Romans 9:10-13

Passage

Not only this, but also when Rebecca has conceived out of one man, Isaac our Father.  For after not yet being born and neither after doing right or wrong – in order that the purpose of God according to a significant preference should remain, not out of our works but out of the one who calls – it was being said to her that the older will serve the younger.  Just as it has been written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

 Much of Paul’s writing here is rather convoluted.  I don’t mean this to say that he is wrong.  Certainly not!  I mean that to say that he stacks clauses upon clauses and this makes it hard for us to keep track of what he is saying.  Let’s start with his point about Jacob and Esau coming from one man: Isaac.  If salvation and God’s love was based on genealogy, then Jacob and Esau should share God’s love, because they both are biologically the children of Isaac, who was the heir of Abraham.  But we know that Jacob was accepted and Esau was rejected.  Thus, God must not base His love and salvation upon genealogy.

If God does not base His love upon genealogy, what is left for Him to use?  How can you focus on those areas of your life about which God genuinely cares?

Second Thought:

Next, Paul makes the argument that Rebecca was told the older would serve the lesser before her twins were ever born.  Before they ever had a chance to do right or wrong God made the promise to Rebecca.  Here we see that it is not even our capacity for good or evil that is the basis of God’s love for us.  God does not love us more when we accomplish tons of things for His kingdom.  Similarly, He does not love us less when we fail Him.  That is how human love works, but not how God’s love works.  God’s love is unconditional, based upon something besides our works.

If God does not use our works to be the basis of His love, what does He use?  What then is the point of good works and obedience to Him as our Father?

Third Thought:

Paul does tell us, though, that God does have a significant preference.  We know that God loved Jacob and hated Esau.  From a human perspective this statement seems cold and harsh.  But God does not love according to human perspective.  God loves sinners.  John 3:16 tells us as much.  If God didn’t love sinners, none of us could be saved!  It was not Jacob’s perfection that drew him into the camp of being loved.  It was his reception of the love and the relationship that grew out of the love that allowed Jacob to dwell and remain in God’s love.  While we were yet sinners, God sent us Jesus to deal with our sin.  What remains is whether we truly want to be a people of the promise or not.

Do you want to be a person of the promise?  How do you receive Christ?  How do you receive God’s promise of salvation?  How does this point play into the conversation about why we are obedient to God’s will while submitting to Him?

Passage for Tomorrow: Romans 9:14-18

Romans 9:6-9

Passage

But it is not as though the Word of God has been made inadequate.  For not all the ones out of Israel are Israel.  Neither are all children because they are descendants of Abraham.  But in Isaac, your descendants will be called.  That is, it is not the children of the flesh that are the children of God but the children of the promise are counted into the descendants.  For the word of the promise is: “According to this season I will return and a son will be by Sarah.”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Paul asserts that the Word of God is not inadequate.  After all, God promised that the Hebrew people would be His chosen ones.  However, Paul also asserts that the Hebrew people by-and-large rejected Jesus Christ.  From a logical perspective, these points seem in conflict.  Thus, Paul needs to address this question.  We’ll get to the answer to this question in the next point.  Here, though, let’s remember that Paul attacks this question head on.  When we trust in God, we don’t need to fear tackling questions – even the difficult ones.  Sometimes God’s ways can be confusing and the surface answer isn’t the correct answer.  In those instances we need not be afraid of going deeply into the question and trust that God can provide the answer.

What are the difficult questions that you might be afraid to ask – or have asked of you?  Why is it important to bring ourselves to not be afraid of the difficult questions? 

Second Thought:

Paul makes a really bold point here.  It is not genealogy that matters.  It is promise that matters.  The Hebrew people read the story of Abraham and Isaac and think in terms of genealogy.  They think literally in terms of sexual conception – the work of human beings.  What Paul suggests here is that God’s power is not in the conception but in the promise of conception.  God’s work is in the promise, not the actual genealogical act.  This opens the door for the salvation of the Gentiles through Christ.  What Gentiles can have any claim upon the genealogy of Abraham?  What Gentile can have a share of God’s promise in Christ?

Why is Paul’s point here rather astute?  Do you agree with what Paul is saying?  What is the difference between seeing Isaac as being important through the promise versus being important through biology?

Third Thought:

What Paul is actually saying here is that it is not our pedigree that is important but the condition of our heart.  We do not gain favor into God’s kingdom by our lineage, by who we know, by who discipled us, or by how much of God’s Word we’ve memorized.  We gain access to God’s kingdom through receiving God’s promise: Christ Jesus.

Have you received God’s promise?  What was necessary for you to understand and trust that it is God’s promise to you that is important and not what you do or who you are?

Passage for Tomorrow: Romans 9:10-13

Romans 9:1-5

Passage

I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie, my conscience testifies for me in the Holy Spirit that my sorrow is great and unceasing is the intense anxiety of my heart.  For I myself was wishing to be accursed from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kin according to the flesh.  They are Israelites, and of whom is the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the worship, and the promises.  Of whom are the patriarchs and in whom is Christ – the one according to the flesh – who upon all things is God worthy of being praised into the ages, amen.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Within these verses Paul gives us a true picture of the heart of one who is truly in Christ.  Paul is a broken man.  His heart cannot help but break for the lost in the world – even his own Hebrew people who rejected Christ and nailed Him to the cross.  He has great sorrow for them.  He has a deep anxiety for them.  But Paul knows that his sorrow and anxiety is all he can have.  He – like us – cannot force anyone into the truth.  We can merely present the truth and wait for God to act upon it and wait for the person to receive His truth.  You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.

Do you love lost souls?  If so, how can you tell?  How does it show?  Are you broken by this fact?

Second Thought:

Paul also reminds us of all the things that the Hebrew people had within the scope of their relationship with God.  They had the promise of adoption into a divine family.  They had the many instances of seeing God’s glory.  They had the patriarchs through whom God displayed His promise.  They had the covenants.  They had God’s Law.  They had the worship in the tabernacle and the temple.  They had the promises of future redemption.  They had so much more given to them than the rest of the world!  Yet, through all of this, so many were unprepared for His coming.

Are there people in your midst who seem to have every reason to have a relationship with God and yet, they don’t?  Why do you think this is true?  Are there people in your midst who have every reason to not have a relationship with God and yet, they do?  Why is this true?

Third Thought:

As we look at this passage in preparation for the verses to come, it may seem strange that Paul moves to this section immediately after all the build-up of trust in God and the talk of salvation coming from God that we had in chapter 8.  We are going to begin a section of several chapters on the Hebrew people.  What is at stake here is the character of God.  After all, the people to whom Paul had devoted his ministry were familiar with the Jews. They knew of God’s promises to them.  They couldn’t help but wonder if God’s promises of salvation to the Jews had failed.  If God’s promises to the Jews had failed, then they couldn’t help but ask how we can trust in His promise to save the Gentiles through Christ.  That is the main overarching question of the next few chapters.  Paul will lead us through this question of how we can trust in God and how His promises will be kept even among the Hebrew people.

Do you ever question God’s character?  Do you ever wonder if God will be able to keep His promises?  What can be helpful to your faithfulness when you have these moments of wondering?

Passage for Tomorrow: Romans 9:6-9

Romans 8:36-39

Passage

Just as it has been written that, “Because of you we are being put to death the whole day long; we are considered as sheep of the slaughter.”  But in all these things we are completely victorious through the one who loved us.  For I have been made certain that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor the present nor the things that are about to happen nor the powerful nor the powers of the world above nor the powers of the world below nor any other created thing will be powerful enough to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

We are like sheep of the slaughter.  When we are in Christ, nothing in this world can have sway over us.  Yet, when we are in Christ, we are putting to death the ways of the world within us.  The old sinful person dies; the new creation in Christ lives.  Every day – the whole day long – we resist, struggle against, and wage war against the ways of the world.  We are like sheep led to the slaughter.  The world’s ways must die within us each and every day.

What are the ways of the world within you that need to die?  Where are the places in your life that Christ has been able to demonstrate victory in you?

Second Thought:

Note the verb tense when Paul speaks of our victory through the one who loved us.  We are completely victorious.  Paul doesn’t say, “We will be.”  He says, “We are.”  Victory is ours for the taking because it has been handed to us by God right now.  We can claim it right now.  We can be in a relationship with Him right now.  We don’t have to wait for eternal life to know God intimately.  We can know Him right now.

Do you know God intimately right now?  Do you believe victory over sin and death is within your grasp right now?

Third Thought:

As long as we’re talking about verbs, let’s look at the verb in the last expression of this section: “I have been made certain.”  This is a perfect passive, which in the Greek almost always indicates the work of God as He works in the past, present, and continues into the future.  What is Paul saying here?  He has been made certain.  Paul has received his certainty from God.  It is not his own logic that has done this.  It is not his own ability to reason that has made him certain.  Paul is certain because he has humbled himself to rely upon God.  It is that willingness to rely upon God in humbleness that likewise makes it impossible for anything else to separate him from God.

Are you humble before God?  How often do you rely upon your own understanding?  What can you do in your life to make it easier to rely upon God’s understanding?

Passage for Tomorrow: Romans 9:1-5

Romans 8:33-35

Passage

Who will bring any charge against the chosen ones of God?  God is the one who justifies.  Who is the one who judges against?  Christ Jesus is the one who died – and even more was being raised up and is at the right hand of God – and who intercedes on our behalf.  Who will separate us from the love of God?  Will persecution or difficulty or harassment or famine or nakedness or peril or the sword?

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Now Paul reaches the pinnacle of his argument with respect to salvation.  Yesterday we saw with confidence that God is for us.  Now Paul asks who can judge against us.  If God provided His own Son so that we could be with Him, then who has the power to overcome that?  If God is the one who provides for our justification, then who can argue against that?  The very one who sits in the best place to judge us has provided the means through which we can escape judgment.  Nobody can say anything greater than God with respect to our salvation.

How often do you realize that your very soul rests in God’s hands?  How often does that realization impact the way you live on a day to day basis?  Do you live out the reality that God justifies you more than anyone else ever could condemn you?

Second Thought:

Paul reminds us that Christ is our intercessor.  Christ – God Himself – is the one who intercedes for us.  We don’t need other people to go between God and us.  We have Christ!  We have a direct line to the very throne of God.  Jesus Christ – who came, lived among us, taught among us, called us to be His, died for our sake, rose for our witness, and ascended to God – is our intercessor!

What does it mean to you to have Jesus Christ as your intercessor?  How can the knowledge that Jesus Christ is our spokesperson before God allow us to live in confidence?

Third Thought:

If God is the one who justifies us and Christ is the one who intercedes on our behalf, then what shall be able to separate us from God?  Can anything come between us if God is on our side and we should desire to be with Him?  No.  Of course not.  The only thing that can get between me and a God who desires to be with me is, well, me.  I am the only obstacle between me and a relationship with my God.

What obstacles do we put between us and God?  Are they really obstacles?  What does it mean to say that I am the only obstacle between me and God?

Passage for Tomorrow: Romans 8:36-39

Romans 8:31-32

Passage

What, then, will we say with respect to these things?  If God is for us, who is against us?  He who did not spare His own Son but handed Him over for our sake, how will He not also give all things freely to us with Him?

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Paul asks a great summary question.  What can we say to all of this?  Remember the context that Paul is speaking.  We have been speaking about God’s grace, God desire to adopt us into His family, and God granting us eternal life when we really deserve decay.  What can we say to this?  Yes, God is that much in our favor.  We should be speechless when it comes to God’s incredible love.

When has God left you speechless?  What does it take for God to leave you speechless?

Second Thought:

Yes, God is that much in our favor.  God desires that we should be relationship with Him so much so that He does all the heavy lifting for us.  He paved the way for our salvation.  This leads us to the next question.  If God is for us, who can be against us?  Of course, the reality is that there are many in this world that are against us.  But who are they compared to God?  What can any of the people who rise up against us do to us with respect to our eternal salvation?

Why do we let other people get us down?  Why do we convince ourselves that our opponents are greater than God’s ability to overcome them through us?  How does this conversation point us to faith?  How does it point us to trust in God’s power?

Third Thought:

God did not spare His own Son.  That is a rather powerful point.  As much as comes our way in this life, we should never forget that God did not spare his Son to deal with a wrath that technically was not even His to bear!  That is the extent of God’s love.  God did not spare His own Son but rather handed Him over for our sake. 

If God loves us that much, what could possibly prevent God from accomplishing His will within us?  How will you respond to this idea that God did not spare His own Son for your sake?

Passage for Tomorrow: Romans 8:33-35

Romans 8:28-30

Passage

And we have known that for the ones who love God all things work together into good, for the ones who are according to a called purpose.  That those whom He selected beforehand He also foreordained to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He is the firstborn in many brothers.  And those whom He foreordained He also called these ones.   Even those whom He called He also declared these ones righteous.  Even those whom He declared righteous He also glorified these ones.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Here we have an often quoted passage: “All things work together into good.”  However, we also often forget the stipulation: “for the ones who are according to a called purpose.”  When I am obedient to God, I can trust that all things will work together for good.  But when I act in my disobedience and sin, there is no guarantee that it will work out for good.  Sure, God can redeem my sin if He so chooses, but often there are consequences that need to be dealt with as well.  The only way to be sure that things will work out together for good is to reside within my obedience to God.

Why do you think Paul keeps pointing us back to obedience?  Why is obedience to Him so vastly important to the Christian life?

Second Thought:

Paul also reminds us of the overarching goal.  We are to be conformed to the image of His Son.  Again we hear a point that we’ve spoken of in the past few days.  We are not to become Christ, we are to become like Christ.  He is the firstborn, we are those who follow where He has gone.  We are inherently followers, hopefully going only where God’s grace has already gone before us.

What does it mean to you to be conformed to the image of Christ?  Where can people see you being like Christ?  Where might people struggle to see Christ in you?

Third Thought:

Paul then gives us a blessed chain of events.  Foreordained leads to calling, calling leads to being declared righteous, and being declared righteous leads to being glorified.  There are two really neat points to consider in this.  The first point is invitational.  It all begins with God’s action.  He foreordains our calling and equipping.  What God purposes to do shall not fail!  The second point is challenging.  In order to get to glory, you have to go through calling.  God does not foreordain us into putting a rubber stamp on us so we can sit on our hands.  Rather, God foreordains us so that we can be called to live out His purpose.  A response of committal is expected as we progress from calling to glory.

How do you respond to God’s calling?  If God is calling you, how can you step out knowing that you step out into His foreordaining?  Why can this be helpful to remember?

Passage for Tomorrow: Romans 8:31-32

Romans 8:26-27

Passage

And likewise the Spirit also joins in helping with our weakness.  For the thing which we should pray as it is necessary we have not known.  But the same Spirit intercedes for us with groaning that cannot be expressed by words.  And the one who investigates hearts has known the mindset of the Spirit, which according to God He intercedes on behalf of the holy ones.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Having shown what it feels like for us to have mercy upon creation that looks to our redemption for hope of its own, Paul reminds us that we are in the same situation.  We are no different than creation.  It cannot save itself; we cannot save ourselves.  God comes to us and joins in our weakness.  God knows our weakness and comes anyway.  In fact, the greatness of God is that He doesn’t come beside us in the midst of our strength but in the midst of our weakness!  He comes when we are weak and intercedes for us when we need Him most.

How great is God?  How unlike God are we naturally?  How can this trait of God inspire your life?

Second Thought:

The truth is that we don’t even know for what we should pray.  We only know because the Spirit comes along beside us and prompts us, praying for us with such passion that it cannot be put into words.  Even when we pray, it is because the Spirit is already right there beside us leading the way.  This brings us to a theme of the New Testament, which is that all good things come from God.  Therefore, even the things that we do that are good have their origin in the Spirit’s prompting and equipping.

How does this passage show us the depth of God’s embrace?  If God truly does go before us and equip us, how can this help us step forward in confidence?

Third Thought:

Paul ends this section with the reminder that God searches our hearts and that God sent the Holy Spirit to intercede for the Holy Ones.  Remember the correct definition for the word holy: separate.  God’s Spirit intercedes for those who are separate from the world.  God’s Spirit intercedes for those who distance themselves from the ways of the world.  God knows our heart, and He knows who among us wish to leave the world behind us as we become more like Him.  He knows which of us are holy – not self-righteous, but separate.

Are you separate from this world?  Where are you successful in being separate, or holy?  Where are you unsuccessful at being separate?

Passage for Tomorrow: Romans 8:28-30

Romans 8:23-25

Passage

And not only creation, but we ourselves while having the first fruits of the Spirit groan deeply within ourselves while waiting expectantly for adoption – the redemption of our bodies.  For we were being saved by this hope.  And hope that is being seen is not hope.  For who hopes for what he sees?  But if we hope for that which we do not see, we wait expectantly through patient endurance.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Paul reminds us that we have a very excellent reason to hope.  We have the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is the first fruit!  As Paul tells us in Ephesians 1:13-14, the Holy Spirit is the guarantor of our salvation.  This section of Romans confirms this truth.  If we have the Holy Spirit, we have every reason to eagerly look forward to our salvation.

How do you know if you have the Holy Spirit?  How do you live once you know the Holy Spirit is within you?

Second Thought:

Then Paul speaks about salvation via the illustration of adoption.  Adoption is legally being allowed to claim a lineage that does not technically belong to you.  That is what we receive through Christ.  We have no right to think that we could live eternally.  We are a part of this creation and a few days ago we talked about how the creation is decaying.  We deserve to decay.  Yet in Christ, we can claim an eternal lineage.  We have no legal right to it, but we are adopted into it.  How great is God!

Do you see yourself as adopted?  What does that mean for you?  What opportunities does that status open up for you?

Third Thought:

Finally, Paul talks about hope versus seeing.  When we see something, we don’t need hope.  We can see it.  We can touch it.  We can let our senses convince us of its reality.  However, with respect to salvation we cannot see it or touch it or smell it of feel it.  Salvation is intangibly within us, as is the Holy Spirit.  We cannot touch it, so we must hope.  Yet this hope is exactly that for which God is looking.  He wants us to humble ourselves to Him and trust in Him knowing that He will provide.  That is hope.

Where is your hope?  In whom does your hope reside?  How does your life illustrate these answers?

Passage for Tomorrow: Romans 8:26-27

Romans 8:18-22

Passage

For I consider that the suffering of this present time is of no worth with respect to the glory that is about to be revealed into us.  For the eager expectation of the creation looks forward to the revelation of the sons of God.  For the creation was being submitted to futility, not willingly but through the one who brings under control, upon hope that creation itself will also be set free from the slavery of decay into the glory of the children of God.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Paul now sets up a comparison between now and the future.  Life now – and the suffering brought upon us – is nothing when compared to what is to come.  Nothing bad that happens in this world will compare to the glory that will come in the future.  There simply isn’t any comparison.  Sin will not compare to righteousness.  Pain will not compare to glory.  Fear will not compare to joy.  Death will not compare to eternal life. This world may have difficult days, but each of these days will be worthwhile.

Is it difficult to endure the suffering of this world while knowing that glory comes to those who endure?  Where can we find strength?  What do you think life eternal with God will be like?

Second Thought:

Paul tells us that creation looks forward to the day that the sons of God will come into their glory.  There is a reason for this.  Creation is caught in decay.  Think about it and it will make sense.  Every day lived is a day each of us gets older and cannot get back.  Machines wear and break down.  Iron rusts until it has no strength.  Species cross into extinction.  Even rock and concrete is worn down by weather and brought to decay.  This world is a world of decay.  Scientists even tell us that one day our sun will burn out and life on this planet will have to cease.  Everything that is a part of this creation eventually experiences decay.

Do you find this to be a depressing topic?  Is it true?  Is it real?  How do you deal with the truth presented in this thought?

Third Thought:

Because of this perspective, creation longs for the day when God’s glory will be revealed upon mankind.  After all, what hope does creation have except that when we are brought into glory that it will also be brought into glory?  Creation hopes that as we are transformed from sin and decay into glory that God will do the same with it.  God is their only hope.  As we hope that God will do to us as He did to Christ, so creation hopes that God will also do to it as He will do to us.

How does this part of Paul’s argument shape your thoughts regarding creation?  Do you look upon creation with sympathy?  Mercy?  Grace?  How does this reflect upon how God sees us?

Passage for Tomorrow: Romans 8:23-25

Romans 8:15-17

Passage

For you all did not receive again a spirit of slavery into fear but you all received a spirit of adoption in whom we cry, “Abba, Father!”  The same spirit testifies in support with our spirit that we are children of God.  And if we are children, we are also heirs.  On one hand we are heirs of God, but on the other hand we are co-heirs with Christ if indeed we suffer together in order that we should be glorified together.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Paul tells us that in God we have not received a spirit of fear.  This is a huge point.  So often when we are growing in Christ it is easy to be held captive by our fear.  We realize just how badly we messed up life when we had control and we fear being God’s representative because we sure don’t want to mess that up!  However, this shows our faulty perspective.  So long as I am a disciple of Jesus, following His example, and submitting to God’s will, then He will go before me and equip me in order to make my efforts fruitful even when I am less than perfect.  This is why Paul says we have received a spirit of adoption, not slavery.  We humble ourselves to discern God’s will.  But once we have discerned His will, we can go forth into freedom and confidence.

When are you held captive in your fear rather than being bold in your faith?  How can discernment help us be bold instead of afraid?  How does this show us the importance of having people who can help us discern?

Second Thought:

Paul then reminds us that if we are adopted, then we are heirs.  As Christ was raised from the dead, that is our inheritance, too.  As Christ was brought into the presence of the Father for all eternity, that is our inheritance, too.  We are genuinely heirs with Christ.  What a great inheritance to have!

How does it make you feel to remember that you are an heir to such an incredible inheritance?  How will you respond?

Third Thought:

The inheritance does not come without an exchange.  Paul reminds us that we are co-heirs if we indeed suffer with Christ so that we may be glorified with Christ.  That’s the dark side.  God does not allow us to continue living in this world and by this world’s standards as well as be an inheritor of His kingdom.  It’s one or the other.  When we follow God and God’s ways, we will suffer at the hands of the world.  But that is an extraordinarily fair trade.  What is a little temporary suffering compared to being an eternal heir of God’s kingdom?

Do you suffer with Christ?  How do you suffer with Christ?  Do you consider that a fair trade for being an heir to God’s kingdom?

Passage for Tomorrow: Romans 8:18-22

Romans 8:12-14

Passage

Consequently, therefore, brothers and sisters, we are obligated not to the flesh – to live according to the flesh.  For if you all live according to the flesh you are about to die.  But if by the Spirit you all put to death the acts of the flesh, you all will live.  For each of you who are led by the Spirit of God, you are sons of God.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Those who have the Holy Spirit are under an obligation, but not under an obligation to live according to the flesh.  However, this is a battle that we need to be reminded of often – as did Paul’s readers.  It is easy to fall into the trap of living for the flesh and the things of the world.  But our obligation is to God, to live for the Spirit.

What does it mean to you to live according to the flesh?  What does this look like in your life?  What does it mean for you to live according to the Spirit?  What does that look like in your life?

Second Thought:

Paul’s thought in the middle of this section is understated and easy to miss – but incredibly important.  If we live according to the flesh we are about to die.  Think about it, it’s true.  If we live according to the flesh, when we die we really and truly die.  If we live according to the flesh, salvation into eternal life is not within us.  If salvation is not within us, then we are truly one step away from true death at every moment.

How can this thought be genuinely sad?  How can this line of thinking help us look upon eternal salvation with the gratitude it deserves?

Third Thought:

Paul then gives us a reminder of an incredible reality in which we find ourselves.  If we have the Spirit within us, we are sons of God.  We deserve death, but the reality is that God grants us grace and gives life instead.  He opens His hands wide and not only embraces us, but welcomes us fully into His family.

How does it make you feel to remember that you are a child of God when you have the Holy Spirit within you?  How blessed are we to receive such grace from God?

Passage for Tomorrow: Romans 8:15-17

Romans 8:9-11

Passage

But you all are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.  And if someone does not have the Spirit of Christ, such a one is not of Him.  But if Christ is in you, on one hand the body is dead through sin but on the other hand the spirit is life through righteousness.  And if the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus out of the dead dwells in you, the one who raised up Christ out of the dead will give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Paul continues to focus relentlessly on the Holy Spirit.  Paul also doesn’t keep us from reflecting upon our life, either.  Notice he says, “if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.”  He’s not doubting the people; he is desiring to get them to look at their life and question what is truly happening within them.  If the Holy Spirit is within them, then we can be confident that we live in Christ and can know salvation!  The key is the presence of the Holy Spirit within.  Of course, Paul makes sure to state the opposite side as well.  If someone does not have the Holy Spirit, that person is not in Christ.

Is the Holy Spirit within you?  How do you know?  When might you question this?

Second Thought:

Paul then says that if we are in Christ, then the flesh is dead through sin but the spirit lives on.  In other words, Paul is telling us that if Christ is in us we will have our struggles with sin.  But the struggles with sin will not have the final say.  The flesh might be dead and unable to resist sin, but Christ can make us alive through His righteousness.  Though we struggle with sin, we need not feel defeated by it.

Do you ever feel defeated by sin?  Why can that be a natural feeling as we struggle through this life?  How can you focus instead on the life that comes through Christ?

Third Thought:

As Paul ends this section we have a great promise.  If the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus Christ from the dead, lives within us then we can be confident that in the end God can give life to our mortal bodies as well.  In other words, though we die, yet shall we live.  See John 11:25.  Though sin may occasionally win in this current life, we shall live eternally in God in the end.  Sin and the flesh does not have the final say when the Spirit of God is within us.

How do you respond to this promise?  Why is it important to realize that this is our response, not what we’ve earned?

Passage for Tomorrow: Romans 8:12-14

Romans 8:7-8

Passage

Because of this, the way of thinking of the flesh is at enmity with God.  For it is not being submitted to the Law of God – nor is it even powerful enough to do so.  For the ones who are in the flesh are not powerful enough to please God.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Enmity with God is not exactly a pleasant description of relationship.  Enmity is defined as “the state of being actively opposed to something.”  Paul continues to stop pulling punches.  If you are in the flesh, you are in a state of active opposition to God.  That makes things fairly plain and clear, doesn’t it?  I can’t help but wonder how many of us are still at enmity with God.  I can’t help but wonder how many of us try to whitewash this point.

Are you in the flesh?  Do you still think using the ways of the flesh?  How does it make you feel when you think about others in the world living at enmity with God?

Second Thought:

The source of the enmity is also clear.  It is because the flesh refuses to submit to God.  Our enmity is inherently tied to our lack of submission.  We do not want what God wants for us.  Paul tells us that it is not even possible for us to want it.  We’re just not powerful enough.  The only way we can ever want the higher things that God wants for us is to submit to Him and let the Spirit lead us.  It really all is about submission as our first step.

How easy is it for you to submit to God?  What is the advantage of submission?  What makes it so difficult?

Third Thought:

Paul continues to spell things out rather clearly.  Those in the flesh are not powerful enough to please God, either.  When we try and do things based off of our own power and our own authority and our own understanding we just cannot do it.  The only way to please God is to realize that our authority – and therefore our power – comes from Him.  When we act out of our submission to Him, we are empowered by Him and can please Him.

Where do you please God?  Where do you live out of His power?  Where do you understand your authority comes from Him?

Passage for Tomorrow: Romans 8:9-11

Romans 8:5-6

Passage

For the ones who are according to the flesh fix their attention upon the things of the flesh, but the ones according to the Spirit fix their attention upon the things of the spirit.  For the way of thinking of the flesh is death.  But the way of thinking of the Spirit is life and peace.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Paul gives us a real litmus test here in verse 5.  Those who set their mind upon the things of this world are in the flesh.  Only those who set their mind upon the things of the Spirit are of the spirit.  It really doesn’t leave much room for debate.  With respect to your time, your thoughts, your actions, your desires, and your attention – what has your focus?

Do you focus more on the things of this world or the things of God?  Why is it important to consider this question honestly and truthfully?

Second Thought:

The way of thinking of the flesh is death.  Of course this sentence speaks eternally.  Those apart from God will not live into eternal life with God.  However, this sentence speaks to the world as well.  The things of the world don’t last.  Ever get a great gift as a child?  How many of those gifts are still as important to you today as they were then?  Ever buy that great car?  How long did that last?  What about that great house?  How long did it last before needing repair or upgrading?  The reality is that the things of this world don’t sustain us forever.  They don’t last.  Even while we’re alive here and now, the things of this world still point us to death.

If this is true, why is it that we do we still focus so much on the things of this world?

Third Thought:

The way of thinking of the Spirit is life and peace.  As with the last thought, I believe this thought speaks not only to our eternal life but also to the here and now.  We have peace with God through Christ now.  We can share God’s love now.  We can find satisfaction in sharing God’s mercy now.  These things last.  The relationships built through these things last.

Why do we struggle to hold onto the value of things like love, peace, mercy, kindness, and grace?  What can you do to help you value these things more?

Passage for Tomorrow: Romans 8:7-8

Romans 8:1-4

Passage

Consequently, now there is no condemnation for the ones in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus sets you free from the law of sin and death.  For the impossible thing of the law – in which it was weakened through the flesh, God, after sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for the sake of sin, pronounced judgment upon sin in the flesh in order that the commandment of the law should be fulfilled in us who live not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

There is no condemnation for the ones in Christ Jesus.  I’m not sure that there are too many greater verses in the Bible than Romans 8:1.  In chapter 7 Paul spent many verses talking about how we cannot live up to the Law.  We simply cannot attain the Law.  Sin is an inherent part of who I am.  Having realized this reality, we hit this sentence and understand the power of what is said inside.  In Christ we are not condemned.  We deserve wrath, but Christ has already taken the wrath we deserve.  There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ because He has taken it for us.

How does it feel to realize you deserve wrath but get grace?  How does it feel to hear that there is no condemnation so long as you are in Christ?

Second Thought:

The middle section of these verses is confusing.  It’s confusing in English.  It’s confusing in the Greek, too.  Here is what Paul is trying to say.  The Law could not bring about salvation because we are not able to live up to the Law.  Our flesh is weak, and thus the Law could not do what would’ve had to be done.  Instead, God did what the Law couldn’t do.  God sent His own Son to live up to the Law.  Having lived up to the Law, Jesus died for our sake.  The Law was satisfied.  Jesus was our sacrifice.  The Law tells us how to live; Jesus pays the price when we can’t live like the Law requires.

What would life be like had God not taken matters into His own hands?  What would life be like if we did not have the assurance that Jesus has satisfied the Law already?

Third Thought:

Paul ends these verses by introducing the idea of living according to the Spirit.  Here’s the really neat point about the verses.  We’ve already proven that each of us can live according to sin, but it’s just not that good for us.  We’ve also proven that we cannot live according to the Law.  Therefore, we need a third option.  We live according to the Spirit.  We live in a way that seeks after God’s will but acknowledges that we cannot do it without the help of God.  We can rise above our sinful nature, but we need God’s help to do it.

Do you live according to the Spirit?  When is this possible?  When do you struggle between living according to the Spirit and living according to the flesh?

Passage for Tomorrow: Romans 8:5-6

Romans 7:21-25

Passage

Consequently, I find this law: by the thing in me that desires to do the good, that the evil is at hand by me.  For I delight in the Law of God according to my inner being.  But I recognize another law in my members while making war with the law of my mind and while making me captive in the law of sin that is in my members.  I am a wretched man!  Who will rescue me from this body of death?  But thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, consequently, I myself on one hand am enslaved to the Law of God by my mind but on the other hand am enslaved to the Law of sin by my flesh.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Paul recognizes that even when we desire something good, evil is always close at hand.  Even when I set out to accomplish God’s will, it is so easy to become focused upon my glory, my righteousness, and my benefit.  It is so easy to start out in the right direction only to find that I’ve manipulated good things to my own selfish benefit.

Why is it so easy for us to make everything about ourselves?  Why is it easy for us to corrupt good things?

Second Thought:

Paul then says that there is a war within us.  We may delight in God in our hearts.  Yet our flesh delights in its own benefit.  This is war at its best.  Even when we delight in the will of God we find our bodies are still captive to sin.  This is our natural state.  We are caught between the God who calls us into righteousness and the sin that would like to anchor us here in this world.

Where do you feel the most caught between sin and the God?  How does it make you feel to again be reminded that we are at war within our flesh?

Third Thought:

Thanks be to God that He sent Jesus Christ to us!  Christ is the answer.  He is the conquering king.  He has overcome death for us.  He has overcome sin for us.  While we may be in the war zone, we know that those who are in Christ will ultimately see sin die within them.  We will be raised into a newness of life.  Thanks be to God.

How can this passage help you appreciate what God has done for you?  How can these verses fill you with the desire to worship the almighty God?

Passage for Tomorrow: Romans 8:1-4