Romans 8 has long been one of my favorite sections of the
Bible. The following are some thoughts I’ve had this week.
1-4- “There is
therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
God does not condemn me because my life is hidden with
Christ in God (Col. 3:3). He does not look on my sin but on Christ’s
perfection. I have been set free from the condemnation of my sin, along with
its power to trip me up. I don’t have to fulfill the law perfectly because
Jesus already did. Condemnation from other people or from myself is out of
place and has no ultimate weight.
5-11- “You, however,
are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in
you.”
I confess I often do set my mind on the things of the flesh,
but because I have the Holy Spirit, I am not obligated to the flesh. I have a
choice where I will set my mind. When I do set my mind on the flesh, the result
is fleshly—discontentment, discouragement, lust, pride, envy, etc. But when I
set my mind on the things of God, the result is spiritually fruitful—love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control
(Gal. 5:22-23).
12-13- “But if by the
Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”
The flesh cannot and will not put itself to death. Fighting
the desires of the flesh by my own strength will always fail. Only by the
transforming power of the Spirit can those fleshly deeds and desires be killed.
14-17- “The Spirit
Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”
I have been adopted into God’s family, and I have all the
rights of the Son of God Himself. I need not fear my heavenly Father, but I can
come to Him as a child with my needs, my desires, my weakness, and my failures.
18-21- “For the
creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.”
This world is really messed up by sin. My sin, the sins of
others against me, broken bodies and minds, death, destruction—one day it will
all be cleaned up and made new. Till then I must wait and endure.
22-25- “But if we hope
for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”
I often get discouraged and impatient with my progress in
sanctification. [Would I dare turn that sentence the right way around and say that
I am discouraged with God’s progress in my sanctification?!] I keep thinking
that I should be farther along, that I shouldn’t have these same struggles,
that God expects better of me. When those same old temptations come along, pride
tells me to try to rely on myself, while shame tells me I am already a failure
just for being tempted. I groan with the seeming futility of this life, but I
eagerly long for the day when all temptation, sin, and brokenness will be a
thing of the past.
26-27- “The Spirit
intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
Without the intercession of the Spirit and the Son, I don’t
know where I would be. I am certain that God has spared me from some moments of
temptation that would otherwise have made me fall into sin. He has made a way
of escape for me through Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 10:13).
28-30- “For those whom
He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.”
God’s will is my sanctification, but He has ordained that it
will not be completed until the last day (Phil. 1:6). I will one day fully
reflect the image of Christ, but until that day I will groan with the weight of
this world.
31-34- “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?”
God has already given me all I really need—salvation,
forgiveness, the righteousness of Christ, adoption, a secure future, the
promise of perfection one day, etc. If I feel I’m lacking something, I’m either
mistaken or I’m being impatient about waiting.
35-37- “In all these
things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”
I often don’t feel like a conqueror. I feel weak and
susceptible. But Christ has won the victory over the world, the flesh, and the
devil. Even if I lose a battle, the war is not lost—it’s not time to give up,
but to recoup to fight another day. The Commander sees what I cannot see—that
the end of all battles is very near, and the verdict has already been
determined.
38-39- “[Nothing] will
be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
And for that I give thanks.
© 2018 Dawn
Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from
pixabay.com.
