The Song of Security

Paul can't leave it at that. It's as if he knows there must be a few more critics who need to be exposed and whose questions need finally and forever to be answered.

Paul is very concerned that we understand that salvation is forever. Once a person becomes a Christian that never changes but lasts forever know that John is been talking about anxiety free living, showing you how to avoid worry caused by strained finances were health concerns, broken relationships, and the other challenges of life. This side of eternity, but it may be that you or someone you know is concerned and even tempted to worry about an even greater issue. That is whether your salvation is permanent. If you've ever wondered can a Christian lose his salvation and could that have already happened to me stay here for John's lesson titled the song of security, encouraging truth from Romans chapter 8 and now here's John MacArthur Romans chapter 8 the tremendous truth of verses 28 to 30 sums up the theology of the security of the believer is no other portion of Scripture does and really says all that would be necessary to be said to make the point. But Paul can't leave it at that. It's as if he knows there must be a few more critics lurking around in the shadows somewhere who need to be exposed and whose questions need finally and forever to be answered.

Paul is very concerned that we understand that salvation is forever, but once a person becomes a Christian that never changes but lasts forever.

The chapter began with the statement, there is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. In other words, if you are in Christ.

You put your faith in him you belong to him. Your life is his life. His life is your life is your Lord and Savior.

There will never be any condemnation but he anticipates all kinds of queries and questions and so forth and so he launches off of verse one really into a whole chapter to strengthen our confidence in the security of our salvation. Now he comes to the climax he comes to the pinnacle. The high point and it has kind of adopts a logical feel to it. It's it's the last rational reason the erudite carefully laid out logical theology and more praise and joy and exhilaration.

And that's why I tend to feel about verses 31 to 39 as though they are more doxology than theology. Although theology is certainly the component of the doxology given here. Let me read these verses do you follow along and will discuss them.

What then shall we say to these things. If God is for us, who is against us. 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, who shall bring a charge against God's elect.

God is the one who justifies. 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 who or what shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or 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. 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, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Know what you saying there obviously comes through. There is nothing that can separate us from this eternal love when Jeremiah said it he set it for all of eternity.

I have loved you with an everlasting love quoting God. Jeremiah 31 three. This love is a love that is inseparable and breakable so says Paul that we might forever cease asking questions about whether salvation is eternal back in verse 31. We sort of introduced the passage she says what then shall we say to these things, what things truth about eternal security. The truth about our eternal salvation. What do we say in response. What do we say in response. For example, to there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ earlier in chapter 8.

What do we say in response to the fact that we are being led by the spirit of God as the sons of God, to a day one will enter into the glory of God.

What do we say to that great truth that someday will have the redemption of our bodies and participate in the glorious manifestation of the sons of God. What do we say to the fact that we have a hope that is secure and is eternal and we eagerly wait for it. What do we say to the fact that we are secure because the Holy Spirit is making intercession in unutterable language before God on our behalf.

What do we say to the fact that our salvation is secure because God works everything, even sin together for our ultimate and eternal good.

What do we say to the fact that whomever he foreknew and predestined, he will glorify what is our response to all of this power. We need to to argue against this. How will you debate this he saying and he responds since God literally should be since since God is for us who is against us. In other words successfully who can withstand us to see his point is, what are we going to say after we know this much. It amazes me that people can read Romans eight study Romans eight and somehow still believe you can lose your salvation. But how can you say that what Paul wants to follow his argument up a little further.

So let's push it to the ultimate extreme let's push it as far as we can push it so we silenced any critic, and let's just say that there may be, there may be some ways in which we can lose our salvation. Some some persons who can take it from us so pulses let's go through the catalog will start first of all with just somebody else some human being can some human being take away our salvation. Look at verse 31. Again, what shall we say to these things of God is for us, who is against us another were to successfully is against.

If God is on our side. What person can succeed in being against us. If God says were not condemned what person can get our condemnation, what person can secure our damnation. What person or persons can come along and take away our salvation.

Are there any such persons as anybody in the world that can do that about the Judaizers in Galatia who wanted to take away the salvation of the Galatians because they didn't keep the ceremonial law. How about people around us. You know there are people who would like to take us out of salvation. They would like to remove us from this Christian preoccupation and way of life. You can be sure that you say will who would ever want to do that. Let me give you little list there probably some of you have people in your family would like to do that, you're maybe the only Christian and and it's really an irritant to your family if they had their way.

They get you to really reject Jesus Christ and recant your faith and get away from this kind of stuff because it's turning you into a fanatic and you're very difficult to live with because you don't enjoy the things that they enjoy. And you bring a guilt trip on them frequently and they would really like to get you out of this.

Believe me, they would can they enter. There are people in secular education who would love to do that they would love to convince you that there is no God. And if there is, he doesn't care. The world was not created but the world evolved out of a puddle somewhere in the great great past.

They would love to say that there is no God. They would love to take your young people when you send them to the universities of our country in the world and they would love to attack their Christian faith in their Christian conviction and question all their beliefs and filled their minds with doubt and wonder, and therefore steal their faith. And then there are the purveyors of lies and filth and immorality and pornography and trash in the media today all the way from what is in print to what is visually available to you in films and on television. And those people would love to get you out of Christianity so that you could become a consumer of their products and there are the legalists. There are those people who would love for you to abandon salvation by grace. Check the whole idea that you're saved by faith and by into their thing that you're saved by baptism we are saved by ceremonies or your saved by rituals and get you off this grace kick and back onto the law and then there are those people at bicycle around your neighborhood 2 x 2 and white shirts and black ties. They would love to get you to renounce Jesus Christ as God in human flesh. They would love for you to deny that he is in fact the Redeemer and Savior of the world they would love for you to join their their association. And then there are all those other false teachers and false religions who want to take you away from the truth and confuse you with their lies and there are plenty of folks out there who would really like to have you lose your salvation. They want to undo in you, what Christ has wrought. Can they succeed. Those who are against you. Can those who are against you succeed will look back at verse 31. If God is for us then who in the world is going to be successful against us. If God, the great power are stronghold our Savior, our refuge, our deliverer is for us. Is there someone more powerful than he who in opposing him is the victor. Obviously, the answer is of course not. God is for us that we are not where we are confident he is for us and since he is for us who can successfully be against us.

So Paul makes a grand and glorious statement about general truth and it is that God is for us these for us getting the glory these for us reaching heaven and since he is for us the great and all mighty all powerful God.

There is no human agency on the face of the earth, who in opposition to us can succeed right now somebody's gonna come along it's okay. All right. I'll buy that. That's pretty clear.

There there are many human beings are only people out there that can succeed successfully cause us to abandon true saving faith. By the way, the footnote if someone does abandon it.

The faith was a real first John says in 219 they went out from us, because they never were of us if they had been of us, they would've continued with us but he says those fallen his mind. Somebody is going to say okay.

No human being can do it. Maybe God can. Maybe God just can get to the point where he so fed up or he so disappointed already so frustrated. Or maybe he just knows us so well. He doesn't love us like he used to and he turns against us. Could that happen.

Could God do that. Verse 32 Paul says look. God didn't spare his own son.

The Greek verb there. He didn't hold him back.

He didn't hold him back. There was nothing that God restrained in terms of the full fury of sin on Christ so he neither held back his son as the proper gift for salvation, nor did he hold back the fury of his wrath poured out on his son.

He didn't spare his son anything he didn't spare his son, the very act of death that he didn't spare his son any mitigation of judgment. He poured it all out on them now. If God took his own beloved son. His own personal possession and uses that very phrase it.

He asked his own personal possession. The one who belonged intimately to him and if it pleased the Lord is Isaiah 5310 says if it please the Lord to lose him. And if God chose to put him to terrible grief. If God didn't spare his own son, but he says look back to verse 32 delivered him up, gave them over to the powers of darkness to death to sin bearing to bearing a curse to being separated from him. If God gave them up to all of that for us, will he not also with him freely give us all things all things means eternal blessing eternal glory.

In other words, if he already gave us the greatest gift. His son won't he give us the rest of what is in heaven as our reward if he gave us the most, will he not give us the least if he gave us the best already. Will he hold back something good that's his point. I mean, God already put his position on this flight he already put it on the line.

He said what I will give you my own son and spare him nothing. I spare nothing. Now if he did that you think you will not along with Christ. Also, give us everything else. So it's is not God's not about to change his mind, he already made the major gift he gave you his son and by the way, is a footnote gave you his son to die for you when you hated him and were unworthy and now all he needs to do is give you the blessings that your now that you're his children your condition changes if he could love you when you were wicked and sinful and give you his son, the greatest gift, can he not love you now that you're his child and give you the lesser gifts, eternal blessings, that's his point. Infinite love is not a change. God is going to change.

That's why were secure the same God who loved us when we were sinners and gave us a son is the same God who loves us. Now that were his children and will give us the blessings his son procured for us, people would say well, but we're not worthy to to to receive those blessings. That's right, but we were worthy to receive salvation. In the first place and there's a sense in which you could say we were less worthy then than we are now so he says you're looking at God and thinking maybe God is going to change his mind, he already put his view on the line now somebody will come along and say well here's another option. Maybe God doesn't want to do but maybe Christ does any Christlike to get rid of us. Maybe he's had enough of us verse 33 who shall bring a charge against God's elect. God is the one who justifies.

Who is the one who condemns Christ Jesus is he who died stop at that point in verse 33, he says, look, it won't be God will turn against you.

We already pointed that out. He justified you in verse 34. He says it won't be Christ will condemn you. He already died for you was raised for you is at the right hand of God and interceding for you when they've already made their statement pretty clear back to verse 33 for a moment. This introduces another component of the situation and we need to address that as well, but just before we do that, take that little phrase God is the one who justifies. Now is a very simple thing God declared you righteous. Therefore he cannot at the same time declare you condemn right.

Listen carefully to me. He never declared you righteous on your own merit. In the first place, so he's not going to declare you unrighteous on your own merit. In the second place, you understand that you were declared righteous on the merit of Christ in the first place and you are continually declared righteous on the merit of Christ, since it was never your righteousness that made you savable. It is not your unrighteous is a makes you unstable.

It's all bound up in the work of God, and God has already declared you righteous. That's what it means God is the one who justifies. God is already justified.

You said your righteous why because you were in Christ. Christ died. The penalty was paid you rose to walk in newness of life that is a settled issue. God says price paid, case dismissed. You are righteous in Christ.

The God who said that cannot condemn you cannot talk out of both sides of his mouth, then he goes on to verse 34 and brings Christ into the picture and he says luck Jesus Christ died for you. That's his first point he died for you.

Now this you must consider carefully. You must think this through Christ died for you. Shall Christ who died for you turn his back on that very act as to its purpose mean the point is this, and when he died he received the condemnation that was due to you and me. He received the condemnation for sin that we should have received never would've died. Otherwise the wages of sin is death, Christ had no sin. He never would've died. He never would've died if he hadn't borne our sin. It was our sin that killed him not listen. He can't condemn us, follow this because his death proves that he already took our condemnation, he would literally undo the very death he died, you convolute the whole of redemptive comprehension. The whole thing is temp is totally skewed and misrepresented and confused. If you deny the security of a believer because now you got Christ bearing a condemnation the condemnation for all your sins and then turning around and because of some sin you commit condemning you when he himself is already paid for that sin and borne the condemnation soul shall Christ that died, he says, is he going to condemn you when he already died. As your condemnation. The only condemnation you will ever know is the one that he experienced, then he goes a step further. Shall Christ condemn you the one who was raised what is he mean on the cross.

He blotted out our sins and it was affirmed by his resurrection and he says because I live, you shall live. Then he said look Paul.does if you if you can't see that he can't condemn you in the cross because it's already been done. Then look at the resurrection. He promised you in his resurrection that you would live now. Is he going to kill you. Is he going to take away that promise. He died for the covering of your sin.

He rose to provide your eternal life. He's done all that is he going to undo that at this point he died. Your condemnation. He rose your eternal life guaranteed third thing he says in verse 34 who is at the right hand of God is and what is that mean luck he's been exalted to the right hand of God. He's been exalted. Why did God exalted God exalted him for two reasons. One, he bore the penalty of sin on the cross to. He triumphed in the grave. It was a perfect working God exalted him now. You asked the question, is God going to have to send them back down and give them a low seat because the thing which he supposedly accomplished on the cross is going bad all the glory and the honor forfeited the father lifted him to his right hand because of his perfect work, that we now to believe that his work wasn't so hot after all a bunch of people that he died to save and got saved. Once all those in their salvation, and the father is going to send him down a few notches know he paid the perfect family bore the condemnation and because of what he himself bore he will never condemn those whose condemnation he bore and he will never kill or give death to those to whom he is already given life and he will never forfeit the glory. The father gave to him at his right hand and lastly he says about Christ in verse 34 intercedes for us intercedes for us constantly, making intercession on our behalf.

Constantly praying for us before God. Like Peter, you remember Jesus said Satan desires to have you. That's right. Satan wants you, but I've prayed for you that your faith fail not.

And there he was interceding for Peter and that's how intercedes for us. Yet Satan wants us. Yes, there are human beings that want us they want to take us away from God in Christ and take away our salvation, but Christ is ever living to make intercession for us and he always prays, according to the father and according to the father's will. And as you remember John 1142, he says to the father. I know that you always hear me and he always gets what he asks for so God isn't going to turn his back on you. He already declared you just can't condemn you at same time Christ is going to turn his back on you. Christ is going to forsake you because he died to provide your salvation. He rose to provide your eternal life. He's at the right hand of the father wherein his glory lies and he ever lives to make intercession to make sure your relationship with God. Never ever ceases to be what it is that's John MacArthur, Chancellor of the Masters University in seminary with a lesson from Romans chapter 8 here on grace to you with the message John calls the song of security and practical look at how to break the cycle of doubt about whether you can lose your salvation. No course John we know there are forces at work that cause believers to have doubts about their salvation for that person who is questioning the certainty of his salvation. Would you say that wrestling with that issue is inherently a bad thing well know it's not a bad thing.

It's inherently a good thing right and you have to understand, and I think you do. Of course Phil, but you have so many Christian people going to churches or ministries or events, whatever you want to call them where they are never taught deeply about the word of God. So they're trying to maintain assurance in an environment with very superficial theology, superficial understanding of God to superficial understanding of spiritual life.

Spirituality the essential realities of salvation. The promises of God.

Superficial theology will always rob you of confidence in God. So II just think the kind of evangelical Christianity that's floating around, and seems to dominate the media these days will inevitably produce.

People have a lack of assurance in their salvation because they don't understand the depth of their salvation.

They don't understand. I guess the biblical so to rheology in all of its profound richness and secondly so many Christian people professing Christian people go to a place where all they get is an emotional experience in it. It may be sentimentalism that it may be a musical in whatever it is could be music it could be lights in and drama, entertainment, and whatever goes on to hype their emotions and when they walk out the door all the emotions are gone and if that's what they're basing their sense of relationship to Christ on that is a that is a weak weak way to try to hold up any kind of confidence in the Lord. So you have to get to sound doctrine and you have to get the deep teaching in the word of God that confronts your own life and your own sin and honest way to enjoy assurance want to mention to you a free copy of a booklet titled a believers assurance that has eight reasons why people lack assurance and it'll take you from understanding why people lack assurance to how you can have assurance and it throws in some questions and some answers cuts to the issues powerfully impractical. Again, a believers assurance free to anyone who asks request a copy today.

Yes, if you struggle with fear or doubt if you wonder where you will spend eternity. This booklet will help you to get your copy of a believers assurance just call us or go to our website and we will send this booklet to you free of charge. Get in touch today. Make your request@ourwebsitejidety.org or call us at 855 grace a believers assurance shows you the reasons you might question your salvation and how to overcome those doubts. It's a great encouragement for a new Christian or for someone who's been plagued with doubts for years. Just remember this booklet a believers assurance is our gift to you.

Just call and requested 855 grace or go to our website Jide TY.org will send it to you for free and friendly.

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