February 3, 2020
Romans Chapter 8
It is such a wonderful passage filled with beautiful words.
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you[a] free from the law of sin and death.
3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,[b] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.[c] And so he condemned sin in the flesh,
4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.
7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.
10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life[d] because of righteousness.
11 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 because of[e] his Spirit who lives in you.
12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it.
13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.
15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.[f] And by him we cry, “Abba,[g] Father.”
16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
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.
Present Suffering and Future Glory
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.
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
21 that[h] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
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 to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.
24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?
25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
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 through wordless groans.
27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[i] have been called according to his purpose.
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
More Than Conquerors
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
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?
33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.
34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. 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.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”[j]
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[k] 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.
In Christ Jesus we have a new life.
What is this newness?
It is a new mind?
There is two minds
the mind of the spirit
the mind of the flesh
One minds the things of God which is goodness, kindness, mercy, forgiveness.
One minds the things of hate, un-forgiveness, nastiness, meanness, etc...
Paul says we serve God with the mind.. The mind is a powerful part of us. The devil is a spirit and he suggest things to us. He wants us to think on flesh things and all things God does not want us doing. He wants to play with our minds. I have a great testimony in this area. I was very weak in my mind. I had to learn how to think right. Nobody knows how bad but God. I am so glad I learned I can think good. While going through mentally I thank God I never acted upon anything but I found myself in a battle. It did inspired me to research mental illness and I have learned a lot about personality disorders and chemical imbalances and these things are real. I learned that the devil brings things to our minds especially if we open the door to him. I cant speak for others but God never let me go. I use to think why am I thinking this? This is horrible; and it drove me mad for a while but I learned that I am who God says I am. I don't have to do what pops in my head. I laugh now because its easy; but it took me ten years to get a decent mind. I was 22 when I decided to join my first church and it took a lot to learn how to control my thoughts. Matter of fact the church I attended the people was strange and I was too when I think about it, it's scary because it was the blind leading the blind. However, I begin to read my bible and I reed everyday and slowly my mind changed. I still have thoughts but I lean more towards what God says. God brings things to my mind and when my mind tries to go dirty, I say, those are not my thoughts, Devil get thee behind me. I do not want to do that thing; and I reject it. On the way to church I had the worst of the worst thoughts. Its funny to me now but it was a nightmare trying to be a good Christian. I am now 38 years old. It gets better every year. The devil sets mental traps for me but I learn how to carry reality in one hand and truth in the other. I meditated on the wrong things but now I am quick to say, I know those are not my thoughts. Most of the time it is the devil and if you do it then its something you wanted to do. Its nice to think on what is good, what is of a good report, what is worthy of praise these things I think on.
But what great help awaits through God's Spirit. What great benefits according to this wonderful passage. I wrote down a few.....
- we are adopted into God's family.
- we are being changed
- the longer you do something; the better you get at it.
- God knows the heart.
- we are practicing righteous until we become good at righteousness
- we are growing into the sons of God
- to those who put to death their flesh will go on to be called a son of God
- born of his nature.
- those who ignore or reject the spirit; its their choice. Its their rights.
- we can have a new spirit according to the passage.
- this new spirit will bear witness that we belong to God
- the spirit helps our weaknesses
- it searches our hearts
- it searches the deep things
- it knows about you
- the things you meant to do
- the things you didn't mean to do
- your attitudes, your thoughts, the intents of the hearts
- it conforms us to the image of his son
- it intercedes for us when we pray in the spirit (because we don't know what to pray) so we pray in the spirit the bible says it is the Holy Spirit interceding in a language we don't know but the awesome thing is he is praying for us through us. How amazing is that? Do you pray in tongue? Some people do some don't believe in it. I think its amazing. Almost being connected to God and him wanting to help us on the inside. How awesome!
WITH THE SPIRIT
- we are more than conquerors
- nothing can separate us from the love of God
- who can bring charges against us
- it was predestined by God that we should be conformed to the image of his son
- we going to look like Jesus.
- Not so much in physical appearance....but in word, and in deeds.
HOW AMAZING IS THAT?
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