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Dividing the Word of Truth
(2
Timothy 2:15)
This is
good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who
desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1Timothy 2:3-4
Romans by the Book Lesson
72
Romans chapter 8 is wonderful and
meaningful in numerous ways, but Romans 8:31-39 could be the most comforting and encouraging passage in Scripture for the true Believer.
These few verses from our apostle Paul
declare definitely that in Christ Jesus we are eternally
secure. Hence, no one can successfully condemn
us because every Believer has been justified,
which literally means – “just as if you never sinned.”
Furthermore, Jesus is at God’s right hand
interceding for the saints continuously (Psalms 110:1). Jesus understands how difficult it is to live
in this world where God and His Word are not respected (rejected/hated). He understands what we are suffering through because
He endured the same treatment while He was living here (Hebrews 12:1-8). He demonstrates compassion for us on a daily
basis and we are to “follow suit” or do likewise. The definition of compassion is: “a feeling
of deep sympathy or sorrow for another who is stricken with misfortune,
accompanied by the strong desire to alleviate the suffering” –acting on
this strong desire.
It
could be said the entire Bible is a book about COMPASSION.
Please open your Bible to Romans 8, at
verse 37. As
we did previously, we’ll break these verses down to better understand Paul’s
message. I want you to know I haven’t spent
years studying the Greek language but I do know my way around a Greek
dictionary and you can learn to do this as well.
Romans 8
Over the years I’ve instructed my classes
when they encounter the word “but” in their Bible to consider the information
that follows thusly: But = Behold the Underlying Truth.
Paul’s expression, “in all these things” is an umbrella term that includes all those
barriers (obstacles) he listed for the reader of Scripture from tribulation to sword. Paul says these
things are not to bother a Believer.
Why? The Believer is the victor
over every enemy that would attempt to separate
them from the love of Christ Jesus and this is their goal.
In fact, Paul goes on to affirm not only
are we victors…we overwhelmingly
conquer…
This is a translation of one Greek word, hupernikao” (pronounced: hoop-er-nik-ah’-o) and in our English
language would be translated: “hyper
conquerors.” The Greek word, “Nikao” means to subdue or overcome. “Hyper” means: above, beyond, or super. You can see how it greatly intensifies the
meaning of a verb. We are conquerors in any terrible situation, in all these things, as Paul put it
because God loves us. It’s this love, this
kind of Huper power; Paul believes to
be in the cohesiveness of God’s love and nothing can “break you apart” from it!
A good illustration of this would be the
black walnut. I encountered these
growing up in Indiana. I used to see
wooden baskets filled with these things sitting on people’s back porches. The fruit ripens in October, usually, and is
delicious but there is one problem. The
outer husk is quite firmly attached to the edible nut inside, making it
incredibly difficult to crack open. My
siblings and I tried bashing them with large rocks but the rocks just bounced
off the walnut hardly leaving a mark. Some
people have run over them with their cars or attacked them with hammers trying
to get to the nut inside without success.
To be sure a determined individual can crack a black walnut in time and
given the fact they have plenty of band-aids…but nothing can break you apart from God’s love!
Let’s look at the back section of the
verse.
…we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.
Through is obviously a preposition. In the Greek it is “dia.” It means “by the means
of” or “because of this reason.” Paul means
to say it’s all about Jesus Christ.
It’s all because of Jesus Christ too! No one comes to the Father but through Jesus (John 14:6). The verbal word “loved” Paul speaks of is a love that was completed in the past – on
Calvary for sinners (Romans 5:8). However,
Jesus loves us in this same manner every minute of every day. It wasn’t a “once” and done type thing. God’s love never runs out on you (Hebrews
13:8). Let’s proceed to the next verse.
Romans
8
38: For I am convinced (persuaded) that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
The verb “convinced” in the Greek is Peitho
and means “to induce one by words to believe.” The word convinced
is a heart word. For there’s a
difference in knowing truth and being heart convinced of it. It has been
said that the majority of humanity will miss spending eternity with the God who
loves them by about 12-inches. That’s
the distance between their heart and their brain.
Paul was convinced in the past…and he stayed convinced! This is what
“standing in your faith” means (1 Corinthians 15:1). It literally means I will not be moved from this
position. Paul didn’t persuade himself
either. He was convinced by
Another. Note the capital “A” in the
word Another (Acts 9; Galatians 1:11-17; Acts 26:25-26). And here he is persuaded in a Believer’s
security in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 1:12).
The word “death” in the Greek is Thanatos. It usually refers to a physical death.
The word “life” in the Greek is Zoe. It has become a proper name in the
English language. We get our word “zoo”
from it. This is where “living” animals
are to be found. Therefore, the word “zao” means every living soul.
The words “angels” and “principalities”
used here by Paul link us to the spirit world.
The “heavenlies” are peopled with spirit
bodies. These make up two classes: good and evil. They are classified as Seraphim, Cherubim, angels (good and bad), principalities, powers, age, rulers of
darkness, wicked spirits, (Ephesians 6:12), thrones, dominions, (Colossians
1:16), fallen angels, (2 Peter 2:4), spirits in prison, (1 Peter 3:18-20),
demons, and seducing spirits, (1 Timothy 4:1),
Angels
in the Greek is Aggelos (pronounced:
ang’-el-os) meaning “an angel,” or “a messenger from God.”
The angels
are “innumerable in number” (Hebrews 12:22). They are mighty in power but not almighty (2
Thessalonians 1:7). They excel in
strength. One angel destroyed 185,000
Assyrian soldiers in one night for instance (2 Kings 19:35). It was an angel who rolled the stone away
from Jesus’ tomb. It will be one angel
who binds Satan and casts him into the “bottomless pit” (Revelation 20:1-3). Angels
are ministering spirits to them who are “heirs of salvation (Hebrews
1:13-14) and executioners of God’s wrath on the wicked (2 Thessalonians 1:7-8).
Principalities
in the Greek is Arche (pronounced: ar-khay’)
meaning “origin,” or “of angels and demons.”
The phrase principalities and
powers occur six times in the Bible, always in the KJV, NKJV, and the
MKJV. Other Bible versions translate it
“rulers and authorities,” “forces, and authorities,” and “rulers and
powers.” The word “powers” in the Greek is Dunamis and means energy. No matter where the
phrase appears or in what fashion the context makes it clear that it refers to
the vast array of evil and malicious spirits who make war against
God’s children. This word is used in
Acts 8:10 concerning Simon the magician.
All kinds of bewitchment, meditation, mystic spells, necromancy (Ouija
boards), and sorcery, would be included in this satanic activity.
Among the principalities and powers
of the spirit world there are three great leaders:
Michael
– mentioned 3 times in Daniel (Daniel 10:13, 21; 12:1) where he is referred to
as a “prince” who stands for Daniel’s people (the Jews). In Jude 9, he is called the Archangel. In Revelation 12:7 Michael is seen in command
of the “Angelic army of Heaven.” His
work seems to be to deliver God’s people, particularly the Jews, from the power
of Satan, and finally to eradicate him and his angels from the heavenlies,
casting them down to earth (Revelation 12:7-9).
Gabriel
is mentioned by name four times in Scripture in Daniel twice, and in Luke
twice. (Daniel 8:16, 9:21-27; Luke 1:19,
26, 27). He seems to be associated with
the redemptive work of God. He appeared
to Daniel to inform him as to the time of
Christ’s first coming and when the time had come he announced to
Zacharias the birth of Christ’s forerunner – John the Baptist. Later Gabriel appeared to Mary, the virgin
mother of Jesus. His position in heaven
is lofty, for he said of himself to Zacharias, “I am Gabriel that stands in the presence of God.”
Last but not least is Satan. He is the source of
all the anarchy and rebellion in the universe.
Our apostle Paul warned us about the way he thinks and instructed us on
how to defend ourselves against his schemes (Ephesians 6:1-18). Job declared that the heavens are not clean
in God’s sight (Job 15:15). But God will
“sweep” them clean.
Things
present translates the Greek noun Enistemi which combines “en” and
“histemi” = to stand in. Paul’s speaking
of: things, events, circumstances that
are in place right now, at hand, or imminent.
No matter the difficulty you are presently standing in the midst
of, this present thing in no way can
separate you from Christ’s love.
Although problems get in our face sometimes, and they can be a
distraction, they are not so big and insurmountable that they can pry Believers
lose from God’s loving arms.
Things
to come, in the Greek is Mellonta and is derived from the verb “melo” which means: “to care” or “to have concern for” – this
refers to issues so overbearing and important that you can think of nothing
else. These are concerns that cause you
to fret or worry constantly about the end result. You’re mind is never at rest, in other words. The word “worry” should not be in a
Believer’s vocabulary, per Scripture.
One pastor put it this way, “Worry is like a person sitting in a rocking
chair, rocking all day. It gave them
something to do but it accomplished nothing.”
Everyone “faces” hardships even
Believers. Perhaps there’s a loved one
in a hospital bed with a negative doctor’s report. Maybe you just received a “pink slip” from
work, or while cleaning your son’s bedroom you came across an assortment of
prescription drugs and none of them are his.
Maybe it’s the end of the month, you hold three unpaid bills in your
hand and there’s only enough money to pay one of these.
Hardships and trials can keep you awake
nights if you “fret” about the “end result.”
But Jesus said, “Come to Me, all who are weary
and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”(Matthew 11:28). And our apostle Paul gives us this command
from the risen Lord, “Be anxious about
nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let
your requests be made known to God.”
(Philippians 4:6).
Rest your mind; be at peace. Give your concerns to God and let go and don’t
play tug-a-war with Him. In other words,
you give your cares to God today but tomorrow you start worrying about them
again. Stop that. Trust God.
Let’s move on to the last verse in Romans
8.
39:
nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us
from the love of God, which is (where) in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The
word height in the Greek is Hupsoma (pronounced: hoop’-so-mah) and means anything elevated or
lofty (lifted up). But in the first
century Greek usage the words height and
depth were terms used by
astronomers. They refer to stars or
heavenly bodies. In Paul’s day, the
pagans (gentiles) believed that the “stars” drastically influenced (controlled)
one’s life.
Look
around you – we’re not so distant from that mentality today.
Have
you ever used this pick-up line in a social setting, “What sign are you?”
Do
you check the morning horoscope before heading out the door in the
morning?
Millions
of people still look to the stars and planets for daily guidance.
They
check their horoscope to see if they should be avoiding strangers, should they
get married, should I sign that contract, what are my lotto numbers, is it a
bad day to start that new job, etc. Here’s
some truth: God gave us the stars and
planets to measure time and the seasons (Genesis 1:14).
But
in Paul’s day the members of this Roman congregation haven’t “let go” of all
their bad habits and Paul understands this.
He knows they once believed that if a star (planet today) was at its
highest point in the heavens it meant one thing…and if at its lowest point in
the skies it meant something else. Here
Paul states it does NOT matter where the stars are, if you are washed in the
blood of Jesus Christ – you are in God’s family forever! The moon, the sun, and all the “stars”
combined can’t undo that!
The
words created thing (creature in the
KJV) in the Greek is Ktisis
(pronounced: ktis’-is) and means
establishing, building, and the act of creating. But here Paul says, “any other created thing…” The
adjective “other” translates the Greek word Heteros
and means: another of a different kind.
In Paul’s day the pagans believed in fantastic fictional creatures such
as the Harpy, the Griffin, Medusa, the Phoenix, the Satyr, the Siren, the Bull,
the Basilisk, etc. Paul wants the reader
of Scripture to know there isn’t any
other created thing that can harm the Believer.
will
be able is a form of Dunamis (as a verb) meaning energy.
They just CANNOT do anything to separate a child of God from the love of
His heavenly Father.
Separate
is (again) in the Greek Chorizo and means to make room, to
create space between two objects.
Nothing can even cause a crack to appear between you and God’s love for
you. Think back to the man and the woman
in the Garden of Eden and their act of disobedience for example.
the
love of God as used by Paul here means God’s
love for us – a love that never fails!
God has poured out His love within our
hearts through the Holy Spirit and sealed us with the promise (Romans 5:5).
which
is in Christ Jesus our Lord – it’s all because of
Jesus. Paul has made this point quite
clear, “to the praise of the glory of
His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved (Christ
Jesus).
To
sum up, in Romans 8:31 we have the phrase God for us, who against us?
In
the Greek the word for is Huper (Hyper in English) and means “in
behalf of” or “for the sake of.” When
Jesus gave up His life on Calvary He literally died for you and for
me. He took our place on that Roman
cross. So now, if anyone (including
Satan) has anything against you or me they must take the issue up with Jesus. Who is at this very moment still FOR us!
Permit
me to build on this. In verse 33, the
question is right out of the courtroom.
It
has legal implications. The word bring in the Greek is Egkaleo (pronounced: eng-kal-eh’-o) and means – to accuse, or to
bring charges against. Put this all
together and you have someone taking you to court with the intent on doing you
harm. But our verse says that since the
Judge (God Himself) has already justified
you, who can bring any accusation against you? God says, “You’re not guilty!”
In
verse 34, the verb condemns is from
two Greek words fused together Katakrino meaning
to judge: Krino = down and kata – on
someone. Who can “come down on you” when
your Lord and Savior, who is presently at God’s right hand acting as your
Advocate, is interceding for you continuously (1 John 2:1)?
No one or
nothing can successfully condemn or separate those who are in Christ Jesus?
(To
be continued)
©
Copyright 2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
All
Rights Reserved
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