Think I’m on a roll here. Or maybe I’m just excited because, well, this IS Romans 8 we’re going through, after all.
Last article I wrote: once our members were slaves to sin, and now the Spirit that has filled us through Christ convicts us of righteousness and also bears witness to our very spirits. What does the Spirit mention in bearing witness? It reminds us that said righteousness means that we are children and heirs of God, and fellow heirs with Christ!
We were the living dead – that is, we were ‘living’ according to the flesh, with no hope of doing anything truly good; we were in the flesh, and could not please God no matter how hard we tried. We were merely existing.
Now through Christ, we’re no longer existing according to the flesh, but we are now led by the Spirit of God! And again, this Holy Spirit of Christ convicts us of our right-standing with Him; He reminds us that Christ’s finished work has reconciled to God, so much so that now we have the confidence, security and boldness to proclaim: we are children of God, and co-heirs with Christ!
Before we move on, we need to just recall.
Because of Christ:
- We are no longer in sin.
- We are proclaimed righteous.
- We are no longer of the flesh (sarx).
- We are filled with the Spirit of Christ.
- We are no longer doomed to death and oblivion.
- We possess eternal Life.
- We’re no longer under the Law which points out sin and death.
- We’re under the Law of the Spirit of Life (Grace).
- We no longer produce filthy rags.
- We bear fruit unto God, the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
With all this in mind, let’s keep going. Our last verse from last post goes as follows:
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.
I’ve had to stop for a bit on that last half of the verse, because it seems as if it was a conditional term – like it’s our option and within our power to choose whether or not to ‘suffer with (Christ)’; The thing is, if we died as He died, then it’s automatic that we suffer with Him – that we may also be glorified with Him, sure, but I see that as another way for us to say that we would be RAISED with Him as He rose from the dead.
We were joined in suffering in death, so that we would be joined in resurrection and glorification.
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Here’s where I point out, that Christ suffered the worst that could happen to us with us. And considering that He rose from death and rejection, I believe that would be grounds for us to say that the resurrection and the reconciliation are infinitely superior!
Because of Christ:
- We are no longer so impacted by the sufferings of this present time
- We are expectant of the infinite, timeless glory that is to be revealed in us.
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
Considering, again, what was discussed by Paul in the earlier chapters of Romans; He mentioned that ‘sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned’ (Romans 5:12), and here we read that through him ‘creation was subjected to futility, not willingly’, in ‘bondage to corruption‘;
‘The whole creation has been groaning together’, corrupted by sin and death that spread to all men, subjecting all to futility…
And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
…and creation joins us in groaning inwardly, as we wait for our adoption as sons and daughters of God, and the redemption of our bodies; For when we are set free, so creation follows in obtaining said glory.
So, what is it? Are we freed, or shall we be free? Will the glory be revealed to us, or has it already been revealed?
As of this writing, my approach to responding to this is by saying, simply, ‘yes’. We are freed, but we are also being freed, and shall be freed. The glory of the children of God has been revealed, is being revealed, and will be revealed.
Correct me if I’m in need of correction… I’m open. It’s just that this is what I’m thinking fits for us right now – fits for me right now, rather: In the same way that we appreciate God loving us with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3) by acknowledging ‘everlasting’ encompasses past, present AND future: He HAS loved us, He IS loving us, and He WILL love us.
Therefore, because of Christ:
- We have been taken out of, are being taken out of, and will be delivered from: sin, the flesh (sarx), death and oblivion, the Law which points out sin and death, producing filthy rags, and permanent impact by the sufferings of this present time.
- We have been proclaimed righteous, filled with the Spirit of Christ, possessing eternal Life, placed under the Law of the Spirit of Life (Grace), bearing fruit unto God, with infinite and timeless glory revealed in us: not merely in our present, but righteous in our past and in our future, and beyond.
- We have the following, as infinite and eternal, as borderless and as timeless as Christ is:
- Absolute righteousness / right-standing with the Creator of the Universe, much so that we can call Him our Father, just as Christ calls Him His Father.
- As Christ is eternally righteous, so we have eternal and everlasting Life.
- The presence of the Holy Spirit; He as close to us as He could ever be, and us as close to Him as we could ever be, at all times, till the end of time, and beyond time.
- And because we have the Spirit, so we have the pleasure and privilege to bear His fruit unto God.
- Unshakable foundation, not under the Law, but under grace.
- Under grace, Christ is God’s infinite glory revealed in us at all times, for all time.
- Absolute righteousness / right-standing with the Creator of the Universe, much so that we can call Him our Father, just as Christ calls Him His Father.
- We have the following, as infinite and eternal, as borderless and as timeless as Christ is:
Gosh… I don’t know if I’m making myself clear here, or if I’m making any sort of sense.
But we push ever forward. I guess my intention, at least in those last couple of paragraphs, was to share that we have an infinite and eternal Saviour, and as such, all we are and all we receive from Christ are infinite and eternal, certainly uncontainable and incomparable to anything within the vast span of creation we dare to call as His ‘blessings’.
And, look, even all I set out to do to describe what we really have in Christ in the past paragraphs FAILS to truly grasp what we have! God forbid that we would be able to see it all, especially considering our finite and limited beings and capabilities!
For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
For this reason, we’re not really left to understand, more than to have faith, and more than to trust… and we should be exerting too much effort to contain the uncontainable glory and goodness of God, more than we ought to hope in Him… and because He know He has been faithful to us, loving us before what we call our past, so we are willing and able to hope in Him, with patience.
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
And we trust and hope in the Spirit, whom we are filled with. In our trying to navigate through the riches of God’s infinite grace in vain, and in awe of seeing our Savior face to face, I suppose our being speechless is… quite the simple way to put it. But it’s the Spirit that speaks for us when we are lost for words, and it’s the Spirit who prays and intercedes for all of us, saints in the body of Christ – all, as mentioned, according to the will of God.
Sorry, from here I’ve had to count on Claude AI to help me out on how to wrap all this up, and in preparation for the fourth and final part of this season’s coverage of Romans 8:
As we meditate on this profound passage, we are left in awe of the unfathomable riches of God’s grace revealed in Christ. Though words inevitably fail to fully capture these spiritual realities, we can rest in the assurance that the Spirit himself intercedes for us according to God’s will. While we experience glimpses of glory now, we eagerly await its full unveiling when creation itself will be liberated and we will experience the ultimate freedom as God’s adopted children. Until then, we walk by faith, hoping in the God who loved us before time began and whose love will never cease throughout the ages to come. This is the inheritance we have in Christ – an eternal, ever-unfolding revelation of divine grace.
Pretty good, don’t you think? I don’t know, ChatGPT is pretty slow now.
Until the next post, God bless us all!
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#Righteousness #SpiritualLife #Flesh #Sin #Death #Life #HolySpirit #JesusChrist #PracticalChristianity #BenefitsOfSalvation #Revelations #Reflections #Romans #NewTestament #Bible #EternalGlory #Suffering
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