Romans Review 6-8 (#52 2026.09.20)

Scott Keffer [: 00:00:02

Hi, if you're looking for greater hope, assurance, and confidence through the shifting sands of life, then join me on today's episode as we dig deep into the Bible to discover rock-solid truth for life and living from the God of the Bible. I'm your host, Scott Keffer. Hi, and welcome to today's episode. As always, for a deeper experience, you can go to the show notes and download the blank insight sheet Fill in the blanks along with the group. Depending on how you're listening to this, there will be a link to the episode website at beholdingbibltruth.com, and a sheet with the answers is included as well. Enjoy today's episode. Okay, I think we're good. R.C.

Scott Keffer [: 00:00:50

Sproul once said that the idea of equipping us The idea of equipping us to be able to stand on our faith. What's the word that's used? To be equipped, be able to share your faith. It's gone from my head. Equipped to share your faith. What is it? 1 Peter 3:15. Yeah, but what— no, not the verse. What's the word? Oh no. Um, always be ready.

Scott Keffer [: 00:01:20

Yes. To give an answer for those who Yes, give the answer. What's the word? Are we all blank? I'm blank. Yeah. No, no. Apologetics. Yes. All right.

Scott Keffer [: 00:01:33

Thank you. Thank you. We kind of had a class on that yesterday. Yeah. So I thought, I thought I was asking kind of a setup, but also I'd forgotten the word. So it was, it was, it was, it was easy with that. But apologetics. But R.C.

Scott Keffer [: 00:01:45

Sproul said apologetics is fundamentally for believers. Not for unbelievers. It's to strengthen our faith and our confidence, right? Strengthen our faith and confidence. So I included in there this sheet. If you pull up that sheet, you see that picture? It looks kind of symmetrical. It looks like it was designed, doesn't it? Well, in 2007, a pastor and a data designer took— along the bottom are all the chapters of the Bible. So imagine on the, on the graph below are all the chapters of the Bible. Then what he did is he took a point in the chapter, say Genesis 1, and then he connected it to every other point, which was either a cross-reference or fulfillment of a prophecy, some connection.

Scott Keffer [: 00:02:31

And the further the connection, the cooler the color he used, the closer the connection, right, in terms of time in the Bible. He use warmer colors. That's all the connections. There are 63,779 cross-references in the Bible, and that's what it looks like visually. Huh, interesting, interesting, huh? And the reason is, I always say, who wrote the Bible? 40 authors across 1,500 years, 3 different languages, Right? Authors, but one author. Not 40 authors. 40 men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. One author.

Scott Keffer [: 00:03:17

One author. So again, this is not going to convince an unbeliever, but it is designed to encourage you to trust that the God who, who spoke all things into being also spoke his word into being as well, and that he is A God of design and a God of order, and a God who will complete what he started in time and in your life as well. He who began a good work in you will complete it. He who began a good work in the world which he created will complete it. He will, he will bring right order, right, in, in Christ. So we are— hopefully that's encouraging to you. So we're going through reminding ourselves of where we've been in Romans, and in order to get us caught up so we can continue to move forward. So Romans 1 through 5, we answered this question in Romans chapter 1 through chapter 5: how can Jews and Gentiles— so he's asking the question whether you're religious or you're a pagan, and you, you know, you, you don't believe in God at all.

Scott Keffer [: 00:04:34

How can anybody— because all are guilty— how can we be declared righteous? How can we be declared righteous? Because the gospel says God is righteous, and we talked about that last week, that his righteousness is not even— not, not even possible to be like him. And we used— talked about how the sun, the physical sun, at 10,000 degrees on its surface, 500 times the energy that it produces on the earth— you would have to be of the same nature to be able to get close to the physical sun because you'd be consumed. The closest any probe has gotten is, is 4 million miles. Any closer and it would be consumed. You would have to be of the same nature. How do we become of the same nature that we can be in intimate fellowship with the eternal God. We have to be declared righteous. Then in 6 through 8, it says, how do we now live righteously? How do we now live righteously? So in Romans 6, the justified sinner— we talked about justification— the justified sinner is, underline, united with Christ.

Scott Keffer [: 00:05:47

Amen. We're dead to— we go from dead to sin to alive God, no longer enslaved to sin, but called to walk in underlying newness of life. We're called to walk in newness of life. In Romans 7, he reminds us the law is holy and good. The law is holy and good. It can reveal righteousness, but it cannot produce righteousness or deliver us from the power of sin. So the sin struggle reminds us That we need to be in Christ. In Romans 8, what the law could not do, God did.

Scott Keffer [: 00:06:27

Or is that the greatest? Is that the greatest answer? God did in Christ. There's now, therefore, now no condemnation. The Holy Spirit gives us life, transforms us, and assures us of our adoption and guarantees our final glory. So as we dive in deep, Romans 6 is dead to sin, alive to God. So it says, where sin increased, where sin increased, where is that? That's in me and in my life, right? Where sin increased, there grace abounded all the more. Grace abounded all the more. In fact, it says grace superabounded all the more. Superabounded all the more.

Scott Keffer [: 00:07:13

So apparently, right, those who came to Paul and said, hey, I'm going to help the Lord out, maybe I should sin more so that grace abounds. So there were those who are saying, well, I'll just continue in my sin, I'll just sin and sin and sin, because they were before grace. And he says what? Underline, perish the thought. Perish the thought. So then he begins to speak about what's happened to us in Christ. He says, we have been baptized into Christ Jesus. We have been baptized into Christ Jesus. A lot of different beliefs about what baptism does, when baptism should occur, and what are the results of it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:07:59

We believe it is an outpouring of what's happened internally, right? You're baptized. It doesn't save you. It doesn't change you. You don't get more of God or more of spirit or more of anything. You just— it's a sign of a— it's a proclamation, if you will, of the fact that I have been baptized in Christ. So it is externally, right, speaking about what's happened internally. So what do I get? I get identification with Christ, communion with him, and I'm incorporated into his body, united in the likeness of his death and more importantly his Resurrection. Resurrection.

Scott Keffer [: 00:08:46

Is that good news? No, that's great news. Not just death and burial, but resurrection to newness of life. And not only newness of life, new identity. We go from— we go from dead in Adam to alive in Christ. So therefore, he says, purpose. Here's the purpose. So I bold so that And you pay attention anywhere in scripture where it says so that. So that is there so that you understand the purpose.

Scott Keffer [: 00:09:25

So that is there so you understand the purpose of something. So when it says as a result or so that, he— God is going to define what the purpose is. He says, therefore, we've been baptized into Christ, right? Raised so that we might walk in newness of life, so that we might walk in newness of life, right? So he's saying, here we are scrolling along. So there's a, there's a newness of life, right? So we've been buried with Christ and resurrected, right? So we die. We've died with him. We're buried with him, right? And then we're resurrected with him so that we might walk in newness, right? So we might walk in newness. When Christ died, buried, and resurrected with him so that we might walk in newness of life. In other words, the newness of life should have a new look.

Scott Keffer [: 00:10:26

That's why it says in Scripture, I sing to the Lord a new song. It's a new song, a new song, right? So he says, so that we might walk in newness of life. So he says, consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God. So literally, consider is this idea of accounting, having been counted as true. Consider it, understand it, believe it. because you need to count it as true. And as a result of that, we're to live in the light of what God has accomplished for us in Christ. So then he says, so do not let sin reign.

Scott Keffer [: 00:11:14

So do not let sin reign, right? So rain has this idea of you have changed masters. You have changed masters. And the Bible appropriately says you thought you were a master of your own life. You weren't. Sin was your master. You just believed you were your own master, captain of your own destiny. in charge of your own life. I'm able to do what I want to do.

Scott Keffer [: 00:11:52

But I always said, you know, that's the challenge, right? You get the buzz, then the buzz gets you, right? That's the nature of life, right? You get it and then it gets you. And so you, you were slaves to sin. It says now you have a different master. Now you're a slave of righteousness and a slave of God. So he says, do not let sin— therefore, by the mercies of God, what are we to do? Present our bodies. Present our bodies. Sacrifice, right? Surrender on a regular basis. How often should you do that? As often as you're breathing.

Scott Keffer [: 00:12:29

You wake up breathing, it's a good time to surrender your bodies, a living and holy sacrifice. He says this is your spiritual service, not the work you do. Right, the surrender that you have. Okay. So he says we, we surrender. Surrender how often? All the time. Don't you have to? All the time, all the time, all the time. So we're freed from sin's dominion, but what's the problem? We're still in a sin battle.

Scott Keffer [: 00:13:04

We're still in a sin battle. There's a new man and there's an old man. There's a new you and there's an old you, and they are in, in, in, in battle. The spirit is in opposition. The flesh is in opposition. So we still have this sin battle. And by the way, sin is fun. For a time.

Scott Keffer [: 00:13:36

Sin is fun for a time. It's foolish to say it's not. There are, there are sins that are just fun for a time, right? The passing pleasures of sin, it says in Hebrews. They are pleasures, they're just passing. It's— that's why I say you get the buzz, then the buzz gets you, right? Um, and so it, it, it, it, it's good to remember it is deceptive. It is progressive. You should underline those. And it will weaponize the members of your body against you.

Scott Keffer [: 00:14:10

It will weaponize, right? The old man, the sin nature, will weaponize your body against you. How many have experienced that? Yep. Yep. So then he reminds us, you want your paycheck? Here's your paycheck. What's your paycheck? Death. Your paycheck is death. Your wages earned— death. But the free gift of God is eternal life in Messiah Jesus our Lord.

Scott Keffer [: 00:14:50

Amen. So that's 6. Romans 6. Romans 6 reminds us what's happening, what's going on. Well, we're dead to sin and alive to God. What is happening? We're in Christ. We're in Christ, right? We've been united with Christ, dead to sin and alive to God. Then he moves into 7 to answer the question, well, what about the law? What's up with the law, right? It says we've been released from the law, having died, having died to that to which we were bound.

Scott Keffer [: 00:15:29

We were, we were bound to the law. So he's speaking, he's speaking to the, to the Jew, right? The, the actual word of God, the law of God, right? The Old Testament law of God. And he already spoke to the Gentiles because he said you have a law within and a law without. What's that? Conscious— your conscience and creation are the law which convicts Gentiles, or anybody who's unbelieving, right? And then for Jews, there was the law, right? What do we do with the law? He says, well, you've been released from the law, having died to that by which you were bound. Again, what do we see again? So that there's a purpose there. What's the purpose? That we serve in Newness. Newness. I love that.

Scott Keffer [: 00:16:16

Newness. Newness of the Spirit, not an oldness of the letter. So in, in 2 Corinthians, Paul said, I'm a servant of a new covenant. What's the new covenant? What's the new covenant? It's not of the letter, but of the Spirit, because the letter of the law kills, the Spirit gives life. If you're trying to earn your righteousness through the letter of the law, it kills. The Spirit gives life. The Spirit gives life. So he says, so that we serve, right? So this— he says, so that we walk.

Scott Keffer [: 00:17:00

Here's so that we walk, we— and we serve in newness of the Spirit, right? There's a so that here. We serve in newness of the Spirit. In order— there's another like so that. In order is another pointer. In order. Okay, so what's the purpose of that? That you would what? Bear fruit. That you would bear fruit. In order that you might bear fruit.

Scott Keffer [: 00:17:32

What kind of fruit? Fruit for God. So Jesus says in John 15, abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in— right? Right, unless the branch abides in the vine, you can't bear fruit. He says, for apart from me you can do nothing. I always said I don't agree with that verse because apart from Christ I do worse than nothing. I wish it was just nothing, but I do worse, right? And so you think about this idea of bearing fruit, right? This idea, picture of a tree, right? We're gonna— we bear fruit. Well, that's weird, right? Because a branch— how does a branch grunt fruit? Can a branch produce fruit on its own? Like, think about a branch just physically, right? He says if branch is cut off, what's it do? It died. There's no life. The, the, the life comes from the vine, right? The vine.

Scott Keffer [: 00:18:31

When they started, when they started vineyards over here from Europe, they brought, they brought, right, the roots that produced the vine, which then produces the fruit, right? So it gives us a picture. Fruit's a great picture because a branch can't do it by itself. You have to abide in him. So then he deals with this issue. Okay, well then, what's up with the law? Is the law sin? What does he say? Never, never, never, never, never. That's what the— that's what the, uh, the Greek says. No, he says the law reveals. The law reveals.

Scott Keffer [: 00:19:14

And he picks a really tough one. You shall not covet. What's that mean? I want what you got. I want what I don't have. I want something else. I want— I covet it. Give it to me. Give it to me.

Scott Keffer [: 00:19:37

I want it. I want it. I want it. So he says the law reveals Sin. So then he says, well, sin sets up its base of operation. He uses the word opportunity. Sin takes opportunity through the commandment. Sin takes opportunity, which is, in military terms, it's a base of command.

Scott Keffer [: 00:20:01

So sin sets up a base of command. It has a base where it has dominion, if you will. in my soul, it sets up, right, a base of command through the commandment. Wait a minute, through the commandment? Well, I don't have a problem. I always tell this story. When I was young, my, my very first job, I was calling on a, a, uh, manufacturer, and his office was at the back, and they, they did, they did boxes and whatnot. And there was a, a, a, a, um, kind of a— what do you call that? Um, loading dock? Yeah, and a conveyor belt and all that stuff. And there was a trip— I could see there was a light that got tripped, you know, and it said, do not— it says, do not trip this thing.

Scott Keffer [: 00:20:50

And of course, as I went by, guess what I did? Tripped it. And then everything started. I said, oh my gosh. So that's sin taking opportunity through the commandment. If you tell me I'm not allowed to do that, I'm gonna do that. I'm gonna do that. Sin takes opportunity through the commandment. If I— if you tell me no, I'm gonna do it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:21:23

So what about the law then? Is the law the problem, right? You probably hear that today in parenting. Well, just don't tell them no. That's what all the gentle parenting is. You don't tell them no. You have a conversation with them. about, here's a better way to think about it. Well, like, what is— you're on crack? What? Like, where have you been? You're gonna have a conversation with a, with a 3-year-old? You can't have a conversation with an adult. So he says the law is holy.

Scott Keffer [: 00:21:52

You're confused. The law is holy. Well, wait a minute. If the law is holy and righteous and good, how come when it comes, I sin more? When I read the law and it says don't do that, I want to do that. When it says do this, I think I'm not doing that. Well, the law must be the problem. So imagine that Mother Teresa came to live with you, and as a result of it, she annoyed you so much you just did more bad. You say, is she the problem? See, before she came, right, I was That was the question, right? So the law is perfect.

Scott Keffer [: 00:22:32

So there's another so that. There's another so that. He says, so that sin would be seen to be utterly sinful. Utterly sinful. That's why it says the law is pointing. It's pointing. So if you flip over, the law can reveal righteousness. Can reveal righteousness and unrighteousness, but it cannot produce righteousness.

Scott Keffer [: 00:23:19

Cannot produce righteousness. And so we see the inner war, the inner war, inner war. What is going on? I joyfully concur. There's a part of me within, right? The part where I've been born again, if you will, in the inner man. But there's a different law in the underlying members of my body. So it's important to understand there is a battle without, right? The world system, right? There is a battle out here in the world system. But daily I wake up to another battle, and that's the battle in here. Old man, new man.

Scott Keffer [: 00:24:06

Old self, new self, right? Old— the members of my body, the flesh. Scripture says. So it reminds us. So the inner war, the inner war, the inner war. So neither knowledge of God's law nor my own desire to obey it provides the power. Provides the power. So what do we naturally do? We build a— we build my own 10 Commandments. These are 10 things that I keep on a regular basis, and I judge myself to be, hey, I'm being pretty good.

Scott Keffer [: 00:24:49

And then I look at you and I say, how about you? You checking off my 10? Right? That's our nature, isn't it? We want to be justified by the law. But it doesn't produce. It doesn't have the power. Doesn't have the power to produce. And that's why in the garden, What did they— what were they allowed to eat of? The tree of life. What were they not allowed to eat of? The tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Why? We don't have the power. Once we have the knowledge of good and evil, we're fallen.

Scott Keffer [: 00:25:22

We don't even have the power to, to resist it. We're overtaken by it. It's the knowledge of good and evil. So he says, Hey, I'm a pretty good guy. I'm doing all right. No, what's, what's, what's, what's Paul say? Wretched man that I am. How many felt like that? Before I confess it for the 7 billionth time, before I reconfess something I just confessed, right? I think, wretched man that I am. Oh my, what? Who will set me free? Who'll set me free? Who will set me free? Who will set me free from the body of this death? Great question.

Scott Keffer [: 00:26:08

You gonna do it on your own? He says, nope. Thanks. Thanks. Recognizing it's a gift, be to God through 3 letter— or 3 words that are very important. Jesus. First word. Jesus, the Word became flesh, his humanity, right? He's the new man. Jesus Christ, he's the Messiah, the Son of God.

Scott Keffer [: 00:26:37

So we have Son of Man, Son of God. He is Jesus Christ. He isn't just Jesus, he's Jesus Christ. He's Christ Jesus, Messiah Jesus. Divine human, human divine. Those 2 together. And he says the 3rd word, which is the most important of those, is our Lord. Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Scott Keffer [: 00:27:07

I don't want to have a Lord. I want to be saved. I want to have those benefits. I don't want to have a Lord. I don't, I don't, I don't want to have to surrender. My power. That every knee should bow and every tongue confess him as Lord. And I pointed out, if you've been in here before, that's an echo of Isaiah.

Scott Keffer [: 00:27:31

And the way it's laid out in Isaiah, that every knee would bow and every tongue swear allegiance, that sounds different than tongue confess, because I can say, oh, Jesus is my Lord. Swear allegiance. That's bend my knee. And literally, you think before the king where he— right, the anointing comes before, after the surrender. Swear allegiance. And I think about that, Lord, do I swear allegiance to you? Do I swear allegiance in life and death, to give my life and my death for you? Swear. He's— he who swears allegiance. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Scott Keffer [: 00:28:19

Then we get to maybe greatest chapter in, in the book of scripture. No condemnation, no separation. So you can write the gospel for believers. Romans 8 is the gospel for believers. I've said that often. You're confused that the gospel is what we share with unbelievers. No, the gospel is what you share with yourself every single day. It's the fuel for the new life.

Scott Keffer [: 00:28:52

It's the fuel for the new life. This is the gospel. This is the greatest— Therefore. This is the greatest therefore. Therefore there is now— underline now— no condemnation. There is therefore now— when? Now. Now. Now.

Scott Keffer [: 00:29:23

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus Messiah. Jesus. What's that mean? The ability to be judged, the ability to be punished after judgment. There is no opportunity, right, to retry someone. It's in our law, right? It's in our law. Yes. We built the law after God's law. So he says, well, okay, here's why.

Scott Keffer [: 00:29:54

What the law could not do Weak as it was through the flesh. Another great 2 words: God did. God did what you couldn't do, what the law couldn't do, what couldn't be done, what is impossible— to become of the same nature, become of the same nature as the God of the universe. God did. God did. You were incapable, and it was impossible. No chance at all. Not point, point, point, zero, zero, zero, one.

Scott Keffer [: 00:30:36

No, absolutely zero chance that you could become the righteousness of God. I heard some people say, you know, could you throw a football, you know, across the Grand Canyon. That doesn't even do it. He says the difference between me and you is the difference between the highest heights in the universe. I gave you a physical ruler to understand the distance, and it is how, how much? You always hear me say, here's you, here's God and his righteousness. What's the distance here? As high as the— Heavens. Heavens are above the earth. It's 90 billion light years.

Scott Keffer [: 00:31:22

It's not throwing a football across the Grand Canyon. It's throwing a football to the other end of the universe. There isn't even a craft that could go to the under— other end of the universe, right? That's the difference. Weak as it was, God did. God did. Is that good news? Yes. No, it's great news. It's great news.

Scott Keffer [: 00:31:50

So how'd that happen? Well, God sent his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. In the likeness of sinful flesh. The word Became flesh and tabernacled among us. So this is impossible to comprehend, impossible to understand, impossible to even get to. But if we stop for a minute and say the, the uncontainable one stepped into a container. He was made in the likeness of men. What? Who would even do that? How could it be done? But who would do it? Think about that. Who would do it? God the Father and the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit, in unity of plan and purpose.

Scott Keffer [: 00:32:56

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. No man has seen God at any time, but the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father. He has revealed him. He has brought him out into the open, right? So he's saying what the law could not do, weak as it was, God did. How'd he do it? He sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. Why? Because he had— we needed an offering for our sin, right? We needed an offering for our sin. He condemned sin in the flesh. He condemned sin in the flesh.

Scott Keffer [: 00:33:33

We were condemned. He took our condemnation. Why is there therefore no condemnation? Because there was no condemnation? No, because he was condemned in the flesh for my condemnation. He took my condemnation upon himself. How is that even possible? God the Father, right, laid the sin, the just justice for your sin upon the Lord Jesus Christ. So he says, as a result of that, the mindset on the flesh is death, and the mindset on the Spirit is life and peace. Life and peace. So then, well, I don't know if I have the Spirit or not.

Scott Keffer [: 00:34:20

I don't know all that stuff about the Holy Spirit. Oh no, he says, no, if you do not belong, if you don't have the Spirit of Christ, you're not his. And if you're his, you have this— you belong to God. If you have the Spirit of God, you belong to him. There's no question. You don't need more spirit. You have the spirit. And again, this is a reminder that we are God's possession.

Scott Keffer [: 00:34:47

This is about possession, being his possession, not our profession. So I— people say, when I receive Christ— no, no, no, no, no, no, no. When he received you. That's why it says in Galatians, it's not that you say you know God, it's does he know you? That's why at the end of the age, Jesus will say, I never knew you. I never knew you. Never knew you. So what do we— it's not, it's not about a profession. It's about being God's possession.

Scott Keffer [: 00:35:21

So he says, well, okay, so what do we do here? What do we do? We have this— we have body with deeds in it, right? We have the flesh. How do we— how do we— how do we have victory? By the Spirit. You put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit. Is that easy? No. No, it's a battle, but you do it by the Spirit. Not by hand. And then he says, remember not who you are, remember whose you are. He says you have the spirit of adoption.

Scott Keffer [: 00:36:00

The spirit of adoption. We've been adopted. What the heck? Huh. That's happened. That's why you cannot be unadopted. You cannot be unadopted. You've been adopted. All the question of can you lose— it's irrelevant.

Scott Keffer [: 00:36:24

You've been adopted. You cannot be unadopted, just like you cannot be unborn after you've been born again. What does that mean? We get to cry out, Papa. Abba doesn't really fit for me. I don't really get it. It's Aramaic, right? But it's some form of not baby, not a baby crying out, because a baby cries out and without understanding. But it's some form of, right, this with, with I'm older and I'm mature. And I get my Father is intimate.

Scott Keffer [: 00:37:01

I don't just call him Father, I call him whatever that word is. That would be that word Papa. I don't know what that word might be for you. It's less daddy than it is, you know, when you hear an adult say that, you think, oh, that's kind of strange. But, you know, whatever that word is, intimate understanding with reverence, with intimacy, reverence and intimacy. In Aramaic, it was, it was Abba. So it might be Papa. I don't know what that might be for you, but it means reverence and intimacy.

Scott Keffer [: 00:37:30

Everybody get it? And a mature reverence and intimacy. We get to cry out. Listen, Paul says he's the blessed and only sovereign. That's who God the Father is. He is the King of Kings, and he's the Lord of Lords, who alone possesses immortality, and he dwells in unapproachable light. That's God the Father. How would you ever be able to call him Father. And you get to call him, right, Papa Father.

Scott Keffer [: 00:38:05

You get to call him, right, the, the word— it says the, the, the only begotten God, the Lord Jesus Christ, was in the bosom of the Father. What's that mean? Intimate, close fellowship. You get to have that. What? With the sun, with its 10,000-degree power, like, how do you, how do you even get close to Isn't that amazing? Where's the Lord Jesus? At the right hand. What's that mean? In intimate fellowship. That's what you have. You have adoption. So in Christ, you're not only heirs of God, you are fellow heirs with Christ Jesus.

Scott Keffer [: 00:38:45

Fellow heirs. How do I get into God's will? When you die, what's it called? Your last will and Testament. This is the New Testament, which came about when someone died, the Lord Jesus Christ. And now we're fellow heirs with him. To remind myself, we wake up and think, why is God doing this? Why does he do it this way? Why doesn't he have him do this? Why doesn't he forgive? Why doesn't he— why doesn't he heal? Why doesn't he do this? Where nobody wakes up and says, Lord, why would you make me a fellow heir with your Son? Well, that's not fair. That's not right. Holy smokes, Lord, what is that? We are fellow heirs with Christ. Along with that, the sufferings, the sufferings of this present age, he says they're not worthy to be compared with the glory.

Scott Keffer [: 00:39:39

The glory is the inheritance. The glory is the fact that you will be made like him. When you see him, you're not going to cower in shame. You're going to be transformed. He's going to transform the body of this humble state into conformity with the body of his glory. We're going to become like him. So he says, in the meantime, in the meantime, you're going to need to pray. But he says it's a weakness.

Scott Keffer [: 00:40:09

The Spirit helps our Weakness. Spirit helps our weakness and intercedes for us. Why? Underline: we don't know how to pray. We don't know how to pray as we should. So he's saying you don't know what to pray for, and you don't know how to pray for what you don't know what to pray for. So the Spirit of God helps us, helps us. When you go to pray, say, Lord, I don't know how to pray, help me. The Spirit will help you pray.

Scott Keffer [: 00:40:40

That's good. Prayer is hard, isn't it? Prayer is hard to start. Prayer is hard to continue. Prayer is hard. Help. Ask for help. Then it reminds us of God's nature and God's promise. What's his promise? God causes all things.

Scott Keffer [: 00:41:04

All things. Some things? Most things. Hard things? Hard things? Evil people with evil desires, evil plans and purposes? God causes all things. This is the statement of God's absolute sovereignty and providence. It's a statement that— of his absolute sovereignty and providence. And the problem we have is We, we, we instill our own definitions to God's definitions. He says he causes all things to work together for good. The problem is, I believe I know what good is.

Scott Keffer [: 00:41:46

Believe I know what good is. I've often informed God about what is good. Well, usually me— what I usually mean feels good for me. Seems good to me. Seems good to me. And usually it's in the short term, kind of now. He heals all our diseases. All of them.

Scott Keffer [: 00:42:12

All of them. He heals all our diseases. Does he do that? Does he heal everybody on this side? Does he heal everybody? We just have our time wrong, our time frame wrong. He works all together for good. And then he says, here's what's important: you are foreknown. Foreknown. In fact, not only are you foreknown, your name is forewritten in the Book of Life. Your name is forewritten.

Scott Keffer [: 00:42:46

So you are foreknown. Predestined, called, justified, and glorified. All in the Greek past tense. Hmm, how's that? So he says, if all this is true, and at the core of it Don't get stuck in the truth. Get stuck in who is proclaiming the truth, who is proclaiming the promise, who is proclaiming your outcome. So he says, if God is for us, who is against us? God's on your side. Who is against you? God is for us. Who is against us? So he reminds us then the Psalms, the Lord is— underline— for me.

Scott Keffer [: 00:43:44

What? The Lord is for me. He used to be against me, but now he's for me. How many want the Lord on your side? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle, the dread champion. He says he is our dread champion. The Lord is for me. And then he says, I will not Fear. But I do fear. But I will not fear.

Scott Keffer [: 00:44:11

But I do fear. But I will not fear. So, Lord, help me with my fear, because God's being for you has not changed. Even when I doubt it, even when I'm afraid in the midst of it, even when I don't believe it, God doesn't become less for you. The good news is he's not wishy-washy like me. He's not wishy-washy like my faith. He's not wishy-washy like I live. God is for me.

Scott Keffer [: 00:44:41

God is for you. God is for us. So I put in there, so who are you worried about? Because he asked that in Psalm, what, what, what can man do to you, right? So who are you worried about? Well, greater is he who's in you than he who's in the world. So he reminds us. Then we, we started with the greatest therefore, and now we have the greatest rhetorical question. How will he not? Write that down. How will he not? How will he not? How will he not what? Who is— how— who is he? God. Who is he? God.

Scott Keffer [: 00:45:27

God the Father, right? Important as you go through here. God the Father. How will he who is for you, how will he not also with him— with who? How will he not also with him— who's that? Jesus Christ. How will he not also with him God the Father, how will he not also with him, Jesus Christ, do what? Freely give you all things. How will he not also with him freely give you all things? He who did not spare his own Son but delivered him up for us all, how will he not also with him— If God the Father gave, freely gave you his Son, Is there anything he'll withhold from you freely? Not just withhold from you, but freely. Is there anything that you need or want or desire that he will withhold from you? So I have to tell myself when I think, oh, what I need is this, what I want is this, right? I can, I can, I can pray my needs, wants, concerns, dreams, all that. I can give that to him. At the end of the day, he's asking the question, look, do you trust me? Do you trust me? If I gave you my Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is there anything I wouldn't freely give you? I haven't withheld anything.

Scott Keffer [: 00:46:56

I've given you the most valuable thing besides myself, my Son. Will I withhold anything from you? So this is, do you trust me? But it's really put in a way that God does with grace. He says, trust me. It's not just like wagging the finger, trust me. He's saying, trust me. You see, I gave you my Son. God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we're yet sinners, Christ died for us. I demonstrated, I proved it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:47:32

So he's saying, trust me. Then he reminds us, by the way, we're more than conquerors. We're more than conquerors. We overwhelmingly conquer. Overwhelmingly conquer. I rarely feel like an overwhelming conqueror. So he reminds us, right? Sometimes I don't— Lord, I don't feel like that. But he says we overwhelmingly conquer.

Scott Keffer [: 00:48:02

That's why Paul prayed. He prayed that the eyes of your heart— this is what I pray for you all— eyes of your heart would be enlightened, that you know the hope of his calling. The riches of the glory of his inheritance in us, and the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe. And he says God demonstrated that power when he raised the Lord Jesus from the dead— resurrection power— seated him at his right hand, far above all rule, authority, power, and dominion, and gave him a name which is above every other name. So he's saying we need the eyes of our heart enlightened, don't we? We do. I don't feel like an overwhelming conqueror. Feel like an overwhelming, you know, failure oftentimes, right? My wobbly faith and my unbelief and my sin. And I'm thinking, I don't feel like a conqueror.

Scott Keffer [: 00:48:50

I don't feel like— so he reminds us, you are more than conquerors. And then the most important thing that he could say is, for I am fully convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing. Is there anything else other than any other created thing? Only him can separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Nothing can separate you. Nothing can separate you. Different way to say God is Or us and separate you from his love. His love. So I ask you, think about it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:49:38

What do you fear will separate you from his love? Your sin, your unbelief, your wobbly faith. What do you believe can separate you? Because he says neither life nor death nor angels nor principalities Nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing. There's nothing that can separate you from his love, the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Is that not the gospel for believers? That's the gospel for believers right there. No condemnation, no separation. All right. Romans 6, 7, and 8. Write down an insight.

Scott Keffer [: 00:50:28

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. I've never done this before, actually, and, uh, it was just a thought. We've been, you know, 50, 50 weeks to go over that first section of Romans, so I'm glad that's been helpful. May he who did not spare his own Son May he bless you, may he keep you, may he cause his face to shine upon you, may he lift up his countenance and grant you shalom deep in your soul, that you would walk in the fact that not of who you are but whose you are this week. May he bless you and keep you. Amen. Thanks for listening. I hope you have greater hope, assurance, and in your life and a deeper trust in the God of the Bible and His Son, Jesus Christ.

Scott Keffer [: 00:51:22

Until next time, may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. And may the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you His peace, His shalom, in your soul and in your life. Until next time, may God bless you and keep you. Amen.