Romans 8, part B

live as indebted children

The powerful message of Romans grows in depth and wonder with “no condemnation” serving as the fertile base for everything to come. Paul wrote to an audience that knew the law and struggled to reconcile pharisaic teachings—righteousness through doctrinal adherence—with the grace of the Gospel of Christ; Paul brilliantly tackled this conflict by leading the church to find lasting freedom. In this letter, Paul socratically walked through an exegetical argument for righteousness having always been bestowed by faith and not established by piety to rituals, and he also made the claim that within this faith the totality of grace not only forbids condemnation but also restores and renews our physical bodies making us equivalent to the Holy of Holies in the temple: the sacred home in which God abides.

But, Paul was not imbalanced. He started his letter to the church in Rome first with the Gospel and second with a warning that there is a way contrary and hostile to God. He was also clear that we are not to stand in judgment except to perhaps examine the choices presented before our own lives. Here, Paul returned to the conversation of the two roads now emphasizing that we are obligated to choose the narrow path of God. Paul called us debtors.

“So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.” (Romans 8:12)

The order of events is critical; to get the order wrong is to fall into the error of the Pharisees. Despite what some have taught, Paul did not make an argument of this or that; he argued for the correct order of events. The attempt to live into a self-created righteousness, to abandon our need for God, will only yield proof to our incapabilities and misunderstandings. We are incapable of resisting the temptation of Sin to become gods within ourselves; and, we lack the understanding of the Spirit of the law and are led astray by Sin’s corruptive teachings. To prioritize works of law in the hopes of obtaining redemption is to choose a path that leads to death. However, that is not the only road to perdition; to claim faith in Christ and yet blatantly, unrepentantly, and apathetically defile the temple of God—which is to choose to live according to our sinful desires by discarding the ways of God—is also to choose death.

“For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:13)

Paul demanded that we live by faith and cease to live ungodly lives. And, it must be understood that he was not speaking to those outside of the faith as an evangelist—Paul was speaking to those within the faith, knowledgeable of Scripture, as a pastor. But again, the order is the priority. We cannot live by works for the hope of grace, but we can also not discard works because of grace. Rather, as indebted children, as those who have received the free gift of thoroughly redemptive grace, we must live into the calling of God. It is a teaching to live into the newness of God and to not return to the decay of our former selves. And, this calling is nothing less than to be called His children.

“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” (Romans 8:14)

“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Romans 8:15)

God is not distant; He, instead, calls us into an intimate relationship in which we can call Him Abba—Daddy. We can, therefore, through the allegory of family, understand the order of events better. One’s place in the family is not determined or accessed by behavior; it is determined by either blood or adoption. However, being a part of the family includes behavioral expectations that best represent the family. We are both adopted by the Father and covered by the blood of Christ and should then live in a manner best representing the Father’s name. Having been saved by grace, we choose to suffer the narrow road, the difficult path of wisdom, and are glorified as heirs of God.

“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” (Romans 8:16-17)