If You Call Yourself a Jew by Rodriguez Rafael;

Author:Rodriguez, Rafael; [Rodriguez, Rafael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781630875763
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Published: 2014-11-05T08:00:00+00:00

37 But in all these things we more than overcome through the one who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers 39 nor heights nor depths nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The final section of Romans 8 concludes Paul’s discussion of the effects and consequences of God’s pouring out his Spirit upon his people (not just Jews, but also gentiles). Gentiles, all gentiles, may have been enemies of God at one point (see Rom 5:10), but now those gentiles who respond in faith to the gospel of Jesus’ faithfulness to the Creator God find that “God is for us” (not just Jews, but also gentiles). There is, then, confidence that no one—or no one who ultimately matters—can be against us (8:31). Paul’s gentile persona in Romans 7 found he could not escape the power of sin because it was at work in his very members. But now, having received the Spirit of adoption that God offers to everyone who responds in faith (not just Jews but also gentiles), “we” have confidence that God will freely give [charisetai] all things to us. The interlocutor asks Paul, “What, then, shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who [is] against us?” (Rom 8:31).

The answer, which Paul gives in his authorial voice, highlights the guarantee of God’s love that Paul (and his gentile readers) finds in Christ. If God gives his son “while we were still sinners” (Rom 5:8) in order to reconcile humanity—the Jew first as well as the Greek—to himself, how much more will he freely give all things to those who have been adopted into God’s family. The description of Christ as “the one who condemns” [ho katakrinōn; 8:34] might seem surprising at first, but we need to remember the object of God’s condemnation.449 Paul does not emphasize that God (or Christ) will judge sinners. Rather, God has condemned sin itself in the flesh (8:3), and now there is no risk or threat of condemnation for those in Christ.450 Formerly, the gentiles exhibited weakness in the face of their passions, lusts, desires, and emotions; they found themselves unable to attain self-mastery, even with Torah’s help. The gospel, however, has bestowed the Spirit of God even upon the gentiles, and the Spirit has overcome (even “more than overcome”! [hypernikōmen; 8:37]) the power of sin over our members (or our body). As a result of the gospel, instead of being under the condemnation of Torah’s judgment against all sin, “the one who condemns” now intercedes [entunchanei; 8:34] on our behalf.

The intercession of Christ, “who died and, moreover, was raised and is seated at God’s right hand” (8:34), explains Paul’s amazing confidence in the power, persistence, and permanence of God’s love. “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor

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