Session 2: Day 7 (Romans 8)

[music] Romans 8. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do since it was weakened by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering, in order that the law's requirement would be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on the things of the flesh. But those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on the things of the Spirit. Now, the mindset of the flesh is death, but the mindset of the Spirit is life and peace. The mindset of the flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it is unable to do so. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If indeed the Spirit of God lives in you, if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him. Now, if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through his Spirit who lives in you. So then, brothers and sisters, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh, because if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all those led by God's Spirit are God's sons. For you did not receive a Spirit of slavery to ball back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father!" The Spirit Himself testifies together with our Spirit that we are God's children. And if children also heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God's sons to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in the hope that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of God's children. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now. Not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the first fruits, we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption the redemption of our bodies. Now in this hope we were saved, but hope that a scene is not hope because who hopes for what He sees. Now if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience. In the same way, the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to His purpose. For those He for knew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the first born among many brothers and sisters. And those He predestined, He also called. And those He called, He also justified. And those He justified, He also glorified. What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He did not even spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all. How will He not also, with Him, grant us everything? Who can bring an accusation against God's elect? God is the one who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is the one who died, but even more has been raised. He also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us. Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written, because of you, we are being put to death all day long. We are counted as sheep to be slaughtered. No. In all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing. We'll be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Romans 8 is one of the most powerful dense chapters in the whole Bible. It opens by saying, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus." So of course, we love it already. One important thing to do anytime you see a connecting word in your Bible, words like so, because, since, therefore, is to see what it's connecting you to. These words point us to cause and meaning and motive. For instance, this first has the word "therefore," right at the beginning, which means it's pointing us back to the end of chapter 7, where Paul was talking about Jesus delivering us from ourselves. So here's how it all connects. Jesus delivers us from ourselves. Therefore, there is no condemnation for anyone who is in Christ. Even when the individual sentences in Scripture make total sense on their own, context and connection can really help us see more of the big picture. Then Paul juxtaposes the Spirit and the flesh, and reminds us how Christ traded his life for hours. He tells us to set our minds on the things of the Spirit, to choose wisely what we think about, because our thoughts will become our actions. He says, "We have the power to do this because we have the Spirit, whereas the lost are helpless to fight sin with anything other than another type of sin." For instance, they might bite gluttony with vanity, or fear with control, but either way, sin still wins. That is not victory and it is not freedom. But those who have the Spirit, which is all believers according to verse 9, will discover the Spirit empowering their lives. That's what it looks like to be children of God. The Spirit is the sign of our adoption into God's family. His presence in us is the whole reason we can call God our Father. And we're not only God's children, we're co-heirs with Jesus. What? That position and relationship will involve suffering, but ultimately glory, which means the suffering will be worth it. In the meantime, we live in a broken world that longs for redemption, and we also wait and long for our redemption to be complete in real time. As we wait, the Spirit helps us. He prays for us. Did you catch that? God prays for you. The Spirit prays to the Father on your behalf. And He always prays for things that align with the Father's will, so His prayers for you will always be granted. Ultimately, everything that happens is in God's hands, and He's working all those things together. Good, bad, and ugly, like only He can, to glorify Himself and do good to you. The chapter wraps up with the reminders of so many ways God has blessed His kids. He for new us. He predestined us to be in His family. He called us. He justified us, and glorified us. And because God has done such a great work in our lives, literally nothing and no one can stand against that. As a matter of fact, Jesus, the one who died for us, who is currently seated at the right hand of the Father, He is praying for us too. So God, the Spirit is praying for us, and God, the Son is praying for us, and you cannot beat that tag team. In Him, we are more than conquerors against distress and persecution and anger. How do you do more than conquer? You turn your enemies into your servants. You make what tried to kill you, serve you. Which is exactly what God says He does for us in 828. He works it all together for our good. Nothing can separate God's kids from God's love, not even our sins, not even ourselves. And that's incredible news because He's where the joy is. I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and you're listening to The He's Where the Joy is Podcast Presented by LifeLate.