Romans 8:1-39 sums up what Christianity is in a nutshell. It is worth reading for a general overview of what Jesus and his disciples taught about salvation and deliverance from sin, which allows people to avoid condemnation and death on judgment day.
Starting at the beginning of the chapter, it says there is no condemnation from God for those who belong to Jesus. That is because the power of the Holy Spirit has freed us from our sinful nature. The law of Moses wasn’t able to solve the craving for sin in our flesh, so God sent Jesus, a sinless human, to die in our place because the laws of God require that sin be punished by death. Jesus took our punishment and made us right with God. Being in right standing with God enables us to receive the Holy Spirit and overcome sin (Rom 8:1-4).
Believers are not to be controlled by their sinful nature because they have the Holy Spirit, nonbelievers do not have the Spirit of God, because he is joins with those who believe, so they are not in covenant with God (v. 9). Even though people’s physical bodies will die because of sin, those with God’s Spirit will recieve new bodies with eternal life, because the Holy Spirit is the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead and is more powerful than death itself (v. 10-11). Following the Spirit is superior to following the flesh or natural desires, and believers have power over their carnal desires. If you live by the flesh, you will die in sin, but when living by the Spirit, you have the power to put to death your carnal nature (v. 12-13). Only those living according to the influence of God’s Spirit are children of God and joint heirs with Jesus. They will inherit the blessings that God promises and share in Jesus’ glory, but they will also share in his persecution and suffering (v. 14-17).
All creation is cursed because of sin, and we should eagerly await the day God restores all of creation to the way it was before corruption and death (v. 18-22). God put His Holy Spirit inside his people, which is only a taste of his future glory. Currently, all nature is corrupt, even the bodies of the believers; however, in the future, believers will get new sin-free bodies, free from death and decay (v. 23-25). God called his people as brothers and sisters of Christ ahead of time and put his Spirit inside them. When God’s people pray in the Spirit, the Holy Spirit guides them on what to pray for and how to pray so that God’s will is done on Earth (v. 26-27).
All things work together for the good of those who love God and are called to his purpose (v. 28). Remember, those who love God keep his commandments [John 14:15, 1 John 5:1-3], and God calls them brothers and sisters of Christ [Mat 12:46-50]. It is the believers whose sins are forgiven and who now have God’s glory (v. 29- 30).
This is all good news, God is for his people who are called his children and not against them. God didn’t even spare his own son’s life to save them, so why would he spare anything else good from his children (v31-32)? No one can stand against them on judgment day and accuse them because they are redeemed and forgiven because of what Jesus did (v33-34).
Nothing can separate the believers from God’s love, not even hardships, persecution, and other life struggles. (These things were prophesied to happen to God’s people [Ps 44:22]). However, these things aren’t a sign of failure in God’s love because we have victory over all of it. Death, demons, angels, fears of today, worries of tomorrow, powers in the sky or ground, or anything in all creation can separate God’s people from his love (v. 35-39).