Now, it appeared to many in Paul's day that the word of God failed to lead the Jews to faith in the Lord Jesus. That is until we factor in the fact that they had a choice to believe in the Lord Jesus or not. Notice the many reasons why Israel, as a whole, should have recognized the Lord Jesus as their Messiah. There are eight unique things that God granted the Israelites that should have so greatly influenced them that they should have believed in the Lord Jesus.
Monday, January 30, 2023
Romans 9:1-5
Now, it appeared to many in Paul's day that the word of God failed to lead the Jews to faith in the Lord Jesus. That is until we factor in the fact that they had a choice to believe in the Lord Jesus or not. Notice the many reasons why Israel, as a whole, should have recognized the Lord Jesus as their Messiah. There are eight unique things that God granted the Israelites that should have so greatly influenced them that they should have believed in the Lord Jesus.
Friday, January 27, 2023
Romans 8:35-39
Click here for the Romans 8:35-39 PODCAST
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." ~ Romans 8:35-39
Today, we conclude our study of Romans 8 where we have been learning of how the Holy Spirit factors in on our sanctification. Today's passage places the spotlight on the concept that gives us the greatest amount of confidence in a world that is stacked against us: the love of God.
This chapter began with the idea that the believer in Christ need not fear any "condemnation" from God, and, it ends with the idea that we need not fear any "separation" from the love of God that is given through the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In v.35-36 of today's passage we read, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.'"
There are days in our relationship with God that all hell seems to be invaded our existence. In those moments when it appears that the truth that we have long been convinced of is threatened by our circumstances, we need a vantage point to rise to in order to maintain the security that the truth provides us. it is a biblical understanding of God's love that inflates our perspective to the point that we realize we waste time when we doubt God's commitment to us.
In our moments of doubt, we learn what is truly substantive in our lives. In context here, the Apostle asks a series of question, questions that threaten our assurance that God really is committed to us in those most difficult moments of life. These questions are oh so important because they present to us the contrast that we need to be even more convinced of the veracity of the truthfulness and faithfulness of God. And, without the contrast, we do not see more clearly that which is most important.
That which we focus on the most is that which will define us. Perhaps you noticed the accentuation of the word "love" in today's passage. Used three times here, God's love is the anchor that we need that keeps us from capsizing in this world of torrential waters. It is the love of God that provides the buoy that our troubled souls need, and, God has clearly provided it through the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
There is no truth in the whole Bible that impacts us as much as the love of God. In 1 John 3 we read, "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us or lavished on us." The word "behold" is such a key word here because in order for us to be defined by something, we must be preoccupied with it. the drilling down of our understanding of the love of God in Christ is essential for the maturation of our heart's ability to see God. In this case, when the love of God truly captures our attention and begins to define us, we will be the most secure people on this planet.
God's love is so amazing, because He is Holy. And, since He is Holy, God is unapproachable. This is why our only door to enter God's presence is the Lord Jesus Christ. While on His cross the Lord Jesus paid for our entry way into God's presence. While at Mount Sinai, the children of Israel could not come near God's presence, otherwise they would have died. They would have died because their sin had not been atoned for.
In God's holiness, He is unapproachable. But in His love, He is approachable. When the Lord Jesus came into this world, He said, "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father." At His first coming, the Lord Jesus showed up as God incarnate, as if to say, "Now, you can approach God." The Lord Jesus never met anyone He didn't love. He loved the worst of sinners. And He loved the best of saints. And He loves everyone in between.
In v.37-39 of today's passage we read, "37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Now, in these verses, Paul is picturing us surrounded by all of our enemies. But we still come out on top as the winners, because we are more than conquerors through Christ. That phrase, "more than conquerors" is one word in the original Greek language. It means that through Christ's merit, authority and will, we are super conquerors.
Not even our arch enemy death can separate us from the love of God. In fact, death will unite us to God one day. It will unite us into His immediate glory, because death's sting was taken away at the cross and the tomb of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we have a victory in death. Remember what David wrote, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death." David didn't write, "the valley of death." No, he wrote "the shadow of death." This means that all of our trials present the possibility of defeat, but we can rest assured that we will even more than win in the end, just wait and see.
At the end of the book of his epistle, Jude wrote, "Keep yourselves in the love of God." This means that we must be diligent to keep ourselves in the place where we are mindful of God's love for us. The only place this is done is at the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our sin would try to convince us that we can out sin God's love but this is impossible. God's love sought us when we had nothing to give Him in return. His love is humanly irrational in the sense that it has nothing to do with our intrinsic qualities. His love is a decision on His part to favor us, the undeserved. An accurate understanding of this results in our ability to love Him in return.
Thursday, January 26, 2023
Romans 8:31-34
"31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us." ~ Romans 8:31-34
Today, we return to our study of Romans 8 which has as its main topic the sanctification of the believer in Christ. This section in Romans reiterates the fact that God is for us, and only when we have trusted in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross can we access His love. Through His cross the Lord Jesus paid the debt that was created by our rebellion. That rebellion rejected God's definition of all things. Our sanctification is the process whereby we are being given God's definition of all things. As a result, our thinking and our choosing is becoming more consistent with the wisdom of His word.
In v.31 of today's passage we read, "What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?"
Little did I know then that God's will would radically change my life for the absolute good. We all search for the next thrill in life. Some take to traveling to foreign lands, some take on a new hobby, but it is all the same. We all want a life that is full with meaning and purpose. But, nothing in this world truly fills that hole in our soul. The reason the God-shaped hole in our soul is never fulfilled is due to the fact that these pursuits are not of eternity. I am not saying that we should not enjoy the pleasures of this life, Lord knows we need the distraction from time to time. But, we must remember that we were created to work at our best in the kingdom of God. This is the point of our sanctification which is not about a better us, it is ultimately about how our lives count for His kingdom in the lives of others for eternity.
Wednesday, January 25, 2023
Romans 8:29-30
Today, we return to our study of Romans 8 which is about the believer's relationship with the Holy Spirit. Throughout this chapter, the Apostle Paul chronicles the workings of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer in Christ. The Spirit reminds us that the believer in Christ is not condemned in v.1-4. In v.5-8, He teaches the believer how to think God's thoughts. In v.9-11, He teaches us how to walk in God's ways. In v.12-17, the Holy Spirit teaches us how to live the life that the Lord Jesus died to give us. Then in v.18-28, the Holy Spirit teaches us the value of our trials and their role in the deepening of our faith in the Lord Jesus. All of this is designed to enable the believer in Christ to increase in his intimacy with the Lord Jesus Himself.
In v.29 of today's passage we read, "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters."
Charles Spurgeon once said, "When we get to heaven, we’ll see those great big pearly gates, with a huge sign overhead that reads, "Whosoever will, come". And as we pass through the gates into heaven, if we would care to look over our shoulder, we’d see that there’s another message on the other side of the sign. It reads, "Predestined before the foundation of the world". From the earthly side of heaven, all we can really understand is that we have a choice. God offers us salvation, but we have to choose to accept it and receive it. Yet when we get to heaven, we’ll look back and see that we were chosen by God from the very beginning.
To be sure, the point of these three verses is that we are viewed by God as perfect through His Son, and we are learning to see that God can take a bad and bring good out of it.
Tuesday, January 24, 2023
Romans 8:26-28
Today, we return to our study of Romans 8 where we have been learning about sanctification. An essential part to our sanctification is the role the Holy Spirit plays. In today's passage we learn that the Holy Spirit helps the believer in Christ to pray. The preceding verses reveal that creation groans for a world without the effects of sin. In fact, there are three groanings in this passage; that of creation, that of the Spirit, and we ourselves groan. These groanings are reminders that this world is not our home. Our hearts have been lured by our Creator who not only chose to give us life, He also chose to lay down His life so that we could spend eternity in heaven with Him. These groanings that we have for another world are evidence that we are children of God.
In v.26 of today's passage we read, "In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words."
Monday, January 23, 2023
Romans 8:23-25
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23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. 24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. ~ Romans 8:23-25
Today, we continue our study of Romans 8 which is all about the believer's relationship with the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit's responsibility to bring about the process of change that God desires to bring about in the soul of the believer. Sanctification is the changing of the mind, the will and the emotions of the believer in Christ.
In v.23 of today's passage we read, "Not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body."
Today's passage begins with the words, "Not only that..." With those words the Apostle referred us back to what he had written before which was about the fact that all of creation groans for its redemption. And, like all of creation, the believer groans for our redemption which has been provided but not fully realized.
Previous to today's passage, we learned that the believer in Christ has been adopted into the family of God, but the full reward of our adoption is a whole new resurrected body. When the Lord Jesus died on the cross, He justified us and He freed us from the penalty of our sin. He also freed us from the power of our sin which is sanctification. And He glorified us which is our deliverance from the presence of sin. This means that the believer in Christ has already been provided justification, sanctification and glorification. And this verse points us to that day when we will experience our glorification or our deliverance form the presence of sin.
Though we ourselves are totally redeemed in spirit, our bodies and souls are not yet totally redeemed. Along with all of creation we, too, are groaning. All through this paragraph there is a constant contrast between the groan and the glory; yet there is a link between the two. Nature groans; we groan. And yet the groan is producing glory.
In 2 Corinthians 4:17 we read, "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."
Our afflictions are working for us to prepare us for the glory that will be revealed at the second coming of the Lord Jesus. Every time we groan, it is a reminder to us of His promise of glory. I do not think anything will transform our sufferings more than remembering this fact. And, as we groan and anticipate, we bring Him glory because we believe in His promise of our glorification.
In v.23 the Apostle wrote of "the first fruits of the Spirit." This term first fruits is a concept taken from the Old Testament and is applied here to the Holy Spirit. The "first fruits" were the first fruit of the harvest, which God commanded be offered to Him. When this was done in obedience to God, He then guaranteed that the rest of the harvest would come in. In using this term "first fruits," Paul is telling us that the presence of the Holy Spirit in the believer is God’s guarantee of the fullness of the harvest of redemption that will come at His second coming.
In v.24 of today's passage we read, "For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?"
When we trusted in the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we were given justification, sanctification and glorification. Believers in Christ were saved in a state of hope or confidence in our future glorification. Being saved “in hope” is the guarantee of our full salvation including our justification, sanctification and glorification. Faith in Christ’s death effected our salvation and at that point we placed our hope in the idea that our mortal bodies will one day be liberated from decay and death. Hope does not save us, but our salvation is characterized by our hope.
Hope is always a confidence concerning the future. It’s a confidence, not a finger-crossing wish. In Romans 5:5 we read, “Hope does not put us to shame.” The hope the Lord Jesus has given us is rock-solid and sure. Biblical hope creates confidence in the believer. When we say that hope does not see what it hopes for, the reason it doesn’t see it is because it hasn’t happened yet. Our hope is always future-oriented and consists in a firm confidence of what we are hoping for; it is not just a wish.
The main distinction between Christian faith and Christian hope is that faith is in a substantial way a trusting relationship with a person. Faith says to Christ, “I trust you, not just your promises.” Faith and hope are related concepts as seen in Hebrews 11:1, “Faith is confidence in what we hope for.” Biblical hope is built on faith. Hope is the earnest expectation that comes with believing something good. Hope is a confident anticipation that naturally stems from faith.
Our lives consist of a great deal of groaning. But our groaning is done in hope. As nature groans in hope, so we groan in hope, too. For in this hope we were saved, in the anticipation that God has a plan for our bodies as well. Though our bodies are in pain and we struggle with suffering now, it all is useful to God as we continue in our sanctification. Even our pain and suffering is an important aspect of our lives. It is something that is part of the whole program and plan of God, part of the privilege committed to us as Christians.
In v.25 of today's passage we read, "But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance."
We are saved in hope, and by that hope we live. It is true that hope, by its very nature, is something yet in the future but hope that is seen is no hope at all. And, what makes it possible to wait in hope is that we already have the first fruits of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives us joy and peace and patience in the context of our pain and suffering. These are the first fruits of the Spirit, the power of God to make the believer in Christ at peace in the midst of our trials and our troubles. Instead of sight, which is the realization of our hope, we “hope for what we do not see.”
Friday, January 20, 2023
Romans 8:18-22
In v.18 of today's passage we read, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."
Thursday, January 19, 2023
Romans 8:14-17
Today's passage teaches us that we are adopted children of God if we have placed our faith in the finished word of the Lord Jesus Christ. For the first time in this letter to the Romans Paul used the phrase "children of God." He used it in the context of explaining adoption which was a unique practice in the Roman culture of that day. The Greek word translated "adoption" occurs only five times in the New Testament and it literally means: "the place and condition of a son given to one to whom it does not naturally belong."
As believers in Christ we are co-heirs with Him. This means everything the Lord Jesus Christ has by divine right, we have received by divine grace. All that He has accomplished, His perfect life here on earth and death and resurrection, even His suffering and its results, have been applied to our account before God. To share in His sufferings is to have identified with His accomplishments while He was on this earth, especially His accomplishments while He hung on the cross. It was on that cross that He procured our salvation. And, as a result, we are co-heirs with Him. And, we are in the family of God for eternity.
Wednesday, January 18, 2023
Romans 8:12-13
In Romans 8:1-4, the Holy Spirit reminds the believer that he is not condemned, especially since he still sins after being "born again." In Romans 8:5-8, the Holy Spirit teaches the believer to think like God thinks. In Romans 8:9-13, the Holy Spirit enables the believer to live the life that Jesus died to give him.
In v.12 of today's passage we read, "Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it."
In context, the Apostle Paul clearly draws a distinction between the flesh of the believer in Christ, which is he sinful desires that yet abide in us, and the Spirit of God. These are the two primary influences in the life of the believer in Christ. The one we feed the most wins in a given day.
Here, the Apostle Paul describes the inside out difference that the Holy Spirit brings to the life of the follower of Jesus Christ. When we all entered this world, we entered it indifferent to God. As the Apostle Paul tells us in the book of Ephesians, we were dead in our sins and trespasses. But, once we trusted in the finished work of Christ on the cross for the forgiveness of our sin, we were given a new heart for God. This difference is a new way of looking at God, a new way of understanding Him. Trusting in Christ rendered in us an inner new-birth that liberates us not only from sin, but from our old way of viewing God. It is as if the scales that were causing us to be blind to God were removed.
Tuesday, January 17, 2023
Romans 8:9-11
In Romans 6-8 we are given instruction about sanctification which is the process whereby God is changing our souls on a daily basis. Our souls are made up of our minds, wills and emotions. Thus, our sanctification begins with what defines our thinking.
In v.9 of today's passage we read, "But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His."
The way of the Believer in Christ is unraveled in the mystery of what God wants to give us as we yield our lives to Him. This never-ending search for clues about God and His ways is primarily found in His word, the Bible. As the Believer listens to the words of God and learns His thoughts and ways, he will recognize His voice in every avenue of life. And yet, there remains the stranger that resides within. The more we learn and know about God, the more we will walk in His ways.
The tragedy of modern faith is that it seems to no longer be capable of what the Bible calls transformation. This transformation of one's life begins with the bone-chilling, earth-shattering, gut-wrenching, knee knocking, heart-stopping, life-changing fear that leaves us speechless, paralyzed, and helpless? What happened to those moments when we would open our Bibles and our hands started shaking because we were afraid of the Truth we might find there? “Truth” has different expressions, according to the Bible.
The first way that truth is presented to us in God's word, as Mike Yaconelli once said, "Brings with it a description of a wrestler grabbing an opponent by the throat; a word meaning to describe the humiliation of a criminal who was paraded in front of a crowd with a dagger tied to his neck, its point under his chin so he could not put his head down. That is what the Truth is really like! It grabs us by the throat, it flays us wide open, it forces us to look into the face of God. When is the last time you and I heard God’s Truth and were grabbed by the throat? We are afraid of unemployment, the collapse of our government, not being fulfilled, more than being afraid of God."
Now, I can hear someone saying, "but you told me that in Romans 8:1-4, the Spirit teaches us that we are not condemned?" This is true, but the fear that I am referring to here is different that that type of fear. This is respect, which is a product of experiencing God's grace. I would like to suggest that we become a people who hears God saying to us, “Fear not” again. Our relationship with God is not a simple belief or doctrine or theology, it is God’s burning presence in our lives. I am suggesting that the tame god of comfort be replaced by the God whose very presence shatters our egos into dust, and strips us naked to reveal the real person within.
Monday, January 16, 2023
Romans 8:5-8
So, Romans 8 chronicles the activity of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer in Christ. As we considered in our last study, the first thing that the Holy Spirit does for the believer in Christ is to teach us and to remind us that we are no longer condemned by our sin, even though we still struggle with it. Yes, Christ died to deliver us from the penalty and the power of sin, and even the presence of sin. But, our struggle with sin will not be over until we get to heaven.
In today's passage we are considering the second thing that the Holy Spirit does in the life of the believer in Christ which is to teach us to think God’s thoughts. When we think God's thoughts and make choices accordingly, we will experience the culture of God which is what the law of God is all about.
Now, as believers in Christ, we have a daily choice whether to feed the flesh or the Spirit. We feed either of these in our lives by obeying the lead that both provide. When we feed the flesh, we feel conviction from the Holy Spirit who abides within our spirit. This is good because this is God's way of telling us through His Spirit not to go in the direction of sin. This guilt from the Holy Spirit in response to the poor choice of feeding the flesh within us is a good thing. But, when we feed the guilt and punish ourselves as a result, we essentially allow sin to drag us further away from God. When we live with a sense of guilt that drives us away from God, we must correct that poor theology and move on. We should not sin because it is not wise to do so, but we will never this side of heaven be perfect at this process of sanctification. Sin will always lead us to be more self-absorbed than self-giving, whereas the Holy Spirit will always lead us down the path of humility and selflessness.
Friday, January 13, 2023
Romans 8:1-4
In v.1 of today's passage we read, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."
In v.2 of today's passage we read, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death."
In v.3-4 of today's passage we read, "3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."
Thursday, January 12, 2023
Romans 7:21-25
Click here for the Romans 7:21-25 PODCAST
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin." ~ Romans 7:21-25
Today, we conclude our study of perhaps the hardest passage in the Bible to understand. It is so hard to understand because we have a hard time believing that the grace of God is as good as it is. His grace was earned for us by the Lord Jesus Christ. It was His perfection that made it possible for us to be drenched in the favor of God. In fact, God shows believers in Christ His favor as if He were showing it to the Lord Jesus Himself. We understand God's standard of perfection, and, we wrongfully believe that we can somehow get to that standard. This, of course, is so unrealistic. God's grace meets us where we are, and it never waits for us to be where we ought to be to show up in our lives. The grace of God is not merited or earned by us in any way.
In v.21-23 of today's passage we read, "21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me."
The grace of God bottles us up to the reality that we face everyday, and that reality is: we are still fallen sinners. We have been forgiven of all of our sin, but we still wrestle with the temptations that could possibly and do sometimes lure us away from God. The grace of God reminds us that no matter how much we struggle with sin and give into it, we are acceptable through Christ. The grace of God is free and it tells us that God loves us and is committed to us no matter what.
We value God and His culture because He lives in us. When we cried out to Him for help and we invited Him in, He came to live in us for life and eternity. This is not a stretch when we think that our hearts beat because He made them to beat. Also, the breath that we breath came from Him, and, we have been breathing since.
Our inner man has been inhabited by God and this is why we delight in God's law. But, there is yet the presence of sin in our being that is at war against God and the culture He daily desires to deliver to us. Those who have more of His culture inculcated within by the Holy Spirit are often referenced as more godly than others. They are only godly because God is there making His presence know. Those who would be called by others as "worldly" are those who are being defined by this world and its culture more than God and His culture.
This battle is won in our minds which is one third of our souls. The key is to agree with God that His way is right, that is confession by the way, and then we will make the choices that are informed by His word. The Holy Spirit has the responsibility to apply the culture of God to our souls.
Some try to fight this battle against sin with the law, but trying to adhere to the law is a losing battle for the sinner. The law of God puts the magnifying glass on our sinful natures, and in doing so, it crushes us to the point of being convinced that it is only the Lord Jesus Christ that is our savior. The real power is discovered only in none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. His death on the cross was not only efficacious for our justification but also for our sanctification. If we try to fight this battle with sin with the power of the law, we will lose every time.
In v.24-25 of today's passage we read, "24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin."
This is the cry of a man who is sick and tired of this recurring losing battle with his sin. The word "wretched" means miserable or afflicted through the weight and burden of slavery. This is no surprise since back in v.14 the Apostle reminded us that we were sold to sin at the slave market. Like Paul, all of us are slaves to sin, and we cannot bear the weight and the burden of slavery for ourselves. We desperately need a savior, not only to get us into heaven but to get heaven into us now.
I find it interesting that the Apostle brings up the idea of a slave or a servant. You will remember that the first fifteen verses of this book of Romans includes the characteristics of a servant. And, you will also remember that the final five chapters of Romans is about what a servant looks like in every day life.
When we have come to the end of self and we are found crying out to God for His help, we then are at the best spot ever. When we think we can control evil in our lives by sheer determination, then we have yet to come to the end of ourselves. This is the place of desperation and when we operate out of this reality, our God will always step up to the plate.
The phrase "this body" in v.24 is quite instructive. The Apostle Paul grew up in a town called Tarsus. In that town, in that day, the sentence for a murderer was that they would take the corpse of the person who had been murdered and they would attach it to the murderer. And they would force the murderer to walk around and live with the corpse attached to him until, eventually, decay and disease set in. Then the actual murderer would die. The body of death was attached to him and he was forced to carry around the remnant of his sin. Paul seemed to have this in mind when he spoke of his old nature.
Once we have been convinced that sin isn't worth it because it is out to totally destroy us, it is then that we are ready to be the servants of the one who laid down His life for us. In the same way that as sinners we had to look outside of ourselves to the cross to be cleansed of sin, which is justification, so we must look outside of self to the Lord Jesus for the power of sanctification. The Lord Jesus is the answer. He's always the answer. In Him, we find the power to live a sanctified life.