Romans 8:1-17

How can we be sure of God's acceptance? This chapter comes after Paul's declaration that only God can save us from the attack of sin on our life.

We are in Christ because the Spirit of God has applied the life of Jesus to our life. This sets us free - there is no condemnation despite our sin.

We have been set free by the Spirit

We are set from.from.our slavery on the basis alone of what God has done. We may feel unworthy before God, but this freedom stands alone on God, not on us at all.

God takes the steps necessary to free us all; He sent His Son; He sent Him truly as a human to face the trials that we face but never failing; He came to be a sin offering and lay down His life; His death condemned sin, but not the sinner as He was lead away to the death that we deserve.

As we live according to God's Spirit we now meet all the requirements of God's law to be accepted into His kingdom.

We live free through the Spirit

Not only have we been set free, but our life can be loved in freedom. We experience what God is doing.

Our minds become governed by the Spirit. We are attuned to what God wants in our life. We are not controlled or driven by the aspirations of the world but the desire to worship God and love for Him.

Our life can feel like a battle, with our sin trying to pull us back into the kingdom of the world. But the Spirit continues to pull us back towards God, saving us from getting lost again into slavery to sin. That is how we might feel, but the truth is that the Spirit never lets us leave the road to life and peace. He never lets us go.

The Spirit enables us to "put our flesh to death". What this means is to remove the effects and temptation of sin. We do not do it by ourselves, but the Spirit can give us the strength daily to fight that battle - to cut that cord.

We come free in the Spirit

Those who are set free and live free in the Spirit can now come before the throne of God freely and bravely. We are adopted as children of God, like the relationship between Jesus and His Father. God loves us as much as He loves His only Son.

That relationship allows us to cry out in our deepest need to the Father who loves us. Like Jesus cried out in the garden in anguish. We know that we can receive the help and inheritance of God's love.