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(Romans 8:34-37) The Five Points of Security

(Romans 8:34-37) The Five Points of Security

Ref: Romans 8:34–35

Paul has been accused at times of being heady and analytical in his writings. In certain discussions of theological matters, he can seem too systematic and cold. But not so in this passage. Paul turns poetic as the vibrant, colorful images of Christ's love dance across the pages from his heart to ours.

Transcript

“The Five Points of Security”

Romans 8:34-37

I want to continue in our study of the eternal security of the believer, from the last paragraph in Romans chapter 8.

This paragraph is indeed a wonderful song of assurance. 

True Biblical Christianity is the only religion – if you can call it that – that offers eternal security.

Why?  Because all other false religions base eternal security and hope on how well you live on earth.  And since everyone knows they can live better than they do, all religion based on works ultimately fails to provide any thought or knowledge or sense of security.

Christianity places the security of the believer squarely on the shoulders of almighty God.  Not what we do for Him, but what He has done for us.

Our good works are merely expressions of praise and worship toward the One who redeemed us.

We do not do good things so that we can get into heaven, but because we are going to heaven.  Not so that God will accept us, but because God has accepted us in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I was leafing through a new book that overviewed each Book of the Bible.  I was reading what it said about this letter to the Romans and it made a one sentence remark that intrigued me.  It noted that by the time of Paul’s letter to the Romans, Buddhism had reached the shores of Paul’s world.

We tend to think of Paul’s letters combating all sorts of philosophies and false religions – as it prepares the believer to stand for the gospel – but I thought it was interesting to consider that Paul had in the back of his mind, a religions called Buddhism.  A religion, like all the others that fails to give it’s followers any hope beyond the grave.  

You just hope to achieve better and better life forms as you are reincarnated into better and better people – depending on how much good karma or bad karma you earned – but eventually you achieve what the Buddha achieved – eternal happiness in Nirvana.  Which isn’t really a place – but a state of  divine consciousness.

Their only hope for Nirvana – and the end of the cycle of reincarnation, arriving at some point of divine consciousness, is if you follow the 8-fold path.

The path of:

            Right view

            Right thought

            Right speech

            Right action

            Right livelihood

            Right effort

            Right mindfulness

            Right contemplation

So the question this religion asks and every man-made religion in the world asks is, “How are you doing to make it to heaven - for the religionist – how are you doing to earn paradise - for the Jew – are you faithful so that you can gain the third heaven - for the Mormon – or Nirvana for the Buddhist?

How are you doing?!

You open your Bible to Romans chapter 8 and you discover the chapter begins in verse 1 with “no condemnation” and ends in verse 39 with “no separation.” 

And you discover your eternal security is not in how you did, but in what God did;

not in how you are doing, but in what God has done and is doing and will do for the one who has been born again by faith in Jesus Christ.

These things I have written unto you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you might know that you have eternal life. (I John 5:13)

That you might know!  Not hope so, think so, maybe so – but know so!

The Apostle John speaks with absolute clarity, listen, “This is the testimony, God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.  He who has the Son has the life; and he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” (I John 5:11-12)
 

Burn into the margin of your minds the words, “Absolute confidence in God!”

Not in you . . . in God!

Perhaps you are saying to yourself, “But what do I do about my doubts?”  I’ve had people say to me, “I struggle with the religion of my past – it was works oriented . . . my confidence before God depended on what kind of week I had . . . how many sins I committed . . . how many times I prayed.  So I doubt this truth of God’s word . . . I can’t speak like the Apostle John . . . would my doubting ever cause me to lose my salvation?  Great question!

Allow me to have another preacher answer that for you.  His name was Henry Drummond and in 1887 he preached a sermon entitled “Dealing With Doubt.”  Here’s what he said,

Jesus Christ never failed to distinguish between doubt and unbelief.  Doubt says, “I can’t believe.”  Unbelief says, “I won’t believe.”  Doubt is honesty; unbelief is obstinacy.  Doubt is looking for light; unbelief is [love for] darkness.  Loving darkness rather than the light – this is what Christ attacked and attacked unsparingly.  But for the doubting questions of Thomas, and Philip, and Nicodemus, and many others who came to Him to have their great problems solved, He was generous [in his teaching them the truth.]  When Thomas came to Him, having denied the resurrection, and stood before Him expecting scathing words and a tongue lashing for his unbelief, they never came.  They never came.  Instead, Jesus Christ showed him the facts-He gave Thomas the facts.  Adapted from Nelsons Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations and Quotes by Robert J. Morgan (Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 2000)  p. 245

  • The answer to unbelief is faith
  • The answer to doubting are the facts.

We can’t produce faith in you who don’t believe,

Bt we can provide the facts for you who do and your faith will grow stronger.

For those of you who do not believe, I want you to be saved;

For those of you who do believe, I want you to be strong!

I believe that was what Paul had in mind in this great chapter, as he says, “Here are the facts . . . this is true Christianity . . . this is the gospel of God!  Listen to the facts!”

Romans 8:31 – What then shall we say to these things?  If/Since God is for us, who is against us?  32.  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

These questions, in effect, state the first fact of our eternal security; here it is: Because God has delivered you, there isn’t anyone who can destroy you!

We dealt with this in our last session . . . read on in verse 33.  Who will bring a charge against God’s elect?  God is the one who justifies.

Here’s the second fact we noted, regarding our eternal security; Because God has acquitted you, there isn’t anyone who can indict you!

 

In other words, there is no one who can bring up new evidence – no one who can bring some new charge against you; literally “arraign you before the court of God.”  Why?  Because the court of God has already declared you justified.

Now the third fact of our eternal security.  Because Jesus Christ redeemed you, there isn’t anyone who can condemn you!

I love what Paul does here.  Verse 34.  Who is the one who condemns?  Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

You could interpret this one of two ways.

Paul might mean this;  who can condemn you since Jesus Christ died for you, rose for you and intercedes for you?

Or Paul might mean this; who can condemn you (and Paul expects his reader to understand that the answer to that question is Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ has been given final judgment, by the Father. 

John wrote, For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. (John 5:22,23)

What John informs us of is that at the final judgment of the nations . . . all the unredeemed from all human history, the judge will actually be ascended, resplendent Son of God; judgment that will eternally vindicate His holy righteousness and perfect justice.

What Paul might be saying is this, the only one who can eternally condemn you is the Son of God for He will indeed be the one who condemns all the unbelieving world.

However, for you who believe, He will not be your judge because He has become your Savior – he died for you, rose for you and intercedes for you at the Father’s right hand.

Here’s the beauty of interpreting it either way – either way it’s a win, win.  No one, not even God Himself will condemn you.

In other words, the One with the authority to condemn you, died for you!

The One with the right to eternally denounce you and dismiss you from His presence, has delivered you!

And Paul gives five reasons in this one verse that reveal the finality of the believer’s deliverance.

  1. Jesus Christ died.  It wasn’t some mistake . . . it was part of the God’s eternal plan!

He became obedient unto the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:8)

Our security is bound up and based upon that incredible blood-shedding, life-giving offering! 

Our security is built upon His sacrifice.

James Montgomery Boice made a great point in his study of this text.  He wrote:

If Paul were one of our contemporary Bible teachers or modern theologians, he might answer our doubts by saying, ‘You do not need to worry about your eternal future, because God loves you and God is love.’  But Paul was a pastor, and he knew well that we can all easily doubt such statements, particularly when life becomes difficult.  We might say, “I grant that God is love, but does He really love me?  How can I believe he loves me when I have lost my job, when my husband or wife has left me for someone else, when I have been diagnosed with an incurable disease?  Therese are the times when I just do not feel that God loves me or that he even cares about me at all.”  Paul knew that mere assurances that God loves us are not effective.  So, instead of dealing with our doubts on the emotional level – which is what “God loves you” does – he turns from emotional experience to sure facts.  According to this verse, we can know that God is for us, not because we somehow sense that it is His nature to be loving, but because He gave us His Son to die for us. 

James Montgomery Boice, Romans: Volume One (Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, 1991)  p. 960

What a great perspective. 

A man, I read about recently, in Dundee, Scotland, had been confined to a bed for forty years, having broken his neck in a fall at age fifteen.  His spirit has remained unbroken, and his cheer and courage so inspire people that he enjoys a constant stream of guests – many of them coming to him for encouragement.  One day a visitor asked him, “Doesn’t Satan ever tempt you to doubt God?”  “Oh, yes, he does try to tempt me.  I lie here and see my old schoolmates driving along and Satan whispers, “If God is so good, why does He keep you here all these years?  Why did he permit your neck to be broken?”  The guest asked him, “What do you do when you have those thoughts whispered in your head?”  “Ah,” replied the invalid, “I take him to Calvary, show him Christ, and point to His wounds and say, “You see, he does love me, indeed.” Satan never has had an answer to that.

Adapted from Nelsons Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations and Quotes by Robert J. Morgan (Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 2000)  p. 170

Ladies and Gentlemen, we don’t just believe that God loves us – we have proof!  An event in history reveals His love! 

 

  1. Jesus Christ not only died, He arose.  Paul writes of our assurance by adding, in verse 34b “Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised.”  You could render the word “rather” “but even more than that.”  In other words, Jesus Christ died, but what’s even more than that is His resurrection from the dead.  There would be no salvation had Christ only died.

“If He were not raised, Paul wrote to the Corinthians our faith would be null and void.”  (I Corinthians 15:14) 

Thousands of men were crucified on Roman crosses, but none of them ever rose from the dead afterward!

He rose from the dead.  Buddha did not!  His tomb is full of dust . . . the tomb of Christ is empty.

I would rather follow someone who claimed to have power over death and proved it by rising from the dead, than someone who did not!

           

  1. But there’s even more to our security that this.  Paul goes on and gives us the third statement – Christ not only died and rose again, Christ also ascended – He ascended to “the right hand of God.”  This is the position of power and representative authority. 

This doesn’t mean Christ isn’t God, it means Christ speaks as God!

Christ, who is the embodiment of Deity, (Colossians 1:15 & 19) speaks and judges and rules for and with the authority of our Triune God.

  1. The fourth reason your case will never be reopened before the Divine Judge, is because Jesus Christ is seated.  Jesus Christ has risen, Paul tells us, and He is at the right hand of God (the Father).  

Paul explains in other letters that Christ is seated at the Father’s right hand.

To the Ephesians, Paul wrote,

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6)
 
Paul wrote to the Colossian believers, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.”  (Colossians 3:1)

This is a significant concept which is missed by the 21st century reader.  The Jews knew immediately the significance of these words regarding Jesus’ physical arrangement.  Now, this doesn’t mean that Christ never stands up . . . but to say that Christ was “seated” was not some trivial detail either. 

You need to understand what every Jewish reader understood.  In the temple, there were no chairs.  There were no seats in the Holy Place.

Why?  Because the work of the priest was never finished.  They stood and moved and worked and labored, sacrificing over and over again before the presence of an unsatisfied, holy God.

But Jesus Christ, our Great High Priest, finished his redemptive work and satisfied the holiness of God the Father and Christ has now (what?) sat down!

Hebrews 10:11 announces this very fact, and I quote, And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God.

There were no seats in the Temple, but there is a seat in the High Court of Heaven.  And the Great Priest who finished forever the work of redemption on our behalf, now rests . . . seated to signify His accomplishment.

  1. You’d think that would be enough for Paul.  But he goes on to give us a fifth assurance of our salvation as it relates to never being condemned before God.  Paul informs us in the last part of verse 34 that it is Jesus Christ who is presently “interceding for us.”

What rich truth!  What amazing truth about our comprehensive, complete, incorruptible, irrefutable, unstoppable, deliverance.

Jesus Christ is interceding for you! 

One old preacher asked, “If you knew Jesus was in the next room praying for you, would it make a difference?” 

Would it?  I mean, if you knew that Jesus Christ was in the lobby of this building, right now, on His knees, praying for you . . . would it make a difference? 

Wouldn’t it give you hope? 

Wouldn’t it give you courage? 

Wouldn’t it give you sorrow over sin? 

And at the same time, wouldn’t it fill your heart with joy?

Would the Father ever deny the intercessory prayers of His Son who now defends and intercedes on our behalf?  Is it conceivable that the Father would ever refuse to hear His Son pray on our behalf?

Didn’t Jesus begin to pray on one occasion recorded in John 11:42, by saying to His Father, “And I know that you always hear me!”

John writes, that the Son of God speaks to the Father in our defense (1 John 2:1)

By the way, remember we were told in Romans 8:26 that the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf.  Now we’re told that Christ Himself intercedes on our behalf.

This is like two branches of a law office.  One office is on earth, and the other in heaven.

The Spirit within and the Son above.

On earth, the Spirit pleads our case and in Heaven, the Son defends our cause.

Listen, for you to somehow be lost again would mean the Spirit and the Son would have to fail in their prayer on your behalf!

For someone to condemn you now would mean that Christ’s defense of you was ineffective.  It would mean that the Spirit’s safeguard over you was unsuccessful.

Paul has delivered to us the facts.

 

1) Because God has delivered you, there isn’t anyone who can destroy you!

2)  Because God has acquitted you, there isn’t anyone who can indict you!

 

3) Since Christ has redeemed you, there is no one who can condemn you.    

 

And the 5 proofs of this are:

Christ died;

Christ rose again;

Christ ascended;

Christ sat down;

and Christ intercedes for the believer.

Paul now anticipates the next question.  Since it’s obvious that Christ has the believer securely wrapped up – He died, rose, ascended, sat down and intercedes for the Believer – it’s obvious that the Father is satisfied.

But what happens if Jesus Christ decides he doesn’t want to intercede for you anymore.  Suppose he stopped loving you?


4)  This is Paul’s fourth fact:  Because Christ loves us, there isn’t anything that can separate us.

Notice Paul’s very next statement.  Verse 35.  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

In other words, is there anything or anyone that could ever get Jesus Christ to stop loving us?

Paul just begins to list possibilities – 17 of them in all. 

Shall tribulation separate us?  Paul expects the answer, “No!”

Or distress?  No.

Or persecution?  No.

Or famine? No

Or nakedness?  No.

Or peril?  No.

Or sword?  No.

By the way, you can’t help notice that all of these things are things that might cause the believer to stop loving the Lord, right?  But they will never cause the Lord to stop loving the believer . . . no matter what your response is to these things.

Paul is no armchair theologian . . . he isn’t some best selling author trying to make all the Christians feel better;  if you look at this list, Paul has experienced all of them, but one. 

1.  Tribulation – the word refers to a heavy sled that was dragged over stalks of wheat to separate the heads of grain from the chaff.

It was called in Latin a tribulum, which gives us our word tribulation. 

It’s a word that refers to life crushing you – and you say things like “I feel like a truck has run over me . . . or . . . my spirit has just been crushed by the blows of life.”

Paul felt that – he used that word often.

2.  The next word in his list is distress.  Knock off the first two letters and you have a great word that describes the Greek word. Stress!

It’s a compound word that means, narrow space.  Confined.  Pressured and boxed in.

You have obligations . . . responsibilities . . . duties . . . details, right?!

Maybe you’re in a dead end job – or you’re squeezed because you don’t have a job . . . maybe you’re surrounded by small children – boxed in by the daily grind.

Your space is narrow . . . you feel distress.

It’s a condition felt by both unbeliever and believer.  You ever wonder why advertisements pander to our need for freedom and wide open spaces.  Laundry detergent is featured with a woman hanging sheets on a line in a field.  Who hands sheets on a line?  Who has a field?

Automobile advertisements never feature their car in a traffic jam . . . it’s out on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Everything’s beautiful . . . and the driver is free!  No narrow space!  Freedom.

Have you seen that commercial with the Chevy Pickup truck that’s also a convertible.  A Chevy pickup that’s convertible is about the greatest invention I’ve ever heard of.

I mean, now that’s freedom!

3.  The next word is persecution . . . being rejected or ridiculed or mocked or abandoned or mistreated because of your faith

The next two words are virtually unheard of in the American church – 4.  famine and  5.  nakedness.  Literally not having anything to eat or clothing to wear.

Yet, around the world, believers suffer with both.

I imagine Paul shivering in his damp, cold cell, writing Timothy and asking him to bring him his cloak.

6.  Does peril separate us from Christ’s love?  This word means danger!  We may not fear physical persecution or danger because of our faith, but our danger is real enough.

Are we alert to the enemy who roams about, seeking someone he may devour – literally discredit? (1 Peter 5:8)

7.  Then, finally, the word sword appears in Paul’s list.

Paul has already experienced every one of these 7 things except this last one – the sword.  But he will experience that too as he, for not many months from this, Paul will be beheaded by the Emperor Nero.

Every year, throughout out world, some 6 to 700,000 people join Paul in experiencing death . . . the sword . . . because they name themselves Christians.

Here’s Paul’s comprehensive statement; nothing and no one – not difficulty in life or even the loss of life, can separate the believer from the undying, unfaltering, unchanging love of Jesus Christ for His redeemed.

You don’t need to hope for reincarnation . . . you don’t work your way into the third heaven . . . you don’t earn your way into Paradise . . . you don’t suffer your way out of Purgatory . . . you don’t strive to become free of desire and one with Divine consciousness. 

No, you come to Jesus Christ and find He is already seated! 

      He isn’t being sacrificed over and over again, He’s finished! 

He isn’t on the cross, He’s already ascended. 

      He isn’t in the grave . . . He’s already interceding, having risen triumphantly to the right hand of God the Father where      

      He has taken a seat!

If you have received Him, you need never fear . . . for nothing and no one can ever separate you from the love of this risen, ascended, interceding Sovereign Savior.

And we paid Him nothing for His love!  But we owe Him everything because of His unbelievable, unstoppable love.

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