Groaning in Hope

Reading:  Romans 8:18-25
    
    As children of God, we stand to inherit with Christ—as long as we are willing to suffer with him.  “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us”(Rom 8:18).  That hope of glory buoys us through the sufferings and difficulties of our present life.  Something great is coming!  It’s going to happen to me!  “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God”(Rom 8:19).  Paul speaks of inanimate creation longing for the consummation of God’s plan to redeem the bodies (Rom 8:23) of his sons.  Alongside our glorification, there is some kind of hope for the creation:  “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”(Rom 8:21).  What this will look like is not spelled out here, but Paul hints that the coming age might not mean the end of the material creation.

    This longing is described vividly as groaning.  “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now”(Rom 8:22).  Something great is coming!  “And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies”(Rom 8:23).  We also groan because we are awaiting a better body—one redeemed and free from the taint of death and decay that comes from sin.  But our groaning is not merely complaining and frustration.  It is groaning in hope because we are assured that something better is coming that is not worth comparing to our present sufferings.

    Christians must do more than express discontent with the current state of things.  We must groan in hope—renewing our belief that something better is coming, reminding ourselves of how glorious it will be, and steeling ourselves for the time in which we must wait.

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One Thing to Think About:  Do I believe that the best is yet to come? 

One Thing to Pray For:  A spirit of hopeful groaning
 

Heirs of God

Reading:  Romans 8:12-17
    
    Since it is the Spirit (not the flesh) that offers hope of eternal life (Rom 8:11), Christians are obligated to live now by following the Spirit.  “So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.  For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live”(Rom 8:12-13).  The paths here are clear:  living by the flesh produces death while following the Spirit brings life (now and in the future).  Yet we also learn that we gain power by the Spirit to eliminate our old ways of living (“by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body”) that we did not have before coming to Jesus (Rom 7:18).

    But the Spirit also confirms a new relationship we have with God.  “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba!  Father!’”(Rom 8:15).  God has sent us his Spirit in part to confirm to us that we are more than simply his servants.  He is not merely our master.  We are adopted sons and daughters, welcomed into his family and honored to call him Father.  “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him”(Rom 8:16-17).   As God’s children, we also stand to receive the blessings of the family.  Alongside Jesus (!), we bask in the approval of the Father and anticipate the prospect of future glory (Rom 8:17).  This assurance drives us through times of suffering because we remember that Jesus suffered before his own exaltation.

    When we live according to the flesh, the “spirit of slavery” bears witness with our spirit that we are unworthy of God’s favor or blessing.  We deserve death.  Yet when we are set free to live according to the Spirit—when we start using his power to eliminate evil from our hearts and bodies—the spirit of adoption speaks alongside our own spirits that God has bigger plans for us.  He longs to bless us and make us his heirs.  So we suffer now and keep following the Spirit, knowing the great glory that awaits us.

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One Thing to Think About:  Why does suffering often precede glory (Rom 8:17)? 

One Thing to Pray For:  A deeper awareness of my acceptance as God’s child
 

The Hope of the Spirit

Reading:  Romans 8:5-11
    
    Paul has been arguing that Christians can’t keep sinning because we have died to (Rom 7:4) and been set free from (Rom 8:2) the Law of Moses.  We now have a new allegiance.  “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit”(Rom 8:5).  “Setting the mind” stresses the things we choose to continually think about and give our allegiance to.  Our minds have changed.  We do not think in worldly ways—or even in ways we once did.  “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot”(Rom 8:7).  Rather than remaining “hostile to God,” we focus on the Spirit and his leading. 

    We set our minds on the Spirit because he dwells in us as a sign that we belong to Christ. “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.  Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.  But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.  If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you”(Rom 8:9-11).    So despite our past history in sin (“the body is dead because of sin”) we still have hope of a resurrected body through the regenerating power of the Spirit (“the Spirit is life because of righteousness”).  The hope of the Spirit is that the same power that raised Jesus will raise our bodies.  With such a hope, how could we go back to sin?

    Setting our minds on spiritual things will mean renewing ourselves in the hope the Spirit holds out for us.  My body is continually giving in to decay, but he will “give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you”(Rom 8:11).  This hope also creates a new perspective on sin:  that it could rob me of the incredible gift God offers me through Jesus.

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One Thing to Think About:  What is my mind “set” on?

One Thing to Pray For:  Renewal of the hope of the resurrection of my body
 

No Condemnation

Reading:  Romans 7:21-8:4
    
    In remembering his life under the Law of Moses, Paul has discovered a strange pattern.  “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand”(Rom 7:21).  He ends up doing what he doesn’t want to do.  “For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.  Wretched man that I am!  Who will deliver me from this body of death?”(Rom 7:22-24).  What Paul needs is not more teaching about sin.  He does not simply need to try harder.  He needs to be delivered and set free.  “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”(Rom 7:25).  Christians do not continue living in this state of slavery; Jesus has rescued us from it.

    So where does that leave Paul—and all Christians—now?  “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”(Rom 8:1).  No condemnation—even though we have done things that deserve condemnation.  No condemnation—even though we have enslaved ourselves to sin.  Now we serve under a new law:  “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death”(Rom 8:2).  We are no longer subject to the “law” that we cannot do the right thing (see Rom 7:21).  Unlike our previous state of slavery, we “walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit”(Rom 8:4).  Now we are liberated and alive and empowered by God!  Jesus has done for us what we could never do for ourselves!

    No condemnation!  In Jesus, we can rest easy, at peace with God.  Our past is behind us.  Now we have the power and strength through the Spirit to actually do the good things we long to do.  Praise God!

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One Thing to Think About:  What changes can I make now that I couldn’t make before?

One Thing to Pray For:  The peace that comes from being “in Christ Jesus”
 

The Frustration of Slavery to Sin

Reading:  Romans 7:13-20
    
    Paul is describing our need to be set free from the Law of Moses.  He has detailed (Rom 7:7-12) how the Law’s prohibitions actually tempted him to sin.  “Did that which is good, then, bring death to me?  By no means!  It was sin, producing death in me through what is good”(Rom 7:13).  Sin, not the Law, is the culprit.  “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin”(Rom 7:14).  It is important that we remember in the following verses that Paul is talking about the time when he lived under the Law of Moses and was sold under sin—not how he lives now in Christ.

    Living in slavery to sin is frustrating.  “For I do not understand my own actions.  For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate”(Rom 7:15).  He says this in different ways:  “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.  For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.  For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing”(Rom 7:18-19).  Paul wants to keep the Law, but instead he keeps finding himself sinning.  His desire is sincere, but he is not able to consistently do what he wants to do.  “Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me”(Rom 7:20).  His frustration just proves his point:  someone else is in charge.  He is a slave to sin.  He needs to be set free.  Only Jesus can do for him what the Law could not:  liberate him from this agonizing slavery (Rom 8:2-3).

    We relate to this passage because we have lived in slavery to sin.  We have struggled with not having the power to put sin behind us.  We know what it is to want to do right but continually find ourselves failing.  It is important for us to remember how desperate things were so that we can see the forgiveness and liberation Jesus brings.  It also will help our efforts to teach others; knowing how frustrating that state is will help us appeal to others to come out of it. 

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One Thing to Think About:  Do I remember what it was like to be a slave to sin?  Am I currently enslaved?

One Thing to Pray For:  Opportunities to help others find liberation in Jesus