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Romans 8

Romans 8 grounds believers’ hope amid suffering in God’s saving work through Christ and the indwelling Spirit.

Paul writes to Christians in Rome about freedom from condemnation through Christ and life under the Spirit’s rule. He contrasts the flesh’s hostility toward God with the Spirit’s work in God’s children. Those children still suffer: creation groans, believers await the redemption of their bodies, and the Spirit helps them pray in weakness. Paul then traces God’s purpose to make them like his Son and declares that no created thing can separate them from God’s love in Christ.

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1There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death.
3For what the law couldn’t do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,
4that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
5For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
6For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace;
7because the mind of the flesh is hostile toward God, for it is not subject to God’s law, neither indeed can it be.
8Those who are in the flesh can’t please God.
9But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his.
10If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
11But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
12So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
13For if you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God.
15For you didn’t receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God;
17and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him.
18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us.
19For the creation waits with eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.
20For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it, in hope
21that the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.
22For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.
23Not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption, the redemption of our body.
24For we were saved in hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for that which he sees?
25But if we hope for that which we don’t see, we wait for it with patience.
26In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses, for we don’t know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which can’t be uttered.
27He who searches the hearts knows what is on the Spirit’s mind, because he makes intercession for the saints according to God.
28We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.
29For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
30Whom he predestined, those he also called. Whom he called, those he also justified. Whom he justified, those he also glorified.
31What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
32He who didn’t spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how would he not also with him freely give us all things?
33Who could bring a charge against God’s chosen ones? It is God who justifies.
34Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, yes rather, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Could oppression, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36Even as it is written, “For your sake we are killed all day long. We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
38For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
39nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from God’s love which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Romans 8:28This promise stands within suffering and waiting, with the next verse identifying God’s purpose as conformity to his Son.
Romans 8:31Paul gathers the chapter’s assurances into a question that challenges every threat against those God has called and justified.
Romans 8:32God’s giving of his own Son supplies the decisive ground for confidence that he will complete his saving purpose.
Where this chapter reaches

Ephesians shares Romans 8’s themes of adoption through Christ and the Spirit’s place in believers’ inheritance, while 1 Peter also joins present suffering to future glory. John shares its teaching about the indwelling Spirit, and 1 Corinthians shares its promise of resurrection life for the body.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What do you notice about the place of groaning within Paul’s account of life in the Spirit?

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How does God’s purpose of making his children like Christ shape your reading of the promise in verse 28?

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Questions people ask about Romans 8

What does Romans 8:28 mean by all things working together for good?

The promise concerns those who love God and are called according to his purpose. Verse 29 connects that purpose with becoming like his Son, and verse 30 carries it through to glory. The surrounding verses include suffering and weakness, so the promise gives no guarantee of comfort or quick relief.

What does the flesh mean in Romans 8?

In Paul’s contrast between flesh and Spirit, flesh describes human life governed by sin and hostile toward God. It cannot mean that the physical body itself is evil, since verse 11 promises life to mortal bodies. Life in the Spirit includes putting the body’s sinful deeds to death.

Does Romans 8:31 mean Christians will have no enemies?

Paul names persecution, famine, peril, and death later in the chapter, so opposition remains real. His question concerns whether any opponent can overturn God’s saving verdict. God justifies, and the risen Christ intercedes. The closing verses declare that no created thing can separate believers from God’s love in Christ.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).