Romans 8

Today I read Romans 8 from The Message.  I would highly recommend it to you.  I think Paul's writing can be difficult to follow, and Peterson's Message paraphrases it in a way that allows me to hear it.  As I read Romans 8, I was prompted to rewrite what I heard in it.  Some of this might be direct quotations from The Message, and I haven't marked those parts.  Go read Peterson's version; it's really good.

With the arrival of Christ, we are freed.  God has acted in a decisive way -- he is not remote.  He has entered into the human condition and has done what the law could never do.  He has done what we could never do on our own.

"Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life."  Attention to God rather than self leads us to a free life.

When God takes up residence, we cannot help but think of him.  Those who have welcomed him -- even though they still experiencing sin -- exprerience life on God's terms.  With God's spirit in you, you will experience life!

Let go of the life you have -- embrace the life God offers.  This is not a grave-tending life - it is a life expectant.

All around us is a pregnant creation, waiting with anticipation for what will come.  When we tire of the waiting, God is there. When we don't know how to pray, God is there.  He knows us better than we know ourselves. 

God reveals to us this plan through what he has done in Christ.  We see the intended shape of our lives through Christ.

If God is like this -- present with us, at work re-creating us, groaning with us -- how can we lose?  If God will do what he has already done, there is nothing he will not do for us.  And what or who can separate us from God?  Nothing -- not life, death, pain, joy -- not the best or the worst in life -- can separate us from God's love for us.