Key Points:
- Are these “groanings” specifically about speaking in tongues? Some would say yes, but there are also good reasons not to think this. It may reference tongue-speaking, but not necessarily.
- Rather, “groanings” have to do with “capturing the essence of a relationship with God.” This is passage is getting at our intimiacy with God and our subjective personal experiences with him.
- Christianity is not just about intellectual assent, but about a heart commitment to God. As some of said, “It’s twelve inches from your head to your heart.”
Quote This:
Romans 8:22-26 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.) And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.
- What is your initial reaction to this topic? What jumped out at you?
- What interpretations of this idea of “groaning” have you heard in the past? Have you held a strong view one way or another? Explain.
- What do you think of the idea that these “groanings” have to do more with our hearts crying out to God than with any particular theological point, such as one related to the gift of tongues?
- What do you think of the quote, “It’s twelve inches from your head to your heart?” What does this mean and how can it apply to the Christian life?
- Is there a step you need to take based on today’s topic?
