Life and peace result from setting our mind on the spirit. When our mind is set on the spirit, our outward actions are in agreement with our inner man and there is no discrepancy between us and God. He and we are at peace, not at enmity (v. 7). The result is that we feel peaceful within.

When our mind is set on the flesh and the things of the flesh, the result is death, which causes us to feel separated from the enjoyment of God. We feel uneasy and deadened instead of peaceful and living. When we are minding the flesh and setting our mind on the things of the flesh, the sense of death should serve as a warning to us, urging us to be delivered from the flesh and to live in the spirit.

Lit., the mind of the flesh. In vv. 6-8 the crucial item is the mind. The mind is the leading part of the soul, which is man's personality, his person. The mind thus represents the soul, that is, the person himself. In this chapter the mind is neutral, being between the regenerated mingled spirit and the fallen body, the flesh. Chapters 7 and 8 show that the mind may have two different actions, by which it can cause us to be either in the spirit or in the flesh. If it relies on and attaches itself to the regenerated spirit, which is mingled with the Spirit of God, the mind will bring us into the spirit and into the enjoyment of the divine Spirit as the law of the Spirit of life (v. 2). If the mind attaches itself to the flesh and acts independently, it will bring us into the flesh, causing us to be at enmity with God and to be unable to please Him (vv. 7-8).

The things of the Spirit are the things concerning Christ, which the Spirit receives and declares to us (John 16:14-15). As we exercise ourselves to mind these things, eventually our whole being will be according to the spirit.

Not only to walk and have our activities according to the spirit, but to have our entire being according to the spirit. When we are according to the spirit, our walk also is according to the spirit. In this spirit the indwelling law of the Spirit of life, that is, the processed Triune God Himself, works within us spontaneously and frees us from the law of sin and of death.

The things of the flesh include anything that is in the realm of the flesh, whether evil or good.

It is difficult to discern the word spirit used in this chapter, in Gal. 5, and in other places in the New Testament, unless it is clearly designated to denote God's Holy Spirit or our regenerated human spirit, as in v. 9 and v. 16 of this chapter. According to the usage in the New Testament, the word spirit, as used in this verse, denotes our regenerated human spirit indwelt by and mingled with the Spirit, who is the consummation of the Triune God (v. 9). This corresponds with 1 Cor. 6:17, "He who is joined to the Lord [who is the Spirit — 2 Cor. 3:17; 1 Cor. 15:45] is one spirit" — one mingled spirit.

On one hand, the law of God outside man is a law in letters, is dead, and lacks the power of life to supply man to meet its demands. On the other hand, man's body has been corrupted by Satan to become the flesh of death, and as such is incapable of keeping the law. It is because of these two factors that there is "that which the law could not do"; that is, the law is incapable of pleasing God through man's keeping of it.

In the flesh nothing good dwells (Rom. 7:18); only sin dwells in the flesh (Rom. 7:17). Furthermore, the flesh is of death (Rom. 7:24). Hence, no man can be justified before God out of the works of the law through the flesh (Rom. 3:20). Because of such a weak and impotent flesh, there is something that the law could not do.

The law of sin, the power to commit sin that arises spontaneously in man, causes man to become a slave of sin (John 8:34). Thus, man is helpless, is controlled and manipulated by sin, and does many things against his will. The law of death, the natural power that causes man to become weak, to wither up, and to age and die, dwells in man and causes every part of man to enter into decay and death. On one hand, death disables man; on the other hand, it desensitizes man. It causes man to be disabled when he attempts to do good, and to be insensitive when he commits sins.

Some ancient MSS read, you.

The major function of the processed Triune God in indwelling our spirit as the law of the Spirit of life is to free us completely from Satan, who dwells in our fallen nature as the law of sin and of death (Rom. 7:23-25). This freeing is not only for our subjective justification but even more for our dispositional sanctification.

The spiritual life revealed in this chapter is fourfold. First, it was the divine life in the Spirit (v. 2). Second, it became life in our spirit through regeneration (v. 10). Then from our spirit it saturates our mind for the transformation of our soul, to which our mind belongs, and becomes the life in our soul (v. 6). Eventually, it will permeate our body and become the life in our body (v. 11), ultimately issuing in the transfiguration of our body (Phil. 3:21), that is, the redemption of our body (v. 23).

Here law, the Spirit, and life are in contrast to law, sin, and death. The two laws are in opposition to each other, the Spirit is in opposition to sin, and life is in opposition to death. In Rom. 5 grace, which is God embodied in us, is in opposition to sin, which is Satan embodied in us (Rom. 5:21). In Rom. 8 the Spirit, who is God living in us, is in opposition to sin. Thus, the grace in ch. 5 is the Spirit in ch. 8, the very God embodied in us as grace, living and acting in us.

In the previous chapters life is mentioned a number of times (Rom. 1:17; 2:7; 5:10, 17-18, 21; 6:4, 22-23). In this chapter life is joined with the Spirit in the phrase the Spirit of life, showing that everything regarding life in the preceding chapters is included in the Spirit in this chapter. Life belongs to the Spirit, and the Spirit is of life. These two are actually one (John 6:63). The way to experience the divine, eternal, uncreated life is by the Spirit of life.

The law of the Spirit of life is the subject of this chapter. The Spirit and life are mentioned in this verse, but only in connection with the working of this law. Life is the content and issue of the Spirit, and the Spirit is the ultimate and consummate manifestation of the Triune God after His being processed through incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection and becoming the indwelling, life-giving Spirit, who is life to all the believers in Christ. The law that has freed us from the law of sin, which is of Satan, who dwells in the members of our fallen body (17, Rom. 7:23), is of this Spirit of life. It is this law, not God nor the Spirit, that works in us to deliver us from the working of the law of sin in our flesh and to enable us to know God and gain God and thereby live Him out. This law of the Spirit of life is the spontaneous power of the Spirit of life. Such a spontaneous law works automatically under the condition that fulfills its requirements (see note Rom. 8:4^2a).

Both Satan and God, after entering into our being and dwelling in us, work within us not by outward, objective activities but by an inward, subjective law. The working of the law of the Spirit of life is the working of the processed Triune God in our spirit; this is also the working of the Triune God in us in His life.

In this chapter the phrase in Christ refers not only to our standing, our position, in Christ, as mentioned in Rom. 6, but also to the reality of our daily walk in our regenerated spirit. Thus, this chapter speaks of being in Christ as a term or a condition. This corresponds with being saved in His life in Rom. 5:10.

The condemnation implied in 1:18—3:20 and mentioned in Rom. 5:16, 18 is objective, under God's righteous law, and is the result of our outward sins. The condemnation mentioned here is subjective, in our conscience, and is the result of our being inwardly defeated by the evil law of the indwelling sin, as described in Rom. 7:17-18, 20-24. The blood of the crucified Christ is the remedy for objective condemnation (Rom. 3:25). The Spirit of life, who is Christ processed to be the life-giving Spirit and who is in our spirit, is the remedy for subjective condemnation.

The phrase now then no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus is a strong proof that the experience illustrated in Rom. 7 is that of a person who is without Christ.

If we mind the flesh, or set our mind on the flesh, we become those who are in the flesh.

Life and peace result from setting our mind on the spirit. When our mind is set on the spirit, our outward actions are in agreement with our inner man and there is no discrepancy between us and God. He and we are at peace, not at enmity (v. 7). The result is that we feel peaceful within.

When our mind is set on the flesh and the things of the flesh, the result is death, which causes us to feel separated from the enjoyment of God. We feel uneasy and deadened instead of peaceful and living. When we are minding the flesh and setting our mind on the things of the flesh, the sense of death should serve as a warning to us, urging us to be delivered from the flesh and to live in the spirit.

Lit., the mind of the spirit. Setting the mind on the spirit is the same as minding the things of the Spirit in v. 5. Verse 6 and vv. 7-13 show that Christ today is the life of God in the divine Spirit (v. 2) and also the indwelling life of God in God's people, because God's Spirit of life has become the indwelling Spirit in us, the Spirit in both aspects being Christ.

Verses Rom. 8:8-9 emphasize the word in, showing that the stress here is on the condition and experience more than on the source and position.

This chapter unveils to us how the Triune God — the Father (v. 15), the Son (vv. 3, 29, 32), and the Spirit (vv. 9, 11, 13-14, 16, 23, 26) — dispenses Himself as life (vv. 2, 6, 10, 11) into us, the tripartite men — spirit, soul, and body — to make us His sons (vv. 14-15, 17, 19, 23, 29) for the constituting of the Body of Christ (Rom. 12:4-5).

I.e., makes home, resides (cf. Eph. 3:17). If we allow the Spirit of the Triune God to make His home in us, that is, to settle Himself in us with adequate room, then in our experience we are in the spirit and are no longer in the flesh. If we are so, the Triune God as the Spirit will be able to spread from our spirit (v. 10) into our soul, represented by our mind (v. 6), and eventually He will even give life to our mortal body (v. 11).

This shows that our being of Christ depends on His Spirit. If there were no Spirit of Christ, or if Christ were not the Spirit, there would be no way for us to be joined to Him and to belong to Him. However, Christ is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17), and He is in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22) and is one spirit with us (1 Cor. 6:17).

The Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ are not two Spirits but one. Paul used these titles interchangeably, indicating that the indwelling Spirit of life in v. 2 is the all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit of the entire Triune God. God, the Spirit, and Christ — the three of the Godhead — are all mentioned in this verse. However, there are not three in us; there is only one, the triune Spirit of the Triune God (John 4:24; 2 Cor. 3:17; Rom. 8:11). The Spirit of God implies that this Spirit is of the One who was from eternity past, who created the universe and is the origin of all things. The Spirit of Christ implies that this Spirit is the embodiment and reality of Christ, the incarnated One. This Christ accomplished everything necessary to fulfill God's plan. He includes not only divinity, which He possessed from eternity, but also humanity, which He obtained through incarnation. He also includes human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. This is the Spirit of Christ in resurrection, that is, Christ Himself dwelling in our spirit (v. 10) to impart Himself, the embodiment of the processed Triune God, into us as resurrection life and power to deal with the death that is in our nature (v. 2). Thus, we may live today in Christ's resurrection, in Christ Himself, by living in the mingled spirit.

Referring to the unchangeable source and position rather than to the changeable condition and experience. We have the Spirit of Christ according to the source, the new birth; hence, we are of Christ and belong to Him. In our present experience and spiritual condition, however, we need to be not only of Him but also in Him.

The Greek word denotes the general walk in our living. See note Gal. 5:16^1a. The requirements that we must fulfill in order that the law of the Spirit of life (which has already been installed in us) may work are:
1) to walk according to the spirit (v. 4);
2) to mind the things of the Spirit — to set the mind on the spirit (vv. 5-6);
3) to put to death by the Spirit the practices of the body (v. 13);
4) to be led by the Spirit as sons of God (v. 14);
5) to cry to the Father in the spirit of sonship (v. 15);
6) to witness that we are the children of God (v. 16);
7) to groan for the full sonship, the redemption of our body (v. 23).

Not consciously kept by us through our outward endeavoring but spontaneously and unconsciously fulfilled in us by the inward working of the Spirit of life. The Spirit of life is the Spirit of Christ, and Christ corresponds with the law of God. This Spirit within us spontaneously fulfills all the righteous requirements of the law through us when we walk according to Him.

The flesh is of sin, yet the Son of God became flesh (John 1:14; Heb. 2:14; 1 Tim. 3:16). However, He was only in the likeness of the flesh and did not have the sin of the flesh (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15). This was typified by the bronze serpent lifted up by Moses for the sinful Israelites (Num. 21:9; John 3:14). The bronze serpent was in the form, the likeness, of the actual serpent but did not have its poison. It was such a bronze serpent that bore God's judgment for the poisoned Israelites and dealt with the serpents that poisoned them.

Although Christ did not have the sin of the flesh, He was crucified in the flesh (Col. 1:22; 1 Pet. 3:18). Thus, on the cross He judged Satan, who is related to the flesh, and the world, which hangs on him (John 12:31; 16:11), thereby destroying Satan (Heb. 2:14). At the same time, through Christ's crucifixion in the flesh, God condemned sin, which was brought by Satan into man's flesh. As a result, it is possible for us to walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us (v. 4).

In this verse the Spirit is not mentioned, for here the emphasis is that Christ today is the Spirit and that the Spirit of Christ is the very Christ in us. According to the fact, it is Christ; according to experience, it is the Spirit. In our experience of Him, He is the Spirit; in our worshipping Him, calling on Him, and speaking of Him, He is Christ. We receive Him as our Savior and Redeemer, but He enters into us as the Spirit. As the Redeemer, He has the title Christ; as the Indweller, He has the title the Spirit. These are not two who dwell in us but one Dweller in two aspects.

"Christ...in you" is the crucial point of the book of Romans. In Rom. 3 Christ is on the cross, shedding His blood for our redemption; in Rom. 4 He is in resurrection; in Rom. 6 we are in Him; now, in Rom. 8 He is the Spirit in us.

Before we believed in the Lord, our spirit within was dead and our body without was alive. Now that we have Christ in us, though our body without is dead because of sin, our spirit within is life because of righteousness. Christ's coming into us as life exposes the death situation of our body. In our spirit is Christ the Spirit as righteousness, resulting in life; but in our flesh is Satan as sin, resulting in death.

Through the fall of man, sin, bringing death with it, entered the human body, causing it to become dead and impotent in the things of God. Although God condemned sin in the flesh (v. 3), this sin has not been uprooted or eradicated from man's fallen body. Hence, our body is still dead.

The regenerated human spirit, in contrast to the fallen human body. This spirit is not the Spirit of God, for the spirit mentioned here is life only under the condition that Christ is in us. For the Spirit of God to be life, no particular condition is required. Hence, the spirit's being life because of righteousness can refer only to our human spirit, not to the Spirit of God.

Our spirit has not only been regenerated and made living; it has become life. When we believed in Christ, He as the divine Spirit of life came into our spirit and mingled Himself with it; the two spirits thereby have become one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17). Now our spirit is not merely living but is life.

After we are saved, it is still possible for us to live according to the flesh by setting the mind on the flesh. But when we are in spirit and walk according to the spirit, we are freed from the flesh and are no longer obligated to it as debtors.

In this verse, to die, to put to death, and to live are spiritual matters, not physical.

We must put to death the practices of the body, but we must do it by the Spirit. On one hand, we must take the initiative to put to death the practices of the body; the Spirit does not do it for us. On the other hand, we should not attempt to deal with our body by relying on our own effort without the power of the Holy Spirit.

The putting to death here is actually our coordinating with the Spirit who indwells us. Inwardly, we must allow Him to make His home in us that He may give life to our mortal body (v. 11). Outwardly, we must put to death the practices of our body that we may live. When we take the initiative to put to death the practices of our body, the Spirit comes in to apply the effectiveness of Christ's death to those practices, thus killing them.

It is not the body itself but its practices that we must put to death. The body needs to be redeemed (v. 23), but its practices need to be put to death. These practices include not only sinful things but also all things practiced by our body apart from the Spirit.

The leading by the Spirit is not outward but inward, and is composed of the law of the Spirit of life (v. 2), the Spirit (vv. 9-13), and life (vv. 6-11). This verse speaks of our being led by the Spirit rather than of the Spirit's leading us, indicating that although the Spirit is ready to lead us, we must take the initiative to be led by Him. This means that we must take Him as our life and everything and that we must put to death everything of the old creation in us. We do not need to seek after the Spirit's leading, since it is already present within us, dwelling in our regenerated spirit. If we live under this leading, we will walk and behave in a way that proves that we are God's sons.

The leading here is not merely an action of the Spirit. It is the Triune God Himself becoming the leading in our spirit. If we would care for Him as a person who indwells us, we will spontaneously be led by Him.

The central thought of the book of Romans is that God's salvation makes sinners His sons, who have His life and nature so that they can express Him, that they may become members of Christ to constitute the Body of Christ for His expression. Hence, sonship is stressed in this chapter (vv. 15, 23). Sons here indicates a more advanced stage of growth in the divine life than does children in v. 16, yet not as advanced as heirs in v. 17. Children refers to the initial stage of sonship, the stage of regeneration in the human spirit. Sons are the children of God who are in the stage of the transformation of their souls. They not only have been regenerated in their spirit and are growing in the divine life, but they also are living and walking by being led by the Spirit. Heirs are the sons of God who, through the transfiguration of their body in the stage of glorification, will be fully matured in every part of their being. Hence, they will be qualified as the legal heirs to claim the divine inheritance (vv. 17, 23).

At present the creation is enslaved under the law of decay and corruption. Its only hope is to be freed from the slavery of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God when the sons of God are revealed.

The firstfruits of the Spirit are simply the Spirit Himself as the firstfruits. The Triune God is our enjoyment; He is everything to us. There will be a harvest of this blessing at the redemption of our body; that will be the full enjoyment. Today the Spirit is the firstfruits of the coming harvest, the foretaste of our full enjoyment of God.

Our regenerated human spirit, mingled with the Spirit of the Son of God (see note Gal. 4:6³). Sonship in this spirit includes the life, the position, the living, the enjoyment, the birthright, the inheritance, and the manifestation of a son. Such an all-inclusive sonship is now in our spirit.

In God's justification we have received righteousness, which is the Triune God Himself entering into our being, into our spirit. This righteousness results in life (Rom. 5:18, 21); hence, our spirit has now become life.

The objective facts revealed in Rom. 6 concerning our death and resurrection in Christ become our subjective experience only when we are in the indwelling Spirit, who is revealed in Rom. 8.

In this verse we have
1) the entire Triune God — "the One who raised Jesus from the dead," "Christ Jesus," and "His Spirit who indwells you";
2) the process required for His dispensing, as implied in the words Jesus (emphasizing incarnation), Christ (emphasizing crucifixion and resurrection), and raised (emphasizing resurrection);
3) His dispensing of Himself into the believers, as shown by the words give life to your mortal bodies, which indicate that the dispensing not only occurs at the center of our being but also reaches to the circumference, to our whole being.

See note Rom. 8:9².

This does not refer to divine healing but to the result of our allowing the Spirit of God to make His home in us and saturate our entire being with the divine life. In this way He gives His life to our mortal, dying body, not merely to heal it but also that it may be enlivened to carry out His will.

I.e., consider after calculating.

Lit., into, to.

Lit., watching with head outstretched, with full concentration.

An unveiling or appearing of something previously covered or hidden. Although we are the sons of God, we are veiled, not yet revealed. At the Lord's second coming, when we will be glorified and our bodies will be fully redeemed, the veil will be lifted. The creation is eagerly awaiting this. This revelation will be the consummation of the process of designation that we are now passing through (see note Rom. 1:4¹).

An Aramaic word that means father. After being regenerated, we are no longer merely God's creatures; we are His children. Because we have now been born of God and are related to Him in life, it is very normal and sweet for us to call Him "Father" (see note Gal. 4:6^4d).

It is not only that the Spirit witnesses and our spirit witnesses also. Rather, it is that the Spirit witnesses with our spirit. This indicates that our spirit must take the initiative to witness first; then the Spirit will witness with our spirit.

This reveals that the Spirit of God today, the all-inclusive Spirit of the Triune God, dwells in our regenerated human spirit and works in our spirit. These two spirits are one; they live together, work together, and exist together as one mingled spirit (1 Cor. 6:17). See John 3:6; 4:24 and notes there.

This is the witnessing of the Spirit when we cry "Abba, Father" (v. 15). Such a witnessing testifies to us and assures us that we are the children of God, who possess His life; it also limits us and restricts us to a living and walk that are according to this life, in keeping with our being children of God. The Spirit witnesses to our most basic and elementary relationship with God, namely, that we are His children; it does not witness that we are His sons or His heirs. Therefore, this witnessing of the Spirit begins from the time of our spiritual birth, our regeneration.

This shows that there is a condition for us to be heirs. It is not that we are heirs simply because we are children of God. Rather, after being born as children, we must grow in life to become sons, and then we must pass through suffering that we may be glorified to become legal heirs.

This is not the mind of the Spirit that is independent of us. It is the mind of the Spirit that has been mingled with our mind (v. 6) and has become a part of our heart. The Spirit not only has mingled Himself with our spirit; He has also mingled His mind with our mind.

The interceding Spirit prays for us not according to something of God but according to God Himself, that we may be conformed to the image of God's Son.

Including all persons, all matters, and all things.

God the Father answers when the Spirit intercedes for us, and He arranges our circumstances, causing all things to work together for good to us.

According to the context, the good here is not related to physical persons, matters, or things. It refers to our gaining more of Christ, to our having Him wrought into our being, that we may be transformed metabolically and may eventually be conformed to His image, the image of the Son of God (v. 29), that is, that we may be brought into the full sonship.

Loving God causes us to care for His desire and to be willing to coordinate with Him. God's working needs our coordination, and our coordinating with God confirms that we are called by God according to His purpose.

Although we have the divine Spirit as the firstfruits in our spirit, our body has not yet been saturated with the divine life. Our body is still the flesh, linked to the old creation, and it is still a body of sin and death that is impotent in the things of God. Hence, we groan together with the creation (vv. 19, 22) and eagerly await the glorious day when we will obtain the full sonship, the redemption and transfiguration of our body, and will be freed from the slavery of corruption.

This sonship began with the regeneration of our spirit, is continuing with the transformation of our soul, and will be consummated with the redemption of our body.

Referring to the purposeful determination in God's plan. This is God's purpose to produce many brothers of His firstborn Son.

In vv. 29-30 all the steps of God's work are described using the past tense, indicating that in His eyes all the work has been completed. Because God is the God of eternity, there is no element of time with Him.

God has predestinated us not simply that we may be sanctified, spiritual, and victorious but that we may be fully conformed to the image of His Son. This is our destiny, determined by God in eternity past.

Conformation is the end result of transformation. It includes the changing of our inward essence and nature, and it also includes the changing of our outward form, that we may match the glorified image of Christ, the God-man. He is the prototype and we are the mass production. Both the inward and the outward changes in us, the product, are the result of the operation of the law of the Spirit of life (v. 2) in our being.

In like manner indicates that prior to the help of the Spirit mentioned in this verse, there was already another help of the Spirit, which must be the help rendered to us by the Spirit as the firstfruits mentioned in v. 23. This is confirmed by the fact that both v. 23 and this verse speak of our groaning.

The weakness here is our ignorance of how we should pray. We do not know the kind of prayer God desires, and we are not clear how to pray, according to the burden we feel, for our being conformed to the image of God's Son; hence, we groan (v. 23). In our groaning the Spirit groans also, interceding for us. His interceding is mainly that we may experience the transformation in life for growth into the maturity of sonship that we may be fully conformed to the image of God's Son.

Or, Shall God, who justifies?

Or, Shall Christ Jesus, who died...for us?

This verse states that Christ today is at the right hand of God, in the heavens; v. 10, however, states that He is now in us, in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22). As the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17), He is omnipresent, being both at the right hand of God and in our spirit, both in heaven and on earth.

In this verse it is Christ who intercedes for us, yet in v. 26 it is the Spirit who intercedes for us. These are not two Intercessors but one, the Lord Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18). He is interceding for us at two ends. At one end it is the Spirit in us, probably initiating the intercession for us; at the other end it is the Lord Christ at the right hand of God, probably completing the intercession for us, which must be mainly that we will be conformed to His image and brought into His glory.

Because of God's unchanging love for us and the fact that Christ has accomplished everything on our behalf, neither tribulation nor persecution can suppress or defeat us; rather, in all these things we more than overcome and conquer through Him who loved us.

Christ was the only begotten Son of God from eternity (John 1:18). When He was sent by God into the world, He was still the only begotten Son of God (1 John 4:9; John 1:14; 3:16). By His passing through death and entering into resurrection, His humanity was uplifted into His divinity. Thus, in His divinity with His humanity that passed through death and resurrection, He was born in resurrection as God's firstborn Son (Acts 13:33). At the same time, all His believers were raised together with Him in His resurrection (1 Pet. 1:3) and were begotten together with Him as the many sons of God. Thus they became His many brothers to constitute His Body and be God's corporate expression in Him.

As the only begotten Son of God, Christ had divinity but not humanity; He was self-existing and ever-existing, as God is. His being the firstborn Son of God, having both divinity and humanity, began with His resurrection. With His firstborn Son as the base, pattern, element, and means, God is producing many sons, and the many sons who are produced are the many believers who believe into God's firstborn Son and are joined to Him as one. They are exactly like Him in life and nature, and, like Him, they have both humanity and divinity. They are His increase and expression in order that they may express the eternal Triune God for eternity. The church today is a miniature of this expression (Eph. 1:23), and the New Jerusalem in eternity will be the ultimate manifestation of this expression (Rev. 21:11). This book reveals that God's making sinners His sons is for this expression (Rom. 12:5) and points to the ultimate manifestation of this expression (Eph. 3:19).

The purpose of God's foreknowledge, predestination, and calling is to prepare and produce many brothers for His firstborn Son (see note John 20:17^2a) that, on the one hand, they, together with God's firstborn Son, may be the many sons of God with the divine life and nature for the expression of God, and that, on the other hand, they may be the many members who constitute the Body of God's firstborn Son as the corporate expression of God in His firstborn Son, which is the fullness of God's firstborn Son, that is, the fullness of God in His firstborn Son (Eph. 1:23; 3:19).

Justification is a bridge that brings sinners, who are redeemed by Christ, from the law's condemnation (Rom. 3:19) into God's acceptance (Rom. 5:1-2). In this acceptance God works to conform them to the image of His Son until He brings them into His glory (Heb. 2:10).

Glorification is the step in God's complete salvation in which God will completely saturate our body of sin, which is of death and is mortal (Rom. 7:24; 8:11; 6:6), with the glory of His life and nature according to the principle of His regenerating our spirit through the Spirit. In this way He will transfigure our body, conforming it to the resurrected, glorious body of His Son (Phil. 3:21). This is the ultimate step in God's complete salvation, wherein God obtains a full expression, which will ultimately be manifested in the New Jerusalem in the coming age.

The love of God is the source of His eternal salvation. This love is in Christ and has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5). Nothing can separate us from this love of God (vv. 38-39). In God's salvation this love to us has become the love of Christ (v. 35), which does many marvelous things for us through the grace of Christ until God's complete salvation is accomplished in us. These marvelous things provoke God's enemy to attack us with all kinds of sufferings and calamities (vv. 35-36). However, because of our response to the love of God in Christ, these attacks have become benefits to us (v. 28). Hence, we more than conquer in all our afflictions and calamities (v. 37).

By the end of ch. 8 this book has covered the first half of God's salvation in Christ. This salvation has saved us to the extent that, on the one hand, we are in God's acceptance enjoying the source of this salvation, which is God's love in Christ, from which we cannot be separated by any person, matter, or thing; and, on the other hand, we are in God's life being conformed by the Lord Spirit to reach the ultimate goal of this salvation, that is, to enter into the incomparable divine glory and be glorified together with God (vv. 18, 30).