Feb 10, 2011 What I Hope We Gain From One Magnificent Chapter
Originally posted on September 7, 2006
Here we stand at Romans 8. Here in Romans 8, we will walk for three months. Here is what I hope we gain from this magnificent chapter of the Bible.
I must say, before I tell you what I hope we gain from Romans 8, that I can’t fully explain it. I don’t know enough about Romans 8 to know what to hope for from it. I don’t know how to use the English language well enough to know how to express in words the limited things I do hope for. But, I will make a humble attempt.
It all centers in the phrase, “for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Romans, being in the Bible, is where we look for definitions. The definition of a Christian is one who is “in Christ.” In Romans 6-8 we find that a Christian is someone who is united to Christ in a life and eternity determining way. A person becomes united with Christ as a gift of God’s grace received by faith in Christ. When this happens, the many aspects of salvation become real for us who are “in Christ.”
Romans 8 lays out in detail the realities of our salvation: no condemnation for sin, the gift of the Spirit for killing sin in our lives, the leadership of the Spirit in our lives, our adoption into God’s family as His children, the future hope of heaven to sustain us in our present sufferings, the help of the Spirit in our weakness, the work of God in us to conform us to the image of Christ, and security in the unquenchable love of God for us.
Based on the rich truth of the realities of our salvation laid out in Romans 8, I hope for these things. First, I hope that many will come to be in Christ Jesus. Pray with me for people to come to faith in Christ as they hear the message of Romans 8. Invite people to church on Sundays or to Community Group on Wednesdays. Share the truth of Romans 8 with people during the week.
Second, I hope that those of us who are in Christ Jesus will be awakened to greatly exult in our salvation and energized to live from the foundation of our salvation. The saddest thing I know, apart from not being in Christ, is being in Christ and not knowing the power and joy of our salvation. Let’s commit to pray that we will not seek our joy in the cheap thrills and quick emotional fixes of the world, but that we will glory in our Redeemer through the mediation on the truth of Romans 8.
In short, I hope we are not the same because of our time in Romans 8. May God visit us in power as we humbly search His word for the truth that will awaken and sustain our souls.
Pastor Scott