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5.21.23 Romans 8:31-39 Pastor Sam Porges · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  If you have your Bibles, open up to Romans chapter 8. That's where we're going to be. And as you're turning there, I want to ask you a question. How much do you have in Jesus? How much do you have in Jesus? Do you ever, like Carla was just saying, take inventory of what you have in Jesus? What would be your answer to that question if you really just stopped and thought about it?
• 0:38
  How much do you have in Jesus? Last week, we studied verses 28 to 30 of Romans chapter 8. And we saw from verse 28 that God has a plan, even if we don't know what that plan is. Amen? And we saw from verses 29 to 30 that there are five links in the golden chain that bind us to God. Foreknowledge, predestination, calling, justification, and
• 1:10
  We saw last week that your salvation and the glory of your future with God is guaranteed. It's guaranteed. What God started in you, he will finish. There's a quote by Eugene Peterson who said this. He said,
• 1:42
  It is sitting secure in a fortress. When you think about your salvation, you're sitting in a fortress. Our souls get to sit in the impregnable castle of God's sovereignty and feast with the king at his table. And every one of us who has put our faith in Christ has, as we saw so clearly last week, great assurance of salvation based on the sovereignty of God.
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  Now, lest even one ounce of doubt remain in your heart or in mine, Paul finishes this greatest chapter in the greatest book in the greatest book in the world by assuring our hearts with the love of God. Last week, if you walked away from that sermon saying, okay, I trust in the sovereignty of God, but there's something in me that pushes against that, there's something in me that doubts that, Paul goes, okay, then today,
• 2:46
  Let's have none of that. You'll notice in our passage this morning, verses 31 to 39, that we begin with a question. What is that question in verse 31? What then shall we say to these things? Now, these things refers to everything in the book of Romans, and we would do very well this morning to reread all of Romans up to this point. But for the sake of time, we can't do that.
• 3:16
  But what we are going to do is read all of Romans chapter 8. And so, if you are able, let's stand in honor of God's Word. And as I read, keep that question in mind. What then shall we say to these things? Let's start in Romans chapter 8, verse 1. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
• 3:48
  For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit,
• 4:18
  is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
• 4:47
  If the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the spirit of God are sons of God.
• 5:17
  For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs. Heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider...
• 5:43
  that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning,
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  together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the Spirit grown inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know what to pray for as we ought.
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  But the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined, he also called.
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  and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?
• 7:45
  It is God who justifies. Who is the one to condemn or who shall condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
• 8:11
  As it is written, for your sake we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth.
• 8:43
  nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Father, we have heard whispers of your love, whispers of your compassion. We ask today that as we finish the study of this chapter, that our hearts would be encouraged, that you would give us a full assurance of our salvation in Christ Jesus, that in him every soul rests secure.
• 9:22
  We are so grateful for your word. Bless us today in Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. Amen. Well, what's your response to those things in Romans chapter 8? How do you react to what we just read? After reading Romans up to this point, I think it's impossible to deny that God loves us. We established in chapters 1 to 3,
• 9:59
  the universal depravity and sinfulness of humanity, and in response, God's righteous wrath. And we then learned in the coming chapters about the God who didn't leave humanity alone to die in sin, but intervened in order to save, forgive, redeem, and restore every person who trusts in Christ for the forgiveness of sin.
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  Everyone who comes to Jesus by faith is irrevocably declared righteous by God and enters into the purifying process of becoming more like Jesus in practice until we all are with God in glory. The gospel laid out for us in the first seven chapters of Romans makes clear that God is for us, not against us. Hence, verse 31.
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  where he says, what then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? The Greek particle here, halfway through verse 31, if, if God is for us, signifies a fulfilled condition, not a mere possibility. That is to say, Paul here is assuming God is for us. He's not wondering if God is. We could word it this way, because God is for us.
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  Who can be against us? And what an empowering and encouraging statement that is. What an encouraging truth lies in that question. If you are in Christ, Highland, listen. God is for you. He's for you. And since he's cheering you on and smiling over you, does it really matter who's against you? Does it? Whose love is greater than God's?
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  whose affection is sweeter, whose presence is more comforting. Since God Almighty stands with you, what or whom shall you fear? What weapon fashioned against you shall succeed? The psalmists echo these thoughts. Psalm 27, verse 1. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life.
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  Of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 46. God is our refuge and strength, the very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress.
• 12:58
  Let me ask again, if God is for you, who can be against you? I have a friend who used to say, Yoda and Neo and Voldemort and Spock against me and Jesus, and I'm the majority. I don't know how Spock made it into that list. I'm not a Trekkie, so he's smart, I guess.
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  When you stand with Jesus, when you stand with God, you're always in the majority. I like that. Verse 32 is Paul's support for his question in verse 31. Look at this. He says, Verse 31 sounds really good, right? If God is for me, who can be against me? But Paul knows that our hearts need concrete evidence.
• 13:55
  to back up his assumption that God is for us. Like, Paul, how do you know that God is for us? Where's your evidence? And he would say, you want to see my evidence? Jesus. Since God gave you Jesus, and not only that, but Jesus crucified, what is he unwilling to give? If today you could pray and ask God to prove his love for you.
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  in a way that is different than Christ hanging on a cross, in a way that is greater than Christ hanging on a cross, what would you ask for? What would you pray for? There's not a good answer to that question, right? Those of us who wrestle with assurance of our salvation, we should ask ourselves this question when we struggle. Like, what event besides the cross would prove that God loves me?
• 14:59
  What more valuable gift than the blood of God the Son would prove that God is for me? What more could God do than what he's already done? Unlike Abraham, who was spared by God from offering his son on the altar, God did not spare his son for you. This time the knife was raised and there was no hand to stop it. God put Jesus to grief for our sake. And why?
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  Because he loves us. If God was willing to put it all on the line for you, what will he not do? Will he not give you what you need in this life? And then will he not give you everything in the life to come? Surely he will. So let me ask you this again. How much do you have in Jesus? Paul continues with another question in verse 33. He says,
• 16:02
  It is God who justifies. I find that we Christians struggle, that what we Christians struggle with the most when it comes to assurance of our salvation is our continual struggle against sin. When we stumble into sin, and like Paul, we do the evil we don't want to do, and we fail to do the good that we do want to do, we become disheartened.
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  And we may feel distant from God. We may feel ashamed. And we begin to mentally unravel our justification, thinking, how can I call myself a Christian and yet commit this sin? And on these dark days, we're tempted to believe that God never truly saved us. He never actually chose us or elected us. That he's going to kick us out of his kingdom because of our imperfections, which he didn't see coming.
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  We forget everything we know about the goodness of God, and instead of running to the gospel of God's saving grace, we run away from it, and like Adam and Eve, try to sew flimsy fig leaves together as a covering for our shame. Now, at its core, what this struggle reveals about our hearts is that we have a doctrinal misunderstanding of the gospel. We're mixing up justification
• 17:27
  and sanctification. Now, let's do a little bit of review. What is justification? Just as if I'd never sinned. To be justified before God is to be made right with God. It's to be treated just as if I'd never sinned. Now, how are we made right with God? By works? No, by what? By faith in the atoning blood of Jesus, right? And the atoning blood of Jesus
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  never changes even when you sin. It remains steadfast. So that's justification. Now, how about sanctification? What is sanctification? It's a process of becoming more like Jesus as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit. Now, how are we sanctified? Only through faith? By obedience, right? We want to grow in the faith. We got to obey what God is telling us to do. Now, do you see the difference between justification and sanctification?
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  Justification, instantaneous legal declaration of God where we sinners are declared righteous. Sanctification, a lifelong process of becoming like Jesus. Those are very different things, right? And when we sin, we must recognize that we haven't lost our justification. We've simply halted our sanctification. We've stopped cooperating with the Holy Spirit. And so we have forfeited.
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  Our experience of assurance and peace. It's a little like marriage. If I get into an argument with my wife, do we stop being married? Is our marriage dissolved? No. But have we lost the temporary experience of our unity and our peace? Yeah, right? In the same way, with the Lord, when we sin, your salvation isn't dissolved as a believer.
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  You've simply forfeited your experience, your temporary experience of assurance and peace. God's love for you doesn't end when you stumble. It doesn't fail. His patience is endless for every single person who is trying to figure out this messy process of following God in this life. His patience is endless for you. And so when you stumble, the encouragement from Romans 8 is run to God,
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  away from him. Run to the saving grace and everlasting kindness of Jesus. Hide yourself in his wounds. Take shelter in the unshakable truth of your justification. Scottish pastor Robert Murray McShane has famously said this, for every look at yourself, take 10 looks at Christ. When you stumble and you begin to get in your own head,
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  Begin to bring charges against yourself. Begin to condemn yourself for every thought that comes back your way. He says, send 10 thoughts to Christ. Raise your eyes continually. Look up. Get your eyes off of yourself. Look at the Savior. When the devil brings accusations against you,
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  Right? Because Paul's saying, who's going to bring any charge against God's elect? Well, what about the devil? When the devil brings charges against you, remind him that the record of your sins, which stood against you with its legal demands, was nailed to the cross and you bear it no more, as Colossians 2 tells us. Remind the devil that he has been disarmed at the cross and that none of his accusations are accepted before the holy and righteous judge.
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  When you bring an accusation against yourself, remember this. If God doesn't condemn you, but you condemn you, whose judgment is wrong? Yours. God does not make any mistakes. Your judgment against yourself is wrong. There's only one who can condemn you. Only one to whom God has given authority to judge, which John 5, 22 tells us is Jesus. Only one can condemn you.
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  And the reality is that that one is the one who died for you. Paul expands this thought in verse 34. Follow with me. He says, How would it be possible, he says, for you who are in Christ Jesus to be condemned? Jesus died to make atonement for your soul.
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  He was raised for your justification, as Romans 4, verse 25 tells us. And as the risen Savior, he's able to bestow eternal life upon you. Christ ascended to the right hand of the Father with all power and authority to represent you there. And, as verse 34 tells us, even now, he intercedes for you at the throne of grace. Christ stands in the gap. He fights for you.
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  1 John chapter 2 tells us that when we sin, we have in Jesus a defense attorney who makes an airtight case for your salvation because he appeals to his blood. He will win. No one can argue against him. In Christ, Highland, God is undeniably for you, not against you.
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  Verses 35 to 37 tell us that not only is God for us, but Christ is with us even in the midst of every trial. Verse 35, he says, When we go through trials, we sometimes feel very alone, don't we? You ever been there? I know I have. We feel alone as if God is...
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  He's far off on the glorious mountain while we're down here left alone to wrestle with demons. But this couldn't be further from the truth. Christ stands with you in the fire. When tribulation comes, Jesus teaches us how to withstand it. When we're distressed, he teaches us how to entrust ourselves to God. When we are persecuted, Christ teaches us how to overcome evil with good.
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  When we experience famine, Christ teaches us how to not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. When we're naked, Christ teaches us how to clothe ourselves with joy and humility and dignity. When we're in danger, he teaches us how to be still and know that he is God. And when the sword comes, he teaches us how to love our enemies. John MacArthur points out that it wouldn't be many years after
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  The Romans originally reading this letter would have stained the sands of the Colosseum with their blood. It wouldn't be many more years after reading this that some would be mauled by wild beasts, some would be used as human torches to light Nero's garden parties, some would be killed by gladiators. Dark times were coming, and some of these Romans especially needed
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  to hear that Christ was with them in the fire. I think it's also interesting that Paul makes this list in verse 35 like he does because Paul himself went through these very things. In 2 Corinthians chapter 11, look at what he says. In defending his ministry against those who sought to downplay it, he says,
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  Beatings and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the 40 lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I was adrift at sea on frequent journeys 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, in toil and hardship.
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  Through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure, and apart from other things, there's the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Paul isn't writing any theological theory here. He's encouraging the Romans from personal experience.
• 27:13
  In verse 36, he quotes Psalm 44, verse 22. Look at this. He says, As it is written, For your sake we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. If you read that entire psalm, which I did this last week, Psalm 44, it is an incredibly messy psalm. It starts off so triumphantly. Victory! And then the psalmist goes, But God, you've left me.
• 27:45
  I'm confused. I don't know what you're doing. I'm looking and seeing your work in the past for my forefathers, but for me, I don't know where you are. The psalmist feels like God has rejected him. He says, my soul is bowed down to the dust, but from the dust, the psalmist lifts his cry and says, God, rise up and help me. Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love. And for Paul to quote,
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  That psalm here tells us that the way of hardship has always been the path of the people of God. It's always been our path. And that in the midst of that hardship, God is not absent. In the midst of your trial, God is there. The doctrine of God's love is not a glass case, jewelry box doctrine. It's a doctrine in the dust. A doctrine on the ground. A doctrine that gets its hands dirty.
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  A doctrine that saturates all of your tribulations, all of the opposition that comes against you, all of your hardship. It permeates every part of it. The proof of God's power is Jesus' resurrection, but the proof of God's love is Jesus' cross. And so can these hardships separate you from God's love? No, they cannot.
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  In fact, Jesus doesn't even just let us manage our trials, but actually helps us to overcome them. Look at verse 37. Paul continues, Just as Jesus endured trouble in this world and overcame it, so we too overcome our trouble. We are not victims, helpless victims to our circumstances.
• 29:44
  kind of interestingly, has come to begin glorifying victimhood. You guys notice that? The more of a victim you are, the more boxes you can check on the oppression sheet, the more the world should give to you, the more people should pity you. And honestly, for some people, I think that's probably born out of a heartfelt desire to be loved and for someone to pay attention to them.
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  For some, I think it's just immature and incredibly selfish. But our world is glorifying victimhood. And here in verse 37, Paul would say, that's not how Christians think. It's not, oh man, how many tribulations do you have? How many distresses do you have? We feel so bad for you. You're such a victim. You deserve so much praise and pity. No.
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  He says in all of those things, we are more than conquerors. Through Christ's presence and Christ's love, we are more than conquerors. And literally, that phrase, more than conquerors, is a compound word meaning super conquerors. And I was thinking this last week. I asked myself, what would a super conqueror in battle do, do you think? I thought they wouldn't just fight and win.
• 31:18
  They would win and then they would take all the enemy's stuff, right? They would conquer, but they would also gain from the battle. That's, I think, what a super conqueror probably would do. And this is the truth for every single believer. We not only conquer the things listed in verse 35, all of our tribulations and distresses and hardships, we not only conquer them, we also gain from them. Because in the midst of all those things, Christ is teaching us.
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  He's speaking. He's molding us into the type of people that God wants us to be. And not only do you and I conquer in this life, but at the end of all of our days, Christ says he's going to come and take us to be with him, that we might also be where he is. He's going to take us poor beggars, lift us from the ashes, and he's going to seat us among princes.
• 32:21
  Jesus is going to give you everything. Everything. All of that, Paul says in verse 37, is only available through whom? Him who loved us. Only through Christ. We come now to the grand finale of Romans chapter 8. Verses 38 and 39. Follow along with me. Verse 38. He says,
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  nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Man, Paul began this chapter with no condemnation in Jesus, and he ends here with no separation in Jesus.
• 33:21
  Paul, here in these verses, is scanning the entire universe, looking for something or someone that could possibly separate you from God's love. He looks to things in this life and finds, oh man, to live is Christ. He looks to death and says, oh no, to die is gain. He searches the heavens for an angelic power or ruler who could come between you and Jesus, but he finds none.
• 33:49
  He looks down the corridors of times past to see if there be any event or person which could persuade God to rescind his love but doesn't find a thing. He turns and looks down the corridors of times future to see if anything, even the final judgment, could separate you from God's love but to no avail. He inquires whether the greatest spiritual powers
• 34:19
  could potentially drive a wedge between you and God, but they cannot. He ascends to the heights and finds nothing. He goes to the depths and still comes up empty-handed, and his only conclusion is this. There is nothing in the entire universe that could separate these people from their God in Christ Jesus, their Lord. But Paul, you might say, what about my depression?
• 34:53
  What about my current stumblings that I thought I would have been over so long ago, and I'm still wrestling with them? What about those? What about my sense of worthlessness? What about my cancer? Is that separating me from God's love? And Paul thoroughly searches the records, looks at everything, and then says, nope. God's fingerprints cover your past. His grace covers your present.
• 35:23
  and his promises cover your future. God is for you. Christ is with you. And nothing can change that. Well, the simple truths about God are often the best, aren't they? Jesus loves me. This I know, for the Bible tells me so. Tim Keller, a famous pastor who unfortunately for us passed away on Friday. He...
• 35:57
  famously said this. He said, the gospel is this, we are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time, we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope. Hyland, can you, along with me, just rejoice in this today? God loves you. God loves you. As Bob Goff has said, your picture's in his wallet. The message of the gospel is that God is
• 36:29
  for you in Christ Jesus. Do you know that today? Can you, like Paul in verse 38, say, I am sure, I am convinced that nothing can separate me from God's love. You can come to Jesus just as you are and receive his free grace and forgiveness by faith. Let your soul rest in him who loves you. And I know, after talking with some of you in the last few weeks, I know that there are some of you,
• 37:00
  who are carrying around a burden that the love of Jesus would compel you to just drop. This burden of the past, the burden of the present, a fear of the future, and you're just bowed down under this thing. And Jesus says, just let it go. I've been reading Pilgrim's Progress, and if you've ever read that, the man named Christian is on his way to the holy city, bowed down underneath.
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  this burden. And he goes through all these trials and meets various people, bowed down under this, and then finally he ascends the hill and he says, I saw a cross and then looked down below and saw a sepulcher. And it was only at that cross that I could take that burden off and watch it roll down into the sepulcher. It's just done. You don't need to carry it anymore. And so today, relax in God's love and ask yourself,
• 38:04
  How much do I have in Jesus? You have everything. Everything. I'm going to, before we sing our last song, pray. Pray a passage over you. I'm going to pray Ephesians chapter 3, verses 14 to 21. And then we'll end our service by singing together again. And so, let's pray. Ephesians chapter 3. For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father.
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  from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. That you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height
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  Amen.