10.8.25 – Romans 8

SPEAKER 01 : 0:08

Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Allen J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.

SPEAKER 03 : 0:23

Today we’ve reached the halfway point of the book of Romans. We’re in chapter 8. It has 39 verses. And we’ll listen to our guest reader, Craig Warner, read Romans chapter 8. Craig is the executive director of the Gideons International. And you’ll tell by his accent, he is not from around here. He was born in Australia, moved to the United States, and became the executive director of the Gideons International in 2010. Let’s listen to Craig Warner as he reads Romans chapter 8.

SPEAKER 02 : 0:53

Romans chapter 8. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 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 condemns sin in the flesh, 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. 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. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s Lord. Indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit. In fact, the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 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. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 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. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 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. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 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. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself would be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 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. 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. 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. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 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. And those whom he predestined he also called. And those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 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? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 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 separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or or danger or sword as it is written for your sake we are being killed all the day long we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present or things to come, nor powers, 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.

SPEAKER 03 : 6:04

The opening verse of this chapter says, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. In 1994, I began my journal with this question. No condemnation for those in Christ? What does that mean? The law condemned us because it defined our sin and we are guilty of sinning. But in Christ, our sin, though it continues, is forgiven. Therefore, no condemnation? No eternal condemnation. But Jesus is not pleased with the life of sin or continuation of sin. Then I referred to verse 7. The mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God, for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so. And I concluded my journal entry with, That’s what’s wrong now with many in our country. Those in the flesh cannot please God. Then I wrote, life according to the flesh or according to the spirit. By the flesh equals death. By the spirit equals life. I looked down in this journal a couple days later. It was a Sunday, and I noticed that I made a note in my journal that I checked out a book on Romans at our church. This was 1994, and I looked at that book where I checked it out, and it says I had read that back in 1981. My name was still on the card. So I said when we started Romans that I thought it was the Ph.D. of Christianity. So at least twice I’ve read a book on Romans while reading Romans, so it helped me to understand what this book is really all about. In 2001, I had a little bit different take on this chapter when I wrote, No condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. That’s conditional. There is condemnation to those not in Christ Jesus. We must live in the Spirit to be free from bondage of sin. And then I quoted verse 28. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. And again I wrote conditional. Two conditions. Love God and called. I want to be called according to His purpose. And in 2013, I wrote, No condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Not a blanket statement for all. A conditional statement for those in Christ. Those not in Christ are condemned. Those in Christ set their minds on the things of the Spirit. No longer on the things of the flesh. Quoting verse 8, “…those who are in the flesh cannot please God. We are not in the flesh, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.” That’s verse 9. “…the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is the same Spirit who dwells in me.” Verse 11. If we live according to our flesh, we die. But if by the Spirit, we will live. That’s verse 13. Those who receive the Spirit are adopted sons, joint heirs with Jesus, children of God. Hallelujah! I continued to write, whatever we suffer on earth is nothing compared to the glory of heaven. Creation was not created in sin, but ended up there because of Adam’s sin. It too, like us, will be restored to a sinless nature. In our sinful state, though, we accept God’s redemptive work on the cross, we still fail, so we get access to the Holy Spirit to help us in our weaknesses, our sinful state. For those who love God and are called according to His purpose, all things work out. So, if God is in control and all things work together for good, who or what can be against us? And then I wrote our standing in Christ. And I quoted these verses. Who can be against us? Verse 31. Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? Verse 33. Who is to condemn? Verse 34. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Verse 35. Then I wrote verse 38. Nothing, no one, no how. Wow. Thank you, Jesus. I’m going to finish this great chapter with the prayer I wrote in my journal in 2013 after reading Romans 8. The prayer was this. Nothing can separate me from your love. I accept, though I cannot comprehend. I love you for loving me. Help me understand the truths and walk in confidence in you. All things work together for good in my life because you are in control. Thank you, Jesus. In your name we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening to Add Bible today. You might wonder how I became a daily Bible reader. When I was 15 years old, a buddy and me stole his father’s car. We could steal his father’s car because his father was in Vietnam, serving in the war. So he was never home. So we took the car that day. Neither one of us with a driver’s license, and we took off out east of Colorado Springs on a dirt road. We were flying down this dirt road at 60 miles an hour, and he lost control of the car. We began to spin, and we were going down the road, fishtailing, and he spun the wheel of the car 60 miles an hour. The car tumbled, crushed the top, tucked the wheels under, totaled the car. I was on a dirt road. I don’t know if I was thrown out of the car or crawled out of the car, but I looked at that car, and I thought, am I even alive? Am I broken? Am I bleeding everywhere? And I began to pat myself down, and I felt like I was okay. So I stood up, and I was uninjured, amazingly. The sheriff came to draw up the accident. He said, it’s a miracle you guys are alive. I got home that night, went down into my bedroom. My mother came to me and said, you ought to thank God you’re alive. I was laying on my bed, and I was thinking about the day’s activities. And I just thought, wow, I could have been dead today. I wasn’t the driver. I was the passenger. I wasn’t in control. But God was. At that moment, I figured out at 15 years old, God could take my life any time. He could have that day. So as I laid there, I thought, okay, you could take my life any day. So you saved my life today for a reason. For whatever reason that is, I’m going to live for you and that reason. As I said that, I heard a voice say to me, there’s a Bible on your bookshelf. Get it down and read it. I must have heard something, because I got up, I went over to the bookshelf, and I pulled down a Bible. I opened it to the first page, just like I would any other book, and I began to read God’s Word. I read Genesis chapter 1. The next day I read Genesis chapter 2. The next day I read Genesis chapter 3. And a chapter a day, I began to read God’s Word at 15 years old. If you do that, by the way, it’ll take you about three and a half years to finish reading the Bible a chapter a day. And that’s a good plan. So that’s how I became a daily Bible reader. And when I finished going through the Bible the first time, at 18 years or so, I just started over because I thought that’s what Christians did, was read their Bibles every day. So that’s how I became a daily Bible reader. I know you’re going to like it and want to share it with others.