So, What Happened? Why Didn't The Jews Believe?

November 08, 2024 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Romans 9:30-33

30 What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33 as it is written,
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

Chapters 9–11 make up one unified, technically complex section, filled with Old Testament allusions and quotations. As we work through this section, we see that Paul is examining and answering four related questions:

1. Why did so many of the Jews refuse to accept Jesus as Messiah?
2. In light of Jewish rejection of Jesus and Gentile acceptance of Jesus, has God replaced the Jews with the Gentiles as His chosen people?
3. Is there any hope that the Jews who previously rejected Jesus as Messiah might one day turn back and believe?
4. In light of all of the above, what is God up to?

Paul has been explaining to the Romans that the Old Testament prophets foretold that God would one day bring in the Gentiles and that unbelieving Israel would face consequences for that unbelief. In today’s reading, Paul is breaking it down even further by answering the question:

So, what happened? Why didn’t the Jews believe?

30 What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; [Romans 9:30].

Well, says Paul, believe it or not the Gentiles (of all people)—the Gentiles who didn’t even have the Law and had no idea what righteousness really meant—the Gentiles have actually now become righteous because of their faith—their trust—in Jesus.

In contrast:

31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law [Romans 9:31].

The Jews—who had been actually instructed by God and had the Law—missed what God is doing. Here’s why:

32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33 as it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame” [Romans 9:32-33].

Paul says that the Jews are missing the key aspect of relationship with God, i.e., they are failing to trust, to have faith. In fact, they have tripped up over Jesus!

32b They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33 as it is written,
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame” [Romans 9:32b–33].

Jesus is the stumbling block; because the Jews were unwilling to accept Him as Messiah, they have completely missed what God is doing. Anyone who believes in Jesus will be saved, but if you refuse to believe in Jesus because He doesn’t conform to your expectations, you will trip up and fall.

“Who is Jesus?” You have to answer that question one way or the other—to not answer it by trying to avoid it is still answering it.

How would you answer that question today?

God Is Working The Long Game

November 07, 2024 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Romans 9:25-29

25 As indeed he says in Hosea,
“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’”
26 “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”
27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, 28 for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” 29 And as Isaiah predicted,
“If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring,
we would have been like Sodom
and become like Gomorrah.”

Throughout this whole section, Paul has been dealing with four related questions:

There are more Old Testament quotations in Romans 9–11 than in the whole rest of the letter, and here Paul offers a few more.

First, from Hosea, Paul makes a point about the Gentiles:

25 Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’”
26 “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ‘sons of the living God’” [Romans 9:25–26].

Paul uses the quotation from Hosea to make the point that the Lord was always planning to bring in people into His family who were originally outsiders, so Paul wants the Romans to understand that the inclusion of the Gentiles shouldn’t be shocking.

Second, from Isaiah, Paul makes a point about the Jews:

27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, 28 for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” 29 And as Isaiah predicted,
“If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring,
we would have been like Sodom
and become like Gomorrah” [Romans 9:27–29].

Just as the Old Testament prophets has said that the Lord would one day bring in the Gentiles, Paul also reminds the Roman church that the Lord had warned the Jews that there would be consequences for unbelief:

In 9:27 Paul quotes Isaiah to make the point that just because there are lots of people related to Abraham does not mean they will all be saved; rather, only the small (faithful) number will be saved;
In 9:29 Paul quotes Isaiah to make the point that, even if the majority of Israel rejects the Messiah, nevertheless there will still be a faithful remnant.

Paul’s point is just to explain to the Roman church that the inclusion of the believing Gentiles and the exclusion of unbelieving Jews was already foretold in Scripture.

God Will Change His Plans In Response To Human Actions

November 06, 2024 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Romans 9:19-24

19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?

Today’s commentary will be crucial to our understanding of everything Paul is saying. If you miss Paul’s allusion to Jeremiah 18, you will end up drawing the wrong conclusions from Romans 9–11.

We are in the midst of a technical and complicated argument Paul is making in chapters 9–11 as he examines and answers four related questions:

At the time Paul is writing the majority of the Jews—Paul’s own people!—have rejected Jesus, while more and more Gentiles are coming to faith. This would seem to imply that God has abandoned His people. Paul is explaining why this is not the case.

In our previous reading, we’ve seen how Paul has explained that sometimes God uses certain people for His salvation purposes. The implication (which Paul will specifically state many times in his letter, e.g., Romans 11:15) is that God is currently using Israel’s refusal to accept the Messiah as part of His plan.

So, Paul anticipates someone objecting to his point:

“If God is using Israel’s refusal to accept Jesus as part of his plan, then how can God possibly hold Israel accountable for that refusal?”

You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” [Romans 9:19].

Paul’s answer: Are you kidding me? Who are you to possibly assume you know better than God?

19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? [Romans 9:19–21].

You cannot understand this passage unless you know the Old Testament allusions and “hyperlinks” behind it.

In the background here is Isaiah 29:16:

16 You turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,
that the thing made should say of its maker,
“He did not make me”;
or the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?

As well as Isaiah 45:9:

9 Woe to him who strives with him who formed him,
a pot among earthen pots!
Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’
or ‘Your work has no handles’?

The point Isaiah is making (and to which Paul is alluding) is that as the creatures, who are we to question the Creator? The Roman Gentile Christians were lording it over the Jewish Christians, assuming that the Gentiles had become the new chosen people, replacing Israel. After all— they might have said—if Israel is still the chosen nation, then why aren’t more Jews becoming believers in Jesus as Messiah? Paul has no patience for this kind of thing—if God wants to choose to bring in the Gentiles, then so be it. Who are we to question?

But Paul goes further and makes an even more explicit Old Testament allusion:

21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? [Romans 9:21–24].

Here, Paul is referencing the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah, who was instructed by God to go and pay a visit to a potter. It is vital that we closely read the Jeremiah passage or else we will miss what Paul is doing in Romans 9–11.

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words.” 3 So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. 4 And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do [Jeremiah 18:1–4].

First, Jeremiah goes to visit the potter, and he sees that, as the potter is working, one of the pottery dishes becomes messed up, so he reworks the clay and turns it into something else.

Having shown Jeremiah this lesson, God speaks to him concerning His providential purposes:

5 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8 and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it [Jeremiah 18:5–8].

There are two crucial points here:

1. God is within His rights to pronounce judgment and destruction on a disobedient nation (specifically Israel, in this case);
2. BUT IF THAT NATION, UNDER GOD’S JUDGMENT, THEN REPENTS AND CHANGES ITS WAYS, GOD WILL RELENT AND FORBEAR RELEASING THE DESTRUCTION HE HAD PREVIOUSLY INTENDED.

To make the point even more explicit, God continues His lesson to Jeremiah:

9 And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, 10 and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. 11 Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds’ [Jeremiah 18:9–11].

Now, God makes the related but opposite point to that above:

1. If God has promised blessing and life to a nation because of its obedience,
2. But if that nation then subsequently turns from life and begins to follow after evil, THEN GOD WILL CHANGE HIS PLANS FROM BLESSING TO DESTRUCTION.

Friends, this is one of the most important points Paul has made so far in all of Romans, and the meaning is as clear as day:

God’s desire is blessing, and if people who are under judgment subsequently repent, God will change His plans and bring blessing, but if people who are under blessing subsequently begin to do evil, God will change His plans and bring destruction.

IN OTHER WORDS, GOD WILL CHANGE HIS PLANS DEPENDING ON WHETHER PEOPLE ARE OBEDIENT OR DISOBEDIENT, DO GOOD OR DO EVIL.

This is the plain sense of Jeremiah 18:1–11. God is warning Judah (Judah is the only surviving tribe of Israel at the point Jeremiah is prophesying, which is roughly around 600 B.C.) that, though the people have been disobedient, and that destruction is coming, it is not too late to change direction, and if they change, then God will change His plan.

With all that in the background, let’s look again what Paul is arguing in vv. 19–24:

19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? [Romans 9:19–24].

God is the potter, shaping history. If the chosen people are now hardhearted toward the Messiah, then God—who has been extremely patient with the Jews (has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction)—has simply moved to share His mercy in a place where it will be received, namely the Gentile nations. The very fact that God is bringing in the Gentiles is a both a sign of his mercy—Paul calls the Gentile Christians vessels of mercy [v. 23]—and a confirmation of the warning that the prophets gave to Israel long ago, namely that their hard hearts would leave God no choice but to give them over to judgment.

Paul’s point in all of this is this: “No, God hasn’t abandoned Israel—He warned them for centuries and finally now God has decided to work in a new way and bring in the Gentiles. But, if Israel were to repent, He’d pour out mercy on them, too.”

This is a heavy message, both terrifying and encouraging. We American Christians need to remember:

1. God is expecting us to stay faithful and not presume we can abandon the Lord and escape the consequences of our apostasy.
2. But it is also not too late for anyone to turn in repentance to the Lord—God is eagerly offering every person the chance to receive mercy and move from death to life.

How seriously do you need to take #1? How seriously do you need to pray for point #2?

Is God Unfair?

November 05, 2024 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Romans 9:14-18

14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

Chapters 9–11 make up one unified, technically complex section, filled with Old Testament allusions and quotations. As we work through this section, we will see that Paul is examining and answering four related questions:

HAVE THE GENTILES REPLACED THE JEWS AS THE CHOSEN PEOPLE?

At the time Paul is writing his letter, most of the people who are becoming Christians are Gentiles, not Jews, and in the Roman church some of the Gentile Christians were implying that the Jews were no longer the chosen people. In our previous days' readings, Paul has lamented the failure of so many of his Jewish brethren to come to faith in Jesus, but he has said that this failure does not mean that God has failed. Using the Old Testament, Paul has shown that it has always been the case that God has chosen to use merely one part of Abraham’s family.

Is it unfair for God to single out certain people to play specific roles in salvation history?

Paul’s answer: By no means! [v 9:14b]

Paul then uses the example of Moses and Pharaoh to make his point.

The very first thing the Israelites did after the Lord made a covenant with them at Mt. Sinai was to make a golden calf and worship it! One would think that this would mean the end of their relationship with the Lord, but surprisingly, the Lord continued to be faithful to Israel. In fact, when Moses presses the Lord on this point, the Lord replies,

15 I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion [Romans 9:15, referencing Exodus 33:19].

As Paul points out, God even uses Pharaoh—of all people—as part of His plan of salvation. The point of the Pharaoh example is that hard hearts can be used by God to bring other people to saving faith—just as God previously used Pharaoh’s refusal to relent to bring salvation to the Hebrews, so now God is using the hard hearts of the Jews to bring salvation to the Gentiles. (But we are getting ahead of ourselves—Paul hasn’t gotten there yet.)

18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills [Romans 9:18].

If you take this verse out of context, it at first seems that God is deliberately hardening the hearts of the Jews so that they will NOT believe. But, as we shall see, this is not the point Paul is making. (The problem is that we have to read his entire argument in chapters 9–11 to get his overall point.)

1. Paul will go on to explain in chapter 11 that even Jews who initially rejected Jesus are capable of later changing their minds and coming to faith in Him. Paul is not here talking about God making someone permanently incapable of repenting and responding to the Gospel.

2. For another thing, the example of Pharaoh is complicated. In Exodus, the Lord continually reaches out to Pharaoh and gives him chance after chance to repent. Finally, and tragically, Pharaoh stubbornly refuses to repent but God even uses Pharaoh’s refusal for His salvation purposes.

The point Paul is making here is that God shows mercy in surprising ways!

We’ll have to read on to see how this applies to the question, Have the Gentiles replaced the Jews as the chosen people?

In the meantime, don’t give up hope today—God’s mercy often comes in surprising ways and places. Keep praying. Whatever the result of the election, do not assume you know how God is at work.

The Israel Within Israel

November 04, 2024 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Romans 9:6-29

6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. 9 For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” 10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

Previously we read about the grief and sorrow Paul has experienced because so few of the Jews—his own flesh and blood!—have accepted Jesus as Messiah, despite the fact that they have the amazing privilege of being God’s chosen people.

Does this mean that God’s promises to Israel have failed? Paul’s answer? NO.

Why?

Paul points out that there were always two “Israels” within Abraham's family—the people literally (biologically) descended from Abraham, and then the ones God chose to use in a certain way for His salvation purposes. There is an Israel within Israel, so to speak:

6b For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring [Romans 9:6b–8].

There is an Israel within Israel, and so God is not unfaithful to His promises when He chooses this or that person to play an important role in salvation history. Yes, Ishmael is descended from Abraham as well as Isaac, but God chose Isaac—the child of promise, of faith—to be the one He would work through; Esau is descended from Abraham just like Jacob is descended from Abraham, but God chose Jacob to be the one He would work through, this despite the fact that the boys were twins and unlike Isaac and Ishmael, came from the same mother. Moreover, Jacob was the younger brother. And on top of that, God chose to work through Jacob even before he was born—when she was pregnant, Rebekah their mother was told:

12 The older will serve the younger [Romans 9:12].

In other words, the fact that God chose to work through Jacob’s line had nothing to do with Jacob deserving to be chosen—rather, God just chose Jacob according to God’s own mysterious (mysterious from a human point of view, that is) purposes.

This is why the above matters:

Paul’s argument should matter to us is because he is making a very simple but profound point: God can choose how He will work through human history. When He picks Isaac and not Ishmael, Jacob and not Esau, He is working according to his deep purposes. In the Bible, this concept is called election.

Election is the idea that God chooses to work in particular and specific ways, and through particular and specific groups of people. The Lord did not choose Israel to be the chosen people because they were somehow better than the other nations; He chose them as an act of grace. Israel didn’t choose God, God chose Israel. The elect are those who find themselves chosen by God to play an important role in God’s plan—in the Old Testament, Israel is the chosen nation, the elect. When God singled out Abraham to play an important part in salvation history, that was always God’s prerogative. To be singled out to play an important part does not mean you are any better than anyone else.

As we shall see, Paul is not saying that people have no choice in the matter—people can and do choose how they will respond to God’s choosing of them. Will they respond to His gracious invitation with faith, or with hard hearts? And, the ones chosen by God to play a part in salvation history—“the elect”—is a group that is continually being added to. In fact (and Paul will explain this in Romans 11), Paul believes that it’s not too late for the unbelieving Jews, and that some of them will come to put their faith in Jesus before the end.

But, in this section, Paul’s overall point is simple:

Just because right now the majority of the descendants of Abraham have failed to believe in the Messiah is not something new that God is doing; God is not a liar—it has always been the case that God was working through only one part of the descendants of Abraham.

In the same way, none of us chose the circumstances or timing of our birth. Why were we born when or where we were born, to those particular parents? The answer is known only to God. What Paul is reminding the Romans here is that God doesn’t work in ways that immediately make sense to the world.

Is this unfair? That’s the question Paul will tackle next.

Why Didn't More Jews Believe In Jesus?

November 01, 2024 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Romans 9:1-5

9 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

Sometime around A.D. 57 Paul sent the letter we now call Romans to the network of house churches in Rome that together made up the Roman church. The Resurrection of Jesus took place in either A.D. 30 or A.D. 33 (either of those two dates is possible), and in the first few years after the Resurrection, the church was primarily made up of Jewish Christians, i.e., people who had a Jewish background before they believed in Jesus. But as the Gospel spread around the Mediterranean—and the Apostle Paul was one of the missionaries and church planters who was most responsible for its spread—the church became more and more Gentile. As the decades went on, fewer and fewer Jews were coming to faith in Christ. When Paul sent his letter, the Roman church was made up of both Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians, but there was some tension between the two groups, and it’s likely that at the time Paul was writing that the Gentile Christians had come to make up a majority of the Roman church.

It seems that in the Roman church, the Gentile Christians were feeling superior to the Jewish Christians because so many of the Jewish people had failed to recognize Jesus as Messiah. In light of this fact, the Roman Gentile Christians believed that perhaps God has abandoned His chosen people and that they—the Gentiles—were the new chosen people: they had superseded—replaced—Israel.

Paul is going to spend the next three chapters dealing the following questions:

1. Why did so many of the Jews refuse to accept Jesus as Messiah?
2. In light of Jewish rejection of Jesus and Gentile acceptance of Jesus, has God replaced the Jews with the Gentiles as His chosen people?
3. Is there any hope that the Jews who previously rejected Jesus as Messiah might one day turn back and believe?
4. In light of all of the above, what is God up to?

Paul himself was a Jewish Christian, and the failure of so many of his people to recognize Jesus as Messiah was a source of pain for Paul:

2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh [Romans 9:2–3].

What happened? Why didn’t more Jews believe in Jesus? God chose the family of Abraham—Israel—to be His chosen people; the Old Testament is the account of how God worked through Israel:

4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen [Romans 9:4–5].

So, despite being the chosen people and having all the privileges and blessings of hearing directly from God (!), despite being the people from whom the Messiah came (!), the Jews in Paul’s day missed recognizing Jesus as Messiah. Why? What does their blindness to the Gospel mean? Did God forsake His people? Was God unfaithful to His promises to Israel? Have the Jews been replaced by the Gentiles? In chapters 9–11, Paul will give an answer.

An overview of Paul’s answer: No, the Jews have not been replaced by the Gentiles; rather, God is working His plan of salvation, and throughout history God has used certain people at certain times for the larger purpose of bringing salvation to all who will receive it. If the majority of the Jews are rejecting Jesus, somehow their rejection is being used by God to be part of His overall salvation plan, but His promises to Israel are still valid and will be forever—He has not given up on Abraham’s family.

In the meantime, I think it’s worth thinking through the idea of privilege in our lives. Paul lists all the privileges that the Jews enjoyed, and yet they missed Jesus.

What are we doing with what we have been given?

We know the Gospel—are we living as if we know it?

We have the Gospel—are we doing anything with it?

Paul's Thundering Climactic Crescendo

October 31, 2024 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Romans 8:38-39

38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 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.

Romans chapter 8 is like a symphonic movement with various musical themes appearing and then reappearing, all the while the piece is building to its breathtaking final measures, and here we have arrived at Paul’s thundering climactic crescendo.

Paul concludes his reassurance to the Romans not with precise argument but with ten poetic phrases that are meant to represent anything and everything that is arrayed against those who are in Christ Jesus. There is literally nothing in the created order that can take us out of God’s love because God is the one true Creator, and all things ultimately answer to Him.

The gift of Christ Jesus is proof of God’s love, and the believer ought to find peace and strength in that fact.

The Hyper-Nike-Men

October 30, 2024 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

I have some questions for you:

Are Some People Predestined to Hell?
Why Did So Many Jews Refuse to Believe in Jesus?
Are the Jews Still the Chosen People?

You know you’re interested! Our final All-Church Bible Study of 2024 is TONIGHT, Wednesday, 10/30, and we’ll be covering those questions as we look at chapters 9-11 in Paul’s Letter to the Romans. 6:30-8:00 PM. Sanctuary. Dinner beforehand.

P.S. Our new Romans reading guides are in! Pick yours up at Asbury, or email Sandie and she’ll mail you one. Readings begin on 11/1, and I’m really excited to work through this final section of Romans with you.

This is going to be a fascinating evening, and I hope you’ll make every effort to attend. Bring friends!

Romans 8:37

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

“We are more than conquerors” is five words in English, but just one verb in Greek.

Until my recent study of Romans, I had always assumed that “more than conquerors” was just hyperbole that Paul is using for effect, like saying “we didn’t just win, we dominated.” But, in fact Paul is here making a profound point about the Christian life.

The Greek verb can be transliterated hypernikōmen. It is a compound verb that means “to be completely victorious.” In Greek the goddess Nike is the goddess of victory, and there is a verb based on that name—“to nike” something is to triumph over it. By using the prefix “hyper” Paul is talking about “hyper-nike-ing” something or “super nike-ing” something. It’s a verb for complete and total triumph.

What does he mean by that?

In the deep mystery of the gospel, how is it that Jesus defeats death?

By dying.

In other words, Jesus uses the power of His enemy against itself. The very thing that is working against Him becomes the very thing that is working for Him.

This is why the devil is no match for God—God is so powerful that He can even turn weakness to strength.

It’s the ultimate jiu-jitsu move.

In this way, Jesus is a “more-than-conqueror”—He doesn’t just defeat His enemy, He uses His enemy’s strength against Him. It is a complete, utter triumph.

So, why would Paul use the phrase hypernikōmen here, when describing Christians who are facing difficulty and suffering?

Because it is through suffering and difficulty that we triumph. The things that are arrayed against us become part of a testimony of God’s grace toward us.

In Revelation, John sees the beast kill the martyrs, but though it seems like the beast is victorious, it’s actually the martyrs who have overcome the beast. Why?

Because the very fact that the beast kills the martyrs proves that it doesn’t have power over them—it can’t make them renounce the truth.

So, we are “more-than-conquerors” because even great suffering and difficulty are being turned to our good because they are shaping us into Christ’s image and because through our weakness we testify to God’s strength.

This is what Tertullian—the church father from the second century—meant when he said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” In other words, even when the Christians were killed by the Romans, their very deaths testified to the power of the Gospel, and more

people came to faith as a result.

The way of Jesus is the way of the cross:

There is difficulty and suffering;

But that very suffering becomes the sign of victory through the love of God. How can you be “more-than-a-conqueror” through

Cancer?
Grief?
Divorce?
Addiction?

We are the “hyper-Nike-men.”

(Maybe my favorite Greek word ever.)

Sheep To Slaughter

October 29, 2024 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

I have some questions for you:

Are Some People Predestined to Hell?
Why Did So Many Jews Refuse to Believe in Jesus?
Are the Jews Still the Chosen People?

You know you’re interested! Our final All-Church Bible Study of 2024 is Wednesday, 10/30, and we’ll be covering those questions as we look at chapters 9-11 in Paul’s Letter to the Romans. 6:30-8:00 PM. Sanctuary. Dinner beforehand.

This is going to be a fascinating evening, and I hope you’ll make every effort to attend. Bring friends!

Romans 8:36

36 As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

When Paul quotes from the Old Testament, he uses one verse or phrase as a hyperlink into a larger idea. Here he takes just one verse from Psalm 44, but the idea he wants to convey is powerful.

Psalm 44 is a complaint against God. This is how the psalmist begins:

44 O God, we have heard with our ears,
our fathers have told us,
what deeds you performed in their days,
in the days of old:
2 you with your own hand drove out the nations,
but them you planted;
you afflicted the peoples,
but them you set free;
3 for not by their own sword did they win the land,
nor did their own arm save them,
but your right hand and your arm,
and the light of your face,
for you delighted in them.

But the psalmist has a complaint against God, namely that in his day God seems to have forgotten the people:

9 But you have rejected us and disgraced us
and have not gone out with our armies.
10 You have made us turn back from the foe,
and those who hate us have gotten spoil.
11 You have made us like sheep for slaughter
and have scattered us among the nations.

If the people had been sinful or idolatrous, then the psalmist could understand that they were simply bearing the consequences for their actions. But the psalmist knows that the people are innocent of wrongdoing, and yet still they are being persecuted and oppressed:

17 All this has come upon us,
though we have not forgotten you,
and we have not been false to your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back,
nor have our steps departed from your way;
19 yet you have broken us in the place of jackals
and covered us with the shadow of death.
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God
or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
21 would not God discover this?
For he knows the secrets of the heart.
22 Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered [Psalm 44:1–22]

Why would Paul quote Psalm 44:22 here, at the end of his great eighth chapter?

He is reminding the Romans that suffering is not a sign that they have done anything wrong or are somehow abandoned by God.

Suffering can be part of God’s redemptive plan, and the Jesus-people will face suffering.

But just like Jesus, God will use the suffering of His people for their good.

Penultimate Assurance

October 28, 2024 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

I have some questions for you:

Are Some People Predestined to Hell?
Why Did So Many Jews Refuse to Believe in Jesus?
Are the Jews Still the Chosen People?

This is going to be a fascinating evening, and I hope you’ll make every effort to attend. Bring friends!

Romans 8:35

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

When I was in high school, I distinctly remember trying to seem smart by working the word “penultimate” into an essay. I thought “penultimate” meant something like “extremely ultimate” or “super ultimate” or something like that. (It shows how little thought I really gave to it, since “ultimate” implies last or final, so how could something be extremely final?!)

It was several years later that I learned what that “penultimate” actually means “the next-to-last” or “second to last” or “the one before the last one.”

It is important that we remember that Paul has been talking to the Roman Christians about how even suffering and difficulty can be part of God’s plan. He has assured them that all things are working together for good, even the hard things (see Romans 8:28). He has reminded them that the presence of the Holy Spirit is a comfort even in the midst of suffering, and that the inner witness of the Spirit tells them that they are beloved children of God (see Romans 8:16).

Here, Paul is not merely reminding the Romans that ultimately things will be okay—though of course that’s true and he believes that—rather he is also giving them what N.T. Wright helpfully refers to as “penultimate assurance.” That is, he is assuring things that even in the midst of hard things in this life, God is still with them. This is the great testimony of the martyrs—that even at the darkest hour, the love of God was still with them.

Many people reading this will have had similar experiences: at a really dark point—say a cancer ward—they still knew that God was with them. As he builds toward his majestic climactic point, Paul wants the Romans to know that none of the bad things that occur are enough to move them out of experiencing the love of God.

· Famine was all-too-common in the ancient world;
· Nakedness was the situation one found oneself in before crucifixion for
example, or after shipwreck;
· Danger from both man and beast was often encountered by travelers;
· The sword was used by the executioner (Paul uses the word for “short
sword,” the kind executioners used).

What these and the other examples do is show us that there is no situation in life whereby we are totally bereft and separated from God. Looking back on your life in Christ, what could you add to that list?

Not grief

Not cancer

Not divorce

Not addiction

None of these things can separate us from the love of Christ Jesus our Lord.

It Literally Doesn't Matter What Anyone Else Says

October 25, 2024 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

I have some questions for you:

Are Some People Predestined to Hell?
Why Did So Many Jews Refuse to Believe in Jesus?
Are the Jews Still the Chosen People?

This is going to be a fascinating evening, and I hope you’ll make every effort to attend. Bring friends!

Romans 8:33-34

33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Paul was no stranger to persecution. He knew that the Christian life required fortitude and perseverance under pressure. So, part of what he is doing in this letter is giving the Roman church what it needs to stand firm under pressure.

He imagines Christians being accused by hostile Roman society the way Jesus was accused in front of Pontius Pilate. But because God is the ultimate and only judge who matters and because Jesus has died and has taken His place at the right hand of the Father—“from where He shall come to judge the living and the dead”—he reminds that Romans that it doesn’t matter what anyone else says. People can lie about you and accuse you and insult you, but nothing they say will affect your status as part of “God’s elect,” that is God’s people. And since God is working all things for good and because that includes your future position in glory and because the Holy Spirit is with us now and gives us comfort in the midst of difficulties—because of all those things, the only word that matters is God’s word.

Keep going, and do not be afraid.

Skin In The Game

October 24, 2024 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Romans 8:31-32

31 What then shall we say 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 with him graciously give us all things?

It’s really this simple:

God can be trusted because He has skin in the game, so to speak:

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all… [Romans 8:32]

Therefore, we believe God is good even when things are difficult.

If God is for us, who can be against us?

Let's Talk "Predestination"

October 23, 2024 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Romans 8:28-30

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Romans 8:28 is one of the greatest verses in the entire scripture: God is taking EVERYTHING and turning it to the good of His beloved children, even their sufferings.

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

In verses 29-30, Paul goes on to tell us that God has been actually working out this plan from before The Beginning.

29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

“Predestination” is the theological idea in some parts of the Christian tradition that God has already chosen who will believe—and therefore be saved—and who will not believe—and therefore be condemned. But that is not what Romans 8:29-30 is about! In v. 29, God has “predetermined” that those who love God (see v. 28) will be shaped to be more like Jesus. In other words what is predestined is not who will believe but what God’s plan is for those who believe.

Romans 8:28 tells us that God is working everything together for good. Verses 29-30 tell us that God will not abandon the Jesus-people until they take their place in glory. He doesn’t just forgive and leave it at that, but rather God works all the way through until the plan is complete. Paul puts it like this is his letter to the Philippians:

6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ [Philippians 1:6].

Paul tells us that God “foreknows” who will believe, but that is not the same thing are “forcing” belief. In the same way, God foreknows that human beings will sin, but that foreknowledge does not force sin. What vv. 28-30 tell us is that God is working everything together for good, and that part of His divine plan is to keep working in the lives of those who are in Christ until God’s ultimate purpose is realized—a restored and glorified humanity taking its place in the restored new creation. And God has always planned to involved humanity in this way—it was “predestined.”

God’s intention, Paul emphasizes, is to bring to glory every person who has been justified [made right, declared innocent—AF] by faith in Jesus Christ. Our assurance of ultimate victory rests on this promise of God to us. But Paul, ever the realist, knows that that ultimate victory may lie many years ahead—years that might be filled with pain, anxiety, distress, and injustice. Thus he also encourages us by reminding us that God sends his Spirit into the heart of everyone he justifies. The Spirit brings power and comfort to the believer in the midst of suffering and he brings assurance in the midst of doubt. Christians who are unduly anxious about their relationship to the Lord are failing to let the Spirit exercise that ministry. It is by committing ourselves anew to the life of devotion—prayer, Scripture reading, Christian fellowship—that we enable the Spirit to have this ministry of assurance in our hearts. —Douglas Moo

These verses are meant to be a comfort to people who are struggling and suffering.

“I’m having a hard time.”

“Well, God is working all things together for good, for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.”

“Can you say more?”

“Well, from before time He knew you and had a plan for you, a plan to save you and put you in right relationship with Him and to ultimately restore you to rule in His name.”

In this way, we can see that verse 28 runs right into vv. 29-30, which are meant to comfort the afflicted believer in exactly the same way as v. 28 and, as we shall see, vv. 31-39.

“Yes, stuff is hard but it’s actually still part of God’s plan.”

You Should Memorize This Verse

October 22, 2024 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Romans 8:28

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

This is one of the most well-known and beloved verses in the entire Bible, and for good reason.

It can be translated in three different ways:

· “for those who love God all things work together for good” [ESV]
· “God makes all things work together for good” [NRSV]
· “in all things God works together with those who love him to bring about
what is good” [NIV textual note]

I think Paul deliberately wants us to think of all three meanings at once. God is working with everything and working with and through and around His people to bring about the good.

We have to be careful not to twist Romans 8:28 to a sort of magic formula, however. What Paul is NOT saying is that those who love God will not have any problems. Rather, what Paul is saying is that even problems can be used by God to bring about the ultimate good. The definitive example of this is the crucifixion of Jesus, which was a bad thing but which God, through the Holy Spirit, turned into the good thing of the resurrection.

Keep going—even the bad things will be used for good.

Like Spiritual Fireman, Running Toward A 5-Alarm Emergency

October 21, 2024 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Romans 8:26-27

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Paul has been talking about the painful realities of life in a fallen world. But in a previous reading (verse 23) he reminded us that the fact that God has given us the Holy Spirit is proof that things are going to be okay:

22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience [Romans 8:22–25].

The Holy Spirit is “the firstfruits,” the down payment or guarantee that we have reason to hope. The firstfruits were the part of the farmer’s crop that ripened first, and the appearance of the firstfruits were indication that the rest would later follow. God has given us His Holy Spirit now, in the midst of the broken world, and so the joy and hope that the Holy Spirit gives us now—even while things can still be really difficult—is a sign of better things yet to come.

But, despite the presence of the Holy Spirit’s and the encouragement He gives, there are still many times when it seems impossible to feel hopeful.

What do you say, what do you do in the midst of great suffering, loss, and pain?

Since Columbine, there have been more and more mass shootings at American schools. What could you possibly say at the funeral for a mass shooting victim? What could you possibly say that wouldn’t seem totally empty and useless to the grieving family?

This is exactly the kind of scenario that Paul is describing in v. 26:

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words [Romans 8:26].

Paul says that the Jesus-people should be right there in the midst of tragedy and pain, interceding in prayer, and that when we do not know what to say—when there are no words—that the Holy Spirit Himself prays for us in a way that is deeper than words.

It’s as if God wants and expects His people to be right in the midst of the world’s pains but that He also knows that the pain is too much for us, so His Spirit comes alongside and helps us be what the world needs.

27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God [Romans 8:27].

You don’t know what to say? The Spirit knows your heart and can formulate your unspoken and unformed prayers.

I think, therefore, that the message of Romans 8:26–27 for us is that, as the Jesus-people, living in the Spirit, our role is to be right at the world’s painful places—to run to the world’s suffering, like spiritual firemen responding to a 5-alarm emergency—but that we don’t need to worry about what to say when we have no words—the Spirit knows our hearts and can take our unformed prayers to the Father.

Patience

October 18, 2024 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Romans 8:23-25

23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Paul explains that the Jesus-people are waiting for God to fix everything. Jesus is the Son, beloved of the Father, and He has been raised from the dead and is seated at the right hand of God. From there He shall judge the living and the dead.

The Son came to bring us back into the love of the Father, and the Father’s desire is to share with us love He has for the Son, and the Spirit is the love They share.

This is why Paul talks about our “adoption as sons.” He does not mean “male children” and not female children—rather, he is speaking of our inclusion into the life of the Son. We are waiting for God to do the same thing for us that He has already done for Jesus—to be raised to new life, in incorruptible bodies.

Obviously, this hasn’t happened yet. And so, we wait in hope. But Paul makes the point that our waiting needs to be a “patient” waiting. That is, we need to trust that though we don’t understand the timeline, that nevertheless God is good and can be trusted.

Where in your life in God do you need to exercise more patience today?

How "Beauty And The Beast" Explains The Bible

October 17, 2024 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Romans 8:18-25

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

This is a dense passage and it’s worth working our way through it verse by verse:

We read in vv. 16-17 that those who are in Christ will share in the inheritance He has received from the Father provided that we suffer with him and walk in the way of the cross.

16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 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 [Romans 8:16–17].

Suffering is not what anyone would prefer, but Paul then reminds us that it will be worth it:

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us [Romans 8:18].

A key idea here is “the glory that is to be revealed to us.” That is, we are waiting to see how God will one day show us our place in the New Creation.

Right now, the (old) creation itself is eagerly waiting for the new humanity that God is remaking in Christ’s image to take their place:

19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God [Romans 8:19].

Remember how the curse works in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast? The old witch curses the master of the castle, and he becomes a beast. But the curse does more than just affect him—it also affects everything else that belongs to him or is related to him. So, the servants become talking clocks or teapots or candlesticks, the castle grounds become dingy and decayed, and a pall is cast over the entire property.

With this analogy in mind, let’s recap what the Bible says in general about creation and what Paul says specifically in Romans chapter 8 about humanity’s role:

· God created humanity with the express purpose of representing Him and ruling over the non-human creation (Genesis 1:26–28);
· Humans rebelled against God, and the terrible consequence of the human rebellion was that a curse fell upon creation. The reason there are hurricanes and diseases and death and decay in creation—the reason creation is the way it is—is because human rebellion caused it.
· But God never gave up on His plan to have humanity rule over creation and now the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit have made it possible for everyone who trusts in Jesus to take their God-designed place in the ruling of creation.

This is what Paul means in vv. 20–21:

20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God [Romans 8:20–21].

The creation is waiting to be renewed, but for that to happen, the people must be renewed first, because the creation can’t work without renewed humanity to rule over it in God’s image. Redeemed humanity has a “glory” that comes from being created in that image, and when the redeemed humanity arrives, creation will be set free from the consequences that rebellious humanity caused.

Salvation Isn’t About Going to Heaven When You Die

In Romans, Paul is explaining that God’s ultimate plan is to fix everything that’s wrong with the world. Yes, the sacrificial death of Jesus means people can be forgiven of their sins and escape the consequence of their sins, but forgiveness is the means to the end God has in mind, not the end in itself. In fact, the end God is working towards is to restore humanity to its original, God-given position: to rule over creation in God’s name.

What’s the problem with creation? The Bible says that people are the reason why death and decay reign—human rebellion caused creation to be like this. So, for God to fix creation He has first to fix people.

The entire purpose of the salvation project is a redeemed and perfected New Creation.

22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies [Romans 8:22–23].

The world is in a mess, and it knows it. When is God going to fix everything?

Paul uses the image of a mother in labor, painfully laboring for the new baby to be born.

Then Paul says that we are also in this state of painful waiting, even though the Holy Spirit has been given to us as a down payment, a guarantee—“the firstfruits”—has been given to us to assure us that things are going to be okay. The firstfruits are the early part of the crop the farmer sees before the rest is ripe and ready.

What are we waiting for? We are waiting for the time when we are fully in the New Creation and death and decay have no more place in our lives.

At every funeral, this is why we cry—we are eagerly waiting for death to be finally removed.

24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience [Romans 8:24–25].

Paul says that all along, this is what we’ve been hoping for—that everything sad will become untrue. And yes, things are still a mess, but that’s where hope comes in—we are hoping for what we cannot yet completely see. And in hope, we are patiently waiting.

These are dense, deep verses that are worth reading through over several times.

The overarching point: in the end, everything will be okay.

How can you be patiently hopeful today?

Life Philosophy

October 16, 2024 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Romans 8:18

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Paul was no stranger to suffering and difficulty, and neither are we.

How do we keep going when things get hard?

We remember that these struggles are temporary.

In The End, everything will be okay;
If it’s not okay, then it’s not The End;
(And if it’s not The End, God still has work for us to do.)

Keep going.

Why Is Suffering Part of God's Plan?

October 15, 2024 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Romans 8:1-17

8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 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, 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. 5 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. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 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. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 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. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 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.
12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 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. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 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!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 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.

Here, when we look at Romans 8:1–17 as a whole, we can see that Paul is emphasizing the nature and importance of life in the Spirit for those who are in Christ.

Yes, Christ’s death set us free from sin and death, but that is merely the first step in God’s plan for humanity, and there is more for those who are in Christ. It’s important to Paul that we understand that God has given the Holy Spirit to those who are in Christ and that He now enables them to live a new kind of life, empowered by the Spirit. To Paul, this is what it means to be a Christian—to live in this new way.

One of the aspects of the Christian vocation is to be at the place where the world’s pain and our prayers meet. In other words, those who are in Christ are meant to be like Christ and intercede for the suffering world.

This is a deep insight into the calling of a Christian that we need to sit with today. In our next day’s reading, Paul will explain that today’s suffering will not compare with tomorrow’s glory.

But, before we get there, we should sit with the idea of suffering in the Christian life.

Why is suffering part of God’s plan to prepare us for our place in God’s glorious future?

God's Secret Plan For Your Life

October 14, 2024 by Andrew Forrest in Bible

Romans 8:12-17

12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 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. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 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!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 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.

Paul tells the Romans that the result of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is that those who are in Jesus—i.e., those who trust and believe in Him—also share in His Sonship. Jesus is the Son, and through His death and resurrection, all who trust Him have been adopted into the family. We owe nothing to the flesh and everything to the Spirit who gives us life. The love the Father has for the Son is now poured out on us through the Holy Spirit. (This is another way of thinking about salvation, with trinitarian language—the Son came to bring us back into the love of the Father, and the Father’s desire is to share the love He has for the Son, and the Spirit is the love They share.) How do we know that we are sons and daughters? Because the Spirit tells us so, “bearing witness with our spirit.” In other words, the Spirit helps us know in a way deeper than words that we are beloved children of God. This inner witness of the Spirit is an important part of life in Christ. If you have never felt that you are in Christ, then an important prayer to pray is, “Lord, would you please give me a sense of your presence, would you let me know that I am a child of God?”

And then we get to the heart of the chapter:

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 [Romans 8:17].

We will inherit what Christ inherits, provided that we walk the way of the cross.

Since the first chapter of Genesis, it has been clear that humanity was created to rule in God’s image over all of creation:

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth” [Genesis 1:26].

Humanity was made to reign, but the rebellion in the Garden of Eden made that impossible, because sinful humanity was in no position to rule over creation on God’s behalf. In fact, rather than being a part of God’s life-giving plan, rebellious humanity brought death and destruction to creation. But God never gave up the original plan, and the Bible kept talking about it. Here is Psalm 8, for example, marveling at how the Lord created humanity to reign:

3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?
5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet,
7 all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas [Psalm 8:3-8].

On the cross, Jesus drew all the sin of the world into His own flesh, and then He died, carrying sin down with Him. But He was raised again in the power of the Spirit while death and sin stayed dead, and thereby the resurrection defeated death and sin forever. Then Jesus ascended into the heavenly places and sits at the right hand of the Father.

The way of Jesus is a way of suffering that leads to glorification. This is how Paul explains this strange path in his letter to the Philippians:

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped 7but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father [Philippians 2:5-11].

Because Jesus was obedient, even to the point of death, the Father has raised Him to rule.

In Romans 8:17, this is the path that Paul lays out for all who believe. Paul says that all who are in Christ Jesus will reign in the New Creation—just as God originally intended—provided that they walk the way of the cross.

The inheritance of Christ is to rule over all, and those are in Christ share in that inheritance. But first, they have to share in His sufferings.

Glory comes through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.