Year 2, Week 46, Day 1 Bible Reading Observations

Year 2, Week 46, Day 1

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of Roman 8-9.

Today’s reading continues Paul’s letter to the Church in Rome. Romans, the longest of Paul’s letters, is a systematic explanation of the Gospel. Romans 8, which completes the segment of Paul’s explanation of the Gospel as it focuses on a believer’s sanctification, highlights the operations of the Holy Spirit in a believer’s life: "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God” (Romans 8:14). But Romans 8 also frames the Spirit’s operations within the security of the believer: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:1,38-39). Today’s reading from Romans 9 begins a new segment, which runs through Romans 11, and focuses on Paul’s explanation of how the Gospel has not failed the Jews: “I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Romans 9:1-3).

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading was Paul’s emphasis upon the reality of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling in all believers: “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” (Romans 8:9-11). An essential aspect of being a true follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, was the presence of the Holy Spirit within a believer. Romans 8 is a crucial explanation of the practical roles that the Holy Spirit’s presence does in a believer’s life. Paul orients the Holy Spirit’s operation around the believer’s battle with sin as well as suffering.

The Holy Spirit empowers believers to fight against the sin that remains in them: "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” (Romans 8:13). Paul speaks of the Holy Spirit's indwelling operations against sin by speaking of two realms in which life can operate: "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. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:5-6). A believer is called to operate in the realm of the Spirit so that a life would be lived that is pleasing to God: "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. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:7-8). In now belonging to Christ, believers are obligated (and enabled) to live in the realm of the Spirit: "So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh” (Romans 8:12). Walking in the Spirit results in a different kind of life: "in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:4). A lawful life is fulfilled in believers by the work of the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit also enables believers to persevere and overcome the onslaught of suffering in this life: "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37). The things that Paul references that believers overcome is a whole host of suffering: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered” (Romans 8:35-36). Paul works under the assumption that suffering is still normative in this life, even for believers: "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us…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” (Romans 8:18,23). The Spirit assures amid suffering: "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” (Romans 8:16-17). The Spirit also intercedes during suffering: “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26). And since the Spirit perfectly knows the mind and will of God, His intercessions amid sufferings provide sustaining strength to persevere as we are assured that God is working out the sufferings in our lives to accomplish His purposes for our lives: "And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:27-28).

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe