A Note about Translations

The New International Version (NIV) is used as the standard version here. Unless otherwise noted, all quotations are from the NIV.

Like all translations, the NIV has some textual difficulties, specifically a few passages in the New Testament. These passages are disputed on textual grounds, but when such questions arise the reader can usually improve the “majority opinion” by resorting to the alternate renderings given in the margin. Despite this relatively minor problem, it must be acknowledged that the NIV is far in advance of the older versions in utilizing the latest archaeological discoveries and textual analyses to understand the Old Testament text.

The NIV is also an improvement upon others in its adoption of more modern, easier-to-understand language throughout. A modern English translation needs to be faithful to two masters:

• Firstly, of course, it ought to be faithful to the original languages in which the inspired writers presented God’s message.
• Secondly and equally importantly, it ought to be faithful to the language (i.e., modern English) in which that original message must now be read and understood.

It is the writer’s opinion that, among readily available translations, the NIV fulfills both these criteria better than any other.

Furthermore, the NIV has been for some time the most popular and widely used modern version. This can make it, for now, the most useful for communicating truths to the modern world.

Romans 8 is my favorite chapter in the Bible, definitely. There is an assurance in this chapter that transcends all our sins, all our fears, all our feelings of inadequacy, and all our doubts. The heavenly Father loves us so much that He has allowed His most beloved Son to die… for us. There is nothing that can stand between us and God's Kingdom — except our own indifference, or our own loss of faith. Christ will never abandon us unless we abandon him.

In the first verses of Romans 8, we are assured that "there is no condemnation for those who remain in Christ"; that despite our sins God will declare us "righteous" because of our faith in His Son. We are assured that, even though we were once slaves to “Sin”, we are now freed forever from that bondage, and we are introduced by God's Son into a wonderful family, the family of God. In this family, we are assured that we will be an important part of the "new creation" of the whole world so as to reflect God's glory. And, when we wander away from, or forget, our Lord and Savior, he assures us that he will still remain to "intercede" or speak up for us before his Father's throne. In short, no matter how we fail, or how often, we know that God works in all things for our ultimate glory.

Verses 31-39 are the conclusion of Romans 8. In these verses, Paul draws together all these golden threads into a statement of faith. This statement of faith is his personal profession of hope and trust which is the foundation of every believer's life. The believer may take Romans 8, and say: 'Here is where I take my stand. Here is the basis of my faith and my hope. I trust in my God to help me and save me.'

Comment on Romans 8:31

What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Paul is now completely and passionately convinced of his salvation and ours. All creation — all the world — is being divided into two camps, and we, who are in Christ, are on the winning side.

As has been pointed out before, Paul is not contradicting here the statements he has made elsewhere, to the effect that salvation is conditional on "well doing" (Rom 2:6,7), or that we can become "castaways" (1 Cor 9:27). Rather, he is purposefully unmindful of the possibility of failure, for he is concentrating solely on the glories of salvation.

This is the Scriptural viewpoint, and it can scarcely be stressed too much. As Christadelphians we must resist the non-Biblical idea expressed in the simplistic phrase 'once saved, always saved', as well as the blindly optimistic supposition that 'Christ has done it all.' The danger, however, is this: Too much effort expended disproving these assertions, to ourselves and others, may engross us in the contemplation of the negative side of things. And so, when troubles come, we may find ourselves suddenly trapped in an impotent pessimism and a paralyzing fear which we have partly created for ourselves.

To this we might add F.W. Turner's thoughts:

Because of our constant recognition of the difficulties of the way and of the possibility of failure in the day of Christ, we my be in danger of thinking that the bestowal of the reward must necessarily be a matter of grave concern and even of hesitating doubt. We need have no such fears. The Scriptures assure us that if we succeed in overcoming there will be no limitation of Divine graciousness in the reward of faithfulness. "Fear not, little flock," says Christ to his disciples, "for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom" [Luke 12:32].

These gracious words supply wonderful encouragement to greater endeavor. Do we sometimes think, even if we allow the possibility of success in the day of Christ, of ourselves being grudgingly admitted to the Kingdom "by the skin of our teeth"? Peter has a higher conception of the Divine grace and lifts our earthbound thoughts to a loftier plane: "For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" [2 Pet 1:11]. There is no limit to God's grace: no suggestion of frugality or economy: these belong to men, not to the Creator of heaven and earth.

"Christ's Secret of Success", Meditations

Who has not felt the effect of cheering words in times of danger and distress? Sometimes, alas! they are nothing more than words, because the speaker of them is a man, and speaks perhaps against hope, for the mere sake of preventing despondency, without power in his hand to alter evil. But consider the cheer contained in a divine summons to "fear not". "If God be for us, who can be against us?" He knows we are prone to fear. He knows our frame; He remembers we are dust. He knows we can only see things as they appear to mortal sense, and not as they are to His all-penetrating eyes. He knows that the cloud and the immensity and the silence appear greater to our feeble faculties than He appears who fills all, holding even the ocean in the hollow of His hand. He knows we walk by faith and not by sight, and He knows that, though the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. Therefore He recognizes the tendency of our poor hearts to flutter and quail [tremble with fear], and He says, "Fear not."

Robert Roberts, The Ways of Providence, p. 24

Comment on Romans 8:32

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

Paul presents one of the greatest assurances of God's concern for our salvation. If God gave us His only-begotten Son, how could He possibly hold back anything? The greatest possible gift is a “downpayment” on all the lesser ones that follow. This verse is in fact a conscious reference to God's commendation of Abraham in the offering of his son Isaac, when He speaks to him: “…because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son…" (Gen 22:16).

In the Septuagint, the phrase is virtually identical (Harry Whittaker, Abraham: Father of the Faithful, p. 108). This suggests the astounding thought that here Abraham, a mortal man, foreshadows God Himself, in that his sacrifice of Isaac pointed toward the Father's sacrifice of His only Son.

Abraham and his son both participated in the offering (this must be the significance of Genesis 22:6,8: "The two of them went on together"). Thus Abraham suffered along with (perhaps even more than) Isaac in the anticipation of the sacrifice. But the outcome of their dedication was the promise of blessing to all nations (Gen 22:17,18).

The New Testament counterpart, then, is that God participated in the offering of His Son (Isa 53:10; Acts 2:23). In a sense, it was God's "pleasure" to do so, because it would bring eternal blessings to others (John 3:16). Nevertheless, the effort involved a sacrifice and a distress on God's part. Here is a side of God's character hinted at in such passages as Isaiah 63:9:

"In all their [Israel's] distress ['afflictions': KJV] he [the Lord God] too was distressed ['afflicted': KJV]."

In Genesis 22, the ultimate act of sacrificial love from God's viewpoint was portrayed by Abraham on the human level. And we have been privileged that our heavenly Father, in this scene, has pulled back the curtain, and allowed us a glimpse of His own private and personal feelings.

Can God sorrow? Can God feel pain? Can God be compassionate? Can He love? A definite Yes to all these questions!

The Eternal God is many things. But here, to Paul, He is a Father; a Father who graciously loves His children, finding great joy in even their smallest steps toward Him. And an all-powerful Father who has provided, and will continue to provide, all things that He possibly can provide for our salvation.

Just as the Father shared with His Son in his sufferings and sacrifice, so we are called to do the same thing, even if only in small ways.

For example, we take bread and wine to draw nearer to Christ, and to think about and to experience — as best we can — his sacrifice, the pouring out of his life — for us.

And we try, every day and perhaps in very small ways, to take up our own "crosses" or burdens, and carry them — cheerfully and in faith — with Christ's help.

So, in some earlier words of Romans 8, "we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory" (v. 17).

How will he not also, along with him…: That is, along with Christ. "Sunauto" is the last of the impressive list of 'sharing' references in this chapter (cp. vv. 16,17,22,26,29) — a list that highlights the wonderful blessings of belonging to Jesus Christ's divine family.

…Graciously give us all things?: "Graciously" is "freely" in the KJV. It refers to that which is given freely, without a charge, and with no expectation of receiving an appropriate recompense.

"With": The Sharing Words of Romans 8

Believers are not alone in this world. Christ is with them. Those ways in which Christ shares with us in our experiences, and in which we share with him, include the following:

"Summarturei": Christ agrees, or testifies to the Father, along with us (v. 16).

"Sunkleronomoi": We are co-heirs with Christ (v. 17a).

"Sumpascho": We share in his "passion", i.e., his sufferings (v. 17b); literally, we sympathize with him.

"Sundoxasthomen": Consequently, we may also share in his glory (v. 17c).

"Sustenazo": Christ groans or sighs together with us, in our spiritual labor (v. 22a)…

"Sunodino": …so that, in a spiritual sense, we give birth together, i.e., we bring forth a new life in fellowship with him (v. 22b).

"Sunantilambanetai": Christ takes hold, along with us, of our heavy burdens so as to assist us (v. 26).

"Summorphos": We have been and continue to be conformed to the likeness of each other, Christ with us, and us with him (v. 29).

"Sunauto": Along with [Christ], we shall receive the gracious gift of "all things" promised by the Father (v. 32).

To be joined with our Lord Jesus Christ, in faith and baptism and fellowship in the body of believers, and even in sufferings and labors, is to experience blessings without parallel.

When we become a member of Christ's family, we have in effect the ear of Almighty God. Our feeble, faltering pleas to the Lord of the Universe are not enough in themselves, but we know they are supplemented by the words of our Savior, who testifies to the Father along with us (v. 16). Whatever the Father has promised to the Son — which includes the inheritance of all the earth and all its riches — also belongs to us (v. 17a).

It is true that, for a very brief time, we may share in the sufferings of Christ (v. 17b). We do this emblematically when we take the bread and wine which symbolize his body and blood, his life and death. This simple procedure prepares us, in our daily lives, to recognize, when trials and troubles come, as they must, that they come especially to us because we are God's children and Christ's brothers and sisters. As we share those trials with Jesus, he is always present — though unseen — to share our trials with us, to help us bear up under our daily burdens (v. 22a). The heavier our burdens prove to be, the more he will take hold with us, assisting us in carrying them (v. 26).

Along with this blessing — our Lord's sharing of our burdens, during the relatively brief years of our mortal lives — we also have the prospect of an endless sharing, with him, of all the aspects of eternal glory in his future kingdom (v. 17c).

This is the plan of God Himself for His divine family upon this earth. Particularly, He compares this "new creation", a spiritual rebirth and renewal (first of us and then of the world) to an ongoing creative process. In this process Christ shares with us in the "labor pains" of our spiritual childbirth, each of ours individually and all of ours collectively, while Christ comes to live in us (v. 22b). By this continuing experience, difficult at times but always spiritually rewarding, we are being conformed to the likeness of our Savior (v. 29). As he was made like his brethren, so we are being made like him, in many small but sure steps, which result at last in our sharing with him the glorious liberty of God's dear children.

As Jesus Christ was made the heir of the Lord God Almighty, receiving the gift of all things, we likewise are made heirs of all things through him (v. 32). In love, he sought us to be his holy Bride. With his own blood he bought us, and for our life he died. Absolutely nothing and no one will be able to separate us from our Savior, from our God, or from our inheritance with them. Our "sharing" is complete: we are truly, absolutely, and eternally one with him, as he is now one with the Father.

Comment on Romans 8:33,34

These two verses take us into a courtroom. In similar Old Testament scenes, both Jews and Gentiles find themselves lacking at God's bar of justice (Isa 41:21-24; 43:8-11; 44:7; 45:20,21). Here, of course, the position of all men before God is portrayed. Without Christ: they are "under sin… and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23). But another event has altered the scales. Another man now stands before the Divine Judge of all the earth:

"Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near. Who then will bring charges against me? Let us face each other! Who is my accuser? Let him confront me! It is the Sovereign Lord who helps me. Who is he that will condemn me?" (Isa 50:7-9).

In these verses (Rom 8:33,34) we stand with Christ. As none could condemn him, so none will condemn us (Romans 8:1, of course).

God will not condemn us (v. 33), because it is He who has arranged all things (including the death of His beloved Son) for our benefit.

Christ will not condemn us (v. 34), because to do so would be to deny the value of his own blood, and to act contrary to all he has previously done, and all he is doing now as our intercessor.

There is no doubt that, if we were judged solely on the basis of our own deeds, we would all fail, and fail miserably. The omniscient eye of God has caught each of us "in the very act" (John 8:4), more times than we can remember. But the only man who can righteously condemn us, being himself without sin, refuses to do so. As he said to the woman caught, allegedly, in the very act of adultery: "Neither do I condemn you" (John 8:11).

Or, as Paul tells all believers: "There is therefore now no condemnation" (Rom 8:1).

Comment on Romans 8:33

Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.

Possibly this should be read as a question, "Is it God who justifies?" In Bible times it was customary to write Hebrew and Greek manuscripts with few, if any, marks of punctuation. So naturally the opinions of translators as to appropriate punctuation, by modern standards, will sometimes differ.

This verse alludes to Isaiah 50:8, already mentioned above:

"He who vindicates me is near. Who then will bring charges against me? Let us face each other! Who is my accuser? Let him confront me!"

This chapter in Isaiah culminates the series of courtroom scenes in Isaiah (see the references above, to Isaiah 41 and 43-45), in which the Lord God is pictured as sitting in judgment of men, and of Israel especially. But here the prophet, a man of God, knows that, no matter what happens to him in the short term, he need have no fear of such a judgment. In faith he knows that the One who will judge others is the same One who will vindicate him, that is, defend and protect him, and at the same time declare him righteous.

Comment on Romans 8:34

Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died — more than that, who was raised to life — is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us…

Who is he that condemns?: For those who do not believe, or have turned away from their faith, the Judgment Seat will be a true "courtroom", where one's sins are offered in evidence and judgment (i.e., condemnation) is declared.

But for those who believe (no matter how well or how feebly they have served their Master — the desire and the commitment is accepted for the actions, surely!), for those who have truly believed, who have truly had faith… there will be no judgment declared against them. (Perhaps, if their sins are actually remembered, it will be temporary and for instructional purposes only.) Instead, the One who might bring such charge of condemnation (God Himself: v. 33) sits on the bench prepared to "justify" them (i.e., pronounce them righteous, acquitted, or not guilty).

In fact, you might say, the whole trial has been rigged in our favor. First, there is no prosecuting attorney. Secondly, the Judge (God Himself) has appointed His own Son, whom He loves more than anyone or anything else, as the special defense attorney.

Or, to put it another way, as Paul writes, who will "condemn" us? Will there be a "prosecuting attorney" ready to produce evidence to condemn them? No! Instead, Christ, who might have filled that role, will be "interceding" for them.

There is no prosecuting attorney; look, that seat is empty! And the One who might have sat there has instead taken over the role of defense attorney. Now he is pleading, to a sympathetic Judge (his own Father!) — the mitigating circumstances that negate the sins of the "defendant". Let's read the transcript of that trial; here's his final argument:

'Your Honor, whatever this man did or did not do that fell short of Your glory, he believed in You through me. In that faith he threw himself upon Your mercy, and trusted in Your promises. He followed my example, and did what he could, given the limitations of the nature he possessed, the body of weakness in which he was confined. Now, Father, he leans upon me for what he could not do. I personally vouch for his love, and his sincerity. He's part of our family too! For my sake, O Lord, and for the glory of Your Holy Name, in Your great mercy and Your everlasting love, declare this one, my brother and Your child, "righteous"!'

Christ Jesus, who died: Once again, this statement might be read as a question, "Is it Christ, who died?" Compare verse 33, notes.

More than that, who was raised to life — is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us: The primary work of the Lord Jesus Christ, as he sits on the right hand of the Father, is to intercede on behalf of all his brothers and sisters. This has been mentioned earlier (in Rom 8:16), and it is, of course, a key element of the teaching of the Letter to the Hebrews:

"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need" (Heb 4:14-16).

"Therefore [Jesus] is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them" (Heb 7:25).

Comment on Romans 8:35-37

The beauties of this passage are manifold:

First of all, no hardship (no matter how severe) can separate us from the love of Christ. Do we need to fear the pronouncement of our guilt? No… because we have the love of Christ, which is stronger than death! Our Savior died so that, among other things, even if we face death we can face it unafraid.

Even if we are lined up and slaughtered like sheep, even then we are only walking in the footsteps of our Master, who was the Passover lamb led to slaughter. And he did not open his mouth to protest, but committed himself totally into his Father's care, asking forgiveness for his murderers. Stephen did the same, as he was being stoned at the instigation of that “vicious killer”, Saul of Tarsus (whose name was changed to “Paul”, of course)! Where would we be if Stephen had prayed for vengeance on his enemies, and if God had listened? (I suppose we wouldn't be reading Paul’s letter to the Romans today, for one thing.)

But… saving the best for last: "In all these things (i.e., persecution and danger and even death) we are more than conquerors!" How can we be greater than a conqueror? There is only one thing greater than conquering your enemy, and that is converting your enemy to be your friend, bringing him over to your side! The love of Christ is strong enough to do that. Thereby you have not only neutralized your enemy, but you have also gained other friends at the same time: “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34)“ "Go, and do likewise!" (Luke 10:37).

Comment on Romans 8:35

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?: Some manuscripts have the longer phrase, "the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus", but that is probably borrowed from verse 39.

Shall trouble..?: "Thlipsis" — pressure, affliction, or "trials". This word is used almost exclusively by Paul in the sense of the oppression or tribulation that is caused by outward circumstances or events (e.g., Rom 2:9; 5:3; 8:35; 12:12; 1 Cor 7:28; 2 Cor 1:8; 4:17; 6:4; 7:4,5; 8:2; Phil 4:14; 1 Thes 1:6; 3:3,7; 2 Thes 1:4,6). It is applied to the coming tribulations of the Last Days (Matt 24:8,21,30; Mark 13:19).

Or hardship?: "Distress". "Stenochoria" — narrowness of place, anguish of mind, in which there seems to be no way out of the situation, and no room to maneuver. This word and its variations are used half a dozen times in the New Testament (here; Rom 2:9; 2 Cor 4:8; 6:4,12; 12:10).

Or persecution?: "Diogmos" — to be pressured or pursued, to be put to flight or driven away. It refers to an unrelenting active opposition, when believers must bear the rage and malice of persecutors (cf. Acts 8:1; cp. Matt 5:11).

Or famine?: Greek "limnos", a scarcity of food. Many have been exposed to famine as the natural result of being driven from their homes, and to wander amidst strangers, seeking refuge in deserts and desolate places.

Or nakedness?: "Poverty": "gumnos" — literally, nakedness. But in a material context, the word can mean bareness, bitter need, and/or extreme poverty (cp. 2 Cor 11:27). It can also be extended to mean a spiritual 'poverty' in an unfavorable sense:

"You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked" (Rev 3:17,18).

Or danger?: "Kindynos" appears eight times in 2 Corinthians 11:26, where it is translated "dangers" or "perils". Such were the difficulties encountered and overcome by the apostle as he went about the Roman Empire preaching the gospel (see the references in the catalogues below).

Or sword?: "Machaira" refers to an assassin's dagger, or short sword, probably used in executions. It occurs in a number of places (Matt 10:34; 26:47,51,55; Mark 14:43,47; Luke 21:24; 22:36,38,49,52; John 18:10; Acts 12:2; 16:27; Rom 13:4; Eph 6:17; Heb 4:12; 11:34,37; Rev 6:4; 13:10,14). Whether the "sword" refers to specific acts of violence, or generally to the threat of violence in a violent world, not even its sharp blade can separate the believer from the love of Christ.

* * * *

Paul’s Catalogue of Suffering

This list makes for instructive, though very difficult, reading. It can certainly help us put our own problems in perspective:

1 Corinthians 4:10-13: "We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the trash of the world."

2 Corinthians 4:8,9: "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed."

2 Corinthians 6:4-10: "Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything."

2 Corinthians 11:23-33: "Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands."

2 Corinthians 12:10: "That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Philippians 4:12: "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want."

Paul listed some of these persecutions to demonstrate his credentials as a true apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. These same catalogues also remind us that, whatever troubles we encounter in this life, they almost certainly will not rise (or sink!) to the level which Paul and some of his companions experienced.

Comment on Romans 8:36

As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."

This is cited from Psalm 44:22. What is there about a psalm from the days of Hezekiah that bears upon Paul's subject here? The psalm was set in the time of Sennacherib's invasion, a time of severe testing for all Israel, including the faithful remnant. 'Why do we suffer?' they were asking (Psa 44:9); 'we have not forgotten You' (v. 17).

Verse 21 in the psalm brings the answer: God was searching their hearts, and knew the secrets of those hearts (cp. Rom 8:27); their trials were for their spiritual development and benefit. And thus the answer, and the key, is in Psalm 44:22: "For your sake we face death." Not even undeserved suffering can separate us from God. Though we are "considered as sheep to be slaughtered", still there was one who above all others suffered undeservedly, as the lamb of God led to the slaughter (Isa 53:6,7). If so for him, then it must be also for us. If we suffer with him, we will also be glorified with him (Rom 8:17,18).

Comment on Romans 8:37

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

No!: Paul answers his question of verses 35 and 36 with the most emphatic negative he can muster. No! Not only can no hardship or calamity separate us from the love of Christ, but also we can be, in Christ, so much more than conquerors of our trials and tribulations. In fact, we shall actually make those fierce enemies our true allies, turning them to the peaceful cause of strengthening our characters, so that we shall more and more clearly reflect the image of the One who has called us to this glory!

In all these things we are more than conquerors: "Hupernikao", from "huper" (over, or above) and "nikao" (to overcome). Literally, "super-conquerors". Those who are victorious in a surpassing, abounding way. The word appears only here.

Him who loved us: The verb tense indicates one past act: one great, all-surpassing act; and it was an act of love. That single act, more meaningful than all the others which preceded or followed it, was when our Savior made the absolute decision to lay down his life for us. He loved us, even unto death, thereby showing us "the full extent of his love" (John 13:1). And with that single supreme act, he changed the course of all human history and laid the foundation for a new creation of the whole world.

"Super-heroes": A Story

When our granddaughter Miriam was about three years old, she watched a couple of cartoons and decided that she would be a "super-hero", and that she had special abilities. Fortified with this enormous new "strength", as she imagined, she informed us that she now had "super powers", and proceeded immediately to show us how fast she could run. All went well for a few moments, until she tripped on an unseen object and sprawled out flat on the hard ground. Many tears were shed, and were followed by much comforting by grandparents, and soon she was as good as new. But to this day, she has never claimed super powers again!

It is perhaps an amusing story for us mature adults. But as believers in Christ, we may sometimes fall into the same sort of delusion as our granddaughter did. We may read of the apostle Paul, for example, or hear of some other great "hero" of faith who has lived in more recent times. Then, whether we realize it or not, we may start to measure ourselves by such men and women as these, and say to ourselves: 'I wish I had that great courage, or that awesome commitment to serving others. But sadly, I just don't.'

Worse than even that is the thought that might come to us next: 'Maybe I'm just not cut out to be a disciple of Christ. Maybe I just don't have it in me — so I might as well get out of this before I waste too much time.'

There is the potential tragedy. We imagine that we simply cannot live up to the highest standards, and that we must inevitably fail as followers of Christ. Yet, all along, what we were being asked to do was follow Christ, to the best of our ability — not to the best of the apostle Paul's ability, nor to the best of that sister's ability who seems so totally committed to serving others.

When we feel as though we just aren't "good enough", we need to remember that our Lord never demanded "impossible" feats of spiritual strength, but rather he spoke quite favorably of the believers who gave a cup of cold water to one of his little ones (Matt 10:42), or who shared food or clothing or a kind word with the least of his brothers and sisters (Matt 25:44,45). Such believers, he said, would certainly not lose their reward.

Through Christ we have won a victory which is more than a victory. We must not feel that, as believers in Christ, we need to be "super-heroes"; there are no superhuman believers! We don't need super powers in order to overwhelm, defeat, or muscle through our trials. We don't need some other-worldly strength. We just need faith, lasting faith.

When Christ is on our side, those things which seem to threaten us shrink into insignificance when compared to our Savior — just as the great storm on the Sea of Galilee melted away into perfectly calm waters at Christ's command.

We just need to follow our Lord and Master. Remembering his example as best we can, we know that each difficulty of life, no matter how painful in the present, can work to our ultimate benefit. "All these things" of verse 37 are simply the "all things" of verse 28 which work together for our good. In measure as we see this, understand it, and embrace it, we purge all fear and doubt from our lives, and allow the mind of Christ to develop in us.

Comment on Romans 8:38,39

The last two verses express with minute precision the full assurance of faith which is, or should be, the possession of those who have been declared righteous in Christ. No physical condition, no power of any sort, no dimension of time or space, no other part of God's ("new") creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ. We must believe this.

And what if Paul were writing to us today? What would he say? Here, in this beautiful chapter, he has surely left us a message too, and a guideline: Neither depression, nor recession, nor inflation, nor bankruptcy, nor unemployment, nor riot nor crime in the streets, nor cancer, nor heart disease, nor arthritis, nor diabetes, nor old age, nor nuclear holocaust, nor international terrorism — nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Here is the victorious life in Christ. Do we have the faith and the courage to live it? Let us find those stumbling-blocks in our lives, those delusions, which hinder us and leave us trapped in fear and uncertainty. And let us put them firmly to the side, and choose this instead. If we do, the Father who remembers us, and the Son who has engraved us on the palms of his hands (Isa 49:16), will rejoice at our faith, and will justify us from all sin.

Comment on Romans 8:38

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers…

For I am convinced: "Absolutely convinced": The KJV "persuaded" is not strong enough; neither is the NIV "convinced". The Greek expresses full assurance, absolute conviction of which there can be no doubt.

That neither death nor life: God will continue to love us when we die, and He will continue to love us whatever may befall us now. He loves us on both sides of death. Long after they had died, God was pleased to call Himself "the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" (Matt 22:32; Mark 12:27; Luke 20:38; see also Exod 3:16; Acts 3:13; Acts 7:32), because He knew that they and others who had. died in faith will live again, forever.

Neither angels: Would the angels of God ever separate believers from "the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord"? Of course not. But the arguments of the Judaizers may shed some light on this phrase. Their argument might have gone something like this:

'The Law of Moses was brought from God by His angels. Would an angel of God teach men something that was wrong? Of course not. Therefore it is necessary for us to continue to keep the Law…'

And their argument might proceed to its intended conclusion:

'…and for the same reason it is also necessary for us to reject the claims of Jesus and his followers.'

Given this scenario, Paul's reference to angels here might imply:

'If the Judaizers were right in their assertions, then that is exactly what the angels would be doing; that is separating believers from God and His Son! But that idea is perfectly ridiculous, because those same angels who conveyed the Law to Moses also witnessed the Lord God's further revelation of Himself in the birth of His only-begotten Son, and later in the resurrection of that Son from the dead to eternal life. So I am convinced that not even the Judaizers' clever arguments about the angels can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.'

Nor demons: Even the powers in this world, whether spiritual or political or military or social, which seemingly work against God's purpose, cannot separate us from His love. In fact, the Lord God controls those powers too, wherever they might be, and whatever they might do. Their "power" is actually His power, and never exceeds what He is willing to allow. When the time is right, the Lord's power will prevail, and will be seen to prevail.

Neither the present nor the future: Nothing that the present or future may hold can separate us from God's love. Nothing found in time, and nothing existing in eternity, can separate us from God's love. No force of any kind can remove us from His loving care.

Nor any powers: To paraphrase Paul: 'And if there be any other conceivable powers, which do not fall into these categories… if there is something which is neither of the present nor the future; if there is something which is neither in heaven above or on earth beneath; if there is something which is not of this life, neither pertaining to the death-state; in short, if there be some remotely imaginable circumstance or situation that I, Paul, have not yet covered… then, even there — wherever "there" will be — that "power" will not be able either to separate us from the love of God!'

Comment on Romans 8:39

…neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Neither height nor depth: Distance cannot separate us from God's loving care either.

Nor anything else in all creation: In the four previous occurrences of "ktisis" ("creation") in Romans 8, Paul has in mind the spiritual, or new, creation in Christ (vv. 19-22). Perhaps then, this is a reference to anything or anyone in God's whole creation. The apostle may be saying that not even our own brethren, being other parts of God's "new creation", can do anything to separate us from Christ. Sometimes other members of our own spiritual family can make life quite difficult for us in our walk in the Truth. It is then that this thought, especially, can be a great comfort to us.

…will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord: Literally nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. In this last verse, two different pairs are each inseparable from one another. They are each bound together for eternity:

God's love and Jesus Christ, and

God's love and us.

And it is precisely because we have become "one" with our Lord Jesus Christ that we will never be separated from God's love, which was in him before it could ever be in us.

Nowhere [except Romans 8] has the feeling of Paul been displayed in such overflowing measure, and yet the thread of logical deduction is not broken for an instant. This passage sums up, as we have seen, all that Paul has hitherto expounded in this Epistle. He leaves us at the end of this chapter face to face with this divinely wrought salvation, which is complete, assured, and founded on faith alone, to be apprehended, and ever apprehended anew by the same means.

Frederick Godet

Commentary on Paul's Epistle to the Romans, p. 335

The results of justification are thus fully presented (Romans 5 to 8). No one has ever set them forth so compactly and so profoundly, in a way that is so stimulating, effective, and uplifting.

Richard Lenski

The Interpretation of Paul's Epistle to the Romans, p. 578

“The creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed… in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God (Romans 8:19,21).

Comment on Romans 8:1

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…

Therefore: How far back does this "Therefore" reach? Is it a reference back to Romans 7:25, or perhaps to Romans 5:1,2? It may even be the inference from everything that Paul has written since the beginning of the Letter. Just as Romans 3:20 shows the "therefore" of condemnation, so Romans 8:1 gives the "therefore" of no condemnation! The Law, strictly applied, may condemn; but the believer has a new relationship to his Lord, and thus a new relationship to the Law. Therefore, while he stands in Christ, he stands above condemnation, and beyond its reach.

There is now no condemnation: There is no condemnation in this age, that is, since Christ's death and resurrection. And no condemnation under these changed circumstances, which his life and death and resurrection have introduced into the world. All this is in contrast to man's condition in Adam (Rom 5:12), as well as under the Mosaic Law (Rom 7:10,11), where "Condemnation" reigned supreme, like a monarch equal in power to "King Sin" (Rom 6:12-14).

No condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus: "Condemnation" is from a word which signifies 'to pronounce sentence against', as a judge would do. This same point is stressed again in verses 33 and 34: God does not bring any charge against His elect; neither does His Son Christ Jesus condemn them. Instead, "Sin" is condemned (v. 3), so that those "in Christ" will not be condemned!

What, precisely, does Paul mean when he says that there is now no condemnation for us in Christ?

Robert Roberts writes,

There is a present freedom, certainly, but not from the death inherited from Adam; for that will as assuredly send us into the grave, if the Lord delay his coming, as if we had never heard of the gospel. The freedom we have, is freedom from our sins as obstacles to a future life, and from our alienation as an obstacle to future incorporation in the glorified house of God.

The Resurrection to Condemnation, p. 23

Thomas Williams has a slightly different view, putting stress primarily on the new believer's change of status in the eyes of God:

We believe that in baptism there is a transition from a state of alienation in Adam to a state of citizenship in Christ, and that through it we shall ultimately be freed from the physical effects of Adam's sin — that is, mortality. We are not personally responsible for Adam's personal sin, and we are not therefore baptized for it in that sense; but federally [collectively] we are all under Adam's sin and are baptized to remove the condemnation which came thereby, and to place us in Christ reconciled to God… Adamic condemnation brings a physical disability inherited from Adam. We are freed from this federal condemnation and reconciled to God at baptism, but we are not freed from physical disability until the change of our body.

"Adamic Condemnation", from Selected Works, pp. 450,451

The believer in Christ may rejoice in the fact that, even now, his sins cannot condemn him, because — through his one Mediator — he has the assurance of the forgiveness of those sins. This is Roberts' point.

Williams also agrees that there is, even now, no condemnation — particularly so because the true believer, at baptism, has moved from a state of alienation into a state of reconciliation to God. In this sense (of a new relationship with God) we are freed from condemnation with the "old man", Adam, even now.

A detailed look at the remainder of Romans 8 should give us the fullest picture of "no condemnation, in Christ" in all its aspects. In this writer's opinion, such a study will confirm the truth of what both Robert Roberts and Thomas Williams have to say on the subject.

Those who are in Christ Jesus: Who are those "in Christ"? It must be stated that being "in Christ" means much more than knowing Christ, or being dependent upon him, or even following him. Being "in Christ" is nothing less than a union with him. We should be in Christ as he is in us, and (awesome as it may seem) as he is in his Father (John 14:19,20). The beautiful symbol of the true vine and its branches abiding in one another provides an insight into the picture. It should go without saying, then, that those truly "in Christ" are only those who walk or live after the spirit, and not after the flesh (Rom 8:1,4).

It must be emphasized that our ultimate salvation is not assured; it is conditional. (Proof-texts for this, such as Romans 2:6,7 and 1 Corinthians 9:27, are but two among many.) No person instructed in the first principles of Truth could ever wish to deny such a fundamental doctrine. But, having admitted this, we should not shy away from this teaching of "no condemnation". We should rather find room for the assurance it offers in our view of the gospel. What, after all, does it really mean?

The central theme of Paul's letter to the Romans is justification by faith. Believers are declared righteous; they are made righteous; and they have righteousness imputed or reckoned to them through their faith in Christ and his redemptive work. This, then, is justification by faith. It is equally true, as James was careful to show, that our faith is demonstrated by our works, and that therefore we are also justified by our works. Somehow, perhaps as a healthy reaction to the evangelical 'orthodox' doctrine of 'faith alone' and 'only believe!', we Christadelphians have come to lean quite strongly toward the 'works' side of the scale. In doing this we run the risk of teaching (by unintended implication, if not by word) that our salvation is in our hands alone; that what we do will guarantee us salvation; and, conversely (and perhaps by implication), that God is just waiting to condemn us for one shortcoming.

This is just not so. Some have labored under a forlorn assumption, a fatalistic attitude, and a downcast pessimism best expressed by the sad admission: 'I don't think I'm good enough to get into the kingdom.'

It is precisely here that we must ask ourselves: 'Do we really believe what Paul tells us in Romans 8:1?’:

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…”

Let us not water it down as a mere hope; e.g., “Just maybe, if I‘m lucky. I will be there.” But Paul’s verse is much more. It happens now, and it is real. And all of Romans 8 enhances the view that, for the believer, justification and righteousness and sonship are present possessions, assuming the believer remains truly "in Christ".

* * * *

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

Some King James Versions add, at the end of Romans 8:1, the modifying words, "who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit". However, many of the better texts do not add these words.

Many scholars suggest that earlier scribes were motivated to add this phrase (borrowed from verse 4), as if to say: ‘Of course, we all have to walk according to the Spirit, and then, just maybe, we’ll be there…’

Not so! it should be understood that a true believer "in Christ" is, by definition, one who walks after the Spirit, meaning (as we shall see) that he follows Christ, not haphazardly but with keen intentions. He does not do so perfectly, but he does so as a matter of course, and continues therein, to the best of his ability.

Comment on Romans 8:2

…because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

Through Christ Jesus: In this case, "through" is the Greek "en", which means "in" — the same word as in verse 1: "those who are in Christ Jesus". It's useful to think of "in Christ" here, because the "in" emphasizes that this is describing a place rather than a process. To enter 'into Christ' is to enter into a place of refuge, protection and safety. Christ Jesus is the 'place' where Paul was liberated by "the law of the Spirit of life", or "the principle of the spirit-life".

The law: Or "principle": the Greek is "nomos" (translated "law" in the KJV). Here it signifies a system and operation — not a code of laws.

The Spirit of life: Or "spirit-life", or "spiritual life". The conjunction of these two words anticipates the main theme of verses 5-11: The "spirit", the attitude or mindset, of God and of His Son, must become the “spirit" and the “mindset” of believers. This is what it means to be "in Christ Jesus".

Set me free from the law of sin and death: "Set free" is "liberated", related to the word in verse 21. The "principle of the spirit-life", as displayed by Christ, has liberated us from the ruling impulses of the "flesh". It is true, as John Carter has written, that "the clogging effects of human nature hinder the full expression of the life the believer now tries to live" (The Letter to the Romans, p. 81). And Paul tells us as much in Romans 7.

Nevertheless, in a very real sense we are free even now. We are (at least we should be) free from worry; we are free from fear. Now we do not have to serve the flesh. We can choose to follow Christ. On the effect of freedom from condemnation, Paul wrote more particularly:

"For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again" (2 Cor 5:14,15).

And, more succinctly:

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Gal 2:20).

Those who have “died” with Christ in baptism have thereby gotten rid of the condemnation which attached to their former lives. They have become "new creatures”, or parts of a "new creation". Instead of bondage there is now freedom. Instead of condemnation, there is now justification. It is all part of the 'package deal': a new life with a new Lord and Master.

From Bondage to Freedom: A Parable

While walking through the forest one day, a farmer found a young eagle who had fallen out of his nest. He took him home and put him in his barnyard, where he soon learned to eat and behave like the chickens. One day a naturalist passed by the farm and asked why it was that the king of all birds should be confined to live in the barnyard with the chickens.

The farmer replied that since he had given it chicken feed and trained him to be a chicken, he had never learned to fly. Since he now behaved like the chickens, he was no longer an eagle.

“Still, he has the heart of an eagle," replied the naturalist, "and he can surely be taught to fly." He lifted the eagle toward the sky and said, "You belong to the sky and not to the earth. Stretch your wings and fly."

The eagle, however, was confused. He did not know who he was, and seeing the chickens eating their food, he jumped down to be with them again.

The naturalist took the bird to the roof of the house and urged him again, saying, "You are an eagle. Stretch your wings and fly."

But the eagle was afraid of his unknown self and the world, and he jumped down once more for the chicken feed. Finally the naturalist took the eagle out of the barnyard to a high mountain. There he held the king of the birds high above him and encouraged him again, saying, "You are an eagle. You belong to the sky. Stretch your wings and fly."

The eagle looked around, back toward the barnyard and up to the sky. Then the naturalist lifted him straight toward the sun and the eagle began to tremble. Slowly he stretched his wings, and with a triumphant cry, he soared away into the heavens.

The eagle may still remember the chickens with nostalgia. Occasionally, he may even revisit the barnyard, and his old friends, and his old way of life. But as far as anyone knows, he has never returned to lead the life of a chicken.

His vision of something higher and better has set him free.

Comment on Romans 8:3

For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man…

"Weakened" is "astheneo", which signifies to be made weak, feeble or ill (cp. Rom 5:6). This weakness is not to be found in the Law itself, but in those who endeavor to keep it; it is the weakness of our sin-prone or fleshly natures (see verse 26, "our weakness": the same word again).

God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man: The KJV has "the likeness of sinful flesh". The phrase "the likeness of" (KJV and NIV) should be omitted as unnecessary to the sense. The point is: ‘God sent His Son in sinful flesh.’

The word "homoioma" was added by Paul to indicate Christ's complete identity with our nature, but its presence in the text has been used by some Christians to suggest that Jesus bore no more than a partial and imperfect "likeness" to human beings. "Flesh of sin" is the more literal rendering of the KJV's "sinful flesh" and the NIV's "sinful nature" — and "flesh of sin" means that exactly: Christ bore, not a mere semblance or appearance of such flesh, but its absolute reality.

To be a sin offering: The RSV margin has the same translation. This is permissible, and certainly fitting in the context. The Greek, however, is "peri hamartias": 'concerning sin', or 'having to do with sin'. Taking this into account, the KJV has “an offering for sin", the RSV itself has "and to deal with sin", and the Emphatic Diaglott has "on account of sin".

All of these translations are reasonable, and express separate but applicable aspects of Jesus Christ's relation to our sinful natures. He was born of a woman, under the law (Gal 4:4), and thus made in all points like his brethren whom he came to save, so that he might be tempted in every way, just as they have been (Heb 2:14; 4:15). By this means he was specially prepared by his Heavenly Father "for sin”; that is, ”to deal with sin" in the only effective way.

Jesus Christ was required to fight his own battle against sin, and thereby secure the victory on behalf of himself and all who would belong to him. He could only fight such a battle in the same arena where human nature existed, ruled over by King Sin.

Ultimately, the final victory could only be won when Jesus at last offered himself as "a sin offering", the only true and lasting sacrifice for sins. To put it another way, the fateful and fatal blow to the power of sin must be delivered in the very place where it resided — that is, in the world, the “arena” of human beings (Gen 3:15.

And so he condemned sin in sinful man: Or, as the NIV margin and KJV, "sin in the flesh". It was “King Sin" which was condemned (a reference to Romans 6:12-18).

It can scarcely be stressed too much, for it is one of the fundamentals, the intelligent acceptance of which sets us apart from practically every other Christian church: It was necessary that Christ should challenge and defeat "Sin" in the arena where it reigned supreme, that is, in the flesh.

The crucifixion of Christ, as a declaration of the righteousness of God and a condemnation of sin in the flesh, exhibited to the world the righteous treatment of sin. It was as though it was proclaimed to all the world, when the body was nailed to the cross: 'This is how condemned human nature should be treated according to the righteousness of God; it is fit only for destruction.' The shedding of the blood was the ritual symbol of that truth; for the shedding of the blood was the taking away of the life. Such a declaration of the righteousness of God could only be made in the very nature concerned; a body under the dominion of death because of sin. It would not have been a declaration of the righteousness of God to have crucified an angel or a new man made fresh from the ground. There would have been confusion in such an operation.

Robert Roberts, The Blood of Christ, p. 21

The teaching of verse 3 as to the identity of Christ's nature with ours is matched by a parallel passage from Hebrews, already alluded to above:

"Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death — that is, the devil" (Heb 2:14).

The equivalence of "sin" in Romans 8:3 and "the devil" in Hebrews 2:14 is quite useful in any Scriptural exposition of the Devil and Satan (see the chart below, under the heading: “Jesus Destroys the Devil").

"Sin in the flesh" is that spirit or principle of disobedience naturally inherited by all mankind, including Christ himself. It is an evil principle which can never be satisfied according to law. Extending to every part of the flesh, the nature and the life of every human being, it is the cause of all the evil we do and the disease we suffer. It has the power of death which is its “wages” (Rom 6:23), and it became a fixture in the flesh through the first transgression of Adam and Eve. By one man's disobedience many were made sinners (Rom 5:12).

The flesh is therefore sinful flesh, or flesh full of sin because it is impregnated with this evil principle, which is as defiling as the sentence passed in Eden (Gen 3:19), becoming a physical law of our first parents' being.

"It is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out" (Rom 7:17,18).

In the beginning our first parents were free from death; there seems to have been no principle of sin imbedded in their bodies. But now there is such a principle, called "the spirit which is now at work in those who are disobedient" (Eph 2:2).

How did it come to be an integral part of our human constitutions? The answer, given in Genesis, is that the original transgression caused its appearance and fixation in the flesh. The serpent's deceitful suggestions were accepted and acted upon by our first parents, and thus a bias or inclination to oppose God's law was introduced into their natures. This may be called 'sin in the flesh', or 'the spirit of disobedience', or even 'the diabolos, or devil'.

The "Likeness" of Sinful Flesh

When Paul speaks of Jesus as coming "in the likeness of sinful flesh" (or flesh of sin), or "in the likeness of men" [Phil 2:7], he cannot be understood as meaning that Jesus' make-up resembled these things, but was in reality different. In both cases he clearly means that, though our human nature left to itself had failed to overcome sin, when God sent His own Son born in the same human nature the victory was achieved. That the Lord's fleshly nature was that of Adam after he fell, is seen in the fact that he offered up prayers "with strong crying and tears, unto him that was able to save him from death: and was heard in that he feared. Though he were a Son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered" [Heb 5:7,8].

There is no need to rush to the Lord's defense as though there were any discredit to him in having been born with a nature prone to sin. This was his lot, which he accepted and overcame. Far greater was the triumph of battling against sin in a body where a fallen nature was entrenched, than would have been the case had he commenced in innocence with a human nature unspoiled by heritage from Adam. And far greater was his brotherhood in affliction, and now in mediation, with his brethren, when we acknowledge that he conquered that very nature, with all its urge to turn away from God, which we know in our own consciences so well. There is real meaning in the words "to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself" [Heb 9:26] when this is acknowledged; and in the fullest possible sense he destroyed the devil through death on the cross when, after the pattern of the serpent which Moses lifted up in the wilderness [John 3:14; Num 21:9], he finally put away the power of sin from himself, and became the priest who can lead us in ultimate victory over the same power.

“For Whom Christ Died”,

The Christadelphian Magazine Publishing Association

Jesus Destroys the "Devil"

Points:

1. Christ was made flesh in order to destroy the devil — i.e., sin in the flesh (Heb 2:14; 9:26; Rom 8:3).

2. Sin is that which has the power of death, and sin arises from inside us (Rom 6:23; 7:13,20; 1 Cor 15:56).

3. The relationship of flesh and blood, sin, and the devil are outlined above:

Hebrews 2:14 (Christ partook of flesh and blood, in order that through his death, he might destroy the devil);

Romans 8:3 (Christ was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, and died as an offering for sin, and so condemned sin in the flesh); and

Ephesians 2:15,16 (Christ, in his flesh, reconciled us by his death on the cross, and so slew the enmity which is in our flesh).

Comment on Romans 8:4

…in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

The righteous requirements of the law: The Law of Moses righteously required death as a punishment for sin. All men have sinned (Rom 3:23), and death has passed upon all men (Rom 5:12). The law of Moses, being holy and just and good (Rom 7:12), righteously required death as a punishment for sin (Rom 8:4).

Might be fully met in us: Not 'by us', but "in us" by Christ. The requirement of death has been satisfied by Christ on our behalf, if we are truly "in Christ" (v. 1). This righteous requirement was satisfied by Christ for those in him. Not one of us is, naturally speaking, righteous (Rom 3:10,23). But we all may be declared righteous through Christ's obedience (Rom 5:19), coupled with our faith (Rom 5:1) in his blood, that is, in his life and sacrificial death (Rom 5:9).

Who do not live according to the sinful nature: "Live" is literally "walk" (KJV). But of course "walk" is not used here to mean simply putting one foot in front of another. "Walk", Scripturally speaking, means to live your life, as Charles Hodge writes:

To walk means to regulate the inward and outward life. It includes, therefore, the determination of the judgments, the feelings, the purposes, as well as the external conduct. The controlling principle in believers is not the flesh, i.e., the corrupt nature, but the Holy Spirit which dwells in them, as the source of knowledge, of holiness, of strength, of peace and love.

Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans

And Douglas J. Moo writes:

To “walk according to the flesh", then, is to have one's life determined and directed by the values of "this world", of the world in rebellion against God. It is a lifestyle that is purely "human" in its orientation. To "walk according to the Spirit", on the other hand, is to live under the control, and according to the values, of the "new age", created and dominated by God's Spirit.

New International Commentary on the New Testament: Romans

But according to the Spirit: Even though the righteous requirements of the Law have been fully met by Christ on our behalf, our "walk" in the spirit-principles of Christ's life is required of us (Rom 8:4), not so that we may 'earn' salvation — that is impossible! — but to demonstrate our faith in Christ's monumental work of redemption, and our own commitment to that person and that life.

True freedom is not found in asserting human rights or reshaping the world to our own ideals, but in recognizing our limits and submitting to God’s authority. This work challenges the assumption that mankind can fix itself, pointing instead to Christ as the only source of lasting freedom and future hope. It calls for a complete reorientation of life now, in view of the coming kingdom where true glory will finally be established under his rule.

Chapters

• Introduction
• The Condemnation of Sin in the Flesh
• Christ in You
• Present Sufferings and Future Glory
• Intercession and Predestination: Our Place in God’s Plan
• “Super-conquerors”: Our Assurance in Christ

The threads of thought leading into this section are clear. If we suffer with Christ, being conformed now to the pattern of his life, then we will also be glorified with him (vv. 17,18). In this we hope, and our continuance in this hope, through the changes and trials of life, develops patience (vv. 19-25). Now, in this section, Paul gives his readers various reasons and encouragements to endure faithfully whatever difficulties befall them. The reasons are three:

Christ our intercessor shares our trials with us, understands our weaknesses, and powerfully intercedes for us with the Father (vv. 26,27).

No matter what happens, day by day, to those who live in hope, they can be assured that their experiences are designed by God for their ultimate good (v. 28).

The greatest reason of all is that the Lord God has marked us out, personally and individually, for His glory (vv. 29,30).

Comment on Romans 8:26

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.

The Spirit… the Spirit himself: Compare verse 16 and notes, where the KJV's "the Spirit itself" is translated "the Spirit himself" by the NIV. In fact, here in verse 26, the RV, RSV and NET as well as the NIV all agree in translating as "himself". Once again, there should be no problem in reading "the Spirit" as having personality here, because here at least it is equivalent to the Lord Jesus Christ himself.

In the same way the Spirit helps us: The Greek "sunantilambanetai": to take hold of a heavy burden together with others so as to assist them. In other words, the Spirit "shares with us". The prefix ("sun") marks this as another one of the 'together', or 'with', words (vv. 16,17,22), identifying what Christ shares with us. The identical word is used in Luke 10:40, where Martha requests Jesus to bid her sister Mary to "help" her. This word suggests a partnership in work; there is no encouragement for us to be passive here. Christ has promised to help us bear our burdens, but not to do everything for us.

In our weakness: "Astheneia" has the same root as "powerless" ("weak", KJV) in verse 3. The identical word is used in Matthew 8:17 (cp. Luke 8:2), where Christ's healing of the sick fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 53:4: "Surely he took up our infirmities ['astheneia'] and carried our sorrows, or diseases."

We do not know what we ought to pray for: The KJV and the NIV understand Paul as saying: 'We do not know what to pray for.' The NASB, NET, NEB and RSV understand him to say, 'We do not know how we ought to pray.' The first possibility ("what") implies ignorance regarding the content and subjects of our prayers. The second ("how") implies ignorance regarding the proper method and procedure. We are told that the Greek text permits either interpretation, though it tends to favor the latter (NASB, NET, etc.). Jesus gave instruction to his disciples about both content and method (Matt 6:9-15; Luke 11:2-4).

Thomas Constable writes:

Perhaps what Paul meant was this. We know how to approach God in prayer and the general subjects that we should pray about. Still we struggle with exactly how to pray most effectively and with exactly what to pray for. The basic principle of effective praying is that it must be in harmony with the will of God to be effective (1 John 5:14,15; John 14:13; 15:16; 16:23,24)."

Bible Study Notes and Commentary: Romans

Since we are far from infallible in our knowledge, it is often true that we do not know the will of God perfectly — and especially so as regards our own lives and circumstances. So we cannot expect ourselves to know what is the very best thing for which to pray, although we can be assured that the Lord himself knows.

But the Spirit himself intercedes for us: "Entugchano": to meet, to fall in with, to talk to. It is connected with "huper" (in this verse only) to signify 'to speak with one on behalf of another'. Of the six occurrences of "entugchano" three are in Romans 8 (vv. 26,27,34), and the others are in Acts 25:24; Romans 11:2; and Hebrews 7:25.

With groans: "Sighs of compassion", related to "groans" in verse 22 and "groan" in verse 23. Christ's groans, or sighs, are compared with those of the believers.

We should not confuse these "groans" with praying in tongues. This passage promises help to all believers, not just to those few in the first century who had the Holy Spirit gift of tongues. Furthermore, the "Holy Spirit" seems to be praying for us, not necessarily through us.

That words cannot express: Or "in words we cannot hear". This word "alaletois" (literally, 'not spoken') is poorly translated by the KJV as "which cannot be uttered". It does not mean inarticulate words or sounds, but rather speech that cannot be expressed or uttered to us, for it is a private communication which passes only between Christ and God. Compare the thoughts in 2 Corinthians 12:4: "inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell"; and John 12:28,29: "Then a voice came from heaven… The crowd… heard it [and] said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him."

It is a matter to be received by faith that, though our inner man may be overwhelmed by the incapacities of the flesh, the Spirit [i.e., Christ himself: v. 34] reflects to the eternal throne the inner aspirations and affections of the mind which can only be expressed on our part by inarticulate groanings. Before the throne stands the Lord Jesus whose part it is to focalize these transmitted distress signals and make intercession with the Father on our behalf.

Robert Roberts

The Christadelphian, Vol. 35, p. 17

It should be noted that other writers have taken somewhat different views as to the "Spirit" in this verse referring to Christ:

"The 'new man', when in suffering, approaches the Father in prayer. But for what shall he pray? For the suffering to be removed? Or for strength to endure? In his groaning he asks, after the example of Jesus, 'Now is my soul troubled: and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I to this hour. Father, glorify thy name' (John 12:27). 'O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt' (Matt 26:39). And God that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the spirit, that he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. God sees within, discerning the motives, and therefore knows the mind of the saint that, amidst the conflict, what is desired is that God's will be done" (John Carter, Letter to the Romans, p. 94).

"Our understanding of these two verses Romans 8:26,27 is paraphrased as: 'Likewise the omnipresent, omniscient Spirit of God assists us where we are inadequate, for when we do not have the capability to correctly express our deep-felt desires and yearnings toward God, those very deep feelings are conveyed to the Father and Son through the agency of God's omnipresent Spirit — even though those feelings have never been formulated in words.' The divine spirit-power is the agency of communication and through it the Father and Son know the mind, the attitude, the disposition, the desires of the one who is seeking to draw nigh unto them" (K.G. McPhee, "The Spirit of God and the Spirit of Man (11)", The Christadelphian Advocate, Vol. 97, p. 44).

These last two quotations fairly represent one view of verses 26,27, a view rather labored and difficult to sustain, as the second writer admits: "It is not altogether clear what was intended by these words [i.e., vv. 26,27]." The difficulties in accepting this view are as follows:

If by "the Spirit" Paul means the Holy Spirit, then it appears that Jesus has been replaced, or at least joined, by a second mediator and intercessor.

Clearly, in verse 27 Jesus (not God, or the Holy Spirit as a separate entity) is the one who is said to search our hearts (cp. Rev 2:23).

How can the Holy Spirit be said to "share with us our weaknesses"? But Christ of course does this very thing (see Heb 4:15; 5:2; where the same word, "astheneia", applies to him).

As already mentioned, most modern versions render "the Spirit himself" (RV, RSV, NIV, NEB, NET) instead of "the Spirit itself", and there seems to be no textual reason why the newer rendering should not be allowed. (As in Romans 8:16, "itself" is explained by the neuter gender of the original Greek word "pneuma".) The only problem in this translation would be the implicit support for the personality of the Holy Spirit, and the belief in a three-person 'Trinity'. But when it is perceived that "the Spirit" here may refer to Christ after all, then the "himself" is perfectly reasonable.

Reasons for the second view, that "the Spirit himself" is another way of referring to Christ, are as follows:

Verse 26 would then closely match verse 16, already considered earlier. Each verse also contains one of the "with" words (cp. vv. 17,22) — expressive of those experiences which believers share with Christ.

Christ is called “the Spirit" in other New Testament passages, such as 1 Corinthians 15:45. It is to this verse John Thomas refers when he writes of Christ, who "as the Quickening Spirit, makes intercession for (believers) according to the Divine Will — Romans 8:26,27" (John Thomas, Eureka, Vol 2, p. 356).

In the letters to the seven ecclesias in Asia Minor (e.g., Rev 2:7,11,17,29; 3:6,13,22) Christ refers to himself repeatedly as "the Spirit" (also cp. Rev 14:13; 19:10; 22:17).

Verse 26, in which "the Spirit" intercedes for believers, is parallel to verses 27 and 34, where Christ is undoubtedly meant as the intercessor (C.C. Walker, "The Spirit Who Maketh Intercession", The Christadelphian, Vol. 41, p. 501). Christ is the one and only intercessor (Heb 7:25; 1 Tim 2:5,6) (A.H. Nicholls, "The Evangelical Revival: Sharing God's Guidance", Vol. 118, p. 85). The Holy Spirit can no more be the intercessor for believers than can the Virgin, idealized by Roman Catholics, as 'Mary, Mother of God'.

The "sighs of compassion" are a reflection of Christ's humanity and intense fellow-feeling with us: "There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk… Then [Jesus] spit and touched the man's tongue. He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him… 'Be opened!' " (Mark 7:32-34). "The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. He sighed deeply" (Mark 8:11,12).

Now to the phrase "groans that words cannot express" ("with groanings that cannot be uttered": KJV) becomes clear:

The Greek word "alaletos"… does not here refer to inarticulate speech on the part of the intercessor, but to the fact that we ourselves are not able to know or repeat what is said, since the communication is not between God and ourselves but between God and Christ "who maketh intercession for us', 'when we know not what we should pray for as we ought".

Alfred Nicholls, The Christadelphian, Vol. 118, p. 86

In all of the above we must recognize a great sustaining comfort and hope. Now Christ speaks to his Father for us, even though we cannot hear him, and even though we do not know precisely what words pass between them. There can be no greater assurance than this, of salvation for those who love God. Truly there are unnumbered comforts bestowed upon us, of which we can never be aware this side of the Kingdom. "Cast all your anxiety upon him because he cares for you" (1 Pet 5:7).

As the priest arranged upon the altar the sacrifices of men, so our Lord rearranges our feeble utterances so that they are in accordance with the will of God — if in faith we pray through him.

Cyril Tennant

Prayer: Studies in Principle and Practice, pp. 93,94

Comment on Romans 8:27

And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.

And he who searches our hearts: This can only be Christ: "Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds" (Rev 2:23).

There is probably a time in every believer's life when the idea that Christ searches and knows our hearts is a frightening thing, for — like Adam and Eve in the Garden — we may wish to hide ourselves from the searching gaze of God Himself (or, in this case, His Son). But here for Paul there is, instead, a great comfort in the thought that Christ searches those same hearts, and knows their innermost workings, since this allows him better to communicate to the Father, and allows them both better to decide how to respond to the heart which is in need, and which yearns to express, but cannot truly express, those needs to the throne of Grace.

He who knows the mind of the Spirit: Compare verses 5-7. Christ knows the mind of the Spirit because it is, after all, his mind!

Because the Spirit intercedes for the saints: Compare verse 26 and notes there.

In accordance with God's will: While continuing and amplifying Paul's thoughts in the previous verse, verse 27 offers another point worth exploring. Christ's intercession for us is always "according to God's will". It is noteworthy that it is not God's will that His dear children escape all sufferings, but it is certainly His will that such sufferings work for our ultimate spiritual good (v. 28).

This may be the idea behind the fact that "we do not know what we ought to pray for” — that is, whether we should pray for deliverance from trials, or for strength to endure them. In fact, this was Paul's own dilemma exactly, as he recounts in his second letter to the Corinthians:

"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh… to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Cor 12:7-10).

Even the great apostle found himself attempting to pray for something that was not, at that time, "in accordance with God's will". His prayers had to be 'translated' by his Lord when presented to the Father, and Paul had to come to know, and accept, that his Lord Jesus Christ knew better than he what was best for his servant.

It may be God's will that we be spared certain sufferings, but it may just as well be, in individual cases, as He chooses, that we endure certain trials. So we must leave it to Christ, acting in unison with the Father, for he searches our hearts, he knows our limitations, and he knows our potentials. Our redeemer and mediator will surely do what is best for us.

How often do we pray, 'Father, let me be an instrument of Thy will'; and then add, as a private aside, 'But, please, Lord, don't let it hurt too much!' Instead, we should pray, courageously, in the words of our hymn:

Should Thy wisdom, Lord, decree

Trials long and sharp for me,

Pain or sorrow, care or shame —

Father, glorify Thy name!

Josiah Conder

In this we would more nearly follow the examples of Christ, who in a dark garden, with tears on his cheeks, prayed, "Not my will, but Yours be done"; as well as the example of Paul, beset by that thorn in the flesh, who prayed for deliverance, but then learned that God's strength is perfected in man's weakness.

Comment on Romans 8:28

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him: "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good" (Gen 1:31). The physical "good" of His physical "creation", expressed in Genesis 1, prefigures the spiritual "good" of His spiritual "creation". Compare the references to "creation" in verses 19-23.

In all things God works: "God" should plainly be the subject of this sentence, as in the NIV (and the RSV). It is God, having perfect knowledge, who "works" — not "all things" that work somehow, without feeling or foresight, but just by falling into place as if by chance!

The KJV ("All things work for good") is inadequate to express this thought. A totally worldly, unspiritual person might say, in times of trouble, 'This will all work out… somehow.'

For the believer, it is much better to say: 'God works, in all things, for good…' A great, unfathomable Mind is always awake and at work, taking in hand "all things" of our lives — even adversities (vv. 17,18) and sufferings (v. 35) — and using them, every one, as tools to shape and polish, and at last to "create" His finished work, minds and characters and lives which glorify Him.

Even if we prefer to accept the passive translation, it must be recognized that the subject is clearly implied. For one thing, God is the subject in the verses that immediately follow (i.e., vv 29,30). And for another, He is the only One who could ever arrange "all things" to a purposeful end. Either way, as Cranfield puts it, "What is expressed is a truly Biblical confidence in the sovereignty of God."

This verse does not specifically say that God causes 'all things', period. Instead, it implies that He permits 'all things', but that is much different from initiating them. When trouble or even tragedy touches a believer, we should not conclude that God has caused it. Troubles are caused by many things: by the hurtful actions of others, by our own sinful desires, by our ignorance, or our poor choices. This verse does give a wonderful assurance: No matter how it came to be that we find ourselves ensnared in troubles, or falling under the worst tragedies, even if it is because of our own sins, still our loving heavenly Father can and will bring good out of such things, for those who continue to love Him.

All things… for good: What is included in the "all things"? Newell writes that they include "dark things, and bright things; happy things, and sad things; sweet things, and bitter things; times of prosperity, as well as times of adversity."

Then he adds a brief comment, referring to 2 Kings 4: There, the "great woman", the Shunammite, with her child lying at home already dead, responds to Elisha's question, "Is your child all right?" with the answer: "Yes, everything is all right" (v. 26). Even the death of a beloved child can work for good, to those who love the Lord God.

To this we could add the words of Mary the sister of Lazarus, whose brother had lain dead in his tomb for four days. When her beloved Jesus arrived, Mary said:

"Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask" (John 11:21,22).

These two women, knowing the deepest grief that can come upon us in this life, yet knowing also the Lord God and His care for them, could summon the faith to say, in effect, 'Our God can, and will, work even in these the worst of times. He can work in all things that I can possibly experience, so that — ultimately — they will prove to have been "for good" in my life.'

This is why this very verse, Romans 8:28, has been called "a soft pillow for a tired and sorrowful heart". God does work, in all things, even the saddest we can possibly imagine, for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

When sorrowing o'er some stone I bend

Which covers all that was a friend;

And from his hand, his voice, his smile,

Divides me for a little while,

My Savior knows the tears I shed;

For he did weep o'er Lazarus dead.

And O when I have safely passed

Through every conflict but the last,

Still may he keep a watch beside

My bed of death, for he has died,

And close my eyes in hope and trust

Of rising glorious from the dust.

Robert Grant

Who have been called according to his purpose: This purpose is outlined in the two verses that follow.

Having established that Christ intercedes for us, but that such intercession does not always produce our physical and material comfort, Paul now stresses that in all things, even sufferings (vv. 17,18,35), God works for our good (v. 28). We must believe this, and accept it, or otherwise we will be like the seeds planted in shallow earth, and at the first blast of summer 'heat' we will wither away (Matt 13:5,6,20,21; Mark 4:5,6,16,17). So Paul, heeding his own advice, was able to write:

"We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed… Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory" (2 Cor 4:8,9,16,17).

Do we believe this? Can we presume to live as Paul did? Do we ever grumble, or doubt, or worry, or despair? If we do, then we must do what Paul did, that is, look at “Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2). It is only through patient bearing up under our trials that we will evet come to know "the fellowship of his sufferings" (Phil 3:10), and this we must know. What a privilege it is to suffer with Christ (Rom 8:17)! It is both a proof of our family relationship (Heb 12:7,8) and a guarantee of our future glory (Rom 8:17,18).

Always think positively. You cannot always control your circumstances. But you can control your own thoughts. There is nothing either good or bad, only your thinking makes it so. Things seem to turn out best for those people who can make the best out of the way things turn out. It is not the situation, it's your reaction to the situation. The reality of your life may result from many outside factors, none of which you can control. Your attitude, however, reflects the ways in which you deal with what is happening to you. Life at any time can become difficult. Life at any time can become easy. It all depends upon how you adjust yourself to life. What you see in your mind is what you get out of life.

Morarji Desai

Upon some points a believer is absolutely sure. He knows, for instance, that God sits in the stern-sheets of the vessel [the place at the rear of an open boat, behind the rowers' bench] when it rocks most. He believes that an invisible hand is always on the world's tiller, and that wherever providence may drift, Jehovah steers it.

That reassuring knowledge prepares him for everything. He looks over the raging waters and sees the spirit of Jesus treading the billows, and he hears a voice saying, "It is I, be not afraid." He knows too that God is always wise, and knowing this, he is confident that there can be no accidents, no mistakes; that nothing can occur which ought not to arise. He can say, 'If I should lose all I have, it is better that I should lose than have, if God so wills: the worst calamity is the wisest and the kindest thing that could fall to me if God ordains it.'

"We know that God works in all things for good to them that love Him." The Christian does not merely hold this as a theory, but he knows it as a fact. Everything has worked for good as yet… the sharp cuts of the scalpel have cleansed out the proud flesh and facilitated the healing. Every event as yet has worked out the most divinely blessed results; and so, believing that God rules all, that He governs wisely, that He brings good out of evil, the believer's heart is assured, and he is enabled calmly to meet each trial as it comes. The believer can in the spirit of true resignation pray, 'Send me what Thou wilt, my God, so long as it comes from Thee.

Charles Spurgeon

* * * *

Comment on Romans 8:29,30

This last section (vv. 29,30) provides an outline of God's purpose referred to in verse 28. God's purpose with those who love Him consists of five steps:

foreknowledge,

predetermination,

calling,

justification (or declaring righteous), and

glorification.

The first four, already realities for believers now, guarantee the fifth and final step (vv. 17,18,21). All this may be said without meaning to imply that there is no chance of 'falling away', for there is. But believers must learn to dwell as much as possible on the positive aspects. Only such an attitude will sustain us through the trials and doubts that inevitably buffet us. Only such a positive attitude can do justice to the love of God shown in His great work for our salvation. Against the backdrop of His supreme mercy, fear and despair are nothing but offenses to Him who has repeatedly told us, "Fear not."

Comment on Romans 8:29

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

For those God foreknew: "Foreknew" ("foreordained": KJV) is the Greek “proginosko": to know in advance. The apostle Peter uses the same word in a helpful context:

"For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen ['proginosko'] before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake" (1 Pet 1:18-20).

Note the Passover connection (“a lamb without blemish”); this will prove quite relevant as we proceed.

He also predestined: "He determined beforehand": this is the KJV "did predestinate". The Greek "proorizo" signifies to set bounds, or ordain, beforehand. "Pro" means 'before, ahead of time'. And "horizo" (like horizon in English) marks the point, or line, beyond which the sun cannot go, that is, the line of demarcation between earth and sky.

"Proorizo" appears here and in verse 30, and in Ephesians 1:5,11, where the righteous are "sealed" (separated and marked out for special care). Also, the same word occurs in Acts 4:28 and 1 Corinthians 2:7.

We probably all have a pretty good idea what "predestination" is not. It is not 'eternal security'; it is not 'once saved, always saved'. But… the question here is: What does it mean? Consider the following:

Let us now return to the context in 1 Peter 1:18-20, mentioned above. The purpose of the Passover lamb's blood was to put a limit, in advance, upon the work of the Destroying Angel. Those who had faith sprinkled the blood of the lamb on their doorposts. In doing so they were marked out ahead of time (Exod 12) — "predestined", we might say — and thus were saved out of Egypt. All around the Jews and their households there were other "firstborns"; these were not marked out to be spared, but rather marked out — "predestined" — to perish, including the firstborn of Pharaoh (see Rom 9:17).

We see that the verse before us at this moment, Romans 8:29, also has a "firstborn" connection: "that [Christ] might be the firstborn among many brothers". And there are other Passover connections as well, in the immediate context:

Romans 8:32, compared with Genesis 22: the ram as a special offering, and

Romans 8:36, compared with Psalm 44:22: believers are as sheep to be slaughtered.

Did the Lord, all on His own and by Divine fiat, "predestine" certain Jewish families in Egypt to be saved, while "predestining" others to be condemned? Of course not. He did not necessarily select, one by one, every person — Jew or Gentile — who would fall under the Divine provision.

What the Lord did was provide the command regarding the Passover lambs. The Jews were required, by their own free wills, to choose whether they would put the blood on their houses, and then they had to choose whether they would remain in those houses during the night. They had to act in faith upon the principles and promises which God had given them. If they did, then they were "predestined" (marked out beforehand) to be spared or saved, even while others around them, who chose differently, were "predestined" to perish.

Of course, those who chose to be saved out of Egypt had to continue to remember God and His promises, and continue to keep the Passover, as a reminder of what God had done for them, and — presumably — as an act of faith in the greater "Passover lamb" to come, who would truly take away the sins of the world.

But it was still God's "predestination" in the first place. 'I have marked out a place where you will be safe from the death that will be visited upon the world. That place is one of absolute security. But you need to go there, do what I say, and — above all — remain there. Otherwise, you will not be "marked out" for My Glory!'

So we may be sure that, whatever is expressed by this word "predestination", it should not rule out or neutralize the free will of individuals to choose and obey. Any exhaustive attempt to balance what appear, on the surface, to be contradictory concepts will probably be dull at best and confusing at worst. So we shall hope to avoid this as much as possible by referring to a couple of summarizing statements and then passing on.

God predestinates to eternal life those who become conformable to the heavenly family likeness presented in Christ Jesus. When we come to consider the plan upon which the principles of predestination are worked out, we shall see that only such as do become conformable to Christ's image can rightly be considered as coming within the scope of predestination, and therefore, if anyone enters its initial stages and then turns back, he may drop out of the apostle's idea of foreordination.

Those predestinated in Paul's survey in Romans 8 are said to love God and are called according to His purpose; and it is upon this principle that their glorification is assured. It is most important that we should keep this in mind, or we can never understand the principle of predestination. It is this fact that is omitted in the doctrine which contends that men are born to eternal life or eternal damnation.

G.S. Sherry, "Whom He Did Foreknow",

The Christadelphian, Vol. 72, pp. 209,210

How did God predestinate? By establishing the way, the truth, and the life; the line and demarcation that we must follow…

In God's purpose man is predestinated upon the basis of God's will and man's character. We are informed in Ephesians 1:5: 'Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will…"

Without our own volition or mind or disposition, in working out our own salvation? No! This very epistle [Ephesians], like all the epistles, is full of instruction concerning what we must do to obtain salvation, and warning against what we must put aside if we would escape rejection. This is meaningless according to the common view of "predestination".

It is clear… that the predestination of which Paul speaks is dependent upon faithful conformity with the way of life of which he speaks.

W.J. Pickford, "Predestination",

The Berean Christadelphian, Vol. 53, p. 32

To be conformed: "Summorphos": to be conformed together. Christ was made of a woman, under the law, and thus made to possess human (sinful) flesh, along with all of us. Thus he was "conformed" to our likeness. Likewise, in faith and baptism and obedience, we seek to become "conformed" to the likeness of him.

To the likeness of his Son: "Likeness" is the Greek "eikon"; this involves the two ideas of representation and manifestation. In the New Testament, the word is used of a coin (Matt 22:20; Mark 12:16; Luke 20:24), and an idol or statue (Rom 1:23; Rev 13:14,15; 14:9). The sons of Adam bear his image (1 Cor 15:49). Christ bears the image of God (1 Cor 11:7; 2 Cor 4:4; Col 1:15). And we hope to bear the image of Christ (1 Cor 15:49; Col 3:10).

God has "predestinated" those who love Him, not just to be saved, but especially — along the way — to become "conformed" to a particular pattern. Specifically, to be conformed to the pattern of His Son. Once again, this argues, not for a cookie-cutter process, where the passive dough is shaped without its own will — but rather for an active working partnership, between God and the believer. In this partnership, both parties work for the transformation of the believer into the representation, and the imitation, of the Savior. Predestination is something in which we believers must participate; it is hard work. It may be the gift of God to us, but it requires us to open the 'gift', and 'assemble' it, and make it work in our lives, every day!

That he might be the firstborn among many brothers: "Firstborn" is "prototokos": from "proto" (first) and "tikto" (to bear). The word may signify that which is earliest as to time, or preeminent as to position. Christ is the "firstborn" from the dead (Col 1:18; Rev 1:5) — in the sense of being the first to realize, and experience, all that resurrection was intended to achieve — and the "firstborn" of the new creation, pointing and showing the way for others to follow (Col 1:15).

Comment on Romans 8:30

And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

And those he predestined, he also called: Looking at the ways in which the New Testament uses "kaleo" (to call), it almost always refers to those who go on to be baptized. While the calling of men and women to God has to do with hearing the gospel being preached, it evidently means more than that.

Some may hear the Word of God being preached, and presumably even understand what it is saying, and know it to be true — yet still not truly be "called" in the New Testament sense. But where to draw the line between those who have been "called" and those who have not, is certainly beyond our power; it ought to be left to God (1 Thes 2:12; Col 3:15; Rom 8:28; 9:23,24; Eph 4:1; Jude 1:1.)

Those he called, he also justified: "Justified" is "declared righteous". Putting it this way helps to recognize the intended link with verses 4, 10 and 33. Christ by his death fulfilled in himself (and on behalf of us) the righteous requirement of the law (v. 4), becoming truly "righteous" himself, so that those of us who are in him might be declared righteous, and go on to live spirit-lives of righteousness (v. 10).

Those he justified, he also glorified: This chapter points out that this is the glory which we will share with Christ (v. 17); a glory not to be compared with our present sufferings (v. 18); a glory reserved for God's dear children, when they have escaped the slavery of bondage and decay (v. 21). This glory is spoken of here in the past tense, not because it is actually a present possession, but because its future possession has been assured for us by the work of God in Christ.

Conclusion

The key idea of this section (vv. 26-30) is this: God has marked us out for glory. He has taken all the steps necessary for our salvation. There is now no condemnation. We are free, we are sons, we are dear children! Paul purposefully disregards the possibility of failure, and concentrates solely upon the glorious steps of salvation, building to a climax in the final section of Romans 8 (vv. 31-39).

Nothing stands between us and eternal glory except our own loss of faith: Not our sins, for they are forgiven; not our nature — shared with Christ, it can (and will) be changed in a moment. Not the law — it was satisfied in the death of Christ. And Not our trials, for they are specially designed by our Father for our benefit.

With these exalted, and exalting, assurances Paul prepares his readers to become "super-conquerors through him who loved us".

Two questions immediately suggest themselves: Why Romans? And why Romans 8?

Romans, because it is, without a doubt, the most comprehensive and the most profound of Paul's letters. And because it is the source letter for all of Paul's theology, and the fountainhead of the central doctrine of our gospel — justification by faith.

And Romans chapter 8 because this chapter is the peak, the climax, of this mighty epistle. Everything before Romans 8 is a preparation for it; and everything that follows it is detail and exhortation arising from it. In Romans 8, and with the the loveliest of terms, Romans 8 describes the fullness of the blessings, present and future, to be found in Christ. This may be summarized in Paul's beautiful phrase: "the glorious liberty of God's dear children" (v. 21). These words, rightly understood, are far from vague. They are clear and bright with promise. They are marvelous, awesome, and wonderful.

The order of Paul's presentation continues to be important. To review this: First of all, he describes the gift of God, which is no condemnation (vv. 1-4). Therefore believers should live righteous lives, that is, lives directed by the "spirit" (vv. 5-11).

Again, we are no longer slaves, but now we have become sons and daughters, members of the divine family (vv. 12-17). Therefore we are required to endure present sufferings because of frailty, and to "labor" as participants in the ongoing miracle of a new spiritual "birth" (vv. 18-25).

The change must be followed by the challenge. Carefully and logically, Paul lays the doctrinal foundation before he makes the moral appeal. 'Here is what God has done for you; now, this is what you must do for God.' We are God's “sons and daughters" (v. 14), and no longer "slaves" (v. 15). We need not "fear" any more (v. 15). Now we can come into God's presence through Christ, to cry "Abba, Pater" (v. 15). Christ himself shares with us our sonship, our inheritance, and our future glory (v. 17).

However, as Paul made clear in verse 17, this necessitates that "we share in his sufferings also". This may seem burdensome, but it is reasonable: Even as our Lord endured sufferings on his way to the glory conferred upon him by the Father, so we who profess to walk in his footsteps will do the same. Our sufferings may not be — quite likely, will not be — of the same degree as his. Nevertheless, they are of a similar nature. Just as Christ's sufferings led to his glory, so our sufferings, even if slight or short-lived by comparison to his, will lead us to our ultimate glory, with him, in the Father's Kingdom.

This section (vv. 18-25) concludes with two more 'with' words (cp. vv 16,17), descriptive of the fellowship and sharing between Christ and those in Christ. "Sustenazo" (sighing or groanng together) in verse 22 anticipates the 'sighing' of Christ ("the Spirit himself") of verse 26. "Sunodino" (to give birth together) in verse 22 speaks of the joint efforts, in heaven and on earth, for the final 'birth' of the one new man, the redeemed body of Christ. It is a great comfort to know that in our individual travail (Rom 7:4) as well as our travail for one another (Gal 4:19), Christ sighs and groans and travails with us.

Comment on Romans 8:18

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

The word "sufferings" thus links together this and the preceding verse. Now Paul shows the need for suffering in the life of the believer, with a wider perspective of God's plan of redemption. In the light of eternity we should view the cost of suffering with Jesus Christ now (in whatever form it takes) as insignificant in view of the glory that lies ahead for us (2 Cor 4:17).

Our present sufferings: Our "sharing" with Christ, as part of his Body, necessitates that we take up our crosses and follow him, and that "we share in his sufferings" (vv. 17,18). This is not an elective, or an optional course; it is a required subject. Our exalted position now requires that we faithfully endure present sufferings in preparation for future glory. Our trials enable us to know the fellowship of Christ's sufferings (Phil 3:10), to "complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church" (Col 1:24, RSV), to comfort others who themselves are afflicted (2 Cor 1:3-7), and to trust in God alone rather than ourselves (2 Cor 1:9).

Whatever form our individual sufferings may take, they cannot be ignored. The victorious life in Christ does not rule out sufferings; rather, it necessitates them. They must be faced rationally, examined, and accepted. But no matter how severe they seem now, they are not to be compared with the future glory (Rom 8:18). Here is the key to the faithful endurance of our trials. In the same measure as our sufferings increase, our hope in the future glory must increase also. Rather than complain to God because of our trials, we must rejoice and thank Him (Rom 5:3), realizing that He is doing us a benefit.

That which reminds us most firmly of our own weaknesses serves to draw us nearer to the only One who is truly strong. And that which reminds us more strongly of our trials and difficulties, in this life, serves to remind us all the more of our glorious eternal hope, only one lifetime away.

Helpless children we may be, but we have a wise and loving and omnipotent Father, One who comforts us, guides us, and at last gathers us to Himself:

"As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who respect him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust… from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children — with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts" (Psa 103:13,14,17,18).

Glory: A glory to be shared with Christ (v. 17) because we are all God's dear children (v. 21).

That will be revealed in us: "Revealed" is "apokalupto", an uncovering, as in the drawing aside of a veil. It refers often to the return of Christ (Luke 17:30; 1 Cor 1:7; 2 Thes 1:7; 1 Pet 1:7,13; 4:13).

The Greek for "in" ("in us" here) is "eis". It can be translated as either "in us" (KJV, NIV) or "to us" (ASV, NASB, RSV, NET), and probably includes both ideas, in view of the expansiveness of the divine glory that will cover the earth in the day of which Paul writes (Num 14:21; Hab 2:14; Isa 11:9).

When the earth is filled with the glory of the Lord in the millennial age, then all the resurrected saints will have that glory revealed "to" them, before their very eyes. At the same time, because they have been raised to share in that glory, it will also be revealed "in" and through them to the rest of the world.

Parallels between Hebrews 2 and Romans 8

Hebrews 2 supplies beautiful parallels to Romans 8, in which the relationship between sufferings and glory — augmented by the ideas of slavery and sonship — is explored in some detail. This set of parallels can best be shown in table form:

Comment on Romans 8:19

The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.

The creation: The Greek is "ktisis", which describes both the act of making (especially by God), and that which is made. It is translated "creature" (KJV), but also "creation" (NIV, RV, ASV, RSV, NET and Rotherham), and "created universe" (NEB). The word "ktisis" can refer to the creation of the world and everything in it (Mark 13:19; Rom 1:20,25), or to mankind alone (Mark 16:15), or — most often in the New Testament — to the new spiritual "creation" of believers in Christ (2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15; Eph 2:15; 4:24; Col 1:15; 3:10).

What is the "creation" of verses 19-22, which endures present sufferings (vv. 18,22) in eager longing for future glory (vv. 19,21)? The correct answer to this question is crucial to the understanding of this section. The most common view is briefly expressed in the following quotations:

"By a very striking and impressive personification, Paul in these verses represents creation as looking and waiting for the culmination of the Divine plan… There is incompleteness about man's world that cannot be the end of God's purpose with it.

Paul attributes to creation an expectation of this time of restoration which is bound up with the manifestation of the sons of God. And as it was subjected by God to its present vanity, not of its own will or fault, but because of man's sin, so it will experience a deliverance from its bondage and share the liberty pertaining to the glory of the children of God.”

"It is the whole creation which unconsciously yearns for the manifestation of the sons of God to bring release from the present evil.”

"Creation" in the New Testament

However, I would strongly favor a second possible interpretation, hinted at above and outlined in the following:

"Now it does not seem to me that the 'creation' which groans and travails is the whole earth. Redemption [i.e., v 23] has never been a general thing. It has always been conditional on the acceptance of suffering and death, and those who refuse to accept this have no part in redemption. They do not travail, because they have no seed of God within them. They are never born again. It seems to me that the 'creation' which has groaned and travailed throughout all ages is the new creation of God which has always existed alongside the old creation, and has waited in faith, 'earnestly expecting' the final revelation of the resurrection birth. It contains men of faith of all ages, but none of the seed of the serpent, to whom travail means nothing" (Ray Walker, "Suffering and Glory", The Bible Student, 8:1:4.)

This idea has also been suggested and elaborated upon by Harry Whittaker: "It is generally agreed that the word 'creature' in this passage [Rom 8:19-22] should be read as 'creation'. The interpretation commonly put upon this remarkable passage is that by a very striking and impressive personification, Paul in these verses represents creation as looking and waiting for the culmination of the Divine plan'. Some commentators restrict the 'creation' to mean the human race, enlightened and ignorant, 'Christian' and pagan; but others — the majority — suggest that here Paul's thought takes a grand poetic sweep to include every thing in the universe, animate and inanimate, as though it all had a deep unexpressed longing for the grand climax of the divine purpose in Christ. This study will suggest that such a view tangles up the exegesis of Romans 8 with too many difficulties; and more positively, it will be argued that throughout this passage Paul has in view the New Creation, the church of the redeemed in Christ" ("The Groaning of Creation" in Romans 8:19-22, Bible Studies).

Some of Harry Whittaker's suggestions are incorporated into the notes which follow here.

We should allow Paul to interpret himself as to the meaning of "ktisis" (creation) in this passage under consideration. Putting aside Romans 8, most of the other occurrences of "ktisis" and its related verb ("ktizo") in Paul's writings (11 out of 18) clearly pertain to the new, or spiritual, "creation". (And a few of the other instances, not so obviously relevant, may be better interpreted along these lines also.) And they do so in ways very much parallel to his usage in Romans 8. Here follows some of Paul’s statements:

2 Corinthians 5:14-17: "Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died… So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation [the KJV 'new creatures' obscures the 'creation' connection]; the old has gone, the new has come!" In language reminiscent of Romans 8, Paul speaks of God in Christ reconciling unto Himself those who had been separated, and thereby beginning to bring order back to a frail, futile world. That this second "creation" is patterned after the first is clearly shown by the larger context: "For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ" (2 Cor 4:6).

Galatians 6:15: "Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation [again, 'a new creature': KJV]." This is in a context that includes 'sowing to the flesh' and 'sowing to the spirit' (v. 8; cp. Rom 8:5-13).

Ephesians 2:1-10: In a passage with extended and extensive parallels to Romans 8, Paul speaks of Christ as the creator: "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works" (v. 10). The phrase "to do good works" is a telling connection with our study. It defines the purpose for which we have been created. This is the correct order: salvation is not "by ['ek': from, or out of] works" (Eph 2:9), but it is "to do, or unto ['epi': for] good works" (v. 10). Works are not the means of salvation, but the result of the influence of the gospel message of salvation. Thus, in Romans 8, the "no condemnation" and "liberty" (vv. 1,2) logically precede the walking after the spirit (vv. 5-11).

Ephesians 4:22-24: The "old self" or "old man" (KJV), with his corrupt way of life, must be put off. We must be renewed in the spirit of our minds (Romans 8 words), so as to put on the "new self" or "the new man", who is created ("ktizo") after the image of God's Son (Rom 8:29).

Colossians 1:15-18: Christ is the "image" and the "firstborn" (the language of Romans 8:29) of all creation ("every creature": KJV) (v. 15), because all are created by him (v. 16). This must be the "new creation", since Christ is "before all" (v. 17), and all are made out of him (v. 17). These figurative expressions are explained by the more literal ones of verse 18: "he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead." The broader context — "redemption and forgiveness" (v. 14), "reconcile" (v. 20) — also makes plain that here is a sort of creation which involves personal salvation.

Colossians 3:9,10: "Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator ['ktizo']."

That this interpretation fits the text of Romans 8 is self-evident. While Scriptural language can sometimes be highly figurative, there is no reason to take any given text as more figurative than necessary. To speak of all natural creation, inanimate and animate, godless as well as godly, waiting with eager longing, sighing as in childbirth, and hoping for the revelation of God's sons, is clearly to stretch figurative speech to the breaking point. It is, of course, not disputed that all creation will benefit from the removal of the Edenic curse. But that is a different matter.

Also, to say that inanimate creation has been subject to frailty "not willingly" (or "not by their own choice") is a meaningless use of words. That which is inanimate could never make a “choice.”

Finally, when it is realized that verses 19-22 elaborate upon verses 16-18, where the present sufferings and future glory pertain of course to God's dear children, the case should be considered proven.

The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.

Waits: "Apekdechomai" occurs three times in this section (here, and vv. 23,25). The word signifies eager expectation, and generally has clear reference to the return of Christ (1 Cor 1:7; Gal 5:5; Heb 9:28).

In eager expectation: The Greek “apokaradokia suggests a watching with the head erect and outstretched, an earnest waiting in suspense, an eager anticipation which can scarcely contain itself. It occurs also in Philippians 1:20: "I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed."

For the sons of God to be revealed: The Greek "apokalupsis" is related to the word in verse 18. "Revealed" (NIV) is simpler and easier to understand; "manifest(ed)" or "manifestation" serves only to obscure this connection.

The "revealing" will be something of an unveiling, when those who groan and are burdened in their fleshly "tabernacle" will find themselves instantaneously clothed upon with new and glorious heavenly bodies: "What is mortal will be swallowed up in life" (2 Cor 5:1-4). Or when, as Paul expresses it again, those who have God's Word written on the fleshly tablets of their hearts, who have the treasure of God's glory encased in jars of clay, will find their obscuring veils removed and their old coverings shed, so that the light of God's glory will shine out for all the world to see. Then they will, "with unveiled faces… reflect the Lord's glory… being transformed into his likeness" (2 Cor 3:18).

Comment on Romans 8:20

For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope…

Subjected to: The Greek “hupotasso" is a military term, meaning “to rank under”. Since the mind of the flesh is not "subject to" God's principles (v. 7), all mankind has been "subjected to" frailty.

Frustration: "Mataiotees" signifies 'empty as to results'. Various possible translations are "frailty", "vanity" (KJV), "futility" (RSV), and "frustration" (NIV), all of which have some merit. The vanity, or frailty, of mankind is the subject of Ecclesiastes 1:2,13,14, etc. Indeed, much of that Book is about the emptiness of human life, apart from God.

The word "frailty" of verse 20 establishes immediate links between Romans 8 and the garden of Eden: In both there are condemnation (Rom 8:1); "subjection" of all creation, but especially of Adam and Eve (God's 'spiritual' creation); and travail in childbirth (cp. Gen 3:16 with Rom 8:22). Links with the Preacher's description of the emptiness of human life are also obvious (Eccl 1:2-14).

Not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it: Of course it is God who has subjected the new creation to vanity or frailty.

In hope…: The first words of a phrase which continues unbroken into the next verse.

Comment on Romans 8:21

…in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

[In hope…] that the creation itself would be liberated: "Liberated" is contrasted with "subjected to" in verse 20. The new creation has been liberated — past tense — from the principle of sin and death (v. 2), and will be liberated — future tense — from the slavery of decay.

From its bondage to decay: "Bondage" is "slavery", the same word as in verse 15. The new creation has been delivered from the "slavery" of the spirit or mind (v. 15; KJV "spirit of bondage"), and will be delivered from the "slavery" of the flesh.

Into the glorious freedom: "Freedom" comes from the same root word as "liberated" in verses 2, 21. More literally, this phrase in the Greek is "the liberty of the glory". The "liberty" of verse 2 is from a sort of freedom from sin and death (that is, prospectively or legally, by forgiveness of sins, as well as a change in relationship with God), but this by itself does not include the liberty of glory (which can only come with immortality: vv 17,18,30). This "glory" is still in the future, though we can be so assured of it that it may be spoken of in the past tense (v. 30).

Of the children of God: "Children" is better translated "dear children": the Greek is "teknon" (vv. 16,17). By becoming "dear children" of God, believers also become heirs (v. 17).

Comment on Romans 8:22

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

We know that the whole creation has been groaning: To groan or sigh, either with grief or compassion. Similar words appear in verses 23 and 26. The word here is "sustenazo", 'to sigh together with', another example of the sharing, or 'with' words (cp. vv 16,17). Believers may "sigh" (i.e., here; v. 23; Acts 7:34; 2 Cor 5:2,4), even as Christ "sighed" (Mark 7:34; 8:12) and still sighs (Rom 8:26).

As in the pains of childbirth: Greek "sunodino" signifies 'to give birth together'. This word appears only this once. "Odino" by itself refers to labor in childbirth, sometimes figuratively: Matthew 24:8 ("sorrows"); Acts 2:24 ("pains"); 1 Thessalonians 5:3 ("travail"); and Galatians 4:19,27 ("travail").

Right up to the present time: In other words, even now (Paul writes) we are still longing for something more, something far above and beyond what we are now privileged to know in Christ. This thought is developed in the next verse.

Comment on Romans 8:23

Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

God commanded the Israelites to present a portion of their harvest which ripened first, their "firstfruits", as an offering to Him (Exod 23:19; Neh 10:35). This offering acknowledged that the whole harvest actually belonged to Him. It was an offering that the Israelites made in faith, confident that the rest of the harvest would follow. This last point explains Paul's use of the word "firstfruits" here.

Also, in the initial conquest of the Land of Promise, God blessed Israel with a foretaste of what they might find in that Land:

In order to encourage the Israelites to sustain the difficulties that presented themselves to their entry into Canaan, God sent them of the fruits of the land while they were still in the desert [Num 13:21-27]. Our blessed Lord, too, permitted some of his disciples to witness his transfiguration, when his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as light. This was calculated to inspire them with an ardent desire to behold that… glory, of which, on that occasion, they had a transient glimpse, and to render them more patient in sustaining the troubles they were about to encounter. Allowing them to enjoy a measure of that peace which passeth all understanding [Phil 4:7], [God] favors them with some foretastes of the glory to be revealed.

Robert Haldane, Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans

God's gift of the Holy Spirit, given to some at the very beginning of the Christian ecclesia (Acts 2), was His guarantee and pledge that He would complete the process of salvation begun in the life, death and resurrection of His Son. Even though the Lord has redeemed us and made us the sons of God, there will be a final, future aspect of redemption, which Paul called "the day of redemption" (Eph 1:13,14; 4:30), or "the redemption of our bodies" (here). At this time, faithful believers will "be like him [Christ], for we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2). This will be when they will receive the gift of immortality (Phil 3:20,21; 1 Cor 15:44; 2 Cor 5:10).

And so, to paraphrase Romans 8:23, 'Even we who have experienced the firstfruits of the Spirit-power, in initial gifts of the Holy Spirit, realize how much more wonderful will be the full gift of the Spirit, in the conferring of immortal, glorious bodies at the return of Christ. Even we are not now freed from the same urgent longing, a sighing as in the travail of childbirth, for the full experience of Divine glory.'

Hence the "groaning inwardly" of the saints. They realize something of what the future holds for the faithful in Christ, but they know also that, in this life, such peace and joy cannot yet be found:

Thou hidden love of God, whose height,

Whose depth unfathomed no one knows,

I see from far thy beauteous light,

And inly sigh for thy repose;

My heart is pained, nor can it be

At rest, till it finds rest in thee.

John Wesley

In the article previously cited, Harry Whittaker writes:

The strongest objection which can be made to the interpretation now being argued for [i.e., that "creation" in this passage refers to the "new creation"] rests on the italicized word in verse 23: "and not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit…", as though a distinction is implied between the "creation" already spoken about and "ourselves". Instead, read: "And not only so, but ourselves also…" now with special reference to the ecclesial leaders endowed with special Holy Spirit gifts for the guidance of the church. Read thus, the words become an intensification of the argument already developed, as though Paul is now saying: "Not only is the entire Church of Christ filled with this intense longing for deliverance, but even those who are most spiritual and have already tasted the powers of the world to come are filled with this same eager expectation of the coming day of deliverance; indeed, they most of all!"

For our adoption as sons: Here is the completion, or full maturing of the "sonship" process. The "spirit" of sonship ("huiothesis") of verse 15 describes the first steps in this process, but the final step is when "sonship" is perfected in the "redemption" or release of the body from every effect of sin and death.

The redemption of our bodies: "Redemption" is the Greek "apolutrosis": to be redeemed out of, or bought away from.

Comment on Romans 8:24

For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?

For in this hope: "Hope" is "elpis" and/or "elpizo" — which can mean any or all of the following:

the happy anticipation of what is good;

the factual ground upon which the hope is based; and/or

the object upon which the hope is fixed.

Paul does not speak of hope in general, as if it were some vague longing for something better in a shadowy future. Instead, he speaks of “the hope", with the definite article, a very specific hope, which is nothing less than the gospel message, of both Old and New Testaments. This we see from other usages of the word in the New Testament. Among other things, "hope" is coupled with

the resurrection (Acts 23:6),

the promise to the fathers (Acts 26:6,7),

Israel (Acts 28:20),

the gospel (Col 1:23),

the glory of God (Rom 5:2),

the appearing of Christ (Titus 2:13),

salvation (1 Thes 5:8), and

eternal life (Titus 1:2; 3:7).

It is easy enough to see that, if we merely ask ourselves, 'What does each particular "hope" mean in Bible terms?' and then combine the answers, we will have constructed a very reasonable (and practically complete) definition of the gospel.

It was the recognition of what Paul meant by "the hope" here that led John Thomas into a much better appreciation of the Truth of the Bible. As he considered this verse, he came to realize that salvation is inexorably bound up in a full and correct hope, based on an understanding of the fundamental promises of God. This discovery led him to sever his connections with other denominations, and begin to lay the foundations of what became the community of believers known as Christadelphians.

We were saved: This salvation is an ongoing process: begun when the gospel message is heard; advanced in baptism; further advanced in a patient, hopeful 'working out'; and finally completed in "the release of our bodies" (v. 23). It is not a single extraordinary action that changes everything forever. Instead, it is an ongoing process — a continuing "creation" — that results, at last, in "the redemption of our bodies". This is proven by the many means, outlined in the New Testament, whereby we are "saved":

What saves us? According to the New Testament, we are saved by:

grace (Eph 2:8,9);

hope (Rom 8:24);

belief (Mark 16:15);

baptism (1 Pet 3:21);

the gospel, and its memory (1 Cor 15:1,2);

the blood of Christ (1 John 1:7);

faith (Rom 5:1);

works (James 2:24);

ourselves (Acts 2:40); and/or

endurance (Matt 10:22).

This second list, like the one above involving "hope", may — if considered carefully — supplement the answer to the question asked above. 'If I am to be saved by the hope, what exactly is that hope, and how exactly am I to be saved by it?'

“The question as to which single characteristic saves the man is an abstraction. An illustration is helpful. A man who has fallen into the river screams for help. A man on the bank runs with a rope and throws it to the man in the river. He catches hold and is pulled to safety. What saved him? Was it his scream? Was it the rope? Was it the man on the bank? Did he save himself? Or was it all of these working together?”

Ron Abel, Wrested Scriptures, p. 160

But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?: The point of these two verses is that the attitude of hope, so characteristic and even distinctive of the Christian believer, implies that there is more in store for him than anything which he possesses already. To say this is not to disparage in any way the blessings of this life, which are many, but to realize — with heartfelt gratitude — that, for those who have faith, not only is all life made more meaningful by hope, but also, 'the best is yet to come.'

A Redeemer for this Body

How consoling and cheering is it, then, amid all the evils of the present state, that God hath found a ransom, who is willing and able to deliver us from the power of the grave; and not only so, but that "at the manifestation of the sons of God" (Rom 8:17-25), when he shall appear in power and great glory, "we shall be like him; because we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2). Then will the saints be "changed into the same image of glory… even as the Lord" himself was changed, when he became "the spirit-giving-life", or "a quickening spirit".

John Thomas, Elpis Israel, p. 41

Comment on Romans 8:25

But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Patiently: This is the Greek "hupomone", suggesting perseverance or endurance. "Patiently" (as the KJV also) strikes us modern readers as quite passive, whereas "with perseverance" is much more active — going forth in the struggle, and continuing therein, without slacking. The Divine description of Gideon and his small army of faithful men is apt here: "Gideon and his three hundred men… exhausted yet keeping up the pursuit" (Judges 8:4), or "faint, yet pursuing" (KJV).

A Scheme Marked with Great Wisdom

The world is a wilderness in which brambles tear the feet of the pilgrim, but this is not always to be so. God never intended that the fine sensibilities which pertain to the creature formed after the type of the Elohim should forever be violated. It is no plan of His that hearts shall always be torn and souls always withered by the hot breath of the desert. It was never intended that the world should always be the scene of that "inhumanity to man" which "makes countless thousands mourn", or that the meek of the earth, seeking after God, should always go thirsting for comfort never to be found. Such a state of things is of itself the best proof that it is abnormal. The very spectacle of man everywhere seeking, seeking, seeking, and never finding, is a proof of something out of joint.

With the Scriptures in our hands we see what it is. With the Scriptures out of our hands we cannot account for it; for, away from the source of information, there is no explanation of the mystery that the principal work of nature should be the greatest failure. The Scriptures explain everything. The Almighty, ever-living One, who always has been, and whose wisdom, and power, and goodness, and justice are above the reach of our intellects, though not beyond the flight of our faith, is working out, on this little part of His unlimited dominion, a scheme or purpose marked with great wisdom, and pregnant with great goodness, and joy, and glory, to all connected with that purpose in its ultimate form.

We see Adam placed in the Garden of Eden, under the law of obedience. We see him disobedient, and we see and feel the consequences. God exiled man from His society and friendship. He drove him out to do for himself, and the race is now in that driven-off state. We are not under the divine guardianship which Adam enjoyed. We are outside of the state represented by the literal Garden of Eden. We are not in communion with the Almighty. We are not living under His shadow. Human society is not constituted in harmony with His deep, eternal and perfect laws. But this will soon be changed, for the day of Christ, the second Adam, is about to dawn.

Robert Roberts, "Sunday Morning",

The Christadelphian, Vol. 7, No. 73 (July 1870), pp. 202,203

The order of verses in this first part of Romans 8 is significant: first, Paul explains that "there is no condemnation" (vv. 1-4), and only then does he discuss the mind and life of the spirit (vv. 5-11). The Scriptural order is not: 'We live righteously so that we will not be condemned.' Rather it is: 'We are justified. Our condemnation has been removed. Therefore we must, and we should, live righteously!'

Comment on Romans 8:5

Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

Minds: "Phroneo" indicates the mind with a mental and moral emphasis; not mere animal instinct. The NET translates, both times here, "have their outlook shaped by…”.

Paul has an equivalent phrase in Philippians 3:17-19: Of those who live as enemies of the cross of Christ, he writes, "Their mind is on earthly things" (NET). Or, as Jesus warned Peter at a crucial point in Matthew 16:23: "Get behind me [to follow me?]… you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."

Those believers whose minds are set on spiritual things will endeavor to develop in their lives those virtues enumerated in Galatians 5:22-25:

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.”

And 2 Peter 1:3-8:

“[God’s] divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Sinful nature… Spirit: More literally, "flesh" and "spirit", as in the KJV. The new way of life, the way of justification, is described as a life inclined toward the "spirit".

John Carter explains our conversion it this way:

"There is a change in tastes and aims. The disposition is altered. Thoughts are brought into line with God's thoughts… We gradually learn to recognize more quickly when the mind of the flesh is resisting the mind of the Spirit. This battle never ends until life is over, but what does happen, ideally, is that the mind of the Spirit gradually becomes stronger than the mind of the flesh. We cannot weaken the flesh; it will retain its wayward power to the end of life. What we can and must do is strengthen the spiritual mind and heart, so that it will subdue and control the flesh. By the power of God's Word we actually do develop new spiritual minds that instinctively react differently in all situations.”

Comment on Romans 8:6

The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.

In verse 6 Paul tells us what we must already know, indeed, what is supremely self-evident. Yet it bears repeating, often and forcefully, precisely because, as we are now constituted, we can never be fully free of the flesh’s influences: "The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the spirit is life." The first, and simplest, way to understand this passage is to read "mind" as 'outlook, way of thinking, or mindset'. The second thing is to read "is" as 'leads to'. A mind firmly set in one way leads to one outcome; a mind set in another way leads to a very different outcome.

In another sense, also, it may be said that the mind of the flesh is death, even now, and that the mind of the spirit even now is life. Paul wrote elsewhere that the woman who lives "for pleasure", foolish, selfish, and self-seeking, is dead while she lives (1 Tim 5:6). The whole world that lives at enmity with God is "dead in transgressions and sins" (Eph 2:1,5). And John says that he who does not love his brother is dwelling in death (1 John 3:14). In other words, those who think and act and live in the way of the flesh are as good as dead already. They are dead men walking!

Conversely, the words of Jesus describe those who exemplify the spirit-life:

"Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life" (John 5:24; cp. 1 John 5:11-13).

So powerfully and certainly is our redemption pictured, that it is as though a mind firmly set on the proper goal, glorifying God in His Kingdom forever, has practically arrived! Elsewhere, Paul writes:

"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus" (Phil 2:5).

And again,

"Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God" (Col 3:2,3).

The apostle can write such things because he appreciates a fundamental truth, one we may lose sight of from time to time: The Word of God has been designed not so much to convey information (though, of course, that can be very important), but to change us by the power of its influence and to develop within us a unique divine attitude to life:

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things" (Phil 4:8).

G.V. Growcott writes:

“To be fleshly-minded is death, but to be spiritually-minded is life and peace [Rom 8:6]. Keep telling yourself that, over and over. It is vital! It is for your life. To be fleshly-minded takes absolutely no effort, no study, no thought. It not only just comes naturally — it comes powerfully, and almost irresistibly. To be spiritually-minded is the very opposite. It does take great effort, and study, and thought. And even that's not enough. It takes constant prayer and constant Divine help. It will never come naturally just by being “in the Truth, and "doing the readings’, and ‘’attending the meetings". Baptism by itself is a passport to nothing except a glorious opportunity to give ourselves joyfully to God, and be accepted by Him. To be spiritually-minded is a constant struggle, a constant self-examination and self-discipline, a constant refreshing and re-cleaning in the water of the Word and the blood of the Lamb. But it alone is “life and peace”, intensity of Life forevermore, and perfect peace now and forever, to the depth of the soul.

The Berean Christadelphian, Vol. 89, p. 66

Comment on Romans 8:7

The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.

The contrasting lifestyles of "flesh" and "spirit" are also considered by Paul in some detail in his letter to the Galatians (Gal 5:16-25). The spirit-life requires certain actions; it is a "walk" (v. 16, KJV; cp Rom 8:4). The two ways of life are "contrary" to, "in conflict with", "hostile to", or "at enmity with" one another (v. 17; cp. Rom 8:7). The "flesh" is characterized by "works" (v. 19), as it is in Romans by "wages" (Rom 6:23), such as a slave (Rom 8:15) might receive. But the spirit-life is characterized by "fruit" (Gal 5:22) and a "gift" (Rom 6:23), such as children might expect by virtue of their family standing (Rom 8:14-16).

In these simple contrasts may be seen the diametrically opposite qualities and standards of the "flesh" and the "spirit". Those who serve "King Sin" do so as a matter of course, often without thinking, and they earn exactly what they deserve, and coincidentally exactly what "Sin" can pay — which is death! On the other hand, those who serve God and His Son receive so much more than they could ever deserve, but at the same time what God and His Son only can give them — gifts and fruits and blessings beyond measure, and overflowing joy in a loving family, as well as a perfect assurance of future glory forever.

Hostile: "Exthra" (KJV "enmity") is used also in the Septuagint of Genesis 3:15, describing the enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. Such an enmity, like a state of war or rebellion, is the precise opposite of the "peace" that is the companion of life and results from a mind firmly set on spiritual things. Such peace is achieved by the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, where he removed the hostility between God and man, as well as that between Jews and Gentiles (Eph 2:14,16).

It does not submit: The Greek "hupotasso" is a military term, meaning to assume a rank under a commander, and to become subordinate. The primary duty of a good soldier is to obey commands without question. To become disobedient, or insubordinate, is to commit treason.

Comment on Romans 8:8

Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

Those controlled by the sinful nature…: The Greek is, simply, "in the flesh", which is a proper rendering of verses 8,9, judged simply on the Greek words alone. But the context and meaning require that "in the flesh" means, not simply 'having flesh, or human nature', but (as in vv. 5-7) having a mind 'inclined toward the flesh, or human nature'. In the same way Paul writes of the time "when we were in the flesh" (Rom 7:5) as though that state had been left behind, while, of course, in the literal sense it has not… yet.

…cannot please God: The Greek "aresko" generally means to be pleasing, or acceptable to any one (1 Cor 7:32; Gal 1:10). Not to be pleasing to God, is to become objects of His displeasure (1 Thes 2:15), and possibly subjects of His enmity or wrath.

Comment on Romans 8:9-11

Paul uses many equivalent phrases in this chapter to add emphasis to what he is saying. To summarize verses 9-11, Paul says we are "inclined toward the spirit" if we dwell in the following:

the spirit of God,

the spirit of Christ,

Christ, and

the spirit of Him who raised Christ from the dead…

All of these terms are practically synonymous.

Other passages from Paul's writings show that it is the Word, and the mind, of Christ and God which must dwell in us. When God's inspired Word is allowed free rein in our minds, and our lives, then God's "power" is there (Rom 1:16,17), a power which tends toward salvation. Then God and His Son are dwelling with us, and we with them.

Comment on Romans 8:9

You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.

"Controlled not by the sinful nature" is, literally, "are not in the flesh" (as the KJV), but see verse 8 and notes there. Though plainly a paraphrase, the NIV serves a good purpose here, since it captures the meaning for modern readers much better than the more literal KJV rendering: We may, every one of us, exist "in the flesh" literally, but in Christ we can learn not to be "controlled" by that "flesh".

And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ: The spirit of Christ is the mind developed by the Word of God, or the Spirit-Word (vv. 5,6). And we also understand that the word "spirit" often means the disposition or mindset of a person.

Only in a few places in the New Testament is “the spirit” used to represent the miracle-working of God's Holy Spirit through apostles and specially-gifted believers.

Here, Paul is using the phrase "the spirit of Christ" to emphasizes that it is the whole outlook of Christ which is required. Paul is also describing the ideal state of mind in the believer, and thus a state of mind to which we must aspire. This explains the need for the exhortation that follows (vv. 10-13). If the highest ideals are not accompanied by strong practical measures, then they perish at last in the desert of natural apathy. Good intentions, by themselves, lead only to Gehenna.

Comment on Romans 8:10

But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.

The believer, whose life is inclined toward God's Spirit-Word, is both "dead" and "alive" at the same time. By baptism into Christ he has become dead to his former way of life, "dead to sin" (Rom 6:2), and dead to "the human nature with its passions and desires" (Gal 5:24).

By that same baptism, and the compelling influence it has upon the devout mind, the believer becomes truly "alive" for the first time — "alive" to righteousness, walking in "newness of life" (Rom 6:4), being himself "a new creation" (2 Cor 5:17).

Christ lives in him (Gal 2:20). The life which he now lives in Christ is a 'spiritual' life, a life lived on a different plane of existence. It is lived in the presence of God, and it is recognized to be always in that presence.

The "but" or "yet" (NET) which separates the two phrases in Romans 8:10 is a very strong term. According to the NET Notes, "the Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two clauses more than can be easily expressed in English."

Your spirit is alive: Literally, "The spirit (or Spirit) gives life." It has been well said that, wherever we see a believer living the Christ-directed life, we are witnessing a true miracle of 'creation' and 'resurrection'. Those who are inclined to think that our age is one lacking in miracles may not quite understand what an extraordinary thing it is to see a previously naturally-inclined life transformed into a true spiritual life, with a completely new meaning and direction.

When Jesus observed some of his followers beginning to doubt the power of his ministry, he reminded them of what they were hearing and seeing:

"The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor" (Matt 11:5).

There is a special detail in Jesus' catalogue of "miracles" performed, and it is found in the last point on his list. Strangely, the climax of his list is not that "the dead are raised", but that "the good news is preached to the poor". The gospel which is preached, believed, and acted upon is — by its placement at the very end — the greatest miracle of all! Why is that so? Because the last type of "miracle" lifts Jesus' work out of the physical realm and puts it into the spiritual.

Moreover, the last miracle — the preaching of the gospel to the poor and the lost — comprehends all the other "miracles" in itself. The gospel, when it is heard and believed, does — in the most meaningful sense — give sight to the spiritually blind, strength to the spiritually weak, cleanness to those who were "leprous" with sin, hearing to the spiritually deaf, and a true "resurrection" of the spirit to those who were dead in their indifference and their sins.

Here, then, is Jesus' way of lifting his work out of the ordinary (if any miracles can be considered ordinary!) and putting it on the highest level The greatest "miracle" (and such miracles are occurring all around us even today) is a life changed by true belief in Jesus Christ. Which means… the greatest work of God's Holy Spirit has never ceased from among men, and never will, so long as sinners hear the Word of God, repent, and yearn and pray for His coming Kingdom.

Comment on Romans 8:11

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

Ray Walker writes the following:

The idea of the dwelling together of God and man has a long Scriptural background; it does not arise in the New Testament, as for the first time, with a special mystical meaning understood only since Pentecost. There is, in fact, no inherent mystical meaning to the word "dwelling" itself; it is used frequently in both Testaments in describing the relationship between God and His people. It is an ordinary "family" word in English, and the equivalent words in Hebrew and Greek carry much the same ordinary, household meaning. Dwelling means living in the same house or household as another; the implication in Scripture is that those who dwell together belong to the same family — even when one of the dwellers is God Himself, or His Son.

"Romans: The Indwelling Spirit",

The Bible Student 7:5:148,149

His Spirit, who lives in you: The KJV has "his Spirit that dwells in you". We might prefer that "who" here be replaced by "that" or "which", but it scarcely makes any difference. The Holy Spirit, considered as a power only, may appear totally impersonal to us. But when we reorient ourselves ever so slightly, to think of the Holy Spirit as being the Power of God Himself, and absolutely subject to His will, then to use the personal pronoun can cause no problem. It is God, personally, who dwells in us through the power of His own Spirit, however it might be conveyed.

"Who will deliver me?"

"What a wretched man I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" (Rom 7:24).

The question at the close of the previous chapter — 'Who will deliver me?' — is now abundantly answered here in Romans 8:11: God through Christ has delivered us, not only from guilt by the shed blood of Christ, but also from the overriding "principle of sin" in our bodies, over which even our renewed wills and consciences are impotent. The Eternal Father and His only-begotten Son have delivered us from a mind that tends only to death, into the mind and walk of the new Spirit life, a mind that tends toward "life and peace". And even further, now, we find that God, by that same Spirit, will deliver, from the grave, our mortal, corruptible bodies, now dead to God, and subject to death, and that He will lead us forth to walk in that newness of eternal life in Christ for which our inner spirits have groaned and cried out!

" 'Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?' The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor 15:55-57).The Spirit of Sonship: Our New Relationship with God

The Law of Moses not only condemned man, as was seen in Romans 7, but it also enslaved him. The work of Christ removes the condemnation (Rom 8:1), replacing it with justification which leads to righteousness. And it also frees us so that, no longer slaves, we may become sons (v. 15).

This section (vv. 12-17) follows logically from the previous one (vv. 5-11). It continues the parable employed by Paul in Romans 6, in which those who live their lives inclined toward the flesh (Rom 8:5,8) are pictured as slaves of Sin. Sin is personified as a mighty king who demands and exacts absolute obedience from his servants, and in the end rewards them with their “wages' of death (Rom 6:16-23).

But, as Paul continues, Christ has come into the 'slave market', and has redeemed us, or bought us out of that wretched place. This is the exact significance of the Greek "exagorazo", translated "redeem(ed)" in Galatians 3:13; 4:5. Now, he says, we need no longer live lives of degradation and fear (Rom 8:15). Now we have become slaves of Christ, and slaves of righteousness (Rom 6:16,18,22). This new life, while sharing some characteristics with other forms of "slavery", is so much more; it is equivalent to being children of God (Rom 8:15,17).

Comment on Romans 8:12

Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation — but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it.

"Therefore" refers back to verses 5-11, and perhaps also to everything from Romans 6:1 forward. "There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: 'consequently therefore', emphasizing the conclusion of what [Paul] has been arguing" (NET Notes).

Living according to the dictates of the mind of the flesh can only be expected to earn death. Therefore there is no reason to follow such a course.

Brothers: Usually, this stands in Greek for those of both genders: "brothers and sisters".

Obligation: The Greek "opheiletes" refers to a debtor (Matt 6:12), and to one, like Paul, who is under obligation to preach the gospel to the world:

“I am obligated [to preach], both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish” (Rom 1:14).

In Galatians 5:3 the same word expresses the obligation to keep the whole law if one practices circumcision.

By contrast, Romans 8:12 speaks of believers who “are debtors, no longer to the flesh, to live according to the flesh", but rather debtors to follow the spirit of Christ in their lives (v. 13). And Romans 15:27 speaks of a further debt owed by believers, to share their resources with those less fortunate.

A related word, "opheile", denotes monetary debt in Matthew 18:32, dues or taxes owed to government authorities in Romans 13:7, and the command to fulfill one's marital duties in 1 Corinthians 7:3.

Believers in Christ are obligated, not to the flesh or sin, but to the spirit of Christ and his teachings. Moreover, they are also obligated to destroy the "flesh" with its sins, wherever it crops up in their new lives.

Comment on Romans 8:13

For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live…

You will die: The phrase here carries the meaning: 'You will most certainly die', or 'You will inevitably die.' Presumably, this is more than a mere natural death, because the second phrase here — “you will live”—seems to contradict the inevitably of death. Thus we should probably read: 'If you live according to the sinful nature, you will certainly experience a spiritual death, but if you put to death the sins in your own flesh, you will most certainly experience a spiritual life.'

But if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live: For "put to death" the KJV has "mortify". Christ by his sacrifice "condemned sin in the flesh" (v. 3). Those in Christ imitate his work by seeking to carry out that sentence of death against the sin in their own flesh, or human natures:

"Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry" (Col 3:5).

Notice that the Lord, through the Holy Spirit, did not make believers righteous by putting to death the sinful natures (i.e., the deeds of the body). The believers themselves were asked to do that through the Spirit — that is, through acquiring and developing a spiritual mind. They would accomplish this through their delight and meditation upon the Spirit-word, not through any miraculously-conferred gift of the Holy Spirit.

Paul reminds believers that, if they do not continue to put to death their evil desires and evil works, then they will die.

This "if", writes Thomas Newell, is

“…one of the great red lights by which God keeps His elect out of fatal paths (cp. 1 Cor 15:2; Col 1:23)… We must note most carefully that a holy life is to be lived by us. It is not that we have any power — we have none. But God's Spirit dwells in us for the express object of [encouraging us] 'to put to death the doings of the body'. Self-control ['temperance': KJV] is one of that sweet cluster called 'the fruit of the Spirit', in Galatians 5:22,23.”

Romans Verse-by-Verse

Sanctified initially through the redeeming work of Christ, the believer must embark upon a course of progressive sanctification through Christ. Perhaps this is best described in Peter's opening exhortation of his second letter:

“[God’s] divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is near-si is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

"Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Pet 1:3-11).”

Comment on Romans 8:14

…because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Those who are led by the Spirit of God: This must be considered synonymous with "inclined toward the spirit" (v. 5), "the mind of the spirit" (v. 6), and the "indwelling" of the spirit — whether it is called the spirit of God or the spirit of Christ (vv. 9-11).

Note that the believer is "led" by the "spirit" (teaching, character, example) of God and His Son. He is not lifted up or swept away by some invisible power, nor is he dragged along against his will. Nor does he walk wherever he pleases, choosing where he should go. But, rather, he is "led" — meaning that someone else walks ahead, and he follows — like a servant led by his master, or a sheep led by its shepherd, or a son led by his father.

It must be admitted that there is a mystery in this partnership between our spirits and 'the Spirit (of God and/or of Christ)'. How do the two "spirits", ours and God's (through His Son), work together? It is plain that the impetus for righteousness in our lives cannot come altogether from within ourselves, nor even from our having been given the Bible, God's "Spirit-Word", at the beginning, as if God had said, 'Here are My instructions; now you are all on your own!'

On the other hand, it is equally certain that all the impetus for righteousness cannot come from some mystical divine spirit which takes over our minds and acts upon us continually, apart from our own will and free choice. We know this cannot be true because the New Testament so often emphasizes that there are things which we must do for ourselves.

However, in between these two extremes, we ought to be assured — even while we read and pray, and exercise ourselves in and toward personal righteousness — that, in ways we cannot know perfectly, the Lord works for good in and around and through us. How this happens, exactly, is something we may never know until we reach the Kingdom:

By providential means, such as the altering of situations and circumstances around us — the sorts of things that Robert Roberts outlines in his wonderful book, The Ways of Providence. Certainly.

By angelic visitation, even though we never can be sure that it happens, because — as we are told — such things, when they happen, come upon us "unawares", or "without [our] knowing it" (Heb 13:2).

By other, more direct means. Perhaps, although we can fall into a real trap if we attempt to guess if and when such things happen, because then we may presume to put aside our intellects altogether and rely upon such nebulous 'revelations', assuming that 'The Lord told me!' If we do this, then we may cross over into the area of delusion, where we believe ourselves to be 'inspired' by the Holy Spirit, and incapable of doing wrong.

The safest course is, surely, to recognize that "the Spirit" (of God, and/or of Christ) does act in and with and through us, while at the same time acknowledging that we can never know how and when that Spirit is working,

We should also understand that no "Spirit" of God which might be acting in our lives permits us to suspend our own intellect, moral judgment, conscience, or sense of personal responsibility for all the choices we make in life.

The old cliché, about having one's head in the clouds but one's feet firmly planted on the ground, is useful to remember here. It aptly characterizes the balance in the believer's life, between what the Lord God does for us and what we ought to do for ourselves — between faith and works, 'inspiration' and perspiration, and perhaps also, as discussed later in Romans 8, "predestination" and free will.

Sons of God: Greek "huios", sons or daughters, with special reference to the relationship with the parent.

The term "huios", in such connections, expresses one or another of three main ideas, and sometimes all of them together:

Possessing a similarity of disposition or character (Matt 5:9,45).

Becoming the object of special affection (Rom 9:26; 2 Cor 6:18).

Obtaining a claim or title to some special advantage, or inheritance (Gal 3:8,27-29; John 1:12; 1 John 3:2).

In this chapter (Romans 8), we note that Jesus was the Son ("huios") of God (v. 3). Those who are guided by God's spirit become sons of God. God "gave up" His own Son, Jesus, for us all (v. 32), so that we might be revealed as His sons also (v. 19). This word for "son" is also related to "huiothesis" (vv. 15,23), meaning "sonship" or "adoption" (KJV).

Compare Luke 3:21,22 with Luke 4:1, where Jesus was first baptized, and then led by the Spirit of God into the wilderness, to be tempted — and then to defeat — the "devil", or the desires of the world that dwelt in his human nature.

Comment on Romans 8:15

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

A spirit that makes you a slave again to fear: Literally, "a spirit of slavery". "Slavery" is "douleia", from a root word meaning 'to bind'. That which binds, or enslaves, a person.

Compare the similar phrases: "a whip", which many slaves have feared, as contrasted with "love and… a gentle spirit" (1 Cor 4:21), and "a spirit of timidity ['fear': KJV]" as contrasted with "a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline" (2 Tim 1:7).

Also consider the contrasting circumstances Paul uses in his allegory of Galatians 3 and 4: The "slave" (and even the small child) is virtually a prisoner, locked up and in bondage, subject to the authority of others, including the authority of the law (Gal 3:23; 4:1-3). On the other hand, the mature "children" are given new garments and a new status, including full claims to an inheritance (Gal 3:26-29; 4:5-7).

But you received the spirit of sonship: This is the Greek “huiothesis" again from "huios" (son) and "thesis" (to place or set). The word describes the bestowal of a legal relationship, common under Roman law, as distinct from the relationship of birth. In Galatians 4:5 those who are under the law are redeemed from the law to receive the gift of "sonship". In Ephesians 1:5 we have been "predestinated" unto sonship (KJV "adoption"). Under Roman law "huiothesis" meant the severing of all past connections, becoming a 'new man', and having a new family. This situation was accompanied by the cancellation of all debts, and a new right of inheritance.

Those who have followed the Spirit of God and His Son have (or should have) left behind the attitudes of a slave, which include anxiety and fear. These feelings have been replaced by those of affection, respect and confidence — exactly those attitudes that good children have toward good parents. In other words, the attitudes described in the contrasts mentioned above, in 1 Corinthians 4:21 (love and gentleness) and 2 Timothy 1:7 (power, love, and self-discipline).

Redeemed Out of the Slave-market: a Parable

The figure of speech may be heightened as we put ourselves into the heart of a story. Let us imagine an eastern bazaar, meeting-place of the ancient world, the center of commerce, entertainment, news, opinions, and social interaction. And, always, there is the slave-market, with its auction-block. As one approaches, the brutality, callousness and fear can be felt and seen. Here are women destined to be slaves to the basest passions of other men, and men doomed to lifelong slavery to satisfy the greed of their owners. Here are wasted, broken lives, and dashed hopes, families being torn apart forever. The Roman slave-market is a parable of our own world, where many forces — media, advertising, and peer pressures — act as masters to enslave the unsuspecting.

Into this scene comes a man who is obviously set apart from others. Striding up to one man, he speaks forcefully: "I have bought you; come, follow me!" There are no chains, no threats, no blows. Just a simple command.

The disciple follows the man through the streets and the crowds until they reach the house of the man’s Father. There the disciple is given a place far surpassing the slave quarters he had known before. And, then, he has scarcely cast himself down to rest before the man is back again. He has brought water to wash the disciple's feet. He has brought healing oil to soothe the cruel wounds inflicted by the former master, Sin. He has brought him a new, clean garment to wear. 'Now you are as I am', he tells him; 'You are no longer a slave. You are now a son in my Father's house.'

A lifetime of fear and hate has been washed away, miraculously, and in its place is the joyful cry of a man set free:

"Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, 'Abba, Father'. So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir" (Gal 4:6,7).

This is the change, then, implicit in the Greek word "huiothesis", a word very inadequately translated in the KJV as "adoption". The NIV and RSV (followed here) more correctly render it as "sonship". "Adoption" gives the unfortunate idea, to some modern minds at least, of a distinctly second-class relationship — i.e., not a real son but merely an adopted one. It is a word which in no way does justice to the blessed state to which God has elevated us. In one sense there is, of course, only one "only begotten" Son. But in a broader sense we are all "begotten" by the Word of God to be His sons, and no son (or daughter) of God is 'second class'. But then again, in the very fullest sense, there is only one Son of God, for we are all sons only in that we have become part of the body of Christ.

The "sonship" and inheritance delineated by Paul is based upon the Roman law. Jewish law did not permit daughters to inherit along with sons; the firstborn son received double. But under Roman law sons and daughters all inherited equally, and adopted sons and daughters, upon whom such an honor was conferred, were treated on an identical basis with the others. To this Paul alluded:

"For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Gal 3:27-29).

John Carter has expressed similarly this contrast between slaves and sons:

At our baptism we did not enter a household as slaves to serve with fear. "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants… but I have called you friends" (John 15:14,15). And how often God says to His children: "Fear not." As the child takes the hand of its father in the dark, and finds courage in the sound of the parent's voice, sometimes not knowing that the parent shares the fear, so with perfect confidence the child of God may trust the Father in heaven; much more so knowing that all circumstances are subject to His control. "God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Tim 1:7).

The Letter to the Romans, p. 90

And by him we cry, "Abba": This is the Aramaic word for "father". It was especially a name by which God was addressed in prayer. The word occurs only three times in the New Testament (Mark 14:36; Romans 8:15; and Galatians 4:6. But this Aramaic term may lie behind numerous references to God as Father where only the Greek equivalent, "Pater", is given in the New Testament.

"Father": The Greek word "Pater" is a more formal expression than "Abba", signifying respect and a mature appreciation of the family relationship, such as grown offspring might more commonly use.

Together, "Abba" and "Pater" (Rom 8:15) epitomize, respectively, affection and respect. This joint title (seen in Mark 14:36 and Galatians 4:6) expresses a fullness which neither of the two titles can express alone.

There is Abba, the love and trust that a little child ("teknon": vv. 16,17,21) feels for a father, an intimate and tender affection.

Then there is the Pater of an adult son or daughter ("huios", "huiothesis": vv. 14,15,19,23,29), the intelligent apprehension of the status, dignity, and honor due to the Head of the family. The combination of Hebrew and Greek words suggests also the mixed character of the Divine family: "neither Jew nor Greek… ye are all one in Christ" (Gal 3:28).

The cry of "Abba" gives a sublime and wonderfully satisfying meaning to Romans 8:31-33:

"If God is for us, who can be against us? [The question itself carries the implication, an absolute No one!] He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will He not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? [Again, the question itself carries the implication, No one!.. Followed by…] It is God who justifies."

There is assurance almost beyond expression in these words, for those who are still wrestling with fear. What do we have to fear? God is our Father, and He is for us! He is on our side! And He loved us so much that He purposefully gave up His own Son in death on our behalf.

Will the One who has already gone so far in love for us turn back now? Will He bring charges against us at a judgment seat, when He has already taken steps — painful, sacrificial steps at that — to remove our condemnation (v. 1), and to declare us righteous (v. 33)? To ask such questions is to know the answers.

The love of the Father, who is at the same time “Abba” and “Pater”, is vividly portrayed by the prophet Hosea:

"When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son… It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms… I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them… How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel?… all my compassion is aroused" (Hos 11:1,3,4,8).

How, indeed, shall the Eternal Father give up His children, who cry to Him, in the name of tenderness and affection and deepest respect, "Abba, Father"?

Comment on Romans 8:16

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children: The rendering "itself" in the KJV is solely due to the neuter gender of the noun "pneuma". So if in fact "pneuma" refers to Christ, then the "itself" may be changed to "himself" quite legitimately.

There are other instances of Christ being clearly referred to as "the Spirit":

When Paul wrote what "the Spirit clearly says" about a latter-day apostasy (1 Tim 4:1-3), he most probably had in mind Christ's great prophecy on the Mount of Olives (esp. Matt 24:4,5,10-12,24).

The messages to the seven ecclesias in Asia are sent from the one described variously as holding the seven stars in his right hand (Rev 2:1), having been dead and yet now being alive (v. 8), and the "Son of God" (v. 18). But they are also described as "what the Spirit says to the churches" (Rev 2:7,11,17,29, etc).

Paul refers to Christ, after his resurrection and glorification, as a "quickening (i.e., life-giving) spirit" (1 Cor 15:45).

So, why did Paul not simply say 'Christ' instead of resorting to the phrase 'the Spirit himself'? The reasoning behind my suggestion is this: From where does the Christlike "spirit" come? It is no nebulous thing, created out of the air. It is demonstrated in the life of Christ himself. His exemplary life, even viewed secondhand by modern disciples in the pages of the Bible, has an awesome power to change their lives. However and wherever that spirit or mind of Christ is truly manifested through others, it is still Christ himself (the Word of God made flesh) who influences us. Therefore he is, in a sort of Bible shorthand, "the Spirit himself". (If this still seems difficult to accept, consider Romans 8:26, with its notes, below.)

Testifies with our spirit: “Summarturei" means to agree, or testify, along with. This is the first of four "with" words, words of partnership and sharing, in this verse and the next, which indicate what Christ shares with his brothers and sisters.

"What standing has our spirit in this matter? Of itself it surely has no right at all to testify to our being sons of God" (C.E.B. Cranfield, International Critical Commentary: Romans). In other words, "our spirit" only has standing or privilege in such a matter because it is affiliated with the "spirit of Christ". We have been taken under Christ’s wing; he has vouched for us, because he has died for us.

That we are God's children: God's dear children! The Greek word is "teknon", from a root word meaning 'to bear'; that which is born, and borne, i.e., a baby, a dear child. This word appears also in this chapter in verses 17 and 21. It expresses not just a future hope, but a present reality (1 John 3:2; 5:1; Rom 8:1,2; Gal 3:26; 4:6).

Comment on Romans 8:17

Now if we are children, then we are heirs — heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

"Co-heirs" is "sunkleronomoi", one of three words in this verse alone which express a joint relationship between Christ and the saints.

The concepts of heirs and inheritance have been mentioned above. Various passages, from among many, might be cited here to supplement this point:

"If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise… So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir" (Gal 3:29; 4:7).

"You know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward" (Col 3:24).

"For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance — now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant" (Heb 9:15).

"Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, which is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession — to the praise of his glory" (Eph 1:13,14).

If indeed we share in his sufferings: To share in sufferings is "sumpascho": to share a passion — all one word in the Greek.

We do not so much choose to suffer with Christ, as we choose to belong to Christ. Thus, having become part of the Christ-body of believers, we find that "If one part [of the body] suffers, every part suffers with ['sumpascho': the same word] it" (1 Cor 12:26). Suffering is not a voluntary matter, and certainly not an innately enjoyable one, but it is a matter necessitated by the relationship.

In order that we may also share in his glory: To share in glory is "sundoxasthomen" — again, one word in the Greek. "Doxa" signifies the honor resulting from a high opinion of another; or, to be correctly held in great esteem. It is used very often of God and His works. God's glory becomes Christ's glory and finally, in measure, our glory also.

These are but some of the 'with' words in Romans 8, which testify as to what we are and what we do jointly with Christ. This sharing with Christ gives all the weight to Paul's arguments and exhortations throughout this lofty chapter. It is not enough that believers suffer; they must suffer with Christ: there must be a conscious, intelligent understanding and imitation of him. It is not enough that the saints will one day be glorified; they must be glorified with (and through and because of) Christ; otherwise there is no meaning. So this expresses how "the Spirit himself" testifies along with our "spirit" (which is singular here, because all true believers share the same spirit), bearing witness that we are all (all together, Christ and us!) God's dear children.

When we choose a relationship with Christ, then that relationship makes us subject to both the difficult and the pleasurable parts of Christ's experience — "the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow" (1 Pet 1:11), or as here, "our present sufferings [and] the glory that will be revealed in us" (Rom 8:18). We cannot disavow the first part, and still expect to receive the second.

Elsewhere, Paul also writes:

"Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him" (2 Tim 2:10-12).

1: 17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

There is no detail about Jonah more familiar and more certain, than the simple fact that he was buried inside the whale for three days and nights. Nor is there any detail of greater importance, for did not Jesus make it so?

“As Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Mt. 12: 40).

A simple fact, a very simple fact — in need of interpretation!

On the strength of the words just quoted it is very dogmatically asserted by some that there is a great error in the long received idea that the Lord Jesus was crucified on a Friday and rose from the dead on the Sunday morning.

Not possibly! For where is the room between Friday afternoon and Sunday sunrise for ” three days and three nights”?

Accordingly, it is decided that the crucifixion was on a Wednesday, followed by a Passover Sabbath on the Thursday and then an ordinary Sabbath on the Saturday. Thus, reckoning from Wednesday sunset to Saturday sunset, the body of the crucified Lord lay in the tomb for exactly seventy-two hours.

Leaving on one side the strange incongruity that the Sun of righteousness should rise just as darkness fell; there is a large accumulation of unexplained difficulties before the theory can be fully accepted:

1. Whilst the New Testament mentions this “three days and three nights” only once, it also uses the expression “after three days” and no less than ten times it says “the third day” when speaking of Christ’s resurrection.
2. The words of the two disciples talking to Jesus on the road to Emmaus on the day of his resurrection: “Today is the third day since these things (the crucifixion) were done” (Lk. 24: 21). But if Christ had lain in the tomb for seventy-two hours, ought they not to have said “the fourth, or even the fifth, day since these things were done”? This point is surely decisive.
3. The Lord’s enemies, the chief priests, give the same kind of witness. They came to Pilate: “That deceiver said…After three days I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day” (Mt. 27: 63,64). “After three days” would require, would it not, a guard at the tomb until the fourth day? But they were content to have the guard until the third day.
4. If the theory is correct, why should the women leave their visit to the tomb, to anoint the body (Mk.16: 1,2), until the Sunday, when Friday would have been the most obvious time? The problem of corruption of the body would decide this, wouldn’t it? (Jn.11: 39).

It seems strange that there has not long ago been clear recognition that “three days and three nights” is a familiar Bible idiom for “the third day”. Considering that the phrase is not of common occurrence, it is surprising how many times this idiom crops up—with the explanation in the context:

1. Queen Esther, faced with a great threat against her own people, bade them fast with her “three days, night and day” (Esth. 4: 16). Yet before this seventy-two hours fast was concluded, she went in “on the third day” to intercede with the king. Thus “three days and three nights” was interpreted as meaning “on the third day”.
2. “They continued three years without war between Syria and Israel”. Yet “in the third year” war broke out again (1 Kgs. 22: 1,2). Here the same idiomatic usage is applied to years.
3. In the fourth year of Hezekiah, the king of Assyria took Samaria “at the end of three years” in the sixth year of Hezekiah (2 Kgs.18: 9,10).
4. King Rehoboam told the deputation, who came appealing to him, that they should “come again unto me after three days.” They returned “on the third day” (2 Chr.10: 5,12).
5. Similarly, Mk. 8: 31 has the phrase “after three days”, and what is certainly the parallel record in Mt.16: 21 has “on the third day”.

There are other examples of the same sort, but these should suffice to establish that the solitary use of “three days and three nights” (Mt.12: 40) about the Lord’s entombment is to be understood as meaning “the third day”. The eight occurrences of this latter phrase (Mt.17: 23; 20: 19; Mk.9: 31; 10: 34; Lk.9: 22; 18: 33; Acts 10: 40; 1 Cor.15: 4) besides those already quoted should surely settle the question.

There is also the very striking double type of the wave sheaf of barley and also the Jamb of the first year (the Passover lamb reconsecrated to God), which were both offered on the day after the Passover Sabbath (Lev. 23: 11,12). Thus the death and resurrection of Jesus correspond exactly with the slaying of the Passover lambs on the 14th, and the reconsecration of a Passover lamb on the morning of the 16th.

Now the question needs to be asked afresh and answered afresh. How long was Jonah in the whale?

1: 4-16 But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep. So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not. And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy countrv? and of what people art thou? And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. Then they said unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous. And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them. Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee. So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows.

The state of that ship — a pathetically little barque, by modern standards — rapidly became desperate. Great seas crashed on her deck and flooded her hold. Since no pumping or baling out was possible, the only other expedient was to throw overboard as much cargo as possible, in the hope of keeping her afloat. Before long it seemed likely that the ship would break up. Had the storm found a weakness in her construction, or were they driving before the gale on to a rock-bound coast? But if the latter, where is the rocky shore in that corner of the Mediterranean?

And through all this, Jonah still slept — in some relatively dry and secure corner, in the fo’c’s’le, perhaps. But all the ship’s crew were hard at work, doing anything they could think of to bring them through this predicament, more fraught with danger than anything any of them had ever known. They were a mixed lot, these sea-faring men, as ships’ crews usually are. So there was hardly a deity known to the superstitions of the Middle East who was not assailed with desperate prayers and promises, interspersed with all the purple oaths that belonged to their trade.

For all this importunity, things only got worse. The captain was desperate to know what else might be done to save their lives, but when he learned that their supercargo was sleeping hard through all this tumult, he knew at last the explanation of their peril: they had an atheist on board!

So Jonah found himself being roughly shaken into wakefulness whilst equally rough exhortations were being shouted at him! “Don’t you realise that we may be foundering any minute? And you the only one on board who doesn’t care! Every man jack of us is praying, except you! Haven’t you got a god to pray to? Yes? Then why don’t you? Man, our lives are at stake as well as yours!”

It was not for nothing that through past years Jonah had been a witness in the Northern Kingdom to the True God worshipped in Jerusalem. Now he made his confession again before these devotees of such a variety of heathen deities.

“I am an Hebrew, and I fear Jehovah, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land”.

The guess may perhaps be hazarded that the proposal about the casting of lots, which now came up, was a suggestion made in the first instance by Jonah himself. If he knew how (in 1 Samuel 14: 41,42) a crisis situation in the days of king Saul had been resolved by means of Urim and Thummim (see ’Samuel, Saul, David’ on this), the present circumstance would surely appeal to him as not dissimilar. He himself would be glad to have any lingering doubts set at rest as to whether any connection was to be seen between this terrifying peril and his recent rebellion against prophetic duty.

The lot would be immediately organized with the tossing of a coin or any other heads or tails device. Jonah accepted the result as implicitly as if he had had it from the high priest of Jehovah.

So, now, without hesitation, he told his story, not at first in a succinct tidy fashion, for he found himself bombarded by a torrent of questions. There was no hint of bullying in these, but only a tone of respect. His story about being a prophet of Jehovah, worshipped at the world-famous temple in Jerusalem, was accepted at its face value. And when he told of his refusal of the Lord’s commission to proclaim impending doom against Nineveh they were aghast. No wonder they were involved now in such a storm at sea as beggared all past experience. “Why, why hast thou done this?” They couldn’t understand such an attitude as his. These simpleminded pagans, hearing the truth of Jehovah for the first time, judged Jonah’s behaviour to be that of a lunatic. They now saw everything clearly. With a disobedient prophet on board, no wonder the God who made the earth and the sea was angry. The shrieking of the wind and the violence of the waves, as high as their mast, were now explained.

Jonah too weighed the pros and cons. Rather than be party to what he was convinced was a wrong policy of the angel of the Lord, he had been prepared to sacrifice his own nationality, but their present straits showed that the problem had come to sea with him. Then, what next? Was his foolishness now to mean irreparable disaster for these harmless ignorant seamen just because they had Jonah on board? It was obviously useless to persist in following his own judgement or inclination. Just think what had befallen Balaam when he thought he knew better than the angel of the Lord!

Then he came to a heroic decision. If there must be a price paid for his wilfulness, let it not be paid by these good fellows who shared none of his blame.

“There’s no safety for you chaps whilst I am on board”, he explained. “So, dump me in the sea, and then you will come through. The wrath of Jehovah is against me, not against you.”

They got his point. They knew he was right in what he bade them do. But all their better instincts revolted against the idea of having one man die, swept away in a swirl of angry water, to save their skins.

“ No! Not that! “ The captain spoke for them all. “ Lads, get her bow round to the wind, and we’ll ride this storm out yet”.

They went to it with a will. With sweeps out, they strained until their muscles cracked. But what could those feeble endeavours do against that wild welter of wind and water?

Very well. If they must, they must. But first, fearing a great fear, with a devoutness that shamed Jonah’s self-reliance, they prayed to the God that Jonah told them held those boiling seas in the hollow of His hand.

“Jehovah, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O Lord, hast done as it hath pleased thee “

Innocent blood! Those words were eloquent. They declared: ‘We haven’t got anything against him. But, Lord, you know what you are doing!’

Then two of those lusty fellows helped Jonah to the stern of the ship, and there with a mighty heave they pitched him clear, and saw him swept away into the darkness.

The effect of this propitiatory sacrifice had those hard-bitten seamen speechless with awe. The wind suddenly dropped. One moment there was a venomous howling and shrieking of the wind through the rigging. The next, complete stillness and the silence of a sea at rest. Never had they known the like of it. AII at once, the sea and the waves were no longer roaring (s.w. Lk. 21: 25).

Their reaction to this deafening silence of God was instinctive. The captain spoke for them all:

“Boys, let’s hold a prayer meeting, to thank Jehovah that He has brought us through, and to pray for Jonah, that headstrong, yet selfless, Hebrew”.

So, again fearing a great fear, with bowed heads they gave thanks for their survival and made solemn declaration that, once on land again, they would find their way to Jerusalem and there offer to Jehovah a sacrifice of thanksgiving.