Calvary
Chapel Bible College
March
17, 2021
Homework
Did you do your reading? (KJV)
Did you memorize your verse? Can you recite it for me? (Romans 8:38)
(Romans 8:38 NKJV) For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor
principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
Pericope Project due (first half, Rom.1-8)
Theological Word definitions due
Introduction
The letter of Paul to the Romans is considered Paul’s most important
letter. This is why it is placed in front of all his other writings.
When and Where
The year is around AD 57 or 58
In your Bible, we’d place the writing of this letter around Acts 20:2 –
that’s about when Paul wrote to the Romans from the city of Corinth.
Paul had been in Ephesus for three years, yet when persecution arose, he
makes his way up to Macedonia, writes 2Corinthians at Philippi, and then heads
south to Corinth where he writes his letter to Rome.
What it’s about
The first five chapters dealt with justification, how a person is
made right with God.
The next three chapters will deal with sanctification, the process
where we grow to be more like Jesus.
The next three chapters will unpack the differences between the Jew and
Gentile, and God’s plan for His people.
In the last five chapters, Paul will launch into personal, practical
matters – how do we live as Christians? What does the Christian life look like?
How do we get along with one another?
In building his case for justification, Paul started by showing that
The Gentiles were guilty of sin (ch.1)
The Jews were also guilty (ch.2)
God provided Jesus to pay for our sins (ch.3)
Paul showed that faith like Abraham is all that’s needed for salvation
(ch.4)
Paul showed that it’s reasonable for one person (Jesus) to affect all
mankind, like Adam (ch.5)
Several weeks ago we moved into Paul’s next
section:
Sanctification
Chapter 6 talked about the connection between baptism, and the reality that
we’ve been buried and raised from the dead, and sin no longer has an
unbreakable hold on us.
Chapter 7 was about our continuing struggle of living with the flesh.
Chapter 8 is all about learning to live in the Spirit.
Paul has been talking about how powerful the Holy Spirit can be in our
lives as we learn to put our minds on the Spirit.
8:26-27 Spirit Help
:26 Likewise the Spirit
also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we
ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which
cannot be uttered.
:26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our
weaknesses
likewise – hosautos – in
like manner, likewise
The word speaks of comparing one thing with another.
What is Paul comparing?
Paul has been talking about the frustration that both we as humans as well
as all of creation experience due to the sin that mankind has brought into the
world, and as we are all waiting for the day that God will change things when
Jesus comes back.
(Romans 8:22–23
NKJV) —22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with
birth pangs together until now. 23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of
the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within
ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
Paul is comparing groans.
Creation groans as it waits for the world to change.
We groan as we wait for Jesus to come back.
Now Paul tells us even the Holy Spirit is “groaning”.
He isn’t groaning from frustration at our situations, but
out of compassion as He makes intercession for us.
helps – sunantilambanomai (“with”
+ “against” + “to receive”) – to lay hold along with, help in obtaining; to
lend a hand together with
Because of the combination of three
words stuck together, there’s a sense of intensity in the word.
It’s a “present tense”, meaning that this
is something that the Spirit is constantly doing.
This word is only found in one other place in the New Testament:
(Luke 10:40 NKJV) But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him
and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”
Martha was bothered because her sister wasn’t helping her.
In contrast, the Holy Spirit does help us.
Though this is a different word, it reminds me of another similar word used
of the Holy Spirit:
(John 14:16 NKJV) And I will pray the Father, and He will
give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—
Helper – parakletos
– summoned, called to one’s side, esp. called to one’s aid
weaknesses – astheneia –
lack of strength, weakness, infirmity
What weaknesses is
Paul talking about?
The weakness Paul is talking about is
our inability to pray. And the Spirit is constantly
helping us.
Lesson
He’s here to help
Some people get some strange ideas
about the Holy Spirit – probably because there are some of us people who get
kind of strange around the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is not going to make
you weird, unless you’re already weird.
Look at the things that the Holy Spirit
produces in our lives if we learn to yield to Him:
(Galatians 5:22–23
NKJV) —22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control…
:26 we do not know what we
should pray for as we ought
pray – proseuchomai – to
offer prayers, to pray
as we ought – dei – it is
necessary, there is need of, is right and proper
Lesson
Clueless Prayers
(keyword)
Some of us grew up in churches where
“praying” meant using fancy words that don’t mean anything to anybody.
We might feel like Aunt Bethany in the
movie Christmas Vacation with Chevy
Chase.
(end after “amen”)
When we started Calvary Fullerton,
though I had been in ministry for over fifteen years, I have
to admit I didn’t know much about praying.
I mean I knew about prayer,
but hadn’t spent a lot of time consistently praying.
Over the years I’ve read a lot of books
on prayer. I have been in a lot of prayer meetings.
As a pastor, I have learned to develop
a discipline of regularly praying for the needs of the church. I have learned
the importance of spending time every day in prayer.
I think I’ve grown some in prayer over
the years.
Do I think I know how to pray? Not
even.
Illustration
The
Best Position To Pray Is..
Three preachers sat discussing the best
positions for prayer. A telephone repairman who was working nearby happened to
overhear the conversation. “Kneeling is definitely best,” claimed the first
minister. “No,” the second pastor contended. “I get the best results standing
with my hands outstretched toward Heaven.” “You’re both wrong,” the third
preacher insisted. “The most effective prayer position is lying prostate, face
down on the floor.” The repairman could contain himself no longer. “Hey,
fellas,” he interrupted, “the best prayin’ I ever did was hangin’ upside down
from a telephone pole after my safety strap broke.”
I don’t think that
even some of us pastors really know how to pray.
Because of this verse, I’m not sure
we’re ever going to “arrive” when it comes to knowing how to pray.
Why don’t we know how to pray?
1.
Wrong motives
(James 4:1–3 NKJV)
—1 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they
not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?
2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain.
You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may
spend it on your pleasures.
It’s hard to tell sometimes just what
our motives really are. I think that often our motives are really a mixture of
a lot of things. I doubt we ever have completely pure motives on anything.
I think there are even times when we
want to ask for something, but we know that we have improper motives, so we
don’t ask. But the thing would have been the right thing.
2.
Misunderstanding needs
Our passage here indicates that we
don’t know what is “necessary”.
When it really comes down to it, we
don’t really know much at all. We don’t really know the things to be asked for.
Things aren’t always what they seem. We
often make our judgments on situations based on what shallow, surface things we
can see. But often the truth about a matter can be far below the surface.
Illustration
A Tale of Faulty Inferences
The train rushes across the Hungarian countryside. In a compartment sit a
mother with her attractive daughter, a Nazi officer, and a Hungarian official.
When the train passes through a tunnel, the compartment is engulfed in
darkness. Suddenly there is the sound of a loud kiss followed by a shattering
slap. When the train emerges from the tunnel, no one says a word, but the Nazi
officer’s face bears the unmistakable signs of having been slapped.
The mother looks at her daughter and thinks, “What a good daughter I have.
She certainly showed that Nazi he can’t fool with her.”
The daughter looks at her mother and thinks, “Mother sure is brave to take
on a Nazi officer over one stolen kiss.” The Nazi officer stares at the
Hungarian official and thinks, “That Hungarian is clever. He steals a kiss and
gets me slapped, and there’s nothing I can do about it.” The Hungarian official
stares blankly as he thinks, “Not bad. I kiss my hand and get away with
slapping a Nazi.”
Things aren’t always what they seem.
You can find a person obnoxious for
some reason and just want them to go away. But God may want you to be a part of
their life to bring healing and help to them. God may want them to be a part of
your life, to teach you how to understand and be patient with others.
What if God’s higher
priority is not your comfort, but their salvation? What if God would rather have you endure them
a little so they might get a taste of grace and mercy.
Here I am praying for
them to go away, and God wants them to stay.
I don’t know what to pray.
I find that this is part of the
difficulty when it comes to counseling. When you’re counseling
with an individual, it’s not uncommon for them to not quite tell you the
whole story. When the counseling involves a couple, I find that you’re rarely
going to hear the complete story until you’ve talked with both people. Things
aren’t always what they seem.
But God sees and understands
everything.
(Romans 11:33 NLT) Oh, how
great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to
understand his decisions and his ways!
He knows just what needs to be done.
Illustration
“There was a time when I was a lump of clay. My master took me and he
rolled me and he patted me over and over and over. I
yelled out “Let me alone” but he only smiled and said, “Not yet”. And then I
was placed on a spinning wheel, suddenly I was spun around
and around and around. “Stop it I’m getting dizzy,” I said. The master
only nodded and said “Not yet” Then he put me in an
oven, I’d never felt such heat. I wondered why he wanted to burn me and I yelled and I knocked on the door
and I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips. As he nodded
his head he said “not yet.” Finally
the door did open “whew”, and he put me on a shelf and I began to cool. “That’s
better” I said. And then suddenly he grabbed me and he brushed me and he began
to paint me all over. I thought I would suffocate, I thought I would gag, the
fumes were horrible. And he just smiled and said, “Not yet”. And then suddenly
he put me back into an oven, not the first one but one twice as hot, and I knew
that I was going to suffocate. And I begged and I screamed and I yelled, and
all the time I could see him through the opening, smiling and nodding his head,
“Not yet, not yet”. And then I knew that there was no
hope, I knew that I wouldn’t make it. I was just ready to give up when the door
opened and he took me out and he put me on a shelf .Then an hour later he came back and he handed me a
mirror and he said “Look at yourself”. And I did. And
I said, “That can’t be me, I’m beautiful!”
We don’t often understand what needs to
be done, we don’t know how to pray.
But the truth is, we still “ought” to
pray.
I think we learn to pray better the
more we pray.
:26 the Spirit Himself makes
intercession for us
makes intercession – huperentugchano
(“over” + “in” + “hit the mark”) – to intercede for one
from tugchano – to hit the mark;
to reach, attain, become master of
We don’t know what to pray for, but the
Holy Spirit’s prayers always “hit the mark”.
Present tense – He’s always praying for
us.
:26 with groanings which cannot be uttered
groanings – stenagmos – a
groaning, a sigh;
This is related to the words in verses
22,23, the groaning that creation and us humans do.
While our “groanings” are just noise, the Holy Spirit’s groanings are
productive.
which cannot be uttered – alaletos
(“not” + “spoken”) – not to be uttered, not expressed in words
Lesson
Praying in the Spirit.
Jude tells us that we are to be praying “in the Spirit”.
(Jude 20 NKJV) But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith,
praying in the Holy Spirit,
Paul also mentions prayer in the Spirit when he was teaching about
spiritual warfare.
(Ephesians
6:18 NKJV) praying always with all prayer and supplication in
the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and
supplication for all the saints—
1. One aspect of “praying in the Spirit” involves the gift of tongues.
“Tongues” is praying in a language you didn’t learn by any natural means.
(1 Corinthians
14:12–15 NKJV) —12 Even so you, since you are zealous
for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that
you seek to excel. 13 Therefore let him who speaks in a
tongue pray that he may interpret. 14 For if I
pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. 15 What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit,
and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit,
and I will also sing with the understanding.
He uses the terms “tongues” and “the Spirit” synonymously.
They mean the same thing.
Notice that praying with “tongues” is something that seems
to bypass the mind (understanding) – that’s why I’d consider it in the class of
groaning “which cannot be uttered”.
2. Another aspect of “praying in the Spirit” is what we see here, the
Spirit doing the praying, groanings, no words.
I wonder if this isn’t part of what was going on with Samuel’s mom, Hannah:
(1 Samuel 1:12–13
NKJV) —12 And it happened, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli watched her mouth. 13 Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice
was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk.
She had this pain inside her. She prayed words in her
heart, but no words came from her mouth.
Sometimes it’s just hard to speak. God understands.
3. A last aspect of “praying in the Spirit” is allowing the Holy Spirit to
prompt you to be praying according to the will of God…
I think God wants us to learn how to listen better to the promptings of the
Holy Spirit.
Illustration
A little girl in England, Josie Caven, was born profoundly
deaf. Growing up, she often felt isolated because of her inability to hear, but
that changed after receiving a cochlear implant during the Christmas season. At
the age of 12, she heard clearly for the first time. The first sound she heard
was the song “Jingle Bells” coming from the radio.
Was Josie’s hearing restored? Yes—completely. Was she
hearing well immediately? Not exactly. Her mother said, “She is having to learn
what each new sound is and what it means. She will ask, ‘Was that a door
closing?’ and has realized for the first time that the light in her room hums
when it is switched on. She even knows what her name sounds like now, because
before she could not hear the soft ‘S’ sound in the middle of the word. Seeing
her face light up as she hears everything around her is all I could have wished
for this Christmas.”
Josie’s hearing was restored, but that restoration
introduced her to the daily adventure of learning to distinguish each new sound
in the hearing world. It’s the already, and the not yet.
"Christmas
Carols Music to the Ears of Deaf Girl," Yorkshireposttoday.com
One of the problems we have in responding to the Spirit’s promptings is
that we don’t always “hear” it. We don’t
recognize it.
Elijah learned that God didn’t speak to him through
earthquakes or fires, but instead with a “still, small voice”
(1 Kings 19:12 NKJV) and after the earthquake a fire, but
the Lord was not in the
fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
Personally, I think we often have too much noise in our
lives to hear what God is saying.
Sometimes it’s just an impression that you need to be praying for someone.
Sometimes it’s something that reminds you of a person – pray for them.
Learn to listen to the prompting of the Spirit.
Sometimes we have difficulty just hearing things well…
Illustration
Hard of Hearing
Three old guys are out sitting on a bench. First one says, “Windy, isn’t
it?” Second one says, “No, it’s Thursday!” Third one says, “So am I. Let’s go
get a soda.”
A man was telling his neighbor, “I just bought a new hearing aid. It cost
me four thousand dollars, but it’s state of the art. It’s perfect.” “Really,”
answered the neighbor. “What kind is it?” “Twelve thirty.”
Illustration
Dill Rummel, a woman from a church in Illinois, once told her pastor the
story of how a colleague of hers was hospitalized for ten weeks. Her name was
Colleen, and she had broken her back in two places. Despite the doctors’
efforts, her back wasn’t healing. Dill was very busy, but she knew God wanted
her to visit Colleen. In fact she felt God wanted her
to lay hands on Colleen and pray for healing—something
that was pretty “out there” for Dill at the time.
When Dill finally got around to going to the hospital, she and Colleen
chatted for quite some time about real estate and everyone they knew. Over the
course of her visit, Dill eventually summoned up the courage to say, “Would you
like me to lay hands on you and pray for you?” Colleen readily agreed. Dill
told me, “I did not feel warmth dribbling down through me or anything, but I
did what God wanted me to do.”
About three weeks later, the doorbell rang, and there was Colleen standing
on Dill’s front porch. She explained that the day after Dill had visited her,
the doctor sent Colleen to the lab for some X-rays. They showed where the two
breaks had been, but they were completely healed.
Colleen eventually started coming to Dill’s Bible study. One day, when they
were talking about that famous painting of Jesus knocking at the heart’s door,
Dill explained that the artist didn’t put a door handle on the outside of the
door, because we must open our hearts from the inside. Later that day Colleen
prayed these words: “Lord, I guess if you’re out there and I can open the door,
I want you to come in.” That day Colleen was born again.
Submitted by Lee Eclov,
Vernon Hills, Illinois
Listen. Pay attention when the Spirit is prompting you.
:27 Now He who searches
the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes
intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
:27 He who searches the hearts
searches – ereunao – to
search, examine into; from ereo –
speak, say – the idea of searching by asking questions
There’s a couple of “he” words in this verse. Circle them and identify them
to keep it all straight.
God the Father is the one who searches hearts.
(Prov 17:3 NKJV) The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for
gold, But the LORD tests the hearts.
Sometimes He searches our hearts by probing us with questions.
:27 knows what the mind of the Spirit is,
knows – eido – to see; to
know, i.e. get knowledge of, understand, perceive; to see with the mind’s eye,
signifies a clear and purely mental perception
mind – phronema – what one
has in the mind, the thoughts and purposes
The Father understands what’s on the
Spirit’s mind.
:27 because He makes
intercession…
makes intercession – entugchano
– to light upon a person or a thing, fall in with, hit upon, a person or a
thing; to go to or meet a person, esp. for the purpose of conversation,
consultation, or supplication; to pray, entreat; make intercession for any one
Similar to “makes intercession”, but less intense.
The Spirit is the “He” who is praying for us.
according to the will of God – literally, “according to God”. The
Holy Spirit knows how to pray according to God’s will because He is God. He
knows how to do prayer “according to God”.
saints – hagios – “holy
ones”, that’s you and I
In other words, the Spirit helps our
weakness of not knowing how to pray. He helps us by actually
praying for us, and even though the Spirit may pray with words that we
don’t understand, God the Father understands perfectly what the Spirit is
praying, and the Spirit ALWAYS prays the right things.
Lesson
My
answer is the Spirit’s prayer
Paul wrote to the Philippians:
(Philippians 4:6–7
NKJV) —6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and
supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard
your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
If we will respond to
our anxieties, our “groanings” with prayer, we will find the peace of God in
our hearts.
Illustration
Sometime
look up the life of John Paton, one of the early 19th century
missionaries.
His
father was a man of prayer. He learned to be a man of prayer. He was a
missionary from Scotland, lived 1824-1907, and lived an amazing life of faith
as he reached out to a pagan, wicked, cannibalistic people. Here’s one story
about him:
John Paton was a missionary in the New Hebrides Islands. One
night hostile natives surrounded the mission station, intent on burning
out the Patons and killing them. Paton and his wife prayed during that
terror-filled night that God would deliver them. When daylight came they were amazed to see their attackers leave. A year
later, the chief of the tribe was converted to Christ. Remembering what had
happened, Paton asked the chief what had kept him from burning down the house
and killing them. The chief replied in surprise, “Who were all those men with
you there?” Paton knew no men were present—but the chief said he was afraid to
attack because he had seen hundreds of big men in shining garments with drawn
swords circling the mission station.
Your
situation may not be as intense or dire as John Paton’s was at times, at least
not to other people, but the principle still holds.
We need to develop a new “reflex”.
When we see problems, when we experience “anxiety”, we need to respond
with prayer.
Listen to the Holy Spirit.
Pray as He leads.
Break
8:28-30 The Good Plan
:28 And we know that all
things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the
called according to His purpose.
Is this just about being an “optimist”?
Illustration
It's All In
How You Look At It
A family had twin boys whose only resemblance to each other was their
looks. If on felt it was too hot, the other thought it
was too cold. If one said the TV was too loud, the other claimed the volume
needed to be turned up. Opposite in every way, one was an eternal optimist, the
other a doom & gloom pessimist. Just to see what would happen, on the
twins’ birthday their father loaded the pessimist’s room with every imaginable
toy and game. The optimist’s room he loaded with horse manure. That night the
father passed by the pessimist’s room and found him sitting amid his new gifts
crying bitterly. “Why are you crying?” the father asked. “Because my friends
will be jealous, I’ll have to read the all these
instructions before I can do anything with this stuff, I’ll constantly need
batteries, and my toys will eventually get broken.” answered the pessimist
twin. Passing the optimist twin’s room, the father found him dancing for joy in
the pile of manure. “What are you so happy about?” he asked. To which his
optimist twin replied, “There’s got to be a pony in here somewhere!”
This is more than just about being optimistic.
we know – eido – to see;
to know; not necessarily knowledge by experience (ginosko)
Here it’s the idea of seeing with the mind’s eye,
a clear and purely mental perception
We don’t always “know” by experience that things are working for the good.
But we can still “know” it’s true as we look at God and what He does.
It’s a “perfect” tense, this is something that we’ve done in the past and
the results carry on into the present. We have come to this conclusion about
God, and we still know it’s true.
In the book Spiritual Discipleship,
(pg.95), J.Oswald Sanders writes, “Eyes that look are common. Eyes that see are rare. Do we have eyes that
see?
That’s my concept of this word. It’s
not seeing in the sense of just observing something, but
seeing in the sense of really understanding what’s going on.
:28 to those who love God
to those who love – agapao –
to love, to feel and exhibit esteem and goodwill to a person, to prize
and delight in a thing.
It is not a love based on emotions,
but based on the will. It’s a choice we make to value another person.
In English, word order determines meaning.
If I say, “The dog chased the cat”, then you know that the dog was the one
doing the action of chasing towards the cat. You know this by
word order. But if I changed the word order and say, “The cat chased the
dog”, I use the exact same words, but the change of order shows the change of
meaning.
Greek word order is different.
In Greek, the object of the sentence, the thing doing the action, is known
by the little ending tagged onto the word. That means that the word can be put
in any place of the sentence, and you still know who was doing the action.
In Greek, word order doesn’t determine meaning,
it determines emphasis.
In our text, the order of the words reads like this:
“And we know that to those loving God, all things work
together for the good…”
What’s the emphasis?
We tend to look at the emphasis as being on “all things working together
for the good”.
Paul’s emphasis is on our loving God.
Lesson
Loving God
(keyword)
The only thing that I have a part in
when it comes to having things work for the good is whether
or not I love God. That’s my responsibility in all of this.
This needs to be our focus, our top priority
(Matthew 22:35–38
NKJV) —35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing
Him, and saying, 36 “Teacher, which is the great
commandment in the law?” 37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘You
shall love the Lord your God with
all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment.
Get back to your first love. That’s
where you’ll find rest in your circumstances, when you’re resting in His love.
In a marriage, if you’re not actively
building your love in your marriage, you’ll find that the problems that come up
will divide you. You’ll get mad at each other. You’ll blame each other.
When you aren’t getting along with your
spouse, rough times are even rougher.
But when you get back to focusing on
how to love each other, serve each other, appreciate each other, then you’ll
find that the problems will only draw you closer to each other.
(Revelation
2:4–5 NKJV) —4 Nevertheless I have this
against you, that you have left your first love. 5 Remember
therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works
:28 all things work together for good
all things – pas –
individually; each, every, any, all, the whole, everything
Paul doesn’t say “some things”. Paul
doesn’t say “most things”. He says “all things”.
work together – sunergeo (“with”
+ “to work”) – help in work, to put forth power together with and thereby to
assist
Present tense – something that’s
happening now, continually, not just something in the future.
for good – agathos – of
good constitution or nature; useful; good; excellent; upright, honorable
Not necessarily something that’s beautiful on the outside (Gr: kalos), but something that’s excellent
on the inside, at the core.
All things may not work to make you more attractive on the outside. You may
end up with some scars. But the work that’s being done on the inside is what’s
“good”.
Lesson
It’s all good
Does Paul really mean “all things”?
I have to tell you that I do have a hard time
understanding this.
When a young child is molested by their father, I have a hard time.
When a Christian missionary is put to death, I have a hard time.
What does “good” mean?
I think this is one of our hang-ups.
I think that “good” means that I end up in a comfortable place. It means I win the Lottery. It means that my illness is healed.
Our definition of “good” is one of the reasons we don’t get this verse.
Joni Eareckson was born in 1949 and grew up living an active life riding
horses, hiking, tennis, and swimming. On
July 30, 1967 she was diving into the Chesapeake Bay,
misjudged the depth of the water, and ended up a quadriplegic, paralyzed from
the shoulders down.
How could anything “good” come out of that?
https://youtu.be/elhPcCUOo0A
God works ALL things for the good.
:28 to those who are the called according to His
purpose
purpose – prothesis (“before”
+ “to place”) – a setting forth of a thing, placing of it in view, a purpose
The word is used in:
(Acts 27:13 NKJV) When the south wind blew softly, supposing that
they had obtained their desire,
putting out to sea, they sailed close by Crete.
It’s used to describe the showbread:
(Mat 12:4 NKJV) "how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those
who were with him, but only for the priests?
“bread of purpose”, “bread that’s
placed before”
the called – kletos –
called, invited (to a banquet)
The word order is: “to those who according to the purpose are called”
What does it mean to be “called”? Paul will explain this a little further,
look for the word in the next couple of verses…
:29 For whom He foreknew,
He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He
might be the firstborn among many brethren.
:29 For whom He foreknew
foreknew – proginosko (“before”
+ “to know”) – to have knowledge before hand
Paul uses the word to talk about how the leaders of the Jews knew him
before he was a Christian:
(Acts 26:4–5 NKJV)
—4 “My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from the
beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know. 5 They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according
to the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
What was it that God “foreknew”?
Perhaps He was looking ahead to whether or not we
would choose Him.
When did God’s foreknowledge take place?
Perhaps before everything began:
(Ephesians 1:4 NKJV) just as He chose us in Him before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
Him in love,
The “time-space-continuum”
If you’ve watched any science fiction movies or TV shows, you’ve probably
heard that phrase.
I’m not a physicist, and won’t try to pretend I am
one. Movies are fun, but I’m not going
to put much stock in them when it comes to basic truth.
All I know is that God is bigger than both time and space.
If God is everywhere at once, then God is also currently
present in all times that have every existed.
He is currently in the past as well as the future, all at
the same time.
He knows the future because He currently lives there.
:29 He also predestined
predestined – proorizo (“before”
+ “horizon” or “boundary”) – to predetermine, decide beforehand; to foreordain,
appoint beforehand
The word is used 6 times in the New Testament, always with God doing the
“predestinating”.
It speaks of God determining something ahead of time:
(Acts
4:27–28 NKJV) —27 “For truly against Your holy Servant
Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and
the people of Israel, were gathered together 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before
to be done.
Does this mean that we human beings
don’t have any free will of our own? Are we just mindless puppets controlled by
some mighty puppeteer?
Somehow, though God is Almighty and
Sovereign, we still have self will. The Bible tells us so.
(John 3:16 NKJV) For God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not
perish but have everlasting life.
It’s not those that
are “predestined” that don’t perish, but those who choose to believe.
Paul writes,
(Romans 10:13 NKJV) For “whoever calls on
the name of the Lord shall be
saved.”
Right here in the same
book, Romans, Paul says it’s “whoever” that calls on the Lord that is saved.
How can both be true? How can we both
be predestined and yet have freewill?
I think it’s okay that God is bigger
than my ability to comprehend His ways.
Charles Spurgeon used to explain it something like this:
“When we get to heaven, we’ll see those
great big pearly gates, with a huge sign overhead that reads, “Whosoever will,
come”.
And as we pass through the gates into
heaven, if we would care to look over our shoulder, we’d see that there’s
another message on the other side of the sign. It reads, “Predestined before
the foundation of the world”.
From the earthly side of heaven, all we
can really understand is that we have a choice. God offers us salvation, but we
have to choose to accept it and receive it. Yet when
we get to heaven, we’ll look back and see that we were chosen by God from the
very beginning.
How
do I know if I’m one of those predestined or not?
The only way I know is to choose Him.
If you choose to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then you’ll know that
God has chosen you. If you choose not to accept Him, it really doesn’t tell me
anything. It might mean that you’re not chosen, but it also just might mean
that you’re kind of stubborn.
:29 to be conformed to
the image of His Son … firstborn…
to be conformed – summorphos –
having the same form as another, similar, conformed to; describes what is the
essence in character and thus complete or durable
Not merely a form or outline; change from the inside, not just on the
outside.
It’s not just that we’ll have some of the outward qualities of Jesus in His
glorified body – like being able to fly. But even better we’ll have hearts like
Jesus.
image – eikon – an image,
figure, likeness
firstborn – prototokos –
the firstborn
What
does the “image” of His Son look like?
There are lots of different lists that
we could use that describe Jesus, but one of my favorites is:
(1 Corinthians
13:4–8 NKJV) —4 Love suffers long and is
kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked,
thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but
rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all
things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails.
If God is love, and
Jesus is God, then it’s not that big of a stretch to take the word “love” and
substitute it with “Jesus” in the passage. As you read through it this way, it
makes total sense. When I put my own name in there, it doesn’t quite fit. But God is conforming me into Jesus’
image. This is what He’s making me to
be.
Shaping into an image isn’t really a pleasant thought. It means that some
areas are going to be pushed and molded. Some things may need to be cut off or
trimmed. Some other areas may need to be added. Some areas may need a total
overhaul. But this is what God is trying to do in our lives.
By the way … this is what “sanctification” is all about…this is going to be
a long video…
I have purchased the original…
Illustration
“There was a time when I was a red lump of clay. My master took me and he
rolled me and he patted me over and over and over. I
yelled out “Let me alone” but he only smiled and said, “Not yet”. And then I
was placed on a spinning wheel, suddenly I was spun around
and around and around. “Stop it I’m getting dizzy,” I said. The master
only nodded and said “Not yet” Then he put me in an
oven, I’d never felt such heat. I wondered why he wanted to burn me and I yelled and I knocked on the door
and I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips. As he nodded
his head he said “not yet.” Finally
the door did open “whew”, and he put me on a shelf and I began to cool. “That’s
better” I said. And then suddenly he grabbed me and he brushed me and he began
to paint me all over. I thought I would suffocate, I thought I would gag, the
fumes were horrible. And he just smiled and said, “Not yet”. And then suddenly
he put me back into an oven, not the first one but one twice as hot, and I knew
that I was going to suffocate. And I begged and I screamed and I yelled , and all the time I could see him through the
opening, smiling and nodding his head, “Not yet, not
yet” . And then I knew that there was no hope, I knew
that I wouldn’t make it . I was just ready to give up
when the door opened and he took me out an he put me on a shelf .Then an
hour later he came back and he handed me a mirror and he said
“Look at yourself”. And I did. And I said, “That can’t be me, I’m beautiful!”
:30 Moreover whom He
predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and
whom He justified, these He also glorified.
:30 predestined … called … justified … glorified
All these words are in a past (aorist) tense, including the words in verse
29 (“foreknew” and “predestined”).
These are things that God considers finished, done in the past.
What may seem an uncertain future for us is something that God considers as
already having been completed.
called – kaleo – to call;
to invite
This is the verb form of the word used in v.28, we are the “called” ones.
justified – dikaioo – to
render righteous or such he ought to be
This is the word we saw big time in
chapter 3 – that we are “justified” by faith in Jesus.
glorified – doxazo – to
praise, magnify, to make glorious, adorn with luster, clothe with splendor
This is not our present condition, not as we experience it.
But in God’s eyes, it’s already happened.
How? It’s that “time-space-continuum”
thing. It’s because God inhabits
eternity. He is present in the past, present in the present, and present in the
future. He is existing at all times right now.
It’s like a He’s
in the Goodyear Blimp above the Rose Parade. From the ground we only see one
float go by at a time. But from God’s
perspective, He can see the whole parade route at once.
Lesson
Safe in His arms
Did you notice the connection, the progression?
Foreknown – Predestined – Called – Justified – Glorified
God doesn’t lose a single person in this process. The idea is that if you
are “foreknown”, you will be “glorified”.
If you start, you’ll finish.
We have an Awesome God. He knows what’s
up ahead. He’s prepared for it. He cares for you. He’ll take you through.
8:31-34 For us
:31 What then shall we
say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
:31 What then shall we say to these things?
Paul has built things to a climax, and now comes
the conclusion.
Follow the flow of the chapter:
Struggles and hope
Paul had been talking about the struggles we face in our suffering, but the
hope we have that one day things will get better.
(Romans 8:18 NKJV) For I consider that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which
shall be revealed in us.
Creation groans for our change
Paul talked about how all of creation is groaning, waiting for this change
that’s going to happen – the change in us, our “glorification”.
(Romans 8:19 NKJV) For the earnest expectation of the
creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.
It’s certain we’ll be glorified
We’ve talked about the certainty of God glorifying us. We saw the
progression from God “foreknowing” to God “glorifying” us. It is ultimately
because of His promise of future glorification that we can say:
(Romans 8:30 NKJV) Moreover whom He predestined, these
He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified,
these He also glorified.
It’s because of this certainty that God will one day change things that we
can know that He is “for” us, not “against” us.
Look what God has done for us
Go back through the chapter and see all the things that Paul has mentioned
that God has done for us (somebody count how many things for us)
We have been adopted into God’s family:
(Romans 8:15 NKJV) For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but
you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
The Spirit witness tells us that we belong to God:
(Romans 8:16 NKJV) The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are
children of God,
We are heirs of God:
(Romans 8:17 NKJV) and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with
Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified
together.
We shall have great glory:
(Romans 8:18 NKJV) For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
We have the Spirit groaning for the change that’s coming to us:
(Romans 8:23 NKJV) Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits
of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for
the adoption, the redemption of our body.
The Spirit helps us in our inability to pray:
(Romans 8:26 NKJV) Likewise the Spirit also helps in our
weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the
Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be
uttered.
God causes all things to work out for our good:
(Romans 8:28 NKJV) And we know that all things work together for good to those who
love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
He has a plan that includes molding us into the image of Jesus:
(Romans 8:29 NKJV) For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to
the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
He has chosen us, justified us, and glorified us:
(Romans 8:30 NKJV) Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called,
these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
How much more “for us” can you get?
for – huper – in behalf of, for the sake of
against – kata – down
from, against
Lesson
He’s for me
Be careful that you don’t interpret difficult situations as if God has
turned His back on you. He’s already proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that
He’s on your side.
You may not understand why He’s allowed a difficult situation into your
life, but that doesn’t mean He doesn’t love you.
Isaiah writes,
(Isaiah 49:14–16
NKJV) —14 But Zion said, “The Lord
has forsaken me,
And my Lord has forgotten me.” 15 “Can a woman forget her nursing
child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may
forget, Yet I will
not forget you. 16 See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are
continually before Me.
What does it mean for God to “inscribe” us on the palms of
His hands?
Perhaps it just means that He wrote down our name so He
wouldn’t forget.
Perhaps it’s talking another kind
of mark on His hands, perhaps the nail prints.
God’s love for you ought to be one of the unquestioned “anchors” in your
life. It ought to be one thing that you can always count on.
Illustration
An old seaman said, “In fierce storms we can do but one thing. There is
only one way (to survive); we must put the ship in a certain position and keep
her there.”
Commenting on this idea, Richard Fuller wrote:
This, Christian, is what you must do. Sometimes, like
Paul, you can see neither sun nor stars, and no small tempest lies on you.
Reason cannot help you. Past experiences give you no light. Only a single
course is left. You must stay upon the Lord; and come what may—winds, waves,
cross seas, thunder, lightning, frowning rocks, roaring breakers—no matter
what, you must lash yourself to the helm and hold fast your confidence in God’s
faithfulness and his everlasting love in Christ Jesus.
Isaiah writes,
(Isaiah 40:27–31
NKJV) —27 Why do you say, O Jacob, And speak, O Israel: “My way is
hidden from the Lord, And my just
claim is passed over by my God”? 28 Have you not known? Have you not
heard? The
everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator
of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His
understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the weak, And to those
who have no might He increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be
weary, And the
young men shall utterly fall, 31 But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall
mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk
and not faint.
Just in case you are still not convinced that God is on your side, Paul
lays down one more idea, the ultimate
proof that God is “for” you and not “against” you.
:32 He who did not spare
His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things?
:32 He who did not spare His own Son
did not spare – pheidomai –
to spare; to abstain
This is the same word used in the Septuagint
(the Greek translation of the Old Testament), where Abraham was willing to
sacrifice Isaac:
(Genesis 22:16–17
NKJV) —16 and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not
withheld your son, your only son—17 blessing I
will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars
of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your
descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.
We’ve often seen how this story of Abraham being willing
to sacrifice his only son was a beautiful picture of what God would be doing
2000 years after Abraham.
It’s not a coincidence that Abraham took Isaac to the
mountains of “Moriah”, the location of the city of Jerusalem. Tradition has it that this is the place where
Solomon would build the Temple. It’s at
the place of these mountains that God would sacrifice His own only Son.
I can see why God promises great blessing to Abraham
because he got the picture right. He
displayed the same commitment that God would show to us.
:32 but delivered Him up for us all
delivered Him up – paradidomi –
to give into the hands (of another); to deliver up one to custody
It’s the word often used to associate Judas betraying Jesus, “delivering
Him up” to the authorities. Here we see
that there was also a sense in which God also “delivered” Jesus up for death.
God did this for us because He loved us and wanted to provide for our sin.
:32 how shall He not with Him also freely give us all
things?
freely give – charizomai –
to do something pleasant or agreeable (to one), to show one’s
self gracious, kind; to grant forgiveness, to pardon; to give
graciously, give freely
This is the verb, the action word for “grace”.
We often think of the grace of God in connection with the cross.
Paul’s point is that grace doesn’t stop at the cross.
If God didn’t withhold Jesus from us, how much more will
He “grace” us with all things?
Lesson
God has good things for me.
If God didn’t hold back His own Son for you, what lesser thing would He
ever withhold from you?
Does this mean I can ask for anything I want, and I’ll get it?
God loves you too much to give you everything you ask for. But He will give
you what is good for you.
What is “good”?
Where we get confused is in the difference between what we think is good
for us and what God thinks is good for us.
If you left the grocery shopping for the week up to your five year old, what kinds of groceries would be on the
shelves in your pantry?
Probably stuff like candy, cookies, and ice-cream.
What would your life be like if you only ate things chosen
by a five-year-old?
You’d probably be a just a little overweight. You would probably develop diabetes by age
twelve.
The point is that compared to us, God is THE adult. He’s more than a few steps ahead of us in
understanding how life works.
Lesson
The cross is God’s ultimate love
gift.
There is no greater demonstration of love.
When you doubt God’s love for you, think again. Think of the cross.
(1 John 3:16 NKJV) By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we
also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
(Romans 5:8 NKJV) But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were
still sinners, Christ died for us.
:33 Who shall bring a
charge against God’s elect? It is God who
justifies.
:33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect?
bring a charge – egkaleo –
to come forward as accuser against, bring charge against
It’s a legal term, describing what a prosecutor does.
Like Hamilton Burger, the District Attorney in the old “Perry Mason” TV
shows.
https://youtu.be/lTy901Th0Fg
elect – eklektos – picked
out, chosen
That’s us. We are the “elect”, those
“chosen” by God.
:33 It is God who justifies.
who justifies – dikaioo –
to render righteous or such he ought to be
There’s that old familiar word.
Paul has been making a case through Romans that we have been justified by
God.
(Romans 3:24 NKJV) being justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus,
We were made right with God through what Jesus did in
dying on the cross.
(Romans 5:1 NKJV) Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
We receive this justification through faith, by trusting
God to forgive us.
(Romans 8:30 NKJV) Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called,
these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
God now considers us as having already been completely
made right before us.
God isn’t in the business of bringing
the charges against you. That’s Satan’s job:
(Revelation
12:10–11 NKJV) —10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in
heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power
of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them
before our God day and night, has been cast down. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of
their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
Day and night Satan is accusing us
before God. The picture is similar to a courtroom
where you are standing before God the Father, the great Judge. Satan is the
prosecuting attorney, like Hamilton Berger, whose job it is to get a sentence
of guilt pronounced upon you.
But don’t worry; you have a pretty good
defense attorney, even better than Perry Mason.
(1 John 2:1–2 NKJV)
—1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may
not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation
for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
Jesus is our advocate, our defense
attorney. But He doesn’t have to resort to legal tricks to defend you.
He is the one who has
paid our “debt to society” by dying on the cross in our place. As He pleads our
case before the Father He reminds the Father that the
debt has been paid, and so God pronounces us “justified”. It’s like a person
who has already done enough time in jail to have paid the debt, except Jesus
was the one who went to jail for us.
:34 Who is he who
condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is
even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
:34 Who is he who condemns?
condemns – katakrino – to
give judgment against, to judge worthy of punishment; to condemn
God is involved in something very
similar to condemnation. The word for what God does is:
convict – elegcho
– to convict, reprove, refute; by conviction to bring to the light, to expose;
to find fault with, correct.
The Holy Spirit convicts:
(John 16:8 NKJV) And when He has come, He will convict the
world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
I think we can become a little confused
over these terms. In a subjective sense, conviction and condemnation are very
similar feelings. They are both a sense of feeling horrible
of guilt over your sin that makes you want to run. But there is a very importance difference between the two. It has to do with the
direction you want to run. If you are under conviction, then the Holy Spirit is
at work, and He definitely
wants you to be running to God for His forgiveness. It you are under
condemnation, then it’s Satan at work, and he would like nothing more than for
you to try and get as far from God as you can.
Lesson
Don’t let the guilt drive you away
from God.
If you are feeling that your sins are
just too great and that God could never forgive you, you’re listening to the
wrong voice. Your sins may be too great for you, but they’re not for God. Your
sins are the very reason why Jesus died on the cross.
Instead of letting guilt drive you
away, let it drive you towards God.
That’s what the Holy Spirit wants.
God wants to forgive you. God wants to help you turn around. God wants to see your life change.
makes intercession – entugchano
– to light upon a person or a thing, fall in with, hit upon, a person or a
thing; to go to or meet a person, esp. for the purpose of conversation,
consultation, or supplication; to pray, entreat; make intercession for any one. Based on en
(“in”) and tugchano – to hit the
mark; of one discharging a javelin or arrow; to reach; to meet one
Why
doesn’t God condemn us?
Because Jesus Christ died on the cross
in our place.
To prove that He wasn’t just some
ordinary guy off the street who makes a claim that he’s going to die for you,
Jesus proved that He actually paid the debt of our sins by conquering death and
rising from the dead (Happy Easter!)
After He rose from the dead, He
ascended into heaven, proving that He was “good enough” for heaven.
(Hebrews 10:11–14
NKJV) —11 And every priest stands ministering daily
and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever,
sat down at the right hand of God, 13 from that
time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. 14 For by one
offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
Now that He’s in heaven, He’s still at
work, praying for us to make sure we make it to heaven.
(Hebrews
7:25 NKJV) Therefore He is also able to save to the
uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make
intercession for them.
Pericope Project
8:26-27
Spirit Help
8:28-30
The Good Plan
8:31-34
For us
Homework
Reading (NRSV)
Memorize Romans 8:39
(Romans 8:39 NKJV) nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to
separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Prayer Request
Quick Quiz
Clueless Prayers
Loving God
If you haven’t yet, please be sure to submit your Pericope Project, and
take the Theological Vocabulary test.