Romans 8:12-31. General conclusions.
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Paul brings together everything he has written about Jews and Gentiles separately about the spiritual and carnal life. He now addresses both of them together concluding all his statements on this subject. Beginning at this verse, he continues to the end of this chapter.
‘So, brethren,’ is addressed to born-again believers. The thought continues in verse 13. As believers, you will no longer live according to the flesh, to inherit death. If you have chosen the other way through the Spirit of God and the Gospel of Christ, you can resist the ‘works of the flesh’ with the spiritual help of faith and the power of the Spirit, then eternal life is your inheritance.
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Jesus, by His sacrificial offering, opened the way to the kingdom of God for all who believe in Him. The Spirit of God is the great guide and with power to illuminate, inspire, strengthen and show the way through this life in the Way to heaven. These are the children of God.
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This is not the spirit of bondage as under the law with all its rites and ceremonies, with the fear of transgression of that bondage, now having received the Spirit of adoption, into the family of God. This same Holy Spirit continues to bear witness to the grace you have received, which also makes you capable of calling God your Father, with full trust and affection.
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Knowledge of this adoption cannot be given by any merely human means. It must come from God himself, therefore from his Holy Spirit who delivers the message directly to the spirit of the believer. The understanding of the mind is the window to bring light to the spirit of man. The believer has the Word and the Holy Spirit as permanent testimony that, as his children, we must walk with our Heavenly Father from now on and forever.
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If they are legitimate children, also legitimate heirs of the Father’s goods. We are not to inherit property, neither on earth nor in heaven, but we are joint-heirs with Christ, heirs of eternal glory with the glorified human nature of his resurrection, and co-partakers of all that God is. This is beyond our power of conception or imagination, but it is as true as every promise and prophecy of God given to man as recorded in his Holy Word.
Paul here introduces the other consideration of being like Christ in His suffering. Being like Christ in this world, as proven in the Gospel record, will bring woe and enmity from the world. This is also necessary and certain as the glorious inheritance.
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These earthly sufferings are not even enough to compare with the glory of eternity. They are only moments – eternity is eternal.
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The word ‘creature’ in Greek can be extended as ‘creation’. Some scholars suggest that all of creation awaits with expectation the eternal state, which will be revealed at the moment when Christians are welcomed into glory.
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It has been suggested that here Paul is referring to the origin of Gentilism: the confusion of languages after the attempt to build the tower of Babel. This was built after idolatry, sinning against God. God’s punishment was to submit them to vanity, reluctantly. From that moment, the world was under paganism until the Gospel was manifested. God did this with the design of the final deliverance, therefore, with hope. Some have suggested that all of creation is included in the ultimate restoration of all things.
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This verse continues the thought of verse 20. In time, the Gentile world will be freed from the slavery of its sinful corruption and brought into the noble freedom of the children of God.
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Paul now points to the entire structure of the material world groaning in agony and pain. Everything breaks down and wears out, becomes less.
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In short, all of creation is in suffering, which began as a result of Adam’s sin. He was made subject to vanity, which here means pain, sickness, and death. God had a purpose, a plan for liberation, and he placed in each heart a hope, an expectation of a better path. The great liberator is the Messiah, and through the Gospel of him is offered to all. Paul includes the Gentiles and ‘ourselves’ as the Jews are also freed from slavery, now having the firstfruits of the Spirit. The future holds the great redemption even from the corruption of the earthly body to the heavenly state. What was started by the Spirit of God here and now only begins our adoption, the final destination and condition will be eternal.
Every hope anyone has is inspired by God – this is to support them through the trials of life. The last hope that God provided was to send his Son to redeem mankind.
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To be saved by hope means to be supported and satisfied in the expectation of God’s goodwill toward us, and to help us through all the troubles and trials of this life, and the final resurrection to glory.
The word ‘hope’ only describes what is not currently in possession, therefore it is out of sight.
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The proper attitude regarding our hope is necessarily future, we must wait patiently. Faithful is the one who promised. The gifts of faith and hope are both necessary for the Christian.
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The same Holy Spirit sustains and strengthens our weakness when we pray. We must put forward the strength we have, even while we depend on God’s strength. Without the help of the Spirit, our prayers would be subject to endless errors. The Spirit inspires suitable desires. Jesus promised in John 16:13,14 – ‘But when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth; for he will not speak on his own account of him; but whatever he hears, that will speak, and he will make you know things to come. He himself will glorify me, because he will take what is mine, and he will make it known to you.’
See John 14:16,17,26, John 15:26,27 and John 16:7.
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Only God can search the heart and observe the work of the Spirit to intercede or negotiate for the person. Jesus also as our friend and Savior intercedes for us. The Spirit directs and guides our prayers so that they are in accordance with the will of God. The Spirit communicates to God not only with words, but also those things that cannot be expressed with words, but with groans, sighs or tears. This also shows that the sincerity and power of a prayer is not related to how eloquently it is said, or how big or long words are. God listens to the most intimate expression of the heart through the Spirit that dwells in us. He answers even those unspoken prayers according to his will.
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In order to correctly understand this verse, it is necessary to point out several things. First, the people to whom this applies are those who love God, who live in the spirit of obedience. Second, the verbs are in the present tense, not the future tense. All things now work in favor of those who love. Third, all of these things work together. God’s will and his Spirit are working together. Whatever problems, afflictions, or persecutions arise in a person’s life, God uses them for the general benefit of that person who lives by faith and is led by the indwelling Spirit. The life of Paul himself testifies to this.
‘Those who are called’ uses the sense of being invited as guests, welcome to a party. These are welcome to the blessings of the New Testament. This is true for all Christians.
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This and the next verse explain how God planned our entire salvation, from beginning to end. There are several steps that show God’s wisdom and blessing. Foreknowledge is the first design and formation of the plan – to freely give the favor and privilege of being God’s people. This happened before the world began (see II Timothy 1:9).
The second step is our conformity to the Son of God in eternal glory. He determined, predestined, foreordained, his great purpose. The call was to include both Jews and Gentiles, as was God’s plan from the beginning. The rest of our earthly life, God works in us to help us conform to the image of his Son. This leads through the Gospel to the obtaining of the eternal glory of our Lord Jesus Christ (see II Thessalonians 2:14). This proves that for us, all things work together for our good, and proves that we are destined for eternal glory. The next verse elaborates on the last point.
The eldest of many brothers. Jesus is the leader, the boss of all the redeemed. His human nature is the scoop of the resurrection from the dead to eternal glory.
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To put it all together, God has now accomplished this by spreading the Gospel between Jews and Gentiles. His plan for the redemption of man had been completed by Jesus on the cross. He offered himself, the people responded, God justified them, forgave the sins of those who repented and by sincere faith accepted his Son as his Savior. They too are glorified-while on earth with honor, dignity and privileges as his children. When they die, their spirit enters into the glory of his kingdom in heaven with Christ, awaiting the redemption of the body at the rapture. In more theological terms, justification is the foundation. Sanctification is the process of maturation, also conformed to the image of the Son of him. Glorification begins on earth with gifts, graces, innumerable blessings and privileges, then it is perfected until eternity.
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This is the powerful conclusion of all the previous speeches. God has done, is doing, and plans to do all these glorious things for us. The planning; He made it happen; He is currently working for us and in us; His plan continues into eternity. Who can interfere? Who could have prevented any of his plans? There may be some irritations, tribulations, but it does not stop. God will bring us forward. He will complete his plan, and because we are part of that plan, we can be sure of knowing that there is no power on earth or anywhere that can stop his will from being carried out. Period. Amen.
Next, the closing of the chapter: more evidence of the certainties mentioned above.