Lectionary Bible Studies and Sermons


Romans

The Spirit pleads for us. 8:26-27

[Seed logo] Introduction
      In Chapter 8, Paul the apostle teaches that those who are justified by grace through faith, even though they are plagued by sin and by the troubles of this world, are nevertheless secure "in Christ". All those who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit are shaped toward the eternal glory that is theirs in Christ; nothing can separate us from the love of God. Haldane says of this chapter, it "presents a glorious display of the power of Divine grace, and of the provision which God has made for the consolation of His people." In our passage for study, Paul speaks of the groaning of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit's groaning is out of empathy for us in the situation we now find ourselves. We do not hear the Spirit's yearning, for it is heart-felt intercession on our behalf to the Father. A believer is not alone in the rough and tumble of life. In the face of our weaknesses and sufferings, the Holy Spirit supports us, particularly when we cry out to God. We may not know what to say, or even how to say it, but the Spirit teaches us, even speaking for us in our weakness.

The passage
      v26. "We do not know what we ought to pray." This verse is often used in support of speaking in tongues, ie. "praying in the Spirit", glossolalia. It is more likely that Paul is simply extending the point he has already made in this passage: the Christian life is difficult, full of limitations, but we remain secure in the Lord. There is troubles from without, persecution and the like, and troubles from within, indwelling sin constantly raising its ugly head. As we kneel in prayer before our Lord, we are simply unable to find the words to describe our situation. So often we are left with silence, broken at times with the simple cry, "Lord have mercy." Yet, from the depth of our psyche, the Spirit searches out the sense of our despair and pleads on our behalf before the throne of the Ancient of Days. All this is part of God's grace-ministry toward us. The Spirit's pleading, we are told, is "with groans", like the yearning of nature and the yearning of the saints. He groans from the load that we are unable to bear: our sins, our pains, our troubles, all the scars of life.
      v27. But "the searcher of hearts knows what the Spirit's intent is, that it is in God's own way that he intercedes on behalf of those consecrated to God", H.W. Cassirer. We don't know our own mind, let alone the mind of God, but God knows our mind and the mind of the Spirit who speaks for us with a truth that is divine. "What a profound doctrine of prayer is here - the divine within us appealing to the divine above us! And what comfort for the unready in prayer to know that the Spirit is there to reinforce their soul's inarticulate desires!", A.M. Hunter.

Praying in the Spirit
      Often in our prayer-life we find ourselves overwhelmed with weaknesses. We hardly know what to say, how to say it, let alone find the time to say it.
      In Pentecostal circles this problem is dealt with by "praying in the Spirit." A Christian who practices speaking in tongues gathers up the many needs they see before them and then moves into a time of personal tongue-speaking. They believe that they are speaking a heavenly language under the power and control of the Holy Spirit. In this state, through the Spirit, their needs are rightly presented to God. This is certainly an interesting point of view, but this passage cannot really be used to support it.
      The point Paul is making in this passage is something we can all identify with. Our life as a believer is filled with ignorance, weakness and poverty. We stand but by grace through faith. When it comes to prayer, that same ignorance, weakness and poverty abounds. Often we are speechless. Yet, our state of loss does not leave us lost because we are under the grace of God. Just as faith in Christ justifies, so faith in Christ sanctifies. We are not left alone in our Christian journey. The Spirit of Christ stands with us, supporting and shaping. And when it comes to prayer, he sees to it that what we need to ask of God, in the face of the rough and tumble of life, is asked on our behalf.
      As to whether the Spirit asks for us, or teaches us to ask rightly, probably both are true. So, we pray of what we know "according to God's will", and what we don't, we leave in God's hands. We let the Spirit intercede for us before the throne of God's grace and rest secure in his eternal acceptance.

Discussion
      1. Our present weakness can be illustrated in the limitations of prayer. What is meant by "we do not know what we ought to pray [for]"?
      2. Discuss what is meant by the Spirit praying for us "in accordance with God's will." From this idea, draw out a general principle on prayer.


Notes

Textual notes   Abbreviations,   Bibliography
 
      Paul's letter to the Romans is an exposition of the gospel set against law-bound believers (mainly Jewish believers - judaizers, the circumcision party) who regard submission to the law (primarily the law of Moses) as the means of maintaining and/or advancing their standing before God. For Paul, this heresy (nomism / pietism) not only undermines the substance of the gospel, but actually undermines a believer's standing before God, a standing which rests wholly on the covenant faithfulness of God appropriated through faith in the person and work of Christ.
      Paul, having stated his thesis in 1:16-17, that the covenant faithfulness of God is appropriated through faith, proceeds in 1:18-2:11 to establish the universality of sin, reminding self-righteous Jewish (law-bound) believers ("the weak", 15:1) that they too are infected by the stain of sin, 2:1-5, the consequence of which is divine condemnation, 2:6-11. Then, in 2:12-29, Paul examines the place of the law in the righteous judgment of God, making the point that those Jewish believers who have retained their standing under the law, even though circumcised, actually break the law and thus face the curse of the law and the "wrath and fury" of God's condemnation. In 3:1-8 Paul answers two objections to his rather negative view of the standing of Jewish believers under the law, namely, that he devalues the covenant/law and that he promotes libertarianism. Then, in 3:9-20, Paul drives home his conclusion, namely that the human condition of universal sin and its consequence is not avoided by submission to the law, for the law only serves to make sin more sinful. In 3:21-30 Paul draws a conclusion from his argument so far. When it comes to the covenant faithfulness of God, whether in judgment or vindication, there is no "distinction" between a person under the law, or a person outside the law. All have sinned and stand condemned, and all who believe are justified, and this because they rest, not on their own faithfulness, but the faithfulness of Christ - his "sacrifice of atonement." So, for believing Jews, like Paul, there is no ground for "boasting" about their faithfulness under the law, for a person is judged in the right with God ("justified") by faith and not by obedience. From 3:31 to 4:25, Paul explains, with reference to the life of Abraham, how his gospel of right-standing in the sight of God by faith does not "nullify" the law, rather, it "fulfills" the law; faith "fulfills / completes" the justification to which the law of Moses pointed. Then in 5:1-11 Paul draws together the consequence of his argument so far, namely, a believer's "reconciliation with God."
      Having dealt with the business of justification, of right-standing before God, Paul, in 5:12-8:39 examines the business of living right before God, of possessing the fullness of life which belongs to those who are in Christ. In 5:12-21 Paul explains how Christ's saving death has brought eternal life to all humanity by overcoming the curse of Adam's sin and then in 6:1-23 he explains how "newness of life", right-living before God, apart from the law, is expressed in the life of a believer as a natural consequence of their right-standing before God. In 7:1-25, Paul examines the place of the law in the Christian life. First, in v1-6, he explains that a Christian is no longer "under the law", is "discharged from the law", has "died to the law." Then in v7-12 he "deals with a possible misunderstanding by repudiating the suggestion that the law is sin, asserting that, far from being sin, it is that which makes him recognize sin", Cranfield. In v13-25 he goes on to answer the question, "did that which is good (the law) become death to me?" That is, is the law responsible for our death? The answer is, sin is responsible for our death; the law serves only to highlight our sinful state. Paul then illustrates this condition in v14ff.
      In chapter 8 Paul explains that justified believers, though plagued with sin and the troubles of this world, no longer face condemnation, defeat or separation from God (the covenant privileges of the true people of God). Paul begins, in v1-4, by restating the truth that in Christ Jesus, through his death on our behalf, we are free from the condemnation of sin and free from the oppression of the law and thus are free to live for God. Therefore, v5-11, the believer is faced with two alternatives in the Christian life, a natural alternative and a spiritual alternative. We may strive to fulfill the law and find ourselves controlled by sin, or we may rest in faith on the renewal of the Spirit and find ourselves beginning to live out the righteousness we posses in Christ. In v12-17 Paul explains what it means to be led by the Spirit in the Christian life. Paul then moves in v18-30 to compare the present existence of believers with the future glory that awaits us. There is difficulty in the present, but this cannot be compared with the coming glory, v18. The whole of God's creation groans as it awaits that glorious day when the sons of God begin their rule with Christ, v19-22. Along with creation, believers groan, yearning for that day of glory, v23-25. Even the Spirit groans as he empathizes with us in our struggle, v26-27.
      The groaning (longing expectation, yearning) of the Spirit has often been interpreted as a reference to speaking in tongues, cf. Kasemann. This is very unlikely. It is the Spirit who groans, groans because he knows our heart (v27), is aware of our weakness, our failings, our total inability to eradicate indwelling sin. In the face of our weakness, our troubles, unable to express, even explain our corruption, the Spirit makes the stuff of our life his own and brings our brokenness before the throne of grace.

v26
      wJsautwV adv. "in the same way" - likewise. Linking these verses to the previous section.
      sunantilambanetai (sunantilambanomai) pres. "helps" - assists, helps. A complex compound word: "The Holy Spirit lays hold of our weakness along with (sun) us and carries his part of the burden facing us (anti) as if two men were carrying a log, one at each end", Robertson.
      th/ asqeneia/ (a) "in [our] weakness" - Some argue that "weakness" refers to a shallow prayer life, cf. Dodd, but the word often takes an ethical sense. Possibly just human frailty. "Joins us in our struggle against our weakness", Junkins.
      ouk oidamen "we do not know" - "We don't know what to pray."
      to "-" - The article here serves to introduce a noun clause, object of "we don't know." Not an overly common construction, Wallace 237.
      ti "what" - "What to pray", not "how to pray", cf. NJB, Sanday and Headlam. The issue is over content, not method.
      kaqo dei "ought" - [what we should pray] as is necessary. "According to what is necessary", Chamberlain. The what is necessary is probably "God's will", v27, a prayer that aligns with divine truth.
      proseuxwmeqa (proseucomai) aor. subj. "we [ought] to pray for" - [what] we should pray. The subjunctive is deliberative. Is it "what to pray", ie. we are unsure of the content, or is it "what to pray for", ie. we are unsure what to ask for.
      to pneuma (a atoV) "the Spirit" - Obviously the Holy Spirit, but some argue for the human spirit.
      uJperentugcanei (uJperentugcanw) pres. "intercedes" - A strong word for pleading the cause of another.
      stenagmoiV alalhtoiV "with groans that words cannot express" - with groanings unexpressed. Hapax legomenon, once only use in NT. Either "unspoken", or "inexpressible / unutterable", Denney. The NIV takes the line that the Spirit's groanings are "ineffable" to us, "sighs too deep for words", Berkeley, but it is reasonable to hold that they are "unspoken" in that the Spirit does not need to utter them to the Father, since the Father knows the mind of the Spirit, v27.

v27
      de "and" - but, and. Possibly adversative, "but". We don't know our own mind, let alone the mind of God, but God knows our mind and the mind of the Spirit who speaks for us, cf. Godet.
      oJ eraunwn (eraunaw) pres. part. "he who searches" - the one searching. Participle as a substantive. "The searcher of hearts", Cassirer.
      oiden (oida) perf. "knows" - A dramatic perfect tense treated as a present tense.
      ti "-" - [knows] what (is in?)[the mind of the spirit]. "All our thoughts are known to God", CEV.
      tou pneumatoV (a atoV) "the Spirit" - As noted above, the human spirit may be intended, but it is more likely the Holy Spirit.
      oJti "because" - that. Possibly introducing a causal clause, "because", as NIV, but also possibly introducing a noun clause, dependent statement of thinking, "knows that the Spirit intercedes", "God knows the intention of the Spirit is to intercede for us in accordance with the divine will", Black.
      entugcanei (entugcanw) pres. "intercedes" - plead. "The Spirit pleads", Barclay.
      uJper + gen. "for" - for, on behalf of / concerning, about. For the benefit of = "on behalf of."
      aJgiwn (oV) "the saints" - saints. There is no article, so the prayer is for believers rather than the church. "He intercedes on behalf of those consecrated to God", Cassirer.
      kata + acc. "in accordance with" - according to [God]. As aligned to the divine standard.


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