The Strand Study Bible

Written From Corinth During Paul’s Third Missionary Journey ROMANS 6:2 - 7:3 8:13 b Only the SPIRIT OF GOD ( through the Spirit ), through His Word, can help a Christian “live right” (Jn 17:17, Rom 12:1-2, II Cor 4:16, Eph 4:22-24 and Colo 3:9-10). 8:16 Cyril C. Richardson in The Doctrine Of The Trinity notes: The Spirit is not “it,” an effluence from God; but God Himself at work , creating, recreating, doing signs and wonders, and sanctifying. 1 8:28 The most liberating truth you’ll ever live is when you make the decision to give God the last say in your life because you know He will work “ all things ” out in the end for your good. Carol Kent in When I Lay My Isaac Down notes: 1861

When we fully understand that we are in a spiritual battle, that the world is not our home, just a “stopping off” place, we can begin to get excited about having a short time to engage in the battle raging around us. The Enemy wants us to waste our time generating anger toward others, ruminating over personal betrayals and over injustices due to sickness, accidents, and evil. He wants to destroy our ability to function productively and to disengage us from inspiring others to be Christ-followers. He wants us to give up and die or to control everything around us in such a tight-fisted manner that we’re tied up in ridiculous knots. 2

We need to learn to “let go” and “let God.” 8:29 a The “ whom ” here is referring to the “called” (or, saved - vs 28). God knew (as in foreknowledge - I Pet 1:2 a and I Thes 1:4 ) “ whom ” would be saved and “ whom ” would not, before the world began ( Eph 1:4-5 ). 8:29 b The “foreknowledge” of God has probably stirred up a greater diversity of interpretations amongst Christians than any other doctrine. Foreknowledge is God’s prior knowledge of all things and is the basis of our election, which precedes predestination (the destiny of the elect to be adopted and conformed to the image of Christ - Eph 1:4-5 ). In other words, God chose (elected) us for salvation before the creation of the world based upon the fact that He “foreknew” who would be saved and who would not ( II Thes 2:13 and Psa 139:16 ). Foreknowledge also plays an important role in inspiration. Because God knows history before men begin to shape its direction (Isa 46:9-10), He inspired His prophets to detail certain events that constitute an unanswerable argument for inspiration. 8:29 c “Predestination” (the destiny of the elect to act like Jesus) deals with the sanctification of the elect, not the salvation of the elect. We who have been saved have been “ predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son ” (Rom 8:29), that is, “ we should be holy and without blame before him in love ” ( Eph 1:4-5 ). 8:30 The doctrine of “glorification” is the process by which God will deliver us from the presence of sin at His coming. The moment we are raised at the Rapture, New Testament believers will receive a new body, which will be free of sin. Glorification is the third part of our salvation ( Rom 13:11 ).

1 Richardson, Cyril C. The Doctrine Of The Trinity , Nashville, TN, Abingdon Press, 1958. Print. 2 Kent, Carol. When I Lay My Isaac Down , Canada, Navpress, 2004. Print.