CENTER FOR
CHURCH ENRICHMENT
SURVEY OF
ROMANS
LESSON OUTLINE 8
Romans
8:1-39
The Glory of Being In Christ
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Introduction
Romans 7 closed with the heart wrenching cry from Paul, in this case the representative of humanity trying to find relief by living under the Torah, “Wretched man that I am,! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom 7:24), followed by the Christian Paul’s response, “Thanks be to God, this can be through Jesus Christ out Lord.” (Rom 7:25).
Romans 8 takes up this thought
and develops it into one of the most encouraging texts in all of Scripture!
In this chapter Paul intrudes the comforting, yet life giving power of the
Holy Spirit.
Rom 8:1-11 The Sprit of Life
In great style Paul begins this section the statement that “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
The
little word now is described as
an eschatological nun (nun being the Greek word translated
now).
What this means is that in this eschatological (last)
time of the Messiah (the Christian age) there is no condemnation.
Under the age of Torah, there was condemnation for sin since sin working with the Torah brought death (Rom 5:12).
However, now, in the last age of the Messiah, there is no condemnation!
Great news!
But is this blessing universal?
No!
Paul continues, “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”!
The question is, “How does one get into Christ Jesus, and what does this mean?”
Rom 6:3 stated that believers are baptized into Christ Jesus. (See also Gal 3:26, 27).
Those who come to God in faith are baptized into Jesus, in Christ they are united with him and his death.
In Christ Jesus, there fore, there is therefore no condemnation!
Later in Rom 8 Paul will develop this thought more fully.
But what does it mean to be baptized into Christ Jesus?
This is where one is united with Christ, where one has died to sin, where the law has no power over us to work with sin and kill us, where we now live in the realm, sphere, and influence of Jesus!
Rom 8:2 stresses that in Christ the law of the Spirit of life works and sets us free from the law of sin and death.
Two principles are at work in the arena of human struggle, the principle of sin and death, and the principle of the Spirit of life.
Here we can legitimately translate the Greek word nomos as principle (nomos, which often in the New Testament is translated as law, also means principle, such as the principle of sin and death, and the principle of the Spirit of life).
The principle of sin is that sin and death work with the Torah (law, nomos) to condemn us.
The principle of the Sprit of life is that the Spirit works with faith for those in Christ resulting in life and no condemnation.
We encounter here an important doctrine that Paul enunciates elsewhere (2 Cor 3:6) where he contrasts the Mosaic law (the written code or Torah) with the Holy Spirit. He writes of being ministers of a new covenant, not of “a written code but in the Spirit; for the written code kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
In spite of some teachings on the Holy Spirit which emphasize miraculous powers transmitted by the Holy Spirit to some disciples, the primary ministry of the Holy Spirit is to function as the life giving power of God’s work.
Unless the Holy Spirit is present in conversion, giving life in the new birth (John 3:3-5, Titus 3:3-7) there is no new birth and no real spiritual life!
In the ministry of the Holy Spirit and Christ, God was doing what the Torah could not do, that is, give life. The Torah working with the sinful passions of man brought only death.
It is the Sprit , not the Torah, working with faith in Christ’s death on the cross that promises life to the believer.
Rom 8: 4 informs us that the just requirement of the law (justification) can not be fulfilled by Torah keeping, but can only be fulfilled by the work of the Spirit.
In Rom 8:5 Paul contrasts the life in the flesh (the sinful nature of man) and the spiritual side of man (which is led by the Spirit of God – Gal 5:16-24).
The sinful nature of man [because of the Torah] leads to death, the spiritual side of man [because of the Spirit] leads to life.
Christians are not controlled by their sinful nature since the Spirit of God dwells in them (Rom 8:9-11).
[The conditional particle if in Greek construction here introduces a 1st class conditional sentence and should be understood as since. There is no doubt in Paul’s mind here! The Spirit of God dwells in those who have been baptized into Christ – see Acts 2:38; 5:32 - and therefore is a power for good in their lives.]
The Spirit of God, the life giving power of Jesus’ resurrection, will also be the power of the Christians resurrection and life in Christ.
In Rom 8:10 Paul makes an interesting statement, “But if Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive because of righteousness.”
The
if here is again a 1st class conditional statement which
introduces a strong claim,
since Christ is in you, you are alive because of righteousness”!
Righteousness is not something we do or earn, but is the relationship we have with God!
Since Christ is in us (and since the Spirit dwells in us) we are in the correct relationship (righteous) with God, and therefore have life because of this!
(Remember that for the Jew and for Paul, righteousness is not
getting it all right, but being in the right relationship with God
and the Torah. We will not keep God’s will “torah” perfectly, we will sin,
but because we are in Christ and in a right relationship with God through
faith, we are righteous and have life not death. 1 John 1:5-7 tells us that
if we walk in the light where God is, we have fellowship with God [in
Pauline terms we are in a right relationship with God] and the blood of his
son, Jesus, constantly cleanses us form all sin.)
Rom 8:12-17 The Spirit of Adoption
This passage builds on the life in the Sprit Paul has just introduced and argues that by the help of the Spirit Christians put to death the deeds of the body [sinful nature of man]. Those led by the Spirit are children of God and have been adopted [the term sonship in reality is adoption] into his family. In this spirit of adoption we cry in response to God, Father!
We encounter in Rom 8:15 and 16 an interesting translation problem in the RSV and NIV. The translators have not stayed with the best Greek we have and have translated the text in agreement with Gal 4:5, 6. The punctuation in Greek is always a matter of scholarly interpretation, but the Greek text adopted today by most translators and commentators has the punctuation as follows, “…the spirit of adoption, in which we cry ‘Abba, Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with us that we are children of God.”
The RSV translators rendered these verses as follows, not the difference in punctuation from that which we have just given. “…you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God…”
The NIV translates and punctuates these verses in similar fashion, but with a slight variation.
NIV “…you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children…”
However, the KJV and the ASV are correct and stay closer to the text than the RSV and NIV!
KJV “…ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God…”
ASV “…ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God…”
We should understand these verses as punctuated in the Greek text, and followed by the KJV and ASV, “..you have received the spirit of adoption in which we cry “Abba, Father”! The Spirit himself bears witness that we are the children of God.”
Because we have received adoption into God’s family, we cry out to him in excitement, “Father”! the Holy spirit witnesses to God that we are his children, because the Holy Spirit was instrumental in our new birth into God’s family!
We also have an interesting doubling up of the word father in “Abba, Father”!
The word Abba is originally the Aramaic word for father. Aramaic was the common “Hebrew” dialect spoken by Jews in the 1st century. Abba in our text has been transliterated into the Greek also as Abba!
Father in the Greek text is pater which simply means father. It is sometimes used as an honorary praise term “Father!”
However, we have in our Greek text the doubling of the expression “Abba, Father”!
Why!
Simply because the Romans were a mixed group, both Jew and Gentile.
Abba would have special meaning to the Jew, “God has become our Father!”
To the Gentile Christian the term Abba might not be that well known, so Paul adds “ho pater!”
The doubling means no more than that both Jewish and Gentile Christian now cry out in joy that God is their Father!
(To
translate Abba as “daddy” as some are prone to do is a gross error,
for no Jew, Christian or otherwise, would ever address God in familiarity as
“Daddy”! That is a well meaning American concept, not a Biblical one!)
Rom 8:18-25 Spiritual Frustration (suffering) and the Future Hope of Glory
Paul now introduces an interesting, informative, and important piece of literature with a unique expression or genre!
It has to do with suffering!
We might ask why Paul introduces suffering into his discussion of the issues of guilt, frustration, Torah, and righteousness, and the Spirit!
It would be easy and natural to move in the direction of physical suffering and illness, and if we did, the message would be applicable and valuable.
However, this would be unfortunate and would diminish the real power of this little piece of expressive literature.
Scholars identify from the literary style, the unique references tot eh physical world reacting as though it were human, and the focus on hope and the future, a literary style that has become known as Apocalyptic.
Just as there are keys that tip on off to the fact that someone might be telling a fairy tale, such as “Once upon a time…”, so there are literary indicators that identify certain literary forms as apocalyptic
But what then is apocalyptic literature or apocalyptic expression?
Apocalyptic became the literature of Israel about 200 years BC, although it can be traced to the Jewish literature surrounding the Babylonian captivity (Ezekiel, Daniel, Isaiah, and Jeremiah., as well as the literature at the close of the Old Testament prophetic period such as Zechariah and Joel.
Apocalyptic also flourished in the first 200 years of the life of the Church.
Apocalyptic is the literature of religious persecution and temptation to
compromise faith.
When the Seleucid rulers took over the middle east after the fall of the
Alexandrian Empire, and then when Rome captured the whole Mediterranean
world, the Jews entered a period of harsh religious persecution which flowed
over into the first 3oo years of Christianity.
It was during these 400 years of religious persecution that the Jews and then the Christians expressed their faith and calls for faithfulness in the literary form of Apocalyptic.
Revelation is a major example of such apocalyptic genre in the New Testament.
The point that is vital to our understanding of Rom 8:18-25 is that it manifests many of the characteristics of the apocalyptic genre.
Several major commentators of Romans 8:18-25 point to the apocalyptic style of this paragraph.
One commentator of Romans (Ernst Kasemann) appropriately observed that “Apocalyptic is the mother of New Testament theology,” indicating that in order to understand the New Testament one must recognize that it was written during a period when Christians were entering a major period of persecution from both the Jews and the Romans.
Why then would Paul introduce this apocalyptic message to the church n Rome?
Simply because he knew that by preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ which spoke out against righteousness by Torah keeping the Jews would react violently and this would cause the Romans to react against both Jews and Christians.
One must remember that it was only a few years (possibly only three) since Nero banished all Jews (including Jewish Christians) from Rome!
Therefore, in Romans 8:18 Paul speaks of “the sufferings of the present time!”
In typical apocalyptic symbolism Paul personifies the physical creation and demonstrates that even the physical creation has been suffering under or from man’s sinful nature.
The physical creation itself is also looking forward to the coming salvation of mankind at the final end of the world.
Apocalyptic, although sensitive to the salvation experienced by individuals in the present, looks forward to the future salvation , not only of the individual, but of the whole creation at the end of time.
Paul’s intention in adopting the apocalyptic genre is to get the Christians to lift their horizons from their present suffering and to see the hope that lies ahead, over the horizon.
The suffering alluded to here by Paul is defined by the very literary genre, apocalyptic, he uses. The suffering is not simply physical suffering, but the spiritual suffering of persecution. He is well aware of Nero’s disposition and the shifting sands of the Christians lives in Rome.
The whole context of Rom 8 builds on what has transpired in Rom 5-7, namely Paul’s concern that the Christians understand that covenant relationship with God, namely, righteousness, is the heart of his message of faith in Jesus as opposed to Torah keeping.
Paul is aware of the glorious privilege and covenant relationship Christians have in Christ as opposed to a doomed relationship with Torah keeping and the frustration and guilt resulting form such.
Rom 7 ended with the cry of desperation, “Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?”
The
suffering of spiritual uncertainty associated with Torah keeping can only be
solved and alleviated by the indwelling Holy Spirit working in the life of
those who by faith in Jesus commit themselves to God’s grace.
Rom 8:26-30 Divine Intervention and Assurance
Rom 8:26 Continuing with the twin focus of Rom 8 (the frustration of the wretched man in sin under the Torah, and the life giving Holy Spirit) Paul states clearly and strongly that the Holy Spirit is deeply involved in the spiritual man’s spiritual suffering and weaknesses.
We need to stress again, that although God is concerned with our physical problems, and Christians are enjoined to pray to God in behalf of these, God’s deepest concerns are for our spiritual sufferings and anxieties.
Too often the pressures of life place great stress on one’s spiritual life and one’s covenant relationship with God is under great tension.
We want to cry out to God for help, but often find ourselves crying out to God searching for what God is doing about our situation!
Spiritually, or faith batteries have run low!
We want to pray “as we ought” but do not know what to say!
All we can manage is “sighs to deep for words!”
Some commentators want the unspoken of ineffable sighs too deep for words to be the sighs of the Spirit, others refer the ineffable sighs to the supposed ecstatic utterance of tongues, while others prefer to have the ineffable utterances to belong humans in their struggles with suffering and frustration.)
The syntax (grammatical form) of the phrase “sighs to deep “ is in a locative, instrumental, or dative noun form and could be translated in sighs, with sighs, or with reference to sighs!
Whether it be the ineffable sighs of the Christian or the ineffable sighs of the Spirit does no make much difference, for in whatever this means the Holy Spirit intercedes for the Christian in times when it is difficult to know what or how to pray!
God who knows the heart of the Spirit and knows that what the Spirit is doing is according to his divine will!
So, in our difficult times of spiritual weakness, the Holy Spirit is on our
side and is working for us according to God’s will!
Rom 8:28 God Works for Our Good
This is one of the most abused passages in the New Testament!
First, there is the temptation to remove the text from its context of discussing the spiritual needs we have when attempting to gain righteousness by Torah keeping.
Compounded by the spiritual uncertainty of being a Jew or Christian Jew in Rome under Nero, and the ever present guilt of our own human weakness and sin, we often feel impotent in our struggles with sin and securing righteousness.
We should not, for we have already learned that the Holy Spirit is interceding with God for us in our weakness!
However, we have something even more relational going for us, for God himself gets into the action and works in our lives to give us strength and produce good!
Our
problem with interpreting this text lies in the very uncertainty the text
itself provides!
The text itself does not supply the identity of who or
what it is that works for us.
Some English translations insert God as the one who works for us, and this
may be correct, but that is a translators insertion!
The number of textual variants in our Greek text indicates that this little
problem of who is acting has teased scholars ever since the beginning of the
church!
On top of that, our translations are all over the place in translating this text! The RSV inserts “in everything God works...”, the NIV reads “in all things God works…”, the NRSV, KJV, ASV, translate it “all things work together…”, the NASV reads “God causes all things to work together…”
The Greek literally reads (and literal translations are themselves a problem for they often ignore idiom and context), “now we know that to the ones loving God all things work together for good…”
The
verb works together
can be he works together,
it works together,
she works together.
One would assume that “she works together” does not fit the context!
Early Greek manuscripts supplied the noun God as the one who works together, but the better manuscript evidence is in support of “everything (it) works together”.
Further complicating the problem is the adjective panta which is variously translated in our translations as everything or all things since panta is either accusative masculine singular or plural, or accusative neuter plural!
Then we come to the word
good!
What kind of good does Paul have in mind?
Is it physical good, personal good, health, or wealth?
The context of Romans seems to indicate that what Paul
has in mind is not physical good, but spiritual good, namely righteousness
or our special covenant relationship with God.
Perhaps the best solution to this text is in the first place not to be too emphatic!
Second we should remember that the context of this verse is our spiritual suffering caused by guilt or our struggles to overcome our human weaknesses and yet be righteous, and the fact that both God and the Holy Spirit are already involved in our struggles (Rom 8:26).
Our best understanding is that in our struggles to be righteous in the presence of our human frailty, God and the Holy Sprit are involved in every aspect of our spiritual struggle to give us hope and spiritual security!
It is important that we note the connection between Rom 8:28 and Rom 8:29! Paul begins Rom 8:29 with the conjunction hoti which is often used as a causal particle simply translated because or for.
The hoti of Rom 8:29 explains why or how God works in everything for the good of those who love him.
This
also helps us understand the arena in which God is working, or in what sense
he is working in our lives!
Rom 8:29-30 Indicate God’s Eternal Working for our Salvation
Paul begins Rom 8:29 with the conjunction hoti which explains how God is working for us.
Careful attention to Rom 8:29 indicates that it is in the arena of justification or covenant relationship that he has and is working for us, not in every casual area of our lives.
His real concern is our justification and glorification, and our being conformed to the image of His Son, and to this end he has been working and continues to work!
Furthermore, the unique literary construction of Rom 8:29 and 30 are interesting and most informative!
Paul strings a list of verbs together that are all in the aorist tense (which make a strong statement of fact). He is reassuring the disciples of some important fact!
Scholars have identified a “poetic” lilt or rhythm to the verses that suggest that Paul is drawing on a well know confession of faith or early Christian hymn.
Some even suggest that Paul is drawing on an early Christian baptismal confession or hymn!
We are in agreement with this conclusion!
The hoti or for with which Paul begins Rom 8:29 explains the sense, or the “for what “ God has been, and is working everything in our lives.
It is for our righteousness and glorification that he has in fact been working since before the creation of the universe (Eph 1:3-11)!
Note, “those whom he foreknew he predestined, he called, he justified, and he glorified”!
God has had a plan for the believer which began before the creation.
He
predestined (decided before hand) that we
should be conformed in the image of his Son (Eph 1:3-11).
(Click here to go to an excursus on
Predestination)
He called us though his Gospel, and he has justified us through faith in Jesus Christ, and in this he has glorified us!
Knowing what God has done for us, and what he is presently doing for us, how can we let our spiritual depression keep us down?
We simply cannot!
This leads Paul into the closing climax of Rom 8 which began on a high note, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
“What shall we say to all this?”
Rom 8:31-39 We are More Than Conquerors!
This is one of the most “exciting” and uplifting passages in all of the New Testament.
It proclaims the victory Christians who love God enjoy.
It sings the song of The Book of Revelation!
“We are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us and no-one can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus”!
Rom 8:31, 32. If God is for us, and he must be since he has been working for us since before the creation, and since he gave his unique son for us, who can be against us? No one!
Rom 8:33 Who is going to bring a charge against God’s elect or chosen ones? No one!
Rom 8:34 Who is going to condemn the believer? Certainly not Christ who died for the believer, and who also intercedes for the believer!
Rom 8:35 Who is able to separate the believer form Christ? No one?
Paul then lists a number of experiences that would be well known to Jews and Jewish Christians of the day, all of which are common apocalyptic terms, tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, and sword.
Rom 8:36 Paul quotes Ps 44:222 which is in the context of a prayer to God for deliverance, and which would be well known to Jewish Christians as a Psalm of those under persecution or oppression.
Rom 8:37-39 Finally, as the capstone to the section that began in Rom 8:18 and introduced suffering and then moved through the Hoy Spirit interceding in behalf of hurting believers, to stressing that God is working in the trials of believers, and that they are secure in that God had been working for them since before creation, and that God would permit no-one to stand or come between them and his love, we come to this resounding note of triumph!
“We are more than conquerors through him who loved us!”
There are no trials imaginable that can separate the believer from the love of God in Christ Jesus, the believers Lord!
We note that the beginning of the long section, Rom 8:18-39, and the close of this great passage focus on the sufferings of believers and the triumph they enjoy in Christ!
The language and theology stress that this is a song of triumph over persecution and suffering.
The
Holy Spirit, God, and Jesus Christ are all involved with the suffering
saints throughout their ordeal.
Summary of Rom 8:1-39
We must remember that Paul’s theological arguments in Romans have focused on righteousness, or our special covenant relationship with God.
Rom 8 began in answer to the cry, “Wretched man that I am, who can deliver me form this body of death?” (Rom 7:24)
Awareness of personal sin in the context of Torah requirements inevitably leads to guilt, and when release from guilt is grounded in Torah, frustration and personal misery result. Paul even likens this to death, total ruin of everything we hold dear.
However, when the response to personal weakness is grounded in faith in God’s grace and His working in Jesus, the result is the realization that “There is therefore now no condemnation in Christ”.
When we realize that faith in God, the Holy Spirit, and the death of Jesus have resulted in what the Torah could not produce – justification and glorification – then we have confidence and strength to face life’s difficulties, even to endure persecution and suffering in the knowledge that our covenant relationship with God is secure!
In the context of AD 58 Rome, and obvious Imperial opposition (Nero) and banishment from home, and personal security, there is one thing we can be assured of, and that is our covenant relationship with God.
Persecution and even death cannot deny us, or destroy our special covenant relationship with God which Paul describes as righteousness.
In Christ the believer has security in suffering and persecution since the Holy Spirit, Christ, and God are working for the believer to see that their reward is secure, and that not even Roman persecution can destroy their covenant relationship with God.
No power is able to snatch their covenant relationship away from them, namely, from what God has done for them in Christ Jesus!
The Christian’s special covenant relationship with God, which the Jew and Paul describe as righteousness, cannot be produced or secured by Torah keeping, and cannot be snatched away by suffering, persecution, and Roman power!
We are more than conquerors through him who loved us!