Unit 3: Liberating Letters
Key Verse:
Romans 8:18 NLT
18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.
The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand … Focus…!
What you need to know
Romans 7:24 NKJV
24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
Briefly, I wanted to touch on Chapter 7 of Romans, where Paul spoke of the struggle within. Paul recognized that the compulsion to sin still remained, though he was saved and identified completely with Christ. He described a “warring within his members” that effectively condemned him, subjecting him to ‘the law of sin’. He closed the chapter with the plea, “O wretched man that I am! Who will save me from this body of death?” I wanted to open here because Paul describes an actual scenario that very few are aware of. In Roman prisons, it was common to chain prisoners, one to another. The same was true during the times of the slave trade, when slaves were chained together in the hull of the slave ships. When a sickness broke out among the prisoners in Rome, or among the slaves imprisoned within the hulls of the ships of their captors, they would not be isolated, or socially distanced from one another. What would occur was that the prisoners would die en masse. It was a miserable death, with no medication, no hope. If the person to whom you were chained died, you remained chained to them, most probably until your own death occurred. Thus, in your own mind, whether enclosed in a dark Roman prison or the hull of a dark European slave ship, you were ensconced in hopelessness, chained to a corpse that all but ensured that you, too, would die as horribly as the person whose cold, lifeless body you were still chained. Paul reckoned that the ‘sin’ that raged in his members was just as deadly.
Romans 7:25 NKJV
25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
But Paul understood that the answer resided outside of himself. The answer was Jesus. He understood that a mind stayed on Jesus provided him freedom from the law of sin that warred within his members.
Romans 8:1 NKJV
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who[a] do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
Paul then makes one of the most momentous declarations of the Christian experience, that there is “no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus…”. What allows us to walk in freedom, free from the condemnation of sin, is to continuously walk in the knowledge that real condemnation does not come to us from Heaven. We abide in Christ and are, therefore, free from condemnation. There is only one Judge, God the Father, and He has declared that we are eternally free because of what Christ accomplished at the cross. Free. The task before us, walk in the knowledge of that freedom. Just know that you have been ‘made’ free Christ.
Romans 8:2 NKJV
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
I’m free. Separated from that ‘body of sin’ by Christ. I am separated, I am being separated, and I will be separated in glory from the sin in my members that brings torment.
The Lesson
Romans 8:18 NLT
18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.
So now, whether our present torment is internal or external, it cannot remain. Our eventuality is in Heaven. And Heaven… is glorious. Everything about it and everything in it is…glorious. Nothing we experience here can compare to what awaits us there.
Romans 8:19 NLT
19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are.
Here is a wonder. The Bible says that creation expectantly awaits the appearing of the ‘sons (and daughters) of God. The implication here is that ‘creation’ is painfully aware of its fallen state and is awaiting the ‘appointed time’ when the ‘sons’ of God, those who have been redeemed, come into the full awareness of just exactly who we are in Christ and what we glory rests within us in Christ. The appropriate rendering of the term used here is, ‘the mature or maturing sons of God’. Thus, the imperative before us is that we ‘grow up’, ‘sober up’, and be the ambassadors of Heaven that God intends that we be. Peter asked us rhetorically, “what kind of persons should we be, living in holiness, as we see the day of the Lord approaching, and hasten (or speed) His appearing?” John wrote, “when He (Christ) appears, we will be like Him.” My grandmother used to tell me, “Look up, child! Your redemption is drawing nigh!” Look up Church! Your redemption is drawing nigh!
Romans 8:20-21 NLT
20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.
Again, all of creation is painfully aware of its fallen state and the suffering that has since occurred as a result. From the fall of Adam, the earth has suffered under the weight of the curse of sin. However, creation existed before man, thus it knows what man does not fully comprehend: the glorious eventuality of full redemption and restoration before God in Heaven on the Day when Christ rests from all of His work and sits eternally enthroned next to His Father in Heaven. Yes, Beloved. On that great Day of the Lord, all of creation will join the children of God, rejoicing in the freedom that redemption will bring, that Christ has purchased for us with His shed blood.
Romans 8:22 NLT
22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
Paul continues to press the point that the observable creation has been belabored by the weight of the curse of sin. Creation, too, has been chained to the ‘body of sin’ and suffers torment as a result. Beloved, consider this: In our lifetime, we have seen the debilitating effects of climate change upon our planet. We suffer the political and social ramifications associated with the masses of humanity who are forced to leave their homes as a result of the fact that their homeland can no longer support the population agriculturally. They literally cannot grow enough food to sustain them. Beloved, this is the result and an extension of the curse, as God escribed it to Adam, that the ground would not yield sustenance without pain. This phenomenon of suffering has only grown worse over time. Creation groans under the torment of the curse of sin to this very day.
Romans 8:23 NLT
23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children,[a] including the new bodies he has promised us.
Paul hearkens back to his statement at the end of Chapter Seven when he states that we, like creation, also groan under the weight of sin. But, where creation existed before the fall and longs for the return to the expanse of the glory of God from which it has been separated, we, God’s children, have had only a foretaste of that same knowledge imparted to us through the indwelling presence of the precious Holy Spirit. Paul said, “We see as through a glass darkly”. The songwriter sang, “I can only Imagine”. Beloved, we don’t quite get it all the time, carried away by the cares and concerns of the world around us, but redemption awaits us, all who have believed. There will come a day when we are forever separated from this body of sin that is subject to death and decay, and given our new eternal bodies that will never know death but will forever stand in the presence of God, who is Holy.
Romans 8:24-25 NLT
24 We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope[b] for it. 25 But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)
Therefore Beloved, we await in hope for this glorious redemption that has been promised to us by God, by and in His Holy Word. We were saved, we are being saved, and, most assuredly, we will be saved. Our hope will not be deferred.
Romans 8:26 NLT
26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.
Earlier this week, I was discussing this passage at length with a very good friend. When I finished an extended portion of the discussion, my friend exclaimed, “Huh! All of that, and you did not once mention speaking in tongues.” I couldn’t help but chuckle. You see, he and I had so argued this point in the past, that assumed that I would naturally retreat to my default position on this verse and the next being descriptive of the manifestation of the gift of the Spirit, specifically the gift of tongues. Okay, I repent. I’ll discuss the manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit here. After all, I speak in tongues. I pray in tongues. I sing in tongues.
Beloved, I can argue that there are several mentions of the manifestations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in scripture. Obviously, it was prophesied in the Old Testament in the Books of Isaiah (Isa. 28:11) and Joel (Joel 2:28). But we see several accounts of the manifestation of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts. So much so, that modern-day publishers of the Bible are divided on the expanded title of the Book of Acts. Some publishers title it “The Book of the Acts of the Apostles”, while others (correctly) title it “The Acts of the Holy Spirit”, thereby acknowledging that none of what occurred in the Book of Acts happened without the volition of the Holy Ghost.
Additionally, I’ll argue that Paul mentions the manifestation of the Spirit, most specifically in 1 Corinthians, but also here in this passage of Romans. Additionally, Jude mentions praying under the unction of the Holy Spirit. Concentrating on this passage in Romans, I’ll just say that there is a place in the human experience where the pain of suffering is so great that it cannot be expressed in words. For those who do not speak in tongues, I’m good with the thought that we are so loved by God that He sends the comforter to console us and to intercede on our behalf as we groan in our mournings. But, I also find comfort in the fact that God has extended gifts to men, spiritual gifts available for our use in our time of need to strengthen ourselves in our most holy faith, again through groanings that, by that definition, are unintelligible to human understanding. If The Holy Spirit has given you a prayer language, use it. Use it as the Holy Spirit leads you! It is a gift!
Jude 20 NLT
20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
1 Corinthians 14:18 NLT
18 I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all…
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Romans 8:27 NLT
27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers[c] in harmony with God’s own will.
Paul completes the thought by informing his audience that at this point, the Holy Spirit and the Father take up your cause and begin to work together in harmony on your behalf.
Romans 8:28 NLT
28 And we know that God causes everything to work together[d] for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
And now, at the behest of the Holy Spirit, and on your behalf, God begins to move Heaven and Earth on your behalf and to your eventual benefit. God can and does use every circumstance that occurs in your life to your eventual benefit, no matter how dire that present circumstance may appear. I understand that some have been through horrible, horrible circumstances, much of which was forced onto them by outside forces, but Beloved, God hears. God hears and moves. And while His design may be different than what you might have hoped, He always has your benefit in mind.
Romans 8:29-30 NLT
29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn[e] among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.
Beloved, much of what transpires here on earth will not be resolved until we all stand before God in judgment. Beloved, be reminded that all of creation is burdened under the weight of sin. There is so much injustice in the earth, so much pain undeserved. Rest assured that God sees. He sees all that has transpired, and on that great and terrible Day of the Lord, He will set all things aright. You can trust Him. When you cannot discern His hand, you can trust His heart. Millions of people have been unjustly persecuted on behalf of the systems; the governments, and economies of fallen systems throughout the history of man. The suffering persists to this day and will continue until the Day of the Lord. Rest assured. Justice will be done. Rejoice Beloved. I am convinced that nothing can separate us from God’s love.
Revelation 6:9-10 NLT
9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
Romans 8:38-39 NLT
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[p] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Selah,
wb
Galatians 2:20 NLT
20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
