Bible Study Romans 8

Yes I agree we must love our selves before we can learn to love others.
With Christ he gives us the ability to go that extra little bit. I know I have slacked off at mass because of overtime but no excuse. Doing Gods will doesnt mean we have to go above and beyond it can be while at work or at the grocery store or wherever.
But ultimately we all must remember we all fall short of the kingdom that is why Jesus came to atone for our sins. We are not worthy but He has made us so.

Good point Andrew. Doing acts of mercy is our calling as Christians. I know this deep down, but I don't actually actively look to do such acts. I do them as God sets them before me. And yet that doesn't sound exactly the way I should handle them. I must admit that having my own business keeps me so busy I'm exhausted at the end of the day. I taught Rel. Ed. classes many years. I need to at least start that again and use the others gifts God gave me.

Michael, Glad to put a different spin on the peace perspective for you. However, I am of the opinion that if one is not at peace with God and himself it is hard to be a peace maker for others. It all fits together as we study scripture doesn't it?

Its really a trip how to the point Paul is in Romans and really in chapter 8. When he states in verse 6 And human nature has nothing to look forward to but death, while the Spirit looks forward to life and peace, this is really it in a nut shell. We must look past what we have here and focus on what we have to gain. But to do so we have to follow what Christ has told us which are the corporal acts of mercy. Feed the poor, clothe the naked, visit those in prison and who are sick etc.....if we dont do these things for others than what can we expect from the one who saved us?

frankieschatz1 Yes peace is a great virtue. I agree that blessed are they who make peace. These children of God suffer just like Jesus, especially when they seek to make peace amongst family and friends. Expect that I think. In Romans 8 I was thinking more of harmony and peace of self. You made me think of it from a different angle in your comment. I know that in another passage Jesus says he came not to unify the world in peace, but to divide it. Not sure how that fits in with Romans 8, unless it means that in order to have personal peace we need to radically understand our spirit as free from slavery to sin, then identify with that spirit. We are spirit, after all, and our bodies on earth are temporary. How do we get a new body, that's a good question. What happens to this body when we die?

Michael I like your thoughts on the Spirit call us to seek peace. Lately I was accused of always trying to be the peace keeper in the family as if it we a bad thing. I took exception to that. It is the great call of all Christians to be peace makers. The is one thing that really makes one stand out now days when everyone is taking this side or that side and seeking no middle ground.

Thank you Kelvin for telling us that St. Jerome said the quote 'Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." I just couldn't remember who said it, but the important thing is that the truth of it is taken to heart. That is the same for all scripture.
Romans, 8:29 is a tricky passage. Predestination is a teaching the Presbyterians once really held onto. It is a fallacy to take this verse alone and forget so many other passages in scriptures that speak to the free will of man to choose to follow God or not. Yet verse 29-30 flow so beautifully like great prose. Paul was a very fine orator for he truly had the command of the language.

Romans 8 that the concern of the flesh is death and hostility to God, but the concern of the spirit is life and peace. I guess that to live in the spirit is to love life and seek peace. Counting blessings; showing thanks to God and all who have helped you in life; and cutting off those things which give you too much trouble or are too much to handle, whatever that might be, like trying to please the implacable, admonish the intractable, or instruct the undisciplined and unteachable (relative to your abilities of teaching, of course); or pursuing activities which don't build up your character or those of others, frivolity, wastefulness, etc.

HI Members of Romans 8!

"Ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ." I think it was St. Jerome who said that.

How does one live by the spirit?

I think when it comes to scripture we cannot deny the work of the trinity within us. It is like what St. Paul says: Not I but Christ in me. When we ponder on the words of God we are engaged in a type of prayer. One prayer form that has been very influential in my life has been Lectio Divina - it is type of reading and rereading of scripture where the reader has a chance to digest the words slowly and carefully.

So friend do you not fear. For it is Christ who is always with us ministering to our every need.

Derek

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