A Christian Perspective on Suffering (preaching resource for 7/23/23, 8th Sunday after Pentecost)
This post exegetes Romans 8:17-27, providing context for the 7/23/23 RCL Epistles reading. It draws on "The Expositor’s Bible Commentary" and "The Message of Romans" by John Stott. "The Suffering Christ" by de Bois Clair (public domain via Wikimedia Commons) Introduction Romans Chapter 8 addresses the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our sanctification (which, as Paul notes in Romans 7, is something the law is incapable of doing). This transforming ministry of the Spirit has multiple aspects and brings us multiple blessings—several of which are enumerated in Romans 8:1-17. But at the end of v17, Paul introduces a part of our sanctification we often find troubling—the suffering we experience as Christians. Why do we suffer in this life? Paul now turns to this question, pointing out that for Christians, suffering is not meaningless, nor an indication that God has abandoned us—rather, through the indwelling Spirit, our suffering is redemptive —it leads to ou