Romans 8:14-16 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God…Observing the verb in v. 14 is crucial to understanding the passage. Those who...  Read More

Romans 8:12-13 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.Paul’s next point is that, since the Holy Spirit dwells in true believers (vv. 9-11), Christians are “under obligation,” or debtors (ESV), “not t...  Read More

Romans 8:9-11 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 10 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesu...  Read More

Romans 8:5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.Of interest in 8:5 is that those who “live according to the flesh,” by default, fail to “walk according to the Spirit.” The fulfillment of the law “in Christ” has not been accomplished in them, so they “set their minds on the things of ...  Read More

Romans 8:5-8 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so...  Read More

Romans 8:3-4 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.The Law of God could not, and cannot, save anyone. Though it is holy, ri...  Read More

Nov 19, 2024 Dr. D. Lance Waldie Romans 8:1-2 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.The word “law” is used twice in v. 2, but not in reference to the Mosaic Law. The first use, “law of the Spirit of life,” or “law of the life-giving Spirit” (NET), speaks of a ge...  Read More

Nov 18, 2024 Dr. D. Lance Waldie Romans 8:1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.Romans is written like a scene in a court of law where God (the Judge) enters the court and reveals His righteousness (1:17). Those on trial are the ungodly, and God’s wrath is rev...  Read More

Nov 14, 2024 Dr. D. Lance Waldie Romans 7:21-25 I find then the principle that in me evil is present—in me who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23 but I see a different law in my members, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a captive to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body...  Read More

Nov 13, 2024 Dr. D. Lance Waldie Romans 7:16-20 But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. 17 So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19 For the good that I want, I do not do,...  Read More

Nov 12, 2024 Dr. D. Lance Waldie Romans 7:14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.The depravity of man means that humanity is born as a slave to sin in the likeness of Adam (Rom. 5:12-21). Though alive physically, all are ...  Read More

Nov 11, 2024 Dr. D. Lance Waldie Romans 7:13-14 Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful. 14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.Paul pai...  Read More