CF Bible Study, Romans 8:26-27: The Spirit Groans—through Us and for Us

Elliff’s Basement, February 27, 2008

26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;
27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
Romans 8:26-27

The truth uncovered in these verses is not the main point of Romans 8. Like verse 14, it is a parenthetical encouragement. But even though it is not the main point, Paul viewed this idea as so practical, and helpful, and freeing in suffering, that he could not leave it out. So we need to dig deep and latch on to the riches that are in this part of Romans 8.

Studying this passage throughout the week has been enlightening for me. I have found a concept here that I have never really seen before. All week I have been saying to myself, “How come no one told me this? It seems to be one of the things I will hang on to most in suffering. I can’t believe no one told me this.” Tonight I will give my attempt at telling you this. Don’t miss it.

The Spirit Helps Our Weakness

Last week we looked at Paul’s response to suffering and we came to the conclusion that it is not a malfunction of salvation by grace. Rather, it is part of God’s perfectly orchestrated plan (“In hope we have been saved”). Therefore, we should not throw out salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. He is still trustworthy.

In this text, Paul is telling us that, not only has God planned our suffering, He does not leave us to face it alone. He does not set us up to be slammed by wind and waves with nothing to support us. Instead, His Spirit partners with us in our futility, and yet-to-be-redeemed bodies, and carries us through this planned suffering. “And in the same way, the Spirit also helps our weakness . . .”

How Does the Spirit Help Us?

Now the question is, “How does the Spirit help us through our weakness?” There is a specific way that Paul mentions. And it is strikingly unexpected. He says that the Spirit helps us in prayer, “for we do not know how to pray as we should.”

Immediately, most of us are thinking, “Who said anything about prayer? I thought you were going to tell me something that would help me through suffering, Paul. I don’t want to know how the Spirit aids me in my prayer life. My back hurts, I don’t get enough sleep, I don’t know where to go to college, and I can’t breathe because of my asthma. I want to know something to get me through suffering, not something about my prayer life.”

Let me reiterate here something I brought up last week: The Bible dictates what is relevant, not us. So if we are reading Paul and are wondering what in the world what he said in one place has to do with what he was saying all around that place, the problem is with us and not him. We must humbly approach the text knowing that what he said is relevant, and that we need to figure out how. Most of the time, you will find that the direction the Bible goes is the most helpful and relevant possible.

So how does prayer connect to suffering?

We Do Not Know What to Pray For

Prayer is relevant because it is what you turn to in suffering. I hope that first you turn to the rock-solid truth that all thing work together for good and that our suffering is part of a plan. But after that, you should turn to prayer. But Paul sees a problem. “We do not know how to pray as we should.” Or, probably better translated, “We do not know what to pray for.” Often we do not know the will of God in our suffering. In consequence, we run into a dead end and we cannot do what we ought to first attempt to do-pray-because we do not know what to pray for.

The apostle Paul had this problem on several occasions. When imprisoned in Rome and faced with life and death, he explained to the Philippians, “I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ . . . yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake” (Philippians 1:22-23). Overall, he knew that he wanted “Christ to be magnified . . . whether by life or by death.” But he had no idea in this case which one would most magnify Christ.

This is a very real problem in suffering. Missionaries constantly encounter it. “Do I pray for the ability stay in this place with no fruit for ten years? Or do I pray for a way to leave?” I know you face it. “Do I pray for deliverance from this physical problem, or do I simply pray for help through it?” We long for Christ to be magnified through our suffering. But half of the time, we have no clue in what way that will happen-whether by life or death.

The Spirit Intercedes for Us

For encouragement, Paul directs us to the Spirit’s aid in prayer. “We do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words . . .” Somehow, when we are at a dead end in prayer, the Spirit interposes on our behalf before the Father. How does this happen?

The text says that the Spirit intercedes with groaings too deep for words. But here I am going to argue for a slightly deeper meaning than is fully noticeable on the surface. In my opinion, these groanings are the groanings that the Spirit produces in believers. God hears them, and in them He discerns the intercession of the Spirit. Here are few reasons for my view of this.

1. It seems somewhat implausible that the Spirit would need to groan to communicate directly with the Father.

2. This comes in the context of the groaning of creation (v. 22) and the groaning of believers (v. 23).

3. Verse 27 explains that God “who searches the hearts know what the mind of the Spirit is.” Why would Paul say that God searches the hearts unless there is some connection with the heart of the believer and the mind of the Spirit?

4. Earlier, Paul laid out a similar idea. The Spirit produces in us the cry, “Abba! Father!” testifying with our spirit that we are children of God. The work of the Spirit in groaning through us is the very much the same. “In the same way, the Spirit helps our weakness . . .” In the same way that the cry “Abba! Father!” in verse 15 is the cry of the Spirit of Christ in us and through us (see also Galatians 4:6), the groanings in verse 26 are the groanings of the Spirit in us, through us, and for us.

Here is what Paul is saying: When we are at a dead end in our suffering and cannot pray, the Spirit produces in us groanings after the glory of Christ in which God, “who searches the hearts,” discerns the mind and specific prayers of the Spirit. And these specific prayers for what most magnifies Christ–for life in some cases and death in others–are always answered because they are always “according to the will of God” (v. 27).

This is hugely important in suffering. The Spirit intercedes for us with specific Christ-magnifying prayers through our groanings. We need to hold on to this tightly so that when we need it, which is very often, we will have it. Be encouraged with this incredibly freeing, and helpful truth. You do not have to know the will of God in your suffering. Trust the Spirit’s communication with the Father through your groaning for Christ to be magnified. The Father discerns the mind of the Spirit and will mightily answer His prayers according to His will.

Bryan Elliff © 2008 www.bryanelliff.wordpress.com

CF Bible Study, Romans 8:18-25: Suffering Is Not a Problem; It Is a Plan

18 For I consider that the suffering of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to [in] us.
19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.
20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope
21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.
23 And, not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.
24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?
25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
Romans 18:25

Last week was about answering the question, “What can we look at now—in our suffering on earth—that confirms to us that glorification is coming?” This week is about answering the question, “Why do we even have to ask that question at all?” To put it another way, if we are justified, why do we suffer? Does the suffering of Christians point to a flaw in the trustworthiness of salvation through Christ? Paul’s answer to that is one of the main points of chapter 8 and one the most encouraging truths that you can grasp in your suffering.

When we compare chapter 8 verse 2 with our life on earth, we find a disconcerting discrepancy. Paul said in verse 2 that “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death,” but the two problems that you struggle most with as a Christian in this life are sin and death. Does this mean that justification has malfunctioned and that God is not trustworthy? That is the question Paul is seeking to answer.

Jesus’ Sufferings and Ours—Planned

Paul’s response to those questions through verses 18-25 is simple and powerful: there is a cosmic plan working together for the glorification of the Church and for the glory of God, and suffering is part of it.

We first see this in verse 17. Paul says that we are children of God, “and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” There is a surface connection between the sufferings of Christ and believers’ suffering that fits with the ideas of adoption. We are brothers of Christ and co-heirs with Him. As such, we must suffer, just as He suffered, before we are glorified as He is.

But there is a deeper connection that I think Paul has in mind. Jesus’ sufferings were part of the plan. The agony of his death was a step in this cosmic movement toward the glorification of the Church and the glory of God. His crucifixion was not a breakdown of the plan; it was the central part of the plan. In the same way, Paul wants us to reverse our thinking about our own suffering. It is not a malfunction of salvation and a failure of God’s trustworthiness. It is a part of salvation, working together to produce an “eternal weight of glory.”

“My Carriage is Broken!”

Not only are our sufferings on earth part of the plan, when compared with what is coming, they are miniscule. Verse 18 brings this parenthetical encouragement. “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to be revealed to [in] us.”

The 18th Century pastor John Newton gave a striking illustration of this idea and the response that Christians ought to have in suffering.

“Suppose a man was going to New York to take possession of a large estate, and his [carriage] should break down a mile before he got to the city, which obliged him to walk the rest of the way; what a fool we should think him, if we saw him ringing his hands, and blubbering out all the remaining mile, ‘My [carriage] is broken! My [carriage] is broken!’”

When confronted with the comparatively weak and small pains of this world, it would be foolish for us to be continually wringing our hands and blubbering, “My [carriage] is broken! My [carriage] is broken!,” when only a mile away an immeasurable inheritance awaits us. And, to take Newton’s illustration further, it would be even more foolish considering that the breakdown of your carriage is a part of the plan working together to bring about what you are going toward.

The Planned Futility of Creation

The history of the creation pushes us to the conclusion Paul wants to come to about suffering. The simple fact that the creation groans is presented in verses 19 and 22. Verses 21-22 are the key to why that matters. “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (21-22).

The creation groans because it was subjected to futility. It suffers. Why does it suffer? Was there a malfunction in the plan of God? Paul’s point is exactly the opposite. The creation was subjected to futility because of Him who subjected it in hope. Put simply: it is part of the plan! Paul is pointing us to the creation to prove that the ways of God are radically different from the thinking of men. Who would think that the pain and corruption the creation could be intended by its Creator? Surely it is a collapse of His plan. But here is the drastically opposite reality: God Himself is behind the futility of the creation, perfectly working it toward the ultimate fulfillment freedom and glory.

The Planned Suffering of Believers

The application goes further. Not only is this true of the creation, it is true of believers. “And, not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.” Why? “For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”

The suffering of believers is not a malfunction of the cross; it is a part of the plan. “In hope we have been saved.” We have not been saved with a redemption that is already complete; we have been saved in hope of what we do not see. It is the way salvation works. So do not throw out the trustworthiness of God. He is for us, who can be against us? Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. That is what Paul is saying. It is all driving toward one point: trust God.

Bryan Elliff © 2008 www.bryanelliff.wordpress.com

CF Bible Study, Romans 8:14-17: Adopted as Children and Assured of Inheritance

Elliff’s Basement, February 13, 2008

14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.
15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!
16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,
17 And if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
Romans 8: 14-17

This next section of Romans 8, which extends almost to the end of the chapter, is about resurrection and conformity to image of Christ. Paul promises in verse 11 that “He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies.” And in verse 13 he says: “. . . if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” The question that tonight’s text answers is, “how do we know that this promise is actually going to be fulfilled by God?”

God’s promise of resurrection and glory is totally counter-normal. The world scoffs at the idea that dead bodies will be raised and given freedom from sin and death. And on top of the fact that it is a seemingly ludicrous promise on its own, your knees hurt, and your grandparents are dying in front of your eyes, and you struggle with sin. It doesn’t look like resurrection is near. The purpose of Paul is to point us to what we can look at now, in our suffering on earth, that guarantees our future conformity to the likeness of Jesus.

Adoption by Being in Christ

To do this, Paul uses the picture of adoption. It is a beautiful way of depicting salvation that we have not come across yet in Romans. And it has everything to do with justification and being in Christ. If you get anything from tonight, get this: The more you dig into justification, its nature and results, the more you will get out of it. It doesn’t seem to stop. So let’s ponder this new view of that truth for a moment.

No one is born into the family of God. We have to start there. You will hear people say, “Well, we are all God’s children.” That is not true. All are born unaccepted outcasts, homeless rebels on the streets, and deserving of the punishment of the King. We were all “dead in our trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1).

But, “even while we were dead in our transgression” (Ephesians 2:5), outcasts and rebels, God chose us to be adopted into His family. How does this adoption happen? How do we become sons?

Galatians provides insight. “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Galatians 3:26-27). This passage essentially breaks down into two parts. “You are all sons of God.” There is our adoption. “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” That is the ground of our adoption.

Does the sort of terminology found in the second part sound familiar? These are parallel ideas to Romans 6-8. You have been immersed (or baptized) into Christ so that He is now your representative (or, as Paul says here, you are clothed with Him). His life and death and resurrection are your life, death, and resurrection. His perfect flesh, not your own sinful flesh, is the garment that you now wear through faith in Him.

That reality of being in Christ is the basis of our adoption as sons. If Jesus is your representative (you are “in Him”), when He come before the Father and is accepted as a son, you are also accepted in the Beloved. If you are in the Son, you are a son as well. Contemplate this adoption. It is a beautiful picture of justification.

Future Inheritance

What does adoption have to do with resurrection and conformity the image of Christ? Inheritance! Look at what Paul says in verses 16-17: “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ . . .” If we are children of God in Jesus, we are heirs with an inheritance. That inheritance is attaining the glory of Christ. He is the “firstborn among many brethren.” What he has already inherited before us—bodily resurrection and glory—we will also inherit in the future as fellow heirs with Him.

The Assurance of the Spirit

We still have not gotten to the heart of the passage. We already knew that God promises an inheritance of resurrection and glory, even though we may not have understood it with that picture. The question still remains: What can we look to now—while our knees hurt, and while we see death and fight with sin—that gives confidence there even is such a thing as adoption into the family of God and therefore an inheritance?

Paul’s response is that the Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance. The Spirit does this work in two ways, outwardly and inwardly.

1. The Spirit assures us of adoption outwardly.

Notice again what Paul says in verse 13 leading in to the passage we are studying tonight: “But if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body you will live.” There is a straight promise—“you will live.” What can you look to that confirms that? “If by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Why does that matter? “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.” To put it another way, the Spirit assures us of our adoption by supernaturally transforming our lives even now. And those who are led in way by the Spirit are the adopted children of God.

As I look at I my life before and after my conversion, I am sometimes simply amazed at the difference. Before, I was obviously a slave to sin. Now, though I still struggle even in the same areas, the change is astounding. I cannot attribute it to anything other than a supernatural work of the Spirit. I am sure the same is true for you. Paul is saying here, “Look at that! That amazing work of the Spirit points to one fact—you are in Christ and adopted as a child of God.”

2. The Spirit assures us of adoption inwardly.

The second way the Spirit is the indicator of our adoption and inheritance is in His work in giving a deep inward knowledge of it. “For you have not received a spirit of slavery [to sin] leading to fear [before God] again,” Paul tells us in verses 15 and16, “but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father! The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God . . .”

Do not throw this away because it is subjective. Many people in our circles have too much fear of feelings, when feelings are often legitimate and biblical. This is a true work of the Spirit that should be a sign to us of our adoption. Whereas before, as slaves of sin, we approached God in cringing fear, we now by the Spirit approach God in boldness, calling Him what only Jesus could call Him before—Father!

If you are a believer, look at the Spirit’s work in your life sanctifying and giving you boldness to call God Father, and be confident that you are a child of God, and if a child an heir with an inheritance of bodily resurrection, conformity to the likeness of Jesus, and complete freedom from sin and death . . . even though your knees hurt!

Bryan Elliff © 2008

CF Bible Study, Romans 8:9-13: Trust Christ—More

Elliff’s Basement, February 6, 2008

9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does no belong to Him.
10 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin yet the Spirit is life because of righteousness
11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh—
13 for if you are living according the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Romans 9:9:13

In about five or six months I will go to college, and my days of significant involvement in this Bible study will be over. A major part of my thinking this week has been with that in view. The question in my mind is this: What kind of people do I most want us to be as a result of this Bible study?

I think my answer is that I want us to be people who are burning for God’s glory, and, more specifically, who are burning for the cross of Christ because we understand it to be the center-point of God’s glory. I want us to be people who, ten and twenty and thirty years from now, are resting even more confidence in Christ and who are even more passionate about propagating the gospel of Christ. If that is the result, our weekly meetings for the past two or three years have not been wasted.

I raise these thoughts tonight because they connect with Paul’s incredibly encouraging message. Verses 9-13 of chapter 8 are simply an exhortation to believers to press onward in putting their whole trust in Jesus and to refrain from slipping back into resting their confidence in themselves. His message is essentially my summary message to this group for all the months we have been together—love and trust Christ completely in everything.

Know Who You Are

This passage rotates around knowing who you are as a Christian, or rather, knowing what Christ is for you. Paul mentions three truths about believers that we will look at. Remember, all of this is driving to a conclusion.

1. You are out from under condemnation and therefore freed from sin and death.
“However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you” (v. 9).

All of the references to “the Spirit” up until the beginning of verse 9, go back to verse 2—“the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” Here, Paul is telling believers that they are in the realm of the law, or principle or authority of a God who gives life through Christ Jesus.

To be in the realm of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus means in essence this: there is therefore now no condemnation (v. 1)! And what is the result of that? You are set from sin and death. There is no hell and there is no more power of sin because Christ has died as an offering for our sin and condemned sin in the flesh. Jesus Christ is your justification.

2. You are indwelt by Christ as a result of justification, and He infuses you with sanctifying life.
“And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin yet the Spirit is life because of righteousness” (v. 10, also v. 9, 11).

The more I look at Romans, and especially at chapters 6-8, the more contrasts and ironies I see. In this chapter, Paul is completing a contrast between indwelling sin and indwelling Christ. Chapter 7 gives one side, “it is no longer I who do it, but sin which dwells in me.” Chapter 8 gives the other side, “And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin yet the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”

What does it mean to be indwelt by sin or by Christ? To uncover that, look at Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” This statement about the indwelling Christ is strikingly similar to that about indwelling sin in Romans 7. In both cases, Paul asserts that that which indwells (sin or Christ) is what actually is doing what he does. I do not believe Paul means that when some one sins, sin mechanically moves the mindless person to pick up the knife and commit the murder. Nor does it mean that Christ mechanically moves mindless Christians to get up and read their Bibles every morning. That would absurdly counter the rest of Scripture. Rather, I believe that this sort of terminology is Paul’s way of expressing that sin the master of and underlies the actions of an unbeliever, and that Christ is the master of and underlies and empowers the actions of a believer.

If you are a justified Christian, know this about yourself. Though you live in a decaying, dying body, the Spirit of Christ is life-giving because of His imputed righteousness. The indwelling Jesus Christ is your sanctification.

3. The Spirit will also give life to your mortal bodies.
“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”

In our fight against evil and our quest to spread the gospel on the earth, we exist in dying bodies, so that God will be magnificently magnified (2 Corinthians 4:7). But because we are in Christ, the unshakable end is resurrection. Paul said in Philippians 3:20-21, “Our citizenship is in heaven from which also we eagerly wait for a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory . . .”

As a believer, know that conformity to the image of Christ for your mortal, dying bodies is eminent because He will give them life. Jesus Christ is your resurrection.

Do Not Live According to the Flesh; You Do Not Have To

All of this is moving toward a conclusion. It comes in verses 12 and 13. “So then [or therefore], brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh—for if you are living according the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body [if you are a true Christian and have all that 9-11 lay out], you will live.”

This is Paul incredibly encouraging conclusion: If you are a Christian, you are justified, indwelt by Christ, and soon to be resurrected. Therefore, you do not have to put confidence in yourself (you are not under obligation to the flesh); Christ is doing everything for you!

Christian, do not look to your flesh; you do not have to. Do not seek to justify yourself; Christ has done it for you. Do not look to your own strength for sanctification; Christ has condemned sin and He indwells you. And do not trust your flesh for resurrection; Christ will give life your mortal bodies. Trust Christ! Salvation is totally of Him. Trust him—trust Him more!

Bryan Elliff © 2008

CF Bible Study, Romans 8:1-4: Fulfilling the Law by Being in Christ

1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.
3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,
4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Romans 8:1-4

A Contrast Between the Flesh and the Spirit

About a year ago, I began a relationship with an elderly lady in my neighborhood. Over the course of several weeks, I was able to talk to her several times about the gospel. During these conversations, the question I continually asked was this: What do you put your hope for eternal life on top of? And every time, her answer was essentially that she had lived a good enough church-going life that God would give her eternal life. She had no need for (and really no idea of) Jesus and His cross.

This is perhaps the biggest challenge we face in evangelism and in ourselves—salvation by being good enough and not being in Christ. It is maybe Paul’s most often and most passionately addresses issue because it was a huge problem in the Jewish-saturated First-century Christian Church. And wherever you go today—in South American Jungles or in South Dakota—it is still the conflict you will wage.

The book of Romans in chapter 8 is largely about that conflict. It is about a contrast between salvation by the flesh and by the Spirit. First of all then, we need to grab hold of Paul’s meaning when he refers to that contrast.

When I first began studying chapter 8 earnestly, that was my goal; to discover what it means to “walk according to the flesh” and to “walk according to the Spirit.” The first thing I noted was that Paul’s use of “flesh” or “body” (which I think are often synonymous) in his other writings mean something broader than the typical Twenty-first-century usage. In Colossians 3 he tells us to “consider the members of our earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed.” Notice that half of those sins have to do with the outward body, and half of them have to do with the mind (passion, evil desire, and greed). Also in Galatians a similar statement is made about the flesh. “Now the deed of the flesh are evident, which are immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outburst of anger, disputes, dissentions, factions, envying . . .” Obviously, by flesh and body, Paul means the whole natural man including the mind. So what is his point then in Romans 8 with this flesh/Spirit contrast?

I think Paul is distinguishing between salvation by what is natural and salvation by what is supernatural. This is what most of Romans is about; law-keeping is not the way of salvation, radical grace in Christ taken by faith is. To gain eternal life, a person must set their confidence in the crucified, risen, and indwelling Jesus and not on natural human flesh.

But here you say, “I thought Romans 8 is about sanctification, not justification.” You are right and you are wrong. Romans 8 is about sanctification, but only as it relates to justification. Chapters 6-8 are written against legalists who press down on justification by saying, “I know what grace and faith salvation (the Spirit as opposed to the flesh) produce—lawless people. Your justification, Paul, that is in Christ, will create people who don’t care about righteousness.” And Paul is responding by showing how justification in reality produces people who begin to fulfill the law of love. So ultimately this is still about whether a person stands in front of God based on his own flesh or based on Jesus.

Keep Listening Because the Problem Still Exists

Despite the fact that we have discussed this topic before, I do not think it should be boring for you tonight. Here is why: I know people who think just like what is being refuted. On Sunday mornings I go to a Bible class outside of our Church in order to evangelize, and at times I have heard things shockingly like what Paul is working against. “Salvation could not be all of grace (and certainly is not unloseable),” they say, “because that would generate people who think they can sin since they are forgiven. Therefore salvation must be by a lot of grace plus being good enough.” Because of this kind of rhetoric, many of them throw out true salvation and replace it with a damnable mingling of Christ’s work and their own.

Justification Turns Murderers in to Law-Fulfillers

To latch on to Paul’s argument, let’s begin with verse 4 and then build up underneath it with verses 1-3. “. . . so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (v. 4). This is Paul’s point. Something changes lawless law-keepers into people who begin to fulfill the law of love (13:9-10). Something changed him from a murderer who boasted that he was perfect to a person who began to lay down his own life out of love for God and the Church and the lost. What is it?

Justification! Verses 1-3! Those verses come before and are the support of verse 4. “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.” Why? “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.” In other words, the principle or rule or authority of a God who gives life, which completely revolves around Jesus Christ, has freed you from sin and death. And flowing out of being in Christ Jesus is this: the requirement of the Law begins to be fulfilled in us.

In the Perfect Flesh of Christ Jesus

“In Christ Jesus (8:1)” is familiar phrase to us by now, but this text opens up an angle of view which to me is fresh and exiting. To be in Christ Jesus means that you do not stand before God wrapped in your own flesh but wrapped in His flesh. Look at verse 3: “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh . . .” First of all, do not miss that. It is half the object of chapter 7. The Law is not sin but it utterly weak for salvation because, as Paul said, “I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.” And what Paul comes to realize in that section is that “nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.” Now back to verse 3: “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh . . .”

Human flesh is corrupted. It can never do good enough to have eternal life. But what our flesh could not do, God did by coming in the likeness of sinful flesh (not sinful flesh, perfect flesh!) and living and dying as our representative. As none of us can do, Christ looked to His own flesh in His perfect life and death so that we, by also looking to His flesh, may be justified. If we are in His perfect flesh, we will have eternal life.

Christ Condemned Sin so that We Might Fulfill the Law

But the question still remains, why does this justification by grace turn lawless people into those who begin to fulfill the law of love? The answer is in verse 3. In His incarnation and death, Christ “condemned sin in the flesh.” The irony here is beautiful. In the very moment sin (our sin) was condemning Jesus on the cross, Jesus was condemning that sin by removing death and thereby draining its authority to control or kill.

Not only does justification by being in Christ produce law-fulfilling Christians, it is the only way to produce that kind of person. Walking according to the flesh results in nothing but sin and death. Solely by putting your trust in the flesh of Christ can you have life.

My prayer is that 50 years from now (whether it’s in Kazakhstan or Michigan), all of us will be dying for this gospel—salvation by amazing grace that is centered not in human corrupt flesh but in the perfect, crucified, and risen flesh of Jesus Christ.

Bryan Elliff © 2008