Present Suffering and Future Glory – Romans 8:18-39
Gospel in a Sentence: Jesus Christ gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father to whom be the glory forever. Amen. (In reference to Galatians 1:4-5)
Big Picture: The Gospel empowers us to suffer like Jesus.
Goal: That we trust the promises of God while suffering.
Key Ideas
1) The creation and the Spirit groan with us as we wait for the moment of complete freedom from the presence and effects of sin.
2) The Spirit prays for the good will of God to happen for us.
3) We can be sure that God has worked all things, including our suffering, for our good, since his works in saving us span from loving us in eternity past to loving us in eternity future in Christ.
Key Terms
Present time – This age, corrupted by sin and suffering, prior to the return of Jesus to the world.
Glory – The worth of a thing. Its value. God is the possessor of all glory (Revelation 4:11). When Christ returns, he will return in all his glory. When we as Christians see his glory, we will reflect it perfectly. We will be conformed to his image in character, our bodies will be freed from the effects of sin, and we will show him off to all creation forever (1 John 3:2).
Futility – Uselessness.
Hope – Joyful expectation, or the object that is happily expected.
Firstfruits – It’s an agricultural term. If you plant a crop throughout a whole field in the same way, and some of it begins to grow, you can be pretty sure the rest of it will grow. The first plants to grow were called ‘the firstfruits.’ The firstfruits guarantee that the rest of the harvest will come in. As such, it’s a promise of what is to come in fullness.
Redemption - This term has two historical roots. One is in Israel’s rescue out of slavery in Egypt. The Old Testament says that God redeemed his people from Egypt. The other root is in the slave trade in the Roman empire. An exchange, or payment, could be made as a redemption for the slave, thus freeing him. The commonality in these two situations is that an exchange is made for the freedom of a slave. Christ is the redemption for every believer by virtue of his life being exchanged for ours. We get the rewards that he earned by obeying God; he got the wrath we deserve because of our sin. Though the redemption price has been paid, we are still waiting for the reality of the freedom from this world that it purchased.
To Intercede – To make requests on someone else’s behalf for their benefit.
Called – In some sense, every person who has heard the Gospel has been ‘called.’ However, that’s not usually how the Bible uses the term. Typically, ‘calling’ is seen as that act of God through which he miraculously draws someone to himself in faith. We see this in this passage since all those called will be glorified.
To Foreknow – To know, in the Biblical sense, means to establish a relationship with someone, not merely to know things about them. For instance, Adam knew Eve (Genesis 4:1); God knew, or revealed himself, to Moses (Deuteronomy 34:10); God knew Jeremiah, meaning that he chose him for the sake of prophetic service (Jeremiah 1:5); God knew, or established covenant, with Israel (Hosea 13:5); Jesus never knew, or entered into relationship with, those who disobey him (Matthew 7:23); Jesus knew no sin, meaning he never had any connection to it (2 Corinthians 5:21). For God to foreknow people means for him to establish a relationship with them before they exist; or in other words, to choose them. (See also Romans 11:2; 1 Peter 1:20; and Acts 26:5.)
To Predestine – To determine the destiny of something beforehand.
Firstborn – The literal meaning is in reference to one who is born first. In the ancient world, though, that was not the emphasis of the term. It really was in reference to the one who had authority, and who would be the primary heir. Jesus is the firstborn over all creation – not in the sense that he was ever created, but in the sense that he is the immediate heir of God the Father and has authority over all things.
To Glorify – To ascribe glory to a thing, or to cause something to be glorious. See ‘glory.’
The Elect – Those who are chosen by somebody else. Here, those whom God has chosen for salvation.
Key Observations
8:18 ‘For’ indicates that Paul is linking the ideas of suffering and glory in v. 17 with suffering and glory in v. 18. The question is ‘how’? Paul has just stated in v. 17 that those who are indwelt by the Spirit will deal with suffering as Christ did, looking forward to glory. To give force to this statement, he tells us that the greatness of future glory completely overshadows the reality of current suffering. What we look forward to will make our current pain seem insignificantly small. Paul is saying that he’s giving us reason to suffer well, starting with the reality of the greatness of future glory when Christ is revealed.
19 To give evidence for this coming future glory, we’re told that the creation is waiting for us to be revealed in glory, perfectly reflecting the glory of God. (Hence, ‘sons’ again, not children.)
20-21 ‘For’ here indicates that we’re about to be told why the creation is waiting for our glory to be revealed: it’s been subjected to uselessness and decay by God. God did this because he knew (that is, hoped with certainty) that he’d free creation from its bondage when he revealed his children in glory. This subjection to uselessness and promise of hope is probably in reference to Genesis 3 – mankind fell into sin, and God cursed the earth; yet, he promised that one would come who would destroy the devil and his works.
22 ‘For’ indicates that this verse is evidence for the preceding statement. That is, we know that creation is groaning, in excruciating labor pains, moving towards a goal. That is evidence of the looking forward of creation to its coming freedom in our glory.
23 ‘And’ in this verse tells us that there is another reason to believe in this coming goal of all of history; that is, our future glory and the freedom of creation. And that is that we are also groaning and longing for a particular goal. What’s that goal? Paul describes it in two ways, namely, our adoption as sons and the redemption of our bodies. Both of these mean the same thing – our future glorification with Christ and the removal of all that’s wrong with us and the world from us. Aren’t we already adopted and redeemed, though? Sure; but the results of those things are still future. We do not yet look like ‘sons’ and we are not yet truly free of this world. But we certainly will be.
Another thing here worth noting is that we have the ‘firstfruits of the Spirit.’ But wait, don’t we have all the Spirit? Actually, the Spirit is God, not a substance. You don’t really possess any measure of God. He’s a Spirit; he’s not located in any one location. What does this mean, then? It’s talking about what the Spirit is doing now. The Spirit has begun to apply the works of Christ to us. He’s birthed us again, he’s given us faith, he’s joined us to Christ in whom we have redemption and righteousness, he’s working in us to make us more like Christ, and he absolutely guarantees that he will finish what he started. The firstfruits – what we have now – absolutely guarantees the rest of what he will do – resurrection from the dead in glory.
24-25 ‘For’ indicates that Paul is here giving us a reason why we should remember our future glory in the midst of our sufferings; that is, that our future glory is part of the Gospel in which we were saved by faith. And if we hope for this – that is, if we expect it with certainty, we can wait patiently even while suffering for this coming glory.
26-27 ‘Likewise’ connects the actions in the preceding verses – we who have the firstfruits of the Spirit groaning for the fulfillment of the rest of his promises – with the Spirit himself praying for us when we don’t know how to pray. Part of our weakness is our ignorance of what we should pray for. But the Spirit is God himself. He prays the very secret will of God the Father, and the Father and the Spirit are in complete agreement. And he prays for us!
28 So far we’ve been told to suffer well we must remember our future glory’s magnitude. Creation’s groaning points to this great reality. Our groaning points to this reality. The Spirit who has set us apart also prays for God’s will on our behalf, and so we can suffer knowing that God reigns over all things. V. 28 continues this thought. Note first, though, that this is only true about those who are called, who are also those who love God. For such people, all things that happen happen by God’s sovereign direction for their good, on the path towards future glory. We should recall the argument of Romans 5:1-5 as we recall the ‘good’ – our growth in hope until we get the glory we have hoped in.
29 To give support for this promise (‘for’), Paul appeals to all that God has done to save us. He foreknew certain people (see the discussion in ‘key terms.’) Each of those people, he predestined to be made like Jesus in character. He did this for a reason: so that his image, his glory, would be multiplied over a whole family of people from every nation – over which Jesus would reign as the firstborn.
Predstination, Election, the Sovereignty of God, Human Responsibility, Free Will, and How to Handle Those Things in Your Bible Study
People love to talk about predestination. Perhaps that phrase would be better stated this way: people love to argue about predestination. It is a philosophically and emotionally charged issue, and thus, discussing it or even thinking about it often results in struggling for many people, perhaps including yourself.
This topic is a controversial issue and has been for centuries. For the last few centuries, two labels have been associated with it – Arminianism and Calvinism. It’s more helpful to think about it, though, with these two corresponding labels – synergism and monergism.
Synergism is the idea that there is more than one cause in our regeneration – both God’s will and man’s will in cooperation with each other to produce regeneration. Monergism is the belief that God’s will is the effecting cause of our regeneration, and in grace, changes our sinful wills so that we do repent.
What I want to do for you here is give you guidelines through which to think about the issue as it relates to this study (and the next), and give some suggested guidelines of how to steer the conversation back on track if it derails.
First, here are some guidelines through which to think about the issue.
1) The Bible talks about predestination and election.
2) One’s belief about predestination does not affect their eternal destiny.
3) Predstination, however, is still in the Bible, and God holds us responsible for knowing and believing what’s in the Bible.
4) One’s belief about predestination will affect how they pray, worship, and evangelize unbelievers. It is important.
5) The fallen human will, in Scripture, is never spoken of in a neutral, let alone a positive, light. And it is certainly never spoken of as being ‘free.’ ‘Free will’ is a philosophical concept that has multiple possible definitions, not a Biblical term.
6) Often, these discussions revolve around philosophical inference, rather than what the Bible actually says. Thinking about this issue must involve an open Bible and a submissive attitude.
7) We must ask the question of a verse, ‘what does this verse teach?’ Sometimes we ask questions of verses that the verses were not written to answer. For instance, often in these discussions, people will refer to verses like John 3:16. John 3:16, while containing wonderful truths, does not say anything about predestination, and so, isn’t relevant to the question.
8) We must avoid straw men! Comments like ‘Arminians don’t believe in original sin’ and ‘Calvinists don’t do evangelism’ are false, silly, and unhelpful.
9) You really are a synergist or a monergist. There is no middle ground (with the exception of just not knowing). Either there is some moral good left in our wills with which sinners participate in causing their regeneration, or there is not and regeneration is all the result of God’s free grace, and results in repentance.
10) Romans 8 is not about election.
11) However, this passage does talk about election as a supporting argument for God’s working all things together for our good, in light of the Holy Spirit’s prayers for us.
12) It’s okay not to know what’s true about this issue. God is growing each and every one of us in different areas of obedience, including the obedience of our minds to his word. We’re all ‘in process.’
13) It is not okay to ignore the Bible, however. We must go to God’s word in prayer with a submissive and repentant heart, so that we may see Christ and worship him as he truly is.
Predestination probably will, and to some extent should, be discussed in your Bible study. It should not, however, control the whole discussion. Here are some tips for keeping the study on track.
1) Ask “What does the Bible say?” or “Where does the Bible say that?” In a kind manner, don’t let people run off with their own thoughts and speculations. Keep returning to the Scriptures.
2) Ask “Why does God talk about predestination in this section? How is it related to the whole section?”
3) If it seems necessary and appropriate, introduce the fact that there are two views of predestination within Christianity and to define them. After doing so, it would probably be helpful to ask the previous question.
4) Feel free to say that the issue can be discussed later, but that the group should return to the point of the passage.
5) Make sure you return to looking at the ‘Key Terms’ section, especially in reference to the word ‘foreknow.’ Make sure you can define these terms.
If you’d like to understand the two views better (Calvinism and Arminianism, better called Monergism and Synergism), I’m at your disposal for questions or discussion.
30 This is continuing support about everything working for our good. Everyone who was predestined by God for the glory of Christ was also called, justified, and glorified. It’s a little odd that ‘glorified’ is past tense. There are two ways of understanding this. It could be that Paul is seeing it as so certain that he speaks of it as past, or, and as I think more likely, Paul sees our regeneration (having a new nature) as the beginning of our future glory.
31 ‘What then’ indicates that Paul is about to draw conclusions from all the promises of God in the previous section. God himself is for us, and no one can successfully be against us. They’ll fail.
32 God gave up his own Son to death for us; therefore, he will give us all things pertaining to salvation. All things in and after life are to our good. How do we know? Christ was murdered for us by his Father’s merciful design.
33 God declares us righteous. No one will bring a charge of guilt against us.
34 No one will condemn; God has declared us righteous by condemning Christ. That condemnation being completed, he has risen from the dead, he who died in our places, and now prays for us to the Father from a position of rule over all things.
35-36 Can anything, even the persecutions spoken of in the Old Testament, separate the Christian from Christ’s love? The implied answer is ‘no one!’ He has justified us by his blood spilled in love, and his blood was not spilled in vain – he will bring us home.
37 As we suffer trusting in Christ’s promises, in prayer, by Christ’s power granted through the Holy Spirit, we conquer the world and all with which it can assault us.
38-39 Why are we more than conquerors despite the world’s attacks? Because nothing – not death, not demons, not the very fabric of the universe – is able to remove us from God’s love. It is God’s love. No created thing can change it. It is granted in Christ Jesus, whose death saved us perfectly. God’s purposes will not be thwarted, but rather, all that hell can do in throwing all its terror against us is fulfill the will of God for our good, purchased for us by Christ Jesus himself.
Sample Discussion Guide:
-What do you think are some of the worst ways that people have suffered?
-Why do you think suffering exists?
-How do you cope with it when you experience hard things in life?
-Tonight we’ll be looking at the continuation of something we saw last time – that part of the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives is to cause us to endure suffering in life in a way that reflects how Christ suffered, looking forward to a future of glory with him. Have the group begin with prayer.
-Have the group read vv. 18-25.
-How are we encouraged in this section to suffer well?
-What are some ways we see creation in bondage? How does creation’s futility relate to our suffering?
-What are we waiting for? What’s particularly exciting about that to you? How do these things relate to suffering?
-Have the group read vv. 26-30.
-What are some things that this passage says that God has done or is doing currently?
-What’s the relationship between our salvation and our suffering?
-Sometimes it’s hard to believe v. 28 when we’re going through pain. What are some of the truths in this paragraph that we need to fight to remember that support the fact that all things are for our good by God’s design?
-Have them read vv. 31-39.
-‘What then shall we say to these things?’ in v. 31 indicates that Paul is wrapping up this section about suffering well with Christ. Which of Paul’s statements in this section connects with you the most?
-What are some of the things that may cause us harm in this section?
-What does this section say about our salvation?
-Suffering will happen, should happen, and does happen by God’s design (v. 17, 28). How do you think this passage would instruct us to deal with it?
-Have the group pray – perhaps splitting into pairs to share pain/prayer requests.
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