FIRST CONTINUATION, THEN CONCLUSION
First, Continuation of Paul’s letter to the Romans.
As I started out for my morning walk, I began to sing a chorus that I have not sung in many years.
The title of the chorus is I Live.
It was written by Rick Cook in 1976.
I encourage you to look up the title, and read the words.
In this chorus, Cook’s words epitomize what the Apostle Paul was writing about in his letter to the Romans found in Romans 8:1,2.
Simply, the chorus tells us that “we live” because of Christ’s resurrection; and that “we live with power over sin”.
Reflecting upon the words of this song, I realized I was singing the truth of what Paul wrote in Romans 8:1-2. (NKJV)
“There is therefore now no condemnation 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.”
I am sure you have heard many times, that when you see a ‘therefore’, you need to find out what it’s ‘therefore’.
The ‘therefore’ is making the transition of thought of Paul’s teaching from Romans 6,7, explaining our position in Christ, to our triumph in Romans 8.
In Romans 6, Paul explains why we follow the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 3:13-17) in water baptism.
We are dead to sin and its power because of our identification in Christ’s death, through water baptism. (Romans 6:3)
Paul also teaches the new believer what it means to have been “buried with Him”, and what it means to be raised in “newness of life”. (Romans 6:4)
Paul instructs us, that because of our position in Christ, our identification in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, our mindset should be as follows:
“Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.” (Romans 6:11-12, NKJV)
In Romans chapter 7, Paul tells us about the struggle that goes on inside the life of a believer.
Yes, believers, struggle with the flesh, our former life, the one that was buried in water baptism.
In Romans 7, Paul explains his own personal struggle. (Romans 7:14-21)
He was not immune to the internal conflict between flesh and spirit within the believer.
At the end of Paul’s explanation about his personal struggle, he concludes Romans 7 with the following:
“For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members . O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God–through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.” (Romans 7:22-25, NKJV)
Welcome to the life of a believer.
This is why the ‘therefore’ is there in Romans 8:1.
Romans 8:1,2 explains the triumph over sin within the heart of the believer; and the ongoing victory of new life in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Beginning in Romans 1 and continuing through Romans 8, Paul has explained how to proceed from Treason To Truth, and live in Triumph!
What does that mean?
“The just shall live by faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38)
Faith in what?
F.A.I.T.H. in the redemptive work of God, the Father; God, the Son; and God, the Holy Spirit.
An acronym for F.A.I.T.H.
Following Adonai Is Trusting Him.
Returning our attention back to idols and idolatry.
Let us consider Psalm 24.
Psalm 24 is a Psalm of David.
Psalm 24:3, asks two questions: “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?” and “Or who may stand in His holy place?” (NKJV)
Psalm 24:4, answers these two questions.
“He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully.” (NKJV)
We have been discussing idols and idolatry of the heart.
The Word of God explicitly tells us that idols are anathema to God.
The word anathema means “someone or something intensely disliked or loathed.” (merriam-webster.com)
Got Questions defines the word anathema, biblically, as “a person of thing that is deeply cursed, condemned, or devoted to destruction by God.”
God emphatically tells His people to separate themselves from idols, and to only seek Him.
Recently, I heard the following comment.
We are not to be giving our worship (devotion of our heart) to anyone or anything other than God. (paraphrased)
Why?
Idols destroy our lives spiritually.
Idols deceive our love for God.
God, our Father, wants our “unshared love”.
God’s Word teaches us that there is to be ‘no mixed-worship’.
God seeks those who worship Him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:21-24)
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.” (Admonition spoken to the seven Church in Revelation 2,3)
God, our Father, has said this gently.
He has said this with commandment.
He has said this forcefully.
He does not ignore His people seeking after the worshiping of idols.
He has cried out against the worshiping of idols.
He has brought judgment upon His people because of their worship of idols.
What is the effect of idolatry in the Church?
The Church is to be a light in this world of darkness. (Matthew 5:14)
Any sin, including our personal idols, and/or idolatry of the heart is sin; and sin is darkness that weakens, even obliterates, the light.
I John 1:5-10 NKJV, “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare unto you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But, if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”
Remember, the Apostle John is writing to believers, and in the context of his Epistle he concludes his instruction with these words, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.” (I John 5:21, NKJV)
Are we, the Church, immune to God’s judgment poured out on us because of idols and/or idolatry in our life?
Absolutely not!
But, in Christ, we will not experience the wrath of God because of Christ’s death on the cross.
But, we can experience the reality of God’s judgment.
Compare Deuteronomy 28 (Blessings on Obedience) and 29( Curses on Disobedience).
Study the history of Israel.
It is imperative that we confess our sins as we live our life before the Lord.
B.U.T. (Believers Understand This), 1 Peter 4:17:
“For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God, and if it begins with us first, what will be the end those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (acronym, insert mine)
What is Peter saying?
He understands that each believer is a ‘house of God’, and that we, collectively, are God’s ‘spiritual house (I Peter 2:5).
Consider this, that the judgment Peter is warning us about can be visualized as coming to us as an individual believer and/or the corporate community of the Church, the Body of Christ. (I Peter)
The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, reflecting upon Jesus Christ as our High Priest, says the same thing in Hebrews 10:19-22, (NKJV).
“Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
What David said (Psalm 24:3-4) is true; however, in Christ, we have a better covenant and better promises secured by the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ.
If you are not a believer in Christ, I encourage you, to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, to call out to Him, to ask Him to forgive you of your sin, and to receive Him as your personal Lord and Savior.
If you are a believer in Christ, how is your personal walk with the Lord?
Are you following Him?
Or, are you pursuing your own self-interests(idols) and/or idols of your heart?
Do you have mixed-worship in your life because of your idols?
What is the first thing David mentioned that disqualified a person from ascending the hill of the Lord, and standing in His holy place?
The person “who has not lifted up his soul to an idol”. (Psalms 24:4)
Idolatry is sin. Sin can be confessed, forgiven, forgotten by God, and removed from you “as far as the east is from the west”. (Psalm 103:12 NKJV)
Ask the Lord to search your heart and “see if there is any wicked way in me?” (Psalms 139:23-24)
Every human being is an eternal soul.
Our soul is who we are.
Every soul will either live eternally in heaven or hell.
What makes the difference?
Your personal relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6, NKJV)
Have you accepted Him as your Savior, or rejected Him?
John 3:18 NKJV, “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
“For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)
That is the message of the Gospel.
Answering truthfully to above questions is a matter of eternal life or death.
Do not take it lightly.
Romans 8 is our ‘spiritual promised land’.
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The Conclusion to this series of posts.
This series of posts began in the Garden of Eden, Genesis 1-3.
What God created, then inspected, He declared as good.
On the sixth day of creation, God created mankind, in His image and likeness.
At the conclusion of the sixth day, God looked over all of His creation, that He had made, and said that it was “very good”. (Genesis 1:31)
Into this created paradise, in which there was no sin, Satan came, and when his work was done, Adam and Eve, had transgressed God’s Word, sin had entered into their souls, their spirit died, and they hid from God.
Sin is the source of treason against God.
As we read in Romans 5, it was Adam’s disobedience that brought sin into the world and its consequences.
But, praise God, it was the Son of God, Jesus’ obedience that triumphed completely over mankind’s treason; and now we can live victoriously.
This is summed up in Romans 8:1,2.
What began in the Garden of Eden, created by God, and was tragically lost will be made new. It will not be a refurbished Garden of Eden. God is not returning His redeemed humanity back to the first garden. (boldness mine)
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:17, NKJV, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new. (boldness and italicized words are in the text) [new – ‘means in regard to form or quality’, notes from NKJV study Bible.]
Inwardly we are a new creation, but we are still in our original body.
But, one day, that will, too, be made new.
I Corinthians 15 is Paul’s theological treatise about the Gospel, the preaching of Christ risen from the dead, and the glorious hope of our new bodies, that concludes with the moment when we will all be changed.
1 Corinthians 15:53, says, “For this corruptible (earthly body) must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
God is making all things new.
We are a new creation in Christ Jesus.
To live eternally with the Lord, we will have a new immortal body.
There will also be, a new heaven and a new earth, in which God’s new humanity, in their new bodies, will live.
This is not far fetched.
This is where the history of mankind ends in the Book of the Revelation.
This was prophesied by the prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah 65:17 NKJV, says, “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, And her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, And joy in My people.” (boldness mine)
What robbed God, the Father, of His joy in the Garden of Eden, He, Himself has dealt with at the cross, and He is making all things new.
In Christ, we are a new creation. When Christ returns we will receive a new body. And, He is creating for us a new heaven and a new earth in which to live with Him eternally.
The Apostle John, the chosen writer for the Book of Revelation, tells us of this new creation in Revelation 21-22. (I encourage you to read Revelation 21-22).
The following passages are from Revelation 21-22, NKJV.
Revelation 21:1, 5-7,9-10,22-23; Revelation 22:1-5; 12-14.
“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. And there was no more sea…Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold,, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write for these words are true and faithful.” And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him that thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.”…Then one of the seven angles who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying “Come I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God…And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life (remember the tree of life in Genesis 1-3), which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse (remember Genesis 1-3), but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sunk, for the Lord God gives them light (See Genesis 1:1-5)… “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last. Blessed is he who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates of the city.” (boldness mine)
Can you visualize the ending?
Read the last sentence again.
Reflect upon the scene in the Garden of Eden.
Remember what instruction God had told Adam and Eve.
Do not eat off the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?
They ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Their spirit died because their soul sinned against God.
Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Life. (Genesis 3:22-24)
Rejoice, because of the coming of the Son of God, His death on the cross,His burial, His resurrection, and His ascension, we have been redeemed and reconciled to God the Father.
We can now return to God’s presence, in which there is a new garden, with the tree of life, and no more curse, because Christ became the curse for us on the cross. (Galatians 3:13)
What was lost in Genesis, we are told has all been made new in Revelation.
What began in a garden in Genesis resulting in the Tragedy of Treason ended in Revelation as a Triumph of Truth created in a new creation with a glorious garden of eternal Tranquility.
What God, the Father, had created ‘very good ‘in the beginning, He has created gloriously new, for all who have put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, His Son.
This is our Foundational Truth! In Christ, we are redeemed from our Treason, and we now live in Trust.
Our trust is rooted in Christ (Colossians 2:6-7).
“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.” (NKJV)
Rooted in Christ, a brother in Christ, deo
On May 29th, 2026, my wife Christine made this comment.
“It is not where I should be, but where I am at-that the Lord deals with me.”
Living Words of Encouragement 