Trinity 8 2025

Last Week Hosea, this week Romans

Last week we were looking at an OT passage (Hosea) where the up front challenge is the history involved about the Split Kingdoms of Israel and their foes. This week the challenge is we are reading St. Paul to the Romans, and he is doing a beautiful Ballet of interpreting all of history according to the Bible to help us understand what it means to be in Christ.

He has to this point reminded us as to what the problem with humans is, how God sent the jews as his means of salvation. He talks about their failure, and the inclusion of the gentiles, or non jews into cove life.

So what happens at conversion that makes us able to be in a relationship with God and part of the family. That is what this text seeks to tell us.

Romans 8, Major theme: Live according to the flash not the Spirit.

Remember that Romans is 16 chapters so being on 8 means we are in the center, but the book is still going to gain momentum past the middle until its glorious climax in chapter 12.

Romans 8:12 “So then, brothers and sisters, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh,”

We have a Debt, but the debt is not to the old thing, the flesh, the part of us that was enslaved to sin.

Romans 8:13 “because if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

Our lack of debt to the flesh is soul saving. If we continue in that slavery it leads to eternal death this thing we call hell.

But when you are converted the Spirit takes over and begins dismantling the slavery of the flesh and destroying its power in you (mortification)

Romans 8:14 “For all those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons.”

Paul is confirming what I was saying…although he is the authority here. He is saying we are God’s kids…therefore we have God’s Spirit leading us.

Romans 8:15 “For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!””

When we slaves to sin, we misbehave, and a few things become true. a) we do not know how this life ends b) we feel guilt for living far from God. c) Our relationships are all affected by sin. This creates a fear, the greatest of which is not knowing our destiny. being adopted by the Spirit means we do not have to live with those fear, we instead live with an intimacy with God that allows us to call him Daddy. (Few thoughts of abba father)

Romans 8:16 “The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children,”

The Spirit is working in us showing causing our spirit to be moved, proving we are children of God.

Romans 8:17 “and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.”

There is this wonderful benefit of being children of God, we will inherit what Christ inherits, that is dominion, a divine nature. In a word Glorification.

At the cross we are forgiven, we are justified, we are sanctified, we are glorified.

Applications: Three applications I will leave you with.

If you are no longer a slave to sin,

then keep fighting the fight against sin, you are stronger than you know, and you are no longer enslaved.

The foolishness of giving up and living as though sin is still winning.

I like cruising, had to get off the FB pages

Live as an adopted child.

Let the emotional reality that God has adopted you sink in. You where a slave to sin and Jesus came and gave sin its due and purchased you out to adopt not enslave you. YOU ARE THAT LOVED BY GOD.

You will inherit that which is Jesus. Son of Man — enters in to heaven — sees the ancient of days — is given dominion

The cross

What is the debt, how is it paid?

We are the children of God, sealed in baptism, we can now come to Abba Fathers table.