Fourteen Affirmations About The Spirit In Romans 8.1-28
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday January 13, 2009
Romans: Fourteen Affirmations About The Spirit In Romans 8:1-28
Lesson # 277
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 8:1.
Before we continue further in our study of Romans chapter eight by noting verse twenty-nine, I thought that it would be appropriate this evening since Romans 8:28 concludes Paul’s lengthy discussion of the life of the Spirit that we review the various affirmations about the Holy Spirit that appear in Romans 8:1-28.
The first affirmation about the Spirit appears in Romans 8:2.
Romans 8:1, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 8:2, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”
Corrected translation of Romans 8:1-2:
Romans 8:1, “Therefore, there is now, as an eternal spiritual truth, never any condemnation, none whatsoever for the benefit of those in union with Christ who is Jesus.”
Romans 8:2, “Because, the life-giving Spirit’s authoritative power, by means of (the death and resurrection of) Christ, who is Jesus, has set you free from the sin nature’s authoritative power as well as spiritual death’s.”
Romans 8:2 affirms that the life-giving Spirit’s authoritative power, by means of the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus, has set them free from the authoritative power of the sin nature as well as spiritual death’s.
The second affirmation appears in Romans 8:3-4.
Romans 8:3-4, “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
Romans 8:3-4 affirms that the Father’s purpose for sacrificing His Son was so that the righteous requirement of the Law, i.e. perfect obedience would be fulfilled in an experiential sense in those Christians who are not conducting their lives in submission to the sin nature but in submission to the Spirit.
The third affirmation about the Spirit appears in Romans 8:5-6.
Romans 8:5, “For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.”
Romans 8:6, “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.
Corrected translation of Romans 8:5-6:
Romans 8:5, “For you see those who at any time exist in the state of being in submission to the flesh are, as an eternal spiritual truth, preoccupied with the things produced by the flesh. However, those in submission to the Spirit, the things produced by the Spirit.”
Romans 8:6, “In fact, the mind-set produced by the flesh is, as an eternal spiritual truth temporal spiritual death. However, the mind-set produced by the Spirit is, as an eternal spiritual truth life as well as peace.”
Therefore, the third affirmation about the Spirit is that submission to the Spirit is the basis for experiencing eternal life and the peace of God, i.e. fellowship with God and failure to submit to the Spirit is loss of fellowship with God.
Romans 8:7-8, “because 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 those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
Romans 8:9 presents the fourth affirmation.
Romans 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.”
Corrected translation of Romans 8:9:
Romans 8:9, “However, all of you, without exception are, absolutely not, as an eternal spiritual truth, existing in the state of being in bondage to the flesh but rather in subjection to the authority of the Spirit, if in fact-and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument the Spirit, who is God does dwell in all of you. Of course, He does. However, if, and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument anyone does not possess at all the Spirit proceeding from Christ, then this one, as an eternal spiritual truth, by no means belongs to Him.”
Romans 8:9 affirms that the indwelling presence of the Spirit is the distinguishing mark of a Christian in contrast to the unbeliever who is not indwelt by the Spirit.
The fifth affirmation about the Spirit appears in Romans 8:10.
Romans 8:10, “If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.”
Corrected translation of Romans 8:10:
Romans 8:10, “However, if, and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument Christ does, as an eternal spiritual truth, exist in all of you. Of course, He does! Then, on the one hand, the body is, as an eternal spiritual truth dead because of the sin nature while on the other hand, the Spirit is, as an eternal spiritual truth, life in all of you because of righteousness.”
Paul teaches in the protasis of a first class condition that appears in Romans 8:10 that the Christian is indwelt by Christ.
Then, in the apodasis, he teaches that while on one hand, the Christian’s body is dead due to the sin nature but on the other hand, the Spirit is life and peace because of imputed righteousness.
Therefore, the fifth affirmation about the Spirit is that the Spirit, who is inherently eternal life indwells the Christian and thus eternal life indwells the Christian because the Christian possesses the imputed righteousness of Christ.
Romans 8:11 presents the sixth affirmation about the Spirit.
Romans 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.”
Therefore, we can see that in Romans 8:11 Paul teaches that the Spirit will transform the mortal body of the Christian at the resurrection of the church, thus giving them a resurrection body to replace their present bodies that contain the sin nature.
The seventh affirmation is found in Romans 8:13.
Romans 8:12-13, “So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh -- for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”
Corrected translation of Romans 8:12-13:
Romans 8:12-13, “Indeed, therefore, spiritual brothers, we, as an eternal spiritual truth, are debtors, by no means to the flesh, that is, a lifestyle in submission to the flesh because, if, and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument, you, at any time, live in submission to the flesh, then, you will certainly die. However, if and let us assume that it is true for the sake of argument by means of the omnipotence of the Spirit, you, at any time, put to death the actions produced by the body, then, you will certainly cause yourself to live.”
Romans 8:13 affirms that the Christian puts to death the deeds of the sin nature and experiences eternal life by means of the omnipotence of the Spirit.
In Romans 8:14, we have the eighth affirmation about the Spirit.
Romans 8:14, “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”
The eighth affirmation about the Spirit is that the sons of God are led by the Spirit of God.
The ninth and tenth affirmations are found in Romans 8:15.
Romans 8:15, “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’”
Corrected translation of Romans 8:15:
Romans 8:15, “Because by no means have all of you received the Spirit who brings about slavery resulting in fear again. On the contrary, all of you have received the Spirit who brings about the adoption as sons by means of whom, we, as an eternal spiritual truth, cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’”
The ninth affirmation is that the Spirit adopted the Christian “Roman style” into the family of God.
The tenth affirmation is that the Spirit is the means by which the Christian cries out to God and addresses Him as “Abba! Father!”
The eleventh affirmation is found in Romans 8:16.
Romans 8:16, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.
This passage teaches that the Spirit bears witness to the Christian’s human spirit that they are a child of God.
The twelfth affirmation about the Spirit appears in Romans 8:23.
Romans 8:17, “And if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”
Romans 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.”
Romans 8:19, “For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.”
Romans 8:20, “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it.”
Romans 8:21, “In hope 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.”
Romans 8:22, “For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.”
Romans 8:23, “And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.”
This passage teaches that the twelfth affirmation about the Spirit is that He is both the evidence and the guarantee that the Christian will receive a resurrection body.
Romans 8:24, “For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?”
Romans 8:25, “But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”
The thirteenth affirmation is presented by Paul in Romans 8:26-27.
Romans 8:26, “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.”
Romans 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.”
Corrected translation of Romans 8:26-27:
Romans 8:26-27, “Furthermore, in the same way, the Spirit, as an eternal spiritual truth, also assists with our weakness because we are totally uncertain as to what to pray for in accordance with that which is, as an eternal spiritual truth, absolutely essential but rather the Spirit Himself, as an eternal spiritual truth, intercedes on behalf of us with inexpressible groanings. That is, the one who, as an eternal spiritual truth, searches our hearts, knows perfectly and intimately what is eternally the Spirit’s mind-set because He always intercedes on behalf of the saints in accordance with God the Father’s will.”
Romans 8:26-27 affirms that the Spirit assists the Christian in his weakness because the Christian does not always know what to pray for by interceding on behalf of the Christian in accordance with the Father’s will, with inexpressible groanings to the Father.
Then, lastly the fourteenth and final affirmation about the Spirit is presented by Paul in verse 28.
Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
Corrected translation of Romans 8:28:
Romans 8:28, “In fact, we know without a doubt that for the benefit of those who are characterized as divinely loving God the Father, He (the Spirit), as an eternal spiritual truth, always works each and every circumstance together for the good, for the benefit of those who are, as an eternal spiritual truth, the chosen ones, in accordance with His predetermined plan.”
The fourteenth affirmation about the Spirit that is contained in Romans 8:1-28 is that the Spirit works both positive and negative circumstances together for the good, i.e. conforming the Christian into the image of Christ.