Bible Studies For Life
God Speaks Through Circumstances
Romans 8: 26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
The Holy Spirit intercedes for us as we pray. This letter is the longest and most heavily theological of Paul’s Letters. It also has significant place in church history. Studying Romans led Martin Luther to conclude that a person enters into a right relationship with God solely by faith. The letter’s major themes include God is righteous, all people are sinners, God has provided the way of salvation through Christ’s death, God’s righteousness is a gift to those who trust Christ as Savior, and God’s Spirit works in believers, confirming them to the image of His Son.
As hope sustains us during times of suffering, the Spirit helps us during our weakness. The Spirit’s role as Advocate is one aspect of Jesus’s promises regarding the Spirit in the believer’s life. When we face life’s difficult circumstances, it is often hard to know how to pray or precisely what we should pray for. Especially in those times it is encouraging to remember that the Spirit intercedes on our behalf. God searches our hearts and knows the Spirit’s desires as the Spirit intercedes for us in harmony with God’s will. The Spirit’s intercession is always in line with God’s will and is always answered. Thus the Father and the Spirit are in harmony for God’s purposes to be accomplished in the believer.
Romans 8: 28 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. 29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
God works on our behalf to bring us into conformity with His Son. During challenging times this verse reminds us as believers that God has not deserted us but rather that He is at work even in our dark circumstances. God and His purpose remain the controlling components of the verse. God directs the lives of those who love Him in such a way that the outcome is beneficial. Growth in Christlikeness often comes through hardship and difficulty. Because God is God and we are not, we cannot fully explain how these teachings fit with human free will.
Yet, we know they are consistent with the free agency of human beings. The Scripture affirms both God’s sovereignty and human freedom. It contains passages that portray God as a Potter and we are the clay to be shaped. Our responsibility is to share the gospel with everyone. Justified refers to God’s declaration that when we repent and believe, we are made right with Him because Jesus paid the penalty for our sins and we have received His righteousness. Glorification identifies the final stage or the culmination of our salvation.
Romans 8: 31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32 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? 33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. 34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
God is for us and works on our behalf. We have been adopted into His family. We have received the indwelling Holy Spirit as the guarantee of our final redemption. Our future glorification is so certain that Paul referred to it as already having taken place. All these truths make clear that God is for us. God, who sacrificed His own Son for us, will not withhold from us that which by comparison is less significant. Only Jesus, God’s own Son, the Lamb of God, could take away the world’s sin and provide reconciliation.
Since no charge can be brought against those whom God has justified by faith, then no condemnation can be brought against them either. (1) Christ died for our sins. (2) He was raised to life and thus can give eternal life to those who trust Him for salvation. (3) He was exalted to the Father’s right hand, with all power given to Him. (4) He continues to intercede for us. Nothing can separate the believer from Christ and His love.
Explore the Bible
Restored Relationship
Romans 5: Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
Summarizing his message to this point, Paul affirmed that those who are justified by faith in Jesus now live at peace with God, escaping His wrath. Grace gives them a new standing with the Father and hope for eternity.
Peace with God through Christ gives way to other blessings, such as access to Him, grace that extends beyond mere forgiveness, and hope that anchors our lives now as we look toward eternity. In addition, Christ followers can rejoice because even their afflictions are used to nurture their spiritual maturity.
Romans 5: 6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his lif 11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
Before being justified through Jesus, we were helpless spiritually. Earning our salvation was not possible. The sinless Savior died as a substitute for the ungodly. While this defies human logic, Jesus’s death serves as a perfect sacrifice for sin and a perfect demonstration of His love. His death rescues people from judgement and reconciles us to God. We were enemies of God. Displaying hostility, hatred, and animosity toward Him and living under His wrath. But we are reconciled to God through Jesus.
Romans 5: 18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. 20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
In verses 12-17, Paul set up a contrast between the sin of Adam and the sacrifice of Jesus. In verses 18-21, he expanded on that contrast. While one act of disobedience (by Adam) led to condemnation, one man’s righteous act (Jesus’s death) made justification and reconciliation possible for all who respond in faith. Jesus reversed the curse of Eden. Sin creates a universal problem, but it cannot compare to the overwhelming grace of Jesus. He has brought sin’s reign of death to an end, offering reconciliation and eternal life to everyone who believes.
Summary Statements
Christ died for sinners, making reconciliation with God possible for all.
-Believers should embrace their new relationship with God.
-Individuals can be reconciled to God thanks to the loving sacrifice Jesus offered on the cross.
-Our lives can be transformed by the matchless grace of Jesus.
Eternal Security is Forever! But you must Get It to Have It! Contact us and we will help YOU get on that journey.
Lifeway Christian Resources Isaiah 55:11