Romans 8:25

But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. BUT IF WE HOPE FOR THAT WE SEE NOT, [THEN DO] WE WITH PATIENCE WAIT FOR IT - i:e., then, patient waiting for it is our fitting attitude. The Spirit's Intercession for the Saints (Romans 8:26)...

25._If then what we see not_, _etc. _This is an argument derived from what the antecedent implies; for patience necessarily follows hope. For when it is grievous to be without the good you may desire, unless you sustain and comfort yourselves with patience, you must necessarily faint through despair. Hope then ever draws patience with it. Thus it is a most apt conclusion — that whatever the gospel promises respecting the glory of the resurrection, vanishes away, except we spend our present life in patiently bearing the cross and tribulations. For if life be invisible, we must have death before our eyes: if glory be invisible, then our present state is that of degradation. And hence if you wish to include in a few words the meaning of the whole passage, arrange Paul’s arguments in this way, “To all the godly there is salvation laid up in hope; it is the character of hope to look forward t...

18-25 The sufferings of the saints strike no deeper than the things of time, last no longer than the present time, are light afflictions, and but for a moment. How vastly different are the sentence of the word and the sentiment of the world, concerning the sufferings of this present time! Indeed the whole creation seems to wait with earnest expectation for the period when the children of God shall be manifested in the glory prepared for them. There is an impurity, deformity, and infirmity, which has come upon the creature by the fall of man. There is an enmity of one creature to another. And they are used, or abused rather, by men as instruments of sin. Yet this deplorable state of the creation is in hope. God will deliver it from thus being held in bondage to man's depravity. The miseries of the human race, through their own and each other's wickedness, declare that the world is not al...

Verse 25. _BUT IF WE HOPE FOR THAT WE SEE NOT_] If we have a well-grounded expectation of our resurrection and final glorification, knowing that such things are necessarily _future_, and must for a certain time be delayed; then _do we patiently wait_ _for them_, continue patiently to endure the common ills of life, and whatever tribulations we may be exposed to in consequence of our Christian profession; for we know, FAITHFUL _is he who has_ _promised. Hope_ is a sort of universal blessing, and one of the greatest which God has granted to man. To mankind, in general, life would be intolerable without it; and it is as necessary as _faith_ is even to the followers of God. The ancients have a very instructive and elegant fable concerning it. "_Prometheus_ having made a human body, went up to heaven, and stole some celestial fire to animate it: _Jupiter_, incensed at the theft, sent down _...

BUT IF WE HOPE ... - The effect here stated is one which exists everywhere. Where there is a strong desire for an object, and a corresponding expectation of obtaining it - which constitutes true hope - then we can wait for it with patience. Where there is a strong desire without a corresponding expectation of obtaining it, there is impatience. As the Christian has a strong desire of future glory, and as he has an expectation of obtaining it just in proportion to that desire, it follows that he may bear trials and persecutions patiently in the hope of his future deliverance. Compared with our future glory, our present sufferings are light, and but for a moment; 2 Corinthians 4:17. In the hope of that blessed eternity which is before him, the Christian can endure the severest trial, and bear the intensest pain without a complaint....

EXPOSITION ROMANS 8:1 (_c_) _The blessed condition and assured hope of such as are in Christ _Jesus. The summary of the contents of this chapter, which follows the Exposition, may be referred to in the first place by the student, so as to assist comprehension of the line of thought. ROMANS 8:1 THERE IS THEREFORE NOW NO CONDEMNATION TO THEM WHICH ARE IN CHRIST JESUS. (The additional words of this verse in the Textus Receptus have but slight support, having probably been supplied from Romans 8:4. They are out of place here.) "Nunc venit ad liberationem et libertatem. Non autem ponit adversativam δὲ, _autem,_ sed conclusivam a!ra, erg

BUT IF WE HOPE FOR THAT WE SEE NOT,.... Whether it be the hour of death, or the second coming of Christ, or the resurrection of the dead, and eternal glory; all which are unseen by us, and to be hoped for: THEN DO WE WITH PATIENCE WAIT FOR IT; as that which is certain and real, as something valuable, which will be satisfying, and be received with the utmost joy. This supposes, that the persons who wait for it believe it, and their interest in it, at least hope they have one; that they have a valuable esteem and affection for it; that they are not in a state of perfection and happiness; and that they sit loose by the things of this world, and are ready to part with the one, and grasp the other: the manner of their waiting is "with patience"; a grace, of which God is the efficient, Christ is the exemplar, and the word the means; and which is of great use under afflictions from the hand of...

Romans 8:1. _There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit._ To my mind one of the sweetest words of that verse is that little word now. «There is, therefore, now no condemnation» at this very moment. Walking under the power of the Spirit of God in Christ Jesus, there is, therefore, now no condemnation to believers. It is a logical conclusion, too, from something that went before. You and I are not absolved from sin apart from the truth, but there is a great truth at the back of it which necessitates it. «There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.» Romans 8:2. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Je

CHAPTER 8 _ 1. In Christ; no Condemnation but Deliverance. (Romans 8:1 .)_ 2. Flesh and Spirit. (Romans 8:5 .) 3. The Body and the Spirit. (Romans 8:9 .) 4. Sons and Heirs of God. (Romans 8:12 .) 5. The Time of Travail and Groaning; the Future Redemption. (Romans 8:18 .) 6. The intercession of the Spirit. (Romans 8:26 .) 7. The Saints Calling; the Challenge and the Assurance. ...

THE BIRTH-PANGS OF IMMORTALITY. Romans 8:18. These present sufferings are light beyond comparison, in view of the glory awaiting us at the coming revelation. The destined glory is hidden under a fleshly veil (see Romans 8:10, Php_3:21, Colossians 3:3 f.; also 1 John 3:2). Romans 8:19; Romans 8:22. With this mystery all creation is pregnant, in strained expectancy awaiting the revelation of the sons of God, sighing and groaning in travail-pains....