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Subject 9 : Romans (Commentaries on the Book of Romans)
[Chapter 8-14] People to Whom There Is No Condemnation (Romans 8:1-39)
(Romans 8:1-39)
“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. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 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, 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. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 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. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. 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. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 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. 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? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:
‘For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
(Romans 8:1) “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 the Word of God in the Bible, each and every conjunction and modifier holds a great amount of truth. The word, “therefore,” used in this verse by the Apostle Paul is a conjunction used to speak of how great God’s righteousness is in reference to people’s things of the flesh.
The Apostle Paul saw that his flesh was following sin. Also, he found that in his heart there was a heart following the flesh besides the heart walking according to the righteousness of God. Therefore, as he saw his soul getting eroded into the lusts of the flesh, he is praising the righteousness of God shown in Christ. Although Paul was a believer of the righteousness of God, because he had experienced agony due to his flesh, the righteousness of God was the Truth worthy of eternal praise for Paul. Thus, he is witnessing how great the power of the gospel of the water and the Spirit is, which is the righteousness of God.
This faith was in Christ Jesus. Paul is shouting out how perfectly the righteousness of God in Christ has defeated the sins of the world. Really, who in this world can say that he or she is without sin? For those who believe in the righteousness of God, because they do not have sin, there can be no condemnation to them. Paul is witnessing that truth.
The only way for human beings to get rid of their sins is through the righteousness of God fulfilled in Jesus. Even though you say you believe in Jesus as your Savior, if you were to believe without the knowledge of what the righteous of God is and what sort of role the baptism Jesus had received from John the Baptist played, it would be impossible for you to become sinless. But as for those who believe in the righteousness of God in Christ, they get to wear the great glory that has no sin whatsoever. It is the same as it is written, “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10). For a person “to become a person who has no sin,” is only possible by believing in the gospel Truth, which has come by the water and the Spirit, in the righteousness of God.
Therefore, people who do not believe in the gospel of the righteous of God and only believe in the half-gospel must believe in the gospel that contains the righteousness of God. Then, could it be possible for a person to be sinless by believing in the righteousness of God? It is possible because God says the following: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.”
If so, in order to come into the faith of believing in the righteousness of God, people must take on the faith of believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit which contains the righteousness of God. A believer of this gospel Word of the water and the Spirit is a person who has the faith of becoming someone in whom there can be no sin. The gospel of the water and the Spirit is a gospel that is absolutely necessary to those who, even now, try to cleanse their sins through prayers of repentance. Only when one possesses the faith of knowing and believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit instilled with the righteousness of God, does the Word, “There is no condemnation,” gets realized in that person.
(Romans 8:2) “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”
The righteous is someone who serves the gospel of God’s righteousness. But, even for those who know and believe in the righteousness of God, there are times when they walk in sin and live among the desires of the flesh. However, we can see that there is fundamentally much more desire to walk according to the Spirit in those who serve the righteousness of God.
This Word in verse 2 tells us of the fact that Jesus’ receiving the baptism and the righteousness of God in which He has saved sinners from sins by shedding blood at the Cross and being resurrected from the dead, has saved us from all the sins mentioned in every statute of the Law. Freedom from the law of sin and death was fulfilled by the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ. This truth tells us that Jesus Christ had the sufficient qualification to go to the Cross and shed His blood because He had taken on the sins of the world once and for all by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist. Jesus Christ has abundantly freed those of us who believe in the righteousness of God from the law of sin and death by receiving the baptism given by John the Baptist, dying on the Cross, all the while bearing the sins of the world, and then being resurrected from the dead. Even more so, the righteousness of God in Jesus, which gives us life and saves us from sins, was perfected by the baptism for the remission of sins and by the blood of the Cross that God the Father had established through His Son. For this reason, the Bible says that the righteousness of God is “the law of the Spirit of life that has made us free from sin.”
The law of the Spirit of life refers to the law of salvation of God’s righteousness established by God. What is the righteousness of God? It is the righteousness that God the Father gave to mankind in which the salvation by the remission of sins was completely fulfilled through Jesus’ baptism, His blood of the Cross, His death, and His resurrection. This Truth shows the love of God that has allowed us to become perfect by the righteousness of God. The love of God refers to the righteousness of God perfected by the baptism that the Lord had received from John the Baptist in order to save mankind from sins, the death on the Cross, and the resurrection.
In the Scripture passage above, the phrase, “the law of sin and death,” refers to the Law that God had given to man through Moses. The law given by God is a filter that strains out sins. It is a searchlight that identifies the sins of people. The Law is the standard of God. That standard indicates what a sin is, and at the same time, tells us that those who go through that law need the righteousness of God. Thus, the Law allows all people to realize that they are in need of the righteousness of God. At the same time, it makes all people to become aware of the fact that they are sinners through the Word of the Law that God had established through Moses, and that they will be receiving the punishment of death according to the law of death, which is the wages of sin.
We must know that God has established a single law of righteousness that saves people from sins. That law is the law of salvation laid down by the righteousness of God. The law of the remission of sins established by the righteousness of God was fulfilled by the baptism Jesus had received and His blood of the Cross. By the righteousness of God, God has given us the Truth by which we can be atoned for sins.
We all must gain eternal freedom from all sins by believing in the righteousness of God that God has given us. You must believe in the righteousness of God in order to gain freedom from all the sins that you have committed, all the sins that you are currently committing, and all the sins that you will be repeatedly committing in the future. Do you want to gain true freedom from sin and death by believing in the law of life established by God? Have you gained true freedom from all your sins? If you were to believe in the law of salvation that enables you to obtain new life, and that is established by the righteousness of God, you would surely receive the freedom from all sins by having believed in Jesus’ baptism and His blood of the Cross. However, people who do not know and believe that one gets to receive the remission of sins through the baptism and the blood of Jesus will not be able to receive freedom from all their sins for all eternity.
Therefore, we all must gain eternal life by believing in the law of the Spirit of life and the law of sin and death set by God.
(Romans 8:3) “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,”
The sins of people could not be taken away by the Law given by God. This is a truth that is inside the righteousness of God. The reason for that was that human flesh did not have the ability to abide by the Law of God. The Law serves the purpose of making people seek the Savior, for it has the function of pointing out and judging the sins of people, but it does not have the function of making people fundamentally sinless. The God-given Law instead had the power to make those who profess to be sinless into someone who has sin. So, regarding the Law, the Apostle Paul said, “What the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh.” What we must know correctly is the fact that one cannot cleanse one’s own sins with a legalistic faith. Even though people who have legalistic faith offer prayers of repentance and continue to pray in order to cleanse their own sins, the Law of God exposes their sins. Those sins mount up more and more as they continue their life of faith longer and longer because such sins cannot be cleansed without believing in the righteousness of God.
Therefore, people who live out a life of legalistic faith without the knowledge of the righteousness of God must now stop living out such life of faith. Now, so long as you have had the righteousness of God, you can no longer afford to be tied up in a life of legalistic faith because the righteousness of God has blotted out all your sins. You must know the righteousness of God. You must know that the righteousness of God has taken away all your sins. The righteousness of God means that God the Father did blot out all our sins “by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and because of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh.” Here, the fact that God has condemned sin in His Son’s flesh means that He has decided to pass the sins of the world to the body of Jesus Christ through His baptism, and by doing so, He has taken away the sins of the world. God has once and for all cleansed the sins of those who believe in the righteousness of God.
The basis of this Word of the Truth can be found at the Jordan River (Matthew 3:13-17). After being born onto this earth, Jesus went to the Jordan River at the age of thirty in order to receive the baptism from John the Baptist. Jesus perfected all the righteousness of God by taking on all the sins of this world once and for all by the baptism He had received from John the Baptist. By Jesus’ receiving of the baptism from John the Baptist, the sins of the world were all transferred over through the head of Jesus to His back. Jesus was able to take on the sins of the world because He had received the baptism that fulfilled the righteousness of God, and thus, He was able to be crucified while carrying the sins of the world. Also, by resurrecting from the dead, He was able to give the remission of sins and new life for all eternity to those who believe in Him.
This was the righteousness of God by which God the Father was able to take away all the sins of the world through His Son. The righteousness of God is the justness and the love of God. God the Father perfected the love through His Son. The righteousness of God is God’s love, and it took away all the sins of mankind. Having said this, do you know that your sins were also transferred over to Jesus at the time when He received the baptism from John the Baptist?
Do you believe in the righteousness of God witnessed by the Apostle Paul? He said, “God did what the Law could not do.” Do you know this truth? You must learn and know the righteousness of God, without fail, and you must believe in it. When John the Baptist bore witness to the righteousness of God, he said that the righteousness of God is accomplished by passing the sins of the world onto His Son through the baptism Jesus received from him. To whom were your sins passed onto, and by what sort of faith? Have you also passed on your sins to Jesus by believing that John the Baptist had passed on the sins of the world to Jesus’ body by giving Him the baptism in the form of the laying on of hands? Are you aware of the truth that Jesus was able to die by getting crucified to the Cross and to resurrect because He had taken on the sins of the world by receiving baptism given by John the Baptist? The baptism Jesus had received, His death, and His resurrection were what perfected the righteousness of God, and Jesus saved you and me who believe in this Truth, from sins once and for all. We can all be atoned for all our sins and gain eternal life by believing in the righteousness of God. Do you believe in this Truth?
We must know and believe what the Apostle Paul says, “There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ,” in Romans chapter 8. The meaning of these words is precisely in reference to the baptism Jesus had received, His death at the Cross, and His resurrection. Do you believe in the Truth that Jesus has taken on your sins as well by the baptism He had received from John the Baptist? Because Jesus had received the baptism given by John the Baptist, He was able to be crucified bearing the sins of the world and thus fulfill the righteousness of God once and for all. Jesus had received the baptism in order to have us die to our sins, and He resurrected from the dead in order to bring us back to life from the dead. This Truth is a gift to you and me who believe in the righteousness of God. Are you thankful? Do you glorify the Lord who has given us the righteousness of God?
(Romans 8:4) “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.”
A proper life of faith is to think and believe in accordance with the Word of God, not of walking in one’s own thoughts. Such faith is the finest faith as well as the best life of faith. If your faith is that of believing in the righteousness of God according to the Word of God, then you should know that the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist was for the fulfillment of God’s requirement of the Law. Jesus, in order to save those who are to receive salvation by believing in Him as their Savior, fulfilled all the remission of sins that is the righteousness of God. In order to take charge of all our sins and death, which is the wages of sin, Jesus received the baptism given by John the Baptist and fulfilled the requirement of the Law.
That is why Jesus was able to immerse Himself under water by receiving the baptism that fulfilled the righteousness of God from John the Baptist at the Jordan River. Then, He came out from the water to save those of us who believe in Him. Jesus received the baptism from John the Baptist in order to take charge of sins of the world onto His body which would fulfill all the righteousness of God, and He got immersed under water in order to vicariously suffer death at the Cross for all sins, for He had taken on all our sins.
Paul states that the receiving of baptism from John the Baptist by Jesus was to fulfill the requirement of the Law of God. Paul is now spiritually discussing the baptism Jesus had received from John the Baptist which is written in the Book of Romans chapter 6. Do you believe that the requirement of the Law gets fulfilled when you enter the spiritual truth of the remission of sins that Jesus has accomplished by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist? Now, you must believe in the Truth which contains the righteousness of God, instead of hesitating any longer.
(Romans 8:5) “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.”
People live either according to the flesh or according to the Spirit. Paul says that those who live according to the flesh will do the work of the flesh. On the other hand, he says that those who live according to the Spirit set their mind on the salvation of the spirit of people and live accordingly.
Here, he is saying that the results for each of these two types of life are completely different. Just as the Lord has said that for whatever a man sows, he will also reap accordingly, if people live for their flesh, they will bear fruit of the flesh; but if people live for the righteousness of God, they will bear fruit of the eternal life. Therefore, it is very important for the born again to decide which type of spiritual life to follow. Whatever you choose to sow, you will reap the fruit that you have sown. Because this is the Word of truth spoken by God, no person can deny its result. For this reason, we must be those who pursue the benefit of the righteousness of God, instead of those who pursue the benefit of the flesh.
Regarding “living according to the flesh,” Paul states the following in the Book of Galatians chapter 5:19-21, “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Actually, “selfish ambitions, dissension, heresies, and envy” are things that come out from those who stand against and do not believe in the righteousness of God. Those who do not believe in the righteousness of God are creating bands and standing against the Word of God. They create bands, saying boastfully, “I go to so-and-so Presbyterian Church (or a Baptist Church, or a Full gospel Church, or a Methodist Church).” Then, they try to stand against the righteousness of God as a group and fight against those who believe in the righteousness of God, saying, “Our denomination believes that Jesus received the baptism from John the Baptist in order to show humility. We do not believe that the righteousness of God was realized through the passing on of all sins to Jesus when He received the baptism from John the Baptist.”
Heretics are also like that. Who are the heretics before God? Could a person of faith who believes according the righteousness of God be a heretic? Today’s Christians consider anyone who believes differently from their respective denominations as a heretic. However, the meaning of the word, “heresy,” refers to believing differently from what God wants. Those who believe in Jesus with sins intact to the end are heretics because they believe differently from the Word spoken by God.
The Lord says that regardless of whom, if there are sins when one looks into his or her heart, then that person is someone who hasn’t yet come into Christ. It means that even though that person believes in Christ, he or she is a heretic (Titus 3:11). In looking at this, as we cannot deny the fact that among those who believe in Jesus these days, there are so many people who have heretical faith for they do not have the faith of believing in the righteousness of God. It is truly disheartening, but what can we do? For this reason, anyone who believes in Jesus but has sins must turn around from his or her wrong way of faith and believe in Jesus according to the righteousness of God.
Do you have your mind set on the work of the flesh, or on the work of the righteousness of God? You cannot but think about either one of these two, and on the path of the one you choose, there will be your fruit.
People who think about the work of God go on working with their mind set on what the righteousness of God is. You must believe by thinking, “What is the meaning of the baptism Jesus Christ received by coming to this earth, what is the meaning of His death, and what is the meaning of Christ’s resurrection.” Thus, you get to believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit with heart, follow the Holy Spirit, and think about whether or not the work of spreading the gospel throughout the world is right.
Those who have their mind set on the work of the Spirit are the people of faith who do the work of the righteousness of God; but those who have their mind set on the work of the flesh are the people of flesh who think only about things of the world. Therefore, those who pursue the thoughts of the flesh will arrive at death, but those who think about the work of the Spirit and follow Him are those who will gain life and peace. We must go on living thinking of God and about how joyful the work of saving people’s lives is.
(Romans 8:6-7) “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.”
Once people fall into the thoughts of caring for the flesh, they tend to forget how good it is to be doing the work of God. Therefore, everyone must go on living thinking about the work of God. To do so, one must believe in the righteousness of God. The righteousness of God is the basis for all that is good. Those who believe in the righteousness of God throw away their own righteousness. Because the righteousness of God is good, it makes people do virtuous deeds, and it enables the saints to bear fruit of goodness.
Everyone can think about caring for one’s own flesh, and they can also think about the work of the righteousness of God. Therefore, people must think upright thoughts. By doing so, people are able to please God.
(Romans 8:8) “Then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
Those who believe in the righteousness of God can follow the Lord if they think about God, instead of having thoughts about caring for one’s own flesh. If people genuinely want to please God, they “must believe that God exists, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). People who want to serve God must avoid the work of caring for the flesh.
If believers of the righteousness of God want to walk according to the Spirit of God, then they must ceaselessly serve the Lord and follow Him. Only then can they take away any opportunity from their own flesh, and thus, be able to spread the gospel of the water and the Spirit to others.
Do you want to do the work of saving people’s souls from sins? If so, believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit! If you do, you will be spreading the Truth that contains the righteousness of God. The gospel of the water and the Spirit will make your soul be sinless, and it will allow you to live a Spirit-filled life.
(Romans 8:9) “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.”
Whether or not the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of God, is in the heart of a person who believes in Christ decides whether that person is a man of the Spirit or a man of the flesh. Is the Holy Spirit in your heart? If so, then you are surely a person who believes in the righteousness of God.
The following is written in the Bible about the way by which one can receive the gift of the Holy Spirit from God. In Acts 2:38, it is said, “Then, Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’”
Why does the Scripture say here, “Let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins”? It is because Jesus has taken on all the sins of the world by receiving the baptism from John the Baptist, dying at the Cross, and being resurrected from the dead. This is how He has delivered those who believe in the righteousness of God from all sins. And so, those who have cleansed all their sins by knowing and believing in Jesus’ receiving of the baptism get to receive baptism in the form of the laying on of hands in the name of Jesus Christ. And, they get to receive the Holy Spirit as a gift from God as they believe that Jesus’ receiving the baptism, shedding His blood, and His resurrection from the dead was to atone for all their sins, and to have them die and then live again.
Therefore, those who have received the cleansing of all sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit get to receive the Holy Spirit as a gift, which is the mark of having become people of God. Therefore, whoever has received the gift of the Holy Spirit is a person who believes in the righteousness of God.
This means that without the cleansing of one’s every sin by believing in the Word of the righteousness of God, no one can receive the gift of the Holy Spirit from God. Because God is Holy, those who haven’t received the cleansing of sins thoroughly by believing in the righteousness of God cannot receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for there is sin in their heart. Therefore, people who have sins in their heart do not have the Holy Spirit. In the heart of a sinner, only sin and the spirit of Satan can dwell. The divine Holy Spirit cannot dwell there, not even for a moment. If you have felt the Holy Spirit disappear from your heart after just a short stay, then it is without a doubt the work of the Devil disguised as the Holy Spirit, not the work of the Holy Spirit.
The evidence of the Holy Spirit being in your heart depends on whether or not you have sins in your heart right at this moment. If you have sin in your heart right now, even though you have previously experienced the working of the Holy Spirit, the fact of the matter is that there was no true Holy Spirit back then because you have had sin in your heart.
As for those of you who want to invite the Holy Spirit into your heart right now, I want you to believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit with your heart. The baptism that Jesus received from John the Baptist has taken on and cleansed all your sins. If you believe in Jesus’ taking on of the sins of the world through His baptism, His getting nailed to the Cross, His death, and His resurrection, you have already been delivered from all sins and received the gift of the Holy Spirit. Once you start to believe in Jesus, you must know and believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit with which you can receive the gift of the Holy Spirit in order to receive the cleansing of all the sins in your heart.
Does the Spirit of God dwell in your heart? The only way of finding that out depends on whether or not you have in your heart the faith of knowing and believing in the righteousness of God. If this is not the case, what you need is the faith of believing in the righteousness of God shown in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and nothing else. Have you become a person of Christ?
(Romans 8:10) “And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”
Christ is the Hero of the Scriptures who has fulfilled the righteousness of God. Thus, for those who believe in the righteousness God, Christ has blotted out the sins in their heart, and at the same time, He dwells in their heart as a place of residence.
Believers of the righteousness of God are those who have received the remission of all sins, and they died at the same time when Jesus died at the Cross. The hearts of those who believe in Him were brought back to new life due to the righteousness of God. Put differently, the souls of those of us who believe were brought back to life from the dead by our faith in the righteousness of God. Therefore, those who believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, which is the righteousness of God, become those who dwell in Christ together with Him. However, regarding the lustful desires of this world, they are dead.
(Romans 8:11) “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”
The hearts of those who believe in the righteousness of God are not dead but rather they are alive by the Spirit of God. The flesh of a saint who has the Spirit of God will die once, and then will be brought back to life once more. Such people are the saints who do not have sins as well as the believers of the righteousness of God. Even though their spirits have been born again by faith due to the Truth of the water and the Spirit, their flesh has the destiny to die once and then be brought back to life once more. Therefore, a saint is someone who has gained a new eternal life.
(Romans 8:12) “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.”
People who believe in the righteousness of God are those whose spirits are alive. They shouldn’t go on living pursuing the trivial desires of the flesh that follow sin because their flesh has already died together with Christ at the Cross due to all sins, and they have gained new life together with Christ.
(Romans 8:13) “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”
A saint living out a life that is dead or a life that is alive depends on whether that saint walks according to the sins of the flesh or serves the righteousness of God.
(Romans 8:14) “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”
People who have the Holy Spirit in their hearts will listen to Him and follow the words of the spiritual leader who gives the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the sons of God are led by the preceding servants of God; but as for the sinners, they will be led by other sinners. It is written, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27). People who have become children of God by believing in His righteousness follow the Word of God. Whether or not someone is a child of God can also be determined by looking at whether or not the person follows the Word of God by faith. It is the same as is written, “A tree is known by its fruit” (Matthew 12:33).
(Romans 8:15) “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’”
People who believe in the righteousness of God get to receive the Holy Spirit which allows them to become children of God. Therefore, since these people have received the remission of sins and believe in the righteousness of God shown in the water and Spirit, are the ones who have received Jesus Christ as their Savior. If people are those who have accepted Jesus Christ, then they can say that they are those who know and believe in the righteousness of God.
(Romans 8:16-17) “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”
For those who have the Holy Spirit in their heart, the Holy Spirit bears witness to the fact that they are God’s children. If we have become children of God by believing in His righteousness, then we will be enjoying the glory of the splendors of Heaven together with God the Father. Because we are those who will be receiving the glory of God together with Christ, we must also suffer with Him for His righteousness.
(Romans 8:18) “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.”
An endless life of glory awaits those who believe in the righteousness of God. This is why Paul speaks of that glorious life in Heaven in comparison with the sufferings on this earth for Christ. But no suffering on this earth is worthy of being compared with the glory that the righteous will be enjoying in the next world. Yes, this is so. The glory of Heaven is beyond description as it is written, “The glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another” (1 Corinthians 15:40).
Truly, the glorious life that will be given to the saints can neither be compared with nor be measured against any other kind of life on this earth. Because the glory given to the saints and servants of God is so tremendous, all we can do is to give thanks in return.
(Romans 8:19) “For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.”
All the creations made by God wait for the moment when all the Word of God gets fulfilled in the future and the sons of God wear the glory. The reason is that everything becoming perfect upon reaching that moment is the providence of God. Even now, all the creations are waiting for the Millennium Kingdom and the eternal Kingdom of Heaven to come upon the saints.
(Romans 8:20) “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope;”
Now isn’t yet the time for the completion of the will of God. The providence of God hasn’t yet been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. That is why the creations are inflicted with pain from sinners as well. It is because the will of God has determined that the creation will be subjected to futility only until the will of God is perfected.
(Romans 8:21) “Because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”
Just as the righteous who have received the salvation from sins and become children of God await the day when they will enjoy the glory of Heaven, all the creations made by God also wait for that day. We who know the righteousness of God yearn for such glory after being freed from the slavery of death and attaining new life. The creation is like that also.
(Romans 8:22) “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.”
Still, all the creations suffer pain along with the righteous. God’s glorious life will begin at the Kingdom of the Lord along with those who believe in the righteousness of God. Up until now, God is the only One living gloriously. But from now on, a glorious new world in which He will share with the righteous people who have gained the remission of sins by believing in the righteousness of God will open up. That world is the Kingdom of the Lord.
All the creations and the people of the Lord wait for and believe in the Kingdom of God that is soon to come. We all suffer pain until the day.
(Romans 8:23) “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.”
Just as the creations wait for the Kingdom of God, we who have become people of Christ by believing in the righteousness of God also wait for the day when the Kingdom of the Lord gets realized quickly on this earth and in Heaven. This is the earnest expectation of all the saints and servants of God who have received the remission of sins.
(Romans 8:24) “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?”
People who believe in the righteousness of God have come to receive the remission of sins, and they yearn to enter and live in the Kingdom of Heaven wearing all the glories of God in hope. They have come to receive the remission of sins through their faith in the righteousness of God. The saints are waiting for that day, because they have secured the right to go and live in the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, the righteous do not hope for what they can see on this earth, but rather, they hope for entering and living in the Kingdom of Heaven by faith. This is the faith of those who believe in the righteousness of God.
(Romans 8:25) “But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.”
People who go on living on this earth believing in the righteousness of God live out their faith in perseverance waiting for the day of the Lord. This is the life of a saint. The word “to wait” is a symbol of faith to those who have become the saints.
All those who have become saints wait for the day of the Lord by persevering through the hardships of reality. When that day of hope comes, all the wishes will be realized for those who believe in the righteousness of God. Therefore, “faith, love, and hope,” will always abide. The very last hope is for us to be living in that glorious place on the day of the Lord. At that time, let us live out our lives enjoying the glory of God.
(Romans 8:26) “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”
For the believers of the righteousness of God, the Holy Spirit will dwell in them until the end of the days of the world. However, there are times when the righteous do not know what they should pray for to God. But knowing what to pray to God, the Holy Spirit prays for them, The Holy Spirit is always helping those saints who believe in the righteousness of God. When the saints are in hardship, He gives them the strength to pray, allows them to come up with a prayer subject, and grants them the strength to ask in earnest. He gives conviction and peace in their hearts. The Holy Spirit also gives aid to all the works of serving the righteousness of God with power.
(Romans 8:27) “Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”
God the Father has given the Holy Spirit to His children who have become the saints. Thus, the Holy Spirit allows us to pray according to the will of the Father, for He is God. Therefore, the work of the Holy Spirit is possible only for those who have become the children of God.
In the hearts of those to whom the workings of the Holy Spirit have come, there is the Holy Spirit, and He has allowed them to pray in earnest to God the Father for His will. As such, He has allowed the saints who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit to live and pray according to the will of God the Father. If the hearts of the saints have only been cleansed of sins by faith, then there is no Holy Spirit inside their hearts, and the saints would not be able to live according to the will of God. The divine Holy Spirit is always there inside the hearts of the saints, and He has them pray fervently for everything according to God’s will. Those who have the Holy Spirit inside their hearts are those who have received the remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and they are the ones who are experiencing the workings of the Holy Spirit.
In this world, those who have the Holy Spirit in their hearts are the happiest ones. It is because He is the Protector and Counselor of the saints.
(Romans 8:28) “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
God has called the sinners and He has made them the righteous. God works in order to bring maturity of faith to the saints through all their livelihood as well as the environment; and thus, all things work together for good. The righteousness of God has the power to take in all things and turn them into good.
God has fulfilled good by making all things work together by working in every aspect of our lives. The proof of His working is to make the sinners to become the righteous and His people. All these things are achieved within the power that has completed the righteousness of God.
(Romans 8:29) “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
This passage means that God the Father has predestined us to become children of God through His Son, Jesus Christ. This is shown in His plan in which He has predestined to make us younger siblings of Jesus Christ. God has made us His people with His predestination in Jesus Christ, and He has saved us by the gospel of the water and the Spirit accordingly.
Ever since God had created the universe, it was predestined that He will make us His people in Jesus Christ. Therefore, the plan for salvation fulfilled in Christ by the righteousness of God was something that was to be perfected within the gospel of the water and the Spirit. God the Father has sent down Jesus Christ to this earth, and He has called upon the sinners in the baptism and the blood of Jesus Christ. It means that it was predestined that anyone who wants to become a child of God has to believe in the baptism and the blood of Jesus Christ. For mankind to become children of God, it was made so that they had to believe in the Truth of the baptism Jesus had received and the blood. Thus, people must believe in the righteousness of God wholeheartedly, recognizing the fact that they do not have any righteousness of their own.
God the Father has only called upon those sinners who believe in the righteousness of God fulfilled through Jesus Christ. God has predestined that those who do not believe in the righteousness of God, regardless of whether or not they have much self-righteousness, cannot but suffer a great failure in salvation for they go on refusing God’s plan. Therefore, in order for us to believe in the righteousness of God, we had to believe in the predestination of God established within God’s righteousness.
(Romans 8:30) “Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.”
Who does God the Father call? He calls upon all those sinners whose self-righteousness has been broken in Jesus Christ. Whom God has called, He has clothed them with His righteousness and thus turned them from sinners to the righteous. Because God has perfectly saved the sinners from sins by His righteousness, He has glorified the believers as His people.
The Apostle Paul tells us that people must not understand this Scripture passage in verse 30 as the basis of some Christian doctrines, like the Doctrine of Sanctification. Christians must be aware of the Christian Doctrine of Sanctification. Yet, right now, so many Christians and Christian theologians have confused the Word of God’s righteousness by creating the Doctrine of Sanctification.
These people understand and believe in this Scripture passage like the following:
First of all, they think and believe that even though God the Father has called upon the sinners through Jesus Christ and has saved them from sins, because that salvation is not perfect, it can only be completed through the gradual sanctification of mind and body. However, the Scripture passage does not speak of God turning people into His perfect children gradually as time passes by, but rather it speaks of God completing it once and for all by the righteousness of God. God has made sinners the just perfectly not by human righteousness, but by the righteousness of God.
Here, starting from “whom He predestined, these He also called,” to the end, the passage talks about the righteousness of God in which God has called upon the sinners and has saved them perfectly from sins by having Jesus take on the sins of the world with His baptism and shed His blood on the Cross. God calls upon the sinners by His righteousness, and He had called them by predestining that He will make those believers His children perfectly.
The gospel that I have preached to you is the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which contains “the righteousness of God,” and this gospel has made sinners the righteous. The predestination of God gets unraveled in the gospel of the water and the Spirit so clearly because the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the Truth. If one were to try to unravel this verse of Romans 8:30 with the Doctrine of Sanctification and the Doctrine of Predestination that prevail in today’s Christianity, that person will fall into chaos. There are so many people who have fallen into chaos and darkness for not having received the remission of sins because they tried to obstinately unravel this Scripture passage with the Doctrine of Sanctification and the Doctrine of Predestination. This is because the Doctrine of Sanctification is absolutely groundless and absurd.
You must believe in the righteousness of God amidst your actual life. Only then, can you be free from all your sins. If you don’t believe so and try to believe in Jesus by obstinately unraveling the righteousness of God with Christian doctrines, you will never be able to escape from your sins. The unraveling of all the truths is through the Holy Spirit. You must never forget that this Truth constitutes the righteousness of God.
The Doctrine of Sanctification has many aspects of fabrication. But the gospel Truth of the water and the Spirit is the righteousness of God. All the truths are proven in the righteousness of God. Therefore, you must know that all your sins can be solved with the righteousness of God. If you don’t hold fast onto the truths of the Scriptures but instead try to solve them with the Doctrine of the Sanctification, the more you try, the less it will get solved. Therefore, you must first meet the Truth which is the righteousness of God. You must realize that the gospel of the water and the Spirit is the substance of the righteousness of God. The gospel of the water and the Spirit is the Truth that an actual sinner can only believe in when the person admits his or her sins by believing in that gospel Word. All the truths and the righteousness of God can be understood and experienced within the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
You must not hesitate to accept Jesus Christ who has come to this earth by the water and the Spirit as your Savior. If you do so, the righteousness of God will be realized inside your heart and be blessed. By believing in the righteousness of God, you will be able to receive the blessing of wearing the glory of God.
(Romans 8:31) “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
God has made whole those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit which is the righteousness of God. Therefore, we must throw away religious righteousness, good conduct of religion, and religious doctrines that make enmity with the righteousness of God and return to God. The righteousness of God is the Truth that has perfectly cleansed us of all the filthy sins.
As God cherishes us, the believers in the righteousness of God, who would dare say then that we are wrong? No one can say so. Proper faith before God is the faith of believing in the righteousness of God, and that faith is an invincible faith that allows the sinners to enter Heaven by making them the just. The way of defeating all lies is the faith of believing in the righteousness of God. In order for us to defeat Satan, we must have the faith of believing in the righteousness of God.
God has given you the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit which is the righteousness of God for you. Do you know that the Doctrine of Sanctification in Christianity doesn’t make you to be without sin? Such doctrine has been taught also in Buddhism. Instead of believing in certain Christian doctrines, we must have the faith in the righteousness of God. The righteousness of God is more than sufficient in glorifying you and in making you who believe in Jesus to be the righteous for all eternity.
(Romans 8:32) “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”
God the Father has given the blessing of becoming the people of God and the blessing of reigning as kings in the Millennium Kingdom to those who believe in the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ.
In this verse, God promises us to give us freely all things with His Son Jesus Christ. For as long as the righteous people who have been born again by the water and the Spirit live on this earth, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit has granted them many gifts of blessing. God had the righteous live out their life in the righteousness of God, always receiving the love of God all the while believing in the Truth.
(Romans 8:33) “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.”
God loved especially those who believe in the righteousness of God, and He made them His children. Like so, no one can bring a charge against what God has done for us. This means that who can possibly protest those whom God has taken in as His people with His righteousness? God has approved the faith of the believers of the righteousness of God. Therefore, no one can say that the faith of the righteous people who believe in the righteousness of God is wrong. It is because the righteousness of God is always just, merciful, and honest.
(Romans 8:34) “Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.”
Just as one can’t say that the faith of those who believe in the righteousness of God is ‘wrong,’ no one can say that God, who approves such faith, is wrong. The One who approves the believers of the righteousness of God to be right is God.
Jesus Christ came to this earth, received the baptism, cleansed the sins of the world by getting crucified, and vicariously received all the judgment once and for all for the believers of the righteousness of God. Jesus Christ became the Advocate of those who believe in the righteousness of God by receiving the baptism, dying on the Cross, coming back to life from the dead, and sitting at the right hand of God. Therefore, there is no one who can say that the faith of those who believe in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit is wrong.
(Romans 8:35) “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”
Nothing in this world can separate those who believe in the righteousness of God from the love of Christ and their faith. Is there anyone who can separate us from the faith of believing in the righteousness of Christ? There is none. Then, is there a distress that can separate us from the faith of believing the love of Christ? There isn’t any. Persecution, famine, poverty, danger, and death cannot separate us from the love of Christ.
(Romans 8:36) “As it is written:
‘For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’”
Just as it is written in the Old Testament, regarding the prophesied relationship between the saints and Christ, that the saints’ love for Christ has sprouted much love and sacrifice, all the saints who believe in the righteousness of God have come to be able to live out their lives for the Lord.
(Romans 8:37) “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”
Those who believe in the righteousness of God are able to easily overcome all the persecution through the faith of believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit given by Jesus Christ. God has allowed the saints to live out every aspect of life for the Lord by the faith of believing in the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit.
(Romans 8:38) “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,”
In this day and age, those who have the same faith as that of Paul who believed in the righteousness of God, are the believers of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Just as there was no one who could break the faith of Paul and the saints during the Early Church Era, in this day and age, there is no one who can break the life of faith and the faith of the believers of the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Saints must always keep the faith of believing in the love of God and the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and they will be meeting the Lord after living out such a life.
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Copyright © 2021 by The New Life Mission