8:11The Holy Spirit is God’s promise or guarantee of eternal life for those who believe in him. The Spirit is within us now by faith, and by faith we are certain to live with Christ forever. See Romans 8:23: 1 Corinthians 6:14; 2 Corinthians 4:14; 1 Thessalonians 4:14.
Life Application Study BibleRomansChapter 8
Romans 8
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910
A few verse numbers on this page were hard to read in the scan and are marked with a dotted underline — compare with the original page image if in doubt.
8Romans 8
Life in the Spirit
1So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2And because you belong to him, the power* of the life-giving Spirit has freed you* from the power of sin that leads to death. 3The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature.* So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son ina body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 4He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit. 5Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. 6So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. 7For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. Itnever did obey God’s laws, and it never will. 8That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. 9But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of 7:18 Greek my flesh; also in 7:25. 7:23 Greek /aw; also in 7:23b. 8:2a Greek the law; also in 8:2b. 8:2b Some manuscripts read me. 8:3 Greek our flesh; similarly in 8:4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) 10And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life* because you have been made right with God. 11The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. 12Therefore, dear brothers and sisters,* you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature,* you will live. “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children* of God. 15So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.* Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”* 16For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. 17And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.
The Future Glory
1818Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. 19For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23And 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,* including the new bodies he has promised us. “4We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope* for it. 25But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.) 26And 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. 27And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. 28And we know that God causes everything to work together* for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30And 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.;
Nothing Can Separate Us from God's Love
3131What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. 35Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36(As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”*) 37No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. 38And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,* neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. 9No 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. 4. Israel’s past, present, and future
Textual footnotes
- also in 8:19.
- 8:10 Or your spirit is alive.
- 8:12 Greek brothers; also in 8:29.
- 8:13 Greek deeds of the body.
- 8:14 Greek sons;
- 8:15a Greek you received a spirit of sonship. 8:15b Abba is an Aramaic term for “father.”
- 8:23 Greek wait anxiously for sonship.
- 8:24 Some manuscripts read wait.
- 8:28 Some manuscripts read And we know that everything works together. 8:36 Ps 44:22.
- 8:38 Greek nor rulers.
Life Application Notes 11 notes
8:13When we turn away from sin’s appeal in the Holy Spirit’s power, regarding sin as dead, we can ignore temptation when it comes (see 6:11; Galatians 5:24).
8:14-17Paul uses adoption to illustrate the believer's new relationship with God. In Roman culture, the adopted person lost all tights in his old family and gained all the rights of a legitimate child in his new family. He became a full heir to his new father’s estate. Likewise, when a person becomes a Christian, he or she gains all the privileges and responsibilities of a child in God’s family. One of these outstanding privileges is being led by the Spirit (see Galatians 4:5, 6). We may not always feel as though we belong to God, but the Holy Spirit is our witness. His inward presence reminds us of who we are and encourages us with God’s love (5:5).
8:14-17We are no longer jike “fearful slaves”; instead, we are the Master’s children. What a privilege! Because we are God’s children, we share in great treasures as co-heirs. God has already given us his best gifts: his Son, his Holy Spirit, forgiveness, and eternal life; and he encourages us to ask him for whatever we need.
8:17There is a price for being identified with Jesus. Along with being “heirs of God's glory,” Paul also mentions the suffering that Christians must face. What kinds of suffering are we to endure? For first-century believers, there was economic and social persecution, and some even faced death. We, too, must pay a price for following Jesus. In many parts of today’s world, Christians face pressures just as severe as those faced by Christ's first followers. Even in countries where Christianity is tolerated or encouraged, Christians must not become complacent. To live as Jesus did—serving others, giving up one’s rights, resisting pressures to conform to the world—always exacts a price. Nothing we suffer, however, can compare to the great price that Jesus paid to save us.
8:19-22Sin has caused all creation to fall from the perfect state in which God created it. The world is in bondage to death and decay so that it cannot fulfill its intended purpose. One day ail creation will be liberated and transformed. Until that time it waits in eager expectation for the resurrection of God's children.
8:19-22Christians see the world as it is—physically decaying and spiritually infected with sin. But Christians do not need to be pessimistic, because they have hope for future glory. They lock forward to the new heaven and new earth that God has promised, and they wait for God’s new order that will free the world from sin, sickness, and evil. In the meantime, Christians go with Christ into the world where they heal people’s bodies and souls and fight the evit effects of sin in the world.
8:23We will be resurrected with glorified bodies tike the body Christ now has in heaven (see 1 Corinthians 15:25-58). We have the “foretaste,” the first installment or down payment of future glory—the Holy Spirit—as a guarantee of our resurrection life (see 2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5; Ephesians 1:14).
8:24,25It is natural for children to trust their parents, even though parents sometimes fail to keep their promises. Our heavenly Father, however, never makes promises he won't keep. Nevertheless his plan may take more time than we expect. What are we waiting for? New bodies, a new heaven and new earth, rest and rewards, our eternal family and home, the absence of sin and suffering, and being face to face with Jesus! Rather than acting like impatient children as we wait for God’s will to unfold, we need to have confidence in God’s perfect timing and wisdom.
8:24,25in Romans, Paul presents the idea that salvation is past, present, and future. It is past because we were saved the moment we believed in Jesus Christ as Savior (3:21-26; 5:1-11; 6:1-11, 22,
8:38Powers are unseen forces of evil in the universe, forces like Satan and his fallen angels (see Ephesians 6:12). In Christ we are Super-conquerors, and his love will protect us from any such forces.
Charts, profiles & sidebars from the printed pages
Study feature · page 1909
chose them). What is clear is that God’s purpose for people was not an afterthought; it was settled before the foundation of the world. People are to serve and honor God. If you believe in Christ, you can rejoice in the fact that God has always known you. God’s love is eternal. His wisdom and power are supreme. He will guide and protect you until you one day stand in his presence. 8:30 Called means “summoned or invited.” For more on “right standing” (also called justification) and receiving his glory, see the chart in chapter 3, p. 1899. 8:31-34 Do you ever think that because you aren’t good enough for God, he will not save you? Do you ever feel as if salvation is for everyone else but you? Then these verses are especially for you. If God gave his Son for you, he isn’t going to hold back the gift of salvation! If Christ gave his life for you, he isn’t going to turn around and condemn you! He will not withhold anything you need to live for him. The book of Romans is more than a theological explanation of God’s redeeming grace—t is a letter of comfort and confidence addressed to you. 8:34 Paul says that Jesus is pleading for us in heaven. God has acquitted us and has removed our sin and guilt, so it is Satan, not God, who accuses us. When he does, Jesus, our advocate, sits at God’s right hand to present our case. For more on the concept of Christ as our advocate, see the notes on Hebrews 4:14; 4:15. 8:35, 36 These words were written to a church that would soon undergo terrible persecution. In just a few years, Paul’s hypothetical situations would turn into painful realities. This passage reaffirms God’s profound iove for his peaple. No matter what happens to us, no matter where we are, we can never be separated from his love. Suffering should not drive us away from God but help us to identity with him and allow his love to heai us. 8:35-39 These verses contain one of the most comforting promises in all Scripture. Believers have always had to face hardships in many forms: persecution, illness, imprisonment, and even death. These sometimes cause them to fear that they have been abandoned by Christ. But Paul exclaims that it is impossible to be separated from Christ. His death for us is proof of his unconquerable love. Nothing can separate us from Christ’s presence. God tells us how great his love is so that we will feel totally secure in him. If we believe these overwhelming assurances, we will not be afraid.
23); our new life (eternal life) begins at that moment. And it is present because we are being saved; this is the process of sanctification (see the note on 6:1-8:39). But at the same time, we have not fully received ail the benefits and blessings of salvation that will be ours when Christ's new Kingdom is completely established. That’s our future salvation. While we can be confident of our salvation, we still look ahead with hope and trust toward that complete change of body and personality that lies beyond this life, when we will be like Christ (1 John 3:2). 8:26, 27 Asa believer, you are not left to your own resources to cope with problems. Even when you don’t know the right words to pray, the Holy Spirit prays with and for you, and God answers. With God helping you pray. you don’t need to be afraid to come before him. Ask the Holy Spirit to intercede for you “in harmony with God's own will.” Then, when you bring your requests to God, trust that he will always do what is best. 8:28 God works in “everything’—not just isolated incidents— for our good. This does not mean that all that happens to us is good. Evil is prevalent in our fallen world, but God is able to turn every circumstance around for our long-range good. Note that God is not working to make us happy but to fulfill his purpose. Note also that this promise is not for everybody. It can be claimed only by those who love God and are called by him, that is, those whom the Holy Spirit convinces to receive Christ. Such people have a new perspective, a new mind-set. They trust in God, not in worldly treasures; their security is in heaven, not on earth. Their faith in God does not waver in pain and persecution because they know God is with them. 8:29 God's ultimate goal for us is to make us like Christ (1 John 3:2}. As we become more and more like him, we discover our true Selves, the persons we were created to be. How can we become like Christ? By reading and heeding the Word, by studying his life on earth through the Gospels, by spending time in prayer, by being filled with his Spirit, and by doing his work in the world. 8:29, 30 Some believe these verses mean that before the beginning of the world, God chose certain people to receive his gift of Salvation. They point to verses such as Ephesians 1:11, which says that God “chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.” Others believe that God knew in advance who would respond to him, and upon those he set his mark (he
Study feature · page 1910
Paul asserts that no one can claim to be chosen by God because of his or her heritage or good deeds. God freely chooses to save whomever he wills. The doctrine of election teaches that it is God’s sovereign choice to save us by his goodness and mercy, not by our own merit. 9:12-14 Was it right for God to choose Jacob, the younger, to be over Esau? In Malachi 1:2, 3, the statement “This is how I showed my love for you: I loved your ancestor Jacob, but I rejected his brother Esau” refers to the nations of Israel and Edom rather than to the individual brothers. God chose Jacob to continue the family line of the faithful because he knew his heart was for God. But he did not exclude Esau from knowing and loving him. Keep in mind the kind of God we worship: He is sovereign; he is not arbitrary; in all things he works for our good; he is trustworthy; he will save all who believe in him. When we understand these qualities of God, we know that his choices are good even if we don’t understand all his reasons. 9:16 The fallacy of gaining salvation by human effort remains as strong as ever—people still think good intentions are the key to unlock the door to eternal life. By the time they get to try the lock, they will find that their key does not fit. Others imagine that their efforts are building an invisible ladder to heaven made up of service, family, position, reputation, good work, and desire, although none of these rungs will support a feather. People are so busy trying to reach God that they completely miss the truth