02.14. VI. Gospel-Righteousness Provides for a Holy Life by Means of the Holy Spirit ...
VI. Gospel-Righteousness Provides for a Holy Life by Means of the Holy Spirit Indwelling the Believer (Rom 8:1-39).
Spener, an old German commentator, once said that, If Holy Scripture was a ring, and the epistle to the Romans its precious stone, Rom 8:1-39 would be the sparkling point of the jewel. Everybody agrees that this chapter is one of the loftiest mountain peaks in the whole realm of revealed truth. Here we find the climax of the argument begun at Rom 3:21 on the great subject of gospel-righteousness. This is the second main division of the epistle. That gospel righteousness is by faith was shown in Rom 3:21-31. That it is not contrary to the Old Testament Scriptures we saw in Rom 4:1-25. Rom 5:1-21 ‘teaches that by gospel-righteousness the believer is kept in eternal security. Rom 6:1-23 shows that a sinful life is not produced nor encouraged by the gospel, but that, on the contrary, the believer, made eternally safe, has partaken of the divine nature and therefore of the divine hatred for sin. In Rom 7:11-25, the believer’s sanctification by means of law is shown to be impossible, and now in Rom 8:1-39, we are to learn that through the indwelling Spirit of God the believer is led into a godly life. The chapter may be analyzed as follows: (1) The indwelling Holy Spirit as the Spirit of power (Rom 8:1-11); The indwelling Holy Spirit as the Spirit of adoption (Rom 8:12-17); (3) The indwelling Holy Spirit as the Spirit of hope (Rom 8:18-27); (4) The Christian’s assurance (Rom 8:28-39).
I. The law of the Spirit of life hath made me free (Rom 8:1-11). It is a wonderful thing for the believer to discover the indwelling Holy Spirit as the Spirit of life and power. But first he must know his safety from wrath or condemnation:
(1) There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1). The first verse stops with this wonderful statement, the remainder of the verse, as found in the King James Version, being, as all commentators agree, an unwarranted interpolation. The proposition squarely set forth, then, is that, the born again one is absolutely and forever free from condemnation. This is what the gospel has done for him. It has bestowed upon him a righteousness that nothing can mar nor soil in the slightest degree; even the righteousness of God, that is God’s own righteousness. This righteousness is imputed unto him at the beginning, and it does not vary afterward with his varying states and conditions, frames and feelings. It is his standing in Christ. This imputation is followed by the actual impartation of God’s righteousness, but the process of impartation is gradual and continues to the end of earthly life, while imputation is not a process, but one definite act of God. Dr. Scofield’s definition of imputation is: (1) Imputation is the act of God whereby He accounts righteousness to the believer in Jesus Christ. (Rom 8:2)
Because of a believer’s faith in Jesus, God will not impute sin against. him. And the same writer defines justification as the act of God whereby He declares righteous one who believes on Jesus Christ. The connection by the word ‘therefore,’ says Dr. Stifler, is with the first clause of the preceding verse, and through it with that to which the clause refers. ‘Now’—as the argument at present stands. The ‘no’ is emphatic —no condemnation from the law, and none on account of inherent sinfulness; none from any source nor for any cause. Those who make the ‘now’ temporal miss the shining point that ‘no condemnation’ means none possible, none forever. This happy condition belongs only to those in Christ Jesus. The rest of the verse is not genuine and is omitted by all modern editors of the text.
(2) For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death (Rom 8:2, R. V.). The preposition of is repeated in the original and by the Revisers. The statement is, that by the higher and more powerful law of the Spirit of life, the believer is made free from two other laws, namely, the law of sin and the law of death. The law of sin is defined in the preceding chapter (Rom 7:21-23). The believer, in the 7th chapter, seeking to live a righteous life by obedience to law, found another law in his members, that is, within himself, warring against the law of his mind and bringing him into captivity under the law of sin in his members. In the 8th chapter, deliverance has come, for he has discovered that the Holy Spirit is indwelling him, and that by the indwelling Spirit he may have victory over the law of sin which has heretofore dragged him down. And not only so, but he is delivered also from the law of death. And the law of death is also defined in Rom 7:1-25, Rom 7:7-11. The believer had not known sin except through the law, that is, the law of Sinai. He had not known coveting until he heard the law saying, Thou shalt not covet. And sin, finding occasion, wrought in him, through the commandment, all manner of coveting. Apart from the law sin was dead, and apart from the law Saul of Tarsus had once considered himself alive, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and he died; and the commandment, which was unto life, he found to be unto death, for sin, finding occasion through the commandment, beguiled him and through it slew him. So the Law of Moses, though in itself spiritual, holy, righteous and good, became unto him a law of death. It was indeed unto Israel a yoke which they were not able to bear (Acts 15:10). In our present chapter, the believer is seen as yielding himself to the indwelling Spirit of God, Who, by divine power, frees him from this law of death.
(3) For what the law could not do (Rom 8:3-4). The law was unable to produce in man the obedience it demanded. It was weak through the flesh, for how could sinful flesh obey a holy law?
Therefore, what the law could not do, God did; and this He did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as a sin offering. Men had all gone astray; they had turned each one to his own way, and the Lord caused to meet upon His devoted Son the iniquity of them all (Isa 53:6). And then came the condemnation. Sin in the flesh, all centering in the Lamb of God on the tree, was put to death, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in the believer. The believer is defined in the final clause of the fourth verse as one who walks not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. To walk according to the flesh, in the meaning of this passage, is to reject the gift of gospel-righteousness in Christ, and to seek to establish one’s own righteousness by law-works. This is the natural thing and is what the flesh is ever prone to try. On the other hand, to walk according to the Spirit is to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as He is revealed by the Spirit.
(4) For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. This section (Rom 8:5-8) draws a contrast between the unregenerate and the regenerate, and they are defined as those who are after the flesh and those who are after the Spirit. That this is the correct understanding is shown from the statement of the 9th verse, in which it is declared that the Christian is not in the flesh in the sense employed here. Rotherham’s translation of the passage reads: For they who according to flesh have their being the things of the flesh do prefer, but they according to the Spirit the things of the Spirit; for what is preferred by the flesh is death, whereas what is preferred by the Spirit is life and peace;—inasmuch as what is preferred by the flesh is hostile towards God, for unto the law of God it doth not submit itself, neither in fact can it,—they moreover who in flesh have their being cannot please God. Dr. Moffatt renders the passage thus: For those who follow the flesh have their interests in the flesh, and those who follow the Spirit have their interests in the Spirit. The interests of the flesh mean death, the interests of the Spirit mean life and peace. For the interests of the flesh are hostile to God; they do not yield to the law of God (indeed they cannot). Those who are in the flesh cannot satisfy God. The emphatic statement at the close of the passage is of great importance. The words so then, introducing the 8th verse, in the King James Version, are incorrect. It ought to read simply: And they that are in the flesh cannot please God. The assertion is not a deduction from the preceding verses, but a solemn declaration of God’s attitude toward those out of Christ. They are without faith, and without faith it is impossible to please Him (Heb 11:6). God deals with men through Christ, and only through Christ. Whosoever will may come, but all who come must approach unto God through Him Who said, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me (John 14:6). Coming through Him, all may come and welcome, but those who would climb up some other way are thieves and robbers (John 10:1), and they must always fail of access to the Father. He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know Him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto Me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge His people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb 10:28-31).
Let it be understood, then, before we go forward in this chapter, that the flesh, the natural man, is under God’s condemnation, the wrath of God abideth upon him. Apart from Christ is no salvation and no means of approach to God. They that are in the flesh cannot please God. There may be those in the flesh, as there are, and many of them, who can please men, and who are pleased with themselves, but God is not pleased with them; no matter what they do, and no matter how much their fellowmen may commend them for what they do, God is not pleased. How could He be pleased with men who tread under foot His Son and repudiate the blood of the everlasting covenant?
(5) But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you (Rom 8:9). In this section (Rom 8:9-11), four phrases are employed, all meaning the same thing and haying reference to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the believer. They are: the Spirit of God (Rom 8:9), the Spirit of Christ (Rom 8:9), Christ (Rom 8:10), and the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead (Rom 8:11). The doctrine of the indwelling Spirit is found in 1Co 6:19-20 : Know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit Which is in you, Which ye have from God? and ye are not your own; for ye were bought with a price: glorify God therefore in your body (R. V.). The Holy Spirit does not enter the believer at some time subsequent to his regeneration, but the moment he believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, and is born again by the power of the Holy Spirit, he is indwelt by that Holy Spirit, who thereafter abides in him continually. And in the paragraph before us in our present study, we are assured that, if the Spirit of God is dwelling in us, we are not in the flesh, according to God’s reckoning; and if, on the other hand, the Spirit of Christ, that is, the Holy Spirit, is not indwelling us, we are none of His, that is, we are not Christians at all, we are not born again, we are not children of God. In the second place, if Christ be in us, that is, if we are children of God and have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, then, though the body is still counted a dead thing because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness. And, thirdly, the assurance is given us that even these mortal bodies, which have not yet entered into the fulness of the inheritance of sonship, will be revivified by the indwelling Spirit.
These statements of Rom 8:10 and may require further examination, though the doctrine intimated in them will be developed as we go on with the chapter. The meaning of Rom 8:9 is that, in the case of everyone in whom Christ is dwelling, that is, of every Christian, the body, according to God’s reckoning, is dead because of sin, and is yet to be redeemed from death (compare Rom 8:23); and meanwhile, the spirit, that is, the saint’s own personal spirit, is life because of righteousness. The life of Christ is imparted to the believer’s spirit on the ground of gospel righteousness, and it will never again be made subject to death. The body, on the other hand, is not yet redeemed from death. The redemption price has been paid even for the body, but the redemption itself has not yet reached the body, and will not until our Cord catches us up to Himself at the rapture of the church. For this present time the bodies of Christians are just as truly bodies of death as the bodies of unbelievers. Christians grow sick and die just like other people, and this will go on until the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body, is fully accomplished at the first resurrection. But, in the meantime, while saints equally with sinners are subject to bodily death, they are not subject to spiritual death. As to their spirits, they have all entered into eternal life, and death hath no more dominion over them. And this is all because of righteousness, the righteousness wrought out for us by the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. He is the Lord, our Righteousness. The believer, having the Holy Spirit indwelling him, may find in the fact of that indwelling a pledge and guaranty of the coming redemption of His body, for if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken (that is, make alive) your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you (11). The same argument is found in the words of the Lord Jesus in John 14:1-3 : Ye believe in God, believe also in me. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself. And the same argument is found again in 1Th 4:14 : If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.
2. Ye have received the Spirit of adoption (Rom 8:12-17). This paragraph discusses our new relationship in the family of God:
(1) Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh (Rom 8:12). The two verses following (Rom 8:13-14) should be read as a parenthetical statement in connection with Rom 8:12 : (For if ye live according to the flesh ye are to die. But if by the Spirit ye mortify the practices of the body ye will live, for they who are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God) (Murdock’s translation). Which is to say that, in the sense of this passage, a Christian is one who lives according to the Holy Spirit, and that anyone who lives according to the flesh is not a Christian, he is not a son of God. Sons of God are those who are led by the Spirit of God, and none others are children of God. This is the argument throughout the chapter from the beginning (compare Rom 8:5-8). The Christian incentive is set forth here. We are debtors, we have a debt and our debt is not to the flesh to live according to it. We are warned against the deeds of the body in view of the fact that the body is still a dead thing in God’s sight— our body is a corpse (Bengel). The Christian’s aim should always be to make the Holy Spirit the dominant power in his life.
(2) Ye have received the Spirit of adoption (Rom 8:15). Adoption, in the Scriptures, means literally, placing as a son. Under the old Roman law, when a’ son reached the age of maturity he was publicly inducted into partnership with his father, and recognized as his heir and successor, and this public function was designated by the word adoption, or son-placing. Under the Old Testament, Israel’s relation was not that of full sonship, but, under the new covenant, the believer at his new birth is at once given the place of full-grown sonship. This is his position as the gift of God’s grace, and when the Holy Spirit thereupon takes up His abode in the believer’s body, He enters as the Spirit of adoption, giving the believer deliverance from bondage and fear, and causing him to cry, Abba, Father. The expression here is, Abba, the Pater, Abba being the Hebrew and Chaldean word for father, and Pater the Greek form of the same word. As Paul uses it here, the expression is a repetition of the words used by the Lord Jesus in Mark 14:36, and they are found again, in much the same connection as here, in Gal 4:6.
(3) The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God (Rom 8:16). This great fact of sonship is the thing for which justification through faith paved the way. Salvation does not, by any means, stop with justification. God’s purpose in delivering us from sin was that He might make us His sons. This He could not righteously do until our sins were righteously disposed of, but the blood having been shed which cleanseth us from all sin, He has been enabled to exercise His divine power in our regeneration, and then to open wide His arms of love and receive us unto Himself as His dear children (Eph 5:1).
(4) And if children, then heirs (Rom 8:17). Think of it, God’s heirs and Christ’s co-heirs! Not joint-heirs in the sense of dividing with Him the inheritance, but rather, in the sense of entering together with Him into the whole inheritance.
(5) If so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together (Rom 8:17). The if here is not conditional; it is rather to be read, since indeed we suffer with Him, for this is the common lot of Christians. It is another descriptive phrase to define what a Christian is. A Christian is one who suffers with Christ. For even hereunto were ye called (1Pe 2:21), and unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake (Php 1:29). The apostle does not here enter into discussion as to the degrees of suffering through which Christians may pass. It is doubtless true that some Christians know more of the ministry of suffering than others, but it is also true that to every child of God there is appointed a ministry of suffering which he cannot fully escape, even if he would. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution (2Ti 3:12). It is almost an axiom of the gospel, says Dr. Stifler, that the path to glory is the path of pain (Mark 10:38; Php 2:9). Therefore the intelligent believer does not hesitate to undergo sorrow in his service to Christ; he rather covets it in order that he may be glorified with Him; for the joint heirs are those who suffer that they may be glorified. Suffering is the seed that ripens in fruit of glory.
3. In hope were we saved (Rom 8:18-27). The Holy Spirit indwelling God’s children as the Spirit of hope, leads them to look forward into the future, for that blessed hope of their Lord’s return:
(1) For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to usward (Rom 8:18). The in us of the King James Version is incorrect. The glory has already been revealed in us in great measure, but there is a glory to be revealed toward us when our Lord shall come again. In 1Pe 1:11 and elsewhere, the sufferings of Christ are linked with the glory that shall follow, and our sufferings and glory are of course closely identified with His. When He shall appear, or be manifested, we are to be manifested with Him in glory (Col 3:4). Our manifestation as the sons of God shining in the glory of our Father is dealt with in the passage before us, but prior to our manifestation with the Lord Jesus, when He shall be revealed in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, there is to be a revelation of His glory unto, or toward, us. We are to see Him as He is in order that we may become like Him (1Jn 3:2-3). And this glory that shall be revealed toward us is so great that the present sufferings, however great they may be, are not worthy to be compared with the coming glory.
(2) For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God (Rom 8:19, R. V.). The material world itself is pictured here as upon the tiptoe of expectancy, so great is the glory about to be revealed, when the children of God shall be manifested in His likeness.
(3) For the creation was subjected to vanity (Rom 8:20-21, R. V.). Upon this complicated passage we quote Dr. Stifler at length: As God’s sons look with longing to the future, first, because their present condition is painful and is not the ideal condition, and, secondly, because the future will bring them redemption, just so the creation, personified all through this passage, looks to the same future, first, because it is now under the curse, and, secondly, in the future, in the glorification of the faithful, it will find deliverance. Rom 8:20 gives a reason for the ‘earnest expectation’ drawn from the present condition of creation, and the next verse a reason (when we read ‘because’) drawn from the future. ‘Was made subject to vanity’ is ambiguous. Creation was not made so, for originally creation was ‘good,’ and it was subjected to vanity, that is, to attain to no good end permanently. Any good that comes from creation must be evoked by man’s hard toil. This condition did not come about by its own will (‘willingly’), but because of Him (God) Who subjected it to vanity, not finally, but upon a basis of some provision for the future, called ‘hope.’ This verse clearly implies that creation (‘all nature’) is neither in its original condition nor in its final condition. It fell when man fell (Gen 3:17-19); it shall be restored when he is, and shall be no longer subject to vanity, but to him (Heb 2:5-9). It is eagerly awaiting the revelation of God’s sons, because that is the time when it ‘also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption (the subjection, Rom 8:20) into the liberty of the glory (‘glorious liberty’ is wrong) of the children of God.’ The creation is promised the liberty of the glory, not the glory.
(4) For we know that the whole creation groaneth (Rom 8:22-23). No one with the anointed eye can fail to discern the universal sufferings of this nether world, and the Spirit of God tells us here why the whole creation is groaning and travailing in pain. This reason is given in Rom 8:23, where the supplied word they should read it, for it refers to the whole creation of the preceding verse. Not only it, but ourselves also, though we have the firstfruits of salvation in the presence of the indwelling Spirit of God, groan within ourselves, and we are all waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. Christians are already sons of God in the fullest sense, but that fact has not yet been made manifest to the world. Adoption, in the New Testament sense, is already ours (Gal 4:5; Eph 1:5), but it is a matter of faith for the present time, and our sonship is not publicly proclaimed, so to speak, and will not be until the glad day of redemption to which this passage points. Then, even our bodies, these bodies of our humiliation, shall be transformed into the likeness of Christ’s glorious body, by that same power by which He is able also to subdue all things unto Himself (Php 3:21). Our bodies, in common with the material creation generally, are now suffering in the bondage of corruption. They are dead because of sin (v. 10), but in that day their deliverance will come. ‘For this corruptible must needs put on incorruptibility, and this mortal put on immortality. But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruptibility, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the word written: Death has been swallowed up in victory” (Darby’s Translation).
(5) For in hope were we saved (Rom 8:24-25, R. V.). The King James Version breaks down again here. The 1911 Bible reads: For in that hope were we saved. The Holy Spirit of God, immediately upon the believer’s regeneration, directs his attention to the blessed hope set before him. Things are not to go on forever as they are at present. The grace of God that bringeth salvation has not only delivered us from the consequences of sin by the death of the Lord Jesus on the cross, but it has also put us under instruction, that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present age; and it has put before us a blessed hope in connection with the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ, the great God and our Saviour (Tit 2:11-13). It is in that hope, therefore, that we have been saved. The hope for the present is a matter of faith, for hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
(6) Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity (Rom 8:26-27, 1911 Bible). It is not infirmities, as the King James Version puts it. The reference is to one particular infirmity, namely, in that we know not how to pray as we ought: but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. This is the third groaning mentioned in this chapter: the burdened creation groans, the children of God groan, and the indwelling Holy Spirit groans; and all these groanings are expressive of a longing for the glorious deliverance, that is coming in the salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1Pe 1:5). Rom 8:27 pictures God the Father as He that searched the hearts. And He knows the meaning even of the Spirit’s unutterable groaning because He (the Spirit) maketh intercession for the saints (even in the groanings which cannot be uttered) according to the will of God. There is surely comfort here for the weakest saint of God, who often finds himself unable even to pray. The Spirit Himself helpeth our infirmity.
4. We are more than conquerors (Rom 8:28-39). The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, and He assures the Christian’s heart by the wonderful language of this closing paragraph of this wonderful chapter:
(1) And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose (Rom 8:28). His purpose is the great thing in this passage. Who can withstand the eternal purpose of God? If salvation were offered to the believer conditionally; if something were left to his faithfulness, or his obedience, or his prayerfulness, then, indeed, the case would be hopeless, for the history of man shows that, whenever he is put under a system of probation, he breaks down. The law was such a system, and under it life was offered as a condition of obedience: He that doeth these things shall live by them but the law proved an intolerable burden (Acts 15:10), a ministration of condemnation and a ministration of death (2Co 3:7; 2Co 3:9). In the gospel, all conditions are swept aside, and whosoever will may come. He is only to come, and God does all the rest. Let him come in all his vileness and weakness, and God will not so much as mention either his vileness or his weakness, but will just take him into His loving arms, and undertake for him, and thereafter see to it that all things work together for good unto him. This is His eternal purpose which He purposed before the world was, and of course, with such a salvation, based upon such a purpose, it cannot be otherwise than that all things shall work together for good unto the children of God.
(2) “For whom He did foreknow (Rom 8:20, Rom 8:30). The word for has the force of because, and it introduces the reason for our assurance that all things are working together for our good.
He foreknew us; He also predestinated us to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first born among many brethren; He also called us with an effectual calling; and He also justified us, and He has also glorified us. The past tense continues through the whole passage, although the glorification is yet future, for God is able to count things done even when they have not yet been done. Our glorification is according to His purpose, and nothing is to be suffered to thwart His purpose. Having been foreknown and predestinated and called and justified, we shall also be glorified.
(3) What shall we then say to these things? (Rom 8:31). What indeed can be said? If God be for us, who can be against us? And what matters it whether any power is against us! Shall we be afraid of anything, with God on our side?
(4) He that spared not His own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? (Rom 8:32). It would, indeed, be strange if God should withhold any good thing from those to whom He had given His Son. In Christ, all things are ours, for we are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s (1Co 3:21-23).
(5) Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? (Rom 8:33). It is probable that in this whole passage Paul has followed the form of queries, and that the rest of this verse should read, as in the 1911 Bible, Shall God, that justified? And surely, if God—Who has justified, and Who has therefore precluded any possibility of bringing a charge against us—if He has nothing to accuse us of, then it matters very little that we be judged of man’s judgment (1Co 4:3). And as for Satan, who accuseth the brethren day and night before God, we need not fear him, for God has justified us, and that ends the matter. Satan is unable to bring anything new against us, for God knoweth us altogether, and He has found a way to be just and at the same time our Justifier.
(6) Who is he that condemneth? Is it Christ, Who died, yea rather, Who is risen again, Who is even at the right hand of God, Who also maketh intercession for us? (Rom 8:34, 1911 Bible). This surely ought to comfort every believer’s heart. There is nothing to fear from Him who died for us, and rose again, and Who now ever liveth to make intercession for us (Heb 7:25).
(7) Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? (Rom 8:35-37). Shall it be tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? God’s children have always been hated by the world, and whenever such persecution has been permitted, they have been accounted as sheep for the slaughter; and yet all these things have only tended to increase their devotion and their faithfulness, and to establish their integrity as witnesses unto Christ.
(8) Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us (Rom 8:37). To be more than a conqueror means to be unconquerable. A man might be a victor at one time, and a victim at another; but not so here, for through Him that loved us we are kept, kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed (1Pe 1:5).
(9) For I am persuaded (Rom 8:38-39). This joyful song of triumph with which the chapter closes has been a tower of strength to the children of God ever since it was written. The chapter opened with no condemnation, and it closes with no separation. God will never condemn one of His children, though He may be compelled in faithfulness to chasten him (1Co 11:31-32); and God will never lose one of His children who has come unto Him through Christ. For such a one these words come from the Father’s own heart: Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Thus endeth the main argument of the epistle. The dreadful malady of sin was described in all its hideousness in the first main division, but, if the disease was terrible, the remedy is quite sufficient. God, in the gospel, has provided a righteousness without spot, that saves and cleanses and keeps the believer, even unto eternity. My sheep, says the Good Shepherd, hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any one pluck them out of My hand. My Father, Which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand (John 10:27-29).