Romans 8: 5 – 39
Take a stand, are you for or against?
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. 12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 23 Not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. 24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. 26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” 37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 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.
Have You Ever Wondered...
What does it mean to stand for something?
But what exactly does it mean to stand for something? Rather than the opposite of sitting, it means to hold firmly to a opinion or belief. To stand for something means you give it your whole-hearted support.
Certain words have feelings associated with them. Sitting is seen as a passive action. Some consider sitting the opposite of doing something.
Standing, on the other hand, is active. When you stand, you act. That's why standing is associated with believing in and supporting a cause.
Support can take many forms. Some people donate their money. Other people volunteer their time and talents to projects to raise awareness of issues that are important to them.
Whatever you are passionate about, there's sure to be a cause that you can support. You never know when your actions to stand for something that's important to you will make the world a better place.
Today I am greatly moved by the teaching of Paul when he informs us in verse 31, “31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Do you also see the significance of this statement? Our Holy God Is making a stand for His children. His cause Is making sure nothing will come against His own.
Reference to ‘walking not after the flesh but after the Spirit’ now leads on to a deeper examination of what it means to be responsive to the Spirit in contrast with the flesh. It is the battle of Galatians 5 verse16 continued, with the Spirit and flesh being in constant opposition. This contrast is prominent verse by verse in chapter 8 verses 5-13.
With reference to ‘the flesh’ we note that:
. Those who are after the flesh mind the things of the flesh (v5).
. The mind of the flesh is death (v6).
. The mind of the flesh is enmity against God (v.7).
. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God (v.8).
. Their body is dead because of sin (v.10).
. Living after the flesh they must die (v.13).
This is the condition in which the world find themselves. Because they are fleshly their concentration is on fleshly things, an attitude which results in death both in this world and that which is to come. It also results in enmity against God, and their being in a position whereby they are unable to please Him. They are at odds with God. Please notice the constant emphasis on death. That is all that awaits those who are in the flesh. Their state is a parlous one indeed.
In contrast is the life of the Spirit:
. Those who are after the Spirit mind the things of the Spirit (v5).
. The mind of the Spirit is life and peace (v6).
. The indwelling Spirit is life because of righteousness (v.10).
. He Who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will give life also to your mortal bodies through his Spirit which dwells in you (v11).
. If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live (v.13).
. As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God (v.14).
Here we note immediately the emphasis on life (eternal life). To have the mind of the Spirit is life. To have the Holy Spirit indwelling is life. God will give life to our mortal bodies. If by the Spirit, we put to death the deeds of the body we will live. If we are led by the Spirit of God, we are the sons of God (and will thus be alive forevermore). Through the Spirit we therefore enjoy ‘eternal life’ both now and after the resurrection.
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
The test of whether we walk after the flesh or after the Spirit is revealed by our mind set. Those who walk after the flesh have their minds set on the things of the flesh. Those who walk after the Spirit have their minds set on the things of the Spirit. Colossians 3.1-2, ‘if you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth --’. If our minds are not set on things above, perhaps we ought to reconsider our position.
6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
The consequence of having ‘the mind of the flesh’ is death. If we set our minds on fleshly things we will reap our reward. God is not mocked. He who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption (Galatians 6.7). In contrast the one who sows to the Spirit and sets his mind on the Spirit and is ‘after the Spirit’, will enjoy life and peace. He will enjoy peace with God (5.1). He will ‘reap eternal life’ (Galatians 6.7), because thereby he will be proving that he is a true child of God, who is acceptable in God’s sight through the righteousness of Christ (verse 3).
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
And this is because having the mind of the flesh is to be at enmity with God. That which is fleshly is not subject to the Law of God, nor indeed can it be, for the Law is spiritual (7.14). This underlines the fact that the descriptions in 7.22-23 were of regenerated men and women. That a battle was taking place was because the Spiritual mind was being applied rather than the fleshly one. Because of all this, those who are ‘in the flesh’ cannot please God. God cannot look with pleasure on one who is deliberately dwelling in the realm of the flesh and walking in deliberate disobedience. They are enemies of God. They are not subject to God’s Law (they are criminals and rebels). They cannot please God. And the reason why this is so, is because all that they do, even if it has to do with high level morality, is done out of fleshly motives.
9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
In contrast those who have the Spirit of God dwelling in them are ‘in the Spirit’ and not ‘in the flesh’. They dwell and walk in the realm of the Spirit. They are upheld by the Spirit. They are illuminated by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2.9-16). In this is the crucial test of whether someone is a Christian. Are they indwelt by the Spirit? For Jesus came as the ‘flood in The Holy Spirit’ (Matthew 3.11). If any man does not have the Spirit of Christ he is ‘none of His’.
Please take special note of the change to ‘Spirit of Christ’. It is important in context because the point is that central to be a Christian is our relationship to Christ. But the Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of God, for Christ Is God. God Is seen in general as represented in men’s hearts by ‘the Holy Spirit’. And yet we must beware of being too dogmatic, for God is such that it is impossible for the Holy Spirit to be present without the Father and the Son. They too dwell within us (John 14.23). And Paul demonstrates this by immediately speaking of ‘Christ in you’ (verse 10).
10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Quite easily Paul can slip from having the Holy Spirit in us, to having Christ in us, thus illustrating Their total equality. It is because Christ is in us that the body is dead because of sin, for it is due to our having been crucified with Christ. However, some see this as indicating ‘the body is subject to death because of sin’. Both are, of course, true. If we take the first the verse is linking up with the fact that we died with Him and rose with Him (6.1-11). If we take the second then Paul is indicating that we are still subject to death because of sin dwelling in us but are certain of resurrection because we have life through the Spirit. So, in our oneness with Him we have died with Him, and we live in Him. And it is because of His righteousness applied to us that we enjoy the Spirit of life. For this was the purpose of His coming, to give us life and we learn now that this is through the Spirit.
11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
The Triune God is now seen as in action. ‘Him Who raised up Jesus from the dead’ (the Father) is now introduced and is also seen as indwelling us. Involved in our salvation are God The Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And we learn that having raised Jesus from the dead by His mighty power (Ephesians 1.19), we can be sure that He will also raise us from the dead (Ephesians 2.1 ), giving life to our mortal bodies. The assurance is of physical resurrection. And it will be accomplished through His Spirit Who dwells in us. Then will ‘the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus’ have finally set us free from the law of sin and death (verse 2).
12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.
So, says Paul, we must recognize that we are debtors. We owe it to God to be what we should be and yield our lives to His Spirit. On the other hand, we own no debt to the flesh, by pandering to it and in consequence living in accordance with its demands. It has no rights over us. To ‘live after the flesh’ is to own the right of the flesh to dictate our lives. It is those who happily follow their own desires without recourse to God who ‘live after the flesh’. They are at enmity with God (verse 7). In contrast the true believer’s aim is to follow the Spirit, looking to God for guidance and help in the way we live. The aim and motive are of vital importance.
13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
If we do live after the flesh we ‘must die’, both in this world and the next. It is a certainty. The contrast with ‘live’ indicates that this means more than just physical death. For those who live after the flesh there is no eternal life. On the other hand, if we live by the Spirit, following His leading and responding to Him, and if we by His power put to death the (sinful) deeds of our body, we will ‘live’.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
And one reason why we can be so sure that we ‘will live’ is because, by being led by the Spirit in this regard we are demonstrating that we are ‘sons of God’. The assumption is, of course, that in the same way we will follow all the Spirit’s leading. And the fact that we can sense His leading is confirmation of the fact of our sonship.
15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
This is a call for them to recognize that they have not been called as servants (who were often beaten) but as sons (something made clear by Jesus in the parable of the prodigal son - Luke 15). Left to their own ideas they might well have seen themselves as ‘slaves of God’, cowering before a despotic Master but the fact that Jesus taught them that they could call God ‘Father’ demonstrated otherwise. His point was that God did not want them to look on Him as a stern Master, but as a loving Father. This idea is thus firmly rooted in the teaching of Jesus about God as a loving Father. It is further supported by the idea lying behind ‘no longer do I call you servants, but I have called your friends’ (John 15.15) and by His stress on the fact that it was He Who had chosen them (John 15.16). God did not see them merely as servants, but as those who had been chosen by Him.
Despite Galatians 4 then, there is good reason here for seeing ‘bondage’ as referring to the bondage of the Law from which they have just escaped by being accounted as righteous. The point is that the Spirit Whom they receive will not take them back again under the bondage of the Law so that they once more live in craven fear under that Law. Rather He will bring them into a state of adoption under their Father in which they cry ‘Abba Father’, the tender cry of a child to its father, and live openly and joyfully in His presence. The freely open cry of ‘Abba father’ is deliberately in direct contrast to the quivering slave who fears to say anything. It is a hugely significant cry, a cry of trust and confidence, and of assurance that the Father will hear.
‘The Spirit of bondage’ is describing what the Holy Spirit is NOT and what we have NOT received. He is not a Spirit of bondage but a Spirit of adoption.
16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
And all this is because the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, making us aware of the privilege and joy of such a position. It is through the Spirit’s illumination and encouragement that we take up and maintain our new position, continually rejoicing in it as the wonder of it is brought home to us more and more.
17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
The Spirit bears witness to even more. He bears witness to the fact that as children we are heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. He brings out that we are to share with Christ in all the gifts and glory of the Father. Thus, will we receive the inheritance promised to Abraham, an inheritance that will be received, not in this earth, but in the new Heaven and the new earth. Such a privilege can only be ours if we share in His suffering. Those who would share the glory must share the cross. For it is the destiny of believers to experience suffering on the way to glory. ‘If we die with Him we will also live with Him, if we suffer with Him we will also reign with Him’ (2 Timothy 2.11-12). It was not that Paul doubted the Roman Christians (any more than he distrusted Timothy). It was rather that he wanted them to be prepared for what might come (and soon did come).
Paul has just been speaking of the fact that we who are sons of God will also share in His sufferings. Now we learn that the whole of creation is also undergoing anguish (is groaning) as it waits for ‘the revealing of the sons of God’. Thus prior to the final summary in 8.31-39 the portrayal of redemption described from chapters 1 to 8 ends with a glance into the future when the whole of creation will be transformed, and the people of God will experience full salvation as they are made like to His image.
The passage presents this in a remarkable way as it portrays salvation history in terms of groaning, for not only does it see the whole creation as groaning in hope of deliverance, and all God’s people as groaning as they await the redemption of their bodies, but it also portrays God Himself as groaning through His Spirit as He fulfils His role in our salvation. This present age is summarized as one of groaning prior to our deliverance into ‘the liberty of the glory of the children of God. It is a time of suffering and tribulation. That is why Paul will go on to emphasize the certainty of the fulfilment of God’s plan of salvation and give the guarantee that amidst the groaning God will uphold his children (8.31-39).
This passage is in fact of vital import in Paul’s outlining of God’s plan of salvation. It helps to bridge the gap between justification and glorification. The Question can be put, ‘Why in view of man’s redemption does he have to suffer and endure, and be allowed to be a prey to ‘sin and death’? The answer lies here. It is a part of the fulfilment of God’s purpose from creation to consummation. As Adam sinned and brought sin into the world (5.12-14), so did his sin bring corruption to God’s creation. Thus, not only has man to be delivered, but the whole of creation is to share in that deliverance. And in the process of this redeemed man must play his part. We can parallel 7.14-8.4 with this passage, the one depicting man groaning in his bondage to sin (‘O wretched man that I am’ - 7.24), the other depicting the whole creation as groaning in its wretchedness, subject to the curse. Both are a necessary part in God’s answer to the problem of sin.
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Paul now gives the assurance that no matter how great the sufferings of this present time they are not ‘worthy to be compared’ with the glory which is to be revealed towards us. ‘Our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory’ (2 Corinthians 4.17). Therefore, our minds must be set on things above (Colossians 3.1-3), in order that we might not be discouraged by what happens to us on earth as we await the glory that is to be revealed to us. That indeed is what should take up our whole thoughts and determine how we live. As Jesus Himself said, ‘do not lay up your treasures on earth -- lay up your treasures in heaven ---for where your treasure is there will your heart be also’ (Matthew 6.19).
The words, ‘The sufferings of this present time’ is a theme of the remainder of this chapter, and verse 35 makes quite clear that all sufferings of His people are included, not just persecution. But having said that, both Jesus and the New Testament writers make clear that we must not be taken by surprise by persecution, for it is a part of the battle for the salvation of God’s elect.
The verse speaks of ‘glory towards us’ which is clearly a recognition of the glory which will be bestowed on us and with our final glorification (8.30).
19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.
Paul vividly presents the whole of creation as waiting, as it were, with bated breath, for the time when the sons of God will be revealed. He pictures the whole of the universe as waiting with earnest expectation for the time of redemption. Only sinful man is unaware of it to be taken by surprise.
‘The earnest expectation’ means ‘the waiting with outstretched head’, thus a ‘straining forward in anticipation’.
20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
The reason why it waits with bated breath is because it had been subjected to frustration and emptiness (‘vanity’). The thought here is of Genesis 3. Creation had been ‘very good’ even in God’s eyes (Genesis 1.31). It had flourished and prospered. But it had been transformed because of man’s sin into something that suffered corruption, death and decay, into something that was greatly marred. What had flowered in such glory had been subjected to frustration, futility and emptiness as it sought to propagate. Instead of positive fruitfulness, left to itself it produced weeds. And the animal world likewise was subject to struggle, death and decay, in total contrast to Isaiah’s vision of the new earth (Isaiah 11.6-9). It too had entered the struggle for existence. And that not by its own choice (thus excluding man who did make his choice). It had rather been at the will of the Creator, Who had so subjected it (‘cursed be the ground’) because it belonged to rebellious man who had been given rule over it. This had not, however, left it without hope, for just as it was involved in man’s sin and failure, so would it be involved in his final redemption. While it is now in the bondage of corruption (a prisoner of corruption), it will one day be set free to enjoy the freedom of the glory of the children of God, part of which is incorruption (2.7).
The idea behind this is, of course, the ideal of the new heavens and the new earth in which dwells righteousness. In that new earth, a spiritual earth, will be literally fulfilled all the promises to Abraham and his heirs, of the land that was to be theirs, for this earth is a ‘prototype’ of what is to come. Just as man’s resurrection body will somehow relate to our present bodies, so will the new earth somehow relate to the old earth. But in contrast with the present earth, the new earth will be spiritual, everlasting and incorruptible.
Nothing is more moving than this picture of a groaning creation, a groaning church, and a groaning Spirit, as God’s purposes move forwards. It confirms and is intended to confirm that we are part of a suffering creation, which is why we also must expect to suffer, because God carries out His purpose through suffering.
22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
Just as Christians are groaning within themselves over their temporary enslavement by sin which is not of their own will, so does the whole creation groan together and suffer birth pangs together even to this present time, because it has been subjected to frustration not of its own will. The whole suffers as one. The fact that it ‘suffers birth pangs together’ not only indicates that all parts suffer together, but also that what creation suffers is in fact only the first agonies which precede eternal bliss. Once the new creation has sprung out of the old the birth pangs will be forgotten. Ongoing history may seem a long time to us, but in the household management of God (Ephesians 1.10) it is but the brief initial suffering which leads to glory ahead. Compared with eternity the present ages are simply a brief passage of time.
23 Not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
Creation groans, and so also do Christians. We have received the first fruits of the Spirit. We have thus experienced something of God’s work in producing a new creation which lives out its existence within the old creation. Our new life in the Spirit is a taste of what is to come. But we groan in our present bodies ‘within ourselves’ as we endure the agonies of the old creation, longing to be clothed with our habitation which is from Heaven, so that our mortality (and bodily weaknesses) might be swallowed up in life (2 Corinthians 5.2, 4). We long that this body which we must endure in this time of our humiliation (‘this vile body’) might become like his glorious body (Philippians 3.21). And we groan because of our desire to be delivered from the ravaging of sin (7.24). For we await our adoption, when we will be adopted as true sons who have been transformed into His image, that is, we await the redemption of our bodies. Then finally all traces of sin and decay will have been removed.
The first fruits were the initial benefit, and the guarantee of what was to come, they were ‘the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of God’s own possession’ (Ephesians 1.14). In other words, the Spirit has brought us some relief as we have experienced the new creation within ourselves, prior to the consummation. We are a new creation during the old creation (2 Corinthians 5.17). We have received new life through the Spirit. But there is much more to come, especially in that day when He transforms us into Christ’s image at the same time as creation itself enjoys its renewal.
We do not constantly pass our spiritual burdens on to others. Rather we groan ‘inside’. We recognize our weakness, and frailty, and our shortcomings, and we are constantly reminded of them as we are unable fully to do what we want to do. We long for the day when we will be like Him, and when our weaknesses and frailties will be no more. (Although, of course, this is largely countered in practice by the joy we know as we look off to Him, and walk with Him, with our minds set on things above.
In one sense we have already been adopted as sons of God (verse 15) and are now His children (1 John 3.2), but there is to be an even more glorious adoption when we are adopted as those who have been perfected, with every stain and blemish removed.
In ourselves we have already been redeemed through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus (3.24). But we still live in frail and mortal bodies which are beset by sin, living in the old creation. We await the resurrection when our bodies will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed (1 Corinthians 15.42-44), being conformed to His image.
24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?
When we committed ourselves into the hands of our Savior we were accounted as righteous and entered the process of salvation. But that was to enjoy the ‘hope’ of what was to come as we awaited the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, when our salvation will be completed in the final transformation of our bodies. Thus we can know that we are ‘saved’, while at the same time looking forward with confident certainty (certain hope) to our complete salvation at ‘the redemption of our bodies’. It is not something that we have yet seen or experienced. For if it were we could not hope for it. We would know that we had it. Thus, this hope refers to something promised, but as yet not experienced.
25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
And because that hope is of something that we do not see, we will wait for it with patient endurance. God has plenty of time, and He does not determine His purposes according to our wishes. We must therefore trust in Him, hoping with confident certainty for the finalization of what He has promised.
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
And in the same way as hope sustains us and aids us as we go forward with Christ at difficult times, so does the Spirit also sustain us. He ‘bears the burden of our infirmity (our bodily and spiritual weakness, especially about to prayer) along with us’. He aids us in our infirmity. But like many of the verbs in this passage the verb has in it the idea of togetherness. Thus, the Spirit comes alongside us and, working together with us, helps us in our weakness. He bears our burdens along with us. And He does it by intercession on our behalf in a way beyond our ability to understand.
The fact that ‘we do not know how to pray as we ought’ indicates that prayer is very much in mind, whether through us or for us. And the probability is that we are to see the Spirit as interceding through us. As we pray in our weakness and frailty, not knowing what the will of God is, the Spirit groans through us as He intercedes with groanings which cannot be uttered (because it is for what is beyond our knowledge). The fact of ‘groaning’ suggests prayer at times when we are in some distress (it is in the context of ‘the sufferings of this present time’ - verse 18), thus at times when we are most at a loss as to how to pray. In general, we do know how to pray, for Jesus has taught us how to pray (even if we do tend to ignore what He most laid emphasis on). But there are times when we face situations where we are at a loss. And at such times we often cry, ‘Father, your will be done’, or even do groan, not knowing what to say. How comforted we should be to think that as we do so the Spirit intercedes with groanings which cannot be uttered, taking our prayer and making it specific in accordance with the will of God.
On the other hand it may be that we are to see the Spirit as praying for us (Just like our Lord Jesus told Peter of what He was doing for him), even at times when we fail to pray, ensuring that we are prayed for by One Who knows the mind of God, just as Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, prays and intercedes for us in Heaven, ‘ever living to make intercession for us’ (Hebrews 7.25).
27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
The reference to ‘He Who searches the hearts’ confirms that the Spirit Is praying as we pray. Whatever our outward words our Father knows all that is in our hearts (and all our needs, as Jesus made clear in Matthew 6), searching our hearts as we pray. And as the Spirit prays through us the Father ‘knows His mind’, that is knows precisely what He is requesting, because He makes his intercession ‘according to God’. We need therefore never be afraid that any failure of ours in understanding will hinder our prayers to God at times of need.
Now we learn that, although we may not know what the mind of the Spirit in His intercession on our behalf is, one thing that ‘we do know’ (verse 28) is that to ‘those who love God’ all things work together for good. While the Spirit intercedes in full knowledge, our knowledge is restricted. This is in fact good for us. It would not be good for us to know all. But our knowledge is nevertheless sound for it is firmly based on our faith in His purposes (verses 28-30) and our faith in His love (verses 35, 39). We know that God is ‘for us. And in view of that fact that we know that ‘God is for us’ (verse 31), we know that we have no need to fear, for He has demonstrated in the giving up of His own Son, what His intentions towards us are. Does someone lay a charge against us? (verse 33). God has declared us righteous. Does someone seek to condemn us? (verse 34). Our advocate, the risen Christ, pleads on our behalf (1 John 2.1-2). And having had made known to us His love by His death and resurrection, we can rest on that love with confidence knowing that nothing can separate us from it. For nothing can ‘separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our LORD’ (verse 39).
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
In contrast to what God knows (verse 27) is what ‘we know’. Our knowledge of the purposes of God may be limited, but what we do know is that to those who love God (believers), to those who are called according to His purpose, all things work together for good. By ‘good’, of course, we must see final good, what is good in God’s eyes. Such things do not necessarily turn out for our earthly benefit, for God’s way might lead to a cross, and may well, as we have seen, lead to suffering and tribulation (verses 17-18). But what we can be sure of is that they result in our eternal good. God will take all that happens to His own and make it work for their good.
Unexpectedly the description ‘To those who love God’ is rare in Paul’s writings but the idea is common in the Old Testament, signifying true believers, something which 1 Corinthians 8.3 confirms. Such love is, of course, the basis of Christian living, ‘you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and soul, and might’. But Jesus also said, ‘If God were your Father you would love Me’ (John 8.42). Thus, to love God is to love Jesus Christ. The reference is therefore clearly to true believers, something confirmed by the fact that they are those who are ‘called according to His purpose’.
We need not put a limit on ‘all things’, for if one thing is sure it is that God does make all things finally work together for those who love Him, even though it might be as a rod of chastisement (Hebrews 12.5-11).
‘To those who are called according to his purpose’ is a definition of those who love God, and vice versa. Those who love God are those whom He has called according to His purpose. In some way they have heard His voice speaking to them, and they have responded. The calling has thus been an effectual call because it has resulted in their loving God. And it is a call made ‘in accordance with His purpose’. Whatever men’s thought may be concentrated on, God’s thoughts are focused on the salvation of His own, and on His presentation of them in His sight as holy, unblameable and unreproachable (Colossians 1.22).
29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
In verse 17 Paul had spoken of Christians as those who would be ‘glorified with Him’, and in verse 18 he had spoken of ‘the glory which will be revealed towards us’, this being the consequence of our being ‘sons of God’. Then in verses 19-23 he has described the process from creation and from the fall of man to the time when we would be finally ‘adopted’, when our bodies would be redeemed (verse 23). Then Christians are to experience ‘the liberty of the glory of the children of God’ (verse 21). Thus, he makes clear that our ‘justification’ as described in 3.24-4.25 is to result in our ‘glorification’. Now he sums up the eternal process by which this glorification will be brought about.
This summing up follows on the last defining clause in verse 28 (‘to those who are called according to His purpose’) which now thus leads on to an explanation of what it means to be ‘called according to His purpose’. This explanation refers to those who are caught up in His purpose of salvation for those whom he has chosen and explains how they will finally be ‘glorified with Him’ (verse 17). In its Paul describes in a series of quick phrases God’s activity in redeeming men from the very beginning, commencing with His ‘foreknowing them’ even before creation, and ending with His glorifying them on that day when He ‘sums up all things in Christ’ (Ephesians 1.10). It covers the whole panorama of history. The aorist tenses indicate the certainty of what is to happen to those who are called according to His purpose. They guarantee the successful conclusion of the process as being from God’s point of view already completed.
The process commences with ‘foreknowledge’. This means more than ‘knowledge about beforehand’ which indicates knowledge gained through personal experience. Thus, when Adam had a child by his wife it was after he had ‘known her’, and God could say of Israel ‘you only have I known’ (Amos 3.2). This is in direct comparison to how Jesus spoke of those to whom He would say, ‘I never knew you’ (Matthew 7.23). In each case there is a thought of ‘entering into relationship with’ someone. So, to ‘foreknow’ is to ‘enter into relationship with beforehand’. In some way it indicates that God entered relationship with those whom He chooses before time began, ‘in eternity’. In the words of Ephesians 1.4, they had been ‘chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, that they may be holy and blameless before Him’ and chosen because of being marked down as His. They were His from the beginning even before they were born, and even before the world was created. And He had a personal relationship with them from the beginning.
We might ask when this ‘conforming to the image of His Son’ is to take place. While it undoubtedly commences in this life as the Spirit does His work in our hearts the main emphasis would appear to be on our being conformed to His image at His coming, when we will be transformed ‘in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15.52). It will be ‘when we see Him as He is’ that we will be like Him (1 John 3.2).
Having entered into a relationship with them beforehand and having foreordained them to be conformed to the image of His Son, in due time He ‘called them’. He spoke to them in such a way that they would respond. That this is an effectual call comes out both because it is of a specific group, and because in Paul’s letters to be ‘called’ always refers to an effectual call. It is a call which brooks no refusal.
Having called those whom He foreknew in such a way that they had to respond, He ‘accounted them as righteous’ (3.24-4.25) through the gift of the righteousness of Christ (5.17-18). We should note here that God’s moral perfection is revealed in that when He saves He does so in righteousness. Those whom He saves must be acceptable in His sight. Their righteousness must be apparent to all. And this is accomplished by their being ‘reckoned as righteous’ in accordance with the principles of 3.24-4.25. From the moment that they are ‘justified by faith’, and onwards, they are in a right relationship with Him, and acceptable in His sight, and that in accordance with the principles of righteousness and true holiness. And it is because they have been accounted as righteous (justified) in His sight that He can commence His work of continuing salvation which will finally result in their glorification.
The fact that they have been ‘justified’, reckoned by God the Judge of all men as righteous, is a guarantee that they will be ‘glorified’, that is, that they will experience and partake in His Heavenly glory. Here is the evidence that no one who has truly had accounted to him the gift of righteousness (5.17) can ever be lost. Once ‘justified’ their glorification is guaranteed. That this glorification includes sanctification can be assumed. In one sense glorification is a process (2 Corinthians 3.18). But Paul is here looking at the completion of the process, that point in time when there will be the final transformation. At that final transformation they will be ‘glorified with Him’ (verse 17). Their mundane bodies will be ‘fashioned like His glorious body’ (Philippians 3.21). Those who ‘have been called unto His eternal glory in Christ’ (1 Peter 5.10) will experience that glory. They will be ‘partakers of the glory which will be revealed’ (1 Peter 5.1). They will experience ‘the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory’ (2 Timothy 2.10). They will thus partake in the Heavenly glory (Revelation 21.23; 22.3-5). Just as Jesus as the Son returned to ‘the glory which I had with You before the world was’ (John 17.5), so will His people enter and experience that glory. ‘The glory which You have given me, I have given them’ (John 17.22).
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
The previous three verses have indicated that God is for us in accordance with His own divine purpose, as indeed has 5.1. In view of this how can we see anyone who is against us as particularly relevant? If God Is for us, any adversary must pale before the Almighty. Paul will go on to speak of those things which might be against us. For example, those who seek to lay a charge against us. Those who seek to condemn us. Those things which seek to separate us from the love of Christ. But none will avail. And because of these words they pale into insignificance. For God is ‘for us.’
32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
The extent to which He Is ‘for us’ is revealed in the fact that ‘He spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all’. God commended His love towards us in that Christ died for us (5.8). He was willing to allow men to put His own Son through the suffering of the cross, because He was so much on our side. If then for our sakes He ‘spared not His own Son’, delivering Him up as a sacrifice on our behalf (8,3), how can we doubt that He will with Him freely give us all things (all things which are for our benefit, all that is required for our full salvation). Matthew 6.33, ‘all these thing will be added unto you’, which included the giving of the Holy Spirit (Luke 11.13).
The term ‘His own Son’ was the use of a similar expression that caused the Jews to want to stone Jesus as guilty of blasphemy for calling God ‘His own Father’ (John 5.18). The term ‘His own’ distinguished Him from all others who in one way or another could be called ‘the sons of God’. It indicated direct and real relationship. There is probably also an indirect look back to when Abraham was called on not to spare his own son, ‘take now your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love’ (Genesis 22.2) followed by ‘because you have not spared your son, your only son, from Me’ (Genesis 22.12). However, in that case the requirement was not carried through. He was replaced by a substitute. But there could be no substitute for God’s own Son. He had to bear the burden to the full because He was our substitute and Isaac’s. In the end there had to be the perfect Substitute who would make all previous substitutes successful. (3.25).
33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
In verse 32 Paul’s language was sacrificial, now it becomes legal. What possible charge can be laid against God’s true people, those ‘chosen’ as described in the process in 29-30, and who would dare to lay such a charge, when God Himself has accounted them as righteous (justified them) on a totally satisfactory judicial basis.
An interesting contrast can be made here with the one who brought a charge against Israel’s High Priest in Zechariah 3. There God answered it by replacing his filthy garments with clean ones so that the charge failed. But here Paul is referring to those who have already been cleansed. They have already received their ‘robe of righteousness’. In their case therefore any charge would be futile.
34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, Who Is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
Nor can anyone condemn God’s ‘chosen and beloved ones’ (His elect). For the only One Who has the right to condemn is the One appointed by the Father as Judge (John 5.22, 27; Acts 17.31). And He, rather than condemning them, died for them, and having been raised from the dead, now makes intercession for them as the One Who is at God’s right hand, because of which He is able to save them to the uttermost (Hebrews 7.25).
We can compare with these questions the question regarding the Servant in Isaiah 50.8, which may well be one of the sources of Paul’s thoughts, ‘He is near Who justifies Me, who will contend with Me -- behold the Lord God is near who will condemn Me’. The purport there is the same. The one who is accounted as righteous by God, has nothing to fear from the accusations of man, or even of angels.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Since it is Christ in His love Who pleads our cause (verse 34), it demonstrates the impossibility of our being separated from that love. His continual intercession for us is evidence that He has our interests at heart. And so, Paul issues the challenge, ‘who will separate us from the love of Christ?’, with the answer due to come back of ‘nothing’. It is quite clear from the passage that Paul is putting ‘God’ and ‘Christ’ on the same level. Their love is interchangeable. He then lists several possibilities of things that might make us doubt His love. We note here that the legal language is now replaced by that of love. It is love that underlies all God’s activities on behalf of His people (5.5, 8).
Whatever happens we need not doubt the love of Christ for us. It is the love which passes all knowledge (Ephesians 3.19). It will be noted that the list includes natural disasters such as famine which cannot directly be the consequence of persecution (although could, of course, arise indirectly). The aim would appear to be to cover all possibilities of suffering, with words like ‘anguish’ and ‘peril’ being catch-all descriptions. It is a reminder that the love of Christ remains firm whatever situations we face, whether spiritual or physical, and that in the face of them we need not doubt His love. We are to hold onto the fact of ‘the love of Christ which passes all knowledge’ (Ephesians 3.19).
36 As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
On the other hand, the fact that persecution with its consequences is prominent in Paul’s mind comes out in this supporting quotation, which is from Psalm 44.22, and refers to our suffering ‘for His sake’. It is equally an assurance that the Scriptures demonstrate that suffering should not come as a surprise to God’s people.
The description is vivid. The world marks down God’s people as only suitable for slaughter, as only fit for the death house. And it is because the world is at enmity with God. It is precisely because we are His that the world will turn against us, as it turned against Jesus (John 15.18-19; 16.2-3).
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
Rather than being defeated by such circumstances as those described above, Christians rise above them. ‘In all these things we are ‘more than conquerors’ (or ‘super-conquerors’)’. They not only overcome them, but they triumph in them. And this is ‘through Him Who loved us.’ Our assurance is in Christ not in ourselves. Through His sustaining love we can find the strength to face all possible situations because we know that that love wants only the best for us, and that the One Who loves Is all-powerful.
38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 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.
Paul closes this part of his letter with this final assurance of God’s love for His people revealed through Christ Jesus our LORD. He stresses that it is a love from which it is totally impossible to be separated, and he then lists and dismisses ten possibilities of things which might attempt to separate us from His love. Made in the light of the whole passage from verse 38 onwards it is a guarantee of the security in Christ of the true believer. And it is a reminder that God’s purposes are not only determined by fiat but are undergirded by His love. Nothing can prevent their fulfilment.
The list is mainly made up of pairs, some contrasting, but to leave room for the cover-all ‘any other creature’ and still achieve the number ten (indicating completeness), it was necessary to have one other description not included in the pairs, and thus we find ‘powers’ in a place by itself. Too much must not be made of this. Paul is more concerned to cover every possible opponent rather than to be too choosy. ‘Death nor life’ covers every possibility of day to day occurrence. Death is the great enemy of man, an ever-present grief, but for the true Christian it cannot separate us, or our Christian loved ones, from His love. ‘Life’ covers all things that can occur in life. He makes all things work together for good for those who love Him. ‘Angels nor principalities’ cover all possible spiritual adversaries. We need not fear the powers of darkness. ‘Things present nor things to come’ cover all events in the flow of history both now and in the future. ‘Powers’ covers all who have authority whether in the spiritual realm or on earth. It’s not being linked with ‘principalities’ possibly puts the emphasis on earthly powers. ‘Height nor depth’ probably signifies ‘nothing in Heaven and earth’ (Ephesians 4.8; Isaiah 7.11). ‘Nor any other creature (thing in creation)’ covers all that we might think has not been included. The point being underlined is that NOTHING can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus our LORD, the love which has been revealed in all that Paul has written from 1.2 onwards. As Christians we are totally secure in His hands (John 10.27-29). God’s activity on our behalf is guaranteed.
