Category Archives: Commentary

The Bridge Commentary is a running verse by verse breakdown of the Books of the New Testament including word definitions, significant historical background and comments.

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Why the Holy Spirit is the Great Helper of Our Prayer Life

Roaming through Romans

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Romans 8:26-27 is a mountain of Bible truth and comfort on the subject of prayer. J. Oswald Sanders in his book, Cultivation of Christian Character says these words. “It is worthy of note that the Spirit’s assistance in prayer is more frequently mentioned than any of His other offices. All true praying springs from His activity in the heart. Both Paul and Jude teach that effective prayer is ‘praying in the Holy Spirit,’ which has been defined as praying ‘along the same lines, about the same things, in the same Name as the Holy Spirit.'” 1 In today’s post, we take a glimpse at this all important aspect of the Spirit’s work in the life of a believer.

[Tweet “The truth is we don’t know how to pray as we should but, the Spirit comes to help us.”]

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The Role of the Spirit in the Life of A Believer

Roaming through Romans

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Gardner Taylor said that words are vehicles by which to transfer ideas from one mind to another. However, he went on to say, some ideas are so heavy that the words break down in the effort. What a blessed assurance it is to know that when words break down in our effort to transmit the deepest longings of our hearts, we have the Divine Helper through whom these yearnings find their way to the mind of our Heavenly Father. According to Romans 8:26–27 the Holy Spirit takes our inarticulate groanings and verbalizes them to the Father. Through the Holy Spirit of God who indwells you, a groan in your soul can be the most eloquent prayer you ever prayed.  1 In today’s post, we take a look at the role of the Holy Spirit in the prayer life of a believer.

[Tweet “The way to access the Spirit’s help in the prayer arena is to look to Him for it.”]

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What Is The Glorious Liberty Creation Is Looking For?

Roaming through Romans

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I ran into this whimsical illustration on two different views of creation. It is entitled, ‘Male and Female Views of Creation’. Woman’s View: God made man and said, “I can do better than that,” and made the woman. Man’s view: God made beast and man, then rested. Then He made woman, and no one has ever rested since, beast, man, or God. 1 In today’s post, we will continue our look at creations anticipation for deliverance as continue Roaming through Romans.

[Tweet “The creation was made subject to the curse but at the same time, God gave it hope.”]

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Why Creation Waiting Is A Good God Thing

Roaming through Romans

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In today’s post, we look at verses nineteen and twenty in Romans chapter 8 where Paul speaks of how the whole of creation is waiting for a special event, the manifestation of the Sons of God.

[Tweet “The sons of God will be manifested at the Second Coming of Jesus with their glorified bodies.”]

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How Suffering with Jesus Leads to Glorification

Roaming through Romans

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In today’s post, we continue our march through Roman’s chapter eight. Right after Paul climbs the heights of joint heirship with Christ, he tackles the subject of suffering. Is all suffering the same? The Bible has the answer. To what end does it all come to? Paul tells us in one word, glorification.

[Tweet “Over 200 million believers are persecuted for Christ daily. Jesus identifies with us in this area.”]

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What’s the Spirit’s Number One Role in a Believers Life?

Roaming through Romans

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In this post we look at the Holy Spirit’s most important role of witnessing in the hearts of God’s children there relationship status with the Father. We also look at four different Greek words for ‘children’ or ‘son’ and it’s relevance to Romans 8:14-16 as we continue ‘Roaming through Romans.’

[Tweet “By two immutable witnesses, the Word and the Spirit, you have full assurance of salvation.”]

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Why Adoption in God is the Same as Full Sonship

Roaming through Romans

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What does the Bible mean when it applies the term adoption to believers in Jesus? Is is it any different than the American concept we are familiar with? In this post, we will take a look at the idea and, while doing so, uncover a first century ceremony known as the Toga of Man-hood.

[Tweet “Coming to Jesus is a welcoming into the God’s family as ‘a full son with legal rights’.”]

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In What Way Is the Spirit Your Helper?

Roaming through Romans

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Every believer has a mighty Helper. Even the weakest child of God can make this claim. In today’s post, we take a look at one area where the Spirit of God will lend His aid on your behalf as we continue Roaming through Romans.

[Tweet “The Spirit indwells us and His help can be accessed at any given moment.”]

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Why Mortifying the Flesh Is a Good God Thing

Roaming through Romans

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John Flavel said, ‘It is easier to declaim, like an orator, against a thousand sins of others than it is to mortify one sin, like Christians, in ourselves; to be more industrious in our pulpits than in our closets; to preach twenty sermons to our people than one to our own hearts.’ 1 Mortifying sin was Paul’s subject here in Romans 8:12-13. What can we learn about how to put this into operation in our everyday lives?

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How Can ‘Christ in You’ Propel Your Life?

Roaming through Romans

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What is a Christian? In the Letter to Diognetus, which dates back to the second century A.D., an anonymous writer describes a strange people who are in the world but not of the world.
“Christians are not differentiated from other people by country, language, or customs; you see, they do not live in cities of their own, or speak some strange dialect. They live in both Greek and foreign cities, wherever chance has put them. They follow local customs in clothing, food, and other aspects of life. But at the same time, they demonstrate to us the unusual form of their own citizenship. “They live in their own native lands, but as aliens. Every foreign country is to them as their native country, and every native land as a foreign country.
“They marry and have children just like everyone else, but they do not kill unwanted babies. They offer a shared table, but not a shared bed. They are passing their days on earth, but are citizens of heaven. They obey the appointed laws and go beyond the laws in their own lives.”
“They love everyone, but are persecuted by all. They are put to death and gain life. They are poor and yet make many rich.”
“They are dishonored and yet gain glory through dishonor. Their names are blackened and yet they are cleared. They are mocked and bless in return. They are treated outrageously and behave respectfully to others.”
“When they do good, they are punished as evildoers; when punished, they rejoice as if being given new life. They are attacked by Jews as aliens and are persecuted by Greeks; yet those who hate them cannot give any reason for their hostility.” The word “Christian” has lost much of its meaning in our culture. It means “Christ in one.” 1

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What Does It Mean to Be In the Spirit?

Roaming through Romans

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Port Authority Police Department officers Will Jimeno and John McLoughlin were the last two people rescued from the World Trade Center after the September 11 terrorist attack. For Will Jimeno, that tragic day represents a defining moment in his Christian faith. Jimeno, McLoughlin, and three other officers entered Tower 1 to rescue civilians. But when they got inside, the building collapsed. McLoughlin and Jimeno were pinned under large blocks of concrete rubble and twisted steel. The other three officers were killed. For the next ten hours, Jimeno and his partner fought pain and thirst inside a concrete tomb swirling with dust and smoke. At times, ruptured gas lines would hurl fireballs into the ruins, threatening to burn the two men to death. In another terrifying moment, heat from the fireballs “cooked off” the ammunition inside the firearm of a fallen officer, sending fifteen bullets ricocheting around the chamber.
Jimeno’s hope began to falter. “I was exhausted. I had done everything as a police officer that I could do, and everything as a human being,” he said. “I just knew I was going to die.” Just then, Jimeno saw a figure coming toward him through the rubble. “He wore a glowing white robe and a rope belt,” Jimeno said. “I couldn’t see his face, but I knew it was Jesus.” The vision filled Jimeno with hope. “I had this resurgence of the will to fight,” he said. Turning toward McLoughlin, he yelled, “We’re going to get out of this hellhole!” Several hours later, U.S. Marines and NYPD rescue workers lifted the men out of their concrete prison. The events of that day have given Jimeno a new perspective on the brevity of life. He noted that, even if a person lives to be ninety years old, that’s only a little over thirty-two thousand days. “It’s not that many,” Jimeno said. “You have to do good and do right with the small period you have in between.” 1 Jimeno had a vision of Jesus. The Lord enabled him to momentarily be in the Spirit. Paul references the phrase in the Spirit in Romans 8. What can we learn from Paul about this place called ‘In the Spirit’?