Everlasting Love - Rom. 8:31-39
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We are in our 24th lesson in Romans, and church, this book has served us well.
Moving forward, we are going to take a 3 week break from Romans and pick back up on August 11.
Paul wrote to believers in Rome, teaching them that the righteousness of God is extended to the unrighteous through faith in the Gospel.
We have seen the problem of our unrighteousness apart from the Gospel in Ch. 1-3.
We each have an inherent sin nature that results in a lot of brokenness in our lives - and none of us are exempt from this problem.
We also learned in Ch. 4-5 about the provision of righteousness through the gospel.
God has extended grace to us through the finished work of Christ and whoever will place their faith in Jesus are justified and provided peace with God and eternal life.
And now we finish up the third portion of this book in Ch. 6-8 as we have experienced the amazing power of righteousness in the Gospel.
Those who have trusted Christ have been given new life. The old man is dead, the old king has been dethroned, and we have been adopted in to the family of God.
In fact, as a refresher:
Romans 8:1-4 - Jesus accomplished what you could not, to give you what you don’t deserve.
Romans 8:5-11 - The indwelling Spirit has enabled you to obey - and that obedience begins with where you set your mind. Purpose to think eternally in each temporal moment.
Romans 8:12-17 - God in me, changes me! Because I am His, I will live out my faith in obedience to His leading.
Romans 8:18-25 - When our present suffering is viewed through the lens of our eternal hope, there is no comparison. Therefore, we persevere in expectant hope of what’s to come!
Romans 8:26-30 - God is at work changing me, and through it all, I can trust Him!
God is at work in His children. If you are His, He is at work in you. And how He works His purposes out in us is through the 5 primary actions we studied last Sunday.
We find these 5 primary works of God in vv. 29-30
He foreknew - meaning He initiated the beforehand knowledge of who belongs to Him,
not only did God know those who would be His beforehand, but:
He predestined - meaning God predetermined something to happen, and that something that would happen (according to v. 29) is for those whom He foreknew to be conformed into the image of Jesus. God predetermined that for those who are His, that sinful nature would progressively be relinquished while a Christ-like nature would be progressively more present.
So, God is at work doing things. God is fulfilling His purposes of me becoming more like Jesus, graciously using the suffering and brokenness (of v. 28) of my life to accomplish that.
We found also that (v. 30):
He called - We know that this is speaking of the effectual call of the saved - not the general call on all to come to Christ, because we know that not all who hear the Gospel respond in repentance and faith.
But as these actions of God build, we know they are all inclusive.
We find too that:
He justified - He has pronounced a verdict that those that are His are in full accordance with the requirements of the law.
God has worked this out for me. God is the one who justifies. He is the One who has pronounced me as right with Him through faith in what Christ has accomplished. This is not a pronouncement of right because I have kept the law. - I have broken His law, but Christ fulfilled the Law and it is His righteousness that we are trusting.
And Paul concludes, that those that God has placed His love on, would be predestined for change into the image of Christ, and those who were predestined for change would be effectually called, and those who were called would be justified, and those who are justified will eventually experience the fullness of their salvation as God completes His work through glorification.
He glorified - What God began before time began, God will finish when time ends.
Paul referenced this completion in Phil 1:6:
6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
So vv. 28-30 remind us that God is at work in us and the gracious work He started will be continued.
So God is at work in you, and this work is....
… to be continued.
We have not arrived to glorification yet. God is graciously walking with us through the hills and valleys of life. And Paul asks in v. 31 - What can we say to these things?
And to address this claim of assurance in God’s powerful work of righteousness in the unrighteous, Paul categorizes this claim into three groups of questions.
Three categories of Paul’s questions deal with:
1. Opposition (vv. 31-32)
2. Condemnation (vv. 33-34)
3. Separation (vv. 35-39)
The first question Paul answers is:
1. Will opposition to the work of God be too great? (vv. 31-32)
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
While Paul acknowledges that there is opposition throughout the Christian’s journey, there is a greater assurance than the presence of conflict.
With the previous verses in mind, Paul says, If God is for you (and we know that He is through His 5 workings that Paul previously stated) - then no one can be against you.
The Apostle John wrote:
4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
There is no person or power that is greater than God, and God has chosen you, is changing you, and will continue His work in you until eternity.
So will opposition to the work of God be too great?
Paul says NO WAY! In fact,
32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
You see, The Father gave you His own Son - and if He was willing to give you Him, He will surely give you everything else needed to bring you to the ultimate goal of sanctification and glorification.
So, there is no opposition too great. God is for you - and He proved this through Jesus. Because He gave His own Son to fulfill His purpose in you, He isn’t going to stop providing to continue His work.
You will notice then in vv. 33-34, Paul’s second question:
2. Will genuine believers face condemnation for their propensity to sin? (vv. 33-34)
As we have previously studied back in chapter 7, those who are genuinely saved are delivered instantly from the penalty of their sin and from the power of sin over them, but not yet from the presence of sin around and within them.
Genuine believers are on a journey of progressive sanctification. God is slowly but surely eradicating the old me as He is conforming me to be more like Jesus - and in that process, the old me still lingers. And I must continually choose to walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the desires of my flesh.
And this truth of the presence of sin in the life of a believer does not justify our sin - just because I have the propensity to continue in my sin, doesn’t mean it is ok.
Sanctification is a synergistic work, where God works to make me more like Jesus, and I must respond in obedience to that work.
So, Paul doesn’t skip over the imperfections of believers. He faces it with realness and boldness - the truth is, “We still sin, and our sin is still fun.” However, the Gospel sheds a new light on the dark lies of sin and reveals the big picture and the brokenness that follows sin.
Sin always leads to death and destruction, and for the believer, help and hope is only found in running to Jesus.
But Paul asks, will genuine believers face condemnation for their propensity to sin?
Will we fail because our flesh still leans the way of transgression?
Is there a possibility that God’s 5 works of vv. 29-30 could be undone by me?
Paul puts it this way:
33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
v. 33 - The accusers are numerous, but God (who is our final judge) has already pronounced the verdict - THOSE WHOM ARE ELECT ARE JUSTIFIED.
So, if you have responded to the Gospel in repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, you can declare, like Paul, “I am chosen by God, and He has declared me right with Him!”
v. 34 - Paul takes it a step further.
Who then will condemn me for this propensity toward sin?
Accusations come from all angles, from all around us and from within us, yet they don’t stick, because God has already declared us right.
But will Christ condemn us? Will He in the end declare us guilty?
Paul responds with a four part answer that increases in significance. He says:
Christ won’t condemn those of us who are in Him, because he:
1. Died for us.
2. Was raised for us.
3. Is seated at the Father’s right hand.
4. Now intercedes for us.
Christ won’t be condemning those He died for, rose for, and is interceding for.
Paul here deals with some incredible truth regarding opposition to God’s work and condemnation for God’s chosen people, and now we see him dealing with the true heart of Christianity.
From creation, God has desired to be with His creation. His created order was perfect, yet sin broke that perfection and formed a barrier between us and him. Our unholiness cannot fellowship with His holiness and a separation took place. However, Jesus (God in the flesh) came into our broken world and condemned sin in His flesh and provided a way of restoration. Those who respond to Christ are no longer separated, but restored into right standing and fellowship with God again.
This is the heart of Christianity.
It’s not all about a list of does and don’ts.
It’s not about a religious experience.
It boils all the ways down to a restored relationship with the Creator.
No longer are we dead in our sin - Christ has given us life.
No longer are we alone, but are indwelt by His Spirit.
These next verses help seal our assurance in God - and that is where our assurance must be - IN GOD.
It all revolves around Him - He chose me - He called me - He justified me - He is changing me -
and He is going to complete what He started, in time to come.
So, our assurance is in God and His love extended to us.
Paul asks,
3. Can anything or anyone separate us from the love of Christ?
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
From Paul’s own experiences, he gives us a list of situations that we may think could come between us and God. But Paul would attest that even in the most devastating of circumstances, nothing does.
The trials and hardships of v. 35 and the quote in v. 36 from Ps 44:22 that those who follow God will face persecution all point to future victory.
The presence of persecution does not signal a separation from God’s presence, but rather assures it. When we are subjected to persecution for the Gospel, it affirms that what we are living out is in opposition to norm.
You see, believers who suffer are not the exception, but the rule.
Christ said in John 15:20:
20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.
Although we can expect persecution for living out our faith, we are assured of future overwhelming victory in v. 37.
Our assurance in God’s ever-present love comforts in the midst of trials, hardships, and persecutions. And this comfort continues as Paul explains that nothing in the created order can separate us from the love of God.
In vv. 38-39 Paul convincingly proclaims that nothing above or below, around or within is more powerful than the Creator.
There is no power that exceeds the omnipotence of God.
There is no authority that extends beyond the omnipresence of God.
There is no circumstance outside the omniscience of God.
Dear friend, nothing can thwart God’s plan because His all-powerful presence is everywhere at all times.
No created thing (including yourself) can overturn God’s plan.
God does what He says, and He has said He will accomplish what He starts.
Paul’s point of Romans 8 is clear to believers, which is our weekly focus this week:
I don’t deserve to be in God’s care, but He loves me, and nothing can change that!
Let that sink in this morning.
God loves you. He loves you so much that He won’t allow you to remain in your sin, separated from Him. Jesus came and lived a perfect life, died a terrible death, and rose again to give you a life restored back with your holy Creator.
God desires that you would rest in Him today.
Scripture is clear. If you are living apart from faith in Christ, you are separated now from Him, and if you die in that state, you will die in your sin and spend eternity apart from Him.
However, God proved His love for you through sending His Son.
If you have yet to trust Him, is He working on your heart? Is the truth of the Gospel waking you up to your need for Him? Why not trust Him today?
If you have responded to the Gospel in repentance and faith, do you see Him today?
Do you see His work in you?
Do you see His grace permeating your life?
Don’t leave today focusing on yourself or someone else, but soak in this truth.
I don’t deserve to be in God’s care, but He loves me, and nothing can change that!