Sons and Daughters of God.

 The eighth chapter of Romans is full of the glorious things that God has promised to them that love him.  Freedom, the Spirit of life in Christ, sons of God, heirs of God and with Christ, glory and victory, are the words that outline the chapter.

Sons of God Romans 8:9-17

9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you. 12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our Spirit, that we are the children of God; 17 and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

Opposing Forces. The flesh and the Spirit are in opposition. These are always contrary the one to the other. The Spirit never yields to the flesh, and the flesh never gets converted.

The flesh will be of the nature of sin until our bodies are changed at the coming of the Lord. The Spirit strives with the sinful man, but he yields to the flesh,  and so is the servant of sin.

Such a man is not led by the Spirit, although the Spirit has by no means forsaken him. The flesh is just the same in a converted man that it is in a sinner, but the difference is that now it has no power, since the man yields to the Spirit, which controls the flesh.

Although the man's flesh is precisely the same that it was before he was converted, he is said to be not "in the flesh," but "in the Spirit," since he through the Spirit mortifies the deeds of the body.

Life in Death. "And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness." Here we have the two individuals of which the apostle speaks in 2 Corinthians 4:7-16. "For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh." Then he says that "though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day."  Though our body should fail and be worn out, yet the inward man, Christ Jesus, is ever new. And he is our real life. "Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." Col. 3:3.

This is why we are not to fear them that can kill only the body, and after that have no more that they can do.  Though the body be burned at the stake, wicked men can not touch the eternal life which we have in Christ, who can not be destroyed. No man can take his life from him.

The Surety of the Resurrection. "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." Jesus said of the water that he gave, which was the Holy Spirit, that it should be in us a well of water springing up unto eternal life. John 4:14; compare John 7:37-39.

Joh 4:14  But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. 

Joh 7:37  In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 

Joh 7:38  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 

Joh 7:39  (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) 

That is, the spiritual life which we now live in the flesh by the Spirit is the surety of the spiritual body to be bestowed at the resurrection when we will have the life of Christ made manifested in immortal bodies.

Not Debtors to the Flesh. "Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh." We are indeed debtors, but we do not owe anything to the flesh. It has done nothing for us, and can do nothing. All the work that the flesh can do avails nothing, for its works are sin and therefore death. But we are debtors to the Lord Jesus Christ, "who gave himself for us." Consequently, everything must be yielded to his life. "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live."

Sons of God. Those who yield to the strivings of the Spirit, and continue so to yield, are led by the Spirit; and they are the sons of God. They are taken into the same relation to the Father that the only-begotten Son occupies. 

"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God; therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." If we are led by the Spirit of God, we are now just as much the sons of God as we can ever be.

We Are Sons Now. There is a notion held by some people that no man is born of God until the resurrection. But this is settled by the fact that we are now sons of God. "But," says one, "we are not yet manifested as sons."  True, and neither was Christ when he was on earth. There were but very few that knew him to be the Christ, the Son of the living God. And they knew it only by revelation from God. The world knows us not, because it knew him not. To say that believers are not sons of God now because there is nothing in their appearance to indicate it, is to bring the same charge against Jesus Christ. But Jesus was just as truly the Son of God when he lay in the manger in Bethlehem, as he is now when sitting at the right hand of God.

The Spirit's Witness. "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our Spirit, that we are the children of God." How does the Spirit witness? This is answered in Hebrews10:14-17. The apostle says that by one offering he hath perfected them that are sanctified, and then says that the Holy Spirit is a witness to this fact when he says, "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." That is to say, the Spirit's witness is the word. We know that we are children of God, because the Spirit assures us of that fact in the Bible.  The witness of the Spirit is not a certain ecstatic feeling, but a tangible statement. We are not children of God because we feel that we are, neither do we know that we are sons because of any feeling, but because the Lord tells us so. He who believes has the word abiding in him, and that is how "he that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself." 1 John 5:10.

No Fear. "For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 2 Tim. 1:7. "God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear; because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." 1 John 4:16-18.

 

Christ gave himself to deliver them who through fear of death were all their life subject to bondage. Heb. 2:15. He who knows and loves the Lord can not be afraid of him; and he who is not afraid of the Lord has no need to be afraid of any other person or thing. One of the greatest blessings of the gospel is the deliverance from fear,  whether real or imaginary. "I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears." Ps. 34:4.

 

Heirs of God. What a wonderful inheritance that is! It does not merely say that we are heirs of what God has, but that we are heirs of God himself. Having him we have everything, as a matter of course; but the blessedness consists in having him. "The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup." Ps. 16:5. This is the fact; it is a thing to be meditated upon rather than talked about.

Joint-heirs with Christ. If we are sons of God, we stand on the same footing that Jesus Christ does. He himself said that the Father loves us even as he loves him. John 17:23. This is proved by the fact that his life was given for ours. Therefore the Father has nothing for his only-begotten Son that he has not for us. Not only so, but since we are joint-heirs with Jesus Christ, it follows that he can not enter upon his inheritance before we do. To be sure, he is sitting at the right hand of God. But God in his great love for us "hath quickened us together with Christ, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places." Eph. 2:4-6. The glory which Christ has he shares with us. John 17:22. It means something to be a joint-heir with Jesus Christ! No wonder the apostle exclaims, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God."

Suffering with Him. "If so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." "For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted." Heb. 2:18. Suffering with Christ means, therefore, enduring temptation with him.

The suffering is that which comes in the struggle against sin.

Self-inflicted suffering amounts to nothing. It is not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh. Col. 2:23. Christ did not torture himself in order to gain the approval of the Father. But when we suffer with Christ, then we are made perfect in him. The strength by which he resisted the temptations of the enemy is the strength by which we are to overcome. His life in us gains the victory.

In the preceding verses of the eighth chapter of Romans we have seen how we are adopted into the family of God as sons, and made joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit establishes the bond of relationship. It is the "Spirit of adoption," the Spirit proceeding from the Father as the representative of the Son, that proves that we are accepted as brethren of Jesus Christ. Those who are led by the Spirit must be even as Christ was in the world, and are therefore assured of an equal share in the inheritance with Christ. For "the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God."

Death or Life, Flesh or Spirit.

 Sin Holds the Power of Death Eternal.

Christ Holds the Power of Eternal Life, By Destroying Death, Destroying Sin.

Living for our flesh existence is to live for death eternal. Living for our flesh is living carnally, focused on our flesh existence here and now. 

If we live Spiritually we are living for our spirit existence which is eternal. Yes, we have to be in our flesh until our temporary flesh death overtakes us, but we do not have to live consumed by the temporary flesh we inhabit.  That's just what we do though, isn't it? We are consumed by our flesh existence and drawn to its carnal nature. 

We focus on ourselves so much that being able to focus on anything else is hardly possible. Sometimes we spend our entire lives focused on our flesh life. Even when we interact with others and outward appear to be living to help we can be doing that with the true focus on how that interaction makes us feel about ourselves. There is a very vicious cycle of living flesh focused. There are many traps all around us to help us delude ourselves that we are living spiritually, when the truth is just the opposite.

God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit!

Joh_4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

We must worship God in spirit and truth!

To live for our carnal nature is to gain eternal death. There is no spirit hope, no spiritual life for those who live for the flesh. 

What does it mean to live spiritually? 

It means to live for God, as God would have us live. Our lives are to be focused on God and His word. Our lives are to be lived under His royal law expounded upon and kept perfectly by Jesus, God in the flesh.  Our focus… this is something we dictate by our thoughts, the things we do, the things we surround ourselves with, the choices we are capable of making. There is so much in our lives that we have no control over, but that which we do have control over we have to use that control towards the spiritual life that God would have us focus upon. We must truly have our treasures laid up in heaven, not here. We cannot live a life focused on our flesh life and expect to be spiritually minded.

Satan will take great pains to keep us self-focused, flesh focused in any way he possibly can.

We must take up our cross daily, we must pray for our daily bread, we must seek Christ while He can be found, we must remember our carnal nature will war against our spirit. We must recognize the war and choose the spiritual victory in Christ, daily.

All through HIS mercy and grace, HIS love, HIS sacrifice! All glory to HIM!

All through Jesus Christ our LORD and SAVIOR, now and forever! 

Amen!

*******

(Excerpt) Articles on Romans  by E. J. Waggoner Chapter 8

"Life and Peace." 

Rom 8:6 "To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." 

To be spiritually minded is to have a mind controlled by the law of God, "for we know that the law is spiritual." "Great peace have they which love thy law." Ps. 119:165. "Being justified [made righteous] by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." 

The carnal mind is enmity against God. Therefore, to be carnally minded is death. But Christ "hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." 2 Tim. 1:10. He has abolished death by destroying the power of sin in all who believe in him; for death has no power except through sin. "The sting of death is sin." 1 Cor. 15:56. So that even now we may joyfully say,  "Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

We Must Not Despair.

 We can't change our flesh nature. Our flesh nature will forever be corrupt. Our spirit can be born again with the Holy Spirit. Our flesh is truly never altered and this is why we war within. This is why what we long to do seems all but impossible to do. This is why Christ came to do what we could not and cannot. This is why Christ is our HOPE. We are not our own hope! We can't sit here and hope to be perfect as if we'll find perfection in ourselves, as if we'll find ourselves transformed into some mythical innocent without a single wayward thought. We have to expect that our flesh is going to war against our spirit and know what to do when that happens. Satan would have us DESPAIR. Satan wants us to keep on believing that our relationship with Christ is forfeit because we have a flesh nature. Christ would have us CLING to Him. Christ would have us grow ever closer to Him. Whenever we find our flesh nature rising up in us, Christ would have us recognize it happening as the Holy Spirit convicts us in our hearts of the wrong that is occurring. That conviction leads us to repentance, to seeking forgiveness each and every time, but NOT despair. That conviction is a constant reminder of our dependency upon our Savior and not ourselves. 

Heb_12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

We are to lay aside every weight, every sin that we easily fall prey to and this laying aside is the recognition of the sinfulness and a true hatred for committing the sin, the desire NOT to give into those sins. A true remorse that leads to our falling at the feet of our Savior and finding our strength to live in Him. Any sin that takes hold of us must be surrendered over and over and over again if need be until at last we THROUGH CHRIST are no longer subjected to it. We just can't despair! We can't let Satan tell us that we've done the same thing over and over and that we must truly not be remorseful, we must truly not want Christ. When Satan does this, he leads us to despair and this is where we cannot be led! We have to recognize our need, we have to recognize that Christ is our ONLY hope now and always, the VICTORY is in CHRIST, never in ourselves! We have to KNOW this in our heart to have true victory, true victory is our having CHRIST OUR SAVIOR.

(Excerpt) Articles on Romans  by E. J. Waggoner Chapter 8

The Enmity. 

Rom 8:7 "The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." 

The flesh never becomes converted. It is enmity against God; and that enmity consists in opposition to his law. Therefore, whoever opposes the law of God is fighting against him. But Christ is our Peace, and he came preaching peace. 

"You, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblamable and unreprovable in his sight." Col. 1:21, 22. 

In his own flesh he abolishes the enmity, so that all who are crucified with him are at peace with God; that is, they are subject to his law, which is in their hearts.

Flesh and Spirit.

Flesh and Spirit. Truly there is a war between the two.

God is spirit, and we must worship Him in spirit.

All Christ followers comprehend that there is a very real war against the flesh and spirit. We will to worship God and our flesh wars against this. The battle is real. There is NO magic, instantaneous change in our flesh tendencies. Many get fooled by their conversion experience which can be thrilling as we begin a new life in Christ. That conversion experience seems to put the flesh to rest as the spirit soars, but then as time goes on the flesh tendencies begin to rear up bit by bit and Satan is right there ready to give us all he's got in order to discourage us into a life without the spirit. Christ must prevail. The spirit must prevail.

Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

The law is weak in the flesh because our flesh nature cannot keep the law. The spirit of Christ can live in the righteousness the law proclaims, and Christ in us, His spirit with ours. We live in Christ and that is the only way we can truly live.

Articles on Romans by E. J. Waggoner Chapter 8

The Flesh and the Spirit.

"For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit."

3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; 4 that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

Note that this depends on the preceding statement, "that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

The things of the Spirit are the commandments of God, because the law is spiritual. The flesh serves the law of sin (see the preceding chapter, and Galatians 5:19-21, where the works of the flesh are described). But Christ came in the same flesh, to show the power of the Spirit over the flesh. "They that are in the flesh can not please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of Christ dwell in you."

Now no one will claim that the flesh of a man is any different after his conversion from what it was before. Least of all will the converted man himself say so; for he has continual evidence of its perversity. But if he is really converted, and the Spirit of Christ dwells in him, he is no more in the power of the flesh. Even so Christ came in the same sinful flesh, yet he was without sin, because he was always led by the Spirit.

Christ Has Been and Always Will Be Our Hope.

 The royal law is the full righteousness of God. For us to keep the law perfectly would mean our surrender to God completely. However we can  never surrender completely, our flesh is too weak. We are so immersed in ourselves that to separate from our self-centeredness is impossible. Christ alone makes it possible for us to surrender self and end our separation from God. Without Christ there is no hope. Prior to Christ born in the flesh, there was the hope of Christ's arrival. After Christ's death there is hope of His return. Christ from everlasting to everlasting, Christ in the flesh born into time, Christ resurrected into time without end.

Jesus said- Joh_8:56  Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.

Luk_24:44  And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

Christ has been and always will be our hope, and we will forever be in need of Him.

The royal law reveals the righteousness of God and shows us how far short of that righteousness we are. Told to keep these laws, we do, only to realize time and again how desperate our need of Christ is because we fail to keep that law perfectly. 

Articles on Romans by E. J. Waggoner Chapter 8

The Weakness of the Law. 

3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; 4 that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us,  who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

The law is strong enough to condemn, but it is weak, even powerless, with respect to what man needs namely, salvation. It was and is "weak through the flesh." The law is good, and holy, and just,  but man has no strength to perform it. Just as an ax may be of good steel, and very sharp, yet unable to cut down a tree because the arm that has hold of it has no strength, so the law of God could not perform itself. It set forth man's duty; it remained for him to do it. But he could not, and therefore Christ came to do it in him. What the law could not do, God did by his Son.

Likeness of Sinful Flesh. 

There is a common idea that this means that Christ simulated sinful flesh; that he did not take upon himself actual sinful flesh, but only what appeared to be such. But the Scriptures do not teach such a thing. "In all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people." Heb. 2:17. He was "born of a woman, born under the law," that he might redeem them that were under the law. Gal. 4:4, 5.

He took the same flesh that all have who are born of woman. A parallel text to Romans 8:3, 4 is found in 2 Corinthians 5:21. The former says that Christ was sent in the likeness of sinful flesh, "that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us." The latter says that God "made him to be sin for us," although he knew no sin,  "that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

Heb_5:2  Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.

"Compassed with Infirmity." All the comfort that we can get from Christ lies in the knowledge that he was made in all things as we are. Otherwise we should hesitate to tell him of our weaknesses and failures. The priest who makes sacrifices for sins must be one "who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity." Heb. 5:2.

This applies perfectly to Christ; "for we have not an High Priest which can not be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." Heb. 4:15. This is why we may come boldly to the throne of grace for mercy. So perfectly has Christ identified himself with us, that he even now feels our sufferings.

The Law of the Life of Christ.

 

No Condemnation.

Articles on Romans by E. J. Waggoner Chapter 8

We now come to the conclusion of the whole matter. In the eighth chapter of Romans the epistle reaches its highest point. The seventh has presented to us the deplorable condition of the man who has been awakened by the law to a sense of his condition, bound to sin by cords that can be loosened only by death. It closes with a glimpse of the Lord Jesus Christ as the One who alone can set us free from the body of death.

Freedom from Condemnation Romans 8:1-9

1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; 4 that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us,  who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh;  but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God,  neither indeed can be. 8 So then they that are in the flesh can not please God. 9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

"No Condemnation." There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ. Why? Because he received the curse of the law, that the blessing might come on us. Nothing can come to us while we are in him, without first passing through him; but in him all curses are turned to blessings, and sin is displaced by righteousness. His endless life triumphs over everything that comes against it. We are made "complete in him."

"Looking unto Jesus." Some say, "I do not find this scripture fulfilled in my case, because I find something to condemn me every time I look at myself." To be sure; for the freedom from condemnation is not in ourselves, but in Christ Jesus. We are to look at him, instead of at ourselves. If we obey his orders, and trust him, he takes the responsibility of making us clear before the law. There will never be a time when one will not find condemnation in looking at himself.

The fall of Satan was due to his looking at himself. The restoration for those whom he has made to fall, is only through looking to Jesus. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up." John 3:14. The serpent was lifted up to be looked at. Those who looked were healed. Even so with Christ. In the world to come the servants of the Lord "shall see his face," and they will not be drawn away to themselves. The light of his countenance will be their glory and it is in that same light that they will be brought to that glorious state.

Conviction, Not Condemnation. The text does not say that those who are in Christ Jesus will never be reproved.

"Do you think he ne'er reproves me?

What a false friend he would be

If he never, never told me

Of the faults that he must see!"

Getting into Christ is only the beginning, not the end, of Christian life. It is the entrance to the school where we are to learn of him. He takes the ungodly man with all his evil habits and forgives all his sins, so that he is counted as though he never had sinned. Then he continues to him his own life, by which he may overcome his evil habits.

Association with Christ will more and more reveal to us our failings, just as association with a learned man will make us conscious of our ignorance. As a faithful witness, he tells us of our failings. But it is not to condemn us.  We receive sympathy, not condemnation, from him. It is this sympathy that gives us courage, and enables us to overcome.

When the Lord points our a defect in our characters, it is the same as saying to us, "There is something that you are in need of, and I have it for you." When we learn to look at reproof in this way, we shall rejoice in it, instead of being discouraged.'