ROMANS
Chapter 8
C. H. Spurgeon
This wonderful chapter is the very cream of the cream of Holy Scripture. What a grand key-note the apostle strikes in the first verse!
R.C. Sproul
The great comfort of every believer is that our salvation is secure in Christ. Nothing we do can change what the Lord has done in us and for us. From first to last, our salvation is dependent on the grace of God and His promises. Throughout the Scriptures, we find God's assurances that those He has chosen out of the world will come to glory, will inherit the kingdom of heaven.
While the Christian might be buffeted by the storms of sin in his own soul, by the onslaught of temptation from the world, like Peter, David, and other great saints of the Bible, God will hold them fast and bring them into His everlasting kingdom. This is the assurance, the promise, of every child of God. It is given by a faithful Father and secured by His Son, who died on the cross not for the possibility that some people might be saved but for the certainty that those the Father had given Him would not be lost.
Charles Hodge aptly reminds us that our salvation, being totally dependent upon God, is sure and steadfast. If it were in any way dependent on our abilities, our choices, our salvation would not be secure. "If men were predestined to eternal life on the ground of their repenting and believing through their own strength, or through a cooperation with the grace of God which others fail to exercise, then their continuance in a state of grace might be dependent on themselves. But if faith and repentance are the gifts of God, the results of His effectual calling, then bestowing those gifts is a revelation of the purposes of God to save those to whom they are given. It is an evidence that God has predestined them to be conformed to the image of His Son, i.e., to be like Him in character, destiny, and glory, and that He will infallibly carry out His purpose. No one can pluck them out of His hands."
This is our hope and comfort, that we are "kept by the power of God" (1 Peter 1:5).
Matthew Henry 1714
The bitings of the fiery serpents were cured by a serpent of brass, which had the shape, though free from the venom, of the serpents that bit them. It was great condescension that he who as God should be made in the likeness of flesh; but much greater that he who was holy should be made in the likeness of sinful flesh.
Christ: His Love
When Paul was whipped, and beaten, and imprisoned, and stoned, did Christ love him ever the less? His smiles any whit suspended? His visits more shy? By no means, but the contrary. These things separate us from the love of other friends. When Paul was brought before Nero all men forsook him, but then the Lord stood by him (IITim. 4:16-17). Whatever persecuting enemies may rob us of, they cannot intercept his love-tokens, they cannot interrupt nor exclude his visits' and therefore, let them do their worst, they cannot make a true believer miserable.
Heaven
In our present state we come short, not only in the enjoyment, but in the knowledge of that glory (I Cor. 2:9; I John 3:2): It surpasses all that we have yet seen and known: present vouchsafements are sweet and precious, very precious, very sweet; but there is something to come, something behind the curtain that will outshine all. 'Shall be revealed in us'; not only revealed to us, to be seen, but revealed in us, to be enjoyed.
Honoring God
Those that will deal with God must deal upon trust. It is acknowledged that one of the principal graces of a Christian is hope (I Cor. 13:13), which necessarily implies a good thing to come, which is the object of that hope. Faith respects the promise, hope the thing promised. Faith is the evidence, hope the expectation, of things not seen. Faith is the mother of hope.
Thoughts
Carnal pleasure, worldly profit and honor, the things of sense and time, are the things of the flesh, which unregenerate people mind. The favor of God, the welfare of the soul, the concerns of eternity, are the things of the Spirit, which those that are after the Spirit do mind. The man is as the mind is.
Types
Christ comes to do that which the law could not do. Moses brought the children of Israel to the borders of Canaan, and then died, and left them there; but Joshua did that which Moses could not do, and put them in possession of Canaan.
Victorious Christians
Be they ever so great and strong, ever so many, ever so mighty, ever so malicious, what can they do? While God is for us, and we keep in his love, we may with a holy boldness defy all the powers of darkness. Let Satan do his worst, he is chained; let the world do its worst, it is conquered: principalities and powers are spoiled and disarmed, and triumphed over, in the cross of Christ. Who then dares fight against us, while God himself is fighting for us?
Note:
How does the Christian live a righteous life without a constant struggle to keep God’s Law? Paul introduced another universal principle: the law of life lived in the power of the Spirit. Old Testament Law failed to produce righteousness. So in Christ God condemned “sin in sinful man” and provided His Spirit, who enables believers to fully meet the Law’s requirements without “trying”. We focus on responding to God’s Spirit rather than on trying to keep laws. If we’re controlled by the Spirit who brought life to Christ’s dead body, He will bring life to us who are spiritually dead. Our obligation is not to the Law, but to respond to the Spirit’s prompting.
Paul now looks ahead. One day creation itself will be renewed, even as we are being renewed. Meanwhile the Spirit helps us in our weakness, praying with and for us. It’s our relationship with God that brings us victory, for He has chosen us not to muddle on in the pit of sin but to be transformed into the image of His Son. On the way God will never forsake us, nor even permit us to be charged with sin. We are God’s loved ones. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ our Lord.
8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom. 5:16
And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose form one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.
Rom. 8:2
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
1Cor. 15:45
So also it is written, 'The first man, Adam, became a living soul.' The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
Rom. 6:14
For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.
Rom. 6:18
And having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
John 8:32
Jesus said, "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
John 8:36
Jesus said, "If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed."
8:1 “Not guilty; let him go free”—what would those words mean to you if you were on death row? The fact is that the whole human race is on death row, justly condemned for repeatedly breaking God’s holy law. Without Jesus we would have no hope at all. But thank God! He has declared us not guilty and has offered us freedom from sin and power to do his will.
TODAY IN THE WORD
We can be grateful that Paul didn’t end his discussion of Christian growth with the last verse of Romans 7, because we would be left without the answer to two very important questions. Are we destined to spend our lives in a frustrated, losing struggle against the sin nature that lives within us? Has God provided us with a source of power to defeat sin and enjoy the victory Jesus Christ won for us on the cross?
Romans 8 answers each of these questions decisively. The answer to the first question is an emphatic no. We are not doomed to fight and lose against sin. That is because the answer to the second question is an emphatic yes. We have power from God to live every day in spiritual victory.
In chapter 8 Paul makes a very clear distinction between those who belong to Christ and those who don’t. Even though Christians will struggle against sin as long as they are on earth, the ultimate victory has already been won.
The exciting truth is that if you belong to Christ you are free from sin and the law, and you are empowered by the Holy Spirit to live a God-honoring life. This is possible since Christ won the decisive victory over sin and the law’s demands by His sinless life and His death on the cross (vv. 3-4). Everything we needed but couldn’t do for ourselves, Christ did for us.
Therefore, a frustrated, powerless, sin-dominated Christian life is not the norm! In fact, people who live this way need to examine themselves spiritually. Why? Because domination by the sinful nature is a clue that the Holy Spirit may be absent from a person’s life. And if the Spirit is absent, Paul warns, that person doesn’t belong to Christ (v. 9).
C. H. Spurgeon
“No condemnation”: that is the beginning of the chapter. No separation: that is the end of the chapter. And all between is full of grace and truth.
What a banquet this chapter has often proved to the souls of God’s hungry servants! May it be so now as we read it. No condemnation even now.
Many doubts, but no condemnation. Many chastisements, but no condemnation. Even frowns from the Father’s face apparently, but no condemnation. And this is not a bare statement, but an inference from powerful arguments. “There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” This is where they are. “Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” This is how they behave themselves, not under the government of the old nature, but under the rule of the divine Spirit of God.
Now:
· Mercy obtained
· Righteousness manifested
· Justification declared
· Reconciliation received
· Righteousness unto holiness
· No condemnation
· Salvation nearer
Note:
Here is a chapter that begins with no condemnation, gives more than a score of assuring evidences, and closes with no separation. Here is a chapter that gives us the how of sanctification. The Holy Spirit is the answer. Sanctification is not so much the expulsion of sin, as the incoming of the Holy Spirit, said A.B. Simpson.
Verse 1 looks all the way back to Romans 3:21. Judgment day for the believer is behind, but for the unbeliever it is ahead. Verse 2 gives the reason for the statement of the first verse. The law of the Spirit of Life takes the resurrection life of Christ and ministers to us. Christians saved from the penalty of sin, but still dragging along the iron ball of sinful habits of the old nature definitely are handicapped, miserable, empty and Christ-dishonoring! victory is not through suppression or eradication, but by the entrance of the Holy Spirit. Eradication goes beyond what the Bible says. Suppression does not go far enough since it is rather the expression of righteousness. Counteraction goes far enough and is true! What the believer must realize is that he has been made free. We are not struggling for this! In verse 3 Paul recapitulates chapter 7. God is operating on a new principle. Christ has condemned sin, not by eliminating or eradicating it, but by rendering it, inoperative for normal functioning, so that the purposes of God might be fulfilled in us.
Life Indeed:
· Living in Christ
· Instructed by Christ
· Following after Christ
· Enduring through Christ
C. H. Spurgeon
“No condemnation” — that is the first note of the chapter. In the last verse it is “no separation.” What glorious music there is here, — no condemnation to those who are in Christ, no separation of them from Christ! Happy are the people who have a share in this double blessing, and unhappy are the men and women who know nothing of it. We will read it again: “There is therefore now no condemnation, “There is a great deal of accusation, and a great deal more of tribulation, but there is no condemnation not the least hint of it. Some condemnation we might have expected, but “there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
Sermon Note
· Christ died so that sin can never condemn saved ones.
· Christ lives so that sin should not control saved ones.
· Christ is coming again so that sin will never be able to touch us.
So in Romans 8, Christ takes the place of I, and the Holy Spirit takes the place of the law!
C. H. Spurgeon
My hearers, we are each of us, by nature, under the condemnation of God.
We are not only subject to condemnation, but we are condemned already; and, on account of sin, there is judgment recorded in God’s book against every one of us, considered in our fallen state. But if we “are in Christ Jesus,” if we are made partakers of Jesus, if we have hidden ourselves in the cleft of the rock, Christ, and if our trust is solely in him, oh, precious thought, “there is therefore now no condemnation” for us. It is blotted out.
The old judgment that was recorded against us is now erased; and in God’s book of remembrance there is not to be found a single condemnatory syllable, nor one word of anger written against any believer in Christ Jesus.
Glorious freedom from condemnation!