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Pin on my walk in Faith

Derek Prince has some great insight into Romans.

There are two kinds of coffee: percolated and instant. Percolated coffee takes longer to make because it has to go through the brewing process. The book of Romans is like percolated coffee. We cannot get instant coffee out of Romans chapter 8. We must go through the preceding seven chapters. Those are the percolator.

But the result is that much richer. Only when we have been through those chapters do we get to the “therefore.” The preceding chapters deal with the total sinfulness of all humanity, as well as with the failure of religion to change man’s sinful nature. Using the examples of Abraham and David (see chapter 4), with a comparison between Adam and Christ (see chapter 5), Paul moves on in chapter 6 to reveal God’s remedy for the old man: execution. God doesn’t patch up the old man. He doesn’t reform him. He executes him! The good news is that this execution took place when Jesus died on the cross.

Romans 7 deals with our relationship to the Law. I always used to think, Why come to the law after all that? But I have learned that the ultimate hurdle we have to get over, the last stage of this percolator, is how we relate to the Law. Without the percolator, we cannot live in Romans 8, because the essential condition is “no condemnation.”

The moment in which we come under condemnation is the moment when we are out of the Spirit-controlled life of Romans 8. The devil’s main objective is to bring us under condemnation. The objective of God’s Word, especially in Romans, is to deliver us from condemnation.

Therefore, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in the Messiah Jesus… For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh.

(Romans 8:1, 3)

What does this mean for us as believers? It means that we have been set free from the guilt and penalty of sin by God’s grace. It means that we have been accepted and loved by God as His children. It means that we have been given a new identity and a new power in Jesus.

The law of God is holy and good, but it cannot save us from sin. It can only show us our need for a Savior. The law reveals our sinfulness and our inability to please God by our own efforts. The law condemns us and exposes our need for mercy.

But God did not leave us in this hopeless condition. He sent His own Son, Jesus, to be our Savior. Jesus came in the likeness of sinful flesh, meaning that He took on a human nature and lived among us. He was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. He fulfilled the law perfectly and obeyed God’s will completely.

  • Jesus then offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins on the cross.
  • He died in our place and paid the price for our redemption.
  • He bore our sins and suffered our punishment.
  • He satisfied God’s justice and appeased His wrath.

But Jesus did not stay dead. He rose from the grave on the third day, defeating death and sin once and for all. He ascended to heaven and sat down at the right hand of God, where He intercedes for us as our High Priest.

Because of what Jesus did for us, we can now enjoy a new relationship with God. We are no longer under condemnation, but under grace. We are no longer enemies, but friends. We are no longer slaves, but sons and daughters.