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Dear Beloved of God

by Walter J. Cummins, Scripture Consulting

July 2012

God bless you in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ.

There is a record that I have often considered in Romans 8:1-2. Knowing that the latter part of verse 1 in the Authorized King James Version is to be omitted according to all critical Greek texts, the two verses may be rendered as follows.

Romans 8:1 and 2:
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,

for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and of death.

The condemnation spoken of in this record along with the sin and the death refers back to those matters that were discussed in more detail in Romans 5:12-21, where it told us about the sin, the death, and the condemnation that Adam caused to come into the world. That record spoke of the condemnation and death that passed to all people as a result of Adam’s trespass. That record also spoke of Jesus Christ’s accomplishments which resulted in justification and life becoming available to all people. As a result, those who have believed regarding Jesus Christ are justified with the new spirit life, and they are no longer condemned. The law of the spirit, which is the life in Christ Jesus, has made them free from the law of sin and death. They are no longer condemned.

According to Romans 3:24, they are “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Being justified by that redemption, they are no longer condemned.

There is another aspect of redemption spoken of in the epistle to the Romans.

Romans 8:22 and 23:
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

Although we have been redeemed, justified, and given the new spirit life, we are still waiting for the redemption of our physical bodies. That is part of our hope for what is to come at the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:13-14 tells us that we are “sealed with the holy spirit of promise” and that the holy spirit is “the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” The gift of holy spirit is the earnest of the inheritance (including new bodies) until the redemption of the purchased possession to come at the return of Jesus Christ.

Living in the world that became cursed after Adam’s sin, our physical bodies (which have not yet been redeemed) and the environment around us are not impervious to the physical elements that are often orchestrated by Satan against those who have believed in Jesus Christ.

The book of Job speaks of a man who reverenced God, who was upright, who did not sin, and who looked for God’s redemption. The book of Job shows us that Satan orchestrated many things against Job with regard to his material possessions, his family, and his health. However, God delivered him.

The records in the book of Acts tell us of the apostles who underwent physical beatings, imprisonment, and other calamities. They were wonderful God-fearing men who had received the gift of holy spirit and who walked with God. In II Corinthians, God had the apostle Paul tell of various calamities that befell him.

II Corinthians 11:24-27:
Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.

Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;

In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;

In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

The source of these disastrous events are referred to in II Corinthians 12:7 as the “messenger of Satan,” which was sent to buffet Paul. It was not God but a messenger of Satan who caused such things to happen to a wonderful believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul and the other apostles could have condemned themselves in some of those situations as some people are prone to do. People who have been justified through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus sometimes condemn themselves because of sickness, accidents, natural disasters, persecutions, and other calamities. There is, however, no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. They have the holy spirit, a perfect gift from God made available through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. They are thus justified and not condemned. The holy spirit is also the earnest of the new bodies and inheritance to come at the return of Christ. They may look forward to the redemption of those bodies, and, while they wait, they ought to recognize that they are no longer condemned.

I John 3:21 and 22:
Beloved, if our heart condemn [blame] us not, then have we confidence toward God.

And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

If we do not condemn, or blame, ourselves, then we shall have confidence in God, knowing that what we ask, we shall receive from Him because we are well pleasing to Him.

With regard to calamities that occurred in the lives of Paul and his associates, God had him write the following to the Corinthians.

II Corinthians 1:8-10:
For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:

But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:

Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us.

God delivered Paul and his associates in former situations, and they trusted that God would continue to deliver them.

Things may happen in our lives that are not the result of our misdoings. We have the earnest of the spirit born within us, but we still live in a world and in physical bodies that have not yet been redeemed. So things happen, but God has delivered and will deliver us.

Let us focus on God’s willingness and ability to help us in any and every situation and not be distracted and disturbed by any sickness, accident, natural disaster, or other calamitous circumstance. We are His children born of spirit, and we can look to our heavenly Father for deliverance because of what Jesus Christ has accomplished for us. We can also look for the redemption of our physical bodies at the return of Christ. There is no way we can lose. Those who have the gift of holy spirit are winners, more than conquerors, with God and His Son Jesus Christ.

I thank God for all of you who are justified, born-again sons of God.

Sincerely in Christ,

Walter J. Cummins