Encountering the Book of Romans by Douglas J. Moo

Author:Douglas J. Moo [Moo, Douglas J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: New Testament, Bible (Romans—Theology), REL006000, REL006100, REL006220
ISBN: 9781441245922
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2018-06-04T16:00:00+00:00

Objectives

After reading this chapter, you should be able to

Explain the contribution that Romans 8 makes to Paul’s presentation of the gospel in Romans.

Appreciate the benefits conferred on the believer by the ministry of the Spirit.

Identify and explain three key sources of support given to us by God in our time of anticipation.

Rejoice in the security provided for the believer by God in Christ.

Conspicuous by absence so far in Romans has been the Spirit of God. Paul mentions the Spirit only four times before chapter 8 (1:4; 2:29; 5:5; 7:6), but he now makes up for that absence. He uses the word “spirit” (pneuma) twenty-one times in Romans 8, and all but one (v. 16b) refer to the Holy Spirit. However, the Spirit, although the constant motif in Romans 8, is not really Paul’s topic. That is, Paul does not actually tell us much about the Spirit as such; he tells us about what the Spirit does. And what the Spirit does is mediate to Christians the life and hope that have been the key themes since Romans 5. The Spirit applies the work of God in Christ to us so that we can enjoy life, both new spiritual life in the present and resurrection life in the future (vv. 1–13). The Spirit makes us aware that we are God’s own children and that as his children we can expect a wonderful inheritance someday (vv. 14–17). And the Spirit causes us to groan at the present time, manifesting our frustration at not yet experiencing the glory to which we are infallibly destined (vv. 18–30). This work of the Spirit is an elaboration of 7:6, where Paul briefly introduced the life of the Spirit before launching into his excursus about the law. As 7:7–25 elaborates the situation that Paul has described in 7:5—controlled by the sinful nature, with the law arousing sinful passions—so 8:1–30 depicts the status of the believer as one who serves “in the new way of the Spirit” (7:6).

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