One might begin to believe that the mandates of the Christian walk are not worth the suffering that so often accompanies the radical transformation that is brought about by the indwelling Spirit of life. This is a fair question and the Apostle Paul seeks to answer it resoundingly. Paul does so in three ways; first, the believer is not the only one to suffer; second all creation looks forward to the revelation of God which produces hope; and third, the Holy Spirit helps in the believer’s weakness. The first answer Paul offers redirects the individual’s attention off of themselves and back to where it rightly belongs; the divine activity and ordination of God. It is easy for all who struggle with suffering and affliction to begin to believe they are the sole target of such things. Take note, to do so is pride and sin. When one fixates on their plight as though they face all ills alone, then pride has entered in. Paul clearly states that all of creation is enduring affliction until this day. Furthermore, the creation was subjected to this corruption not through its own volitional choice but through the will of Him who subjected it; God. Not only is creation under this subjection but all of God’s children are also under subjection to the present fallen state. Together with creation, God’s children groan under the pain of falleness and sin but have the same hope that all of creation has; the glory of God and the freedom of redemption through God’s salvation. Paul further says that this hope is founded on the promises of God in salvation. By necessity, Paul says, this kind of hope is not “seen” (βλεπομένη, present passive participle). What Paul seems to be indicating here is that by its own nature, the hope of salvation has certain aspects have not yet been made fully manifest. In other words, there is still yet more to come. This only makes sense when viewed against the backdrop of the promised, future glorified state. The believer does not yet fully realize all that God has promised to do; he cannot do so until God makes all things new. In this way, Paul points the believer to look pass his suffering and affliction to the new work that God will do at the end of the ages. However, one may ask, “What shall be done in the mean time?” To answer this question, Paul offers his third point; the Holy Spirit helps in one’s time of weakness. Above all other things, this singular idea should be of greatest help to the believer in the process of sanctification. The same Spirit of life that regenerates the lost soul also brings the continued well spring of life to the regenerated believer. Paul does not say that the Spirit does His work and then leaves the newly reborn believer to work it all out on his own. Rather Paul spells out some of the most intimate affaires of the believer and declares that the Spirit of life helps the believer to accomplish what must be done. The Spirit intercedes on behalf of the believer as petitions are offered before the Father. Paul says this is because the believer has not yet learned how to pray as he ought. Therefore, the Spirit assists in both speaking to the believer what ought to be prayed for and interceding before the Father as to what is actually prayed. Paul says the Spirit intercedes on behalf of the believer because He knows the mind of God and so moves for the betterment of God’s children. As a result of these things, Paul can with confidence encourage every believer to trust in every circumstance that their ultimate good is in play. Paul’s assertion is that all things work to the good of those who are God’s elect. Paul brings this section to a conclusion by offering a snap shot of how and why all that has been brought to bear in sin, salvation and now sanctification is certainly true; God’s ordained plan of salvation. The traditional formulation of the Ordo Salutis is found in what Paul says next. In short, Paul describes God’s ordained plan of salvation beginning with His foreknowledge of the elect in which God orchestrates all things concluding with the glorification of His children at the consummation of the ages. Under this view of God’s redemptive history practically applied in the lives of each of His children, all things certainly work for their good. In this way God’s children can undertake whatever this temporal life may bring.
Older
Top
