Romans 8

CHAPTER 8

Life Through the Spirit (8:1-17)

1 Through the Jewish law comes condemnation. The law gives us the death sentence, because no matter how hard we try, we cannot fulfill all the requirements of the law. The law says: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength (Deuteronomy 6:5; Mark 12:30). Who can obey that commandment fully? No one. The law says: Do not covet (Exodus 20:17; Romans 7:7). Who can obey that commandment fully? No one. Our heart, our nature, is evil and unholy. How can we ever be declared righteous in God’s sight? We cannot. Instead, the law condemns us to death.

But here in verse 1, we find the means of escaping condemnation and death: if we are IN CHRIST, there is no condemnation!

To be in Christ means to believe in Him, to accept Him as our Lord and Savior, and to give Him the rule over our lives.

When we are in Christ, our sins are forgiven and washed away, and we are declared righteous in God’s sight (see Romans 5:1). Whoever is not in Christ will be declared guilty and will receive eternal punishment.

Believers are declared righteous not on the basis of their own righteousness, but on the basis of Christ’s righteousness. In Him there was no sin (Hebrews 4:15). He fulfilled the entire law perfectly. Having done that, He took upon Himself the punishment for our sins that we should have received. The law can no longer punish us. The punishment has already been given—to Christ; He received the punishment of death in our place. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for us who are in Christ. What amazing and wonderful news this is! All men throughout the world stand condemned before the one true God. But here, in Christ, God shows them the way to escape condemnation. By believing in Christ, their condemnation is removed.

But remember, even though we believers have escaped condemnation, sin still remains in our lives. Therefore, we are still guilty of sin and deserving of punishment. But if we repent of our sins, God will not count our sins against us; He will not judge us guilty (see 1 John 1:9 and comment).

2 Jesus is our Savior. The Spirit of life is the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of both God and Christ).

In his letters, Paul uses the word law in different ways; depending on the context, the word “law” has different meanings. Most commonly the word “law” means the Jewish law, the law God gave to Moses to pass on to the Jews. But in this verse, “law” has a different meaning: here it means “principle” or “rule” (as in Romans 7:21,23). Before the Holy Spirit entered us, only the law (rule) of sin and death was present in our lives. When the Holy Spirit entered us, that old “law of sin and death” was replaced by the law (rule) of the Spirit of life.

The Jewish law, which condemns men to death, places men under the law (rule) of sin and death. Christ’s Holy Spirit has set us free from the law of sin and death.⁴⁰ The Holy Spirit sets us free not only from the guilt and punishment of sin but also from the power and rule of sin (Romans 6:14).

3 In this verse, the word law means the Jewish law. The Jewish law was meant to lead men into righteousness and eternal life (Romans 7:10). But because of man’s sinful nature, the law was powerless to make men righteous and to save them. The Jewish law could only condemn men for their sin; it could give men no help in overcoming their sin. For what the law was powerless to do—that is, set us free from the “law of sin and death”—God sent his own Son (Christ) to do. God sent Christ into the world to set us free from the law of sin and death—which the Jewish law could not do.

How did Christ set us free from the law of sin and death? He was sent to be a sin of fering;⁴¹ that is, He took the punishment for our sins by offering His life as a sacrifice. According to the Jewish law, if any Jew sinned, he had to offer an animal as a sacrifice.⁴² In a sense, the sacrificed animal received the death penalty in place of the man who committed the sin. Similarly, Jesus Christ is like that sacrificed animal; through His sacrifice—the offering of His own body—we who committed the sin are now declared innocent. Christ, who never sinned, took both our guilt and our punishment upon Himself (see Mark 10:45; 2 Corinthians 5:21 and comments).

Christ came in the likeness of sinful man. He was not sinful Himself; He came only in the likeness of a sinful man. But in all other ways, Christ was fully a real man, just as we are. He experienced all the temptations that we experience—though He didn’t fall into any of them (Hebrews 2:14-15,17-18; 4:14-15).

Christ condemned sin in sinful man—that is, He overcame sin and destroyed its power. How did He do this? In this way. The Jewish law is like a judge who must punish a man for his sin. After giving the punishment, that judge no longer has authority over the sinful man. When a man receives the death sentence, he becomes free of the judge and the law. He has paid the full price for his sin; there is no more left to pay. He is no longer guilty of sin. His sin is erased; it is finished. In a sense, his sin is condemned to death. This is what Paul means when he says that Christ condemned sin in sinful man. Christ, through the sacrifice of Himself, took our punishment and thereby “condemned” or erased our sin.

According to the Jewish law, every time a Jew sinned he had to offer an animal sacrifice in order to purif y himselffrom his sin. Therefore, the Jews had to offer sacrifices repeatedly. After offering a sacrifice, they would momentarily be purified. But the next moment they would sin again, and thus become impure once more. In this way—one moment pure, next moment impure—the Jews could never really become cleansed of their sins. Their sins could never be completely erased. They remained guilty.

But Christ’s sacrifice is different from the animal sacrifices of the Jews. Christ’s sacrifice completely erases the sins of believers. His sacrifice remains in effect forever. Through His one sacrifice, sin is condemned and its power destroyed once for all (see Hebrews 7:26-27; 9:11-14,24-26; 10:1,4,11-14 and comments).

4 Paul says many things about the Jewish law—such as, the law is powerless (verse 3), it is the law of sin and death (verse 2). Nevertheless, it is God’s law, which He gave to the Jews. Therefore, it is a just and righteous law. It must be obeyed. When the law is not obeyed, God must punish men for disobeying it. Christ Himself fulfilled all of the righteous requirements of the law. The law requires that men live a completely righteous life; Jesus fully met that requirment. The law requires that sin be punished by death; Jesus, through His death on the cross, fully met that requirement also. In this way, He lived and died in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us. We could not meet those requirements ourselves; so Jesus met them for us (see Matthew 5:17; Romans 3:31 and comments).

How were the righteous requirements of the law met? The answer is this: When Jesus took our guilt and punishment upon Himself, He at the same time gave us His righteousness, a righteousness which would satisfy the requirements of the law (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Who has received Christ’s righteousness? Christ’s righteousness has been received not by those who live according to the sinful nature, but rather by those who live according to the Spirit.

To live according to the Spirit means this: Once we have believed in Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes into our lives and gives us a new desire, a new power, to obey God. We are born again by the Spirit; we receive new spiritual life in Christ. Only by the help of the Holy Spirit within us can we fully meet the righteous requirements of the law. That is, only by the help of the Spirit can we lead righteous lives. To say that Christ is righteous is not enough; through the Spirit, Christ’s righteousness must be demonstrated in our lives. This is what it means to live according to the Spirit.

The opposite of living according to the Spirit, of course, is to live according to the sinful nature.⁴³ To live accordingto the sinful nature is to live according to our sinful desires and thoughts (see Galatians 5:1921). We cannot live according to the sinful nature and according to the Spirit at the same time; we must live according to either one or the other (see Galatians 5:16-18,2425 and comment).

Here in these first four verses of Romans Chapter 8, Paul gives us a summary of the Gospel of Christ. In the first seven chapters of Romans, Paul gave us the background or foundation of the Gospel; now in Chapter 8, he gives us the Gospel itself. Now he tells us what it really means to be a Christian.

We can read these verses, study them, discuss them; we can even agree with them. (In fact, most people in the world agree that the Gospel is indeed “good news.”) However, unless we actually experience the Holy Spirit living and working in our lives, these verses will be useless to us. The Holy Spirit is alive; He is real. And He is waiting to come into our lives. Let us hasten, therefore, to invite Him in!

5 How can we tell if we are living in accordance with the Spirit or not? We can tell by looking at what we have our minds set on. If our minds are set on worldly things—such as sinful desires, wealth, honor—then we are living according to the sinful nature, not according to the Spirit. But if our minds are set on what the Spirit desires—such as righteousness, love, humility, self-control—then we can be sure that we are living in accordance with the Spirit.

Let each of us ask ourselves: What is my mind set on?

6 Themindof sinfulmanisdeath—that is, when our minds are controlled by our sinful nature, the result is death. On the other hand, the mind controlled by the Spirit is life (eternal life) and peace (see Romans 7:5; 8:13; Galatians 6:7-8).

7 The sinful mind⁴⁴—that is, the mind controlled by the sinful nature—is hostile to God. It is not just separated from God; it is actively opposed to God (James 4:4). It refuses to submit to God’s law. (The term God’s law in this verse does not mean the Jewish law, but rather “God’s will” or “God’s rule.”)

8 No matter how many sacrifices we offer, no matter how many good works we do, if we are controlled by the sinful nature,⁴⁵ we cannot please God.

We must remember here that those who live according to the sinful nature (verses 4-5) or who are controlled by the sinful nature (verse 8) are not Christians; they have not received salvation (see Romans 7:5; 1 Corinthians 2:14). On the opposite side are those who live in accordance with the Spirit (verse 5) or who are led by the Spirit (verse 14). These are true Christians.

But in addition to these two main groups of people, there seems to be a third group in the middle. When you look at the lives of those in this third group, it is hard to tell whether they are Christians or not. These are unspiritual, immature Christians. In Corinthians 3:1-3, Paul calls such Christians worldly,⁴⁶ because they appear to live according to the sinful nature. Many Bible scholars believe that it is these worldly unspiritual Christians that Paul is talking about in Romans 7:14-24. In Romans 7:14, Paul calls himself unspirit-ual, or worldly.

However, whether Romans 7:14-24 is written about Christians or not, it is still true that many Christians today continue to experience the inner struggle between their spiritual and unspiritual natures that Paul describes in those verses. Their Christian lives do not fit the description given by Paul in Romans Chapter 8; instead, they fit the description given in Romans Chapter 7. Let this situation not continue! In Romans 8:2, Paul has been set free from the law of sin and death. The struggle between his sinful nature and the Spirit is over; the Spirit has won (see Gal-atians 2:19-21; 2 Timothy 4:7). Therefore, let us also leave the struggle of Romans Chapter 7 and enter into the victory of Chapter 8! Let us not remain worldly un-spiritual Christians. Rather, let us be Christians who are controlled and led by the Spirit.

Some Christians believe that in order to become holy and spiritual it is necessary to receive some special grace all at once. Other Christians believe that we gradually become more holy and spiritual as we grow in our Christian life. However—whether quickly or gradually—let us leave behind the unspiritual condition described in Romans Chapter 7 and begin to experience the life of the Spirit described in Romans Chapter 8.⁴⁷

9 Paul here reminds Christians that they are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit.⁴⁸ In this verse, the terms Spirit, Spirit of God, and Spirit of Christ all refer to the same Spirit—the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19).

A simple illustration about water will help us understand the relationship between God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. God is the spring, the source of the water; Christ is the pipe or channel bringing the water to earth; and the Holy Spirit is the water itself, flowing down from God through Christ to us.

Only if the Spirit of Christ dwells in us do we belong to Christ. It’s true that the Holy Spirit from time to time comes and calls non-believers, but He finds no dwelling place within them. Only when a person opens the door of his heart to the Holy Spirit can the Spirit enter that person and dwell within him (see Revelation 3:20 and comment).

10 But if Christ (Christ’s Spirit) is in you, your body (your old sinful self) is dead. From now on, your old self is not your master (see Romans 6:6 and comment).

If Christ’s Spirit is in you, your body is dead, yet your spirit is alive—that is, your new spiritual self is alive (Romans 6:11; Galatians 2:20).

Our bodies, our old selves, are dead because of sin. Our spirits are alive because of righteousness—that is, Christ’s righteousness.

11 The One who raised Jesus from the dead is God. Through His Spirit, who dwells within us, God will give life to [our] mortal bodies. That is, He will give us spiritual life. God will not only give us new spiritual life in this world; but just as He raised Christ from the dead, so will He raise us from the dead at the end of the world so that we might live forever with Him. Here in this verse, then, we are given the promise that our bodies will be resurrected (see 1 Corinthians 15:42-49; Philippians 3:20-21 and comments).

12 Paul here reminds us of what he wrote in verse 4. Christians do not live according to the sinful nature. Rather, they live according to the Spirit. We have no obligation to our sinful nature; we are not obligated to live according to it. Our sinful nature has done nothing good for us; we don’t owe it anything! Instead, we are obligated to Christ. It is Christ who paid the “debt” we owed because of our sin. Therefore, it is to Christ that we have an obligation—not to the sinful nature.

13 If we live according to the sinful nature, we will die—that is, we shall receive God’s judgment, eternal death. Therefore, we must ask an extremely important question: How can we escape from eternal death and obtain eternal life?

Some people answer this question by saying that all we have to do is to believe in Christ, and then Christ will do everything else. These people say that all we need to do is say from our hearts, “I believe,” and we will automatically be saved.

But here Paul gives a different answer. True, we must first believe in Christ. But then, through the help of the Holy Spirit, we must put to death the misdeeds of the body (sinful nature). Only if we do this will we live—that is, be saved. Why is this? Because we must live either according to the sinful nature or according to the Spirit; we cannot live according to both. If we live according to the sinful nature, we will die—that is certain. But in order to live according to the Spirit, we must do one thing: We must put to death the misdeeds of the body.

Here is an extremely important teaching. People mistakenly think that it is easy to follow Christ. They say that we Christians don’t have to do good works or obey religious rules. They say that if we sin we don’t have to worry about it, because we will automatically be forgiven. These statements are not true. To follow Christ is the most difficult road of all. Why? Because to follow Christ we must put to death the misdeeds of the body. That is like putting oneself to death. Is it easy to put oneself to death—to be crucified? Certainly not; there is nothing more difficult. Nevertheless, in order to live, it is necessary that our old sinful self be put to death. Before we can have new spiritual life, our old sinful self must die. Before there can be resurrection, there must first be death.

In order to “put to death” the misdeeds of our bodies, we first must put to death our sinful desires, because our misdeeds arise from our desires (see James 1:14-15 and comment). We must not only stop sinning; we must even stop thinking about sinning! We must be righteous not only on the outside, but also on the inside. We must “put to death” the secret parts of our hearts and minds, those places where sin first arises. This is one of the meanings of being crucified with Christ (see Romans 6:6,12; Colossians 3:5; Galatians 5:17,24 and comments).

It is not possible to live according to the Spirit and at the same time continue doing the misdeeds of the body. If we have not put to death the misdeeds of the body, the Holy Spirit is not in us and we do not belong to Christ. And if we do not belong to Christ, we have not received salvation.

But we must remember one thing: In order to put to death the misdeeds of the body, we need the help of the Holy Spirit. We cannot do it without Him. And the Holy Spirit is always with us, ready to help us lead righteous lives. This is the joyful news of Romans Chapter 8.

14 Only those who are led by the Spirit can be called the children of God. Some people say that God is the Father of all men. But that is not true. God is the Creator of all men, but He is the Father only of those who are led by the Spirit (see John 1:12 and comment).

15 The Spirit does not make us slaves; rather, He makes us the free sons of God. At first we were not sons; so the Spirit makes us adopted sons. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of sonship,⁴⁹ or the Spirit of adoption. Through the Spirit, we are able to call God “Abba,”⁵⁰ which means “Father” (see Mark 14:36).

16 The Holy Spirit gives us the assurance that we are indeed God’s children. If the Holy Spirit is in us, we shall not doubt that we are children of God (see Galatians 4:6-7; 1 John 3:1 and comments).

Paul says here that the Spirit himself (that is, the Holy Spirit) testifies with our spirit (that is, our own human spirit). What is the human spirit? The human spirit is the spiritual part of man. It is the part of us that the Holy Spirit makes alive when we believe in Christ. Some people call man’s spirit his inner being, or conscience (see Romans 7:22 and comment). We can say that man is made up of three parts: spirit, soul, and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Through our human spirit, we experience the presence of God and the blessings of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

17 If we are children, then we are also heirs! The Holy Spirit within us is like a “deposit,” a guarantee of our future inheritance in heaven (see 2 Corinthians 5:5; Ephesians 1:13-14 and comments).

But Paul here adds an important reminder. As co-heirs with Christ, we share not only in His life and in His glory, but also in His sufferings. If we are not willing to share in His sufferings, we shall not share in His glory (2 Timothy 2:11-12; 3:12; 1 Peter 4:12-14).

Christians have two kinds of crosses.⁵¹ One cross is the cross on which our old self was crucified (Romans 6:6). The other “cross” is the suffering and persecution that comes as a result of following Christ. The first cross Jesus carried for us. The second cross we must carry for Him. If we want to be co-heirs with Christ and reign with Him, then we must carry this second cross (see Mark 8:34 and comment).

Future Glory (8:18-30)

18 Few men have endured more hardship and suffering than Paul endured (2 Corinthians 6:4-10; 11:23-28). Even so, compared with the glory that was to come, the suffering he endured wasn’t worth taking into account (2 Corinthians 4:17).

Paul mentions here the glory that will be revealed in us. Whose glory will be revealed in us? Christ’s glory. When we are raised with Christ, we shall receive His glory; we shall be like Him (1 John 3:2). For those who are being led by the Spirit, this glory has already begun here on earth (see 2 Corinthians 3:18 and comment).

19 The word creation in this verse means all living things, both animals and plants. The whole creation is waiting for the sons of God (believers in Christ) to be revealed (glorified). When will they be revealed? Except for God, no one knows. But according to the teaching of the Bible, they will be revealed at the end of the world, when Christ will come again to reign with glory (see Mark 13:23-27,31-32; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1-4). The whole creation is waiting for that day, because on that day not only will believers be revealed (glorified), but also the whole creation itself will in some way be made new.

20 When we look at the world, its situation in some ways seems futile; all of its activities seem to be in vain. Everything lives only for a moment; then it gets sick and dies. What is the point of life when it ends so quickly?

The creation was not like that in the beginning. After God created the world, He looked at it and saw that it was good (Genesis 1:31). Everything made by God was good and beautiful, but then God’s creation was ruined by the sin of the first man and woman, Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:1-6). God said to them: “Cursed is the ground because of you” (Genesis 3:17-18). Thus in some way, because of man’s sin, not only mankind but the entire creation was subjected to frustration—that is, subjected to death and decay. The one who subjected it was God.

But God did not plan that His creation should remain forever in such a “frustrated” condition. He subjected creation not only to frustration but also in hope. This hope was that at some future time the creation itself [would] be liberated from its bondage to decay, sickness, and death (verse 21).

21 When this present heaven and earth end, the whole creation will then in some way be resurrected and made new, and there will be no more decay and death. Paul calls this new resurrected condition the glorious freedom of the children of God—or, simply, eternal life. It is for this glorious freedom, this eternal life, that the whole creation waits in eager expectation (verse 19).

22 The whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth. We know from our own experience that this is true. In this world toil, strif e, sorrow, sickness, and death are ever present in the lives of all of us.

But all of these troubles are like the pains of childbirth. The pain of childbirth is a sign that a new life is about to be born. Without the pain of childbirth, there can be no new life. In the same way, the pain that this creation is now enduring will in the end result in liberation from its bondage to decay (verse 21); it will result in a new birth, a new life, a new creation!

23 We believers are the children of God; we are led by the Spirit of God. Nevertheless, we also groan inwardly in this life. Our bodies, too, are in bondage to decay. Even though we already have the firstfruits of the Spirit—that is, new life in Christ—we still have not received our full inheritance, which is stored up for us in heaven (see 2 Corinthians 5:5; Ephesians 1:13-14 and comments). That inheritance is eternal life—the glorious freedom from decay and death (verse 21).

Believers in Christ are already “adopted children” of God (verse 15). But we have not yet come of age; we are not yet old enough to receive the full privileges of our ADOPTION as sons. We will receive the full privileges of our adoption, our full inheritance, on that day when the redemption of our bodies takes place—the day when our bodies are resurrected. On that day we will receive the full benefits of our redemption, of our salvation. We also, together with the whole creation, wait eagerly for that day! (see Ephesians 4:30).

24-25 For Christians hope is a very important thing. In this world we do not obtain our complete inheritance, our complete salvation; we obtain only an “advance” or deposit on our inheritance (Ephesians 1:14). Our complete inheritance, our complete salvation—the redemption of our bodies—will come later. Therefore, we hope for what is still to come.

For in this hope we are saved (verse 24). “This hope” is the hope of the redemption of our bodies (verse 23). Paul’s meaning is that in this hope through faith we are saved. Now faith is being sure of what we hope for (Hebrews 11:1). Hope arises from faith. We have faith that God will fulfill His promises; therefore, we have hope that we will receive what He has promised.

26 One of the many things the Holy Spirit does for us is to help us pray. Sometimes we don’t know what to pray for. We are like a small child who, not knowing better, asks his father for something unsuitable or even harmful. We do not always know what is best either for ourselves or for others.

Therefore, let us be thankful that the Holy Spirit is always ready to help us in our prayers. Just as Christ intercedes for us in heaven (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25), so the Holy Spirit dwelling within us intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. Some Christians pray in other tongues, that is, in a spiritual language.⁵² Other Christians, with few words, simply cry out to God, laying their prayer burden entirely on Him.

If we ourselves do not make an effort to pray, the Holy Spirit certainly isn’t going to help us! We must pray as best we can; that means we must spend time in prayer. There is a saying: Without God, we can’t do anything; without us, God won’t do anything. This saying is not only true for our prayer life; it’s true for the rest of our life as well.

In 1 John 5:14, John writes: … if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. It is the Holy Spirit who shows us what God’s will is, so that we can then pray according to his will.

27 And he (God) who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit. The Spirit is God’s own Holy Spirit. Therefore, God will surely “know the mind” of His own Spirit. And because He is God’s own Spirit, the Holy Spirit will always intercede for us according to God’s will.

God can see into the very bottom of our hearts. He knows what we want before we even ask for it. God knows whether we are praying from our hearts, or only with our lips. Let it not be said of us that we worshiped God only with our lips! (Mark 7:6).

28 This verse surely ranks as one of the greatest verses in the New Testament. Millions of Christians over the centuries have drawn great comfort and hope from this verse. In all things God works for our good. The expression all things includes not only the pleasant and happy things in life, but the unpleasant and unhappy things as well. It includes evil, sickness, and death. God even uses the “bad” things in our lives to work for our good.

At those times when we are happy and things are going well, it is very easy to agree with this verse. But in times of trouble, this verse is hard to understand and still harder to believe. We must never treat this verse lightly—even in good times.

Here a question arises: if in all things God works for our good, does the term “all things” include Satan? Does God use Satan for our good? This is an important question. One could argue that if Satan’s work can be used for our good, then Satan is not our enemy—he’s our friend!

However, the Bible clearly teaches us that Satan is indeed our enemy—a powerful and terrible enemy. In this world Satan’s work is not for our good but for our harm. For the thousands of Christians who have spent their lives in jail, or who have been killed—burned to death, crucified, fed to lions—how can we say that all things have been for their good in this world? We cannot.

Then how are we to understand this verse? We must understand it this way: All the things that happen to us here on earth God will work for our good in heaven. In verses 18-25, Paul has talked about our future hope and future glory. Therefore, in this verse the good that Paul is talking about is heavenly good, not earthly good. On earth Satan’s power is great; but in heaven he has no power at all. In heaven all of Satan’s earthly evil will be turned to our good.

But having said that, it is also true that God is concerned for our welfare in this life. He cares about our bodies, our health, even our food and clothing. Jesus said: “… seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things (food, clothing, etc.) will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). When God allows trouble to come into our lives, He usually uses that trouble to bring about some good result in our lives right here on earth (see Romans 5:3-4; James 1:2-4 and comments). It is through troubles that our faith is tested and made strong (1 Peter 1:6-7). Through various kinds of trouble God disciplines us, so that we might become more righteous (Hebrews 12:7,10-11). We must also remember that, even though Satan’s power is great, God’s power is much greater; Satan cannot alter God’s ultimate plan for our lives.

The most important thing to remember about this verse, however, is that the promise given here is given only to those who love [God], who have been called according to his purpose. If we love God and are called according to His purpose, then we can fully trust Him to work for our good in all things. Our hope is in God; He is faithful and able to fulfill all He has promised (Hebrews 10:23).

If we do not love God and are not called according to His purpose, then the promise of this verse is not for us.

29 Here we see God’s main purpose in working for our good in all things. His ultimate purpose for all of us who believe is that we might be conformed to the likeness of his Son. God foreknew each of us from before the creation of the world (see Ephesians 1:4-5 and comment). Before the world was even made, God had a plan for each of us; and that plan was that we should be conformed to the likeness of his Son—that is, that we should become like His Son Jesus. God’s work of making us like Jesus begins when we first believe, and it is finished when our bodies are resurrected in heaven. If we love God and are called according to His purpose, then everything that happens to us on this earth—no matter how bad—will ultimately work toward this one great end of making us like Jesus.

When we are conformed to the likeness of Jesus, we become Jesus’ brothers. And God desires that Jesus be the firstborn among many brothers. Paul is speaking here of the church, because the church is made up of many brothers (and sisters), among whom Jesus is the eldest.

30 God has had His eyes on us from before the creation of the world. His eternal purpose for us cannot be blocked. Even before we were born, He foreknew us (verse 29). Before we were born, He predestined us and called us. We heard God’s call, and believed in Christ. Through faith we obtained Christ’s righteousness, and God justified us. Then God glorified⁵³ us by making us His children—brothers and sisters of Jesus. And when we get to heaven, He will fully glorify us by resurrecting our bodies and making us fully conformed to the likeness of his Son. Thus in heaven our glory will be complete (see verse 18).

All of this that God has done and is doing for us is His great work of salvation. In verses 29-30, Paul has described the steps of salvation. From before the creation of the world, God’s plan and purpose for us was that we might receive salvation and eternal life. How can we compare the troubles of this short life with such a great salvation! (verse 18).

More Than Conquerors (8:31-39)

31 If God is for us, who can be against us? Satan can be against us. But in the end, Satan cannot prevail against a true believer (see John 16:33 and comment).

32 God has given us many wonderful gifts—grace, love, joy, forgiveness, salvation, an inheritance in heaven—but the greatest gift of all is His Son Jesus Christ. If when we were still God’s enemies He gave us His own beloved Son, now that we are His children will He not give us all these lesser gifts as well?

All these other gifts, in fact, are given to us in Christ. Every spiritual blessing is found in Christ (see Ephesians 1:3 and comment). And do we have to pay for any of these spiritual blessings? No. To those who believe in Christ, all these blessings are given free!

Paul says that God gave him (Christ) up for us all—that is, for all who love God and have been called according to His purpose (verse 28).

God did not spare his own Son. God has held nothing back from us. He has given us His most precious gift (His Son), and included in that gift He has given us all other spiritual blessings as well. Since God has held nothing back from us, He expects that we will hold nothing back from Him. As He gave Christ up for us, so we must give ourselves up for Him—ourselves and everything we have.

This essential truth is illustated by one of the most important events described in the Old Testament—Abraham’s offering up of Isaac (Genesis 22:1-14). Abraham had waited many years to have a son; he was one hundred years old when Isaac was finally born! Then God commanded Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice—to kill this son for whom he had waited so long! Yet Abraham obeyed God, and prepared to sacrifice Isaac. Then, just as Abraham was about to kill his son, God stopped him and provided a ram in Isaac’s place. God said to Abraham, “Now I know you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son” (Genesis 22:12). Thus God’s purpose in commanding Abraham to sacrifice his son was to test Abraham’s faith and obedience.

Afterwards, God told Abraham: “… because you have done this and have not withheld your son … I will surely bless you” (Genesis 22:15-18).

Let us examine ourselves. Have we held anything back from God? Is there anything which we love or which is precious to us that we have not offered to God? Is there anything which we love more than God—such as our wealth, our family, our reputation? God has held nothing back from us. Let us, taking Abraham’s example, hold nothing back from God (see Hebrews 11:17-19 and comment).

What happens when we offer up to God the things we love most? Very of ten God will give them back to us! Once God has seen that we are indeed willing to give them up, He of ten lets us keep them, just as He let Abraham keep Isaac.

33 Satan can bring any charge against us, but he can’t condemn us. … there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ (verse 1). True, in this world men can condemn us; but for those who are in Christ that condemnation will be erased in heaven. When Paul says that there is now no condemnation, he is talking about heaven, not earth.

34 Who is he that condemns? Ultimately, no one. Because God will not listen to Satan’s charges against us. God will listen only to Jesus Christ, our advocate, who is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us (see Ephesians 1:2023).

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? No one! Except for sin (see verses 38-39 and comment), there is no other circumstance in this life that can separate believers in Christ from God’s love. Paul is not saying in this verse that troubles and persecution won’t come upon us in this life. He is simply saying that these things will not separate us from God’s love.

36 Here Paul quotes from Psalm 44:22. Just as Christ died for our sake, so we also must be ready to face death all day long for His sake (see 1 Corinthians 15:31; 2 Corinthians 4:8-12,16-17 and comments). Even death cannot separate us from God’s love. Just as Christ offered up His body for us as a sheep to be slaughtered, so we also must offer up our bodies to God as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1). Whether we live or whether we die, we will remain in God’s love.

37 Jesus Christ overcame the world (John 16:33). He overcame hostility, persecution, even death itself (2 Timothy 1:10). We, too, in all these things … are more than conquerors—not by our own strength but through him who loved us, that is, Christ (see 1 Corinthians 15:57 and comment).

38-39 From Paul’s day to ours, these verses have given countless Christians tremendous comfort, encouragement, and hope. And these verses are completely true: There is nothing in all creation [that] will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Nevertheless, as Christians repeat these wonderful verses over and over, they tend to forget that there is, in fact, one thing—a thing which God did not create—that certainly can separate them from God’s love. And that one thing is sin.

If we continue knowingly in some sin and refuse to repent of it, that sin will most definitely separate us from God’s love and bring upon us God’s terrible wrath andjudg-ment. Before we were Christians, we were separated from God because of sin.⁵⁴ We were God’s enemies (Romans 5:10). Then, after repenting of our sins and believing in Christ, we were reconciled to God. But if we fall back into sin and continue in it knowingly without repenting, we are in danger of again becoming separated from God (see Hebrews 10:26-27 and comment). And on the day of judgment, that separation will become permanent.

Of all the promises in the Bible, the promise of verses 38-39 is one of the greatest. But we must not think about a promise without also thinking about the conditions of that promise. It is good to remember the promises of the Bible—but we must not forget the warnings!

As we look back over this great Chapter 8 of Romans—a chapter which many would say is the greatest single chapter in the entire Bible—we see laid out before us the full and glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ. We see how we were once condemned, but now are justified. We see how we were once in bondage, but now are free. We see how we were once dead, but now are alive. We see that a new and victorious life is now possible for us through the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. We see that if we are led by that Spirit, we shall be accepted into God’s family and be called His children and heirs. And finally, we see our eternal destiny—planned by God from before the creation of the world. And that destiny is summed up in the words of verse 29: our destiny is to be conformed to the likeness of his Son Jesus Christ forever.

Friends, let this be the one great burning passion of our lives: to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ. There is no higher calling; there is no greater glory.

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