God’s Everlasting Love

Do you feel loved today? Loved by God?

I have one impossible goal in this email: to show you how much God loves you. His is not a fickle love that fades if we don’t do our part, but a deep, enveloping love that never wavers.

But first, a question. Do you love God? We are commanded to. Jesus called it the greatest commandment (see Luke 10:27), drawn from the Shema in Deuteronomy 6. Yet it is a bit of a trick question, because we can only love God by the power of the Holy Spirit. Ultimately, we love Him because He first loved us (see 1 John 4:19).

As we conclude our series on Romans 8, Paul brings us to the most comforting passage in the Bible. He asks five questions that have no answer.

If God Is For Us

“If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). If Paul had simply asked, “who can be against us”, we would have a long list: tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, danger, sword (v. 35). We face opposition from Satan, the world, our own weak flesh, and sometimes even other believers. It can be overwhelming.

But notice the little word “if.” This is a conditional promise. If you are a child of God, led by the Spirit, adopted, predestined and justified, then nothing in all creation, including the powers of hell, will prevail against you. We may suffer setbacks, sickness, and loss, but they are temporary. God works all things for our good and His glory.

The Gift of the Son

Verse 32 asks, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”

Many of you live paycheck to paycheck. Many raise support for ministry, trusting the Lord with the future. When the bills are due and the pressure is on, doubt creeps in (see Philippians 4:19).

Paul removes the doubt by pointing to the cross. God didn’t write a check from His eternal bank account to pay for our salvation; He gave everything. Having given His Son, how will He not also give us what we need? The cross is the guarantee of His continuing generosity.

Accused but Not Condemned

The next two questions sound alike but are different. “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies” (v. 33). “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died… who indeed is interceding for us” (v. 34).

The name Satan means “accuser.” An accusation claims that someone did wrong; condemnation is the final verdict and sentence. Imagine standing in court, charged with the sins of your past. The prosecutor makes his case, and every time, our Advocate stands and says, “I paid for that already, and I have the receipts.”

The accusers are many: our past, our own minds, enemies who delight in pointing out our flaws. But none of it stands in light of our position in Christ (see Isaiah 50:8-9).

And condemnation? Satan whispers, “You haven’t done enough, given enough, or loved your family well enough.” But he has no authority to judge. Only Jesus judges our lives, and his Word says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Who is there to condemn? There is no answer.

Who Shall Separate Us?

The final question is the best of all. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” (v. 35). Paul lists seven threats, then quotes the psalmist: “For your sake we are being killed all the day long” (v. 36).

“For your sake.” Believers knew their suffering came from following Jesus. Don’t let anyone tell you the Christian life is one of ease; that is a lie from hell. Jesus promised trouble (see John 16:33). Today, more Christians are being killed for their faith than at any time in history. In Nigeria alone, no fewer than 3,083 Christians were killed between January and August this year.

Then comes verse 37: “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” More than conquerors! We don’t merely endure; we conquer. How? Through Him who loved us.

Paul closes with a crescendo: “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (vv. 38-39).

The Sun Behind the Clouds

“I am sure,” says Paul. Are you? Our confidence is not in our love for Him or our good works, but in what He has done and promised.

Think of the sun. It rises every day, shining on the just and the unjust, whether we notice or not. Then the clouds roll in, and in a strong storm, it may feel like the sun is gone. But it is still there, still burning, still holding the solar system together. The clouds don’t stop the sun; they only block your view.

God’s love is like that. In storms of discouragement, guilt, grief, sickness, or loss, it can feel as though His love is distant or conditional. But feelings don’t change facts. Not even your own doubt can separate you from His love. It doesn’t flicker like a candle; it blazes like the sun.

Do you know the love of Jesus? Have you fully trusted Him for your salvation, and are you being led by the Spirit?

God loves you with a supernatural love, and if you are His child, nothing in all creation will be able to separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:26-30

What if I told you that you do not know how to pray?

Not that you should pray more, but that, on your own, you cannot pray.

Romans 8 has been teaching us this all along, that the Christian life is lived by the power of the Holy Spirit, not our own effort. Verse 26 begins with “likewise,” tying everything we’ve seen together. And nowhere is our dependence on the Spirit clearer than in the area of prayer.

Two Intercessors

In verse 15 we read that we’ve “…received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!'” We come to the Father by the Spirit, through the finished work of the Son. John Murray puts it well: “believers have two divine intercessors — Christ pleads for us in the courts of heaven, while the Spirit intercedes in the theatre of our own hearts.”

Verse 26 says the Spirit “intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words,” better translated wordless longings. This connects back to verses 22–23, where creation groans and believers groan, desperate for Jesus to return.

John Stott asks why we don’t know what to pray for. Maybe because we’re never quite sure whether to ask for deliverance from suffering or strength to endure it. Even Jesus groaned at the suffering sin caused in this world (see Mark 7:34), his was not a sigh of weariness, but a deep groan of pain. Today the Spirit groans with us. He feels our weakness. And he does more than groan, he intercedes, so that we’re led into the will of God even when we don’t know how to pray. He shares the burden.

A Promise, Not a Band-Aid

Then we come to verse 28 — one of the best-known verses in the Bible, and one of the most taken out of its context: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

How many times have you heard this verse quoted to someone in the middle of tragedy, an accident, an illness, or financial ruin? Never pat someone on the back mid-crisis and quote this verse to them. It will hurt and not heal.

This verse isn’t a band-aid to make us feel better in the moment. It’s a promise to hold onto in the darkest night. Paul begins with “we know” — not that we always understand what God is doing, and not that we welcome it when it’s painful. Cancer isn’t good, loss isn’t good, but God, in His sovereignty, takes the calamities of life and works them together for our good and His glory.

And what is our ultimate good? Our eternal salvation. As Paul already told us in verse 18, “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” The very things that made Jesus groan, and that make us groan, refine us, and drive us deeper into dependence on the Spirit.

Five Affirmations

Verses 29–30 trace God’s purpose through five steps: those He foreknew, He predestined; those predestined, He called; those called, He justified; those justified, He glorified.

These are big words, and they’ve caused a lot of division in the Body of Christ. “Foreknowledge” doesn’t just mean God knowing facts about you ahead of time. It is the same language used of God choosing Israel before He created them. If you follow Jesus, God has loved you from before time began.

Predestination is where the followers of Calvinism and Arminianism disagree, two labels that have been at war for 500 years, going back to two men who barely overlapped in life. Here’s my frustration with all of it: the Gospel is 2,000 years old, and its’s the message of salvation. These doctrines are 500 years old, and they’ve never saved anyone. Let’s not let a secondary doctrine; one that has split churches and done real damage, define our faith.

Scripture is clear that believers are chosen in love(see Ephesians 1:4). Does that mean some are predestined for hell? No. Predestination applies only to the elect. No one is condemned because God predestined it; people are condemned because they reject Christ (see John 3:18). Peter calls his readers “elect exiles” in 1 Peter 1:1, not because they earned it, but because God chose them.

God is sovereign. He didn’t ask our permission to create this world, and He has every right to plan its future. Knowing man would choose sin, He planned a path to salvation through faith in Christ. I refuse to wear a doctrinal label that divides the body of Christ. Scripture also promises that God will save all who come to Him (see John 6:37). One day in heaven, I believe we’ll find we were all partly right, and none of us had the whole picture. As Dr. J. Vernon McGee wrote, “All of these great concepts are on God’s side of the fence, and none of us can come up with a final explanation.” This doctrine should produce humility in us, not arrogance.

Justified, Not Yet Glorified

The chain ends with the best news of all: those called, He justified. That is to be made right with God, not by our effort, but by the blood of Jesus. And those He justified, He will glorify.

Right now, we live in the in-between; justified, but not yet glorified. Theologians call this sanctification. And in this season, we cannot produce anything of eternal value apart from the Spirit’s power.

Do You Have the Spirit?

That’s not actually the question. Romans 8:9 already answers it: if you belong to Christ, the Spirit dwells in you. The real question is how much of yourself is submitted to his authority.

Some churches over-emphasize outward displays of the Spirit until people start faking it just to belong. Others react and go the opposite way, never speaking of the Spirit at all, which leads to a dead religion with no power. Neither is the answer.

When you submit to the Spirit’s leadership, serving the Lord gives you life, because he’s the one empowering the work. You’ll still get tired, Jesus did, but you’ll have joy and zeal doing what He calls you to do.

So: how much are you trying to do in your own strength? Teaching, praying, sharing the Gospel, serving on a team, leading as a deacon or elder; without submission to the Spirit’s inner work, it will be eternally ineffective, and it may even damage the Body of Christ.

Lay aside the idea that you have some special gift that Jesus desperately needs. He made you. He’ll use you. But only as you submit to the Spirit.

Romans 8:18-25

Do you like to dream about the future?

As believers, we live with a tension. We are fully present in today, and yet we long for tomorrow. There are two dangers on either side of that tension.

The first is being so consumed with the present that we forget why we were placed on this earth, chasing the next car, the next house, the next short term goal.

The second is the opposite. We become so focused on the future that we miss the lessons and blessings God has for us today, forgetting that He has given us breath and purpose for right now.

In Romans 8:18, Paul shifts our focus from the present work of the Holy Spirit to the future glory God promises His children. This section is about suffering and glory: first creation’s, then the Christian’s.

Before we look at the verses individually, let’s consider four truths about how suffering and glory relate.

They Belong Together

Remember verse 17. “And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”

Jesus suffered while He walked the earth, and when He was victorious over death and sin on the cross, He was glorified. Philippians 2:8-11 captures it well. He humbled Himself to death on a cross, and God highly exalted Him, giving Him the name above every name. There is no future glory without suffering.

Suffering and Glory Characterize Two Ages

There is a real difference between the age we live in now and the age to come. This present, broken world is full of suffering. Debbie and I were reading Isaiah 53 recently, the chapter describing the suffering servant, the prophecy of Jesus. Verse 3 says, “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.”

Why is Jesus called a man of sorrows? Because He is the Creator God, and He walked this earth as a man, experiencing the suffering sin has caused. The Hebrew word for grief can also mean sickness, and Jesus is still grieved by the pain in this world.

But the age to come is one of inexpressible glory: the splendor of God’s presence, immortal bodies, what theologians call glorification. I could spend all day describing that future and still fail to capture it.

They Cannot Be Compared

Verse 18 says, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” Suffering and glory are inseparable, but they are not equal. The glory of God far outweighs the deepest suffering we could ever face.

Suffering Touches Both Creation and God’s Children

Not only are we suffering, but all of creation suffers with us. Verse 19 says creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. In Genesis 3, when God judged Adam and Eve, creation itself was subjected to the curse. Death entered a world where it never belonged. The Greek phrase for “eager longing” pictures someone with a raised head, craning their neck toward the horizon. That is creation, watching for the children of God to be revealed and glorified, because when that happens, creation will begin to be restored.

Creation was subjected to frustration when Adam sinned. Verses 20-21 tell us it was subjected to futility, not by its own choice, but in hope that it would one day be set free from its bondage to decay. Paul’s word for futility means emptiness, meaninglessness, the same idea Solomon wrestled with in Ecclesiastes. But God subjected creation in hope, with a plan to redeem both mankind and creation for His glory. Verse 22 tells us creation will be liberated from its bondage to corruption. Jesus spoke of this in Matthew 19:28, calling it the renewal of all things. We can’t picture exactly what that will look like, but it will be free of everything that decays.

Verse 22 also says creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth. That pain is not hopeless. A mother endures excruciating labor because new life is coming, and creation groans the same way, suffering now but anchored in hope. Jesus described this same pattern in Matthew 24, calling wars, famines, and earthquakes the beginning of birth pains.

The Suffering and Future Glory of God’s Children

What about us, the ones longing for Christ’s return? Three things mark our current and future state.

1: We Have the Firstfruits of the Spirit

When the firstfruits were harvested, they were a promise that a full harvest was coming. Paul may have had the Feast of Weeks in mind, the celebration fifty days after Passover we know as Pentecost, when the Spirit came upon the church as the first installment of God’s promised glory.

2: We Groan Inwardly

Even with the Spirit living in us, we groan. His presence makes us more aware that things are not right, in the world and within ourselves. Our bodies break down. Our inner being is still prone to sin, and when we fall, we feel the pain of stepping outside God’s grace, the pain that draws us back to repentance.

3: We Wait for Our Adoption, the Redemption of Our Bodies

We already have the assurance of salvation, but a deeper promise remains. One day we will be changed into the image of the risen Christ, free from pain and decay.

Verses 24-25 land on one word: hope. Our culture has cheapened that word into wishful thinking. “I hope the Chiefs win tonight.” Or “I hope for a few more warm days.” But Biblical hope means anticipating a certain outcome with confidence. It is trusting in what Christ has already accomplished on the cross and waiting patiently for His return.

John Stott put it well: “We are to wait neither so eagerly that we lose our patience, nor so patiently that we lose our expectation, but eagerly and patiently together.”

Are you longing for Christ’s return, or has this world grown too comfortable for you? There is real blessing in trusting the Lord through the waiting, and in joining Him in what He is doing today. We know He is coming again, and those who trust Him will receive restored, eternal, glorified bodies.

Are you living for eternity, or is the world still more enticing?

Adopted

Romans 8:14-17

Have you been adopted?

The Bible says that if we’ve been born again, we’re adopted into God’s family. It’s a phrase we sing, say often, know in our heads: I am a child of God. But do we really know what that means? The privilege of it?

Truthfully, I struggle with this. I can’t fully wrap my mind around being a child of the all-holy God. This is where the Holy Spirit helps us. Verse 16 is a promise: “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”

The Holy Spirit is called “the Spirit of adoption.” In the New Testament, adoption means being placed as an adult son. We come into God’s family by birth, but instantly God gives us the full standing of a son. Under ancient Roman law, an adopted son immediately received full inheritance rights, which is why verse 17 says what it does.

So how do we know we’ve really been adopted? Paul gives us four pieces of evidence.

1. The Spirit Leads Us Into Holiness

Verse 14 says, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” Last week we looked at the abundant life the Spirit gives, and this verse tells us what that life looks like. Not health, wealth, and prosperity. Holiness. Daily sanctification, becoming a little more like Jesus.

That means daily hearing the Spirit’s prompting to put to death the sins we easily entertain. Start each day inviting him to set a watch over your eyes, ears, hands, tongue, and feet, and you’ll be prompted and convicted.

But the Spirit’s work is gentle. He doesn’t beat us over the head; he prompts. That’s how a loving father leads his children. Yelling might produce short-term compliance, but a child raised that way eventually rebels. Our Heavenly Father leads with love, as David knew: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go” (Psalm 32:8).

The child of God is willingly led by the Spirit. As we yield to him, he guides us by his Word. We’re not under bondage to law and fear. We’re free to come boldly, as dearly loved children, before our Father’s throne (Hebrews 4:16).

2. The Spirit Replaces Fear With Freedom

“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!'” (Romans 8:15).

In first-century Greco-Roman culture, an adopted son was chosen to inherit the estate and carry on the family name, with zero inferiority to a naturally born child. Paul uses slavery the way he does in Galatians 4: slavery represents our pre-Christ life; sonship, our new life in Christ.

In the old life, we feared punishment for sin. In the new life, we live in freedom, because of a loving relationship. Salvation is a total change of status: dead, now alive; enemies of God, now children of God.

That’s not an easy transition. A newborn doesn’t open its eyes and say, “Hi, Dad.” A child learns who their father is by someone pointing, saying, “this is Daddy,” until eventually they say it themselves. Same with us: after the new birth, the Spirit points to the Father and says, this is your Heavenly Father.

3. The Spirit Prompts Us to Call God Father

Paul writes “Abba, Father” in two languages, Abba in Aramaic, Father in Greek (patēr), perhaps deliberately including both Jew and Gentile in the privilege of calling God Father.

“Abba” was an everyday word, closer to “Daddy.” No Jew would have dared address God that way, but Jesus did it constantly, teaching his disciples to pray “Our Father.” That was new. Controversial, even.

What Jesus modeled, and Paul echoes, is that we can come to the Father with the boldness of a young child. A child yelled at comes with fear. A child who’s known love comes boldly, asking for what’s on their heart. When did you last ask God that way?

Notice the phrase: “by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!'” Some read this as a cry, not a whisper, something rising from deep in the soul, unable to be held down. A slave doesn’t cry out like that. Only a child does.

Verse 16 confirms it: “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” Per Romans 5:5, that’s because “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” One of his roles is to give us that inward assurance. Pause, do you know how much God loves you? Really?

4. The Spirit Is the First Fruit of Our Inheritance

Verse 17: “and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him.”

We usually think of inheritance as something after death, our eternal reward, “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:4). True. But Paul may be pointing to something even better. What if God himself is our inheritance? As Andrew Murray put it, “it is difficult to suppress the richer and deeper thought that God himself is the inheritance of his children.” Every cell in our being was made to experience the pleasure of God’s presence. There’s no greater reward than that.

But the verse ends with a qualifier we don’t love: provided we suffer with him. That doesn’t mean a cross. It means if you follow Jesus and never feel the ache of a broken world, it’s worth asking whether you truly know him. Jesus suffered daily, grieving over what sin does (Isaiah 53:3). We live between his first coming and his second, and suffering is part of that age. God uses it to refine and draw us closer. We don’t suffer alone; we have a brother tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15).

So, are you living in the blessing of your adoption?

Do you relate to God as Abba, Father? Or still living like a slave, in fear?

Life Through Death

Romans 8:12-17

When we think of self-control, we think of keeping a grip on our temper, our fear, or our emotions.

But what about control of self? The world around us cries out for exactly that: boldly determine your own direction, chase your own dreams, control your own self destiny.

I want to challenge you to stop controlling your self; your plans, your destiny. There is a better way to live, and a more fruitful way to spend your life.

The Gift of the Spirit

The key to Romans 8, the key to this new life in Christ, is the presence of the Holy Spirit. If you are a true believer, the Word of God says you have the Spirit of God living in you. Romans 8:9 puts it plainly, “…Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.”

The evidence of conversion is the presence of the Holy Spirit; our bodies become the temple of God’s presence (see 1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Do you know and experience that presence daily?

Sometimes we get so used to the light that we forget what it was like to walk in the dark. The Spirit awakens even our thinking, giving us wisdom and clarity in an age of brain fog, where our phones and feeds are tools the enemy uses to dull our senses.

Three things the Spirit does for us:

1. He gives us victory over the flesh — not just the power to resist temptation, but a distinctly better path to walk.
2. He is a seal of belonging to God — Jesus purchased us by his blood (see Revelation 5:9), and the Spirit’s presence means we’ve been adopted into God’s family.
3. He gives new life — not revised life, but new life. A creative miracle where there was no life before.

Do you know this life? This isn’t an optional extra. This is the definition of being a Christian.

So Then

Romans 8:12 opens with “so then” — in light of everything just written. Paul writes that we’re debtors to live according to the Spirit, not the flesh. We have no obligation to the old way of life; it has no claim on us. That’s the freedom we have in Christ.

If the Spirit has given us life, we cannot live according to the flesh, which only leads to death. How could we possess life and still chase what kills us? We’re indebted to the Spirit of life, so we put to death anything that threatens it.

Verse 13 says it directly: “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

Two Plots of Land

Picture two plots side by side.

The first is neglected. Nobody plants or waters weeds, yet within weeks, thorns and thistles take over. Why? That’s what uncultivated soil naturally produces, at zero effort. That’s the flesh: sin and division spring up naturally in the human heart when it’s left alone.

The second plot is a managed greenhouse. To grow the fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23), you need deliberate cultivation, watering, pruning, (a kind of death), and light from an outside source, God’s light.

Healthy, fruitful Christian lives require a cutting off. The old KJV language calls it mortification.

How Do We Put Things to Death?

1. Understand what mortification actually means. It’s not masochism, not taking pleasure in hurting ourselves. It’s seeing clearly the results of living in sin and the pain it causes us and everyone around us. No matter what sin you’re wrestling with, it always affects the people near you. That’s a spiritual law.

Jesus said it plainly in Mark 8:34: to take up your cross meant one thing in the Roman world, it was a one-way ticket to execution. He wasn’t exaggerating. The only way to follow him is through self-denial, putting to death any use of our mind, eyes, tongue, hands, or feet that serves our own desires instead of God’s will.

2. It takes action. Pruning a tree or pulling weeds takes work. So does putting the flesh to death. While the Spirit does the work in us, we still have a part to play, this is especially clear with addiction, but it’s true of every sin.

Someone caught in addiction might say, “I prayed, and God didn’t take the desire away.” But freedom from addiction is a miracle that still requires hard work on our side.

Only the Spirit gives us the desire and discipline to reject evil; but we have to take action. Don’t entertain sinful thoughts; they lead to sinful actions (see Romans 13:14). And it’s more than avoidance; we’re called to change how we think (see Philippians 4:8).

If your mind is a garden, you’ll never find beautiful flowers growing in pornography, social media, or the news feed. Beautiful thoughts come from enjoying God’s creation, reading his Word, and having life giving conversations that build people up.

3. Know your why. This life of putting things to death is hard. It runs against our natural pull toward ease and self-indulgence. In a wealthy culture, we can get by on very little effort.

So why do it? The end of verse 13 gives the answer in one Greek word, translated into three English ones: “you will live.” The word is zēsesthe, from zoē, which is the supernatural, God-empowered life.

Jesus came to give us life, not just a pulse and breath, but life that’s vibrant and supernatural, life that overflows to the people around us. We can’t contain it (see John 10:10).

That rich, satisfying, abundant life is yours and mine as we live by the Spirit and put the flesh to death.

Life through death. Are you fully alive?

What the world calls life is selfish, and it causes us, and those around us, pain. What the Spirit offers is authentic, vibrant life.

Do you know this life?

Romans 8:1-11

What defines a good life? Is it having money, enjoying many social events with good friends, or having your dream job? We know that all these are fleeting things; they soon pass.  

How do we determine if we are really living or not?

Jesus said in John 10:10 that he came to give life and life abundantly. But what does that mean? The apostle Paul addresses this in Romans 8:9-11. In verse 9, we read, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.”

There is a big “If” in this verse. How do we know if the Spirit of God lives in us?

The evidence of conversion is the presence of the Holy Spirit within us, witnessing that we are children of God (see Romans 8:16 and 1 Corinthians 6:19-20).  

Every true Christian has become a temple of the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Holy Spirit comes at the moment of placing your faith in the completed work of Jesus Christ on the cross in repentance and conversion (see Ephesians 1:13). The Holy Spirit is a seal of belonging to Jesus.

Nothing to be Added

Be wary of anyone who teaches that there is an additional encounter that somehow makes someone a true Christian or a better Christian. Of course, after conversion, there are additional fillings of the Holy Spirit, encounters with God that can be called fresh anointings, or rich encounters with the Lord – these are often during times of fasting, focused prayer, repentance or preparation for a specific task that the Lord has for us.

Some people teach that after conversion, there is a future date when the person is filled with the Holy Spirit. Often, the dates are far apart. I am not denying their initial salvation experience, or that they had a powerful encounter with the Lord later on, but we don’t believe in the name of Jesus, have a true conversion experience, and then somehow, the Lord leaves us to try to live the Christian life on our own without the Holy Spirit. No, God gives us what He promised at conversion for us to live as followers of Christ.

This can be an example of spiritual elitism, where someone claims to have a superior encounter or special knowledge of the Holy Spirit, and as a result, they look down on other “lesser Christians.” This destroys faith and makes people feel less than who God created them to be. This kind of teaching has done incredible harm in the Body of Christ, causing some people to leave the church and even walk away from following Jesus.

The Bible is clear that the evidence of the Holy Spirit is the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23. This is the evidence we should look for in people’s lives. Many humble believers simply go about their lives as followers of Jesus, sharing the Gospel, praying, fasting, and caring for the broken-hearted. These people are often the ones who display the fruit of the Spirit to a greater measure. The Bible teaches that the Christian life is not defined by supernatural encounters, but rather by steadfast endurance and obedience (see 2 Timothy 4:7). Much like character, the Christian life is not defined by mountain top experiences; rather, it is defined by steadfast obedience to the will of God. I am not diminishing the miraculous and powerful moves of God, but we must not make that the benchmark of what it means to be a good Christian.

Dying But Alive

In verse 10, we read, “But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”

We are saved from sin, but the effects of sin in our bodies is still killing us; we are living in broken and fallen bodies, only to receive our resurrected bodies when Jesus returns. While our physical bodies decline, life in the Holy Spirit becomes more vibrant as we follow his leadership. The more our desires and passions for the things of this world are replaced by eternal and spiritual desires, the more we become increasingly alive.

“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” Romans 8:11.

There is an interesting difference between the word life in verses 10 and 11 – in verse 10, the Greek word is “zóé,” which is a noun and simply means “life.”

But in verse 11, the Greek word is much more complex and means to make alive, or to give life where there was no life before. The Holy Spirit gives us life where there was no life before; this is life in and by the Holy Spirit (see 2 Corinthians 5:17). There is a tremendous difference that takes place in our bodies when the Holy Spirit resides in us; it is new life, even affecting our physical faculties.

How do you Know?

God does not want us to be uncertain of His presence in our lives. The gift of the Holy Spirit is a promise at conversion (see Acts 2:38-39). It begins with repentance, a turning away from sin and turning to follow Christ. Baptism is an act of obedience that signifies death to your old life and being raised to new life in Christ. The core of repentance and baptism is faith. The Holy Spirit is given to everyone who trusts Christ as savior.

Three Activities of the Holy Spirit

1: The Holy Spirit gives us victory over the flesh.

This is more than simply being able to resist temptation, as the Spirit gives us life; He gives us direction for our lives. This is not always doing what our flesh desires, but being led on a distinctly better path.

2: The Holy Spirit is a Seal of Belonging to God.

In Revelation 5:9, we read that Jesus purchased people for God by his blood. We are a part of that people. The presence of the Holy Spirit means belonging; we have been adopted into God’s family.

3: The Holy Spirit gives New life.

This is not revised life, but a new life. The Holy Spirit gives life where we had no life before.  

Do you know this life?

This is not an optional extra; this is the definition of being a Christian.

Romans 8:1-8

Life or Death

In Romans 8:5 Paul writes, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.” There are two kinds of people; those who live according to the flesh, and those who live according to the Spirit of God.

In Romans 8:5-8, Paul contrasts the difference between living according to the flesh and living according to the Spirit. In these verses, we find four aspects of this contrast.

The Mindset

The Holy Spirit writes the law of God on our hearts. This is only true for the believer; the unbeliever is not led by the Spirit, but rather is led by the flesh, thinking about how to satisfy their own desires. The person living in the flesh has a self-centered attitude.

Our sinful nature looks at every situation and decides how to live based on how it will be of benefit to us. It is a question of what motivates us: what are our ambitions? What are the concerns that engross us and consume our energy? The answer to these questions determines who we are, or better yet, whose we are.

If you are filled with the Holy Spirit and led by the Spirit, then your ambitions, motivation, and mindset will be to glorify God through your life. You live for a higher calling (see John 16:13-14). This does not mean that the unsaved person never does anything good, or that the believer never does anything bad. It means that the bent of their lives is different. One lives for the flesh; the other lives for the Spirit.

The Consequences

Romans 8:6 says, “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” The unsaved person is alive physically but dead spiritually. The inner man is dead toward God and does not respond to the things of the Spirit. He may be moral, and even religious, but he lacks spiritual life. The mind of the unsaved man leads him to death and eternal separation from God in Hell. Without Christ, this mindset is selfish and leads to death.

The person whose mind is set on the things of the Spirit, the person who has a personal relationship with Jesus, experiences life and peace. The person whose mind is set on the Spirit has peace with God (see Romans 5:1). Having peace with God, having eternal security, allows us to live at peace in this world. Trouble may come, but we can weather the storm because we experience the peace of God in our lives.

This is more than getting through this world to get to heaven. The Holy Spirit works in our lives as we make daily choices that lead to life or death. What we decide to watch or listen to, what we do with our time and money, are all choices that either lead to life or to death. These are decisions that determine our pursuit of holiness.

The Hostility

Romans 8:7, “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.”

Our mindset determines our fundamental attitude towards God. If we have our mind set on the flesh, aimed at pleasing our sinful nature, we are hostile towards God. This hostility affects all our thoughts and attitudes towards God. Paul wrote that the person who is hostile to God does not submit to the law of God. That person is unable to follow the law of God because they lack the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Pleasing

Romans 8:8, “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

To be “in the flesh” means to be lost, outside of Christ. The unsaved person lives to please himself and rarely, if ever, thinks about pleasing God. The root of sin is selfishness and pride.

How do we please God? (see Hebrews 11:6).

Pleasing God begins with saving Faith—placing our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Then there is the daily living Faith, being led by the Holy Spirit. This means walking out the Christian life and making choices that sometimes look foolish to the world, but these choices  please God when we walk by faith.

Are you alive or are you dead? Are you in the flesh or in the Spirit. Do you know Jesus as your Lord and savior?

You may be a believer, but are you alive? Let me explain. If you are a follower of Jesus, you should look and act differently. If the only difference the world sees in you is that you have a different Sunday morning schedule, then something is wrong. Being empowered by the Holy Spirit affects every aspect of our lives. It should make us look different and sometimes quite odd to the onlooking world.

But we don’t like being odd; we like to fit in, but the result is that we are living like dead people, ignoring the Spirit and living for the flesh, our sinful self. Jesus died on the cross so that we may have life and have it abundantly (see John 10:10), so why do we settle for so much less?

It starts by acknowledging our position before the Lord. King David knew the secret as he prayed, in Psalm 139:23-24;

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
     Try me and know my thoughts!
 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
     and lead me in the way everlasting!

As we invite the Holy Spirit’s scrutiny, repent as He reveals things, renew our minds with His truth (see Romans 12:2), and walk in the Spirit daily, we experience life and peace!

Are you fully alive?

Are you making choices that produce life – led by the Holy Spirit? 

Romans 8:3-8

What is Sin?

Sin is defined as falling short of the glory of God – missing the mark of God’s standard of holiness. Sin is the common human condition. Even Paul the apostle sinned as he wrestled with his sin nature (see Romans 7:14-20). If you have been a Christian for any length of time, you can relate to Paul’s struggle with sin.

As believers, when we sin, we are convicted of sin. In fact, if we don’t sense the conviction of the Holy Spirit, there is a good chance that we are not saved, we don’t know Jesus (see 1 John 1:10).

If we know sin is missing the mark, what is the mark?

What is the Law?

We have the Ten Commandments, as clear, concise set of regulations for relating to God and to our fellow man. But Jesus took the Law and raised the bar in the Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew 5:21-28). Jesus stated that sin is born in our hearts; we are all guilty of thinking and saying things about other people that are sinful.

Romans 8:3 states, “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.”

The nation of Israel was given the law of Moses. Remember, Paul is writing to a mixed audience. Some Jewish believers grew up with the law of Moses, while Gentile believers knew very little about the feasts and the sacrificial system.

Paul didn’t say that the Law was bad or that it failed; it was weakened because human beings could not do what the Law required. We may follow all the rules and regulations, but our thoughts will still drift into sin, and we break the law.

What is the Gospel?

The law couldn’t save, but God provided a way: He sent His own Son, born of a virgin, who lived a common life as a carpenter. Jesus looked and spoke every bit like a Jewish boy growing up in the first century. Paul wrote this to combat a heresy that taught that Jesus was fully God, but he was never a human; he only appeared to be human. Jesus had to be fully man to be the perfect sin offering for our sins. If he were not a human, the cross would have been meaningless.

But Jesus was perfectly human, and he was the final and perfect sin offering for the sins of mankind. The verse clearly states that Jesus died for sin. But more than dying for sin, God the Father condemned sin in Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:21).

God not only made Jesus to become sin; God made Him bear our sin. He also condemned that sin; Jesus was judged and punished for our sin. It was a transfer of guilt, a sentencing, and an execution by God the Father. 

But why did Jesus have to die? Paul explains in verse 4, “in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

When laws are broken, there are consequences. The Law of God points out sin, and when we sin, the righteous requirement of sin is death. But the Good News is that Jesus fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law. We who have placed our faith in Jesus Christ as our savior will never die; we will live eternally in the presence of Jesus.

Walking in the Spirit

Verse 4 ends with the phrase, “…in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”  If the only purpose was for Jesus to fulfill the requirements of the law, the final phrase of the verse would be meaningless.

This phrase is where we live today. Paul reminds his readers that just because Jesus paid the price for our sins, it does not mean we can live however we want. The moral law of God has not been removed, rather as we walk in the Spirit, we are able to fulfill the law (see Matthew 5:17).

The law of God does not go away because we believe in Jesus. When we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are empowered to fulfill the law, to follow the righteous requirements of the law. Not perfectly, but as we grow in our relationship with Jesus, we grow in being led by the Spirit, our sensitivity to sin grows, we begin hating the things that God hates, and we are being transformed into the image of Christ.

Our human sinful flesh makes the law weak because it does not lead to holiness. The Law does not have the power to produce holiness; it can only reveal and condemn sin. But the indwelling Holy Spirit enables us to walk in obedience to God’s will. And as Paul writes in Romans 7, we wrestle with our sin nature and being led by the Spirit.

So how do we know the law, fulfill the law, and walk in the Spirit? When God gives us his Spirit, he writes his law in our hearts (see Jeremiah 31:33 and Ezekiel 36:26-27). This is such an important part of living as a Christian.

Being Christ’s ambassadors in our community, as the law bearers of God, empowered by the Spirit of God to live holy lives for the glory of God. Law abiders, but only because of the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit.

What is holiness? Holiness is Christlikeness, being set apart for Christ.

“The Moral law was not abolished for us; it is to be fulfilled in us.” John Stott.

As we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us, as we walk in the Spirit, we fulfill the righteous requirements of the law, we love God above all else, and we love our neighbor as ourselves.

No Condemnation

Romans 8:1-4

In Romans 7, Paul writes about the Law God gave Moses, which had become a point of tension in the church in Rome. The Judaizers wanted everyone to follow the Law, and the Gentile believers wanted everyone to be led by the Spirit. In Chapter 8, Paul highlights the freedom that believers have in Christ through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

Chapter 8 can be summarized in three phrases: no condemnation, no obligation, and no separation. We will begin by looking at the first phrase.

No Condemnation

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” Romans 8:1.

No condemnation and justification mean the same thing. If you have repented of your sins and asked the Lord Jesus to forgive you, your sins are forgiven. We are justified and made to be in right standing with God because of our faith in what Jesus has done on the cross. He died, shed his blood, and rose again so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (see John 3:16).

But what does condemnation mean?

These verses conclude the argument in chapter 7, where Paul addresses the personal problem we all face in dealing with our own sinful nature. Paul cries out in Romans 7:24, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

In the Bible, the word condemnation is synonymous with damnation, judgment, punishment, destruction, and verdict. In its strongest sense, condemnation means “the banishing to hell all those disobedient to the will of God.” Remember, Jesus spoke frequently about hell and the eternal punishment awaiting all who reject him.

The Law of Moses pronounces every person guilty because it shows us what sin is. Before Christ, everyone had to offer animal sacrifices every year, as a reminder that God punishes sin but also offers forgiveness through repentance. However, animal sacrifices were just a temporary method of dealing with man’s sin until Jesus came to deal with sin forever.

Jesus made it clear that without Him no one can enter the kingdom of heaven (see John 14:6). We all know John 3:16, yet two verse later Jesus said, “Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:18).
Though the Law condemns all mankind, we as believers in Jesus Christ have this glorious promise, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2).

But does that mean we can go on sinning without consequence? Not at all, in Romans 6, Paul addresses this very question (see Romans 6:1-3). In both these passages, Paul uses the phrase, “In Christ”. When we believe in the name of Jesus for salvation, we receive the Holy Spirit, and we are in Christ. Those who are in Christ are set free from the condemnation of sin.

In Christ

I doubt we grasp the depth and the breadth of those two words. Paul uses this term about 164 times in all his letters. To be in Christ is the heart of Christianity. Baptism is our public profession of faith in Jesus. It is us publicly declaring that when Christ died, our old man died, we are aligning ourselves with his death. It is total surrender to the new life in Christ.

Paul explains that when you become a Christian, you move into a realm of new life in Christ, and you come under new management. How can we still desire and walk in the ways of our past life? (see Galatians 2:20).

“The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.” Tim Keller

A New Law

“For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” Romans 8:2.

When we read the word “law”, we are tempted to think of a very thick book of rules and regulations, a judge, and a courthouse. This is not a fun place to be.

But the law of the Spirit of life is a governing principle that God has set in place, much like the law of gravity. When Jesus died on the cross and rose again from the grave, he put in place a new Law, the law called the Gospel. This new law sets us free from the law of sin and death. God still has the old principle/law in place, but by being placed in Christ, we are subject to a new law, the law of peace with God.

In our new position before God, as dead to the Law, we are not expected to obey God in our own strength. God has not enslaved us under a “Christian Law” that we must obey in order to be holy. Rather, He has given us His Holy Spirit, who enables us to fulfill the demands of God’s holiness. And then out of that union with Christ, by the presence of the Holy Spirit, we do things for God, we produce fruit. We give generously, we act in faith, we share the Gospel, we stand against injustice, we care for the poor, we use our time differently, and so much more.

Paul calls this the law of the Spirit of life; it produces life in us and those around us.

What law are you operating in? The law of sin and death, or the law of the Spirit of life?

The law of sin and death is a hard taskmaster; you will never satisfy it.

But the law of the Spirit of life has no condemnation; we have peace with God.

Do you know this freedom?

Are you in Christ?

One of the richest chapters in the Bible is Romans chapter 8. Paul wrote the letter we know as “Romans”, to a blended church in Rome, made up of Jewish and Gentile believers. Many of the Jewish believers held on to the Mosaic law and taught that to be a true Christian, you needed to follow the Law in addition to faith in Christ. While the Gentiles came from many different pagan religions and held to faith in Christ alone. Paul wrote to a church that struggled with unity, giving them a theologically rich letter on which to establish the growing church. We need this letter as much today. Paul wrote a letter to the church in Philippi, where he stressed the unity that believers have in Christ.

Encouragement in Christ

Philippians 2:1 begins, “If there is any encouragement – In Christ…” Being in Christ is our position as Christians, our standing before God. Being In Christ is one of the primary ways Paul describes what it means to be a Christian. This is our vertical resource; we experience encouragement because of communion with God through the Holy Spirit. This is the first and primary position for unity in the Church.

Comfort in Love

“…if there is any comfort from love…” When you become a follower of Jesus, your attitude changes towards other people. The first Fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22 is love. Love is the natural byproduct of a life controlled by the Holy Spirit. The Greek word for love used here is a love that is governed by a willful decision to seek the highest good of the other individual.

Participation in the Spirit

 “…any participation in the Spirit…” This is fellowship that is more than simply sharing a meal together, this is unity because we are united by the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. When we become followers of Jesus we are baptized into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 12:13).

Affection and Sympathy

“…any affection and sympathy”. Because of the tenderness, mercy and compassion that we have received from Christ, we display this to one another. To not have concern for others, is a very clear indication that a person is not in a right relationship with Jesus Christ.

Joy through Unity

In Philippians 2:2 we see that the first result of unity is joy. Paul was overjoyed by their response because he knew that as the Philippian church grew in unity, they would become more effective as a church, being used by God to proclaim the good news of Jesus. Paul was joyful because he knew that they would be like-minded. This unity is not temporal, based on feelings and situations, rather, we remain in unity, because the message of the Gospel is what binds us together. We have a common message, we have the same Holy Spirit, thus we have unity.

This does not mean that we never have disagreements. It is quite normal to expect differences of opinion on certain methods of church activity, but we never compromise on the essentials of our faith and the truth of the Word of God. When we have differences of opinion, the governing principle must be love, the preferential love that always seeks the highest good of others.

In Full Accord

“…being in full accord and of one mind”. To be in full accord and of one mind means that the church knows their purpose and mission. At Grace Point we have the Four Pillars that we come back to; Worship, Word, Mission and Compassion, this is what we exist to do. The mission of the church always superseded our personal preferences, that is Holy Spirit unity.

Avoid Selfish Ambition

Paul gets to the heart of the matter in verse 3, addressing issues that destroy unity. The first sin he attacks is selfish ambition, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit”, conceit is vain glory, this is the person who makes amazing claims about themselves and their ability, while at the same time putting others down (see Proverbs 27:2). Our culture teaches people to promote themselves, but this destroys unity.

Promote Others

“…but in Humility count others more significant than yourselves.” Jesus demonstrated this by, putting others first when he died on the cross for our sins. When we display humility, we will see unity and love flourish in every relationship in our lives. It has been said, “the Christian in right relationship with the Lord treats others as if they were his superiors.” That is the key to living as a part of the body of Christ (see Matthew 20:26-28).

Serve Others

Philippians 2:4 continues, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” A follower of Jesus must be counterculture, they should stop seeking their comforts and their own self-interest, rather looking out for the interest of others. This is the normal Christian life. The social media culture has created a generation of people who only look at themselves. But the Kingdom of God tells us to look out for the interests of others, to have genuine concern for others, even promoting the interests of others (see John 13:35).

Unity is so much bigger than simply getting along in the church, it is spiritual warfare, we need to fight to prefer others, we need to wrestle with our flesh to look out for the interests of others.

When we study the original fall of Satan, his primary sin was pride. The sin of pride and self-seeking is the root of all sins. So, to walk in the opposite spirit of humility goes against the spirit of this world.

It is worth it, for the unity of the church and for the glory of God.