Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Rom 8. 1 and following. Indeed, a wonderful peace follows the torments of the previous chapter. For guilty, I have learned that there is no condemnation for me now: I am in Christ Jesus, a place of perfect security. “Miserable man”, without strength to accomplish good, I discovered a power called: “the law of the Spirit of life”, which finally frees me from “the law of sin”, that is, from its domination. These are the two great truths that I grasp by faith.
The most skillful sculptor with the best tool, will not be able to chisel anything in a wormy wood. For God is this good worker and the Law this good tool (Rom 7:7-13). But it has been made weak and ineffective by our sin-eaten “flesh” (Rom 8:3, 7). For we were “in the flesh” (Rom 8:9), compelled to act “according to” His will. Now we are in Christ Jesus, walking “according to the Spirit” (Rom 8:4).
It is true that if we are no longer “in the flesh,” the flesh is still within us. Only, after we believed, the Spirit of God came Himself to dwell in us as the true master of the house. For the flesh, “the old man”, former owner, is present only as an undesirable tenant, locked in a room. He no longer has any rights… but I have to be careful not to open the door to him.
Thus, we no longer have “a debt to the flesh,” that insatiable and cruel creditor (Rom 8:12). For we have become God’s children, and our Father does not admit that we are enslaved. He Himself paid everything we owed so that we would be free, depending only on Him. Once the Roman slave could be freed and even exceptionally adopted by his master with all the rights to inheritance. Weak image of what God has done for poor beings fallen, defiled and revolted against Him! Not only did He grant them forgiveness, righteousness, full deliverance, but He made them members of His own family. And they are sealed with His Spirit, through which also God’s children know their relationship with the Father. “Papa” (Abba in Hebrew) is often the first distinct word articulated by a little child (Rom 8:15; 16; 1 Jn 2:12-17).
In addition to this certainty He gives us, the Spirit teaches us to make the actions of the flesh die (that is, not to let themselves be performed) (Rom 8:3). And it is by letting ourselves be led by Him that we will make ourselves known as sons of God (Rom 8:14; Mt 5:43-48) waiting to be revealed as such at all creation (Rom 8:19).
On this earth, defiled by sin, injustice, suffering and fear reign. Man has subjected all creation, including the cosmos today, to the service of its vanity (Rom 8:19-23), its corruption (Rom 8:21). The sighs of all the oppressed rise to the great Judge (Lm 3:34-36). We too sigh in “the body of our lowering” (Phil 3:20-21). We feel the fatigue of sin around us and that we must continually judge in ourselves (Rom 8:12-13).
For our infirmity is great: we know neither how to pray nor what to ask. So it is still a function of the Spirit to intercede on our behalf in a language that God understands (Rom 8:27). Nor do we know what is good for us. Then the apostle tells us that everything that happens has been prepared by God and finally fits into “his plan”, of which Christ is the center. For it is in order to give His Son companions in glory that God has preconceded, predestined, called, justified, glorified those beings, once miserable and lost, whom He is now preparing for their heavenly vocation (Rom 8:29). Here is the sublime chain of divine guidance that connects past eternity to eternity to come and gives meaning to the present moment!
Such a display of God’s eternal counsel leaves the redeemed without words. Because any question he could still ask himself has found its perfect answer. Indeed, God is for him; what enemy would still risk touching him? God justifies it; who would now dare to accuse him? The only one who could condemn him: Christ, became his sovereign intercessor. And what could a God who has made us in his Son the greatest of all gifts? He will give “all things with Him.” Yes, including if necessary the tests (Rom 8:26-28). It seems that these would tend rather to separate us from the love of Christ by producing in us whispers or discouragement. On the contrary! “All these things” allow us to experience this love in ways we would not have known it otherwise. Whatever the form of the trial: affliction, distress, persecution… in each of them the varied grace of the Lord finds expression in a particular way: support, consolation, tenderness, perfect sympathy… To each suffering comes a personal form of his love. And when the earth and its sorrows are finished forever, we will remain for eternity the objects of God’s love.
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1). It is with these triumphant words that the apostle begins his epistle; it is in a way the end point that he puts with a heart full of joy, at the end of his presentation, the blessed conclusion of the teachings of the three previous chapters. The apostle does not speak of a grace that can be obtained little by little, or that is granted only to faithful or advanced Christians, but of a reality that can be enjoyed by all those who are “in Christ Jesus”.
For only he in whom the Holy Spirit dwells possesses this assurance: it is only when one is in the arms of the Father and is clothed in the most beautiful robe, that one ceases to think of oneself, to speak of oneself and to make efforts to improve oneself. The Father, what he is and what he does, then fills the whole soul; it gives “thanks to God through Jesus Christ”; forgetting herself completely, she rests in what Jesus did for her; she is in a state to enter the Father’s house and participate in his joys.
Let us not forget that the fruits of practical righteousness can only be produced if we stand as dead to sin and as living to God in the power of the Holy Spirit. Isn’t such a life a real slavery? On the contrary, it is a life of freedom, for it is no longer enslaved to the flesh or to its lusts; a life in which one can follow the Lord Jesus with happiness, letting oneself be led by his Spirit. May we all walk more and more in this way, until our bodies of lowering are transformed into glorious bodies, in which sin will no longer dwell.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
- Union with God
Rom 7:4 Likewise, my brethren, you too have been, by the body of Christ, put to death as far as the law is concerned, that you may belong to another, to the one who rose from the dead, that we may bear fruit for God; 1 Co 6:15 Don’t you know that your bodies are members of Christ? Will I take the members of Christ, then, and make them the members of a prostitute? 2 Co 11:2 For I am jealous of you with a jealousy of God, because I have betrothed you to one spouse, to present you to Christ as a pure virgin. Eph 5:30 because we are members of His body. 1 Jn 2:24 That what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If what you have heard from the beginning dwells in you, you will also dwell in the Son and in the Father.
- Characteristics of the March of the Believers
New Life Rom 6:4 So we were buried with him by baptism in his death, so that, as Christ rose from the dead by the glory of the Father, so too we would walk in newness of life.
-Faith 2 Co 5:7 for we walk by faith and not by sight,
-Spirituality Gal 5:16 So I say, Walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh.
Love Eph 5:2 and walk in charity, following the example of Christ, who loved us, and who surrendered himself to God for us as an offering and a sacrifice of good smell.
-Precaution Eph 5:15 For, know it well, no shameless, or impure, or greedy, that is, idolatrous, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
Enlightenment 1 Jn 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as He himself is in the light, we are mutually in communion, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
-Likeness to Christ 1 Jn 2:6 He who says he dwells in him must also walk as he walked himself.
- No condemnation for the just
Isa 50:9 Behold, the Lord, the Lord, will rescue me: Who will condemn me? Behold, they will all fall to shreds like a garment, The ringworm will devour them. Lk 6:39 He also said this parable to them: Can a blind man lead a blind man? Won’t they both fall into a pit? Jn 3:18 He who believes in him is not judged; but he who does not believe is already judged, because he has not believed in the name of the Only Begotten Son of God. Jn 5:24 Truly, truly, I tell you, he who listens to my word, and believes in him who sent me, has eternal life and does not come to judgment, but has passed from death to life. Rom 8:1 So there is now no condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ. Rom 8:34 Who will condemn them? Christ is dead; much more, he is risen, he is at the right hand of God, and he intercedes for us! 1 Jn 3:21 Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have assurance before God.
- Spiritual freedom, characteristic of the new dispensation Isa 47:2 He will enter into peace, He will rest on His layer, the One who has followed the right path.
-proclaim the mission of Christ Isa 61:1 The spirit of the Lord, the Lord, is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the unfortunate; He sent me to heal the heartbroken, to proclaim freedom to the captives, and to the prisoners deliverance;
The truth, the instrument of spiritual freedom Jn 8:32 you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
The new law, the law of life, makes Rom 8:2 Free, for the law of the spirit of life in Jesus Christ freed me from the law of sin and death.
-the slavery of sin is broken Rom 8:21 with the hope that it too will be freed from the bondage of corruption, to share in the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
-the presence of the Spirit brings assurance 2 Co 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
From all the above, we note that Christ’s love was manifested in his infinite sufferings for us here on earth and unfolds today in heaven through his intercession for us; the love of God which manifests itself in a less visible way, but which is also infinite and invariable, has preordained everything for us, has given us everything, forgiven everything in grace, it keeps us and surrounds us on the way and, in spite of all the enemy powers that may oppose it, it will bring us to the fullness of love, of joy and glory, which alone can suit such a God, and the work of redemption of such a Savior. Thus, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, no enemy, no principality can separate themselves from the love of Christ and the love of God! Even if all the things around us collapse, if all bear the seal of sin and opposition to God, faith turns away from it and contemplates the invisible things; it rests in the love of God and stands firm in struggle and suffering; even through the mist that might prevent her from seeing, she looks to the One who, after having done his work, has been crowned with glory and honor, and has sat at the right hand of God where he awaits the moment when he will come to seek his own, to make them share in his joy and glory. For God is for us. What a wonderful reality! Our prayers support you all in your efforts to be with the Lord God Almighty.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may be shining in my life right now.
Thank you Lord Jesus for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby watering point to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and for centuries of centuries. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow on”God’s sovereignty in the dispensation of his graces.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.