ROMANS UNWRAPPED 124

                                 THE ROAD TO GLORY

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus." Romans 8v1.


It has been said that if the letter to Romans is the crown jewels of the gospel, then chapter 8 is the jewel in the crown.   We must take in every facet from every angle of this precious chapter and believers should read this chapter every day until it becomes part of themselves.   A loose summary of chapters 1 - 8 would be as follows:  the primary subject of chapters 1 - 5 is justification, that of chapter 6 & 7 sanctification, and here in chapter 8 glorification.   It is clear from a cursory reading of the chapter that God's purpose is not only to save human beings from the penalty of sin but to transform them to the likeness of His Son in glory, so the essence of this chapter is the glorification of the saints whom God has redeemed, and the final expression of that so far as the present world is concerned will be seen in which he calls  "the manifestation of the sons of God."   This he says the whole creation is waiting for in expectation, in some strange way the animal creation and the inanimate creation seem to know much more than we human beings, but we will deal with that when we come to it.   For now, if we fix our eyes on where God is going, we will be better able to understand what is being said here.   Romans chapters 1 - 8 thus deal with the past, the present, and the future of all believers.  

We saw in chapter 6 that the grace of God changed our relationship to sin; that in chapter 7 it changed our relationship to the law and now in chapter 8 it changes our relationship to God.    This is seen throughout the chapter in the phrase "sons of God  (verse 14, verse 16, verse 17, verse 19, verse 21, culminating in verse 29  "conformed to the image of His Son)".

He begins in verse 1 with four important statements :

• Therefore: we will call this the culmination of logic, which throws us back to everything that he has said in chapters 1 - 7.   It is a logical deduction based on everything that he has said.
• Now:  a very important word which could be rendered "finally now" or "already now" to state that this situation he is describing is now a fact even if we don't know it.   This is a declaration of a majestic change that has taken place in heaven and needs to be communicated on earth.   He uses the same configuration in chapter 3v21; after he has proved that no flesh can be justified by human effort.   He says "but now the righteousness of God is manifested."   People have the thinking deep within them that we have to wait until after death to find out.   Not so says Paul, it is here now, and we must deal with it this side of eternity.  
• No condemnation: No penalty, no charge, no accusation, no consequences.   The word "no" is emphatic and means not even one.   He began the letter with the whole world under condemnation to God, now he is saying that a particular group of people are free from condemnation from the past, the present or the future, because this declaration has come from the highest power in the universe and can neither be altered or rescinded.   He will emphasise this at the end of the chapter where he says "it is God who justifies".   This confirms the words of Jesus in John 5v24 where He says "verily, verily I say unto you, he that heareth and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from death unto life."   This repeated the words He spoke to Nicodemus in John chapter 3   "for God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  He that believeth on Him is not condemned."  
• To them who are in Christ Jesus:  That is the only limitation of the gospel of God.   Those who are in Christ Jesus are not condemned, have had penal servitude removed, divine retribution taken away because to condemn us in such a state would be to condemn Christ and he will never do that.   We live in a world propagating  plurality, which means there are many different ways to heaven.   This lie is being spread across the world, so do not believe it, turn away from it with all your might because there is no other way of salvation other than through Christ as is stated in many places in the New Testament.   If you are not in Christ you are under the condemnation of God now there is no need for you to wait until you die to find out.   It is a fact now, in the words of Jesus in the same portion that we have already quoted from John 3v18  "he that believeth not is condemned already because he has not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God."  

The death of Christ does not turn the wrath of God away from every sinner, only from those who believe.   Ask yourself the question, if God could have achieved human salvation in any other way other than His Son going to the cross, would He not have done it?   There is no other way, only one way to heaven; "neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name given under heaven among men whereby we must be saved."  Heaven's doors will be opened to human beings on God's terms and he says clearly that He has removed condemnation only from those who are in Christ.

Tomorrow d.v.  we consider the meaning of Romans 8v2