The sufferings of the saints are but sufferings of this present time, strike no deeper than the things of time, last no longer than the present time (2 Corinthians 4:17), light affliction, and but for a moment. That new model or that new body that I am going to get is going to be my eternal house. Salem Media Group. If I am thus pitied of God, if so truly and completely a justified man, if I am really an object of God's eternal favour, how can I have such a sense of continual evil? But his body will no longer be the victim of decay and the instrument of sin; it will be a spiritual body fit for the life of a spiritual man. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. Therefore, he found himself in this dilemma, whenever he would intend to do good, evil was present with him. Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible Romans 8. . If I want to have a fulfilling life, a meaningful life, I must live after the Spirit. Think of the Christian experience. The ancient world was haunted by the tyranny of the stars. It addresses moral, intellectual, social, and spiritual issues, but most importantly, it lays the theological foundation for the Christian faith: how God has made it possible through Christ for sinners to be made right before Him. Scripture: Romans 8:1. It is possible that the name Alphaeus was a common name and that these men were not related. Did the Jew fancy that the gospel makes very light of Abraham, and of the then dealings of God? What the apostle had given him in fulness was the great truth, however fundamental it may be, that I am entitled, and even called on in the name of the Lord Jesus, to know that I am dead to sin; not that I must die, but that I am dead that my baptism means nothing less than this, and is shorn of its most emphatic point if limited merely to Christ's dying for my sins. Twice the father symbolically sold his son, and twice he bought him back; but the third time he did not buy him back and thus the patria potestas was held to be broken. And it is well for those ignorant of it to know that here, in verse 4, the apostle speaks first of "walking not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (b) Christ is risen; therefore nothing can ever separate us from him. Whenever you think of a tent you don't think of a permanent place to live. For the earnest expectation of the creation is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God ( Romans 8:19 ). Besides this, which seems to be a most comprehensive expression for embracing every sort and degree of human iniquity, we have one very specifically named. And where? Now Paul was as competent a judge of this point as ever any mere man was. Hope is always in something not yet seen. Now man today, humanism and all is saying just the opposite. The reason for the anticipation of creation of the glorification was that creation itself was subjected to "futility.". The apostle's concern that his countrymen were strangers to the gospel. The King James Version rendering is famous. After the fall, many things became frail and futile. The Lord himself is the portion of the saints' inheritance (Psalms 16:5), a goodly heritage, Romans 8:6; Romans 8:6. Because they were sons of Abraham. And not knowing the will of God then it is difficult often to pray, because it doesn't really make sense to pray against the will of God.The purpose of prayer is never to accomplish my will; the real purpose of prayer is always to accomplish God's will. Hence he infers (v. 8), Those that are in the flesh cannot please God. This is a passage which has been very seriously misused. It is one thing to be a conqueror. This God has wrought in Christ. C. H. Dodd puts it in this way. But there is more, which Paul afterwards insisted on. The next question, actually, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? (iii) In law, the old life of the adopted person was completely wiped out; for instance, all debts were cancelled. Law works wrath because it provokes transgression; grace makes the promise sure to all the seed, not only because faith is open to the Gentile and Jew alike, but because God is looked to as a quickener of the dead. For if you live after the flesh, you are going to die: but if you through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, then you shall live ( Romans 8:12-13 ). All rights reserved. . As Christ was, so the saints will be, declared to be the sons of God with power, by the resurrection from the dead, Romans 1:4; Romans 1:4. Sin was in the world between Adam and Moses, when the law was not. 3. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh." Still, it is "man" not yet exactly the Jew, but man who had profited, it might be, by whatever the Jew had; at the least, by the workings of natural conscience. When the creatures are made the food and fuel of our lusts, they are subject to vanity, they are captivated by the law of sin. How many times have you interpreted it that way? 11, 12). Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary AND WE KNOW - This verse introduces another source of consolation and support, drawn from the fact that all flyings are under the direction of an infinitely wise Being, who has purposed the salvation. How glorious it is to be an heir of God, joint-heir with Jesus Christ, the kingdom of God has become mine. There is no question of a people on earth, and of God's wrath breaking out in one form or another against human evil in this life. There is no hope for man otherwise; for the gospel is not all that is now made known. as I am often faced with situations that I can't understand. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. If I am ruled by my body I have the mind of the body which is death, spiritual death. Sad that people even give the time of day to such a doctrine.Paul tells us in just a little bit what the manifestation of the sons of God really is. 7). The weak are not to judge the strong, and the strong are not to despise the weak. If slurred over, as it too often is in souls, it invariably leaves practical obedience lame, and halt, and blind. God is not reluctant to help you. This the gospel is filled with the assurances of. Tempted or not, it was Adam's free will that consented to the deed that plunged all of his posterity into ruin. As you look at your life, can you honestly say, "Yes, my life is led by the Spirit of God"? 18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. It is "the power of God unto salvation." ( Romans 8:35.) Sep 14, 1980. At the same time he connects, in a singularly interesting manner, this disclosure of the principles of the eternal judgment of God with what he calls "my gospel." He dwells in the heart by faith. Accordingly, in the end of the chapter, he shows that this is most true as applied to the moral judgment of the Jew; that uone so much dishonoured God as wicked Jews, their own Scripture attesting it; that position went for nothing in such, while the lack of it would not annul the Gentile's righteousness, which would indeed condemn the more unfaithful Israel; in short, that one must be a Jew inwardly to avail, and circumcision be of the heart, in spirit, not in letter, whose praise is of God, and not of men. oh, man. But besides this he adds "to faith." There wasn't much rejoicing until that field goal attempt was blocked in the last three seconds, and then they went wild. He says, that they have been subjected to vanity, and for this reason, because they abide not in a constant and durable state, but being as it were evanescent and unstable, they pass away swiftly; for no doubt he sets vanity in opposition to a perfect state. Light affliction, it is just but for a moment. That is, that bondage to our flesh any longer. (i) The adopted person lost all rights in his old family and gained all the rights of a legitimate son in his new family. of it. Paul is introducing us to another of the great metaphors in which he describes the new relationship of the Christian to God. That there is none righteous, none that doeth good, none that understandeth. For the truth is that God has in Christ condemned sin, and this for sin definitely; so that He has nothing more to do in condemnation of that root of evil. He who believes is not condemned" ( John 3:17-18 ). But there was far more in Jesus. This could not be attained if they were removed at once to heaven. And he feels the close affinity to it, because the baboon is living just like he lives. This describes substantially the same condition as Romans 7:15-24. Pleasing God is our highest end, of which those that are in the flesh cannot but fall short; they cannot please him, nay, they cannot but displease him. As he breathes in the air and the air fills him, so Christ fills him. In Romans 8:32 there is a wonderful allusion which would stand out to any Jew who knew his Old Testament well. Such moral judgments will, no doubt, be used to leave man without excuse; they can never suit or satisfy God. So what the law could not do because of my weakness in the flesh, that is because I violated it. The apostle refers to Isaiah to show that God would "lay in Zion a stumbling-stone." In the beginning ofRomans 2:1-29; Romans 2:1-29 we have man pretending to righteousness. 10 brothers, 1 my heart's desire and prayer to god for them is that they may be saved. All the effects of sin will be removed, and believers will be raised from the dead in imperishable spiritual bodies suited to life in the coming age (23; cf. Using Gods solution and only His solution results in liberty and glory if we are the children of God.. He has justified me. In the rest of chapter 15 the apostle dwells on the extent of his apostleship, renews his expression of the thought and hope of visiting Rome, and at the same time shows how well he remembered the need of the poor at Jerusalem. The contrast of Christ with Adam takes in man universally as well as the Christian; and man in sin, alas! Well, Satan does. God delivered His Son to suffer, to be despised and rejected, as was prophesied in Isaiah, and to be delivered for my sins.I didn't fully appreciate that until I became a parent and I watched my own little babies suffer from some of the childhood maladies. The word vanity here mataiotes is descriptive of the present condition of the Christian, as frail and dying; as exposed to trials, temptations, and cares; as in the midst of conflicts, and of a world which may be emphatically pronounced vanity. world. These studies were broadcast on a Thursday. He says that all things work together for good, but only to them that love God. excellent gift of all" (Sibylline Oracles 3: 620-633). He is the accuser of the brethren. [The mind of the flesh, or] the carnal mind is death ( Romans 8:6 ); That is, spiritual death, which biblically would be interpreted as separation of man's consciousness from God. If that is true of nature, it is still truer of man. In both parts, as it may be observed, the door is opened to the Gentile. In point of fact, as he had hinted before, their true tenure was the call of God, who was free, if He pleased, to bring in other people. Christianity is not a system of promise, but rather of promise accomplished in Christ. The Christian waits, not for death, but for life. He was "declared," says the apostle, "to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead" ( , ver. The Bible tells me so. Future Thursday broadcasts will appear in this playlist as well. It has always the idea of power about it, power as of a mighty rushing wind. But how, argues he, could this stand, seeing that Abraham had another son, just as much his child as Isaac? But it is quite possible for the unconverted to be tenacious of the truth, yet unrighteous in their ways; and so much the worse for them. Who is the one condemning? It was a glorious day when we moved out of that tent and into this new sanctuary. The Stoics had a great idea which may well have been in Paul's mind when he wrote this passage. The world is one where beauty fades and loveliness decays; it is a dying world; but it is waiting for its liberation from all this and the coming of the state of glory. In hoping for this glory we have need of patience, to bear the sufferings we meet with in the way to it and the delays of it. To whom, then, did the law address itself? But it is interesting how that we so often find ourselves in that place of seeking to offer to God the works of our flesh. And, upon the view of both, he gives this judgment here. First, as to practical holiness, it is not merely that Christ has died for my sins, but that even in the initiatory act of baptism the truth set forth there is that I am dead. There are some that find a difficulty here, because the expression "to hold" means holding firmly. Romans 16:1-27; Romans 16:1-27 brings before us in the most. If I think of prayer as an instrument by which I can get my will done, I totally misunderstand prayer. This is precisely what salvation does not mean; and I would strongly press it on all that hear me, more particularly on those that have to do with the work of the Lord, and of course ardently desire to labour intelligently; and this not alone for the conversion, but for the establishment and deliverance of souls. 23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. Lord, what is man, that thou shouldst thus magnify him! He talks of this present age and of the glory that will be disclosed. same in It is foolish to fight God, because you're fighting against the very best for your own life.The next question, Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? These are astrological terms. It is true, it is needful for man to learn; but in nowise is it good news. It is the going forth of His richest blessing. "Every thing seems perverted from its intended use: the inanimate creatures are pressed into man's rebellion; the luminaries of the heaven give him light . That is, it is not merely pardon of past sins, but deliverance from sin, and in due time from all its consequences. Romans 8:20 Parallel Verses. It is apokaradokia ( G603) and it describes the attitude of a man who scans the horizon with head thrust forward, eagerly searching the distance for the first signs of the dawn break of glory. And here it may be repeated that it is no question of pardoning the sinner, but of condemning the fallen nature; and this so as to give the soul both power and a righteous immunity from all internal anguish about it. You know, to me it is such a simple, beautiful thing. "For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. John Locke insisted that Adam's disobedience was not of his own will, since it occurred "not through his own choice, but by the guile of the devil. On the contrary, it was the Jew provoked by the Gentiles "By them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you." And as it is for obedience of faith, it was not in anywise restricted to the Jewish people "among all nations, for his (Christ's) name: among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ" (verses 5, 6). If one may so say, He thus holds the man, instead of letting the man presume that he is holding fast the truth. And whenever my children would get a fever and become listless and sick, whatever, it would so tear me up inside to see them in that condition. When believers prayers are unable to express their deepest thoughts and feelings, the indwelling Spirit pleads to God on their behalf. No matter how old he was, he was still under the patria potestas, in the absolute possession and under the absolute control, of his father. But though we know not all the reasons why they are continued here in this state of vanity, we can see some of them: In hope - See the note at Romans 5:4. There is water as well as blood, and to that, not to this, the washing here refers. In this book this term is used to describe freedom from things like death and the law in places like Romans 6:18; Romans 6:22; Romans 8:2. Through the new birth there is an inversion, and man becomes then spirit, soul, and body. Now, what do you picture when Jesus says that? But God will no more accept the works of your flesh than He would Cain's, who sought to offer to God the works of his flesh and was rejected by God. It is not God having an earthly centre, and the peoples doming up to worship the Lord in Jerusalem. While things are still raging around me, while the outcome still seems to be very uncertain is to have the glorious victory and rejoicing, that is more than a conqueror. This was no question of legal obedience, although the law came from Jehovah. The righteousness of God, then, could now go forth in virtue of His blood. This accordingly leads the apostle into the earlier portion of his great argument, and first of all in a preparatory way. Now if I am a child, I am an heir; I am an heir of God, and a joint-heir with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together ( Romans 8:17 ). By the creature here we understand, not as some do the Gentile world, and their expectation of Christ and the gospel, which is an exposition very foreign and forced, but the whole frame of nature, especially that of this lower world--the whole creation, the compages of inanimate and sensible creatures, which, because of their harmony and mutual dependence, and because they all constitute and make up one world, are spoken of in the singular number as the creature. Of what then shall we be afraid? How comfortable should this be to all the children of God, how little soever they have in possession, that, being heirs, they have enough in reversion! (Romans 8:1 . It was not merely better light in the conscience, which might be elsewhere, as is supposed in the early verses of our chapter; but the Jew's position was directly and unquestionably one of divine tests applied to man's estate. The word is therefore appropriately used of the disappointing character of present existence, which nowhere reaches the perfection of which it is capable (208). But there is therefore now no condemnation to those which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Here I shall be very brief. But he seeks to relate himself again to God, because he is living after the Spirit.So Paul declares, "They that are after the flesh are constantly mindful of the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit, then, are mindful of the things of the Spirit." God pronounces against the unrighteousness of such; for if the knowledge, however exact, of God's revealed mind was accompanied by no renewal of the heart, if it was without life towards God, all must be vain. He would not therefore have them ignorant how they had lain on his heart for a visit (ver. Romans 8:20. (ii) There is the word Spirit; in Romans 8:1-39 it occurs no fewer than twenty times. And mark the force of it whosoever." The book of Genesis shows that God created the earth to be kind to man. Man was made for God. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. the creation was subjected -- Understanding that here the "creation" is speaking of "us" (v.18) as "aspiring to the full privileges of adoption, that the present state is not one of choice" [BN]. Now that new body doesn't grow tired. (i) No affliction, no hardship, no peril can separate us. He sees all nature waiting for the glory that shall be. In him mankind brought to God the perfect obedience, just as in Adam mankind brought to God the fatal disobedience. A wondrous way, but most blessed! Because of sin, there were massive changes in nature. He talks about living according to the flesh ( Romans 8:12). Search. All devotionals for romans-8:19-21 free on BiblePortal.com. The life that is dominated by the desires and activities of sinful human nature is on the way to death. And thus, though the forces of hell be gathered against you, they are nothing compared with that power that is available to you, because God is for you.How do I know God is for me? As the child said: "Enoch was a man who went on walks with God--and one day he didn't come back.". He means that from the beginning of time God marked us out for salvation; that in due time his call came to us; but the pride of man's heart can wreck God's plan and the disobedience of man's will can refuse the call. Verse 20 appears to describe the fall of Adam and Eve. So God foreknew me. It is against the "unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness." In other words, even though I am still living in this body I can begin to experience victory over my flesh. Consequently it never reaches the perfection that He originally intended it to achieve. In Hebrew it is ruach ( H7307) , and it has two basic thoughts. In life we live with Christ; in death we die with him; and because we die with him, we also rise with him. And the natural man I see as body, and the upper story ruling, the mind, the middle story always, but in the case where the body is uppermost, the mind being controlled and dominated by the desire and needs of the body, and the spirit dormant or dead. Paul used figurative language to clarify and emphasize his point. One day I am going to be free from this old body in this bondage of corruption and I am going to come into that glorious liberty of freedom. though it is said. Thereby is identification with His death. Thus, the true God being lost, all was lost, and man's downward career becomes the most painful and humiliating object, unless it be, indeed, that which we have to feel where men, without renewal of heart, espouse in pride of mind the truth with nothing but unrighteousness. Romans 12:1-21 looks at the mutual duties of the saints. I was constantly feeling condemnation. And to this agreed the testimony of the prophet. (ver. And this not willingly, not of their own choice. Let us remember that he began all this by saying that every man sinned in Adam. When God created Adam, God said, "It is not good that man should live alone." Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwells in you. whereas the mind of the spirit is life and peace ( Romans 8:6 ). The view of both, he found himself in this body I have the mind of the.! In the flesh can not please God this he adds `` to hold '' means firmly. Idea which may well have been in Paul 's mind when he wrote this passage seconds and... Parts, as it may be observed, the door is opened to the,... As he breathes in the world between Adam and Eve argues he, this... Christian to God the perfect obedience, although the law was not who believes is not God having an centre. 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