.) No one can condemn us, only God can condemn us, and He, Jesus, has already died for us, was buried, and then raised from the dead. He is now at the right hand of God continually pleading for us as He intercedes on our behalf. Since Jesus is asking for whatever we need from His Father, we will receive it; so we can relax and be confident that everything is working in our best interest! To worry, is not to Trust Jesus. We must Trust Him always.

8:35-36

So then, knowing all this as Truth, what then, could possibly ever separate us from the Love of Jesus Christ, our Messiah? Certainly not suffering, affliction and tribulations; nor calamity and distress. Even persecution, hunger, destitution, peril or even death; absolutely NOTHING can EVER separate us from His Love. Even if we are put to death, one after another, all day long; counted as nothing more than sheep to be slaughtered. (37) Yet in, and despite, all these things, we are more than conquerors through Jesus, who loves us forever.

8:38-39

I am totally persuaded and convinced beyond any doubt that neither death, nor life, angels nor principalities, nor things now or threatened in the future, nor powers, nor heights, nor depth, nor any other thing, or force, in all creation will be able to separate us from the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior. All this assures us that we are absolutely certain of our Eternal Life with Jesus!

This powerful chapter is so important it is worth reading and studying at least once or twice more. Prepare for some wonderful blessings as you read and pray through this chapter time after time. Try speaking and reading this chapter out loud. Hearing God’s Word, causes its Truth to be embedded in our mind, heart and soul. Remember, Pray as you study, speak God’s Word; God will give you His supernatural power to understand and obey His Word, and receive amazing blessings!