Daily Scripture Reading Romans 8:9-28
Many Christians try to persuade people to become believers by emphasizing how much better life is as a believer. As a Christian, when something bad happens in life, we can turn to God and ask for help. While that is true, it is also true that serving Christ can also bring suffering, so in some ways life as a believer is worse than life as a non-Christian.
Today’s passage gives us a better frame of mind for how to present Christianity. The greatest benefit is not what Christ does for us here on earth. It is what happens after life on earth.
In the opening verses of chapter 8, Paul drew a contrast between walking in the flesh and walking in the Spirit. Setting the mind on the flesh is enmity towards God and results in death. Setting the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
Rom. 8:9 ¶ However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
Note the statement that the Spirit lives in believers.
Rom. 8:10 But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
Rom. 8:11 But 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.
The benefit of having the Spirit is having life.
Rom. 8:12 ¶ So then, brothers, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh—
Rom. 8:13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die, but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the practices of the body, you will live.
Look at the words “so then” in verse 12. Since we have the Spirit, we are under obligation to the Spirit, not to the flesh. We should not live according to the flesh.
Some Christians have the mentality that once they are saved, they can just coast through life because they will not go to hell; therefore, it doesn’t matter how they live. However, we are under obligation to live differently than those who live by the flesh.
Rom. 8:14 For as many as are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
Rom. 8:15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry out, “Abba! Father!”
Rom. 8:16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,
Rom. 8:17 and if children, also heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
Look at the word “suffer”. Paul assumed that being children and heirs of God would include suffering for God.
Modern evangelicalism often does evangelism by emphasizing the benefits of being a Christian and avoiding anything negative. There are benefits. However, there is also a cost to being a Christian. Suffering is part of the cost. When we evangelize, we should be honest about the cost.
Rom. 8:18 ¶ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
The correct way to evangelize is to be honest about the cost, and make people aware that, as Christians, we endure short-term pain in order to gain glory that far surpasses the agony of life on earth.
Rom. 8:19 For the anxious longing of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.
Rom. 8:20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope
Rom. 8:21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
Notice the word “hope” in verse 20.
Life on earth for everyone, both believers and non-believers, is painful and feels pointless and meaningless. Everyone experiences hurts and disappointments.
As Christians, our hope, our reason for persevering through the trials and tribulations of life, is that someday Christ will return and make things better. Someday, we will escape the futility of the creation.
Rom. 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.
Rom. 8:23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.
Note that this verse teaches us that being a believer does not exempt us from the groaning that is part of life on earth. Instead, being saved assures us that we will escape the agony at some point in the future.
Many Christians try to persuade non-christians to become believers by emphasizing how much better life is as a believer. There might be some truth to that. However, the better reason to become a believer is the hope we have regarding existence after life on earth.
Rom. 8:24 For in hope we were saved, but hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he already sees?
Rom. 8:25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we eagerly wait for it.
Rom. 8:26 ¶ And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;
Sometimes, we are in situations where we know we should pray about a matter, but we don’t know how to pray. We don’t know what to ask for. Sometimes we have a concept in our heads about what we should ask for, but we can’t put it into words.
Fortunately, the Spirit intercedes for us when we pray.
Rom. 8:27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
Sometimes the pronouns in the Bible are hard to follow. In this verse the pronoun “He” appears twice. The first time it refers to God. The second time it refers to the Spirit. God searches the hearts of all people. God knows the mind of the Spirit. The Spirit intercedes for the saints.
Look at the phrase “according to the will of God”. It is encouraging and reassuring that, when the Spirit intercedes for us, He does so according to the will of God. Think about the power of the advocate we have working on our behalf.
Rom. 8:28 ¶ And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.
Life can be very difficult. We all face obstacles, disappointments, trials, and tribulations. However, God takes all those experiences that we wish we could avoid and works them together for something good.
It is normal for us Christians to wish we could avoid pain and suffering. However, we need to understand that the agonies of life produce something good in us. Thus, we should be thankful for the setbacks of life.
Ultimately, the greatest benefit of being a Christian is what happens after life on earth. Therefore, when we evangelize, we should focus on the reality of what happens after life on earth, not the benefits of being a Christian while on earth.
To what extent have you or your church fallen into the trap of trying to persuade people to become Christians by emphasizing how wonderful life on earth is as a Christian?
How do you need to change your presentation of the gospel in order to communicate the true eternal benefit of Christianity?
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”