Welcome to the beginning of a miniseries from Romans 8:1-19. I’m going to spend a total of four episodes on these verses that focus on the transformed nature of those of us who live by the Spirit.
I decided to do a miniseries for a couple reasons. For one, I was inspired by Pastor Jack Hibbs to take my time with this powerful book of the New Testament. The pastor from Calvary Chapel Chino Hills says he plans to preach from Romans till Jesus returns, and I have no doubt he will find plenty of material to teach from in that one book. My other reason for doing a series is that when I started reading Romans 8, I couldn’t decide where to stop. I knew I wanted to pull out a declaration from Romans 8:1, but there is so much great news in the first several verses that I easily found multiple affirmations.
Today’s reading from Romans 8 contrasts the law of Moses with the power of God’s love. By giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins, God did what the law could not do. God freed us from the power of sin and death by fully satisfying the just requirement of the law through the body of his own Son. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Jesus paid your “sin wages” for you. If you’ve accepted him as your Lord and Savior, you belong to him. Because you belong to Jesus, you are no longer bound to the power of sin that leads to death. You are free from condemnation!
No matter what your thoughts tell you, no matter what your past tells you, no matter what the letter of the law tells you, Jesus paid the penalty for your sin so you cannot and will not be condemned!
 
Longing to Belong: Discovering the Joy of Acceptance is available for purchase on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Walmart.com, Booksamillion.com and Christianbook.com. It’s also available for download to your Kindle or from the Apple store for your iBooks app. Or visit my website to purchase a copy at shawnamariebryant.com
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This week's scripture: Romans 8:1-4