Suffering and Glory

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

SUFFERING AND GLORY

Rom 8:12-17

12 Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation — but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba,  Father." 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs — heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

NIV

Therefore, brother, we are indebted to God not to live according to our sinful nature, but to live according to Him, although Paul uses the Spirit, who is God. Yes, this translation uses obligation, but in the Greek the first meaning is to be indebted to someone, to owe another. Of course, we owe God because by his grace he provided a way for us to escape the jaws of death, the penalty for living by our sinful nature. However, this being in debt to God is not something we can pay with doing good works. We cannot do anything other than accept His provision Jesus and through our faith in Jesus we are saved. But it is a little more then that, for it is by our faith in the blood of  Jesus that our sins are taken away, for without His shedding of blood there would be no forgiveness of our sin. However, we are also expected to live by the Spirit, and in doing so put to death the misdeeds of our body. Here is where the rub is. How can we put to death ever last sin? If that were the case, we would never sin again, and therefore would be perfect beings living by the Spirit. We have to believe that we put to death that old sinful nature that served us in fulfilling every type of pleasure, either physical in our bodies, or materialistic in our pursuits. That we did,  we put to death that sinful nature, for once we became aware of the Light of the World, having it shown upon our hearts and minds, we knew that death was our fate. We were slaves to that sinful nature, but praise God, He set us free and we are free indeed. No longer does that old sinful nature enslave, although we still fail at being perfect, and we still sin. The difference has to be living for sin or living for God. We have chosen to live for God, to live through the influence of the Spirit within us. The beauty for this choice is that we are no longer slaves, but we are sons of God. We may freely approach our “Abba Father” without fear or trepidation. We have been adopted as children of God and therefore heir of God and co-heirs with Jesus. This idea of sharing in his suffering so that we can share in his Glory is a bit troublesome. How can we share in the suffering of Jesus? Although some Christians have suffered greatly, persecuted in the most horrific ways. But is that what Paul is saying? If we are not suffering the way Jesus did, being beaten, whipped, spat on, laughed at, and nailed to a cross, we cannot share in his glory. We think there is something else about this suffering that is more than duplicating the exact suffering of Jesus. Many believers have lived their entire lives without facing actual suffering, yet they share in Christ’s glory. We think it comes down to how we feel deep within us regarding what Jesus went through for us. For me personally, although I own the movie by Mel Gibson, “The Passion”, it took me months before I could watch it and when I did, I wept, felt horrified at how that suffering was portrayed, and knowing it had to be like that or even worse. I dare not watch it again, it is too difficult. Yet I experience that suffering within me and am forever grateful that God has blessed my life, and blessed me abundantly, and he has not required me to physically suffer. However, the inner pain of what Jesus did for us brings me to my knees and therefore we are sharing in his suffering, and we are sharing in his glory.