Today, I starting a series of posts on this blog over the next few weeks.  These entries will be based on a Wednesday night series I’m doing at my church on Romans 8. The series is called Five Words That Can Change Your Life and it focuses on five themes through Romans 8: freed (verses 1-8), empowered (verses 9-13), adopted (verses 14-17), transformed (verses 18-30), and loved (verses 31-38).

This is seriously one of my favorite chapters in the entire Bible and I am going to love this series! No doubt it is one of the most significant chapters in the Bible as well. This chapter is significant in many ways.

1. It is significant theologically- This chapter helps us grapple with some of the deepest theological issues of our day – election, predestination, and foreknowledge. Not to mention its excellent treatment of the Spirit-filled life, the love of God and our adoption into God’s family.

2. It is significant emotionally- This chapter encourages our hearts – we discover that nothing can separate us from God’s great, everlasting love. When you realize that you have been adopted into the family of God you come to understand God’s love in a deeper and more significant way. Paul proclaims, “What can separate from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus?”

3. It is significant practically- This chapter reminds us how we are to live – not according to our fleshly desires but according to the Spirit who indwells us. We are not just told what to do, but we are also told how to do it. After describing his struggle in the “inward man” in chapter 7, Paul instructs the believer on how to live in the power of the Holy Spirit.

4. It is significant spiritually- This chapter teaches us about our incredible position in Christ Jesus – we are now made righteous in God’s sight because we have been identified with Christ through salvation. “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.”

5. It is significant eternally- This chapter gives us an eternal perspective – suffering, pain and heartache are to be viewed with heaven in mind. Paul says, “The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

This is possibly my favorite chapter of Scripture and I can’t wait to walk through its paragraphs, sentences and words over the next few weeks.  It most certainly will be life-changing!