Romans 8:1–11 announces some of the best news in the Christian life: in Christ, we are no longer trapped in the moral paralysis of Romans 7. God has not only declared us righteous; He has given us His own Spirit as the living power to change us from the inside out. Where our own effort could never produce real holiness, the Spirit of life now frees us from the old reality of sin and death and begins to make us into people who actually love and obey God from the heart.
In this week’s episode, we explore:
- How Romans 8 answers the anguished cry of Romans 7—“Who will deliver me?”—with the promise of “no condemnation” for those in Christ Jesus
- What it means that the “law of the Spirit of life” has set us free from the “law of sin and death,” and why this is more than just a legal change in status
- Why the Mosaic Law could never produce true obedience, and how God did what the Law could not do by sending His Son and giving His Spirit
- The contrast between living “according to the flesh” and “according to the Spirit,” and how these phrases describe where we place our trust—ourselves or God
- How setting the mind on the flesh leads to death, while setting the mind on the Spirit brings life and peace, wholeness, and a genuinely worthwhile existence
- Why those “in the flesh” cannot please God, and how the indwelling Spirit marks out those who truly belong to Christ
- The assurance that if the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead lives in us, God will also give life to our mortal bodies—both in present moral renewal and in future resurrection
- The comforting truth that walking by the Spirit is not a technique we master but a gracious reality God Himself brings about over time
- The Psalm 1 picture of believers as trees planted by streams of water, drawing on an inexhaustible source of life and slowly but surely bearing fruit
By the end of the episode, listeners will see that the Christian hope of holiness does not rest on willpower, spiritual techniques, or gritted-teeth determination. It rests on the God who justifies the ungodly, gives His Spirit to those who trust Christ, and commits Himself to bringing them from death to life. You’ll be invited to loosen your grip on self-reliance, to rest in the Spirit’s quiet, persistent work, and to give thanks that your future obedience is ultimately God’s project, not yours.
Most believers waste time trying to figure out how “to do” Christianity better. We search the Scriptures and self-help books looking for the “12 steps to faith,” “5 steps to better Christian living,” “3 keys to grace”, etc.
I’ve got good news and bad news.
The bad news is we don’t do anything to make ourselves better Christians. There are no tricks, no techniques, no manipulations.
The good news is we don’t do anything to make ourselves better Christians; making you better (holy) is part of God’s gift of grace. As we trust the Spirit at work in our lives, we will be saved from doing wrong and we will increasingly become the kind of person who does good.
Paul’s main point in Romans 8 is: the believer’s “job” is to rest in the Spirit of God. The gospel is not a new technique to get your act together. Instead it is the truly good news that God will make you holy. There are no bargains and no conditions. Glory is guaranteed.
Not not that we are completely passive. We actively live our lives, but it is the Spirit’s work in our lives that makes a difference. Here’s how Romans 8 makes this point:
In Romans 7 as part of his answer about the role of the Law, Paul describes “moral paralysis.” On the one hand, I desire to be righteous, I agree with the Law, and I resolve to keep the Law. But on the other hand, I continue failing and doing the very thing that I do not wish to do. I’m trapped in my sinfulness. Whatever mechanism that I thought would control my sin — rituals, will power, grit, resolve, determination — doesn’t work. I am “morally paralyzed.”
The solution to this moral paralysis is faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 8:1-11).
Salvation can come about through faith in Jesus Christ (when it couldn’t come through the Law) because the resources of Spirit of God are now available to us through faith in Jesus; and the resources of the Spirit make holiness possible. The Law could not make me righteous, because the Law did not solve this problem of our moral paralysis. But because of grace, God gives us His Spirit and it is through the Spirit of God we are actually made righteous.
Romans 8:12-14 is the summary statement: Trusting yourself to gain holiness (legalism) leads to death in our present experience; Trusting in the Spirit of God to gain holiness leads to life in our present experience.
Romans 8:15-30 – Two things are true about those who trust the Spirit of God to make them righteous.
- Romans 8:15-25 – 1) the Spirit of God produces within believers an agonizing grief over sinfulness and a longing for righteousness.
- Romans 8:26-30 -2) because of the activity of the Spirit in our lives, we can have confidence that everything that happens to us is in our own best interests.
The Spirit intercedes for us (Romans 8:26); the Spirit’s intercession is effective (Romans 8:27) and due to the work of the Spirit we can have confidence that everything that happens to us is designed to bring us our inheritance (Romans 8:28-30).
Because our inheritance depends on the activity of God and His Spirit — instead of on our own self-effort — we can have absolute confidence that we’ll gain it (Romans 8:31-39). Glory is guaranteed.
For more detail and explanation, please listen to the podcast.
Next: 12 Romans 8:12-25 Grief over Sin
Previous: 10 Romans 7:7-25 Law and Sin
Series: Romans: Justification by Faith
Study: Romans Resources
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
Season 2, Episode 11
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