Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded

An overview of chapter 8 before we go into the verse by verse study.

What does Romans chapter 8 mean?

Romans 8 is one of the most loved chapters in all of Scripture. Paul begins and ends this passage with statements about the absolute security of those who are in Christ. First, there is no condemnation, at all, for those in Christ. Last, nothing will ever be able to separate us from God’s love for us in Christ. By this, he refers to those who have been saved by their faith in Jesus (Romans 3:23–26). As Scripture makes clear, the promise of salvation is only given to those who believe in Christ (John 3:16–18). Those who reject Jesus reject God (John 8:19), and will not be saved (John 3:36). For those who come to faith, their salvation is absolutely secure (John 10:28–29). Hardships may test their faith and strengthen it (Hebrews 12:3–11), but they never imply that God has abandoned His children (1 John 3:1). In between these bookends, Paul makes the case for why this is true.

He begins with another simple explanation of the gospel, God’s good news about His Son’s life on earth as a man and death on earth for our sin. That allowed the law to be fulfilled and justice to be done for human sin. Those who come to faith in Christ are described as living according to God’s Holy Spirit. We no longer live according the flesh, as all non-Christians do. Those in the flesh—the world’s way of living for self before and above all else—are hostile to God. They can’t please Him (Romans 8:1–8).

God’s Spirit lives in every Christian. If someone doesn’t have the Spirit, he or she is not a Christian. The Spirit, given to us by God, is the same Holy Spirit that raised Christ from the dead. He will resurrect us, as well, after these sin-wrecked bodies have died (Romans 8:9–11).

This Spirit from God is not a spirit of slavery. God did not save us simply to compel us to do His bidding. Instead, this Spirit is a spirit of adoption. God makes us His sons and daughters. His Spirit makes us able to cry out to God as a little child cries out to their daddy. Since we are heirs of God, we will share in all the glories of God’s kingdom with Christ forever (Romans 8:12–17).

We also share in Christ’s suffering, including the everyday suffering of living on this fallen planet. Paul is quick to say that our suffering here and now is not worth comparing to the glories of eternity, but he doesn’t say that this suffering doesn’t hurt. In fact, Paul writes that we groan right along with all of creation under the consequences of sin. We’re all waiting. Creation waits for God’s children to be revealed and all to be made right once more. We, God’s children, wait for our adoption to be complete in the redemption of our bodies. When that happens, we can be with our Father (Romans 8:18–25).

Until then, we wait and we suffer. But we don’t do it alone. God is with us spiritually in the form of His Holy Spirit, who helps us many different ways. For one, he helps to take our prayers, even our unformed ones, to God’s ears. The Spirit intercedes for us to a God who is searching our hearts (Romans 8:26–27).

While we wait, we can also be absolutely sure of one thing: Our God is for us. He is working out every circumstance for our ultimate good. He chose us before we ever knew Him and destined us to be called, justified, and glorified (Romans 8:28–30).

God being for us means that nobody can ever bring any accusation against us and make it successful. God has already justified us. Christ stands by making intercession for us in that He paid for each and every sin with His own blood (Romans 8:31–36).

That brings us back to where we started. Nothing, no matter how terrible, no matter how powerful, can ever separate us in any way from God’s love for us in Christ (Romans 8:37–39).

Verse by Verse

Verse 1: There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8 is one of the most powerful and popular chapters in all the Bible. In it, Paul describes with great detail what it means to live as Christian, both now and for eternity. The chapter begins, as well, with one of the most comforting statements in all the Bible.

The previous chapter ended with Paul crying out in frustration about his wretchedness and asking who would deliver him from his “body of death.” He answered by giving thanks “to God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 7:25). Now he states absolutely why the gospel is such good news for all who believe.

The Greek words translated as “there is therefore now no,” as in the ESV, are very emphatic. The literal phrasing is Ouden ara nyn katakrima, which accomplishes two things. First, it ties this statement to the claim made in Romans 7:25, according to the word “therefore.” Second, it definitively states a permanent, present, and complete lack of “condemnation,” from a Greek word meaning “a sentence” or “penalty.” In crystal-clear language, the Bible indicates there is absolutely no condemnation for those of us who are in Christ Jesus. None. Zero. Paul’s statement leaves no room for even a tiny bit of condemnation to sneak in.

In short, if you are “in Christ Jesus,” God will never, ever condemn you for any sin whatsoever. The condition of this statement, however, is crucial: salvation is for those who place their faith in Christ (Romans 3:23–26). There is no other way (Acts 4:12), and those who reject this salvation will not be rescued from condemnation (John 3:18).

How can this be? Paul has already built the case in chapters 3—5 of this letter to the Romans. When we place our faith in Christ, God so closely identifies us with His Son that He gives us credit for Jesus’ sinless, righteous life, and He accepts Jesus’ death as payment for our death-deserving sin. Paul put it this way in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

So if God is judging us on the basis of Jesus’ righteousness, how could we ever be condemned? God would never condemn Jesus, so He will never condemn those who are seen by God as being in Christ. And how do we come to be “in Christ”? Only by faith (Romans 5:1, Ephesians 2:8–9).

Verse 2: For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

Paul wrote in the previous verse that there is absolutely no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. This verse begins to describe why that is true, and it has much to do with the Holy Spirit. This is only the second mention of the Holy Spirit in Romans, but merely the first of about 19 mentions of the Spirit in chapter 8!

Why is there no condemnation from God for those in Christ Jesus? The law—or principle—of the Spirit of life has set us free in Christ Jesus from the law—or principle—of sin and death. The word used twice as “law” in this verse does not refer to the law of Moses, about which Paul has written so much in Romans. Instead, it describes the idea of a universal truth.

The first truth or principle is the Spirit of life. Put another way, the Spirit of God always gives or brings life. That notion has set Christians free only in Christ Jesus. Without faith in Christ, we will not be justified by God (Romans 5:1), and if we are not justified we will not receive the Spirit who brings life. Put positively, because we have faith in Christ, God has given to us His Spirit that brings life. That has set us free from the law or principle of sin and death.

That second law is just that sin always, always leads to death. It is the reason we were all condemned to eternal death and separation from God in the first place (Romans 3:23; 6:23). The only way to escape from the law of sin and death is to access the law of the Spirit of life through faith in Christ.

Verse 3: For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,

This verse continues to explain how it is possible that there is no condemnation from God for those who are in Christ Jesus by faith. This was stated in emphatic terms in verse 1, in a statement flowing directly from Paul’s reference to Christ at the end of chapter 7.

Paul has built a clear case that the law of Moses cannot save those who live under it. Instead, the law simply shows that we cannot keep the law (Romans 7:7–12). We cannot escape our sinfulness and make ourselves acceptable to God. He had to step in to save us, and He did. He did what the law—truly, our inability to keep the law—could not do.

What did God do? He sent Jesus, His Son, to earth in a human body just like all the other human bodies. Except Jesus’ body was not full of sin (Hebrews 4:15). He never sinned. God sent Jesus in a body so that He could condemn all sin through the punishment of that one sinless body.

As the following verse will show, God did this because it was necessary to fulfill the law’s requirement of death for sin and life for righteousness.

Verse 4: 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.

Paul is continuing to explain how it can be that God will never condemn those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). In the previous verse, he showed that God acted to save us from the law of sin and death. We were stuck. We all sinned, and we were all condemned to die.

To change this, God sent His Son Jesus to earth as a man who had no sin Himself (Hebrews 4:15). He was sent for sin, to receive God’s condemnation of death for sin once for all in His own sinless body (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Now Paul explains that this was necessary in order to fulfill the righteous requirements of the law. After all, the law of Moses was given by God. It is His law. He fulfilled the requirements of His law by paying out on His own Son the death we had earned with our sin so that justice was done. Sin was paid for.

This was not a universal action for all people as a group. This death for sin was personal. It was Jesus’ death for our sin. The requirement of the law is fulfilled in us, individually. Our personal sin has been paid for by Jesus’ personal death.

Now, Paul concludes, we are the people who no longer walk—or live—by the flesh. We are not self-propelled. Christians walk and live by the Spirit. This does not mean that Christians never sin in our flesh (1 John 1:9–10). It means that we don’t live that way (1 John 3:4–6). All of the life in us comes from God by His Spirit. To the extent that we live at all, we live in the Spirit’s power.

Verse 5: 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.

Paul introduced a big idea in the previous verse. He wrote that Christians do not walk—or live—according to the flesh but according to the Holy Spirit. He didn’t say that Christians should walk by the Spirit. He said that we do. It is no longer our path, our nature, to walk by the flesh.

But what does that mean? What is the difference between walking by the Spirit and walking by the flesh as we used to do before we were Christians? That’s the question the next few verses will answer.

Paul first describes this difference as being about where we set our minds. In other words, what do our minds dwell on most intently? Those who are not Christians, who live by the flesh, think only and ever of things of the flesh. This makes basic sense, but what does it mean? The flesh, as Paul uses the term here, refers to the wants and needs driven by the physical body, and the spiritual approach of this fallen world. Those who walk by the flesh must focus only on meeting those necessarily selfish wants and needs, day after day, year and year.

Those who live by the Spirit, Christians, set their minds on the things of the Spirit. The Spirit is the Holy Spirit, God’s Spirit, who comes to live in and with Christians when they trust in Christ. The Spirit of God in us, not surprisingly, is thinking about godly things. Since we are now alive by the Spirit’s power, we begin to think about godly things, too—things that reach beyond meeting our basic human wants and needs of the moment.

Does this mean the Christians never thinks of things of the flesh or that we never sin? No. Instead, it means our minds are set, pointed, elsewhere. Focus on the flesh, on our sinful, self-serving desires, is not who we are, even when we find ourselves drawn that way.

Verse 6: For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

Paul is describing the difference between living by the flesh—selfish, sinful human wants and desires—and living by God’s Spirit. He has written that those who are in Christ live by the Spirit.

One difference is that those who live by the flesh set their minds on things of flesh and those who live by the Spirit on things of the Spirit. Setting our minds on one or the other leads in two different directions. A focus on our sinful, selfish desires—the flesh—leads to death. That’s the law of sin and death from verse 2. Sin always leads to death. Focusing on the things of the Spirit leads to life and peace. That’s the law of the Spirit of life, also from verse 2.

Notice this: The law of the Spirit of life is what frees us from the law of sin and death. Paul is showing here, though, that God does not intend for it to stop there. We have not just changed status from “death” to “life.” We have changed roads from “the road to death” to “the path of life.” The idea is that we will keep going down this road. That’s what Christians do. They keep their minds focused on the Spirit’s things because that’s the way we’re going. That’s who we are now. We have left the death-way behind.

Verse 7: 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.

Paul has written that a non-Christian’s mind is set on the things of the flesh. That means his or her thoughts are focused on meeting sinful, selfish wants and needs and nothing else. This way of thinking, like all sin, leads to death.

Paul goes further in this verse. The mind set only on the flesh in this way is anti-God. It is against God. It must serve self above all else, including God. This is the mindset of “the world,” which says, “Submit to God’s law? But what if that keeps me from getting what I want?” No, Paul writes, the mind set only on serving self cannot submit to God’s law. That person is not capable of obeying God, no matter how religious he or she might be.

It’s important to be clear. Paul’s teaching here does not allow for the possibility that a Christian might live in the Spirit sometimes and in the flesh at other times. Christians live in the Spirit. Period. Even when we are diverted or distracted by sin (1 John 1:9–10), that’s not because it is who we are. That’s not the path we’re on—sin is a deviation from who we are in Christ (1 John 3:4–6).

Verse 8: Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Paul has just written that non-Christians, those who live by the selfish, self-reliant, sinful flesh, are not capable of submitting to God. That makes sense. After all, living for myself, by definition, means not living for another, including God.

That’s why Paul now writes what sounds like a harsh statement: Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. It’s important to remember two things here. First, Christians are no longer people who are “in the flesh.” Our status has been changed through faith in Christ to “in the Spirit.” Second, when Paul talks about the “flesh” in Romans, he is not just talking about sexual sin, or greed. That’s often how we think of sins of the flesh. The flesh includes all self-serving sins.

Paul also introduces into the conversation the idea of how God feels about people. He is pleased with those who are in Christ because He is pleased with Christ (Matthew 17:5). Our identity with Christ makes all the difference. He is not pleased with those who are only in themselves with their sinful focus on themselves.

We want to be careful here. It is true that God loves the world (John 3:16), but He has expressed that love by sending His Son to make it possible for all who believe to be included in His family. God is pleased by human faith in Him. Without faith, it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6). God’s holiness does not allow for those who reject Him and His Son (John 3:18) to be part of this salvation (John 14:6)

Verse 9: 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.

Paul has been describing the difference between those who live by their own self-reliant, selfish, sinful “flesh” and those who live by the Spirit of God. Paul’s description leaves no room for anyone to both live by the flesh and live by Spirit. Christians live by the Spirit, even if we are sometimes distracted by sin. A true believer in Christ can sin (1 John 1:9–10), but sin is not the normal pattern of behavior for someone who is in Christ (1 John 3:4–6). Non-Christians live by the flesh, serving themselves.

Now Paul makes it clear to his readers, Christians living in Rome, that he understands them to be in the Spirit and not in the flesh. Paul identifies them as Christians, with a stipulation: this is true “if” the Spirit of God lives in you. In modern English, we tend to assume that the word “if” implies doubt, when sometimes it simply connects two ideas. This phrase might be better read as a condition which is assumed to be true. In other words, “You are in the Spirit since the Spirit of God dwells in you.”

The reverse is also true: If someone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he or she does not belong to Christ. Paul leaves no room for Christians who do not have God’s Spirit with them. God gives His Holy Spirit to every Christian. Without the Spirit, we are not Christians (1 Corinthians 3:16; 2 Timothy 1:14).

Notice that this verse very much supports the idea of the Trinity. God is three persons in one: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Spirit here is referred to both as the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ, though it is the same being. In addition, the Spirit of God is said to live in Christians in this verse and Christ is said to be “in you” in the following verse. This corresponds to the idea of three different persons in one Godhead.

Verse 10: But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

This passage has indicated that the presence of God’s Holy Spirit in a person is necessary for that person to be a Christian. Every truly saved, born-again believer—every real “Christian”—has the Spirit. Without the Spirit, that person does not belong to Christ.

Now Paul writes two things that are true of those with Christ living within them. On the one hand, the body is dead because of sin. This likely means that our human, physical, temporary body is dying and will eventually die as the result of sin in us and in the world. Our bodies are not yet renewed—though they will be (1 John 3:2; 1 Thessalonians 4:16).

On the other hand, the Spirit is life—or gives life—because of righteousness. This phrase is a little trickier to translate. Some Bible teachers understand the Greek word for Spirit here, pneuma, as a reference to our human spirits. In that case, this verse would read that our spirits are alive. Others translate pneuma here as God’s Spirit once more, meaning that that the Spirit gives us life. In the original Greek, there was no punctuation, and no lowercase letters—meaning there is no quick-and-easy way to know the writer’s intent. Context is key.

In either case, the idea is that having Christ in us means that we are spiritually alive, in the Spirit, even though our sin-ridden bodies are still dying because of sin. Without Christ, without the Holy Spirit, we are spiritually dead. There is no spiritual life in us. The fact that there is spiritual life in us is because of righteousness. That does not mean it is because we are righteous. It means that we have been given credit for Christ’s righteousness (Romans 5:21).

Verse 11: 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.

Paul wrote in the previous verse that Christians are spiritually alive, because of God’s Spirit with us, but that our physical bodies are dying and will die because of sin (Romans 5:12).

Now, though, Paul assures his Christian readers that their physical bodies will be resurrected, as Christ’s was (1 Thessalonians 4:16). More specifically, he says that “if”—which in this context means “since”—God’s Spirit is in you, that same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead will also give life to our mortal bodies (1 John 3:2).

Paul is clear: Resurrection is a work of the Holy Spirit of God. That’s one of the things He does. He raised Jesus from the dead, and He will do the same for all who are in Christ when the time comes. This continues the theme from this passage: that those who are saved, in Christ, are absolutely and totally free from any threat of condemnation.

Verse 12: So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.

Prior verses described the differences between two kinds of life. One was living by the sinful, self-serving, world-following flesh, as all non-Christians do. The other was living by the Spirit of God, as all Christians do.

Paul moves next to teaching about how Christians should live since this is true. First, he writes that since saved Christians have been given spiritual life—now in the Spirit and the promise of physical resurrection later by the power of the Spirit— we have an obligation. We have a debt to pay, in a sense.

Before describing what that obligation is, though, Paul wants his readers to hear what they are not obligated to do. Christians no longer owe anything to the flesh. It’s important to remember that when Paul writes “flesh,” he does not mean simply “body.” He does not even mean just sexual sin. He means the self-serving, self-reliant, me-first way of living in the world that all people apart from Christ follow.

We don’t owe that old way of living anything. It is not who we are as Christians any longer. In fact, God specifically calls us to abandon that lifestyle and to live in the power of God’s Spirit. Christians aren’t meant for sin and selfishness any more.

Verse 13: 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.

This verse can be read in different ways with wildly different implications. Not all Bible teachers or Christian traditions agree about its meaning, making it another example of the importance of context when studying Scripture.

Paul has described living according to the flesh as a life outside of Christ. This is a worldly life of serving self, first and always. Those who live according to the flesh are not Christians. They cannot submit to God’s law and cannot please God (Romans 8:7–8).

Now, Paul writes that if you live according to the flesh, you will die. This is the first point of the verse where context is critical. Paul has made it explicitly clear in the prior passage that those who are in Christ cannot, by definition, live according to the flesh. That was not a suggestion that saved believers cannot sin, but a comment about the difference in the spiritual nature of those who are born again. Those who live according to the flesh are the same group as those who are not saved. Paul seems to mean that anyone who does not put their faith in Christ and change course by the power of the Spirit will die. This can imply some of the earthly consequences of sin, but Paul’s main meaning here is a spiritual and eternal death.

Paul’s next statement is that if, by the Spirit, you kill off the sinful deeds of the body, you will live. Here, again, context of this letter to the Romans is important. Some presume this to mean that a person who does not succeed in giving up all sin will not achieve eternal life. However, that explanation does not fit with everything else Paul has taught about our justification and having peace with God because of what Christ has done on our behalf (Romans 5:1–11). The following verse will continue to clarify this point.

Rather, this statement means first that those who are in Christ will, by the power of God’s Spirit with us, find victory over our sinful desires. We will have greater and greater success in putting them to death. Perhaps second, it means we will really live, spiritually speaking, on this side of eternity, that we will experience the abundant life that God intends for us by putting to death the sins of our bodies.

Crucially, we should understand that this killing off of our sins is possible only through the power of God’s Spirit. It’s not something we can achieve on our own.

Verse 14: For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Christians have God’s Spirit, and those who have God’s Spirit are Christians. Period. That’s the point Paul is emphasizing in this verse, but he adds a new layer that he will begin to build on in the following verses. In the previous verse, he wrote that the ones who will live are those who put to death the sinful deeds of the body by the Spirit’s power. He was not saying that we are saved by our works or our ability to stop sinning. That would contradict the entire message of Romans up to this point.

This verse clarifies that statement. The Spirit leads Christians—every Christian—in a specific direction away from their sinful choices. We are saved by God’s grace alone through our faith alone. Then, the Spirit, also by God’s grace, begins to set a new direction for our lives and to give us the power to go that way.

Why does God do this? Paul answers here: We are God’s children. All who become God’s children through faith in Christ are led by God’s Spirit. All who are led by God’s Spirit are His children. Put negatively, we are not in God’s family if His Spirit does not lead us.

What is the implication of this? Looking forward, Christians should expect to be directed and empowered by their loving Father away from their sin and toward Him. Looking back, we should trust that He has been leading and empowering us on the path that we have walked as His children.

What an amazing and encouraging way to view our lives in Christ!

Verse 15: For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

Romans 8:15 is one of Scripture’s most beautiful verses about our relationship with God through faith in Christ. It describes how God has changed every Christian’s relationship with Him through the power of the Holy Spirit.

In the previous verse, Paul wrote that all who are led by the Spirit of God are His children. Now he gets more specific. Earlier in this letter to the Romans, Paul wrote that through faith in Christ we are freed from slavery to sin and that we become “slaves to righteousness” (Romans 6:18) or “slaves to God” (Romans 6:22). Paul is not backing away from that in this verse. The word used for slaves—doulos—describes what was once known as indentured service: when a person swore their allegiance to remain in the service of a specific master.

Here, though, Paul assures us that God does not view us as His slaves or even just good servants. He did not free us from slavery to sin simply to add us to His team. He rescued us from sin to make us His children. That involves the Holy Spirit.

God did not give us the spirit of slavery, by giving us the Holy Spirit. Abused slaves often live in fear of their masters, and that is not the relationship God wants from us. No, Paul insists, God gave us the Spirit of adoption as his children. In other words, God legally changed the status of those who come to Him by faith in Christ to sons and daughters.

This is not a distant or strained parent/child relationship, either. This Spirit of adoption, another name for the Holy Spirit, allows us to cry out to God as little children call out to a loving daddy. The word Abba is a Greek and English adaptation of the Aramaic word for father. It was often the word used by young children for “papa” or “daddy.” That’s the relationship God wants with us, and He has made it possible through the Spirit.

Verse 16: The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

Paul has written in the previous verse that it is by God’s Holy Spirit, given to us by God when we became His children through faith in Christ, that we call out to God as “Abba” or Father. Paul gave another name to the Spirit: “Spirit of adoption.” God adopted us into His family.

Bit by bit, Paul is revealing exactly what the Holy Spirit does in and through those who are in Christ. In Romans 8, he emphasizes that communication between us and God is one of the key works of God’s Spirit in us. That communication goes in both directions. By the Spirit, we can communicate with God at the most basic level. We cry to Him and He hears from us “Abba! Father!” Romans 8:26–27 goes even further, showing that the Spirit is the one who takes our prayers, even when we don’t know what to pray, to the heart of our Father.

In this verse, the communication goes the other way. God communicates from His Spirit to our spirit that we are His children. His Spirit “bears witness,” keeps communicating to us over and over that we belong in God’s family now that we are in Christ. He confirms to us what is true on some deep and unspoken level.

The confidence we carry that we belong to God, not because of our goodness or effort but because of His love for us, comes directly from God’s Spirit with us.

Verse 17: 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.

Earlier, Paul wrote that though we exist to serve God, God has not given us the “spirit of slavery” through His Spirit. He did not want to have a merely master/servant relationship with us. No, in His Spirit, Paul wrote in verse 15, God gave us the Spirit of adoption that enables to us to call Him “Abba! Father!”

In fact, Paul writes, our relationship to God is so far removed from that of slavery that we have become legal children with full rights as God’s heirs. Most of us would be satisfied to merely be saved from hell, to be given a quiet corner of heaven in which to spend eternity not suffering. Instead, God has made each person who trusts in Christ an heir to all the glories of God’s kingdom along with God’s only “birth son” Jesus (John 3:16).

Of course, such an action is absolutely unnecessary on God’s part, and it is absolutely evidence of God’s enormous love for us. God has every right to treat us as mere creatures. He is the Creator. Instead, in Christ and through the power of His Spirit, He has welcomed us as fully adopted children with full access to His kingdom. There is no greater gift.

Paul seems to include a condition here, but it is a condition all who trust in Christ for their salvation have already met. He writes that we are heirs with Christ “if” we suffer with Christ in order to be glorified with Christ. The word translated “if” here (eiper) can easily be read as “if, as is the fact” or “since.” Just as in English, the term does not always imply something unsure; it can connect two related ideas. In other words, we are heirs with Christ since we suffer—or will suffer—with Him.

What, then, does it mean to suffer with Christ? It may include the idea that Christians can expect to be persecuted for our close identity with Christ (John 15:20). It may refer to what Paul wrote earlier that to put our faith in Jesus is to be so closely associated with Him that we ourselves die to sin on a spiritual level (Romans 6:5–8). Or perhaps this suffering is the suffering that Jesus experienced in daily life on a sin-ravaged world, something that every person lives through. Paul will describe this universal “groaning” of existence in verses 22–23. Those in Christ, however, suffer with Him on their way to being glorified with Him once this life has ended. For Christians, suffering in this life is never meaningless (Romans 5:3–5).

Verse 18: For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

This much-loved and often-cited verse is about Paul’s perspective. He has previously written that all who are in Christ are heirs of God’s kingdom with Christ, since all who are in Christ will share in His suffering before sharing in His glory.

This begins a powerful passage in which Paul discusses living, as a Christian, through the suffering that comes with this life on earth. Some Bible teachers suggest that Paul is referring “only” to suffering caused by persecution for faith in Christ. Based on the full context of the passage, however, there is every reason to understand Paul to include the everyday suffering that comes with living on this sin-stained planet. He will be clear that it is experienced by all creatures (Romans 8:20), but that only those who are in Christ look forward to sharing in the glories of God’s kingdom afterwards.

Paul’s perspective is that our present sufferings are not even worth holding up in comparison with the glories that will be revealed in us. Some readers might be tempted to hear Paul glossing over the enormous pain, physical and emotional, that comes with human existence. He is not. Instead, Paul is elevating the much more enormous glory to come. Paul understood pain very deeply. Second Corinthians 11:23–29 contains a small sampling of his experiences: hunger, thirst, danger, imprisonment, torture, and persecution. And yet, he says all of that suffering cannot compare to the glories that will be revealed at some future time to saved believers as God’s heirs with Christ. Truly, those endless glories must be incomprehensibly wonderful, satisfying, and meaningful.

Without Christ, we could never participate in God’s glory because of our sin (Romans 3:23). In Christ, as God’s fully adopted heirs, we will fully experience His glory forever (Romans 6:23). This verse does not minimize the pain we experience—it simply puts it into an eternal perspective.

Verse 19: For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.

Paul has written that for Christians, our present sufferings on this earth, on this side of eternity, are not worth comparing to God’s glory that will be revealed. Given that life is full of such enormous suffering, God’s glory must be incomprehensibly wonderful. This in no way minimizes our pain and suffering—on the contrary, it acknowledges it, while keeping an eternal perspective.

Now Paul writes that saved Christians (Romans 3:26) are not the only ones who long for the moment when suffering will be replaced by glory. In fact, “the creation” eagerly longs for it, as well. More specifically, the creation waits for the revealing of the sons of God.

This statement is startling in two ways. First, Paul describes creation as experiencing an awareness that something better is coming. By “creation,” Paul seems to refer to all God has made, from plants and animals, to other people to the air, water, and sky. And all of it, all of us, are waiting for a moment when everything will finally be made right.

The other startling idea is that the moment Paul has in mind is when the children of God are “revealed.” Of course, Paul has made clear that those in Christ are already the children of God. We accept this about ourselves and each other by faith, although we continue to appear on the surface the same as everyone else.

A moment is coming, though, when those in Christ will be glorified and it will become impossible to deny that we are God’s children. God’s righteousness, and our faith in Him, will be vindicated to the world. Paul is describing a future time when God will make all things right. Paul writes that all of nature is eagerly looking forward to that day. The following verses will explain why that is.

Verse 20: For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope

All of creation is waiting with eager longing for the day when the children of God—those who are in Christ (Romans 3:26)—will be revealed as who we truly are (1 John 3:2). That’s what Paul wrote in the previous verse. Now he explains why the creation longs for that day when God will reveal His children, and Himself, in glory.

The creation, meaning all God has made, is suffering. It is subject to something described using the Greek word mataiotēti. This term implies something warped, perverse, sickly, weak, or false. This futility—or “frustration”—came long ago, when sin entered into the world. God did not create the world this way, and creation itself did not choose this. The trees and streams and animals and sky did not choose an existence of frustration. Rather, God subjected creation to frustration in response to Adam’s sin in the garden of Eden. God did not design creation to suffer. That hardship came after all was meaningful and “very good.” This warped, struggling existence came about when God cursed all of creation in response to human sin (Genesis 3:14, 17–19).

The words “in hope” that end the verse belong to a phrase in the following verse.

Verse 21: that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

Paul has painted a dark picture. Unfortunately, it is an honest representation of the sin-ravaged world in which we live. All of creation suffers in frustration under the curses of God in response to sin (Genesis 3:14, 17–19). In response to Adam’s rebellion in the garden, God subjected His perfect creation to frustration and futility. This brought pain, suffering, meaninglessness, and death.

Paul has been clear that the story is not over, though. Creation is waiting, longing, for God’s children to be revealed in glory (Romans 8:19). That’s the day when all will begin to be made right (1 John 3:2). Somehow, at some level, the creation knows this and anticipates it. Mysteriously, a key component of what will happen on that day is that God’s glory will be revealed to all and revealed in those who have faith in Christ (Romans 3:26).

Now Paul concludes his thought from the previous verse. God didn’t subject creation to decay, to frustration, out of pettiness or revenge. Instead, He acted in hope of—here meaning “looking forward to”—the reversal of His curses. He never intended for His creation to experience this futility and death and corruption forever. It won’t. The day is coming when God will reveal His children in the glory He has for us, and then creation will be set free from its bondage. Paul says that creation itself will obtain the same freedom that those in Christ will receive when they are glorified. All suffering will end. All will be made right (Revelation 21:1–4).

Verse 22: For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.

The previous verse described a future moment when God’s children will be revealed in glory, and all of creation will be freed from bondage to decay and corruption. In other words, all will be made right. Creation will be returned to the state it occupied when first created, before sin entered into the world (Revelation 21:1–4; 1 John 3:2).

Now Paul makes it clear that we are not there yet. In this present moment, all of creation continues to groan together in the pains of childbirth. Clearly, this groaning coming from creation as it suffers in bondage to decay has been going on since sin entered into the world. It’s still happening. Paul also adds a hopeful word picture. This groaning is like the pains of childbirth. In other words, the pain is real, vivid, and intense, but it is leading to a moment of “birth” when all will be made right and the pain will be forgotten.

This is similar to an analogy used by Jesus, in John 16:21–22: “When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.“

Once again, we see that this passage of Romans does not ignore or dismiss human suffering. Pain is real, and human beings experience suffering in this life. The point here is not that pain is pleasant—on the contrary, it’s a miserable thing. What can get us through the pain is knowing what awaits us on the other side. This is much like a woman in labor to deliver a baby. No woman wants the pain, itself, but she is willing to endure it because of the joyful result it brings.

Paul will show in the following verse that not only does creation groan now, but we Christians do, as well. We are also waiting for the day when the suffering will end and all will be made right.

Verse 23: 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.

Christians—God’s children through faith in Christ (Romans 3:26)—can experience love, joy, peace, and hope in the power of Holy Spirit. At the same time, we should also expect to experience suffering (John 16:33). This is not just the suffering of persecution (2 Corinthians 5:1–5). It includes the way we all suffer, along with all of creation, thanks to the consequences of sin. We live in a world subjected by God to futility and decay, as a way to bring about His perfect plan (Romans 8:20–22).

Paul has described all of creation as expressing this frustration, sorrow, and longing. He uses the term “groaning,” from the root word sustenazo, applied to the sounds made by a woman in labor, about to deliver a baby, as she endures the waves of pain that come and go.

Now Paul refers to Christians as those who have God’s Spirit with us: the “firstfruits of the Spirit” or “the Spirit as a first result of being in Christ.” Such saved believers also groan inwardly in this waiting. But while the creation is waiting for God’s children to be revealed in glory, we are waiting for something more specific. We wait eagerly for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.

The picture Paul paints here ties together several things he has written in Romans 8 so far. He has said that God has given us in the Holy Spirit what he called the “Spirit of adoption” (Romans 8:15). We have already been adopted and have become the full children of God through faith in Christ. So what are we waiting for if the adoption is complete?

Paul has written about a disconnect between our spirits and our bodies: “…although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness” (Romans 8:10). It’s true that we are fully God’s children right now through faith in Christ, but we have yet to meet our Father in person. We have been freed from the eternal penalty for sin, but our bodies continue to experience the temporary consequence of sin: death. We are dying, and these bodies will die.

So what are we adopted children of God waiting for? We’re waiting for our bodies to be redeemed after we die physically and are then resurrected as Christ was. Or as someone put it: Our adoption is complete; we’re just waiting for our father to come and pick us up so that we can be with Him.

Verse 24: For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?

According to the previous verse, we who trust in Christ and have the Spirit of God are waiting with eager longing. We are looking forward to the completion of our adoption as God’s children: the redemption of our bodies. That will happen once these sin-warped bodies of ours finally die and are resurrected in glory, just as Jesus’ body was (1 John 3:2).

Now Paul writes that the hope of this very thing—resurrection, being with God as His children—is the same hope that brought us to faith in Christ in the first place. It’s the thing everyone longs for, but nobody can reach on our own. Sin keeps us from God’s eternal glory (Romans 3:23), but God gives it to us as a gift (Romans 6:23).

We’re not home, yet, though. This gift is guaranteed. Our hope is certain, but it has not materialized. We can’t see it. If we could, Paul writes, it would not be hope. The life of a Christian is a life of anticipation.

Verse 25: But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Paul has been describing both our current state of being and our future as Christians. Our future is glory, when all will be made right, our faith will be vindicated to the world, and our redeemed bodies will allow us to be with our Father forever.

Our current state, though, is one of longing for that day. For now, we have to suffer through the realities of life and all the consequences of sin on this side of eternity. Our hope is sure, but by definition it has not arrived yet.

Now Paul describes us, Christians, as people who wait with patience for a hope we do not see with our eyes. We might not always feel the longing as intensely, or always as patiently. Still, to be a Christian in this life means to wait for the best possible reality anyone can imagine, with patience. We can trust our Father to bring it about at just the right time.

Verse 26: 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.

This passage describes the difference between our future and our present, as Christians. Our future in Christ, as God’s children and heirs of His kingdom, is everything we long for. Our present, though, is a life of longing, patient waiting, living in the hope of reality that has not yet arrived. We continue to suffer along with the rest of creation, to groan for the life to come.

How do live in the meantime? A large part of the answer to that question has to do with the Holy Spirit, given to every Christian when he or she comes to faith in Christ. God gives us His own Spirit as a deposit or down payment on that future we are longing for (Ephesians 1:13–14; 2 Corinthians 1:22).

Through the Spirit, God provides for us in many different ways on this side of eternity. Generally, he helps us in our weakness. Paul is acknowledging here that, even as Christians, we remain weak in and of ourselves. Physically, we remain creatures in fragile bodies with sometimes baffling emotions. Spiritually, we can become weak in our faith and/or in our resistance to sinful desires. As Paul will begin to make clear, however, God’s Spirit with us makes all the difference. He continually helps us in and even through our weakness. He steps in. He helps with the burden.

More specifically, Paul writes that we are so weak that at times we do not know what to pray for! We have been given access, in prayer, to our Father God. We feel the need, the longing, for Him, but what do we ask for? The Spirit steps in and carries those unsaid “groanings”—those thoughts and feelings we simply cannot express in human words—to God. He both creates the connection from ourselves to God and provides the content of our communication.

Verse 27: 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.

Paul has revealed in Romans 8 that the life of a Christian on this side of eternity is one of waiting and longing to be with our God while enduring the suffering of this life. We live with a kind of endless groaning to be made whole by the redemption of our bodies. We are not alone, however. God gives His Spirit to everyone who trusts in Christ (Ephesians 1:13–14; 2 Corinthians 1:22). One way the Spirit helps us in our weakness is by taking our too-deep-for-words groanings, communicating them to the Father as prayers. The Spirit intercedes for us.

Now Paul explains how God receives those prayers. Paul uses a description for God which is both beautiful and perhaps intimidating. Here, he calls God the Father the “one who searches hearts” (Hebrews 4:12–13). The Father and the Spirit are eternally connected. The Father in heaven knows the mind of His Spirit in us. Their connection remains ever unbroken.

The Spirit then forms our unspoken groanings toward God into prayers that conform to God’s will. God, ever in search mode, receives those prayers directly from our hearts. In this way, even in our waiting to be with God in person, we are in potentially constant communication with Him.

This does not mean we don’t need to pray to God with words. We still need to make an effort to think about what we will say to God before we say it. Intentional prayerfulness is essential for those who are in Christ. This does mean, however, that we don’t need to be overly anxious that we’re “praying wrong.” Because the Spirit is interceding for us to the Father and within His will, we are free to talk to God as little children talk to their fathers. We don’t need special language or systems to be sure He is receiving what we’re saying. He understands, even better than we do.

Verse 28: And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Here again, we find a verse which is extremely popular, often mis-applied, and even controversial. Despite its incredibly comforting message, some Christians have had an awkward relationship with this verse over the years. That is in no small part due to how easy it is to take this verse out of the context of Romans 8. Stripping these words of their context destroys the essence of what Scripture is saying. It is also possible to interpret the verse correctly, and still misuse it to dismiss the genuine pain and suffering of another person.

Paul has been describing the life of Christians on this side of heaven as one of groaning as we long to escape the suffering of this life and to be with our Father God in person (Romans 8:18–23). We wait in the sure hope of the day our bodies will be resurrected and we will share in God’s glory (Romans 8:24–25).

What about all the hard things that come along while we are waiting? Paul seems to offer the promise of this verse as a comfort for us.

Crucially, though, this promise is limited to “those who love God,” and “those who are called according to His purpose.” In short, that means the promise is for Christians: for saved believers, who have placed their trust in Jesus Christ (John 3:16–18; 14:6; Romans 3:26). No matter our feelings on a given day, loving God is part of what it means to live in Christ. That’s who we are. Each of us is also called to fulfill God’s purposes.

In other words, this verse cannot rightly be applied to non-Christians. Those who reject God do not express their love for God by coming to Him through faith in Jesus. For those who die without Christ, things will not have worked out for the better; they will have rejected the opportunity to take advantage of this promise (John 3:36).

What is the promise? That, for those who are saved, all things will indeed work together for good. “All things” should be taken to mean each and every circumstance one might experience, even pain or suffering. “Work,” or “work together,” must be understood in light of God taking action in the world. He is the one who causes all things to work together or, perhaps, works in and through all circumstances toward a specific end. What is that end? “Good.”

The word “good” does not necessarily mean happy or painless or financially successful or our idea of the best possible outcome on any given day. God’s ultimate good for us is to glorify us in eternity (Revelation 21:1–4). Beyond that, God works in and through us toward an ultimate good that serves His purpose for the universe.

The comfort of the verse is that nothing in this life of waiting and suffering is wasted. It is all meaningful for those in Christ, even if that doesn’t diminish our pain in the moment.

Verse 29: For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

We Christians did not stumble into this relationship with God. Paul means to comfort us in our waiting and suffering as we long to be with God and be glorified by Him. He has just described believers as people who are called according to God’s purpose. Now Scripture will talk about what that means. In doing so, this passage begins to introduce one of the most controversial and contentious ideas in all of theology: that of predestination.

Paul begins by saying our calling to serve God’s purpose goes all the way back to “before.” He writes that God “foreknew” those who are now brothers and sisters of Jesus, because they have become the children of God by faith in Jesus. The word “foreknew” means that God, in some way or sense, knew each Christian before we knew Him.

Based on this sense in which He “foreknew” us, God predestined—determined, appointed, or ordained in advance—those who are saved to be conformed to the image of Jesus. Paul says it even more plainly in Ephesians 1:4, “He chose us in him [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.”

Much of the controversy over this passage deals in whether or not God allows human free will to be a part of this choice, or whether God’s actions are totally unilateral. So far as it goes for this specific statement, that level of detail is irrelevant. Chapter 9 will further discuss this concept, in ways which are more strongly influenced by how predestination is interpreted.

The bottom line of this particular verse is that we can stand secure. We can know, as those now in Christ, that God’s purpose for us has always been that we should become like Christ. God had scheduled our entry into His family long before we were ever born. If God knew about us before we were born, and arranged for our salvation, He certainly knows about our trials and sufferings now, and what lies ahead. That should provide us with great comfort as we wait to be with our Father forever.

Verse 30: And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

In the previous verse, Paul wrote that God predestined those who are now in Christ to be conformed to Christ’s image. He made this choice about us before the world was formed (Ephesians 1:4). God’s purpose for our lives has ever and always been that we will become like Jesus. In some way, God both knew and chose those who would be saved, long before we even existed to make such a choice. The subtle details of what this means, and how God accomplished it, are part of a much larger debate. In the context of this specific passage, however, those debates are beside the point.

Now Paul writes that those God predestined for this purpose, He also called. Stated in reverse, God called every single person he predestined. As Paul uses the word in Romans, being “called” by God is about His breaking into our awareness of Him and drawing us toward Himself.

Next, God justified every single person He called. The first four chapters of Romans deal with the issues of God’s justification. To be “justified” by God is to be made right with Him. We can never justify ourselves because of our sin, not even by following the law, since we can’t keep the law (Romans 3:10, 23). We can only be justified through faith in Christ (Romans 5:1).

Finally, every person God justified, by faith in Christ, He then glorified. Paul writes this in the past tense, indicating that our glorification is as good as completed in God’s eyes. However, Paul began this section in verses 18–19 by saying that all of creation is waiting for the children of God to be glorified. We are waiting for that, too, though our sure and confident hope is that it is coming in God’s perfect timing.

Verse 31: What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Paul continues to offer encouragement to Christians on this side of eternity. It’s true that we are suffering, as all of creation is, as we wait to be glorified with God forever. The fact that we suffer, though, does not mean that God is not with us or for us. In the previous verses, Paul has shown that God is working to complete a purpose in us that He set out to do before He even formed the world (Ephesians 1:4). That purpose is to make us like Christ, and God is still using “all things” to finish this process (Romans 8:28).

Again, in this passage, Paul speaks from the perspective of saved Christian believers. References here to “us,” or “we” are not inclusive of the entire human race, but only those who have accepted Christ in faith (Romans 3:23–26; John 3:16–18).

In light of the fact that God foreknew us, predestined us, called us, justified us, and will glorify us (Romans 8:30), Paul comes to an undeniable conclusion: God must be for us. God must be for all of us who are in Christ by faith. What an amazing and life-changing thought. The one, true God, the creator of all things, is for us. With Him for us, who could ever possibly be against us?

Of course, anyone at all might be against us, in literal terms; any person or group might try to oppose us or afflict us. Paul’s question is who of any consequence could ever be against us? What could anyone against us ever hope to accomplish against us, if God Himself is for us? What chance is there that someone can thwart God’s intent to save those justified by faith in His son?

The question is whether we believe God is truly for us. Paul offers a definitive answer to that question in the following verse.

Verse 32: He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

In the previous verses, Paul has offered ample evidence of a comforting truth. The subject of this promise is any person who has accepted faith in Christ. As with the rest of this section of Romans, Paul’s focus is on the effects of saving faith, according to God’s plan (Romans 3:23–26; John 3:16–18).

This profound truth is that the creator of the universe is right now for us—for saved Christians—because we are in Christ. He is working out his ultimate purpose for us which is to make us like Christ. He has predestined, called, justified, and will glorify us.

It’s possible that a believer might remain unconvinced that God is for us. This is more likely when facing hard things in life, or our own sinfulness, or just a lack of feeling connected to God. To combat this discouragement, Paul provides the ultimate evidence: God didn’t spare His own Son! God the Father sacrificed His sinless, righteous Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty price for our sin. He gave Him up for us all because of His great love for us (Romans 5:8; John 3:16). Now Paul asks us to be convinced. If God did that for us, how could we ever think He is not for us? More than that, if He would not withhold His Son, how would He not give us all things, along with His Son?

Paul uses the word “graciously” to describe God’s giving. Ever and always, what God gives to us is not about what we have given to God. It is not about our sin or lack of sin. The God who is for us, who loves us, gives to us all good things based on His goodness and not on ours. They are truly gifts.

Verse 33: Who shall bring any charge against God ‘s elect? It is God who justifies.

Paul has established decisively in the previous verses that God is for all of us who are in Christ (Romans 3:23–26; John 3:16–18). He has not even withheld His own sinless Son from us. He has graciously given to us all things.

Now Paul asks who could possibly bring a charge against us—in the context of this passage, meaning the elect (Romans 8:29–30). This is Paul’s first use of the word “elect” in Romans. In the previous verses, he detailed that God predestined those He foreknew to become like Jesus. In this sense, the elect are the chosen ones of God, all those who are children of God through faith in Christ.

Paul begins to use legal language here; the vocabulary of a courtroom or trial. He seems to imagine someone attempting to manipulate God into casting us out, by bringing an accusation before God about our sin. But who could effectively do such a thing? Scripture provides an immediate possibility: Satan is described in Revelation 12:10 as the accuser who stands before God night and day bringing accusations against “our brothers and sisters.” He might very well accuse us of sin in order to convince God of our unworthiness to be in His family.

Perhaps the greatest accusations, though, come from our own hearts. The awareness of our sin taunts us, hinting that God could never forgive such things, could never love one who does them.

Paul is clear that all such accusations will fail. Why? God is the one who justifies us. God, the Creator and Ruler of the entire universe. He declares us righteous because of our faith in Christ, giving us credit for Jesus’ righteousness and accepting Jesus’ death as payment for our sin.

Paul insists that God will never say, “You’ve made a good point; I was wrong to justify that person.” His decision stands since it is based on Christ’s own sacrifice and righteousness, not on our ability to do what is right ourselves.

Verse 34: Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died — more than that, who was raised — who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Who shall bring any charges against God’s elect or God’s chosen ones? That’s the question Paul asked in the previous verse. His answer was simple: God is the one who justifies. By this Paul meant that once God has justified one of His chosen ones—declared that person righteous because of his or her faith in Christ (Romans 3:23–26)—no accusation about any sin could convince God to overrule His own verdict.

If that is God’s position, how could anyone condemn us? That’s what Paul now asks. His answer can be read in one of two ways. Paul may be implying that nobody can condemn those of us who are in Christ, because He—Jesus—is the one who died. Or, Paul may mean that only Christ can condemn us, but instead He has already taken our condemnation on Himself.

The result is the same in either case. Paul began Romans chapter 8 by writing that, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” The statement contained in this verse is why. We are in Christ by faith, so closely associated with Him in God’s eyes that His death has already paid the price of our sin. He was resurrected and now stands at the Father’s right hand interceding for us. This is available to those who put their faith in Jesus, but only to those who do so (John 3:16–18).

The picture Paul paints is of Jesus standing by to advocate against anyone who would accuse us to God for our sin. He might say, “I died for that sin. The penalty is paid.” Now that God has justified us in Christ, and because God is for us, no accusation or condemnation can stand against us in the throne room of God.

Verse 35: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

This chapter has indicated that those who are in Christ (Romans 3:23–26) can look forward to a future of sharing in God’s glory (Romans 8:18). At the same time, we are not there yet. For now, we suffer along with the rest of sin-ravaged creation. We groan in longing for our home with the Father. We patiently wait for the hope to be fulfilled (Romans 8:19–23). Paul urged his readers to understand, however, that though suffering continues, God is still for us. He has been for us since before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4), and He has proven His love for us by sacrificing His own Son to make it possible to adopt us as His children (John 3:16–18).

Paul now writes that we must never interpret the darkness of earthly life as evidence of God’s lack of love for us. Nothing we do can keep Christ from loving us, and nothing that happens to us can mean that Christ no longer loves us. Paul builds a list of some of the worst things that can happen in this life, including trials, hardship, persecution for our faith in Him, hunger, lack of clothing or shelter, physical threats, or death by violence. None of this can separate us from Christ’s love. None of this means Christ does not love us. Just the opposite is true. He loves us enough to bring us through these things (John 16:33).

Paul would have known this better than almost anyone. He himself experienced most, if not all, of those hardships (2 Corinthians 11:23–29) and remained convinced of Christ’s love for him.

Verse 36: As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long;we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

This verse is a quote from Psalm 44:22. Paul has movingly written that nothing which can happen to us could separate us from Christ’s love for us. Struggles in this life are not a sign that God has abandoned us; they are hardships He works to see us through (Hebrews 12:3–11). By quoting this from the Psalms, Paul is showing that God’s people have faced persecution and hardship for generations.

Paul wants the Christians in Rome to have the right perspective on the circumstances of their daily lives. Whether or not they experienced hard times or good times, it does not change whether God loves them or not. Paul has made it clear that God’s love is absolute, and God will fulfill His purpose for them: He will succeed in bringing them to glory. Now he seems to want them to be ready for trouble on this side of eternity. They should not be surprised when it comes. In fact, they should be ready to be killed, slaughtered like sheep, for Christ’s sake, if that’s what it comes to (John 6:1–2; 16:33).

Verse 37: No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

In verse 35, Paul listed several terrible things that might happen to a person in this life. His point was that none of them could separate those of us who are in Christ from His love for us. Nothing so terrible could ever happen to us that would keep us from being in Christ, or to keep Christ from loving us, or to prove that Christ no longer loves us.

Now he writes that in all those things—hardship, trouble, famine, exposure, threats, or violence—we are “more than conquerors through [Christ] who loved us.” This description comes from the Greek word hypernikōmen, which carries the idea of extraordinary, exceeding victory, in a continual state: to perpetually increase in triumph. Does this mean none of these troubles will ever happen to us, or that we can eliminate them in this life? No, clearly not, based on the context of this passage. Even more, it’s important to note that many of them happened to Paul himself (2 Corinthians 11:23–29).

Rather, those who are saved by faith in Christ (Romans 3:23–26; John 3:16–18) conquer those terrible things in the sense that Christ has already won the most important victory for us. That victory, our place in God’s family, our share in the inheritance of His glory, cannot be taken from us by any means. We conquer in the sense that none of these things can overcome what God’s love has gained for us.

Verse 38: For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,

Paul doesn’t want his readers to feel an ounce of insecurity about God’s love for them in Christ. He has built the case for why God is for us as Christians. He has already created a list of the worst things that can happen in this life to make the point that none of them demonstrate a loss of Christ’s love from us (Romans 8:31–37). Those things may happen, but as he wrote in the previous verse, they cannot conquer us in any way that matters. Those who are saved by faith in Christ (Romans 3:23–26; John 3:16–18) can continually endure, in the power of His Spirit.

Now Paul begins a new list. This covers virtually everything anyone might think of to challenge God’s love for His elect (Romans 8:29–30). Paul begins with death, which for the believer in Christ can only bring us into God’s glory more quickly (2 Corinthians 5:8). He continues to include life, angels, and rulers. This last concept is from the Greek word archai, usually used for a political leader or magistrate, and often applied to certain kinds of demons. In other words, absolutely nothing, whether natural on this earth, or supernatural from heaven or hell, could ever cause God to stop loving us.

Paul continues his list with the present and the future. Nothing that could happen now or tomorrow or a thousand years from now could change God’s commitment to love us in Christ. Next he lists “powers,” referring either to supernatural powers like Satan and his demons or earthly governments like Rome.

As it turned out, Paul himself was eventually killed, so far as we know, by the “powers” of the Roman government. They did not conquer him, though. Nor did they not separate him from God’s love for him, in Christ.

Verse 39: 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.

This verse continues to list everything, every realm, and every category which anyone might imagine could loosen God’s commitment or ability to love those of us in Christ (Romans 3:23–26; John 3:16–18). Nothing can. Hardships might test us (Hebrews 12:3–11), and persecution may fall on us (John 16:33). We will sometimes fail to obey (1 John 1:9–10). But Paul’s explanation thus far has included everything from our experiences, to powerful forces, and even the natural and supernatural worlds. He has listed the present and future. He has listed powers, meaning perhaps hostile governments.

Now, he lists height and depth, meaning anything that might come down from above or up from below. Finally, he throws in an all-inclusive mention of anything else in all creation. Paul is being an absolutist about this. Nothing will ever be able to separate those of us who are in Christ from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Those who are saved, through faith in Christ, are saved eternally and forever (John 10:28–29). Period.

We are loved by God always. No matter what. Forever.