Page 56 - Romans Student Textbook.doc

We are obligated to live by God’s Spirit and not to live by the dictates of the flesh which lead to fear and
death. (8:12-17)

This redeemed relationship with God through the work of Christ leaves the believer graciously free yet at
the same time it leaves the believer with a significant obligation. That obligation can be described by the
phrase, “Live up to who you are!” This paragraph describes who the believer is with these labels, “sons of
God” (v. 14), “children of God” (v. 16), “heirs of God” (v. 17), and “fellow heirs with Christ” (v.17). The
point is that through the work of Christ the believer is adopted into the family of God and as a family
member has been empowered by the Spirit of God to live lives that please God — lives that live up to who
they are in Christ.

Believers are obliged to put to death the law of sin and death that is the default orientation of the flesh by
consciously cooperating with and depending upon God’s Holy Spirit to enable them to follow His lead as
He reveals it to them in His Word. As a result of the Spirit’s work, the believer can call God “Father” with
integrity.

All creation hopes patiently for the day when the present corruption of the created order will be done
away with so that the glory of God’s redemption shall shine. (8:18-25)

Many times, we are tempted to think of salvation in very self-centered ways. People make well-meaning
statements like, “If I was the only sinner, Jesus would have died to save me.” Though such statements
may be intended to get us to wonder at the depths of God’s love they often betray a very egocentric way
of looking at things. None of us are the center of the universe and I believe it is with that in mind that Paul
used the next paragraph to point out that the redemption of Jesus through his work in His life, death, and
resurrection impacted all of God’s creation not just His image-bearers. Paul has just invested a whole
chapter in explaining the relationship between the law and sin in which he expressed the agony of
suffering from inability to resist sin without the help of God. In this paragraph he returned to the theme of
suffering because suffering is and will be a reality until the return of Christ to judge sin finally and do away
with all of its results totally. Those who faithfully wait for that day are still subject to suffering, but it is a
suffering that is faced with hope. That was Paul’s point when he wrote, “For I consider that the sufferings
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of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” To keep them
from becoming self-centered in their hope Paul pointed out that such a hope is actually the expectation of
all of the created order. Mankind’s sin has subjected all of the creation to corruption. Sin impacted
everything and twisted God’s good creation in ways that cause immense suffering. Jesus’ life, death and
resurrection provided a redemption that did not just impact believing image-bearers, but that actually
redeemed all of God’s sin-tainted created order.

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There is coming a day when all things will be set right. This paragraph lifted the eyes of the believers off
of themselves and reminded them that it is God’s glory displayed everywhere in His creation that matters
more than anything else. It is His New Heavens and New Earth that we look forward to with faithful
expectation. That faithful expectation is the heart of our hope. It is the hope of the Spirit’s fruit-bearing
work in us that motivates our eagerness to see that day come (v. 23).

God works in us by His Holy Spirit to help us live in the present days with confidence in God’s sovereign
plan for showing His glory to all of the created order. (8:26-30)

As people live in the here and now, they do so having to still deal with the distorting results of sin’s
presence clearly before them. Things happen that the children of God don’t understand. Some people
prosper, but many others suffer poverty. Some people are healthy, but other people become severely ill.

50 Romans 8:18, ESV.
51 Revelation 21-22.

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