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God saved us and one day He is going to glorify us. But what are we supposed to do in the meantime? That’s the topic of the next section of Romans chapter eight. In verses 18-30 Paul will deal with our future glory and our present suffering. He’s juxtapose our eternal life to come with the life we are called to live in the meantime. During this phase of our journey, we will experience His sanctifying work in our lives, but it will take place along with the ever-present reality of sin and suffering. But once again, Paul will remind us that we have been given the Spirit of God to help us in our weaknesses and to intercede on our behalf with “groanings too deep for words.” And finally, Paul will leave us with those comforting, yet sometimes difficult to believe words, “all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose.”

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In the first 17 verses of Romans chapter eight, Paul provides us with important insight into how we are to live for Christ now that we have been set free from the law. He doesn’t tell us to avoid the law or to view it as unnecessary or no longer valid. No, he tells us to walk according to the Spirit. We are to live our lives according to a new power. The Holy Spirit was God’s gift to the church, providing believers with the power they need to live the life to which He has called them. No longer are we staring at a long list of holy requirements, equipped with nothing more than our sinful flesh to help us live obediently. That method has been proven ineffective in producing holy people. But now, we have the Spirit of God providing for us the power of God and making it possible for us to live as the people of God. It is the very presence of the Spirit of God within us that proves to us that we are sons and daughters of God, and heirs to His kingdom.      

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The second half of Romans chapter seven contains an up close and personal glimpse into Paul’s own battle with sin. Here was a man who had had a face-to-face encounter with the resurrected Christ, and who had spent years sharing the goods new of faith in Christ with countless individuals all across the known world of that day. And yet, he struggled with sin. He knew what it was like to desire to do what was right and good, but to find himself unable to pull it off. He had discovered the reality of the daily battle we all face as believers: The internal war between our old sin nature and the indwelling presence of the Spirit of God. When God saved us, He didn’t eradicate our sin nature. It remains alive and well, and stands diametrically opposed to the plans the Holy Spirit has for us. But God didn’t just give us an alternative to sin, He gave us a means by which we can have victory over it. All through the power of the Spirit.      

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As we open up chapter seven of Paul’s letter to the Romans, we will see him returning to his discussion of man’s new relationship with the law as a result of Christ’s death on the cross. In no way is Paul attempting to diminish the value of the law. In fact, he will defend it with his life. But he is trying to get believers to understand that they have been set from the law in terms of any need they may feel to keep it in order to made right with God. The law is holy, but it cannot transfer that holiness to anyone. Only Jesus can make the unholy, holy. Only He can replace our unrighteousness with His own righteousness. Because of what Jesus has done for us, we can do good deeds, not in our power, but in the power of the Holy Spirit. We are free to be fruitful. We are free to keep the righteous requirements of the law, not as a form of merit, but as an expression of our newfound righteousness provided for us by Christ.      

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In chapter six of his letter to the Romans, Paul continues to unpack the good news regarding faith in Christ and its provision of a right relationship with God. And one of the most profound aspects of our salvation, made possible by God’s gracious gift of His Son, is the freedom we enjoy. We have been set free from slavery to sin and are now free to pursue a life of holiness. But not based on our human efforts or our ability to keep a set of rules. Our freedom to say no to sin and yes to holiness has been made possible by Christ’s death and the Spirit’s presence in our lives. Holiness, Paul will remind us, is not an issue of SELF-control, but of the Spirit’s control over us. It is based on a willing submission to God’s power made available to us through His indwelling Spirit. We can experience the transformation God has in store for us as we transfer the control of our lives to the Spirit of God He has made available to us.   

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As we move into the first six verses of Romans chapter six, we see Paul beginning to stress our new life in Christ as believers. The good news of Jesus Christ is not just future-focused, promising the reality of eternal life and a glorified, sinless state some time out there in the distance. He is reminding us that we can and should experience new life here and now ­? even in this present age with all its sin, struggles and strife. One of the primary topics of Paul’s letter to the Romans is the ongoing, progressive sanctification of the believer. We are being transformed into the image of Christ, day after day, year after year. It is an ongoing reality for all those who have placed their faith in Christ and within whom God has placed His Spirit. And our transformation, like our salvation, is not up to us ­? it is the work of God. Which is what makes it not only possible, but unavoidable.   

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What is the Christian’s relationship with the law? On the one hand, Paul will say that the law is holy, just and good. On the other hand, he’ll say that we are no longer under the law, but instead, under grace. In chapter seven he’ll tell us that we have died to the law, so therefore, we are released from it. But Paul’s issue with the law has nothing to do with its authority, just its efficacy. In other words, the law, while holy, was not designed to save. In fact, it can’t save. It can instruct. It can convict. It can condemn. But it will never make anyone right with God. Paul will make it quite clear that the law was given to reveal our sinfulness, not get rid of it. And what makes the law holy is that it is a tangible expression of God’s righteous requirements for mankind. And while any attempt to obey the law and gain favor with God will prove futile, the believer is able to obey out of love, not obligation, and in the power of the Spirit, not the flesh.  

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Paul has been talking about justification by faith. Men are made right with God, not by works, but by belief in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The result of their faith is justification, an undeserved restoration into a right standing with God. But several times in the first eleven verses of chapter five, Paul will say, “not only that.” As if a right standing with a holy God was not enough, Paul says we also have peace with Him. We have gone from enemies to sons and daughters. We have moved from foes to family members. And not only that, we can rejoice even in suffering, because we know that God is going to use it to produce in us endurance, character and hope. And God did all of this for us when we were weak, undeserving, mired in our sins, and deserving of His wrath. Our justification has had unbelievable ramifications.  

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Faith can be a fickle thing. Sometimes it shows up in ways that surprise even us. Other times, it can appear anemic and as if it’s on life support. So, how do we go from having a wavering, waffling kind of faith that’s as volatile as the stock market, to a steadily increasing, confidence-increasing kind of faith that can weather the storms of life? Paul would have us consider Abraham, whose faith in God was counted to him as righteousness. Chapter four of Romans is a tribute to this father of the Hebrew nation, who spent his life learning to keep his faith in the promises of God based on nothing more than the word of God. It doesn’t mean he never doubted. It simply means he never stopped believing. He wondered how God was going to fulfill His promises and even tried to give God a helping hand. But his faith never wavered.

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No one is righteous. Those are difficult words to hear and even harder to accept. And yet, Paul is going to drive home once again the fact that what makes the good news about Jesus Christ so great is the very bad news regarding man’s sin. There is no one who deserves salvation. And there is nothing anyone can do to earn it, either. No one is righteous. That’s bad news. But the good news is that we can be made righteous through faith in Christ. What we could never achieve on our own has been made possible for us through the death of Christ. Chapter 3 of Romans is a powerful statement regarding man’s hopeless sinful state and God’s gracious gift of salvation and justification through His Son. We are made right with God, not by human effort, but by simple faith in the sacrificial death of Jesus. The bad news is overcome by believing the good news about Jesus and His sacrifice on our behalf.

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