Romans Chapter 8

vs. 1- 4- Walk in the spirit.

- We have no need to fear condemnation from anyone. Christ has set us free. Our sins can't do us any harm once Christ cleanses our hearts.

- Christ did what the law couldn't—he condemned the sin in the flesh and the righteous requirements of the law, can now be fulfilled in us if we walk in the Spirit.

- John 3:5-8

- Acts 2:1-4, 14-21

- Hebrews 10:1-18

vs. 5- 8- Who are you reflecting?

- Your mind will be reflected in your lifestyle. If you live according to the desires of the flesh, your mind will be concerned with these things. On the other hand, if you live according to the Spirit, then your mind will be concerned with things of the Spirit.

- To be in the flesh, means to be hostile towards God because the flesh is hostile to God.

- The flesh never has nor ever will obey God's laws.

- Those still living in sin and under the power of sin, can never be pleasing to God.

- Galatians 2:17-21

- 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, 7:1

- Ephesians 4:17-32, 5:1-20

- 1 John 3:4-10

- 1 Thessalonians 4:7-8

Questions:

- So who or what are you reflecting? Does your life reflect the attributes of Christ?

- What are the attributes of Christ? Can you see them in your life? Your personality?

vs. 9-14- Spirit Directed

- You as a Christian are no longer under the power of sin. You are now controlled by the Spirit living in you.

- The Spirit shows God's possession. If His Spirit is not in you, you do not belong to Him.

- Christ living in you brings life to your soul. The body will still perish because of original sin, but the spirit lives on through Christ for eternity.

- The very same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, lives in you. Is that not an amazing thought? The Spirit that can raise the dead, living in you, a mortal, fallible, human being.

- Because of the life we have through Christ and the Spirit living in us, we have no obligation to sin when temptation comes knocking on our doors.

- If you live by sin and in sin, you will die. Spiritually. Because we're still talking about Spiritual life and death here.

- “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God”. We might walk the walk and talk the talk, but unless the Spirit is living in us directing our lives, we're still not a child of God. Relationship is important and so is obedience. If you are doing your own thing and living your own life according to what YOU want and according to what YOU think is best... You are not following the Spirit's guidance.

- John 6:61-65

- 1 Corinthians 2:10-16

- 2 Corinthians 3

Questions:

- Do you belong to Christ today? Do you know His Spirit is living in you? Working through you?

- Are you letting your life be led of God?

- What direction is He leading you?

vs. 15-16- Family of Christ

- footnote: “Paul uses adoption to illustrate the believer's new relationship with God. In Roman culture, the adopted person lost all rights in his old family and gained all the rights of a legitimate child in his new family. He became a full heir to his new father's estate. Likewise, when a person becomes a Christian, he or she gains all the privileges and responsibilities of a child in God's family. One of these outstanding privileges is being led by the Spirit. We may not always feel as though we belong to God, but the Holy Spirit is our witness. His inward presence reminds us of who we are and encourages us with God's love.”

- You are heirs with Christ! You have been adopted into the family with all the rights and privileges of Christ.

- What are we heirs to? Well we are heirs of promise. We have the gift of eternal life, we have been set free from slavery to sin, and we will inherit the kingdom of God! We get to live eternally in heaven with God Himself!

- Galatians 4:1-7

- Ephesians 1:3-14, 2:11-22

Questions:

- Are you living like an heir? Or are you living like a slave?

- Do you expect great things from God?

- Do you feel like you belong to God? Do you feel His presence? Are you ready to inherit?

vs. 17-22- Suffering

- And then comes a seeming catch... We get the glory, we get the kingdom... but in sharing in all the good things... we also get to share in the suffering...

- What? You mean this walk isn't a piece of cake? You mean I maybe have to work at this? I'm going to struggle? It's not all going to be butterflies and sunshine? Nope...

- But Paul says that the suffering we are going to face now, is nothing compared to the glory of later.

- footnote: “There is a price for being identified with Jesus. Along with being “heirs of God's glory,” Paul also mentions the suffering that Christians must face. What kinds of suffering are we to endure? For first-century believers, there was economic and social persecution, and some even faced death. We, too, must pay a price for following Jesus, In many parts of today's world, Christians face pressures just as severe as those faced by Christ's first followers. Even in countries where Christianity is tolerated or encouraged. Christians must not become complacent. To live as Jesus did—serving others, giving up one's rights, resisting pressures to conform to the world—always exacts a price. Nothing we suffer, however, can compare to the great price that Jesus paid to save us.”

- footnote: Sin caused all creation to fall from the perfect state in which God created it. The world is in bondage to death and decay so that it cannot fulfill its intended purpose. One day all creation will be liberated and transformed. Until that time it waits in eager expectation for the resurrection of God's children.”

- Just because we are going to face trials and tribulations, does not mean we have the right to become discouraged or the right to become pessimistic about our outlook on life. We have hope in Christ. A hope that NEVER fails.

- When Paul says the suffering of now is nothing compared to the reward we get in the end... it's like... if you fall and scrape your knee. If you get dirt in it, it will become infected. But if you disinfect the wound and clean all the dirt out, it will heal and be fine. It might be painful to clean it and almost definitely painful to disinfect it... but if you don't go through the pain, the end result may be worse than it would have been had you simply went through a little pain in the beginning.

- I Peter 4:1-8, 12-19, 5:6-11

- Hebrews 10:23-25

- John 16:1-12, 31-33, 17:6-26

Questions:

- Do you catch yourself complaining about where you're at in life? How often have you complained to God that you're dealing with more than you can handle and more than He should allow?

- Have you ever prayed for patience, or strength, or understanding? Well... these are not instant things... they have to be learned... and learning... takes experience. So, what have you asked to experience lately? And how are you handling the learning experience?

vs. 23-25

- Paul talks here about a groaning. We have but a taste of the future glory. The Holy Spirit is just a glimpse of what will be. Our bodies strain forward to that day when we will be forever released from sin and suffering.

- Have you ever wanted something so bad you could taste it? Maybe you were hungry and somebody walked by with the best smelling food you've ever smelled. Smell, turned to taste, turned to longing, and the next thing you know, you're tracking down whatever it was so you can have it too? Ha ha.

- When Paul talks about our groaning, it's kind of like that. We have just the smallest nibble of our eventual glory with God... and everything in us strains forward because we want the rest of it. We want the full thing. We don't want a nibble, we want the whole pie.

- We want the new bodies, and all of our inheritance, and eternal life, and to live with God forever.

- We have the hope of all of this. The moment you were saved, you had this hope. You can only hope for something you don't have... which means... there's more to this walk! Can you imagine? If the walk you have now, the relationship you have now with Christ is just a taste, just a nibble... can you IMAGINE!? WOW!!!!

-Think about this... When you feel God doing mighty and wonderful things in your life and you're so full you think you could burst and God feels so close you think you could touch Him and your life is so centered in God that there is joy unexplainable... there's MORE! It's just a taste! WOW!

- Paul gives a little word of wisdom in vs. 25. footnote: “...Rather than acting like impatient children as we wait for God's will to unfold, we need to have confidence in God's perfect timing and wisdom... We have not fully received all the benefits and blessings of salvation that will be ours when Christ's new Kingdom is completely established. That's our future salvation. While we can be confident of our salvation, we still look ahead with hope and trust toward that complete change of body and personality that lies beyond this life, when we will be like Christ.”

- 2 Corinthians 5:1-10

- Philippians 3:20-21

Questions:

- Do you want a deeper walk with Christ? Do you want to know Him better? Do you want to “take it to the next level?”

- Are you ready to take a leap of faith for Christ?

- Are you willing to let God work out amazing things in your life? Can you taste it?

vs. 26-28

- The Holy Spirit is strong when we are weak. In our humanity, He is strength for us.

- Paul gives the example that when we don't know what to pray for, the Spirit prays in our place with groanings that cannot be expressed with words.

- Have you ever had an experience like that? Waited on the Spirit to lead your prayer time?

- My mom had this story... My mom didn't get saved until she was in college. Her family was not saved, or in church. So one day she was feeling sorry for herself... feeling like nobody ever prayed for her... and God showed her in what was almost like a vision... She saw this Asian man down on his knees in a small room by a cot, praying for her in some other language and God said, “He is praying for you.” We never need feel all alone. We have brothers and sisters all over the world who when led of

God's spirit, will pray for us.

- and I have had times when God has awakened me in the middle of the night to pray for a face... and I don't know why I'm praying for them when I start... sometimes I know them, sometimes I don't... but as I pray... the words come... they just flow from me... things that, I wouldn't know they needed and hardly ever do I remember specifics after the fact... but for those minutes... God had a person in place for them.

- God will never leave you. He knows exactly what you need. He knows your struggles and your pains. I always thought it was the most awesome thing that God would place someone around the world even in a place to pray for you when you most need it. And when all else fails, Christ Himself prayed for Peter that he would be strong. If there is no one else to pray... God Himself will pray for you. Wow...

- The next part of the verse talks about the Spirit pleading for us believers in harmony with God's own will. The Spirit prays for us, pleads with the Father on our behalf. And God is amazing... He uses everything in our life to work eventual good from it. Even when things seem HORRIBLE, God has a plan. And the Spirit, prays that we will be in harmony with God's will.

- uh oh... God's will? What about my will? What about the Ferrari that I want? Or the place I want to live? Or the money I want to spend on a (fill in the blank....)

- The Spirit doesn't pray for us so we can go off somewhere and do whatever we want. The Spirit pleads on our behalf that we might line up with God's plan and God's will for our lives. That we not stumble in this walk. That we stay strong in the faith.

- It doesn't just say that He'll work everything out to good no matter what. There's a condition. It says for those who 1. love God and 2. are called according to His purpose for them.

- 1 Corinthians 1:24-31

- Hebrews 9:13-15

Questions:

- Have you stood in the gap for you brothers and sisters in Christ? People in your church?

- Will you asked the Spirit to lead your prayer life?

- What is God's will for your life?

- Christ prayed for you. He invested in you. Are you a profit for Him? Are you making something of your few talents? Or did you hide them in the ground?

- Do things seem hard? Is there someone you can ask to pray for you? Do you feel God moving even in what seems to be the worst of circumstances?

vs. 29-31

- God knew you before you were born. He created you special for a purpose. He chose you to become like Christ.

- Then the chosen, the sons and daughters of the kingdom, He called to Himself. He called us to be in right standing with Him. We stand before an all-righteous judge... and we are guilt-free. Wow. And because we have right standing with God, we will inherit His glory.

- What can we say about these wonderful things? We gain eternal LIFE! We gain FREEDOM! If God is for us WHO can be against us? Regardless of the battles we face... have you read Revelation? We win! Ha ha. The end of the story is victory! Regardless of what may seem like failures or losses to you... the end result is already in. We win!

- 1 Corinthians 2:7-9

- Jeremiah 29:11-14

vs. 32-34

- God didn't even spare His own Son. He gave all for you.

- Who dares to accuse you then? You are God's own. The prosecuting attorney has no evidence against you. Satan comes before an almighty God and tries to condemn you with your sin... but we have right standing with the judge!

- Who then can condemn us? NO ONE! Christ Himself died for us and was raised to life for us and he is sitting with the Father in the throne room pleading for us. He gave ALL! For you!

vs. 35-37

- Can anything then separate us from the love of God? This love that seems to have no bounds? That God would give all for you? Can you do something that would turn His love away from you? No!

- But there's bad stuff in the world! There's disease and torture and hunger and so on and so forth. Horrible things! Does that mean God doesn't love those people? Of course not! If calamity and persecution come upon you, it doesn't mean God has deserted you. Remember, we have won the war... it might seem like there's a losing battle going on right now, but God will forsake you, and “OVERWHELMING victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.” This isn't a close race. This wasn't a win by a nose... this was overwhelming victory. No room to assume otherwise.

- Colossians 1:15-23

- 1 Corinthians 15:54-56

- 1 John 5:1-5

vs. 38-39

- Nothing can ever separate us from the love of God. Not death, not life, not angels or demons, not fears or worries, not even the powers of hell. Nothing stands between God and His love for His people.

- No power is greater than our God. Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that was revealed through Christ.

- Wow. Unconditional love. Love that breaks all bonds, heals all wounds, and loves regardless of who you are. Amazing...

- I Corinthians 13:1-13

“How am I supposed to be happy, if everything I ever wanted, it comes with a price?... You said, you said that you would die for me, you must live for me too.” - lyrics from Red Jumpsuit Apparatus