romans 8:20 commentary

He is consistent with Himself when He is justifying sinners, or, more strictly, all those who believe in Jesus. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. But God will no more accept the works of your flesh than He would Cain's, who sought to offer to God the works of his flesh and was rejected by God. He will establish that word unto his servants on which he has caused them to hope (Psalms 119:49), and heaven is therefore sweet; for, if hope deferred makes the heart sick, surely when the desire comes it will be a tree of life, Proverbs 13:12. Romans 8:20, NIV: For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope. He spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all ( Romans 8:32 ). He is Spirit-controlled, Christ-controlled, God-focused. Thou art my hiding-place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. What would we have? Present receivings and comforts are consistent with a great many groans; not as the pangs of one dying, but as the throes of a woman in travail--groans that are symptoms of life, not of death. To these then he wishes, as was his wont, the fresh flow of that source and stream of divine blessing which Christ has made to be household bread to us: "Grace and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ" (ver. Consequently the call of God, and not the birth simply makes the real difference. This is a state of mind, and not the necessary or immediate fruit of Romans 3:1-31, but is based on the truth of Romans 4:1-25 as well as 3. Here was the very truth that every Jew, as such, denied. There is hardly any phraseology that tends to more injury of souls in these matters than a loose way of talking of salvation. 20 For . But the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings which baffle speech to utter; but he who searches the hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because it is by God's will that he intercedes for those whose lives are consecrated to God. Paul begins and ends this passage with statements about the absolute security of those who are in Christ. But Paul goes on from there. Childbirth changed. If he struggled against them, he was uselessly battering his head against the ineluctable purpose of God. We are heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. It is not God seeking, or man bringing righteousness. The reason for the subjection was certainly due to man's willful and rebellious act; but the execution of God's sentence upon man for that rebellion was no part of man's will. [Ktisis] (as used in Romans 8:19,20,21, and 22), CREATION, has the same signification here as in Mark 16:15: "Proclaim the glad tidings to the whole creation," that is, "all mankind;" and also Colossians 1:23, where a similar phrase occurs. The believer, therefore, unwittingly though really, dishonours the Saviour, if he be content to walk short of this standard and power; he is entitled and called to walk according to his place, and in the confidence of his deliverance in Christ Jesus before God. How rich, how broad, how expansive is God's love for you tonight. He means that from the beginning of time God marked us out for salvation; that in due time his call came to us; but the pride of man's heart can wreck God's plan and the disobedience of man's will can refuse the call. We groan within ourselves, which denotes the strength and secrecy of these desires; not making a loud noise, as the hypocrites howling upon the bed for corn and wine, but with silent groans, which pierce heaven soonest of all. He is going to complete that work in me. Then he answers his own question, "Thanks be unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord, is my deliverance." This, accordingly, is the essential spring of worship. This was the father's power over his family; it was the power of absolute disposal and control, and in the early days was actually the power of life and death. And because God is for you, I don't care what forces of hell may be against you, they are nothing compared to God.Never think of Satan as the opposite of God. Future glory involves far more than just believers. The consequences are thus pursued; first, the general place of the believer now, in all respects, in relation to the past, the present, and the future. There were two steps. How glorious it is to walk in the Spirit, to be in union with the Spirit of God, to be led by the Spirit of God, and to have that glorious assurance of God's Spirit bearing witness to mine. How much soever then created things do naturally incline another way; yet as it has pleased God to bring them under vanity, they obey his order; and as he has given them a hope of a better condition, with this they sustain themselves, deferring their desire, until the incorruption promised to them shall be revealed. That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit ( Romans 8:4 ). This word has a very definite Old Testament background. And this redemption of the creature is reserved till then; for, as it was with man and for man that they fell under the curse, so with man and for man they shall be delivered. He speaks of the Jews being his kinsmen kata ( G2596) sarka ( G4561) ( Romans 9:3), that is to say, speaking of human relationships. It addresses moral, intellectual, social, and spiritual issues, but most importantly, it lays the theological foundation for the Christian faith: how God has made it possible through Christ for sinners to be made right before Him. It is no longer the realm of hope. We have Paul informing us that he transfers sometimes in a figure to himself that which was in no wise necessarily his own experience, and perhaps had not been so at any time. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. In the same way the apostle disposes of all pretence on the score of ordinances, especially circumcision. And after that time I used to think, wouldn't it be wonderful if some day there would be a knock on the door and there would be a lawyer there and he would say, "Your uncle that you happened not to know who happened to be one of the wealthiest men in the world died, and you were left his fortune." Hence, what he is here discussing is not remission of sins, but deliverance from sin. Their present state is a state of education and preparation for the inheritance. Paul goes further; he goes on to speak of the spiritual experience of every Christian. Of course, it could hardly be the law: that was the boast of Israel. Not so Paul. It is, however, fully in keeping with the teachings of the Bible that God is said to do many things which, in a lesser sense, were done by others, as, for example, in the case of the crucifixion of Christ (see under Romans 3:26). Law works wrath because it provokes transgression; grace makes the promise sure to all the seed, not only because faith is open to the Gentile and Jew alike, but because God is looked to as a quickener of the dead. As for the impotency of the law, that weakness of the law which resulted from the effects of our sinful human nature--God sent his own Son as a sin offering with that very same human nature which in us had sinned; and thereby, while he existed in the same human nature as we have, he condemned sin, so that as a result the righteous demand of the law might be fulfilled in us, who live our lives not after the principle of sinful human nature, but after the principle of the Spirit. "If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by [or because of] his Spirit that dwelleth in you.". (4.) If slurred over, as it too often is in souls, it invariably leaves practical obedience lame, and halt, and blind. But he that searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God ( Romans 8:27 ). This brings in the contrast with the other Head, the Lord Jesus Christ, whom we have here not as One bearing our sins in His own body on the tree, but as the spring and chief of a new family. I have got it made. But there is another incompleteness of man. Second, we cannot pray aright because in any given situation we do not know what is best for us. These things are matters of conscience, and depend much for their solution on the degree to which souls have attained. (Donovan) Paul starts his letter to the Romans by identifying himself. In the other scale he puts the glory, and finds that a weight, an exceeding and eternal weight: Glory that shall be revealed. Gentiles, who were without God and Christ, and the Holy Spirit, Here the word has the sense of perishability (Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, 3:423). As you look at your life, can you honestly say, "Yes, my life is led by the Spirit of God"? The angelic powers cannot separate us from him. He is not complete. As Christ was, so the saints will be, declared to be the sons of God with power, by the resurrection from the dead, Romans 1:4; Romans 1:4. Christ's work of redemption deserves that God should act as He does in the gospel. Now the doctrine which we saw asserted in the latter part ofRomans 5:1-21; Romans 5:1-21 is applied to both. And as that little remnant is ever sustained by the grace of God, it is the standing pledge of their final blessedness through His mercy, whereon the apostle breaks out into raptures of thanksgiving to God. Thus the first argument shows that the rejection was not total; the second, that it was but for a season. Oh, how happy is the man to whom God does not impute iniquity. The whole history of Israel, past, present, and future falls in with, although quite distinct from, that which he had been expounding. (a) He uses it quite literally. We surrender our bodies, and our tongues, to the Holy Spirit in faith, and the Holy Spirit gives us the appropriate words in prayer through our tongues. Would that the Lord would give us hearts to remember, as well as eyes to see, according to His own grace! The gospel goes forth universally. We do not need to be very old to look back and see that things we thought were disasters worked out to our good; things that we thought were disappointments worked out to greater blessings. It is apokaradokia ( G603) and it describes the attitude of a man who scans the horizon with head thrust forward, eagerly searching the distance for the first signs of the dawn break of glory. The reproach of Christ appears riches to those who have respect to the recompence of reward, Hebrews 11:26. He might have taken his people at once to heaven as soon as they are converted. For this I will defend thee before men.'" Scripture: Romans 8:1. If that be so, is there anything in this or any other world that can separate us from our Risen Lord? Someone may object: "You say that the Spirit-controlled man is on the way to life; but in point of fact every man must die. All then that believe, though uncircumcised, might claim him as father, assured that righteousness will be reckoned to them too. Consequently all turned, not on what man should be for God, but what God can be and is, as revealed in the gospel, to man. For you did not receive a state whose dominating condition is slavery so that you might relapse into fear; but you received a state whose dominating characteristic is adoption, in which we cry, "Abba! He is talking here of the Mosaic Law, which he said was holy, just and good, but what it could not do, what was the limitation of the law of Moses, or what could it not do, the law of Moses could not make a man righteous before God. Most Popular. "The just shall live by faith" (not by law). It is evident, therefore, that dispensational position will not suffice for God, who holds to His own unchangeable estimate of good and evil, and who judges the more stringently according to the measure of advantage possessed. The sense of the apostle in these four verses we may take in the following observations:-- (1.) In short, it is what the words say "the righteousness of God," and this "by faith of Jesus Christ.". Next, he enters upon another branch of the truth the Spirit not as a condition contrasted with flesh (these two, as we know, being always contrasted in Scripture), but as a power, a divine person that dwells in and bears His witness to the believer. This type of figurative speech is frequently found in the Bible. If a man loves and trusts and accepts God, if he is convinced that God is the all-wise and all-loving Father, then he can humbly accept all that he sends to him. But how, argues he, could this stand, seeing that Abraham had another son, just as much his child as Isaac? Romans 16:1-27; Romans 16:1-27 brings before us in the most. No fresh revelations from God can nullify those which preceded them; but as the prophets looked onward to what was coming, so is the gospel already come, supported by the past. 13). So Jesus said, "Rejoice when you are persecuted for righteousness sake. Thus, anything that happens to me only happens to me because God has allowed it to happen to me. We are often so hard on ourselves and are in the position of condemning ourselves, but I can tell you one who is not condemning. He sees all nature waiting for the glory that shall be. Accordingly, for the first time, the Spirit of God fromRomans 5:12; Romans 5:12 traces the mature of man to the head of the race. not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the "Cursed is the ground because of you," God said to Adam after his sin ( Genesis 3:17). Disappointments, setbacks, things that I just don't understand, and I am prone to be concerned, or worried, or get upset, and then this verse will come to mind. ( Romans 8:34 ). 1. Here, again, the apostle takes up what he had but announced in chapter 1 the righteousness of God. 3). Now this should be to each of us tonight a very searching verse, and upon reading this, it is important that each of us now make a personal inventory and evaluation and ask ourselves the question: Is my life led by the Spirit of God? I understand that God loves me. And he is father of circumcision in the best sense, not to Jews, but to believing Gentiles. The Holy Ghost, who now gives the soul its consciousness of deliverance from its place in Christ, is also the witness that the body too, the mortal body, shall be delivered in its time. Men are saved because they were once involved in Adam's sin but are now involved in Jesus' goodness. In different people that life will be differently described. To the limits of the holy land? Not only was Abraham justified without law, but apart from that great sign of mortification of the flesh. as I am often faced with situations that I can't understand. The circumstances under which the epistle to the Romans was written gave occasion to the most thorough and comprehensive unfolding, not of the church, but of Christianity. As it stands written, "For Thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are reckoned as sheep for the slaughter." He is the one who has the right to condemn--but so far from condemning, he is at God's right hand interceding for us, and therefore we are safe. Whenever you think of a tent you don't think of a permanent place to live. The weak are not to judge the strong, and the strong are not to despise the weak. Hence the very fact of being renewed makes one sensible of a far more intense misery than ever, while there is no power until the soul looks right outside self to Him who is dead and risen, who has anticipated the difficulty, and alone gives the full answer to all wants. But this may be comparatively a light question. "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness" (ver. As a parent you would gladly take the place of your child and suffer for them. Nero and Octavia were in no sense blood relations; yet, in the eyes of the law, they were brother and sister; and before they could marry, the Roman senate had to pass special legislation. Hey, wait a minute. "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! He speaks of the Christian being adopted into the family of God. No matter what happens to them, nothing can separate them from the unchanging love of God (38-39). For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh ( Romans 8:3 ). I can see how God is going to work." 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; Read full chapter. That always amazes me, but it shouldn't surprise me because He knows everything. It is not doing, but believing; therefore it is what is proclaimed to them, and what they receive and believe. When Paul was painting this picture, he was working with ideas that any Jew would recognize and understand. The last time it was popular was 1948, and it is beginning to get popular again, so thirty years. This God has wrought in Christ. What was to be the stumbling-stone? Paul says that creation was subjected to futility in Romans 8:20-21 ESV: For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. Him who came in humiliation, according to their prophets, they might despise; but it was vain to deny that the same prophets bore witness to His divine glory. The world is one where beauty fades and loveliness decays; it is a dying world; but it is waiting for its liberation from all this and the coming of the state of glory. They were probably added by a copyist who either made a mistake or thought he could "help" Paul by adding these words from Romans 8:4. What was it? The connection is fully owned with that which had been from God of old. Clearly, then, such ground is untenable. It is almost universally agreed that Paul wrote Romans from the city of Corinth as he wintered there on his third missionary journey as described in Acts 20:2-3. If nature had a will (desire), Paul affirmed that it would have chosen to maintain a harmonious relationship with mankind. You have got a sizeable deposit that is in escrow and, boy, my commission on this is going to be about $35,000 and all right. O how vastly different is the sentence of the word from the sentiment of the world concerning the sufferings of this present time! God is more willing to give than we are to receive. "Not so," replies the apostle. Now by the spirit I am mortifying the deeds of my flesh. God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh ( Romans 8:3 ): What I could not do for myself through the Mosaic Law, that is, have a righteous standing before God, God did for me through sending His Son in the flesh. 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