In Romans chapter 8 the great apostle Paul introduces us to what he’s previously described as “the new way of living” (Ro 7:6), and which we now discover is a life filled with, led by and in the power of the wonderful Holy Spirit! In this fantastic chapter we find that the Spirit frees us from failure and liberates us from legalism; He the One who verifies our sonship and gives us victory over sin; and He’s the One who energises our bodies and empowers our prayers! The Holy Spirit is our greatest advocate and we pray that this message will encourage and enrich you in your walk with God.
This week we consider Paul’s description of the believer – not controlled by sinful nature but rather in radical relationship with the Holy Spirit. We think about how the Holy Spirit confirms our adoption, identity and inheritance as children of God and we take a look how Paul’s ‘theory’ found in the book of Romans played out in practice in his real-life care for the churches.
Romans 13:8 tells is about one ‘debt’ that you will always owe and can never pay off – the debt of love to others. As we explore what this means together, we see how we will never be able to reach the point where we can say “now I love others as much as I should”! No matter how much we have grown as a Christian, we still have room to grow in love.
How radical is our rationale? How radical is our way of thinking? Paul tells us in Romans 12 to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice but then goes on to tell us that this is our rational service – our totally rational response to all God has done for us. God wants to challenge us not only to think radically as our minds are renewed but also then to live radically in light of that… and Romans 12 gives us some great keys on how we can do that.
In looking at Romans 8:27-39 we read about Jesus’ covenant love for those who believe. Is it really unbreakable, unchangeable, relentlessly faithful; even in the face of pressures, troubles, loss and death? The answer is a resounding and wonderful ‘Yes!’.