Rom 8:33: “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.”

(29 Sept-13 Oct 2013)

Rom 8:34: “Who will condemn? 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.”

(13 Oct-27 Oct 2013)

The question is who will accuse God’s elect. We can be accused by demons, by people, by our conscience or by God. Everyone who commits an offence is liable to a just punishment. “The wages of sin is death.” (Rom 6:23) “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom 3:23) But it is God who justifies.

Rom 8:31: “If God is for us…” – the consequence is: “…who can be against us?”

I can personally realize this truth if I use “me” instead of “us”.

What to do if I want God to be “for me” and not against me? I need to repent. It means to come out of darkness into the light. Christ is the Light. “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.” (1Jn 1:7)

Through Christ the way is open for us to the Heavenly Father. However, this way is not open for liberal Christians who question Jesus’ redemptive death on the cross and speak misleadingly about the Christ of history and the Christ of faith.

The word of prophecy spoken to Ezekiel in the Babylonian captivity is relevant to the current situation in Ukraine: “And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned.” (36:23) “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. … I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. …you shall be My people, and I will be your God. … Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and your abominations. … Then the nations which are left all around you shall know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted what was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken it, and I will do it.” (v. 25-36)

“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?”

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

“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.”

Rom 8:27   “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.”

The power of God working through prayer is conditioned by the working of the Spirit of God. Therefore every Christian must not only receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit like the Apostles on the day of Pentecost but also allow His power to work in him and to make him a true witness of Christ. This is what Jesus Himself desires (cf. Acts 1:8).

“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.”

“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.”

In verses 22-27, the Apostle Paul speaks about three kinds of groaning. The groaning of the creation (v. 22), the groaning of believers (v. 23) and the groaning of the Spirit (v. 26). The creation, i.e. animate and inanimate nature, was subjected to suffering and disasters as a consequence of sin (v. 20). And so it is God’s plan that nature as such will likewise be redeemed and transformed. There will be a new heaven and a new earth, everything will be restored according to the will of God (cf. 2Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15; Rev 21:1-5) and the faithful children of God will receive their full inheritance.

“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.”

“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.“

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. (Rom 8:18)

The sufferings of this present time (illness, pain, misery, disappointment, poverty, ill-treatment, grief, persecution or any other problems) must be considered not worthy to be compared with the blessing, privileges and glory which are prepared for the faithful in the age to come (cf. 2Cor 4:17).

“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.”

“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.”

Verse 14 reads: “All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” The first part is crucial: “All who are led by the Spirit of God…” It is not enough to receive the Spirit of God or to pray to Him. We need to be led by Him, or, in other words, to walk in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit leads our mind to the truth and He leads our will to overcome fear, laziness and sin. In verse 13 we read: “…if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” God’s Spirit strengthens our spirit and our will in resisting the process of self-destruction which started with the infection by original sin.