Jeannie Horton
Life Christian University student #17122
MORE THAN CONQUERORS
INTRODUCTION
The
book of Romans was written in Corinth sometime between 56-57 A.D. by the
Apostle Paul. When he wrote the book of Romans, he was fully developed in his
Theological studies. The purpose of his writing was to speak about Israel’s
past unbelief with loving concern and how the Jews might be set right. He also
writes to explain justification from God; God’s plan of salvation by grace
through having faith in Jesus Christ alone and not from works of the law. When
we walk according to our flesh's impulses, we desire those things that bring
sin and death. Paul also wants to show that believers can be victorious over
their flesh through the Holy Spirit's guidance, who indwells within our hearts.
In
chapter 8, the primary focus is to show us that the Mosaic law could only point
out our sins; it could not remove sin completely: we needed a Savior. Christ is
the end of the law. Through His death and resurrection and our faith in Him,
our sins are abolished forever, and we are declared “not guilty.” When we walk
with God’s Spirit, who dwells within us as believers, we are guided by the Spirit,
and therefore we have God’s desires which bring life. As believers, we are
God’s children and heirs with Christ, serving Him in the newness of the Spirit.
We are victorious in Christ: sharing in His spiritual blessings.
Reading
from a portion of scripture taken from Romans chapter 8:
Likewise
the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray
for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with
groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what
the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints
according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for
good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His
Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover who He
predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified,
these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for
us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him
up for us all, how shall He not with Him who also freely give us all things?
Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is
he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is
even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution,
or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake
we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Yet in
all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am
persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor
powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any
other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:26-39).
In
verses 26-39, there are eight things that we can learn: The Holy Spirit
strengthens us in our weaknesses; all things work together for my good; we are
destined to be like Christ; God is for us; He provides everything we need; condemnation
is not from God; nothing can ever separate us from God’s love, and we are more
than conqueror’s.
I. THE
HOLY SPIRIT STRENGTHENS US IN OUR WEAKNESSES
“Likewise
the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray
for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with
groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what
the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints
according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27).
God is omniscient, and the Spirit
comes to help us. The Holy Spirit strengthens us in our weaknesses: teaching us
to pray accurately and perfect prayers for and through us. Paul described that
our weakness as being we don’t know what we should pray for as we ought. When
we are faced with situations, we are unsure what prayer to offer: we are unsure
what Bible verse to use, the Holy Spirit helps by interceding through and for us.
Jesus relied on the Spirit for
help during His life. When He raised Lazarus from the dead in John 11, in verse
33, He wept over Lazarus and groaned in the Spirit:
Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews
who came with her weeping, He groaned in the Spirit and was troubled. And He
said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus
wept. Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!” And some of them said, “Could
not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from
dying?” Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb (John
11:33-38).
When Jesus groaned in the Spirit, He
was more moved by anger than sorrow. It was a righteous anger towards the
devastation that death can bring. Jesus
came to destroy Satan’s power over death through His death and resurrection. Jesus
was angry at all the grief that Satan had caused all around him. In verse 38,
He became angry and groaned again. When we don’t know what we need or how to
pray, the Spirit knows and goes to work. If all we can do is utter a groan, the
Spirit understands our needs and groans with us. The Spirit goes to battle.
The Spirit makes our prayers acceptable
to God. God desires that we come to Him with confidence and pray bold prayers
according to His will. “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if
we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” (1 John 5:14). He doesn’t
promise to give us all that we ask, but He hears us when we ask according to
His will. Our faith grows when we are confident that God wants to help us and
answer our prayers. When we have faith, we please God.
God will give us the desire to
pray: to spend time giving Him thanks and being in His presence. There’s
nothing wrong with setting a time daily to pray, but it’s also good to pray
when you feel led by the Spirit to do so. The Spirit will urge us to pray,
showing us who to pray for. Some nights I can’t sleep. God puts on my
heart what I can pray for: I do, and then I go back to sleep. Other times, when
I’m out running (as long as it’s not up a hill), I’ll spend time in prayer. I
listen to Christian music when I run, or I’m walking the dog. It’s an excellent time to spend giving thanks
to God. When I’m scrolling through social media, I’ll see someone upset asking
for prayer; I’ll pray for them. God
doesn’t necessarily care when or how you talk to Him; He wants to spend time
with you.
Tongues
When we are filled with the Holy
Spirit, one of the ways the Holy Spirit intercedes through us is by speaking in
tongues. “For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for
no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries” (1
Corinthians 14:2). It is a language that is unknown to us, but it is the wisdom
of God, given to our heart: It is the prayer of God. When we speak in tongues,
the Spirit is interceding through us. We could be praying for someone across
the world whom we have never met or something that we may have never thought to
pray for. Tongues is also a way to praise and give thanks to God or edify and
build ourselves up. Jude 20 tells us to edify ourselves on our most holy faith:
This means that we let God’s word guide our faith. When we know and believe in
His word, we can be confident in the power of it.
II. ALL THINGS WORK FOR
MY GOOD
“And
we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those
who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
This
verse starts with the word “and.” When we first work with the Holy Spirit who
intercedes for us, as stated in verse 27, God works all things together for
those who love Him. We first need to cooperate with the Holy Spirit so that He
can intercede for us. If we aren’t cooperating with the Spirit, then everything
may not work together for good.
There are two things this scripture
doesn’t do. It doesn’t apply to everyone, and it isn’t saying that everything
that happens to us is from God:
1. This scripture doesn’t apply to
everyone. It applies to those called according to His purpose, who love God.
And to those who have chosen to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. Christ
is God’s purpose. He sent His Son to earth to die for the sins of the world, and
through His death and resurrection, we have eternal life with Him forever. We
have been accepted, called, and chosen. When we respond to God’s call and
accept Christ, we are accepted by God. Now, we are to tell others about the
love of God so they, too, will have right standing with God and not perish.
2. The verse also isn’t saying
that everything that happens to us is from God. It doesn’t. As believers, we
are going to experience trials; Jesus said that we would. Through life’s
trials, we have victory. Trials develop godly character: suffering produces
perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. Trials are
explained in 1 Peter: “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little
while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the
genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes,
though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the
revelation of Jesus Christ” (1Peter 1:6-7). This passage mentions gold: that
even though it perishes, its purity is first tested by fire. Our faith’s
genuineness is more precious than gold. God requires our faith to go through
similar testing. Our faith is tested by the trials that we face: The impurities
holding us back will come to the surface, and God can mold us into Christ’s
image. Faith is essential to God. With our faith, we have our salvation.
Through our trials, when we come out of them stronger, our faith grows. God is
purifying us: fit for His good works.
Because of God's love for His adopted
children, who are righteous in Him and called according to His purposes, He
will move mountains to turn a situation around for the good of His plans and
purposes. He can change all situations: good or bad, around for our good
through the workings of the Spirit.
III. WE ARE DESTINED TO BE LIKE CHRIST
“For whom He foreknew, He also
predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the
firstborn among many brethren. Moreover who He predestined, these He also
called; whom He called, these He also justified, these He also glorified” (Romans
8:29-30).
The word foreknowledge means to be
aware of something before it occurs. This passage refers to God knowing who
would accept His Son and His gift of salvation before they actually did. However, there are some things that God has
chosen not to foresee. Because God wanted a family, His relationship with us
would be hindered if He used His foreknowledge to the full extent.
Predestined means to predetermine:
it means to establish or decide in advance.
God doesn’t predetermine everything in people’s lives because He has
given us free will. We are free to make our own choices: we are free to have a relationship
with Him, and we are free to walk away from Him if that is what we want.
Forcing us to believe in Him and walking in His ways is not free will. But
because God knew in advance who would accept His gift of Salvation, He
predestined a good plan for their life.
An example of predestination would
be a woman pregnant with a child. In their excitement of their newborn baby,
she and her husband get everything ready for their child to be born. They get
the nursery ready with furniture and clothes. They may even go as far as
getting a college fund set aside. They want the best for their child and will
do everything possible to ensure that their child has a bright future. It’s the
same with God to the people He knows will one day accept Him. He, too, wants us
to have a bright future, and He will provide for us.
We have also been called and
justified: justified means we have been made right before God. Christ did this
through His death for our sins and His resurrection. Without Christ, our sins
would never have been forgiven. But we have right standing with God because of
His work on the cross.
Mankind was made in the image of
God. He created our beautiful home, and He intended that we would always have a
perfect relationship with Him. But because of the fall of Adam and Eve, sin
entered the picture, and mankind fell. God never departed us, but we lost the
fellowship that He desired at the beginning of creation. To rectify this, He
sent His Son as a gift of restoring the lost fellowship with Him. Because of
Christ's death and resurrection, our fellowship has been restored, and we have
right standing with God once again. God’s purpose for us is to grow more and
more into the image of His Son. When we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior,
we start the transformation of being made into the image of Christ. But it
takes time; it doesn’t happen overnight. At our salvation, we are given a new
nature. God dwells inside of us and changes us. We no longer have our sin
nature, but God’s. We still will sin because our flesh is weak, but God gives
us a holy conviction of knowing we did something wrong, and He gives us the
strength to turn from our sins in repentance.
We have been glorified together with
Christ Jesus. When He died and was resurrected, we also died and were raised
with Him. We are now joint-heirs with Christ, seated at the right hand of our
heavenly Father: our relationship restored.
IV. GOD IS FOR US
“What
then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans
8:31).
In
this Scripture, Paul is drawing a conclusion. In Romans 8:26-30, Paul wrote
that the Spirit intercedes for us, God works all things together for my good,
and we are destined to be like Christ. As joint-heirs with Christ, we also
shared in His sufferings so that we might share in His glory. All of our
current sufferings are nothing compared to the glory that we have coming to us.
As God’s chosen ones, we have the Spirit indwelling within our hearts as our
helper and guide. We are chosen, called, justified, sanctified, and glorified.
God is for us, and there is nothing or anybody that can be successful in coming
against us. Hold your head up high, and feel good knowing that our Creator is
sustaining us.
V. GOD PROVIDES
EVERYTHING WE NEED
“He
who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He
not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).
While
we were still enemies of God, because of His grace, He sent His one and only
Son to die for the sins of mankind so that we would have a restored and right
relationship with Him. If the God who created the universe was willing to do
this so that He could have His family back, He’s not going to just leave us
alone to fend for ourselves. He’s going to make sure we are well taken care of.
God doesn’t withhold anything from
those who walk uprightly. By His grace, we have been given eternal life. It is
a gift. There is nothing that we can do to deserve it: He gave it to us freely.
“For the Lord God is a sun, and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No
good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11). Not
only is God a sun, but He is also a shield. He enlightens, gives light and
warmth to all of creation. He also directs and protects us. God has a good plan
for the lives of the righteous. To those who are called, chosen, and walk
blameless in Him. We are called to walk as children of Light. To walk in
righteous behavior, expressing our gratitude for His gift of salvation so that
others will see God shining through us.
Pray big, bold prayers, prayers
that are aligned with His will. Even if He chooses not to answer our prayer, it
may not be the right timing for us. God knows our past, present, and future:
our beginning from our end. God knows what is best for us and will never
withhold anything good from us. He’s looking after us. Pray to Him with a
thankful heart. We shall be glad, rejoice, and trust in Him.
VI. CONDEMNATION IS NOT FROM GOD
“Who shall bring a charge against
God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who
died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also makes intercession for us” (Romans 8:33-34).
Condemnation
is declaring one guilty. It is a lie from Satan that leaves us feeling
confused, shameful, and hopeless. It steals our joy. Do not let bitterness take
root in your heart. Refuse to allow Satan or others to condemn you. God has
completely forgiven you. He is at the right hand of God interceding for us. We
were once guilty of sins that were held against us. But because of Christ, we
have been justified, and we have peace with God. Because of Christ’s death and
resurrection, we have been given a not guilty verdict. Jesus was completely
sinless when He chose to go to the cross. He took our sins upon Himself and
died for all of us so that God would declare us “not guilty.” All our sins have
been forgiven-past, present, and future. All because of Christ, what He did for
us, and our faith in Him. It is only by faith that we have been made not
guilty; there is nothing we can do to deserve it. We actually don’t. But
because God is so gracious, we are completely forgiven. If God isn’t holding
any sin against us, then absolutely nobody else can condemn us.
Conviction
is the complete opposite of condemnation. It is from the Holy Spirit who is
interceding for us. Conviction lets us know that we have sinned. But it doesn’t
steal our joy; it lifts us up. Sometimes we don’t realize that we have sinned,
and God lets us know. Pray, repent, drop it and let it go.
The
Lord convicted David of committing adultery with Bathsheba and his sin with
Uriah, his nation, and God. In Psalm 51, He’s asking God for mercy. “For I
acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. Against You, You
only, have I sinned And done this evil in Your sight-that You may be found just
when You speak, And blameless when You judge” (Psalm 51:3-4). David confesses
his sin and asks for God’s justification in His judgment of it. He later in the
passage asks God to create in him a clean heart and steadfast spirit. God has
convicted me of unkind words that I have said to others and asked me to
apologize. He also has convicted me of inappropriate shows or movies that I’ve
watched. I’m like Joyce Meyer; I often watch things with a remote in my hand,
ready to push fast forward.
VII. NOTHING CAN EVER
SEPARATE US FROM GOD’S LOVE
“Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? For I am persuaded
that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor
things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created
thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).
This verse is clearly
stating that nothing will be able to separate us from God’s love. Not tribulations,
distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword. Not death nor life,
things present or things to come, nor height or depth. Many of these things are
extreme examples that most of us will never have to face, but the verse is
making the point clear that absolutely nothing will separate us from His love:
nothing will make God love us any more than He does right now. We can
completely mess up bad, and He’s still going to love us. There is nowhere we
can go to escape His love.
According to
Colossians 1:16-17, Christ has created all things in heaven and earth for His
purposes. He is before all things, and He holds all things together. From the very
beginning, God has been for us and has loved us with an everlasting love. He
sent His only Son to die for us while we were His enemies! That is real love.
It is never going to end.
God graciously gave us
His Spirit to dwell within our hearts. God’s presence will never be taken away
from us. Even if we decide that we don’t want to follow Christ, God will not
leave. He is going to wait for us to come back to Him.
Satan is a deceiver.
Satan will make believers question God’s love for them, especially when they
sin. Satan wants to condemn people, make them feel hopeless, and wants to steal
their joy. Guard your heart, and know who you are in Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote
at the beginning of Romans 8, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those
who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). We are God’s chosen and adopted
children. Christ died for us so that the law would be abolished. We have been
given newness of life by the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling within us.
Satan has no hold over those who are righteous in Christ and cannot condemn us.
We will never be separated from God’s love.
When you think about your
children, you know that there is absolutely nothing that they can do that will
make you stop loving them. I don’t always like everything my two daughters do,
but my love for them will never stop. One of my daughters got herself into some
trouble awhile back, and I had to seek counseling. The one thing that the
person said to me that forever stuck with me is that God loves her more than I
do: This gave me the faith that I could trust in God to take care of the issue.
And He did.
Knowing that we can
never be separated from His love, we can abide in it. With everything that God
has ever done for creation, why would He ever choose to stop loving us? Be
aware of God’s love. Study the love of God. His love strengthens, guides, heals
and gives us our value.
VIII.
WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS
“As
it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as
sheep for the slaughter. Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors
through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:36-37).
Satan
intends to steal, kill, and destroy. He chokes the word from people’s hearts,
and he blinds the minds of unbelievers so that they will not know the truth of
God’s love. He wants to destroy the faith of believers. In the lives of
believers and unbelievers, Satan wants to destroy our families and our lives. He
wants to steal our love, peace, and joy. He wants us to take our eyes off of
Christ. But Christ has already won the battle for us. Even before we even get a
problem, we won. We don’t need to go to war: we don’t need to become
discouraged or lose our peace.
“And
I take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word
of God” (Ephesians 6:17). The word of God in this verse is referred to as the
“sword of the Spirit.” It is our defense against Satan. The victory is ours
when we are protected with God’s word. Know His word. Don’t just read it, study
it, memorize scripture, and know it in your heart so that way you’ll be ready
with the power of the Holy Spirit to speak to your situation.
Jesus
was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. Jesus was God
incarnate, but He was also a man. He was tempted just like we are but never
sinned. Satan knowing scripture, was trying to cast doubt in Jesus and cause
Him to sin. But, with each of Satan’s temptations, Jesus spoke the word back at
him, and Satan eventually fled.
As
the body of Christ, we too can fight Satan by submitting to God and resisting
the devil: he will flee. To resist means to stand against. When we speak the word
over all of our situations and believe by faith that we are already victorious,
we have fought the devil with the word and the Holy Spirit’s help.
CONCLUSION
Romans
is a powerful book that showed us that our Savior is the end of the law: a law that
could only cover our sins. Because of Christ, God has completely forgiven and
forgotten our sins: past, present, and future. Indwelling within our hearts by
faith, we are destined to be like Christ. We have God’s Spirit to intercede for
and through us, strengthening us in our weakness: to sanctify, to guide, and
protect. Do not be conformed to this world, but present yourself to God as a
living sacrifice: holy and pleasing to Him, which is our act of worship. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Live
in such a way that shows God your gratitude for the gift of salvation. God
provides everything we need according to His good will, and He works all things
together for our good. We have life in
Christ and are victorious through Him. Because God is for us, we are more than
conquerors, and nothing will ever separate us from God’s love.
