Walk It Out Wednesday: The Groan Before the Glory

This summary, based on Bishop T.D. Jakes’ teaching from Romans Chapter 8, delivers an urgent message on transitioning from current hardships (“the groan”) to eternal triumph (“the glory”). It emphasizes that spiritual power and assurance are found not in avoiding suffering, but in knowing the believer’s unshakeable position in Christ. This requires actively choosing a spiritual mindset over a carnal one, fostering inner transformation, and embracing the necessary suffering that precedes true glory.

1. The Foundation of Deliverance: No Condemnation in Christ

The teaching is rooted in Romans 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk no longer after the flesh but after the spirit”. This verse establishes the believer’s secure legal standing before God.

Understanding the Believer’s Position

Condemnation (or judgment) is removed from those who are in Christ Jesus. This assurance is based entirely on position, not condition.

• Position Over Condition: The believer’s current condition—whether hungry, homeless, rich, or intellectually challenged—does not negate their position in Christ. If one is in Christ, the devil cannot easily access them; “if you going to get to me you got to go through him”.
• A Life Hidden in God: The life of the believer is “hid in Christ with God”. Knowing this position prevents the enemy from inflicting fear, hexes, or curses.
• Freedom Through a Higher Law: The “law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus” makes the believer free from the law of sin and death.

Salvation Secured by Christ Alone

The removal of condemnation is a finished work of Christ, not human effort.

• Condemning Sin in the Flesh: God sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh so that when Jesus was on the cross, God saw sin and condemned sin in the flesh. This accomplished what humanity could not do.
• Fulfilling the Law: The righteousness of the Law is fulfilled in us, “not because of any good thing I did” (such as tithing, not eating pork, or avoiding mixed fabrics). It is entirely because of what Christ did.

2. The Choice: Spiritual Mindedness vs. Carnal Mindedness

The key to accessing the freedom in Christ is continually choosing to walk after the spirit.

Pursuing the Spirit

Walking after the spirit means pursuing it, getting behind it, and chasing it. It is characterized by an attraction to the things of God.

• Attraction to the Anointed: The spiritually minded are drawn to the spirit “like a magnet to metal”. If someone is anointed, the spiritually minded person likes them, even without knowing them personally.
• David’s Example: David was praised because he was “after my heart,” actively chasing, wooing, and flirting with God through songs and poetry (Psalms). If believers chase God, He will chase them back.
• Violent Resistance: Conversely, resisting the flesh means to actively “mortify the deeds of the body” (kill oneself, kill the mouth, stab and wound the flesh). Believers are “debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh”; they owe the flesh nothing, not even when they do wrong.

The Danger of the Carnal Mind

Carnal mindedness (or “meaty mindedness”) inevitably leads to death.

• Enmity Against God: The carnal mind is “enmity against God,” meaning it is at war against Him and is not subject to the Law of God.
• Inability to Please God: Those who are after the flesh cannot please God, regardless of their actions—they can sing, preach, tithe, or dance, but still cannot please God.
• Automatic Peace: In contrast, being spiritually minded automatically yields life and peace. Peace is not something to be faked or chanted for; it settles over the soul when the mind is centered on Christ.

3. The Necessity of Suffering: From Groan to Glory (Romans 8:17–18)

The transition from the current “groan” to eternal “glory” requires believers to accept suffering as an essential part of the divine process.

Heirs of God and Joint-Heirs with Christ

If believers are children of God, they are automatically heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ. This means whatever Christ has, the believer has access to: “If Christ went to heaven I’m going to heaven too”.

• The Inheritance: This inheritance is not earned or deserved; it is received simply by being a child.
• Condition for Glory: However, to be “glorified together” with Christ, the believer must “suffer with him”.
• The Fellowship of Suffering: Knowing Christ in the fellowship of His suffering is a prerequisite to knowing Him in the power of His resurrection. Resurrection cannot happen without prior crucifixion.

Reckoning: Weighing Suffering Against Glory

Paul’s statement, “For I reckon,” means he came to a conclusion after careful calculation and consideration of the evidence.

• Accounting Term: “Reckon” is an accounting term used to determine worth. When Paul put his sufferings (jail, beatings, stoning) on the scale, the scale “went up”; when he put glory on the scale, it “fell down”.
• Glory Has Weight: Glory is described by the Greek word doxa, which means “weight”. Suffering has pain but no weight; glory has weight.
• Value Through Suffering: Value is added through suffering. Things acquired easily are given up easily; the glory earned through suffering is not easily relinquished.

The Present Groaning of Creation and the Spirit

The entire creation is currently groaning and travailing in pain, and believers themselves “groan within ourselves”.

• The Spirit’s Intercession: The Holy Spirit helps our infirmities because we do not know what we should pray for. The Spirit itself intercedes for us “with groanings which cannot be language uttered”.
• Dissonance and Harmony: The Holy Spirit matches the believer’s groaning—a “groan for a groan”. This internal dissonance (like musical half-steps mixed together) is necessary because God subjects us to hurt in the “hopes that he could make something out of you”.
• Working for Good: Despite the pain, believers know that “all things work together for the good of them that love the Lord who are the called according to his purpose”.