epic stuff

Sometimes the apostle Paul gets to writing & the Holy Spirit gets a hold of him, and all kinds of incredible stuff comes pouring out.

That's what Romans 8 is like.

I'm sharing the verses I've underlined - verses that for one reason or another have stood out as I've read this chapter over the years...

Read it slowly...



Romans 8:1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.


2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.

So God did what the law could not do.

He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have.

     And in that body God declared an end to sin's control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.



  5b...those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.



  9a But you are not controlled by your sinful nature.

          You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you.

10 And Christ lives within you,

        so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God.


11 The Spirit of God,

        who raised Jesus from the dead,

       lives in you.

And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.



  12b ...you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do.


13b ...if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature,

              you will live.


14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.



  15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves.

Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.

     Now we call him, "Abba, Father."

16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children.


17 And since we are his children,

       we are his heirs.

In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God's glory.

But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.



  26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.

For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for.

But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.


27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying,

        for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will.

28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.



31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these?

If God is for us,

   who can ever be against us?

32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all,

        won't he also give us everything else?



  35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love?

Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?


37 No,

despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.



  38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love.

Neither death

     nor life,

neither angels

     nor demons,

neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow; 

     not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love.


39 No power in the sky above

        or in the earth below;


nothing

     in all creation

    will ever be able to separate us from the love of God

        that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.