Sermon: Romans 8 (text)
I’ve already posted the audio version of this sermon, and I still think the audio version is the better version. But in case you had trouble loading it, I’ll post the text here as well.
Intro: Looking Back
Up to this point, things have been pretty grim. It’s almost a if Paul has been holding back – every now and then, he breaks into a quick doxology or hymn of praise. But for the most part, Paul has spoken of forces that are beyond our control, and the news is not very hopeful.
- All human beings are without excuse.
- Ignorance is not our problem – we know the truth and we still turn away from it.
- Quantity and Quality of sin are no matter – any sin at all is detestable to God.
- Our only hope is to trust in God.
- In some way, God has made us responsible for our fellow human beings – to share the good news with them.
- We have been set free from the Law – but we are still drawn to it and still sin from time to time.
All these forces are acting on us – Satan, evil, sin, our sinful nature.
Most of the verbs Paul has used of God have been passive – that is, things that God may have had a part in, but Paul does not speak of God’s direct activity except at several important moments:
- 1:28ff – God gave them over…
- 2:11 – God shows no partiality
- 3:25 – God put forth Jesus as a substitution
- 5:8 – God shows his love for us in this…
GOD ACTS
It’s quietly significant, then, what Paul is up to here. He’s held back for long enough. His message so far has been to convince his readers that we are sinners who are hopelessly lost without the intervention of God. And he does a good job. If we were to end the book of Romans with Chapter 7, we would, like Paul, say “What a wretched creature I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?”
So here begins the real exposition of hope!
1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3For 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, 4in 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.
5Those 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. 6The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
Here Paul speaks of “orientation” more than action. Keep in mind that by “flesh,” Paul is talking of our natural tendency to work against God. The mind oriented toward the flesh – that is, away from God – heads toward death. The mind oriented toward the Spirit – toward God – heads toward life and peace.
Again, we see Paul’s understanding that specific actions do not matter so much as our orientation – are our actions pointed toward God, or toward something else?
Here is how Paul sees that the Law has become impotent to judge us. We have been freed from the Law of Sin, and we are now under the Law of the Spirit. Before the Spirit entered our lives, everything we did was sinful. Even our best efforts and being nice and good were tainted by sin. Now, that we are oriented toward God and the Spirit, those same actions are pleasing to God.
9You, 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. 10But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11And 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.
Another “if-then” statement:
Spirit lived in Jesus - Spirit raised Jesus from the dead
Spirit lives in you - Spirit raises you from the dead
12Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation-but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13For 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, 14because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15For 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.” 16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17Now 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.
Closing up this section, Paul wraps up his ideas – notice the themes he brings together in this paragraph:
- Our obligation is to God because of what he’s done for us
- Living by the Spirit allows us to “die” with Christ to our sinful selves
- We no longer have to be slaves to our old human nature.
- We are children of God, adopted as sons and daughters alongside Christ. MOREOVER, because we are adopted, we share in the inheritance that Christ has as a son of God!
- That is, IF WE SHARE IN HIS SUFFERINGS. We’ve heard this before, and it makes us uncomfortable. But don’t let this get you down in the midst of this hopeful passage!
Future Glory
18I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
Our sufferings can’t compare to the glory that will be revealed in us. Not only can they not compare, they’re not even WORTH comparing. Paul says it’s like the relationship between a piece of gold and a piece of rotten meat. There’s no need measuring each one, no need for testing the purity of the meat or checking its color. One has value, the other does not. They’re not even WORTH comparing.
19The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
This is a strange twist – even the creation has been subjected to the awful effects of sin. And even creation will be redeemed. Remember that there will be a “new heaven and a new earth?” at the end of all things, earth will be remade perfectly – as it was intended to be – and that it will be “annexed” into heaven. Pollution will be erased, death will be abolished.
22We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23Not 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. 24For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
And as a part of that redemption of nature, so our bodies will one day be redeemed.
I used to think of heaven as a place where we all float around like ghosts, where our bodies are not substantial.
But this is not the only place that Paul tells us that these bodies – the ones you and I have right now – will be made new. Except they won’t be made like the old ones… this first birth, we’re dying from the moment we’re born. At the second birth, our bodies will be completely alive – no more aches and pains, no more emphysema, no more Parkinsons or Alzheimer, no more cancer… And who knows? Maybe our bodies will work in reverse – becoming MORE alive as eternity goes by, rather than less!?
DON’T WORRY
26In 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. 27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. 28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
In ALL THINGS God works for the good. That’s not to say that everything that happens to us is God’s work. But we can be assured that, even though we may not be able to see how, God is working for our good no matter what is happening.
Do we have faith that this is true?
29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
I can’t begin to explain the paradox between predestination and free will. All I can say is that there’s scriptural evidence for both. So to God, there must be no paradox at all.
But the fact is, in the predestination side of things, we understand that God already knows the outcome. We WILL be conformed to Jesus likeness. We WILL be called, we WILL be justified, we WILL be glorified.
31What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He 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? 33Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34Who 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.
Can you feel Paul’s energy here? Up to this point, we’ve seen that sin and evil have been working in the world. Death and destruction are the law, chaos is king. We’ve seen hints that God is working, but we haven’t seen God take direct action. In some ways that’s like what we face today – we can see hints, but we haven’t seen God step out of the clouds or prove himself beyond all shadow of doubt.
- But Paul says, “Don’t worry – it’s coming. God IS WORKING even now, and what he says will come to pass?
- Are you worried about what you will have – money, food, shelter, love? Are you worried about what kind of crown you’ll have in heaven. DON’T WORRY, says Paul. If God has already given his own son, do you think he won’t be willing to give us all good things we need?
- Are you worried about what you will pray? DON’T WORRY says Paul. God knows what you need and the Spirit is interpreting our groans. In the very act of turning to God, our hearts are heard!
- Are you worried about the things you’ve done wrong in the past, about the sin that you still struggle with? DON’T WORRY, says Paul. If you’ve broken the Law, you’re in the same boat as everyone else. And who will sit as judge? Only Jesus Christ, the best friend you and I have ever known – the one who has already declared that we are pure and righteous.
35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither 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.
What shall separate us from the love of God?
Danger?
Hurricane?
Earthquake?
War?
The works of our past?
Our own sinfulness in the present?
Economic problems?
Our political preferences?
Our race?
Our skin color?
Lack of food?
Lack of shelter and clothing?
The work of those who seek to do us harm?
Persecution for our faith?
Cancer?
Heart problems?
Parkinson’s Disease?
Alzheimer’s?
Old age?
Arthritis?
Shall even our strongest enemy, DEATH itself?
NO. Children of God, if God is for us, who can be against us? We are more than conquerors through the work of Jesus Christ!
This hope is why we exist – it’s the reason there’s a Body of Christ at all. And this hope is the reason we exist – to SPREAD the hope and to bring others into the Kingdom.
God has acted. Now it’s our turn.
