RSV ~ Romans 8 Notes
Rom 8:1-11 | ISB Notes
Romans 8 unveils the solution to the problem laid out in Romans 7. It is a divine solution orchestrated by the Trinity: The Father sent the Son to redeem the world from sin (8:3) and sent the Spirit to raise the world from death to new life (8:9-13).
Rom 8:2 | ISB Notes
law of the Spirit: The power of grace we receive to counteract the downward pull of concupiscence, which Paul calls the ālaw of sinā (7:23). It is also the positive force of divine love that the Spirit pours into our hearts (5:5) and enables us to fulfill the righteous law of God (8:4; 13:810). Paul mentions the Spirit 18 times in this chapter.
ā¢ The prophet Ezekiel envisioned Yahweh pouring the Spirit into his people and making them walk in his ways (Ezek 36:27).
ā¢ The Spirit frees us, not from the Law of Moses, but from the law of sin, and this by slaying sin and helping us in the daily struggle against it (St.Ā John Chrysostom, Homilies on Romans 13).
Rom 8:3 | ISB Notes
the likeness of sinful flesh: Christ did not become a ā sinner when he became man, but he did assume our mortal condition (Jn 1:14). This enabled him to die and, by this means, to defeat death and the devil for ever (Heb 2:14).
for sin: The Greek is identical to a shorthand expression used in the Greek version of Leviticus for a sacrificial sin-offering (Lev 4:24; 6:18; 14:19). If Paul had this in mind, as many hold, he is claiming that Jesus was sent by the Father to be an offering for sin. See note on 2 Cor 5:21.
Rom 8:4 | ISB Notes
just requirement: Probably the moral precepts of the Mosaic Law (13:8-10). Elsewhere in Romans this Greek term has the sense of moral decrees or righteous conduct (1:32; 2:26; 5:18).
Rom 8:5-8 | ISB Notes
A contrast between two mind-sets, one that is fleshly and centered on self (1:21) and another that is spiritual and focused on God (Col 3:1). Paul implies that the believer will not automatically follow the Spirit but must choose which road he wants to follow in light of their destinations (8:13).
Rom 8:9 | ISB Notes
the Spirit of God ā¦ of Christ: The Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son in eternity as well as in history (Jn 14:26; 15:26). He is therefore identified with both of them (8:14-15; Gal 4:6).
Rom 8:10 | ISB Notes
your bodies are dead: i.e., still subject to death and decay.
Rom 8:11 | ISB Notes
your mortal bodies also: When God resurrects the bodies of the saints on the Last Day (8:23), he will complete the process of divine adoption that began in Baptism with the infusion of the Spirit into our souls (8:15; Gal 4:4-7; Tit 3:5-7).
Rom 8:13 | ISB Notes
you will die: Spiritually, that is, since everyone dies physically regardless of how he lives. The warning is posted for believers, who are āin the Spiritā (8:9) but who can still submit to the flesh.
Rom 8:14-25 | ISB Notes
Paul reflects on the sonship of believers in Christ. Though Christ is the eternal Son of God by nature, we share in his life and become adopted sons of God by grace. This takes effect through the Spirit, who is poured into our hearts (5:5) and shows us the way to the Father (8:15) (CCC 1996).
ā¢ Paulās discussion of sonship and suffering has parallels with the Exodus story. The sonship of believers (8:15) recalls the sonship of Israel (9:4; Ex 4:22; Is 63:8). Calling God our Father (8:15) echoes the title first given to Yahweh at the end of the Exodus journey (Deut 32:6; Is 63:16). Being led by the Spirit out of slavery (8:14-15) calls to mind how Israel was led out of the bondage of Egypt by the pillar of fire (Ex 6:6; 13:21), which biblical tradition sees as an image of the Spirit (Is 63:10-14). Even the groan of the believer, still awaiting the fullness of redemption (8:23), reminds us of Israel groaning in bondage (Ex 2:23-24; 6:5) for the Lordās redemption (Ex 6:6; 15:13). For the Christian, the Exodus has begun but is still in progress, for he is delivered from slavery to sin (6:6-7, 17) but not yet from the slavery of corruption (8:19-23). For Paulās teaching that the Church relives the Exodus experience of Israel, see 1 Cor 10:1-11.
Rom 8:15 | ISB Notes
sonship: Or, āadoptionā, as in 8:23. Our kinship with God by covenant adoption entitles us to an inheritance kept in heaven (8:17; 1 Pet 1:3-4).
See word study: Adoption at Gal 4:5. Abba!: Aramaic for āFather!ā, an intimate term of address that Jesus uses in his own prayer life (Mk 14:36). The Spirit makes the prayer of Jesus the prayer of all Godās children as they call to the Father for grace and help in times of need (Gal 4:6) (CCC 2779-82).
Rom 8:17 | ISB Notes
fellow heirs with Christ: To suffer with Christ is to share in his inheritance, which Paul understands to be āall thingsā (8:32; Col 1:16; Heb 1:2).
Rom 8:18-25 | ISB Notes
Paul contends, on the basis of cost-benefit analysis, that even our heaviest burdens of suffering are far outweighed by the glory that awaits us (2 Cor 4:17). Though the afflictions of our time on earth are inescapable, the Spirit helps to make them bearable (8:26). Suffering is all part of Godās plan to mold us into the image of Christ (8:29).
Rom 8:21 | ISB Notes
glorious liberty: Godās children and Godās creation share the same plight and so yearn for the same destiny of life without corruption (CCC 1042-47).
Rom 8:22 | ISB Notes
groaning with labor pains: Paul hears creation crying out like a woman giving birth. The pangs of labor will not subside until the children of God are revealed and the whole material creation is renewed (8:21).
See word study: Unite at Eph 1:10.
ā¢ The earth groans under the curse of Gen 3:17. The passage shows that Adamās trespass had catastrophic consequences not only for himself but for the world in which he lived.
Rom 8:23 | ISB Notes
the first fruits: An agricultural term for the initial produce reaped at the beginning of the harvest season. When Paul uses a commercial metaphor for this same idea, he describes the Spirit as a āguaranteeā or down payment on the full inheritance we expect to receive in heaven (Eph 1:13-14) (CCC 735).
Rom 8:24 | ISB Notes
hope: The earnest desire to share in the glory of God (5:2). Hidden from human eyes, this inheritance is visible only to faith (2 Cor 5:7) and is attained only by love (1 Cor 16:22). The point here is that hope helps us to endure the hardships of life (Rom 8:25) (CCC 1817-20).
Rom 8:26 | ISB Notes
the Spirit helps us: When distress makes prayer difficult, the Spirit makes our groaning and sighing (8:23) an impassioned prayer to the Father (CCC 2729-31, 2739).
Rom 8:27 | ISB Notes
intercedes for the saints: The same is said of the Son in 8:34. Both the Son and the Spirit request from the Father what we need, not necessarily what we want. The will of God for our life is the determining factor.
Rom 8:29 | ISB Notes
predestined: Selected for divine adoption by an eternal decree of God (Eph 1:4). Predestination is a mystery revealed but not fully understood; what we know for certain is that God is free to act as he chooses (Ps 135:6) and man is free to accept or reject his blessings (Rom 2:6-8; Sir 15:11-13). No one is predestined by God for eternal damnation (CCC 1037). . the first-born: Jesus is the eldest brother in the
family of faith. As adopted children, we look up to him as the perfect image of Sonship and the perfect example of filial obedience to the Father (Jn 15:10). See word study: First-born at Heb 1:6.
Rom 8:32 | ISB Notes
did not spare: Paul takes this expression from the Greek version of Gen 22:12 to compare the Fatherās surrender of Christ with Abrahamās sacrifice of Isaac. This memorable event, which took place in Moriah (Gen 22:2), prefigures the sacrifice of Jesus in Jerusalem, which is built in part on Mt. Moriah (2 Chron 3:1) (CCC 2572).
Rom 8:35 | ISB Notes
Who shall separate . . .?: Paul denies suffering the power to cut us off from Christ. In his mind, only sin can pry us away from his grace (1 Cor 6:9-10; Gal 5:4). See note on 1 Jn 5:16-17. tribulation ā¦ or sword?: Afflictions commonly linked with the curses that God lets loose upon Israel when they abandon the covenant (Lev 26:21-26; Deut 28:48; Jer 29:18). This background sets the stage for 8:36.
Rom 8:36 | ISB Notes
For your sake: A citation from Ps 44:22.
ā¢ The Psalmist is puzzled that Yahweh permits the righteous of Israel to suffer the curses of exile along with the unrighteous. Covered with shame but convinced of his innocence, he pleads with God for deliverance. For Paul, this is the cry of the believer who lives faithfully in Christ but who bears with Christ the curses of suffering and death that weigh upon the world (Gen 3:17-19; Gal 3:13). As a result, we are not crushed by suffering; rather, we conquer through it in a redemptive way (Rom 8:37; Acts 14:22).
Rom 8:38-39 | ISB Notes
A rundown of different forces and dimensions of creation: human existence (death/life), spirits (angels/principalities/powers), time (things present/things to come), and astronomical forces (height/depth). None of these potential threats is an actual threat to those enveloped in Godās love. That principalities and powers are classes of angels, see Eph 3:10 and note on Eph 1:10.
Rom 8:39 | ISB Notes
nor anything: Not a claim that salvation is absolutely assured for believers, but a claim that salvation cannot be threatened by any cosmic force outside of us. For Paul, the only real threat to salvation is our will, which is free to reject Godās love and forfeit eternal life through sin (2:5-10; 6:16; 8:13; 11:2122). See note on Rom 8:35.