Romans 8 reiterates Romans 7: God's righteous law could not and never did give anyone power to live a righteous life. Jesus, however, liberated believers from the condemnation of the law and provided them a new, godly nature, and along with it, the power to live a truly righteous life.
Romans 8 goes on to say that, since the nature of the believer is spiritual (the believer is indwelt by the Spirit of God), he ought to follow the leading of the Spirit in his conduct. Unlike the lost person, the believer is no longer alienated from God: he has been adopted into the family of God and is allowed to call God "Father."
As a family member, the believer is an heir: he will share in Christ's glory and he will receive a new, glorified, and immortal body. The believer is constantly being conformed to the image of Christ and his behavior should be increasingly Christ-like.
The Apostle Paul assures the believer that "...If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Ro 8:31). One way God is "for us" is through the intercessory prayers of both the Spirit (Ro 8:26) and Christ (Ro 8:34) on behalf of the believer.
Romans 8 ends with this wonderful assurance: "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, ...Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 8 ought to make a brother want to jump up and spin around!
Romans 8 ought to make a brother want to jump up and spin around!
No comments:
Post a Comment