Salvation is Irrevocable, Part 3

Paul himself would be killed by a sword in his readers were men and women whose blood would soak the sands of the great Roman amphitheaters under the massive Roman persecution of the honor of Christ was safe in their keeping because they were safe never interviewing for a job you do everything you can to show your value to highlight what you can contribute to the team or to the student body or to the company, but when it comes to your salvation. There's nothing you contribute nothing you can do to earn salvation not you might already know that. But the natural follow-up question is can you do anything to lose your salvation, answering that question is John MacArthur's focus in his current series on grace to you. A study he calls the grip of God. Now with the lesson here is John open your Bible to Romans chapter 8 as we come to the final portion of this great chapter in Jeremiah 31 three God said to his people. I have loved you with an everlasting love and that is the kind of love that God places upon those who belong to him eternally.

And that's what we've been learning in this great chapter, we remember the wonderful promise that God is able to complete what he begins in Philippians chapter 1 in verse six. I am confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work and you were perfected until the day of Jesus Christ. It is an everlasting work of salvation that God does. Scripture is filled with promises about the terminology of our salvation, in whom the Lord saves. He secures forever, and of course that is what we've been seeing in this great chapter. It all began in verse one there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus fury in Christ. If you been placed into Christ in the union with Christ through faith in him.

There will never be any condemnation.

The rest of the chapter goes on to demonstrate why that is true and culminates at the very end. In verses 31 to 39. By answering any possible objections. Verse 31 what then shall we say to these things, what could we expect as a response. Well, this anticipates that some will object some are going to say well in spite of all that we learned we could lose our salvation. It is possible and so Paul takes the conceivable objections and answers them as he closes this chapter we are God's elect, God has justified us, made us righteous. He's not about to turn us loose. God cannot let go of us of his own will, because he is predetermined that we should be his forever and he is for us.

Satan cannot somehow arrest us as it were from the hands of God, because God will not let it happen. He has given us the greater gift he will do the lesser work to hold onto us. Christ won't let us go either. He already died for us rose for us and now is at the right hand of God interceding for us and we saw that all in our last study, so it is not possible that we should be taken from the hand of God. There is not a person or persons who can cause us to lose our salvation. Then we come to verse 35 and we come to the matter of circumstances. If persons cannot cause us to lose our salvation. If we can't do it ourselves if other people can't do it. As we saw if God won't let go of us. If Satan can't cause it to happen if Christ won't because he is ever living to intercede for us. Is it possible that some circumstance could do it. In other words, some circumstance could so affect us as to destroy our salvation. What if under the pressure of temptation. We would fall and reject Christ. What if under the pressure of temptation, we would abandon our faith and remove ourselves as it were, what if the cost of discipleship is so high and the price to pay for following Christ so great that we are no longer willing to do that while that's taking us into verses 35 to 37. What shall separate us from the love of Christ from our standpoint. Nothing outside of us. No person outside of is not God, not Satan, not Christ can do it, but what about something that happens to us that separates us from the love of Christ from our side. Tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness peril, or sword just as it is written, for thy sake we are being put to death all day long. We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered, but in all these things we overwhelmingly conqueror through him who loved us what is really what it is really the appropriate word to start verse 35 the context makes this better than who, although the Greek could go either way.

Can we stand the pressure without forsaking Christ and Paul says yes absolutely. There isn't anything that can separate us from the love of Christ and Endo that implies our love to him and, most notably speaks of his love for us. Verse 37 him who loved us. Verse 39 the love of God which obviously that context, he has for us of those verses would lead us to believe that the primary issue here is his love for us, though certainly it it brings into thought, our love for him is there anything that can cause us to lose our love for him and therefore have him cease loving us. Well, the answer that could come from John 13. Listen to what it says in verse one. This is a wonderful wonderful statement. John 13 one says feast of Passover was about to happen and Jesus was very much aware that he was going to die and it says at the end of verse one, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end he loved them. I still us. He loved them to the max. That's what it means you love them supremely. He loved them perfectly. He loved them completely. He loved them.

Ultimately, and what that is saying is that God loves his own who were in the world to this one to the complete extent of his capability of loving Samara is a remarkable thing he loves his own in the world to the max to the fullness of the capacity that he has to love and I might add that it has nothing to do with whether we are lovable because there was hardly a time when the disciples were less lovable. Then at the very moment of John 13 they were in the upper room. It was the night the Judas was going to betray Jesus. They were having the final supper, the Last Supper, the Passover meal. Judas was about to be dismissed from that gathering and he would go immediately and sell Jesus within the next day would be taken captive and crucified. The disciples were not only disinterested in what was going on with regard to Jesus and more concerned about themselves, but they were actually demonstrating their carnality by being in the middle of a debate about which of them would be the greatest in the kingdom which seem to of been a constant subject for them and they were added again. According to comparative passages, we know that is the case Jesus had told him he was going to die he was. He told him what was coming.

They literally let it run off like water in a ducks back it with they were indifferent to that whole scenario that an unbelievably horrible sin bearing which he was anticipating never captured their compassion at all, but at all. Instead, they were arguing about who would be the greatest in the kingdom. They were really very unlovable at that moment. And isn't it wonderful that the text of Scripture chooses that very moment in which to tell us that Jesus loved them to the max and the bottom line is his love for us is an eternal love set upon us never do to anything worthy in us or anything we've achieved, and consequently it was not gained by us, nor is it to be lost by us.

He loved his own who were in the world to the max and then it goes on to tell you something else about these typical believers. They were sitting at dinner already eating and nobody had washed feet. That's not a big issue in your house because you keep your feet covered all day to big issue there because the roads are either muddy or dusty. Nothing is paved except some stone streets, but those were only thoroughfares and most people would walk on dirt all day, they wore sandals and supper like this, a Passover meal like this was hours together and it was more than sitting in a chair was reclining and if your head reclined you tended to recline toward somebody's feet.

Common courtesy indicated that there should be a foot washing and it was the lowest slave on the social totem pole who had that job.

And since a rent of the upper room problem probably know slave came with it, and none of the disciples was about to volunteer since they were all arguing about who was the greatest, and none of them wanted to disqualify himself from such consideration. By taking the role of a servant.

They were exhibiting selfishness, indifference and pride, and Jesus himself had to get up, take off his outer garment, leaving only his inner cloak. Put towel around his waist and do the dirty work himself. I say all of that to say there's nothing to indicate that they were worth loving at this moment but the love of God is not dependent on how we act in any given circumstance in life it is and on ending love at that very time. He loved them to the very max. That is just a profound and profound truth. So the question is then run back to Romans. Is there anything that can separate us from him.

Loving us to the max. He loves us.

To the fullest extent that it is possible for him to love his creature. He cannot love any creature more than he loves his own. That's just incredible. Is there anything that can come into our lives and affect us in such a way as to cause us the forfeiture of that love.

Well, the answer is here is a tribulation is a distress is a persecution famine nakedness peril sort.

Can any of those things do it tribulation is set from the Greek word… Which means pressure literally the word for pressure outward, difficulty could be bodily harm accusation rejection and then the word distress really two words steno Korea probably means not outward difficulty, but inward, difficulty, this is an interesting word distress means to be hemmed into a narrow way, from which there is no escape. Other temptations that are so inescapable external pressures internal temptation so inescapable that we just can't sustain our faith can they cause us to totally collapse so that there's absolutely no way out. What about persecution. The arguments what about abuse for the cause of Christ which can get very wearying physical, mental suffering at the hands of Christ, projectors, and God haters can that break the back of our faith. What about famine, not even having necessary food not being deprived. What about nakedness that that means you don't have any close nothing to where you're so bereft are so poor you're so impoverished you don't have any food you don't have the necessary clothing.

What about peril that that simply means being exposed to danger that you can identify fears what's involved there that the dread of potential impending disaster. What about my Cairo the sword what's at talking about execution.

What about all that can that do it.

It is that a powerful enough catalog the of circumstances as to destroy through faith well we know one thing it'll destroy shallow illegitimate faith wanted because in the parable Jesus told of the soil and the seeds we talked about seed that went into the stony ground and it came up for little while but as soon as there was persecution. It died in never born a fruit. We know false faith can be destroyed by persecution, false faith according to the rest of that parable Linda and that thorny weedy ground can even be destroyed just by the love of the world, the love of riches, which is a form of temptation, but the question is can the real stuff real true faith. Genuine salvation be devastated by these things.

Can they drive us to doubt if were genuinely God's can they drive us to sin. And they would drive us to the rejection of Jesus Christ in the abandonment of our faith and hope and trust in him.

Well, this is not theory with Paul. This is not theory. Ask yourself the question, did Paul suffer external pressure all the time did he suffer internal pressure. Yes. Was he depressed yes. Was he fearful yes he suffer persecution. Yes. Did he go without food. Yes he go without the clothing was seated in danger of death yes. Was he facing execution. Yes, so were not talking theory here folks. Paul is literally giving you a recitation of things parallel us in the second Corinthians 11 verse 23. I've been in former labors far more imprisonments beaten times that number in danger of death five times are receiving the Jews 39 lashes three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked night and a day of spring in the deep. I've been on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, robbers, countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles in the city in the wilderness on the sea among false brethren been in labor hardship, sleepless nights, hunger and thirst without food and cold and exposure. No close. I've I've had all and I'm not alone listen to some other folks who had that Gideon Barrick Samson Jeff that Hebrews 1120, 1132 David Samuel the prophet. You, by faith, conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness obtain premises shut the mouths of lions quench the power of fire escape the edge of the sword from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put armies to flight women received back their dead by resurrection.

Others were tortured, not accepting their release in order that they might obtain a better resurrection.

Others experience mocking scourging's chains imprisonments they were stoned, they were sawn in half tempted put to death with the sword one about in sheepskins goatskin's destitute, afflicted, ill treated wandering in deserts and mountains in caves and holes in the ground. Not only Paul but a lot of other folks.

Great heroes of the faith have endured these kinds of things is that break the bond of Christ's love for his own. When we struggle with those kinds of things that she stop loving us know.

In fact, verse 36 says we expected this stuff is supposed to come just as it is written of me, Jesus said it did me in this world you shall have what tribulation in John 16. He says they're gonna take you prisoner the gonna bring you before the councils are going the take your life. This is what it says and Paul quotes from Psalm 4422 for thy sake we are being put to death all day long. We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered all Saints of endured that that's not surprising that just kinda goes along with belonging to God because the heating world is going to persecute the Lord's own listen to the words of Jesus in Matthew 1037 to 39.

He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. He loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. You does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.

He was found his life shall lose it, and he was lost his life for my sake shall find it.

It could cost you your family could cost you your life and all the saints to all the ages have endured this we try something that drive someone to reject Christ.

They were never his, they went out from us because they were not of us. If they had been of us, they would've continued with us, but they went out from us, that it might be made manifest. They were not of us.

First John 219, for thy sake back in verse 36 expresses a willingness God's people for his sake, Christ's own for his sake, are willing to suffer listen to Luke 957 as they were going along the road.

Someone said to him, I'll follow you wherever you go.

Jesus said him, the foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. As interesting as somebody comes along to some would-be disciple and says I'm impressed with Dominic. I'll follow you wherever you go.

And Jesus doesn't say to him while I'm I'm headed to a kingdom and glory and power, and riches. He says well III probably ought to tell you I'm homeless. I can offer you anything that this is a this is really basic and discipleship.

He offers us in this world, persecution, tribulation, suffering, alienation. We are that the office cowering in that sentence is a willingness that Christians have a willingness to go all the way to death. Listen to Matthew 16 verse 24 if anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it. Whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it. It's you come to Christ acknowledging a sacrifice, a willingness to suffer when true Christian. Christians face these things, they don't abandon their salvation. It's just part of it. True believers persevere to great truth. And Paul says I look at verse 37.

No, he says, but in all these things we overwhelmingly what conker through him who loved us in all our trials in all persecutions in all our temptations, tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness pearl sword in all of that we know just barely eat by we are triumphant we are victorious. The trial works to our greater good, as we've seen those kind of trials in our lives make us humble, drive us to God expose us to greater grace break our self-confidence and make us powerful. They enable us to strengthen others, so he says we overwhelmingly conker not on our own strength but through him who, what, love to see when were going through all of that. He never lets go. He loves us all the way through that any holds on to that it is an on breakable bond. Paul wrote this during a winter in Corinth and neither Paul, I think, nor the Romans could know how short a time would elapse before they would stand in need of this very comforting truth.

Paul himself would be killed by a sword, a Roman sword, and his readers were men and women whose blood would soak the sands of the great Roman amphitheaters under the massive Roman persecution, but the honor of Christ was safe in their keeping because they were safe in his love, and he would never let them go and he would give them the strength to endure and to persevere and he would give them the faith to be sustained through whatever came in an undying love for him.

They didn't need to fear to die.

They didn't need to fear being mauled by wild beasts. They didn't need to fear being soaked in tar and then told to deny Christ or they would be lit as torches in the gardens of Caesar. They didn't need to fear fighting with gladiators. They didn't need to fear fighting beasts, and they didn't need to fear conflict with Hells demons. They were safe in the undying love of Christ. Those who abandon their faith never belonged to him. Never his love is an everlasting love. He loves to the max and there is nothing, absolutely nothing that can separate them from that love. That's John MacArthur showing you from Scripture the God never revokes the salvation he grants.

Today's lesson is part of his current study on grace to you titled the grip of God, along with teaching here on radio.

John also serves as Chancellor of the Masters University in seminary so John we're 11 days into this study from Romans eight and think about this.

We work through only about 10 verses so what statement does that make about the book of Romans. I love it. It makes a statement about me taking me a while to get traction. It is rich material know yeah what it says about the book of Romans is that slow is better than fast and deep is better than shallow. This is one of the most rich and encouraging. Maybe the most encouraging chapter in all of the Bible because of the security of the believer salvation and the work of the Holy Spirit and the promise of the father and the son to bring us to eternal glory. So yeah, you can't go fast and really hear the word of the Lord in this particular chapter that would be true in every passage I think too many Christians look at the Bible superficially and think that there's some kind of surface message but everywhere in Scripture.

There's there's a depth there's a know the apostle Paul would say there's a milk level and there's a meat level and were digging into the stake in Romans eight and I would just encourage people if you haven't studied the Bible like this, let me suggest a good place to start in the New Testament commentary series that I've written which has 34 volumes. There's a two-volume commentary on Romans. This would be a great experience and this would be it absently life transforming experience for any believer to read the two-volume commentary that takes you word by word.

Verse by verse of the book of Romans.

It deals with all kinds of critical themes like man's depravity, how to be right with God how Christ died for God.

God's promises to Israel. The issue of sin, freedom from sin. Life in the spirit God's sovereignty and salvation. The security of the believer, the Christian and government just endless critical issues are dealt with in the book of Romans.

A great tool for personal study Sunday school teaching preparation, pastors, Bible students pick up the two commentaries on Romans for the entire MacArthur New Testament commentary series 34 volumes total is always the cost is reasonable. As John said Romans is such a rich book and so powerful. In fact, it's the book that open Martin Luther's eyes to the essential doctrine of justification by faith alone so you could say that Romans set off the Protestant Reformation to glean all you can from this critical portion of Scripture pick up John's two-volume commentary on Romans today. Call toll-free 855 grace for log on to Jide TY.org each volume of the MacArthur New Testament commentary series is available for the same affordable price, or if you'd like to purchase all 34 volumes. You get a discount on each one.

Again to order the two-volume Romans commentary for the entire MacArthur New Testament commentary series, call 855 grace or go to Jide TY.org and remember@jidety.org you'll find thousands of free Bible study resources. If there's a passage in the New Testament that has always confused you work something that you simply want to know more about John has a sermon on you can download the MP3s or the transcript and check out our blog.

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True worship purity. Many others and if you benefited from John's current radio series. Perhaps let a friend know about it and encourage him or her to tune into grace to you on this station. That said, this is Phil Johnson on behalf of John MacArthur encouraging you to be here tomorrow when John continues to study the grip of God, with another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time on grace to you