Results for "death"
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Romans 8:35
35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
Can anything that happens to us on this earth separate us from the love of Christ? The answer is no, no, no! This momentary affliction that we experience during our earthly life in Christ is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory (v.18, 2 Cor. 4:17-18). Every bit of suffering is being used for our good (v.28). And yet while our enemies cannot condemn us (v.34), they may indeed kill us. It may even be that Satan is given authority by God to go so far as to murder us (Rev. 2:8-11). But God's love in Christ is never more real than in our weakest moments; He will see us through every step of faith for our good until we come to be in His glorious presence. Jesus says to us, "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matt. 10:28). It is the love of Christ, abundantly poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, that will see us through all things and provide us strength in our weakest moments so that we will persevere to the end in the hope of the Gospel (see Colossians 1:21-23).
Bookmarked 4 months ago.
Romans 8:37
37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
In every bit of suffering, in every trial, in every part of life in which we share in Christ's sufferings, we who live by faith in the Son of God are 'more than conquerors'--we are victors! Not because of our strength, wisdom, or giftedness; for we know that we must give these up before we can clothe ourselves with Christ. We are victors only because Jesus loved and gave himself up for the Church, His Bride, "so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish" (Ephesians 5:25-27). If we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit -- if Christ's loved has been poured into our hearts by that same Spirit -- then we are assured that He will finish the good work that He began in us by that same Spirit (Philippians 1:6). In the midst of describing the great suffering and hardship he endured in Asia, Paul rejoiced before the Corinthians because of this sustaining love of Christ: "But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere" (2 Corinthians 2:14). But if we will not suffer for the sake of the Gospel and will not give up our lives for the sake of knowing Christ, we will never understand this verse or even this chapter. Holy Spirit, come, and fill the hearts of Your faithful!
Bookmarked 4 months ago.
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Romans 8:10
10But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.
10But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.
Paul has just finished writing about the fallen human state after the sin of Adam and Eve -- how their disobedience brought spiritual and physical death. Although it was such a terrible fall that humans could no longer please God at all (v. 8), Jesus did please God through His obedient and sinless life and atoning sacrifice on the Cross of Calvary. And the wonder is that through our receiving of Christ by faith, we have actually received His very presence in our hearts and bodies. He abides with us, even as we abide in Him. Even though the Fall completely toppled and paralyzed us so that sin will always be possible and sometimes deceitfully appealing this side of heaven, we now have a much more powerful presence abiding in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. And it is through the Spirit that we are intimately connected with Christ who is the head of the Church. So then, the Spirit is the source of our experience of eternal life in Jesus. Through Him we are brought into union with Christ so that we may share in His righteousness, thereby putting to death the passions of our sinful desires as we behold and are powerfully held and led by the Lord Jesus Himself.
Bookmarked 8 months ago.
Romans 8:6
6The mind of sinful manOr mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;
6The mind of sinful manOr mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;
To set the mind on the flesh here does not mean to have bad theology or to be unversed in the latest Christian interests; rather, it means to not have the same mind as the Lord Jesus -- to be self-pleasing, ungracious, greedy, violent, nagging, and always at war with oneself and with others. To set the mind on the Spirit is something entirely different -- it is to continually strive to 'have this mind... which is yours in Christ Jesus..' (Phil. 2:5) -- which implies living a life of self-sacrifice and love in fellowship with other Christians to the glory of God. Therefore, we need to be daily refreshed by God's word, but we also need to remove the stumbling blocks in our own lives that cause us to keep from putting His Word into full practice. Doing things that cause us to be conflicted, pursuing hobbies that cause us to be consumed with the passing world rather than the enduring Kingdom -- in short, whatever draws us away from pure devotion to Christ -- must be avoided like the plague so that the Spirit will have free reign in our hearts, minds, and souls. Only in this way will we ever see real growth in holiness, which is simply pure-hearted, single-minded devotion to the Lord. Holiness is the source of real joy, life, and peace, because in the Spirit we are truly united with Christ -- free of the tangles and twists in our souls caused by a stubborn heart that is unyielding to the Lord.
Bookmarked 10 months ago.
Romans 8:2
2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
Why does Paul describe the Spirit's working of life in us as a 'law' here? It seems clearer once you read Rom. 7:16-25; there he describes sin as a law working in his body -- sin has rule over him. The 'law' of the Spirit of life that sets us free, then, is not another set of rules to follow but the Holy Spirit's conquering of sin in our hearts, minds, souls, and even bodies. Through this supernatural work of grace that we experience as life in Christ, we fulfill the spiritual demands of the Mosaic law summed up in the love of God and neighbor that no human laboring 'in the flesh' could ever fulfill.
Bookmarked 10 months ago.
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