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Studies in Romans

Studies in Romans. Presentation 21. SUMMARY OF CONTENTS:. OPENING REMARKS : 1:1-17 BAD NEWS : Universality of sin and its condemnation 1:18 - 3:20 GOOD NEWS : A gospel that changes our relationship to God 3:21- 5:21 HOW TO GROW AS A CHRISTIAN : 6:1- 8-39

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Studies in Romans

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  1. Studies in Romans Presentation 21

  2. SUMMARY OF CONTENTS: OPENING REMARKS:1:1-17 BAD NEWS : Universality of sin and its condemnation 1:18 - 3:20 GOOD NEWS : A gospel that changes our relationship to God 3:21- 5:21 HOW TO GROW AS A CHRISTIAN : 6:1- 8-39 Sanctification 6:1-23 Union with Christ and its implications The Place of the Law 7:1-25 Life in the Spirit 8:1-39 The Significance of Life in the Spirit 8v1-11 Practical implications of Life in the Spirit 8v12-17 Suffering and glory 8:18-27 The super-invincibility of the believer 8:28-39 A SHORT DETOUR : Questions concerning Israel 9:1-11:36 HOW A CHRISTIAN OUGHT TO LIVE :12:1-15:13 PERSONAL GREETINGS : 16:1-27 Presentation 21

  3. Studies in Romans Life in the Spirit Part 3 Chap 8v29-39 Presentation 21

  4. How to Grow as a Christian Life in the Spirit: 8:1-39 The Super-invincibility of the Believer 8:28-39 The Practical Benefits of Trials: God’s Chain of Salvation v29-30 The guarantee that all things will work together for the believer’s good lies in God’s purpose v 29-30. This purpose is like in a chain. They need to be studied together in order to grasp the significance of the whole. God has forged every link. None are of human manufacture. If the chain of salvation was dependent at any stage on human performance, we would live our lives in fear of a link snapping. There are no weak links in God’s chain. This is the strength of the Christian’s assurance! Presentation 21

  5. How to Grow as a Christian Life in the Spirit: 8:1-39 The Super-invincibility of the Believer 8:28-39 The Practical Benefits of Trials: God’s Chain of Salvation v29-30 The verb ‘to foreknow’ when used in connection with people in the N.T. always follows the Hebrew sense of having an intimate knowledge of relationship with a person. Cf Jesus’ use in Matt. 7:23 “Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you’.” Foreknowledge does not mean, that God chose certain men and women to belong to him because he had prior knowledge of how they would behave. God’s choice lies in his inexplicable love for us. It lies in the heart of God himself. Cf. Deut. 7:7. Presentation 21

  6. How to Grow as a Christian Life in the Spirit: 8:1-39 The Super-invincibility of the Believer 8:28-39 The Practical Benefits of Trials: God’s Chain of Salvation v29-30 Those God foreknew he also ‘predestined’. The word ‘predestinate’ means that God has mapped out a destiny for his people – to make us like Jesus. Election and predestination causes some to ask, ‘Does it not deny freewill? If God has chosen us, how freely and genuinely are we able to choose him?’ In reply, God does not force himself upon us. He does not drag any of us, screaming against our will, into his kingdom. There is a seamless mystery in scripture between the choices we make and the plans God has for us. Presentation 21

  7. How to Grow as a Christian Life in the Spirit: 8:1-39 The Super-invincibility of the Believer 8:28-39 The Practical Benefits of Trials: God’s Chain of Salvation v29-30 Theologians distinguish between the universal and the effectual call of God. The universal call is addressed to all men, 'Whosoever will may come’, while the effectual call describes the way in which God brings people to faith [cf. 1 Pet. 2:9]. The effectual call does something in the hearts of men that equips them to respond. In Jn. 10.4 Jesus says of the Good Shepherd, 'His sheep follow him because they know his voice', and in v16, ‘I have other sheep that are not of this pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen.’ Presentation 21

  8. How to Grow as a Christian Life in the Spirit: 8:1-39 The Super-invincibility of the Believer 8:28-39 The Practical Benefits of Trials: God’s Chain of Salvation v29-30 There is an element of mystery attached to this call. A helpful analogy is found in the raising of Lazarus cf John 11. How could a dead man hear and respond to a voice? Lazarus' experience mirrors what happens when men and women who are spiritually dead are called to new life by Christ. This effectual call does not force man to act against his will. Rather, the Holy Spirit spiritually quickens him, enabling him both to appreciate truth and to respond to what he has heard. Presentation 21

  9. How to Grow as a Christian Life in the Spirit: 8:1-39 The Super-invincibility of the Believer 8:28-39 The Practical Benefits of Trials: God’s Chain of Salvation v29-30 The next link in the chain is ‘justification’. We do not justify ourselves before God. We dare not try to do so. God does this work. In justifying us, God tells us that he has taken care of the guilt of our sin. Jesus has borne our punishment, and, as a result, God treats us as if we were as perfectly righteous as was his own dear Son. Our status and our standing before God are radically altered. Presentation 21

  10. How to Grow as a Christian Life in the Spirit: 8:1-39 The Super-invincibility of the Believer 8:28-39 The Practical Benefits of Trials: God’s Chain of Salvation v29-30 ‘Glorification’ is described as an already accomplished fact. But our glorification belongs to the future. The Greek aorist tense that underlines an already accomplished fact because in the mind of God it is already done. It is as certain as justification. It is as complete as every other part of God's action. Significantly the process of sanctification is omitted from this list. Why? Because of the inevitability of the process – God will complete what he has begun! If God has glorified us, how can we ever fall from grace and salvation? God’s chain of salvation provides Christians with an unshakeable assurance. Presentation 21

  11. How to Grow as a Christian Life in the Spirit: 8:1-39 The Super-invincibility of the Believer 8:28-39 Climbing to the peak of this great doctrinal section of the epistle, we may be a little out of breath, but the view is worth it. We look back down and see all that God has accomplished. Our journey has brought us through the bog of man’s depravity in chaps. 1-3. We have found the welcome solid ground of justification by faith in ch. 4. We have feasted on the orchard fruits of that justification in ch. 5. In ch. 6 we discovered, to our relief, that the path along which we travel provides freedom from the tyranny and dominion of sin. We found a similar freedom from the tyranny of the law in ch. 7. Presentation 21

  12. How to Grow as a Christian Life in the Spirit: 8:1-39 The Super-invincibility of the Believer 8:28-39 The terrain, however, remains steep and rocky so that the whole of our journey will continue to be marked by conflict and struggle. In ch. 8, the sunshine breaks out from behind the clouds, and the sweet fresh air of what lies ahead begins to excite us. A clearer view of what awaits us helps us to cope with the difficulty and suffering we experience on the climb. Glory is our goal! That sunshine is at times obscured by the perplexing circumstances which surround our lives, we wonder if we will make it to the top. Then we recognise that God presses every difficulty and hardship into his service for our good. Presentation 21

  13. How to Grow as a Christian Life in the Spirit: 8:1-39 The Super-invincibility of the Believer 8:28-39 The Practical Benefits of Trials: God’s Chain of Salvation v29-30 There are no weak links in the chain of God’s salvation! Our arrival in glory does not depend upon our hold on God but upon his hold on us! Paul now asks a series of questions, designed to bring his teaching on assurance to a glorious climax and the whole doctrinal section of this marvellous epistle to a conclusion. Presentation 21

  14. How to Grow as a Christian Life in the Spirit: 8:1-39 The Super-invincibility of the Believer 8:28-39 The Insignificance of the Opposition. v31 An 11-year-old-pupil called Frazer was 1.8 metres tall and built like a tank . His friend was tiny. Some class bullies agreed to harm the little boy after school. But when they found him Frazer at his side. The opposition melted away! The opposition was insignificant when Frazer was around and the small boy no longer feared the classroom bullies. That illustrates Paul’s point in v31'If God is for us who can be against us?’ Whether it is the hatred of men or the menace of hell, the opposition is insignificant, when we live life under the shadow of God’s protection. Presentation 21

  15. How to Grow as a Christian Life in the Spirit: 8:1-39 The Super-invincibility of the Believer 8:28-39 God's Continuing Commitment towards us. v32 In order to show that we can rely on God's continuing commitment towards us, Paul asks a supplementary question in v32...Follow the logic of his argument! If, in order to gain our salvation, God was prepared to sacrifice his own dear Son for us, he will surely not withhold his power in order to keep us safe. With that initial costly investment in our lives, is God likely to withhold anything else necessary to bring us to glory? Illustration: If a rich benefactor was prepared to give you a billion dollars would he be reluctant to provide a bag to carry it in. Presentation 21

  16. How to Grow as a Christian Life in the Spirit: 8:1-39 The Super-invincibility of the Believer 8:28-39 What if we are Called to Account? v33 The next important question found in v33... is addressed to the accusing voices that at times trouble the Christian. The phrase ‘to bring any charge' translates a word that means ‘to call into question'. When we are called into question, anxiety and uncertainty have a corrosive effect on our peace of mind. Illustration: In a work situation, if an employer calls your work into question you are very unsettled. A great sense of insecurity dogs your steps. A great question mark hangs over your position. You wonder when your letter of dismissal will arrive. Presentation 21

  17. How to Grow as a Christian Life in the Spirit: 8:1-39 The Super-invincibility of the Believer 8:28-39 What if we are Called to Account? v33 This sense of anxiety is intensified a thousand-fold if we think that God has placed a question mark over our lives. The horror produced by the thought of being dismissed from God’s presence is very unsettling. Satan uses accusations to stir up disquiet in our hearts. But accusation has no legitimate place in the Christian’s life. Paul tells us that God alone has the right to call our lives into question. But the God who has that right is, in fact, the God who justifies. And justification, which rests upon the finished work of Christ, removes every question mark from our lives. Presentation 21

  18. How to Grow as a Christian Life in the Spirit: 8:1-39 The Super-invincibility of the Believer 8:28-39 Who is he that Condemns? v34 The word ‘condemnation’ points forward to the day of judgement. Judgement is the prerogative of Jesus cf Jn. 8:22. Man stands before his holiness, knowing he deserves to be punished. Paul's argument is that the one who has the right to judge and condemn men, has through his death already dealt with the condemnation of the justified man [cf. 8.1]. As a result and on their behalf he assumes a quite different role. Instead of condemning those who trusted in him, he acts as their heavenly advocate. Jesus is the only advocate who has never lost a case. Presentation 21

  19. How to Grow as a Christian Life in the Spirit: 8:1-39 The Super-invincibility of the Believer 8:28-39 Who can separate us from the love of Christ? v35 The final question in v35 should strengthen the Christian’s assurance. The fear lurking in the hearts of many is that something might cause God to stop loving them. The Christian is bound to God’s heart with an indissoluble love. If our sin could not separate us from God, [and the gift of justification demonstrates that it could not] then God is hardly likely to allow lesser things like trouble, hardship, persecution, hunger, nakedness, danger or death to do so. These things cannot diminish God’s love. The very idea defies family logic. Presentation 21

  20. How to Grow as a Christian Life in the Spirit: 8:1-39 The Super-invincibility of the Believer 8:28-39 Who can separate us from the love of Christ? v35 The Father doesn’t care less for his child because he is in difficulty; but makes him, ‘huperoikomen’, an ‘over-conqueror' or 'super-conqueror’- a new Greek term Paul coins. If a conqueror is a person who defeats his enemy, what then an over-conqueror, or super- conqueror causes an enemy to become a helper! Not only do the hardships mentioned do us no lasting harm, they will do us lasting good. Satan claims these hardships are crowbars used to separate us from Christ’s love, but, they are God’s strong chains that bind us securely to Christ. Presentation 21

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