romans 8:20 commentary

It was a message that went out from God to sinners as such. If the first book in the Bible showed that it was only the call of God that made Israel what they were, its second book as clearly proved that all was over with the called people, had it not been for the mercy of God. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death ( Romans 8:2 ). He has subjected the same in hope because, or for we know. The answer is, that this will not do one whit better; for when we come down to the next generation, it is apparent that the two sons of Isaac were sons of the same mother; nay, they were twins. Now if I am living body, soul, and spirit, then I have no fellowship with God, as long as I'm being dominated by my body appetites and all. Grace Evangelical Church Buzzsprout-648864 Tue, 20 Feb 2018 23:00:00 -0600 2313 Wednesday Night full false Women's Bible Study | Hebrews 4:14-6:12 | Paula Hedgepeth Women's Bible Study | Hebrews 4:14-6:12 | Paula Hedgepeth Romans 12:1-21 looks at the mutual duties of the saints. Romans 8 is one of the most loved chapters in all of Scripture. If slurred over, as it too often is in souls, it invariably leaves practical obedience lame, and halt, and blind. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities [which are ranks of angelic beings], nor powers [other ranks], not things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord ( Romans 8:38-39 ). The apostle is therefore plainly in presence of the broadest possible grounds of comparison, though we shall find more too. There are two things that might make insuperable difficulty: the one is the obstacle of sin in the nature to practical holiness; the other is the provocation and condemnation of the law. he died for me, yea rather, is risen again, in fact he is at the right hand of the Father, interceding for me ( Romans 8:34 ). He believed God and His word, with special approval on God's part; and his faith was counted as righteousness (ver. He shall own that once glorious seat of royalty in Israel. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? He is the one who has the right to condemn--but so far from condemning, he is at God's right hand interceding for us, and therefore we are safe. $135.00 + $4.16 shipping . The shedding of His blood was absolutely necessary: without that precious expiation all else had been vain and impossible. What was it? He begins with the great epoch of the dispensations of God (that is, the ages since the flood). It was Paul's picture that when a man became a Christian he entered into the very family of God. God himself will be with them, and will be their God, Revelation 21:3. First, he raises the question, "Has God cast away his people?" The Spirit-controlled life, the Christ-centred life, the God-focused life is daily coming nearer heaven even when it is still on earth. The whole history of Israel, past, present, and future falls in with, although quite distinct from, that which he had been expounding. Accordingly we do not hear of salvation as such in Romans 3:1-31. Not only they--not only the creatures which are not capable of such a happiness as the first-fruits of the Spirit, but even we, who have such present rich receivings, cannot but long for something more and greater. The last time it was popular was 1948, and it is beginning to get popular again, so thirty years. Now man today, humanism and all is saying just the opposite. I reckon that this present suffering is not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed ( Romans 8:18 ). As Christ was, so the saints will be, declared to be the sons of God with power, by the resurrection from the dead, Romans 1:4; Romans 1:4. These are astrological terms. That there is a present vanity to which the creature, by reason of the sin of man, is made subject, Romans 8:20; Romans 8:20. the creation was subjected -- Understanding that here the "creation" is speaking of "us" (v.18) as "aspiring to the full privileges of adoption, that the present state is not one of choice" [BN]. The righteousness of God, then, could now go forth in virtue of His blood. not willingly -- Not as a matter of choice. It will then be put past dispute. For God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth" ( John 4:23 ). This accordingly leads, as connected with the deliverance of the body, to the inheritance we are to possess. Romans 12:1 - Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to pre-sent your bodies a living and holy sacrice,. What becomes of the souls of brutes, that go downwards, none can tell. We see then that every step of Roman adoption was meaningful in the mind of Paul when he transferred the picture to our adoption into the family of God. It may be passion-controlled, or lust-controlled, or pride-controlled, or ambition-controlled. Now I take this opportunity of pressing on all that are here to beware of contracted views of "salvation." "Yea verily, their sound went forth into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world." Matthew Henry Bible Commentary (complete) The apostle, having fully explained the doctrine of justification, and pressed the necessity of sanctification, in this chapter applies himself to the consolation of the Lord's people. He is dead." No matter how old he was, he was still under the patria potestas, in the absolute possession and under the absolute control, of his father. In one scale he puts the sufferings of this present time. When man sinned, the ground was cursed for man's sake, and with it all the creatures (especially of this lower world, where our acquaintance lies) became subject to that curse, became mutable and mortal. So it is not fulfilled by us, but it is fulfilled in us by Jesus Christ. For the creature - The renewed creature; the Christian mind. As you look at your life, can you honestly say, "Yes, my life is led by the Spirit of God"? (2) That it is not what they desire, to be subjected to the toils of this life, and to the temptations and vanities of this world. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified ( Romans 8:30 ). Nothing less, I am persuaded, than this full blessing is the line that God has given to those who have followed Christ without the camp, and who, having been set free from the contracted ways of men, desire to enter into the largeness and at the same time the profound wisdom of every word of God. In short, it is what the words say "the righteousness of God," and this "by faith of Jesus Christ.". This world that is dominated by the flesh, dominated by men who are dominated by the flesh. The very sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination, Prov 15 8. You can't put them in the same category. Then he answers his own question, "Thanks be unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord, is my deliverance." The soul may feel the blood of Jesus to be a yet deeper want; but this alone does not give peace with God. He is at work in all their affairs, right from his eternal choice of them to be his sons to his act of final glorification when they will share the likeness of Jesus Christ (28-30).Christians need have no doubts about any aspect of their salvation. The truth is, those are altogether mistaken who call it so. It isn't that my spirit is not willing. Nothing can separate you from that love of God which is in Christ Jesus. To Him be the glory forever! Any date. It is the deep experience of the Christian that all is of God; that he did nothing and that God did everything. It is not yet executed. It shall then be rescued from the power of death and the grave, and the bondage of corruption; and, though a vile body, yet it shall be refined and beautified, and made like that glorious body of Christ, Philippians 3:21; 1 Corinthians 15:42. The consequences spiritually are blessed to the soul; how much more is it to Teach the source from which all flows! It is, however, fully in keeping with the teachings of the Bible that God is said to do many things which, in a lesser sense, were done by others, as, for example, in the case of the crucifixion of Christ (see under Romans 3:26). All Israel shall be saved. They were probably added by a copyist who either made a mistake or thought he could "help" Paul by adding these words from Romans 8:4. (1) That the instinctive feelings of Christians lead them to desire a purer and a happier world, Philippians 1:23. Thus the deliverance is not merely for the joy of the soul, but also for strength in our walking after the Spirit, who has given and found a nature in which He delights, communicating withal His own delight in Christ, and making obedience to be the joyful service of the believer. ", No malign influences (powers) will separate us from Christ. They had their own stables, their own pools. And, upon the view of both, he gives this judgment here. While man and his environment will never be completely reconciled in time, man can be restored to a perfect environment and fellowship with God in eternity. Lead me where thou wilt; put on me what raiment thou wilt. It is a figurative expression. Thus it is a mistake to suppose that saints may not be benefited by a better understanding of the gospel, at least as Paul preached it. But in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. It is acknowledged that one of the principal graces of a Christian is hope (1 Corinthians 13:13), which necessarily implies a good thing to come, which is the object of that hope. When the world was drowned, and almost all the creatures in it, surely then it was subject to vanity indeed. Adam did it meritoriously; the creatures being delivered to him, when he by sin delivered himself he delivered them likewise into the bondage of corruption. Sin is a burden to the whole creation; the sin of the Jews, in crucifying Christ, set the earth a quaking under them. Oratio. Man has twisted that and he somehow feels that he should live for his own pleasure, but the Bible tells us that if a person is living for their own pleasure they are really dead while they are still alive. I shall live in that kingdom, the kingdom of light, and love, joy and peace, an heir of God, joint-heir with Jesus Christ.Then Paul said. We are told concerning Jesus, "Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross despising the shame" ( Hebrews 12:2 ). God has made prayer such a simple, beautiful thing. I hope that brethren in Christ will bear with me if I press on them the importance of taking good heed to it that their souls are thoroughly grounded in this, the proper place of the Christian by Christ's death and resurrection. California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. For all who are guided by the Spirit of God, these, and only these, are the children of God. Then comes a great saying. Claudius already had a daughter, Octavia. The direction is "unto all;" the application is, of course, only to "them that believe;" but it is to all them that believe. Neither life nor death can separate us from Christ. Not so Paul. So creation is groaning. The gospel means His glad tidings for man. Then the domains of flesh and Spirit are brought before us: the one characterized by sin and death practically now; the other by life, righteousness, and peace, which is, as we saw, to be crowned finally by the resurrection of these bodies of ours. For the truth is that God has in Christ condemned sin, and this for sin definitely; so that He has nothing more to do in condemnation of that root of evil. We are more than conquerors through Him who loves us. But how, argues he, could this stand, seeing that Abraham had another son, just as much his child as Isaac? There may be inestimable advantages, all of which we may not see, in subjecting the Christian to a process of training in overcoming his sins, and in producing confidence in God, before he is admitted to his state of final rest. It was not merely, that he had better light. conceits they had of themselves, of their wisdom, knowledge, But though we know not all the reasons why they are continued here in this state of vanity, we can see some of them: In hope - See the note at Romans 5:4. government of these things, slaves unto them, and in such We have seen that chapters 5-8 have a kind of sandwich structure. The next question, actually, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? This first shadow of the gospel of Jesus Christ (see gospel in the OT - Gal 3:8) provided the firm foundation for hope (absolute certainty that God would do good to us and to the creation in the future) and this hope was the basis for the creation's eager anticipation that Paul described in the previous verse (see note Romans 8:19) Romans 8:21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. If that be so, is there anything in this or any other world that can separate us from our Risen Lord? How far? "The just shall live by faith" (not by law). No, for in all of these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us ( Romans 8:37 ). The ground changed. . We are often taught that heaven awaits the Christian, but if we don't understand how the Bible presents it, it wouldn't be desirable or our hope. The earth, or, at least, the Jewish nation, had been familiar with such dealings of God in times past. We groan earnestly desiring to be delivered" ( 2 Corinthians 5:1-2 ). "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ," he says. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Because they look around and they say, "Will you look at that baboon over there? Sep 14, 1980. God loves you. What the apostle had given him in fulness was the great truth, however fundamental it may be, that I am entitled, and even called on in the name of the Lord Jesus, to know that I am dead to sin; not that I must die, but that I am dead that my baptism means nothing less than this, and is shorn of its most emphatic point if limited merely to Christ's dying for my sins. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. This is a passage which has been very seriously misused. John Piper Sep 9, 2001. This is applied in the two chapters that follow. Sermon. Love woke within our hearts; the conviction of sin came, and with it came the experience of forgiveness and of salvation. And now the spirit is helping my weakness in my prayer life. Salem Media Group. Paul is saying: "In this present world nothing can separate us from God in Christ; the day will come when this world will be shattered and the new age will dawn. This describes substantially the same condition as Romans 7:15-24. 23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. This is what made the gospel to be so sweet and precious, and, what is more, absolutely necessary, if he would escape certain and eternal ruin. )_ 2. But this is not the full extent of salvation. The people who owned the home had gone to Europe for the summer. Fasten your seatbelts as we take off.In the seventh chapter of the book of Romans, Paul has come to the realization that the law is spiritual. As the accomplishment of the saints' present hopes and expectations, Romans 8:19; Romans 8:19, c. As the saints are suffering for it, so they are waiting for it. Man in this world is a body and a spirit; and in the world of glory the total man will be saved. The master plan of God called for the exercise of the latter option. Such is the principle. Christians, being saved by faith, do not yet experience all that God has promised, but they look to the future with patience and confidence (24-25). This was the key to their difficulties this alone, and fully explains their coming ruin as well as God's solemn warnings. That is what Jesus said, "You didn't choose me, I chose you." The first-fruits did both sanctify and ensure the lump. Of what then shall we be afraid? Someone may object: "You say that the Spirit-controlled man is on the way to life; but in point of fact every man must die. The extent is what God Himself, so to speak, possesses the universe of God, whatever will be under Christ: and what will not? Along with this he gathers testimonies from more than one prophet. And it is not the least part of their vanity and bondage that they are used, or abused rather, by men as instruments of sin. Because he had violated that spiritual aspect of the law, though he had never committed adultery, yet he found that he desired his neighbor's wife and he realized that the desire was sin. The figure of the relationship of husband and wife is introduced in order to make the matter plain. But yet, God puts it in the past tense, which to me is quite interesting. But if a man does not love and trust God, he may well resent what happens to him and may well fight against God's will. . 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