Year 2, Day 31: Romans 8

Neither Universal Salvation Nor Works Righteousness

Today as I began to read Romans 8 my mind went down a path against universal salvation.  So I’m going to write a little bit here against the concept of universal salvation and then move on.  Of course, the natural tendency when wrestling against universal salvation is to end up in works-based salvation.  I’ll try to avoid that pitfall as well.  So let’s begin with two great verses that Paul gives us in this chapter:

• Romans 8:4 says “in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
• Romans 8:9 says “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.”

In Romans 8:4 we have a very clear perspective that the righteous requirement of the Law is fulfilled in those who walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh.  In Romans 8:9 we hear that anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ (Holy Spirit) within him does not belong in Christ.  Clearly these passages lift up the idea that while God desires all of humanity to be saved in Christ, not all humanity will be saved.  There are those who do not walk according to the Spirit; and there is no guarantee that the righteous requirement of the Law will be fulfilled in them.  There are those who do not have the Spirit of Christ in them; and Paul is quite clear that those do not belong to Christ. 

We as Christians need to be blunt and honest in our teaching that there is no such thing as universal salvation.  Yes, God has extended the gift of salvation to all people, but not all people will receive the gift and certainly not all people will live according to the Spirit.

However, we must also be careful to not become focused on our works as the reason for our salvation.  Our works are nothing more than the proof of the faith that dwells inside of us.  James 2:22 tells us that faith is completed by works.  In other words, works are the proper response to faith.  We cannot be saved by our works because we can only do God’s will because we are saved!  Thus, it is not our works which save us, but our works which are evidence of the salvation that we have already received through Christ.  Works are not the reason for salvation, but rather the evidence of it.

Conclusions about Salvation

Therefore, we can come to a conclusion as we read through this chapter.  Not all will be saved, but all who are in Christ – who have the Spirit of Christ within them – will be saved.  And we can know that we have the Spirit of Christ within us when we are God’s slaves, humbly responding to Christ’s Spirit in word and deed.  Finally, we may live in confidence of the resurrection since the same Spirit that dwelled in the resurrected Christ now dwells in us.

Tying Faith and the Holy Spirit Together

Faith is the response to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  As Paul says here in chapter 8, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit comes when a person belongs to Christ.  A person belongs to Christ when that person has become a slave to God: humbly submitted to God with a contrite heart.  Do you hear the emphasis on submission in Romans 8:7?  Submission to God is the effect of living in the Spirit.

What Then Shall We Say?

We end this chapter with Paul’s looking back to suffering as seen from the perspective of the hope of eternal life.  Paul makes a few bold statements that are easy to say but hard to embody.  Paul tells us that the sufferings of this present day are simply not worth comparing to the coming glory.  And of course that is true.  However, that also doesn’t mean that our present sufferings don’t cause us pain. 

But this is the next step in the pursuit of God.  God did not spare His own Son.  Jesus endured the pain of rejection and especially the pain of the cross because He was able to focus on the coming glory.  That doesn’t mean the pain was meaningless, but Jesus put it in the proper context.  So it is with us who follow Christ and who have Christ’s Spirit.  We will have pain.  We will face rejection.  We may even find abuse.  But in the context of eternal salvation in the glory of God, it is temporary pain.  It is capable of being endured for the sake of God.

After all, who can separate us from the love of God?  Once God’s Spirit genuinely dwells within us, who can take it away?  Once God is genuinely living within us, once we have genuinely crucified ourselves with Christ, and once we have been empowered by the Holy Spirit – who will be able to remove to promise of future glory?  That is the life sustaining hope right there.  The pain and worry of this world is temporary when compared to the experience of the eternal glory of God that is to come.  Stay the course.  Endure for the sake of God.  Live confidently in the hope that God can save.

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