Romans 8:16 - "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God" The basic thing that a brand new believer MUST believe and trust that they are a child of God when they are born again. The Spirit will bare witness of this. But to help anyone who may be struggling with this, let me help you out because I struggled through the same thing when I first got born again. One way you can tell that you were born again is that you hate the old sins you use to be okay with. Things that use to entertain you don't do that anymore. Not only are you concerned with your own salvation but also the salvation of others. Those are just a few examples I could think of right of the top of my head where the Spirit bears witness of this. In 1 John 2:12 John writes "I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake" I recently heard a sermon 1 John 2 and John is writing to new believers, babes in the faith. Also, I want to mention that part of the armor of God is the helmet of salvation. Know in your mind that once you have believed in Jesus as your Lord Savior and you believe that He was raised from the dead, you are saved.
Romans 8:3 - "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh" In Galatians 3:24 Paul writes "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith." So the law shows us that within our own power we can not live according to the way God has commanded. The law teaches us that we are sinners in need of a savior. In James 2:10, James writes "For whoever keeps the entire law, yet fails in one point, is guilty of breaking it all." The heated discussions I have had with some folks want to go back to the law and they actually teach that to others. The flesh is weak and we can not be made perfect by the flesh. Folks still want to live according to the Levitical law! I am not saying to do away with the law. Jesus was able to live out the law perfectly and then was punished on our behalf in sinful flesh. Again, in Galatians 3:11 "But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith."
Romans 8:19 "For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God." Romans 8:22 - "For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now." The next time somebody goes off on you, reviles you etc, to think of it this way, they are groaning and travailing in expectation of the revelation of the sons of God. All of creation is cursed including all the animals and plants. They are waiting along with us for Jesus to come back and break the curse. I want to share with you an example of this. My cat Ollo is a beautiful creation that the Lord blessed my family with. I praise God for such an amazing creature. Ollo is truly a demonstration of God's handy work. He can be very sweet but sometimes out of nowhere he will get mad and bite me, scratch me, growl at me, meow at me and hiss at me. Instead of returning evil for evil, I will love him back and I tell him that I know that he is groaning and travailing in expectation of the manifestation of the sons of God. I will try to remember this the next time I have an angry customer to deal with at work or somebody is angry at me for sharing the Gospel. It should move us to compassion not to ridicule someone or something because of what this verse is telling us. Also, another example of this that comes to mind is when my muscles are sore from my injuries I got from serving in the Army, I groan and travail in earnest expectation of the sons of God. Come Lord Jesus, Come!
Romans 8:18 - "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Here is a bit of encouragement for you. No matter what you deal with as a believer in Christ, no matter the suffering and persecution you have to endure for the sake of His name, they are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. One million years from now and we have been in New Heaven and New Earth, when we look back we are not going to say "All that suffering I had to endure was worthy of this". On the contrary, we should be like "I endured a lot of things to get here but 'MAN, THIS IS ABOVE AND BEYOND WHAT I DREAMED OR EXPECTED!!!'" There was a time where I was using medical marijuana to ease my P.T.S.D. and the aches and pains of my body. But the Lord later showed me that I needed to deny myself that legitimate pleasure and endure the pain and suffering. It carries eternal weight in glory that will be revealed upon His return. I resisted though. Then one day the presence of the Lord came upon me heavy and said "Chose this day whom you will serve!" I chose to obey God and I have not regretted it since. I still ache and I have back spasms but I know that it will be worth it and then some. The Lord needs me sober for the mission He has planned for me. So if you are going through a hard time, suffering from illness, do not fret and don't complain. Remember this verse.
Romans 8:28 - "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." This has got to be one of my top favorite verses in the Bible because I have experienced this very verse for myself many times in my life. Some of you know recently I was involved in a car accident. If I had not been born again, that would have been a catastrophe and I would have been so angry and depressed about it. Thank God He has had mercy on me and made me righteous and I walk blameless before Him. I already knew that all things work together for the good of this who love Him and are called according to His purpose. But how do we show Jesus that we love Him? Actions do speak louder than words. Jesus said in John 14:15 "If ye love me, keep my commandments." Even Mary, the mother of Jesus said in John 2:5 "Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it." We have all heard the saying "God has a wonderful plan for your life." even when things don't seem to be going your way or you don't understand what is going on, remember that God will work things out for your good because you love Him and you are called according to His purpose. Nothing will stop what God has planned.
Romans 8:37-39 - "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Sometimes we don't feel like we are more than conquerors. Isn't great to know that the truths of God's word isn't based on how we feel? Hallelujah! But in all things we are more than conquerors. If you are struggling with sin, that is a good thing. Because you are fighting it. You may stumble and you may fall, but you keep fighting and struggling. God will give you the victory over that sin. For example, I am on the brink of conquering fear of speaking to people in public about the Gospel. Its so close that I can almost taste victory. I tell you what I did and this what I suggest you should. Keep praying, keep praising, keep reading the word of God and keep your faith. God makes us wait to increase our faith and test us. Be like Jacob and keep contending for your blessing. I remember asking God what was wrong with me. Ends up nothing was wrong with me and I am not the only one who deals with this. The problem is that I haven't been discipled and shown how to do this. When was the last time someone took you out to teach you how to preach the gospel, heal the sick, and cast out demons? Probably never. But we all know about it though! Jesus said to go out and preach the Gospel, make disciples, show them how to do the things He commanded us to do. What we in the western church have done is memorized and memorized it in Greek but we have not gone out done what He told us to do. So now I am praying that the Lord would bring someone into my life who will disciple me. I have plenty of knowledge but my obedience does not match my knowledge. My obedience is lower than my knowledge and in that gap is filled with fear. Many of us suffer from this. The cure is acting on the word of God. Taking a leap of faith and trusting that God will do what He said he would do. We need to become an apprentice of someone who knows how to do these things. We must also remember that the only thing that separates us from God is sin. Nothing else will separate us from His love which is in Christ Jesus. Keep your garments clean but repenting of sins if and when you do slip up. Jesus is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins.
Please prayerfully read Romans chapter 8. Whenever I am down or need strength, this is where I find it. What is you favorite chapter in the Bible? Or your favorite verse? Place your response in the comments below. I am looking forward to reading them!
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