What (GOD) Did

OPENING PRAYER:

Holy Spirit of God, hear me as I pray. I affirm that You are good, full of love, and delight for me to call upon You.

READ: Romans 8:1-8

8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you[a] free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,[b] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.[c] And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. Romans 8:1-8

REFLECT:

What is the most precious gift you have received, or the best thing someone has done for you? Why did it mean so much to you? Spend some time in prayer, thanking God for it/them.

Romans 8 begins with a wonderful description of God’s work in the Trinity, the unity of one God yet three persons (vs 1–4). God did what the Law could not do, because although the Law is holy and spiritual (7:12,14), it is weakened by our weakness (v 3). Think of a time you did something for someone else, something they could not do for themselves. Big or small, that is a picture of this.

Your Bible version may have the words ‘controlled by’ or ‘governed by’ in verses 5 to 8, but Paul is really talking about who (or what) we ‘belong to’. Look back at chapter 7 verse 4: Christians ‘belong to another’; who we are has changed. Therefore, through the work of the Spirit, what we do is able to change too (7:4–6). And it must change. God sets us free so that we can ‘live … according to the Spirit’ (v 4). Obedience is necessary, but as the fruit of our salvation, rather than as the requirement for it.

APPLY:

All who are ‘in Christ Jesus’ are not condemned (v 1). Read verses 1 to 4 over a few times, then allow the gratitude in your heart to overflow in praise.

CLOSING PRAYER:

For stooping so low and coming so close and washing me clean, heart, mind, and soul, I thank You Lord. May me life reflect Your love.

WORSHIP:

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