Romans 5-8
Most of us, I think, are missing out. Most of us read these chapters of Romans and nod our heads in agreement but do not really believe what we read. Or, rather, we’ve been conditioned to interpret Paul’s words narrowly as applying only after we physically die. We read “saved”, and we think “saved from hell after we die”. We read “the free gift of God is eternal life”, and we think “life after we die”. We read of the Holy Spirit and we think “He sounds nice”, but we’re not really sure about Him. We read of being “set free from sin”, and we think, “yes, in heaven, after we die”. We are all too familiar with wanting to do the right thing but not having the power to do it. (Romans 7:18) We think we believe in Jesus and hope for the resurrection some day, but we resign ourselves to failure now, saying “Wretched man that I am!” (Romans 7:24)
What, then, does it mean to say that we “have” the Holy Spirit? Is this just a nice theological idea? Or is Paul speaking of a Reality, here and now? Do you know this Reality? Are you, yourself, living “in the Spirit” or are you “in the flesh”? Are you dead to sin and alive to God? Or is it more accurate to say that you are a slave to sin and hope that someday you might be alive to God? Is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ a Reality to you right this very minute? Or does your faith apply only to the “sweet by and by”?
Go back and read Romans 5-8 again — and again and again and again. Ask yourself what you really believe — and whether there is anything you need to think about differently. That’s what I’m doing.
See also:
I absolutely love these two verses! What a promise!
Amen, Bruce! Two of the most comforting verses in all of Scripture!! GLORY!!