The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament (171 page)

8:4 just requirement:
Probably the moral precepts of the Mosaic Law (13:8-10). Elsewhere in Romans this Greek term has the sense of moral decrees or righteous conduct (1:32; 2:26; 5:18). 
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8:5-8
A contrast between two mind-sets, one that is fleshly and centered on self (1:21) and another that is spiritual and focused on God (Col 3:1). Paul implies that the believer will not automatically follow the Spirit but must choose which road he wants to follow in light of their destinations (8:13). 
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8:9 the Spirit of God . . . of Christ:
The Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son in eternity as well as in history (Jn 14:26; 15:26). He is therefore identified with both of them (8:14-15; Gal 4:6). 
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8:10 your bodies are dead:
i.e., still subject to death and decay. 
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8:11 your mortal bodies also:
When God resurrects the bodies of the saints on the Last Day (8:23), he will complete the process of divine adoption that began in Baptism with the infusion of the Spirit into our souls (8:15; Gal 4:4-7; Tit 3:5-7). 
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8:13 you will die:
Spiritually, that is, since everyone dies physically regardless of how he lives. The warning is posted for believers, who are "in the Spirit" (8:9) but who can still submit to the flesh. 
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8:14-25
Paul reflects on the sonship of believers in Christ. Though Christ is the eternal Son of God by nature, we share in his life and become adopted sons of God by grace. This takes effect through the Spirit, who is poured into our hearts (5:5) and shows us the way to the Father (8:15) (CCC 1996). • Paul's discussion of sonship and suffering has parallels with the Exodus story. The
sonship
of believers (8:15) recalls the sonship of Israel (9:4; Ex 4:22; Is 63:8). Calling God our
Father
(8:15) echoes the title first given to Yahweh at the end of the Exodus journey (Deut 32:6; Is 63:16). Being
led
by the
Spirit
out of
slavery
(8:14-15) calls to mind how Israel was led out of the bondage of Egypt by the pillar of fire (Ex 6:6; 13:21), which biblical tradition sees as an image of the Spirit (Is 63:10-14). Even the
groan
of the believer, still awaiting the fullness of
redemption
(8:23), reminds us of Israel groaning in bondage (Ex 2:23-24; 6:5) for the Lord's redemption (Ex 6:6; 15:13). For the Christian, the Exodus has begun but is still in progress, for he is delivered from slavery to sin (6:6-7, 17) but not yet from the slavery of corruption (8:19-23). For Paul's teaching that the Church relives the Exodus experience of Israel, see 1 Cor 10:1-11. 
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8:15 sonship:
Or, "adoption", as in 8:23. Our kinship with God by covenant adoption entitles us to an inheritance kept in heaven (8:17; 1 Pet 1:3-4). See word study:
Adoption
at Gal 4:5.
Abba!:
Aramaic for "Father!", an intimate term of address that Jesus uses in his own prayer life (Mk 14:36). The Spirit makes the prayer of Jesus the prayer of all God's children as they call to the Father for grace and help in times of need (Gal 4:6) (CCC 2779-82). 
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8:17 fellow heirs with Christ:
To suffer with Christ is to share in his inheritance, which Paul understands to be "all things" (8:32; Col 1:16; Heb 1:2). 
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8:18-25
Paul contends, on the basis of cost-benefit analysis, that even our heaviest burdens of suffering are far outweighed by the glory that awaits us (2 Cor 4:17). Though the afflictions of our time on earth are inescapable, the Spirit helps to make them bearable (8:26). Suffering is all part of God's plan to mold us into the image of Christ (8:29). 
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8:21 glorious liberty:
God's children and God's creation share the same plight and so yearn for the same destiny of life without corruption (CCC 1042-47). 
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8:22 groaning with labor pains:
Paul hears creation crying out like a woman giving birth. The pangs of labor will not subside until the children of God are revealed and the whole material creation is renewed (8:21). See word study:
Unite
at Eph 1:10. • The earth groans under the curse of Gen 3:17. The passage shows that Adam's trespass had catastrophic consequences not only for himself but for the world in which he lived. 
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8:23 the first fruits:
An agricultural term for the initial produce reaped at the beginning of the harvest season. When Paul uses a commercial metaphor for this same idea, he describes the Spirit as a "guarantee" or down payment on the full inheritance we expect to receive in heaven (Eph 1:13-14) (CCC 735). 
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8:24 hope:
The earnest desire to share in the glory of God (5:2). Hidden from human eyes, this inheritance is visible only to faith (2 Cor 5:7) and is attained only by love (1 Cor 16:22). The point here is that hope helps us to endure the hardships of life (Rom 8:25) (CCC 1817-20). 
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8:26 the Spirit helps us:
When distress makes prayer difficult, the Spirit makes our groaning and sighing (8:23) an impassioned prayer to the Father (CCC 2729-31, 2739). 
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8:27 intercedes for the saints:
The same is said of the Son in 8:34. Both the Son and the Spirit request from the Father what we need, not necessarily what we want. The will of God for our life is the determining factor. 
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8:29 predestined:
Selected for divine adoption by an eternal decree of God (Eph 1:4). Predestination is a mystery revealed but not fully understood; what we know for certain is that God is free to act as he chooses (Ps 135:6) and man is free to accept or reject his blessings (Rom 2:6-8; Sir 15:11-13). No one is predestined by God for eternal damnation (CCC 1037).
See note on Eph 1:5
.
the first-born:
Jesus is the eldest brother in the family of faith. As adopted children, we look up to him as the perfect image of Sonship and the perfect example of filial obedience to the Father (Jn 15:10). See word study:
First-born
at Heb 1:6. 
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8:32 did not spare:
Paul takes this expression from the Greek version of Gen 22:12 to compare the Father's surrender of Christ with Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac. This memorable event, which took place in Moriah (Gen 22:2), prefigures the sacrifice of Jesus in Jerusalem, which is built in part on Mt. Moriah (2 Chron 3:1) (CCC 2572). 
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8:35 Who shall separate . . .?:
Paul denies
suffering
the power to cut us off from Christ. In his mind, only
sin
can pry us away from his grace (1 Cor 6:9-10; Gal 5:4).
See note on 1 Jn 5:16-17
.
tribulation . . . or sword?:
Afflictions commonly linked with the curses that God lets loose upon Israel when they abandon the covenant (Lev 26:21-26; Deut 28:48; Jer 29:18). This background sets the stage for 8:36. 
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8:36 For your sake:
A citation from Ps 44:22. • The Psalmist is puzzled that Yahweh permits the righteous of Israel to suffer the curses of exile along with the unrighteous. Covered with shame but convinced of his innocence, he pleads with God for deliverance. For Paul, this is the cry of the believer who lives faithfully
in
Christ but who bears
with
Christ the curses of suffering and death that weigh upon the world (Gen 3:17-19; Gal 3:13). As a result, we are not crushed by suffering; rather, we conquer through it in a redemptive way (Rom 8:37; Acts 14:22). 
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8:38-39
A rundown of different forces and dimensions of creation: human existence
(death/life),
spirits
(angels/principalities/powers),
time
(things present/things to come),
and astronomical forces
(height/depth).
None of these potential threats is an actual threat to those enveloped in God's love. That principalities and powers are classes of angels, see Eph 3:10 and note on Eph 1:10. 
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8:39 nor anything:
Not a claim that salvation is absolutely assured for believers, but a claim that salvation cannot be threatened by any cosmic force outside of us. For Paul, the only real threat to salvation is our will, which is free to reject God's love and forfeit eternal life through sin (2:5-10; 6:16; 8:13; 11:2122).
See note on Rom 8:35
. 
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9:1-11:36
The middle section of Romans turns from the salvation of the world in general (chaps. 1-8) to the salvation of Israel in particular (chaps. 9-11). Faced with a theological and pastoral conundrum, Paul takes the opportunity to explain how God's
election
of Israel in the past is perfectly consistent with Israel's widespread
rejection
of the gospel in the present. His discussion is difficult to follow because the argument winds through a dense forest of echoes, allusions, and citations from the OT. In general, Paul follows the story line of Israel's history set forth in the Bible: he starts with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (9:6-13), moves through the Exodus (9:14-18), looks at the Exile (9:25-29), draws on passages about the time of restoration (10:1-21), and ends with a vision of Jacob-Israel saved in the New Covenant (11:26-27). Nearly a third of all Paul's references to the Hebrew Scriptures in the entire collection of his writings are packed into these three chapters. 
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9:1 I am not lying:
An adamant plea of innocence. It may suggest Paul was accused of indifference toward Israel. He uses the same expression to clear away suspicions and rumors in 2 Cor 11:31 and Gal 1:20. 
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9:3 accursed and cut off:
Paul almost wishes he could be set apart for destruction and severed from Christ if it would bring Israel salvation. See word study:
Accursed
at Gal 1:8. • Moses voiced a similar sentiment at a similar time of national apostasy (Ex 32:32), when nearly all Israel fell from grace at the golden calf rebellion (Ex 32:1-6). 
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