This is where I often live… the 7th of Romans.

I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate… it is sin living in me that does it. And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway… Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?

Romans 7:14-25 NLT

Thankfully, at the end of that chapter, there is a ticket out: “The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord…” (Romans 7:25 NLT)

The 8th of Romans looks like a completely different neighborhood, and I’m determined to move into it! In the 8th of Romans…

• “now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus…” (v. 1)
• “the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.” (v. 2)
• “God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.” (v. 3)
• “letting the Spirit control your minds leads to life and peace.“ (v. 6)
• “the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God.” (v. 10)
• “all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.” (v. 14)
• “his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.” (v. 16)
• “And since we are his children, we are his heirs.” (v. 17)
• “we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory.” (v. 23)
• “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.” (v. 26)
• “the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.” (v. 26)
• “the Spirit pleads for us in harmony with God’s own will.” (v. 27)
• “God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (v. 28)
• “If God is for us, who can ever be against us?“ (v. 31)
• “overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.” (v. 37)

And of course, the grand conclusion:

I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow–not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below–indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39 NLT

The 7th of Romans, for the follower of Jesus, is just temporary housing. Our real home is the 8th of Romans. And every time we yield ourselves to the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit, we live as more than conquerors.

I don’t have to live under sin’s tyranny any longer. I don’t have to walk in fear and anxiety over my eternal destiny. I don’t have to succumb to temptation. I can pray and connect with God. I can enjoy a foretaste of heaven to come. I can walk in the confidence that I am God’s child, that he is my Father, and that I’m on my way home for good.

If you’ve turned from sin, from self, from unbelief to trust and follow Jesus, welcome to the neighborhood! You’re going to love living in the 8th of Romans!

 

by Brandon Cox: I spent well over a decade of my adult life subscribing to an approach to theology that elevated logic and reason while deemphasizing emotion and feeling. It pitted objective truth against subjective experience as though the two were enemies.

And here’s the problem with that kind of thinking. God created you with intellect, emotion, and will. You can think, feel, and decide things. That’s what makes you human.

I believe an either/or mentality about faith has been hurtful to the church. We need a both/and theology that recognizes the need for affirming objective, absolute truth regardless of one’s feelings while also embracing the emotional result of a genuine encounter with the God who engages us personally.

To make a long story short, you should think and know God’s trustworthiness regardless of your feelings. And you should also welcome and cultivate the emotions that flow naturally out of a rich relationship with God.

Or as Paul put it,

Be enthusiastic to serve the Lord, keeping your passion toward him boiling hot! Radiate with the glow of the Holy Spirit and let him fill you with excitement as you serve him.

~ Romans 12:11 TPT

Notice, first of all, that being excited about serving Jesus is a good thing. Notice, also, that it’s a product of the Holy Spirit’s filling and influence. And finally, notice that it’s my responsibility as a believer to keep my passion hot.

In other words, excitement about Jesus is, in and of itself, a spiritual discipline.

How do you get there? Think about the truth about God that you already know deep inside your mind. Then, smile. Let the confidence of his truthful Word flood and fill your heart. Look up. Raise your hands. And offer him genuine and authentic praise.

Surrender your hurt, your sin, your apathy, and ask him to fill you afresh and to awaken within you the flame of passion that roars from the innermost places inside you where you are completely loved and healed.

by Brandon Cox: Which, of all the commandments in the Bible, is the most important?

Both Jesus and Paul argue that it is love – love for God and love for neighbors.

Paul explains why that’s true, but it’s hard for some of us to embrace his reasoning:

Love makes it impossible to harm another, so love fulfills all that the law requires.

~ Romans 13:10 TPT

So Paul says that love is the beginning and end of the law. If you really, truly love people the way God does, you will fulfill everything else God commanded you to do.

Why is this hard to grasp? Because we’re used to religion being about God’s demand for worship and our response of obedience. And granted, God certainly expects and deserves to be worshipped and we should certainly respond with obedience. But that’s not God’s biggest priority for us.

While we are focused on religion’s vertical orientation (me and God), God is focused on the horizontal orientation of my faith (me and other people). And there is no better way to honor God and to share the good news about Jesus than to show genuine love for other people.

This simplifies life a lot, doesn’t it? Instead of living for achievements and accolades, we get to simply live to love.

You’ll never know what the truest and highest form of love is until you see Jesus Christ as the Redeemer who died on the cross for the sins of mankind. And when you really understand that moment of sacrifice and what it provided for all of us, you’ll never be the same.

That kind of love is contagious. It spreads. Once you’ve received it, you simply have to give it away and tell others about it. And when your life is about loving others the way God does so that you can point them toward him, you are already performing the greatest service God has asked for.

So, really, go love someone today.

by Brandon Cox: One of my good friends, Alejandro, will sometimes text me out of the blue to just see how life is. But rather than ask me how life is, he always opens the conversations with,

Bro, are you winning?

I love that! I can’t just say, “Fine,” and move on with my day. I have to think about it.

Am I winning right now? Am I on top of life’s troubles? Or buried underneath them?

It’s epidemic in the Christian subculture that surrounds me – millions of Christians who have made peace, so to speak, with their eternal destiny but who, in the here and now, are walking around defeated and deflated.

There are all kinds of reasons for this, but I’m firmly convinced that at the root of it all, it’s a matter of focus.

When I focus on my problems and issues, or on all the bad news, or on comparing my life to the social media highlight reels of others… I’ll always feel like I’m losing.

But when I focus, instead, on something that is forever, absolutely, unchangeably and undeniably true – something that changes the game and makes everything different, then I’ll have a different experience of life.

Like this, for example…

Everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.

– 1 John 5:4 NIV

Or this…

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

– Romans 8:35-37 NIV

Imagine how you’re going to feel next week when you fix your focus daily on the fact that Jesus Christ has already defeated your biggest enemies through is death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead.

Death is no threat to you. Sin has no power in you. Satan has no authority over you.

You. Are. A. Winner.

Realize it. Focus on it. Pray about it and praise God for it. Fix your focus on the fact that you’re on the winning side!