The situation in the church in Rome was a stalemate, involving Jewish and Gentile Christians pointing fingers at each other over theological differences. Paul responds pastorally to their underlying question: who’s right and who needs to change? By Romans 8, Paul establishes that Jesus is right. He then makes the case that both groups (us included) need to change. Change comes by the Spirit. We are energized to live as the righteous people we already are. Righteousness is about how we relate to God and one another, it’s about how we share the table. The change that God wants to bring is an internal one that produces outward results most notable in our capacity to love and share. This kind of change is not just up to the Spirit; we are not passive in it, nor is obedience automatic – we participate. As we live by the Spirit, we’re reminded of our adoption into God’s family where we’re made new, all history, all curses, all regrets are done away with and we hear again God’s love for us. And nothing can separate us from his love.