Monthly Archives: June 2020

The Sovereignty of God in Salvation, Romans 9:15-33

Today we are talking` about the sovereignty of God.  That is the title of my message, and it has been the  underlying subject of Paul’s message in the last couple of chapters of Romans.  We have not highlighted God’s sovereignty so much up to this point because there were other sub-elements of God’s character that Paul was emphasizing in those passages.  But nevertheless, the underlying principle of much of what we have studied over the past couple of chapters is the the sovereignty of God.

Now what do we mean by that term, sovereignty? Sovereignty refers to the authority to govern.  And in the case of God, it means His supreme authority over all, His right to determine, to predetermine, to govern, to rule over every thing that He has made.  After all, He made everything, He set in motion the courses of the stars, the sun and the planets.  Everything that was made, He made. He is the Sovereign God of the universe and He reigns over all things.

Now it’s one thing to say that, but it’s another thing to believe when you really examine what that means.  Back in chapter 8 vs 17 and 18 we learned that God is sovereign over our suffering.  Suffering, however it may come, even when it comes by evil intent, is superintended  under the sovereignty of God to bring about our sanctification. 

And in chapter 8:28 we saw that declared even more clearly; God uses all things (even evil things, even hurtful things) for good, to those who love God, who are called according to His purposes.  That is the sovereignty of God in action.

Then in the last part of that chapter, starting in vs 35, Paul makes a lengthy statement that establishes that God is sovereign over our circumstances.  Whether tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword.  He concludes by saying, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  

God is sovereign over all our circumstances, in all of life even unto death.  And now in this chapter, Paul is going to establish that God is sovereign over our salvation.  He has already alluded to that fact back in vs 30 by saying,  “and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”

That verse is sometimes referred to as the chain of salvation.  But what should be apparent is that it clearly establishes that God is the author and finisher of our salvation.  He is the author of our salvation.  He planned it, He predestined us for it, He called us to it, He justified us by faith, and He will glorify, or finish our salvation by His second coming.

Now imbedded in that verse  is a doctrine that is particularly troubling to us.  It is the doctrine which is called election.  Election is comprised of foreknowledge, predestination, and calling. And it’s troubling to us because we can’t understand it.  Our finite minds cannot comprehend the infinite.  God is outside of time and space as we understand it, and we cannot comprehend that which we cannot handle, or touch, or measure, or calculate.  We want to put God in a test tube and conduct a bunch of experiments on Him so we can figure Him out.  

But we cannot.  Isaiah 55:8 says, His ways are not our ways.  And our thoughts are not like His thoughts.  God says in vs9,  “For [as] the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

So we cannot know God unless He declares Himself to us.  God is Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.  We cannot examine Him as Spirit, but He has manifested Himself in the flesh as Jesus Christ and disclosed Himself to us in His word.  Otherwise we are left to our futile imagination.  But thankfully, God has revealed Himself to us as much as we can understand, and as much as we need to know.  It remains for us to believe His word.

So the primary invisible attributes of God which we should recognize is that He is sovereign, and we also are told in scripture that He is holy, He is just, He is merciful, He is love.  Yet sometimes it seems like those characteristics contradict each other.  But if we are to know Him, and believe in Him, then we must believe that all those attributes reside in Him in perfect harmony with one another.  One does not cancel out another.  For instance, God’s love does not cancel out His justice or His holiness.  And vice a versa.  We cannot always understand how it works, but then again we can’t understand atomic energy either, but that does not make it untrue. And similarly we can not understand the eternality of God.  And so we must believe in Him by faith.

Now as I have pointed out, Paul has emphasized God’s sovereignty over all things, even our salvation.  And as a component of God’s sovereignty we then read that Paul declares God’s mercy. God says to Moses in vs 15, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.” And from that statement Paul concludes in vs16 “So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.”

God is a God of mercy. And He has the sovereign right to declare mercy upon whomever He wills.  No one earns mercy.  No one deserves mercy.  Mercy by definition is that you are guilty and undeserving of any favor.  Yet the Judge of All has the sovereign right to show you mercy. 

And corresponding to that, we would not need mercy unless we were condemned.  Jesus said in John 3:18-19, coming just after the famous verse about God so loved the world. He said,   “He who believes in Him is not judged [the KJV says condemned instead of judged. They mean roughly the same, but perhaps it’s helpful from our perspective to read condemned] ; he who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. “This is the condemnation, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.”

So we understand from that statement that man is already condemned.  All men are condemned.  We were born in trespasses and sin.  There is none righteous, no not one.  Now God didn’t make man condemned.  God made man good, He put man in a perfect environment, He walked with man and talked with man each day.  And yet man choose to do evil. And as a result man became evil in his nature, so that we are all born in sin.  All men are  naturally born sinners. Furthermore, we naturally love darkness rather than light. Thus being condemned already, we need mercy.  We don’t deserve it, but we need it.  And God has the sovereign right to bestow mercy on whom He decides to bestow mercy.

Vs16, “So then it [salvation] does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.”  If we are to be saved, it will be because God shows us mercy, not because we have deserved salvation, nor because of our merits.

Now on the other side of the coin of mercy is condemnation.  And in regards to the world under condemnation, Paul uses the illustration of Pharaoh.  Egypt is a picture of the world under condemnation.  They had enslaved the Israelites for 400 years.  And Pharaoh as their leader is unwilling to let the people of Israel go. Moses, speaking as the spokesman of God, tells him repeatedly to let his people go free.  But Pharaoh continually hardens his heart and disregards the word of God.

So Paul says in vs17 “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.’  So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.”  

Once again we come to a terminology which causes us concern.  How do we reconcile the mercy of God with what the scripture calls the hardening of God?  What we have to understand is that God is not acting independently of us.  If you read the account of Pharaoh during the exodus of Israel, you will see that half the time it says God hardened his heart, and the other half of the time it says Pharaoh hardened his heart.  Which is it? 

Well, the answer is not either or, but both.  Jesus said in John 6:44  “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.”  But on the other hand, Jesus said in Matt. 11:28 “Come unto Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” So which is it?  God calls, God convicts, God illuminates, God moves you and draws you, but you have to come.  You have total responsibility to come.  The invitation is to all.  Rom 10:13  “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”  So it is necessary for God to move man, but it is also necessary for man to move to God.  James said “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”

But Pharaoh hardened his heart against God, and God hardened Pharaoh’s heart as well.  God was working in conjunction with Pharaoh’s will.  Pharaoh had a choice, but he hardened his heart and God worked in coordination with that.

The question then arises in vs 19, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” The answer is man resists God’s will.  Pharaoh had more messages given to Him from God, more opportunities to see the power of God and to see God manifest Himself than almost any other man.  He had many opportunities to repent.  But Pharaoh hardened his heart.  So the word of God goes out to everyone, and God is patient towards everyone, but some resist God and some obey God, some remain condemned, and some are saved. 

What Paul is illustrating here is the insolence of man in questioning God’s purposes.  It’s as if man wants to blame his condition on God.  He is more or less saying, then God has made me this way.   Therefore, I am under no condemnation, because I don’t control my destiny. I don’t have a choice in the matter.  God has already decided.  He has made me this way.  Therefore, God is unjust, not me.Man’s question aimed at God was accusatory, as if to say that God really isn’t good.  God really isn’t fair.  He plays favorites. He is unjust. 

But Paul’s argument is that we don’t have a right to accuse God, first, because He is the Creator, and the Creator has sovereignty over anything He has made.  He says in vs 20 “On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it?  Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?”

So God is the Creator, but furthermore, as I mentioned a moment ago, when God created man He made him good, in a world that was good.  God provided all that man needed to stay good. But man chose evil, not God. It was man’s choice that condemned him, not God.  God doesn’t make man choose evil. James 1:13 says, “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.”  So man’s sinful desires originate in man, not in God.

But Paul’s answer is to ask another question.  A question that emphasizes the mercy of God even though it is directed towards those who are condemned.  He says in vs22 “What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And [He did so] to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,  [even] us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.”

Now this question at first glance may seem to emphasize that God made some people that He will hate and some people to whom He will be merciful towards.  But I think that is a misunderstanding.  And to perhaps help us understand better, let’s examine this word translated in the NASB as prepared.  As in He endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction.  The word in the Greek can be interpreted as mended, fitted, or destined.  The NLT says “endured with much patience vessels of wrath destined for destruction.”  

So if we understand it in that light, then we can see that God did not make them for destruction, but they have chosen that path.  And if they keep on going in that direction they are destined for destruction.  It’s like a highway sign that says “Road Out Ahead.”  If you disregard the sign and continue on, you will end up going off a cliff to your destruction.  

What Paul is asking then is; What if God, in order to demonstrate His character, showed great patience towards those people who are destined, or headed for destruction, in order to make known HIs glory upon vessels of mercy, those whom He has called?” So the way that God shows mercy is to first demonstrate His judgment.  If the sinner is not first convicted of his sin, and shown the penalty for his error, then how can God demonstrate His mercy?  Mercy only is given to those who are under judgment.  

But rather than focus on the negative side of the equation and try to impugn God’s motives and goodness, we should recognize the positive side, which is to see the purpose of God is to show mercy.  God’s goal is to show mercy and He waits patiently for the sinner to turn to Him, rather than mete out immediate justice as is His sovereign right.  As Peter says in 2Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”  The emphasis is not on condemnation, but on mercy as God is patiently waiting for men to come to repentance.  God isn’t sitting in heaven going “enemenminemo, I’ll pick this one, and let that one go,” but notice Peter says God wishes for ALL to come to repentance.

To that argument then Paul gives an illustration of God’s mercy.  He says in vs 25 “As He says also in Hosea, ‘I WILL CALL THOSE WHO WERE NOT MY PEOPLE, ‘MY PEOPLE,’ AND HER WHO WAS NOT BELOVED, ‘BELOVED.’ AND IT SHALL BE THAT IN THE PLACE WHERE IT WAS SAID TO THEM, ‘YOU ARE NOT MY PEOPLE,’ THERE THEY SHALL BE CALLED SONS OF THE LIVING GOD.””

I wish I had the time this morning to tell the story of Hosea.  I would encourage you to read that little book.  What Paul is referencing here is just a short excerpt from that story which indicates that God has a right to chose those who were not His people to become His people.  Hosea had a wife who was an adulteress.  And she had three children which as the names of the children suggest that they were not his biological children.  But even so, God is stating His plan to be merciful to those who were unfaithful.  His plan to be merciful to those who are estranged from Him.  His purpose to restore those who had been rebellious towards Him.  God is merciful, and He shows mercy to those who do not deserve it, even those who have been unfaithful.  I think that this is a reference to the salvation that would come to the Gentiles, because of the statement Paul made in vs 24 which says, “whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.”  

But in the next quotation from Isaiah, Paul also speaks of the salvation that was rejected by unfaithful Israel.  Look at vs 27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “THOUGH THE NUMBER OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL BE LIKE THE SAND OF THE SEA, IT IS THE REMNANT THAT WILL BE SAVED;  FOR THE LORD WILL EXECUTE HIS WORD ON THE EARTH, THOROUGHLY AND QUICKLY.”  And just as Isaiah foretold, “UNLESS THE LORD OF SABAOTH (Hosts)  HAD LEFT TO US A POSTERITY, WE WOULD HAVE BECOME LIKE SODOM, AND WOULD HAVE RESEMBLED GOMORRAH.”  

So again Paul is talking about the sovereign plan and purpose of God to bring about salvation to both Jews and Gentiles.  God has a plan to save a remnant of Israel and He will accomplish it, even though it may seem that the nation of Israel has totally rejected Jesus Christ. If it were not for God’s sovereignty and mercy, then they would have become like Sodom and Gomorrah. God totally destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and it remains a desolate wasteland until this day.  But look at Israel.  God has brought Israel back into it’s homeland after all these centuries, and He has a plan to bring them to salvation as well in His time.

In the final paragraph of his argument, Paul makes the case again for salvation by faith, not according to works, or heritage, or nationality, but by the mercy of God.  And he makes it clear that the Gentiles who were not by heritage the children of God were becoming children of God, and the Israelites who had been the children of God were stumbling over the means of their salvation.  Listen to what he says starting in vs30 “What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith;  but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at [that] law.  Why? Because [they did] not [pursue it] by faith, but as though [it were] by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,  just as it is written, “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”

Notice that Paul says the Jews stumbled at salvation because they did not seek it by faith.  We might expect Paul to answer the question of “Why?” again from God’s perspective, and simply throw the matter back on God’s sovereignty. Instead, he places the responsibility with Israel: Because they did not seek it by faith… they stumbled at that stumbling stone.  They were presented with the truth.  They had light enough to see the truth.  And yet they rejected Jesus because He didn’t fit their template.  He didn’t promise them the national restoration they were looking for.  They weren’t interested in spiritual salvation, they were interested in economic, in political, in national restoration to preeminence in the world. And they stumbled over Jesus Christ who came to save sinners.

So Paul shows that Israel is responsible for their present condition, just as all men are responsible for their sinfulness. Has he contradicted everything he has previously said, which emphasized God’s sovereign plan? Not at all, he simply presents the problem from the other side of the coin – the side of human responsibility, instead of the side of God’s sovereignty. 

The Jews were determined to work out their salvation on the basis of their own behavior, their own good works before God, their national heritage, and consequently they stumbled over the stone. They didn’t want to admit that they need a Savior, that they were not able to save themselves. As no man is. But for those who see that they need a Savior, they have already been drawn by the Spirit of God, and awakened by his grace, and made to see their need for a Savior. Therefore, they have a desire to be saved, and the confession of their need for a Savior causes them to accept Jesus. Consequently their salvation rests upon the stone which is Christ. 

Anyone who trusts in Christ  will never be put to shame. Jesus is God’s mercy and love poured out to those who will accept Him.  For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. The manifestation of God’s mercy is Jesus.  You cannot blame God for your judgment, you can only blame yourself.  But you can come to Christ for your deliverance from that judgment. He was condemned that we might be shown mercy.  The choice is up to you. Jesus said, He that comes to me I will never, never cast out,” (John 6:37).

Paul says in chapter 10, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  Call on Him today.

Salvation by grace, not by merit, Romans 9:1-16

Paul has spent the first eight chapters of Romans detailing the need of salvation; because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  He has described the means of salvation; the righteous man shall live by faith.  And He has detailed the purpose of salvation; which is to bring many sons to glory by their adoption as sons of God. 

And then in chapter 8, he summarized the process of salvation by saying in vs 29 and 30, “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined [to become] conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;  and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”

Now in that summary, we can see that God has a plan and a purpose in which He orchestrates man’s salvation, from the beginning to the end.  He foreknew, that means that He knew from eternity past who would be saved, and He predestined them, which means He predetermined those who would be saved.  And then He called those who would be saved, and He justified them by faith, and those who are justified by faith will be and are being glorified. 

In this summary we see not only the plan and purpose of God, but we see the sovereignty of God.  What God wills, will happen.  What God plans will be accomplished.  How exactly that all works is a mystery which cannot be answered.  My feeble attempt to explain it is that God is outside of time and space and as such He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.  He is eternal.  He is infinite.  According to Hebrews 12:2 He is the author and finisher of our faith.  So as the infinite, eternal God He is able to predict, predetermine and produce His will in the world and His will is to bring many sons to glory.

But in saying all of that the question arises, then what about the Jews?  Did not God promise that they were the children of God?  Did not Jesus say that salvation came through the Jews? Did not God call Israel His chosen people? Is it possible that the plan of God and the predetermination of God come to naught because the Jews rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah, and thus forfeited salvation and their promised inheritance? 

And if that is true, then from our perspective, can Christians in the 21st century really be assured of our salvation? If the plan and purpose of God was thwarted and unsuccessful in regards to the Jews, then how can we then trust in God’s plan and purpose for our salvation?  

Well, these hypothetical questions had undoubtedly been on Paul’s mind as he was writing this epistle.  Because though he was writing to the Gentiles, as the Apostle to the Gentiles, yet he was by birth a Jew and one who had studied the law under the greatest teachers of Judaism and excelled in the law as a “Pharisee of Pharisees.”  In every respect, he was an Israelite who was proud of his heritage and who understood the significance of his heritage.

So while it may seem somewhat unnecessary or even a matter of overkill to us today, Paul is going to spend the next three chapters tackling various issues concerning the Jews and God’s plan for them.  But at the same time, in addressing these issues, we can gain valuable insight into our own salvation, which should serve to greatly strengthen and establish our faith.

So somewhat abruptly, after reaching the heights of joy in the closing paragraphs of chapter 8 in talking about the wonders of God’s love for us, Paul admits in chapter 9 to having great sorrow in his heart.  And the source of that great sorrow is the spiritual condition of his own people.  He says he has great sorrow and unceasing anguish in his heart for the Jews, his fellow country men.  He goes on to say that he is so anguished over their plight that he could wish, if it were possible, that he would be accursed and cut off from Christ if it meant that they might be saved.

This is quite a remarkable statement.  Especially due to the fact that even though they were his countrymen, the Jews considered Paul their enemy and were trying to have him put to death.  And by all rights, Paul might have considered them his enemies as well.  Because the Jews were certainly enemies of the gospel.  But even as Christ died for His enemies, Paul says he would be willing to die in the place of his enemies, because he so loved his country and his people.  

Folks, this should be our attitude towards the lost as well.  Especially in our culture today it is possible to feel that society hates us as Christians and wants to see us shut down, or at least to shut us up.  We are threatened by the increasing attacks on the church and on our religious liberties.  We feel that our Christian values are under attack more and more every day.  But our response should not be antagonistic.  Our response should be to mourn over our countrymen’s spiritual condition.  It should move us to be more compassionate, even more evangelistic, as we seek to win them to Christ.  Christ is the only hope for America.  And we are only going to be able to truly change society if we have compassion for the lost.

Paul’s language is the exemplary language of a Christian. If a person is unconcerned or has no compassion for the unsaved they really should examine their own Christianity.  But that doesn’t mean we have to condone their sin and rebellion.  But it does mean that we are to have compassion for them and be willing to even sacrifice our lives for their sake that they might be saved.

What makes the situation with Israel even more tragic though is the fact that the Jews had every advantage and yet it did not help them in their unbelief. It should be remembered that an advantage is not necessarily a virtue, and a privilege is not a merit.  Paul lists 9 advantages that Israel enjoyed, that made them the most favored nation in the world in God’s eyes.  The first advantage is found in their name; they are Israelites.  That means they were the descendants of Jacob, who was the son of Isaac, who was the son of Abraham. God changed the name of Jacob  to Israel after he wrestled with the angel.  Israel means, “he struggles with God.”  Israel’s sons became the 12 tribes of Israel, with all the attendant blessings that God had promised concerning the descendants of Abraham. 

Secondly, Paul says theirs was the adoption.  Back in chapter 8 vs 15 we are told that Christians have been adopted into the family of God.  But our adoption came after the adoption of the Israelites.  God called them His firstborn, His own possession, His son, His people, HIs chosen people.

The third advantage was what Paul calls the glory. The word used there refers to the divine radiance, otherwise known as the “shekinah” glory which was the pillar of cloud and smoke that stood over and filled the tabernacle in the wilderness and then later filled the temple.  It was the same glory which rested on the top of Mt. Sinai when Moses went up to the Lord in the sight of the people.  This divine radiance in the center of the camp of the Israelites was a daily, visible evidence that God dwelled among His people.  What a great advantage it must have been to see that every day and know that God was with them.

I don’t have the time this morning to give a detailed exegesis of each of these nine advantages.  But suffice it to say they had the covenants which God had made with their fathers.  Promises, which God who cannot lie made to their ancestors concerning His plan for them. Fifth, they had the word of God, the law which God had delivered to Moses on Mt. Sinai in thunder and lightning while they waited in the wilderness.  They had the worship, which God had detailed concerning the tabernacle and the sacrifices and feasts and Sabbaths.  Ceremonies and rituals that were inculcated into the very fabric of their culture to teach them and instruct them in the knowledge of God. And the promises, dozens and dozens of promises that God made to Israel down through the centuries by the mouths of His prophets, all of which were fulfilled.

And Paul says, theirs were the fathers. We call them the patriarchs.  Men like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, David and many more.  All the ancestors who passed on the traditions to their children.  Perhaps let this be my concession to a Father’s Day message which of course we observe today in our culture.  It is the father’s responsibility to make sure that the truth of God’s word is observed and honored in the home. Far too many fathers have relinquished that responsibility to the mother.  God has appointed fathers to be the spiritual leaders in their homes.  And I hope that is a responsibility that you fathers take seriously.  Because God will judge you for how you handled that responsibility.  May you fathers be like Joshua and declare; As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

And then the greatest advantage of the Jews, Paul says in vs 5, “from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”  This is the epitome of their advantages, that from their nation came the Christ.  Christ is the Greek word for  Messiah.   Jesus’ human nature was Jewish. What an advantage this should have been for the Jews. 

Paul adds though that in addition to His human nature was His divine nature. Christ is over all.  Jesus is God in the flesh.  John 1 says “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” “And the Word became flesh and dwelled among us.”  

So Israel had many great advantages over every other people on the face of the earth.  And yet in spite of this, as a nation they failed to recognize Jesus as the Messiah.  They failed to respond in faith to God.  And though America’s advantages are much different than that of Israel, I sense that we too have failed to reciprocate according to the measure of the grace given to us.  There has never been since the fall of Israel a nation so fairly situated with the blessings of God as the United States.  We have had freedom of religion that is unsurpassed in the world.  We have had unparalleled access to the word of God.  There is hardly a house in America that does not have a copy of the Bible available. There are practically churches on every street corner in America.  We have been home to some of the greatest revivals the world has ever seen.  We have had the blessing of many great preachers and religious leaders.  And yet barely 200 years since our founding, we have never as a country been further from the truth.  

I’m afraid the prophecy of Isaiah 59 has come true in our day, in our country.  “Therefore justice is far from us, And righteousness does not overtake us; We hope for light, but behold, darkness, For brightness, but we walk in gloom. …  For our transgressions are multiplied before You, And our sins testify against us; For our transgressions are with us, And we know our iniquities: …  Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands far away; For truth has stumbled in the street, And uprightness cannot enter.” (Isaiah 59)

As I said a few minutes ago; It should be remembered that an advantage is not necessarily a virtue, and a privilege is not a merit. Our nation, much like Israel, have spurned our advantages and we have not lived up to our potential.

But Paul wants us to know in vs 6 that God’s plan for Israel has not failed. He says, “But [it is] not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are [descended] from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “THROUGH ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE NAMED.” That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.”

God’s promises have not, and will not fail.  They did not fail in regards to Israel, because though God chose Israel to be the recipients of His promises and covenants, those promises were not intended for the entire nation but for the true children of Israel.  For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel, nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants.  You will remember that Abraham had another son, born before Isaac.  It was the son of the flesh, the offspring of his efforts, who was Ishmael. But God had not chosen Ishmael, rather He had promised Isaac. And from that seed, the child of promise, would come the true children of God.

Therefore, vs 8 says, “it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.” Both Ishmael and Isaac were born of Abraham, but one was of the flesh and one of the promise.  And the children of the promise are regarded as true descendants. 

So Paul says in vs9, “For this is the word of promise: ‘AT THIS TIME I WILL COME, AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON.’” This verse proves that Abraham’s natural children are not necessarily God’s children, but only those who are the product of God’s sovereign grace.  

I’m sure you remember the story; Sarah was 90 years old and Abraham was 100, and God’s promise came that the next year she would have a son.  The promise came true the next year just as God had said, proving that Isaac was the son of promise.  So the ability to trace one’s lineage from Abraham was not the determining factor for inheriting what was promised to Abraham, but only to that son which was according to the promise.

And what Paul says that is teaching is that salvation is not a matter of human merit.  Salvation is not a matter of heritage or lineage.  It’s not a matter of man’s will, but it’s a matter of God’s sovereign purpose. If you look at the life of the patriarchs, it’s evident that they were not always the best of characters.  They sometimes acted wrongly.  Sometimes they sinned.  They certainly weren’t perfect.  But God chose to shed His grace upon them so they might be declared righteous by faith and not by works.

But that illustration does not sufficiently convey all the conditions of our salvation.  And so Paul gives another in the form of Jacob and Esau.  And in so doing, Paul adds some distinctions concerning God’s sovereignty that many of us find difficult to accept, and perhaps may even cause some to harbor some ill feeling towards God.  Let’s look at verse 10 through 13.

Vs10 “And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived [twins] by one man, our father Isaac;  for though [the twins] were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to [His] choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls,  it was said to her, “THE OLDER WILL SERVE THE YOUNGER.”  Just as it is written, “JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.”

When I was a kid, I remember my mother always rebuking me for saying that I hated anyone.  No matter what they did, I was never allowed to say I hate so and so.  I could say I didn’t like what they did, but I wasn’t allowed to say I hate.  So I have always had a little bit of a problem with the language in this verse because it says God hated Esau.

I think that another way of interpreting that which may be more palatable to our ears is that God is speaking of those He accepts and those He rejects.  I think of Cain and Abel and the day when they brought their offering to the Lord.  And Genesis 4:5 says, “And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard.”  The principle of God accepting one and rejecting another.  It is God’s choice, God’s prerogative. 

Salvation ultimately comes from God’s purpose, God’s plan, and God’s call.  In the final analysis the reason why some people are accepted and others rejected is that God has so willed that they might be saved and He uses divine means to obtain it.

The point though that needs to be understood is that ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  God has rejected everyone on the basis of their offering.  There is only one offering that God accepts, and that was typified in Abel’s offering; a lamb that was slain. It was a picture of Jesus Christ who would lay down His life for His sheep. Abel was exhibiting faith in the promised seed of Eve who would crush Satan’s head.   So all men are already condemned, they are already rejected, they are all sentenced to death.  God has rejected everyone on the basis of their merits.  Only one sacrifice is acceptable, and that is Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross.  And for those who believe in Him and HIs sacrifice on their behalf, God accepts them and declares them as children of God, righteous by the blood of Jesus.

Now how God determines who He will call, and who He will choose or elect to salvation, is a mystery that we cannot understand.  Because Jacob and Esau were twins, and when they were still in the womb, before either had done evil or good, God chose to bestow upon Esau, who would be known as the scoundrel, the supplanter, upon him God bestowed His sovereign grace.  And I believe God did so that He might illustrate the principle found in vs 11, “so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls.”  The same principle is stated another way in vs 16 “So then it [does] not [depend] on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.”  Salvation is not by our merits, but by the grace of God.

But whatever evil motives we might feel inclined to count towards God for such prerogatives as election and predestination, we must also be sure to balance our inadequate understanding of God with what we also know to be true of God.  As John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” So God loves the world and provides a way for the world to be saved at a tremendous cost of His own.  

We must balance election with this statement from Peter about God not acting impudently but  patiently waiting for men to come to repentance so they can be saved.  2Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”  So though we don’t fully understand how election works, it must work within the framework that God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

So the point of Paul’s argument for election is not to ostracize people that are rejected as if to say that God capriciously counts off “ene me ne mi ne mo, I’ll keep this one and let this one go.” But the point of trying to teach us about election and predestination is so that we might have MORE confidence in our salvation, because it is not given on the basis of our good deeds, or on the basis of our merit, or on the basis of nationality or pedigree or lineage.  But it is given to the least of these, to the sinner, to the ungodly, on the basis of what God has done for us through Jesus Christ.  So that we might have a more sure hope because we are saved by God’s mercy and not by our merit.  Our security is made immeasurably more secure by God’s grace than by our own merit. 

We cannot understand election.  Neither can we understand eternity.  You cannot comprehend how God has always existed – He had no beginning.  Not even Einstein could understand that.  And yet we believe in God and we believe that He is eternal.  And in the same way we believe in election.  And without any contradiction, we believe that God said He is not willing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 

So even though we cannot understand these things, we can still say Amen at Paul’s question and answer in vs 14; “What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!”  God is a merciful God.  Paul says in vs15 For [God] says to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.”  The emphasis is on His mercy and His compassion, not on condemnation. John said in the verse following John 3:16, in vs17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

And I am going to leave it there for today.  We will finish this chapter next Sunday.  But I will close by going back to that prophecy in Isaiah 59 I quoted earlier as a way to summarize this message today.  Isaiah 59:14-16 says, “Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands far away; For truth has stumbled in the street, And uprightness cannot enter.  Yes, truth is lacking; And he who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey. Now the LORD saw, And it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice.  And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him.” 

God so loved the world, that even though man was in darkness, man was a sinner, and justice had stumbled in the street, sins had multiplied and there was no one to intercede on man’s behalf, God was merciful and sent Jesus to be the substitute for sinners, and to bring about salvation for everyone that would call upon the name of Jesus.  Salvation cannot be obtained by your own efforts, by your own merits, but only by trusting in what Jesus has done for us through His death, burial and resurrection.  God has provided salvation for you, if you will simply trust Him as your Savior and Lord. It’s a free gift to all.  Don’t delay.  Romans 10:13 says, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  Whosoever means you.Call upon the Lord today and He will give you the righteousness of Jesus Christ that you might have life in Him.  Let’s pray.

More than conquerors, Romans 8: 31-39

This is such an amazing passage of scripture, that it is really difficult to boil it down to just one principle or doctrine.  It really is the summary of Paul’s gospel or good news, up to this point.  In this passage he gives us a continuing string of assurances and blessings and benefits for those who have been saved. In this chapter he is actually presenting the various stages of our salvation, from justification to sanctification, to our glorification.  And this summary reaches it’s crescendo in these last verses which talk about the surety and guarantee of our salvation because of God’s love for us.

We have been studying this chapter for a few weeks now, and while it is beneficial to break it down verse by verse and really examine in detail each of the doctrines presented here, the downside is that it’s possible to lose sight of the magnificence of the totality of what God has done in Christ Jesus for us.  It’s like listening to a symphony of a great piece of classical music, and skipping the earlier parts and just listening to the last segment when it reaches it’s crescendo.  That might be an interesting way to listen, but I think you would miss the various parts building up to the great climax.

So before we look today at the climax of Paul’s presentation of our salvation, let me first go back to the beginning of chapter 8 and just remind you of the highlights there, and that will hopefully serve to set up the grand finale.

Starting in vs 1, Paul talks about the beginning of our salvation, which is our justification, and said there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation! Consider that! All my transgressions, all my sins, all my shortcomings, all are wiped clean by Jesus Christ.  He paid my debt, and even further, God transferred His righteousness to my account.  

Furthermore, he says in vs 11 that having been made righteous, God has given us the means of sanctification, by His Spirit to indwell us.  Think of that!  The Spirit of the Living God has been given to indwell us that we might have spiritual life, that we might live righteously through His power working in us.

And the fact that the Spirit indwells sets up the blessing of sonship. Vs 14, “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”  Paul goes on to enumerate the tremendous blessings we are guaranteed as the children of God.  Those blessings include the immediate and intimate access to God as our heavenly Father.  And furthermore, that as children of God we share in the inheritance of Christ.  Imagine that!  The inheritance of Christ is to be shared with us – former slaves, former enemies of God, but now adopted into HIs family, made co heirs with Jesus Christ.

But part of what we share with Christ is the sufferings of Christ.  And that suffering is also a blessing.  It is a privilege to share in Christ’s sufferings, for to the degree that we suffer with Him, we shall also share in His glory.  vs 17, and if  [we are] children, [then] heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with [Him] so that we may also be glorified with Him.”

And even suffering is a blessing,  because as vs 28 tells us, God is working all things together for good to those that love Him and are called according to His purpose.  Just think of that!  God uses our weaknesses, our sufferings,  even things that were meant as evil towards us, to conform us to the image of Jesus Christ.  In the process of our sanctification, God uses all things to work together for good, for His purpose.

And  His purpose – HIs eternal plan for us – is to bring many sons to the glory of His kingdom. He has predetermined that we would be His children from eternity past, and He has worked all things after the counsel of His will, so that those whom He foreknew, He also predestined, and those He predestined, He also called, and those He called, He also justified, and those He justified, He also glorified. God is the author and finisher of our salvation.  Our future is a certainty, so that God speaks of our glorification as though it has already been finalized.  Imagine that!  God’s plan is for our good, to give us a future and a hope, and it is certain and guaranteed by HIs word which cannot fail.

Now we come to the crescendo. And Paul himself seems to almost be at a loss for words at considering the incredible wonders of our salvation.  He says in vs31 “What then shall we say to these things?”  It’s as if he is exclaiming “What more can I say?” “How can I express the wonders of God’s love for us?”  And really, the wonders of our salvation should leave us speechless as well when we consider all that God has done for us.  Nothing that affects our salvation has been contingent upon what we might do for God but is founded upon what God has done for us. As Jonah 2:9 says, “salvation is from the Lord.”  Our salvation is all of God, God’s undeserved favor towards us. It was He who procured all these blessings for us.  

And since the Almighty God of heaven, the Holy Son of God Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirt have all cooperated and agreed together to bring many sons to glory, then we must conclude with Paul that “If God is for us, then who or what can be against us?”   We are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ over every thing that might come against us.  

Consider for a moment that question, “If God is for us.” The devil would love you to get you to a  point through trials and difficulties of life so that you might ask “Is God really for us?” It sometimes seems that everything is against us, and in such times we might doubt even that God is for us. But Paul wants us to know for sure that God is for us, and he offers us proof in vs32, that God did not spare His only Son for our sake, but gave Him up to die in our place.  “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?”  

There can be no greater assurance of God’s concern for us, and watch care over us, than the fact that God gave Jesus, HIs only, beloved Son, to be the sacrificial lamb for us, that we might be given eternal life.   God did not spare Jesus, He did not mitigate the severity of the punishment for our sin to any degree, so that our judgment might be paid in full, so that He could adopt us as HIs children. 

We can be assured that God is for us by the one verse of scripture that probably every Christian should have memorized; John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Certainly we can be assured that God is for us, considering what God has done for us.

And if that is true, then we can learn from the greater to the lessor that God will freely give us all things.  Vs32 “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?”  What things is he talking about? This is not a proof text for “name it and claim it”.  Does he mean any thing we desire?  I would have to say that is not my experience.  I have asked for many things in my life as a Christian and God has chosen not to give them to me. And maybe it was better that I did not get everything I wanted or asked for.  

But what I think Paul is talking about are the things mentioned so far in this text which I highlighted while ago. All the blessings and benefits of my salvation are guaranteed.  He will not withhold them, but He richly pours out His grace upon me.  As the song “Great is Thy Faithfulness” says, “all I have needed thy hand has provided, great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.” So since God is for us,  who can be against us?

Paul rephrases that question who can be against us, by saying “who will bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? It is Christ Jesus who died,  yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.” Perhaps the entity that Paul is referencing who is against us is none other than the enemy, which is Satan. Satan is called the accuser in Revelation 12:10 “Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, ‘Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.”  You will remember that Satan accused Job, God’s servant.  

But the answer that is given against any accusation against us that Satan might make is that it is God who justifies. We are justified by faith is what God has done.  How did God justify us?  By condemning His own Son, putting the penalty for our sin upon Jesus, that we might go free. Isaiah speaks of the reason God justified us in Isaiah 53:10-11 “But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting [Him] to grief; If He would render Himself [as] a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.  As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.”  God justified us on the basis of what Christ did for us on the cross.  And the accuser cannot ask God to engage in double jeopardy. Any accusations in the light of our justification have no validity. We have already been assured in vs 1 that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ.  Now we are reminded in vs 34 that there can be no condemnation because Jesus was condemned in our place.

And as vs 34 tells us, Christ is now at the right hand of God, interceding for us.  It’s as if God is the judge, Satan is the prosecutor, and Jesus Christ is the Intercessor, our defense attorney.   And by virtue of HIs intercession we have no fear of condemnation from the accuser.

Jesus said during HIs ministry on earth that no greater love has any man than this, than a man lays down his life for his friends.  Jesus Christ willingly laid down His life for us, that we might be His friends, and even more than friends, His family.  That we might be adopted into the family of God. He loved us enough to leave the glory of heaven, to leave HIs place at the right hand of God, in order to humble Himself to become a man, that He might die for His enemies and procure their salvation.  And Paul emphasizes our assurance is secure because of the love of Christ.

Earlier Paul asked, “if God is for us?”  And I said that Satan often attacks us in hope that we will think that God is not for us.  That He does not care about our circumstances.  But we have seen many assurances that God does care.  However, another attack of the devil on those who are afflicted is often to make them think that God does not love us. Satan suggests that if God loved us, He would never let us go through what we are going through here on earth.

So Paul asks that question in vs 35. “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”  Listen, our love for God may waver, but Christ’s love for us will never fail.  Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.

Paul gives us in this verse seven circumstances that the devil might use to try to convince us that God doesn’t love us. The first is affliction. Some commentators have said that affliction speaks of outward affliction and distress speaks of inward distress. I think of Job who was afflicted with boils.  Affliction is often physical, it may be an illness.  It’s on the outside, or comes from the outside.  But the second circumstance Paul mentions is distress.  Distress speaks of a inward condition.  It’s an inward distress of the mind or soul.  It’s being torn apart on the inside with fear or worry.

The third means of causing us to doubt God’s love is persecution.  Persecution can come from many sources, in many different forms, but it is a deliberate attack on your faith.  Famine is the fourth, and that may be hunger, but it may include any lack of necessities. I will tell you that God does not always supply all our needs immediately.  God sometimes allows us to suffer famine, long beyond when we think God should have answered.  And your faith will be tested in times of famine, to see if you will still trust the Lord when He seemingly does not supply what He has promised.

Nakedness refers to a lack of clothing.  Not necessarily actually naked, but in need of clothing. Clothing is a basic, fundamental need, and the lack of it is something that Satan would test us through. 

Peril is danger.  As a Christian we can sometimes experience danger.  In the hymn “Amazing Grace” it has the line, “through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come, but grace has brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.” Paul spoke of his own experience with danger in 2 Cor. 11 saying he had often been “in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers.”

And the final circumstance that might be faced is the sword.  The sword refers to death, perhaps by execution.  It should be noted that every one of those trials were something that the apostle Paul had personally experienced up to that point, except the sword.  Paul writes in 2 Cor. 11:23 about all the hardships and difficulties that he had experienced as an apostle.  He had been stoned, whipped, shipwrecked, stranded at sea, hungry, thirsty, in poverty, etc, all during his ministry.  It must be understood that we too are going to experience such things from time to time.  The only thing Paul had not experienced at the time of this writing was the sword.  But within a few years, he would succumb to that as well, and lose his head at the hand of the Emperor Nero.

Thus Paul could agree with the Psalmist in quoting Psalm 44:22, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.”  The reality of suffering in our Christian faith  goes against our contemporary theology a lot of times.  We somehow think that our Christianity is supposed to insulate us from suffering and sickness and death.  But in fact, Paul indicates that suffering is a very present reality.  

Jesus Himself promised suffering for His followers.  He said the servant is not above his master.  If they hated Him, they will hate us as well.  He said in John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

So even though we will experience tribulation, any or all of those seven circumstances Paul listed, as Christ has overcome, so we will overcome.  Paul says in vs 37, “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.” We overwhelmingly conquer in spite of all these tribulations.  In the midst of these tribulations, in fact, even by means of these tribulations, we are more than conquerors. 

Remember back in vs 28 Paul talked about all things working together for good.  And we said that the things he was talking about was various types of suffering.  He was using suffering to conform us to the image of Christ.  And now Paul says that in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  They cannot hurt us, but even can be used to help us. They all work together for good.

He goes on to enumerate those things in vs 38, as the symphony builds to it’s grand finale; “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,  nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Not even the greatest enemy, our physical death can defeat us, because we have been given eternal life. It can’t defeat us because He lives, and because He lives, we live and will ever live with Him. And life itself cannot defeat us, even with all it’s distractions, and worries and cares.  Life cannot separate us from God, because our life is given by God.  He holds our life in HIs hand.  By Him we live and breath and exist. Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 

No angel or principality, whether a fallen or holy angel, as powerful as they may be, can separate us from the love of God. Speaking of the fallen angels, 1 John 4:4 says “greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.  God loves us more than the angels.  When angels fell in sin, God did not send Jesus to die for them but held them in eternal condemnation.  But God so loved us, that even when we were sinners Christ died for us.

Neither can things present or things to come  separate us from the plan and love of God. I look at all that is going on in our country today, all that is going on in the world, and I am almost overwhelmed. The future seems almost hopeless. But God is not overwhelmed.  All things are going according to His plan.  And His plan includes me.  He plan is for me.  He has chosen me to be a child of God and to share His kingdom with Him forever.  He has promised good to me. And nothing that happens in this world can change HIs love for me.

Nor, says Paul, can any powers hurt me.  No power of government can separate me.  Government may take away my rights, they may take away my citizenship, they may lock me up in prison, but they can’t take away God’s love for me. Neither can height nor depth.  I think of that every time I fly in an airplane.  I am just as safe and just as loved by God at 30,000 feet in the air as I am on solid ground. Jesus said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.  He has promised to be with me in all things, no matter where I might go or how far.  

Psalm 139 says, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?  If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.  If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,  Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me.  If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike [to You.]  For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.  My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, [And] skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;  Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained [for me,] When as yet there was not one of them.  How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!  If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.”

And back in Romans 8,  just in case Paul left anything out, he adds, “nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Nothing, absolutely nothing whatsoever, can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

We that on Jesus have trusted and believed, God has secured for us a salvation that is beyond description and comprehension, that surpasses the tribulations and trials of this world, and in fact makes us more than conquerors in Christ.  As Christ triumphed over death and the grave, so we will triumph over death and the grave.  As He ascended into heaven, so we will ascend to heaven.  As He sits on a throne in heaven, so we shall sit on thrones in heaven.  As He lives forever more, so we shall live forever more with Him.  This is our inheritance. It is our future glorification, which is already in progress, so that we are already considered as seated in the heavenly places according to Ephesians 1:20.  Our name card is already reserving our place at the table, and God is preparing a place for us there with Him.  

I pray that you have these assurances of your salvation today.  If you do not have this assurance of your salvation, I hope that you will trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, that you may have the forgiveness of sins, the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and be filled with the presence of His Holy Spirit.  Christ has made all these things possible through His death, burial and resurrection.  Believe in Him and be saved and receive the adoption as a child of God, and enter into the inheritance which God has prepared for those who love Him.  It is a free gift of God.  He loves you enough to die for you.  I hope that you will trust in Him and believe in Him as your Savior today that you might have life.

Shaped by Suffering, Romans 8:28-31

Among Christians, verse 28 is probably one of the best known, most often quoted verses in the Bible.  But as is often the fact in such cases, it is probably misinterpreted more than it is understood correctly.  And so today I want to focus just on this verse and the two immediately following it, in hope that we can gain a correct understanding of this passage.  Because it is a tremendously important text.  It states a doctrine that undergirds our faith.  And so it’s important that we understand it.  

Correct doctrine is important.  These truths of God’s word are what we base our faith upon.  We base our future eternity upon them as well.  And nothing could be more tragic than to assume a false doctrine is true, and pattern your life in accordance with that doctrine, only to find out eventually that it is a flawed doctrine.  That you thought it meant certain things, but in reality it did not.  And usually when you discover that, it comes at the worst possible time.

I will give you a personal example. I grew up in the church.  I was a pastor’s kid and I must have listened to thousands of sermons and teachings about the Bible growing up.  But in spite fo that, I had a superficial knowledge of the Bible. I had never proved some of those doctrines in the fire of trials, and it turns out, that some of the things I thought were true were not.  

About a dozen years after I was married, I had by that time a successful career, I had a nice home, a beautiful family, kids in private schools, and all the trappings of what I thought were the benefits of living as a Christian in America. And then began a series of illnesses that were not quickly diagnosed.  I was ill with one thing after another for about a year or so.  And I soon found myself unable to work as I used to be able to do.  My finances went upside down. I ended up in serious debt looking at the possibility of bankruptcy. 

I’ll spare you all the details, but suffice it to say that my faith began to take on a more serious note.  Nothing sends you to church and to your Bible like a crisis.  But somehow through the years I had developed a type of faith that had been influenced by what is often called the prosperity gospel.  I wouldn’t have called it that, but nevertheless I expected that God would make everything better soon.  If I had more faith, if I tithed more, if I went to church more, if I read my Bible more, God would soon rectify everything and all would return to normal, perhaps even better than normal.  

I found examples in the Bible which supported that kind of hope; such as Joseph who was cast in prison and then was exalted to the second position under Pharaoh. I found every reference in the Bible to God making everything right, or restoration, that I could find, such as with the life of Job, and I underlined every one. And particularly I found Romans 8:28 comforting as I believed it promised that God would make everything good again. I held onto that faith with all my strength, believing that the size of my faith, or the diligence of my faith would make God come to my rescue and fix all my problems.  After all, it only made sense that God could use me even more if I was successful and healthy than if I was a physical and financial wreck.  How could I be useful to the Lord as a failure?

Well, long story short, I eventually was forced to sell the dream home that I had built with my own two hands.  My health degenerated and left me practically incapacitated for over three years.  I developed paralyzing anxiety attacks that made me a psychological wreck.  To this day I have large sections of my memory which seem to be blacked out, particularly of my children at that time. I guess from stress.  I can’t remember some things.  I lost my new cars.  I ended up at the bottom financially and finally at the end of my rope we moved here to the beach to try to reconstruct my life, a  move which didn’t really improve my situation at all, in fact it may have made it worse.

Bottom line is, I found that a lot of the doctrines of my faith that I had wanted to be true, or which I believed to be true, were in fact not what the Bible teaches.  My faith became tested in the fire of adversity and what came out was quite a bit different than what I had wanted to believe.  I found that believing something does not make it true, and God is not obligated to fulfill my wishes just because I muster up some sort of fervent faith.  

And so I present this passage of scripture to you today not from the perspective of a theologian sitting in an ivory tower, but from the experience of someone who has proven the validity of these promises in the fires of tribulation and trials.  So let me just say unapologetically right from the outset that verse 28 is not some sort of promise that God is going to make everything work out the way you want it to.  God is not promising good to you in the sense that we most often think of what’s good.  When you lose a loved one to illness or an accident, perhaps a young person in the prime of their life, you will ask yourself then, “how can this be good?”  And if you’re like most of us, trying to understand life from our own perspective of justice and goodness and rightness, then we will end up disillusioned and in danger of your faith becoming shipwrecked.

The key then to understanding this verse is the context in which it is found.  Context is so essential in interpreting scripture correctly.  And the verse which summarizes the context up to this point best is vs 16 and 17. “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,  and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with [Him] so that we may also be glorified with [Him.]”  What Paul is saying here is that if we have become children of God by the new birth of the Holy Spirit, then we have a glorious inheritance that awaits us in eternity, but the path to glory goes through the valley of suffering in the present world.

Now we have already discussed this verse in previous studies, so I don’t want to belabor it again, but suffice it to say that what Paul is saying there is that suffering is an integral part of the Christian experience.  Health, wealth and prosperity is not typically the means that God chooses, but suffering is the way that God uses to bring His children to glory. It is the means that God uses to change us, to conform us to be like Christ in this present world.

I’m afraid that this principle is not something that gets a lot of airtime on Christian radio and television.  The expectation of Christian suffering doesn’t sell a lot of books.  We all want three steps to some sort of mountain top experience.  Or we want seven steps to a better, more fulfilling life as a Christian. And of course that usually includes all the physical and material “blessings” which we think will help us live out the American dream.

That may be the American dream, but it is not the Christian experience which the Bible teaches.  Let me just show you a few verses of scripture which indicate that suffering is the means which God has ordained for the Christian.  To the church at Philippi Paul said in Phil. 1:29 “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.”  To Timothy in 2Tim. 2:3 “Suffer hardship with [me,] as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”  Peter in 1Peter 4:19 said “Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.” Jesus said to the church at Smyrna in Rev 2:10 ‘Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”  1Peter 5:8-10 Peter says “Be of sober [spirit,] be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  But resist him, firm in [your] faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.  After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen [and] establish you.”  In John 16:33 Jesus said,  “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”  

And we could go on and on.  Contrary to our expectations, the Beatitudes talk about suffering being a blessing of the child of God. Jesus talked about taking up your cross and following Him. We don’t have the time to exhaust all that the scripture says about that subject this morning.  But it’s important to understand that suffering is not incidental to the Christian life, but it’s essential.  And furthermore, suffering has a purpose, a Divine purpose.  

So in the context of the suffering that we will endure as children of God, Paul says in vs 28, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to [His] purpose.”  God causes all things, even what we might think are bad things, He uses our suffering to work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.  God uses our suffering for good. Now that is a hard doctrine, but that’s a true doctrine.  A fundamental doctrine.  

Probably the best illustration I can think of for that principle is that of Joseph, who was betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, spent 13 years in prison for something he was not guilty of, only to eventually be released and put second in command under Pharaoh.  But what’s important to see in that was how Joseph responded many years later when his brother’s finally came and bowed down to him as he had dreamed they would when he was but a boy.  They were afraid that he would put them to death for what they had done to him.  But what did he say to them?  “You meant it for evil, but God used it for good.”

Notice that please.  It was evil that they did to Joseph.  He suffered tremendously for many  years. He was sold into slavery because of their hatred and he suffered greatly. But what purpose did God achieve in Joseph through that suffering? God used Joseph’s suffering for good. He made Joseph like Christ.  Joseph became the means of salvation for his people.  He became a type of Christ.  He was able to love his enemies like Christ loves.  He was able to forgive his enemies like Christ forgives.

So what Paul calls “good” is not necessarily the kinds of things we might call good, depending on the circumstances we find ourselves in.  What he calls good must be examined in light of the fact that the Christian loves God.  Notice that is how Paul phrases this; “God works all things together for good to those who love God.” Now we talk in the church all the time about love, especially Christian love.  We just finished studying what is called the great love chapter in 1 Cor. 13 in our Wednesday night Bible study.  And so we know that this is not an emotion base or sentimental love Paul is talking about.  The love which God has for us, and which we are to have for Him, is a sacrificial love.  It’s a selfless love.  It’s a love which wants what is best for the other, not what is best for us.  It is a love for God that is born out of the fact that God first loved us, so we love Him.  And this is love, that Christ suffered and  died to save sinners.  Oh, that kind of love then.  The kind of love we are talking about is a love that lays down his life for his friends.  That suffers all things, bears all things, endures all things, for the sake of the One whom we love.  To that person who loves God as He loves us, God causes all things to work together for good, even our suffering.

Then to  even further delineating this providence of God, Paul gives the caveat that those who love God are also called according to His purpose. So it’s not my purposes, my grand design, my 25 year plan that God is obligated to fix everything so it works out nice and tidy and I get what I want, so that I can rub my hands together and say “boy, life is good!”  But if I am called according to His purpose, if I am enjoined with God’s purposes, if I love God so much that I am willing to sacrifice whatever is necessary to do His will, then God will cause all things to work together for good, to accomplish His purpose.

Ok then, the next logical question is what is God’s purpose?  I believe the question has already been answered to some degree by the illustration of Joseph.  But nevertheless, Paul makes it clear in the next paragraph. Look at vs29, “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined [to become] conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.” 

Now right about here, most theologians and a lot of preachers stop preaching, and start talking about theology.  And theology is necessary and it has it’s place.  But it’s possible to spend an hour or two on a dissertation of Calvinism  and completely miss the point of what Paul is saying here.  What I find discomfiting sometimes in discussions of theology is that we spend an inordinate amount of time trying to define what God can and can’t do, as opposed to figuring out what God wants us to do.  We spend a lot of time trying to define the undefinable, to know the unknowable.  To explain where the beginning and end are in eternity. 

But my take on a lot of high minded theology is to simply say that if God said it, then I believe it.  I don’t have to understand it.  Predestination and foreknowledge and election are things that my finite mind cannot comprehend.  And so talking about what I think God can and cannot do is not very productive. If you can understand eternity, then maybe you can figure out election and predestination. But God doesn’t use a lot of pen and ink trying to explain such things.  He just declares them.  But He does spend a lot of time explaining what He requires of us.  And so I think we would be better served to focus our time and energy on what He requires of us, and let God take care of being God.

That being said, however, we can clearly take away something important inn what Paul says here.  And that is that God has a plan. God has a purpose.  We may not understand exactly how foreknowledge and predestination work, but anyone can understand that you have to have a plan and a purpose for there to be foreknowledge and predestination. How can you predestine something unless you first plan what it is you want to accomplish?  So God has a plan and a purpose from eternity past.  And that plan and purpose is to bring many sons to glory.  

Hebrews 2:10 says, “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” That’s exactly what Paul is indicating here in vs 29. “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined  (that means God planned, He predetermined) for many people to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that Christ would be the firstborn among many brethren.”  Notice the last part of that statement, so that Christ would be the firstborn among MANY brethren.” Same thought as in Hebrews; Christ bringing many sons to glory.  God’s purpose in sending His Son to the world is to bring many other children to Him.

And to make them sons, or children, that are similar to Christ is the purpose of God.  Paul has already established earlier the benefits of being adopted into the family of God.  That we are heirs of God, and co-heirs with Christ. Now he makes the point that the purpose of God is just not to save them from hell, but to make them like Christ.  Notice how he says this; “He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son.”  That is God’s purpose, to bring them into conformity to the image of Christ.  To make them look like Christ, to act like Christ, to have the righteousness of Christ, to have the Spirit of Christ, to do the works of Christ.  That’s what it means to be in conformity to the image of Christ.  Paul is talking about our sanctification. 

Sanctification is the process of being remade in the image of Christ.  Now that happens in the chain of salvation.  And Paul states that chain of events which results in our salvation.  Remember as  I have told you before that salvation has three parts; justification, sanctification, and glorification.  Justification occurs when we accept Jesus as our Savior, believing in what He did on the cross on our behalf, and as a result of our faith in Him God forgives us of our sins, and transfers the righteousness of Christ to us. At that point we are declared righteous, and we are indwelled by the Holy Spirit.

So having become what Jesus called “born again”, He begins the process of sanctification in us.  This is the life of a Christian.  It’s the process of being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ in this present body, in this present life.  And as Paul has just indicated, God uses suffering to shape us into Christ’s image. Suffering is one of the tools that God uses to chip away the dross, to chip away the weights and the sin which so easily besets us, and to shape us into a work of art, really a work of love, in which we begin to take on the characteristics of Christ as we deny the flesh and walk in the Spirit. Suffering is the means of our sanctification.

Now that process of sanctification lasts until the last phase of our salvation, which is when we are gathered to be with the Lord.  That last phase of our salvation is glorification, in which this body of flesh will be made incorruptible.  We will be changed physically to be like Him for we shall see Him as He is.  We will receive a glorified body that will not have the sin nature any longer.  A body that will never die.  It will never have disease.  Because it will have no sin. And in that phase we will ever be with the Lord.  In that glorification phase we will inherit what God has prepared for those who love Him.  In that stage, the eternal plan of God to bring many sons to glory will be realized finally and completely.  The plan of God, which cannot fail, which was predetermined before the world began, will be brought to it’s consummation in the Kingdom of God.  And as Paul indicated earlier, heaven and earth will be remade to be the Paradise of God, where we that love God will be able to be with Him and live with Him, and love and serve Him forever.

So that is the good that God causes to work together for our sakes, to bring many sons to glory.  To conform many sons and daughters to the image of Jesus Christ.  That many sons and daughters will share in the inheritance of Christ.  That brings us back to the verse we started with, vs 17, 17 “and if [we are] children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”

Oh Christian, if you hear me today, do not be dismayed at the fiery trials which have come upon you, which come upon you for your testing, as if some strange thing were happening to you, “but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.”  

John Cowper wrote a hymn of which the following verse is famous.  He said, “Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace; behind a frowning providence, he hides a smiling face.”  Let us trust God in the suffering, in the trials and in the storms.  He has a purpose and a plan to call many sons to glory through suffering with Christ and being conformed to the image of Christ.  And He has promised to make sure that the chain of salvation is completed in us.  He will not lose even one of His sheep.  

Perhaps there is someone here today that has heard the call of God upon their heart.  Today if you hear the voice of God calling you, do not harden your heart.  Call upon the Lord when He may be found.  If you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. He will adopt you into His family so that you will receive the inheritance of glory.  If God is calling you today I hope and pray that you will answer Him, that you may become a child of God.