Romans 8:31-39: The Everlasting Security of the Believer (part 2)

Part 2

SBC Baptist Faith and Message, 2000: “V. God’s Purpose of Grace”

Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the free agency of man, and comprehends all the means in connection with the end. It is the glorious display of God’s sovereign goodness, and is infinitely wise, holy, and unchangeable. It excludes boasting and promotes humility. All true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end. Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, and bring reproach on the cause of Christ and temporal judgments on themselves; yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. Gen 12:1-3; Exod 19:5-8; 1 Sam 8:4-7,19-22; Isa 5:1-7; Jer 31:31ff.; Matt 16:18-19; 21:28-45; 24:22,31; 25:34; Luke 1:68-79; 2:29-32; 19:41-44; 24:44-48; John 1:12-14; 3:16; 5:24; 6:44-45,65; 10:27-29; 15:16; 17:6,12,17-18; Acts 20:32; Rom 5:9-10; 8:28-39; 10:12-15; 11:5-7,26-36; 1 Cor 1:1-2; 15:24-28; Eph 1:4-23; 2:1-10; 3:1-11; Col 1:12-14; 2 Thess 2:13-14; 2 Tim 1:12; 2:10,19; Heb 11:39–12:2; Jam 1:12; 1 Peter 1:2-5,13; 2:4-10; 1 John 1:7-9; 2:19; 3:2.

III.              The believer victoriously awaits the future glory that he/she will receive at the moment of glorification vs. 24-39 (see the two previous outlines)

F.      The believer continuously waits, knowing that God’s promise to maintain our everlasting salvation will be completely successful vs. 31-39

1. Q # 1: How shall we verbally respond to these things (God’s causing ultimate good for us and our steel-chain of salvation)? Answer: we respond by praising God for the answers to the next six questions

2. Q # 2: Since God is for us, who can successfully stand against us? Answer: absolutely no person or thing

3. Q # 3: If God has already given us His best, His Son, and He has, once we have Jesus, will not God also provide the lesser things, including the persevering of our faith? Answer: Yes, He who gave the most will not now withhold the least things we need. Jesus was not spared from suffering and death but was delivered over to sinful men to die in our place. Our salvation is purchased with too great a price for God to let us throw it away or an enemy to snatch it away (John 10:27-29, 6:37-39; Phil 1:6; Heb 5:9; Rev 5:9-14).

4. Q # 4: Who can successfully bring a charge against those people whom God has chosen? Answer: No one. Many believe Satan lost his access to God’s courtroom after the cross (cf. Gen 3:15; Col 2:14-15; Rev 12:7-12). So, not even the accuser of the brethren may lodge a charge against one of God’s elect now as he could during the book of Job (Job 1:11, 2:4-5). Since God is the one who has declared us righteous (justified) based on the work of Jesus the Messiah, who could possibly charge us before Him? No one can, because our judge has already declared us not guilty

(For God’s elect, see Eph 1:4-6, 11; 2 Thess 2:13; John 6:38-45)

5. Q # 5: Who can successfully condemn a genuine Christian? Answer: No one in the universe. Yeshu’a the Messiah was the one who died for us, was raised for us, and now stands at God’s right-hand interceding for us. His redemption was accomplished and applied to every real Christian. His prayer for us cannot fail. No one can undo Jesus’ past or present work. Which time period of our sins did Jesus pay for in full? Our past, present, and future sins---and note all our sins were future for the Messiah at 33 AD. (Our sins before and after our conversion were all future when the price was paid)

6. Q # 6: What will separate us from the love of Christ? Answer: Nothing can. We remain abundantly victorious

7. Q # 7: What things will cause the snatching away of the salvation of a real believer? Answer: Not emotional stress and pain (tribulation, distress, persecution), not physical deprivation of food and clothing (famine, nakedness), or threats of death (danger), or physical attack and physical death (sword). There is nothing new about the mistreatment of the people of God by the world system and leaders

8. The unchangeable love of God for His chosen ones and the covenant relationship we have with God cannot be severed by death or life, elect angels or top ranking evil angels (demons), things around today nor things coming in the future, nothing in the sky (height) nor at the bottom of the sea (depth), nothing supernatural (powers) nor anything created (which is everything but God). The love God has for us as His own children is everlastingly connected with the person and work of Yeshu’a the Messiah, who is our Lord and Master. We are safe and secure in Jesus and God’s everlasting love. “The LORD appeared to them from a distance: I have loved you with a love that lasts forever. And so, with unfailing love, I have drawn you to myself” (Jer 31:3 CEB)

G.     Paul’s evidence to the works-righteous critic, who argued one could lose their salvation based on poor performance, follows

1. No human being can successfully snatch away our salvation; God is stronger than all, including the individual believer themselves

2. God the Father will not change His mind. He is eternally ‘for’ us. He is infinite and not stuck in time

3. The accuser of the brethren cannot snatch away our salvation

4. Jesus’ work was a success (Isa 53:11-12) and He is not willing to undo His work or to cease praying for us (Heb 7:24-27; 1 John 2:1)

5. Emotional pain cannot steal away our salvation, nor can torture, hunger, lack of shelter, danger or physical attacks (Acts 7:54-60; 2 Cor 11:23-33)

6. We cannot snatch ourselves away because we are overwhelming super-victors through God’s electing and saving love and amazing power (John 10:27-29; Rev 20:12-15, 21:27)

7. True believers cannot get un-saved (lost again) while living or while separated from their earthly body in heaven, supernatural beings cannot remove us, nothing in time past, present, or future, nothing supernatural, nothing in the universe created by God is able to break our everlasting covenant relationship with God (Rev 13:8, 17:8). All the examples that people provide of people losing their salvation are actually make-believers like Judas and are not real believers like Peter. One was a weed; the other was wheat

Romans 8:28-30 The Everlasting Security of the Believer (part 1)

Everlasting Security

I was saved (justification); I am being saved (sanctification), I will be saved (glorification). The Word of God promises: I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you [plural] will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Phil 1:6 HCSB). Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me . . . This is the will of Him who sent Me: that I should lose none of those He has given Me but should raise them up on the last day (John 6:37, 39 HCSB). My sheep are hearing My voice, I am knowing them, and they are following Me. I give them everlasting life, and they will never perish—ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand (John 10:27-29). For anyone to undo everlasting salvation, they would have to have more power than God the Father, which is impossible. The Bible says: All the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does what He wants with the army of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. There is no one who can hold back His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’ (Dan 4:35 HCSB) Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son so that the Son may glorify You, for You gave Him authority over all flesh; so, He may give everlasting life to all You have given Him (John 17:1-2). [Eternal = something or someone that has no beginning and no end. Everlasting = something or someone that had a beginning but does not have an ending—forever and ever.] Once you receive everlasting life, it lasts forever, by definition of the very words that are used.

I.                  The believer victoriously awaits the future glory that he/she will receive at the moment of glorification vs. 24-39

D.     He/she continuously awaits glorification with a certain assurance concerning his/her past, present, and future salvation vs. 28

1. God is working behind the scenes to complete His will in the lives of His children (the selected or called ones = those who love God)

2. God is using the diverse circumstances to bring about something good in the future for His people. Unbelievers are not addressed here

3. God has the power and ability to direct His world for His people, who are described as those who love God, which are those who were called by God to salvation as part of His worldwide plan of redemption. If He calls you, you will come

E.     He/she waits continuously, knowing that God is working out His purposes in this world, especially His purpose and will for their salvation vs. 28-30

1. God is the subject of vs. 28-30, and all believers are the objects of the 5 verbs. Thus, we can have complete confidence in God that He will complete in us what He started and not change His mind (Mal 3:6)

2. God is infinite and eternal and outside of time. He exists in the past, present, and future all at once, and His omniscience makes it impossible for Him to save someone in humanity’s past and then un-save them in the future because of human weakness

3. Both the views of Pelagius and Arminius require God to be stuck in time rather than the creator of and outside of time. Their views denying eternal security or the perseverance of the saint, also denies God’s infinity, omniscience, and power 

4. This is God’s gold-plated steel chain of salvation with five links

a)     ‘Foreknew’ proginosko to love beforehand, to select beforehand, to foreordain (in other contexts it can be to know a thing in advance)

b)     ‘Predestined’ prooridzo decide upon beforehand, predetermine destiny, a predetermined plan that each believer would be like Jesus in character, displaying God’s glory as children of God and the preeminence of Jesus

c)      ‘Called’ kaleo God’s invitation to salvation or summons to discipleship

d)     ‘Justified’ dikaioo to be acquitted before God, declared righteous in God’s courtroom in heaven

e)     ‘glorified’ doxadzo to receive a glorified body and cleansed soul that are rejoined at the resurrection of the righteousness at the return of Jesus Christ

5. These are past tense events in the plan of God and in the believer’s life except the last one (glorified). Paul uses five past tense verbs to describe all five events. Why would Paul speak of a future event as if it had already occurred (glorification)? Because it is so certain to happen, once the process of salvation starts for a person, it is guaranteed to be completed by the God who cannot lie (Titus 1:2) [doxadzo is a gnomic aorist active third person singular verb].

 

See David Steele and Curtis Thomas, 1963, Romans: An Interpretive Outline, Phillipsburg, NJ: p. 70.

Romans 8:17b-27: The Holy Spirit, Glorification, and Everlasting Security

Paul is presenting the person and the power of the Holy Spirit as the only way of living a godly life. A true believer lives the Christian life in the power of the Holy Spirit. The personal presence of the Holy Spirit and His gift of everlasting life to every believer make clear the everlasting security for everyone who is genuinely in a new covenant relationship with Jesus the Messiah (in Christ).

I.                  The believer’s present suffering is a small thing when compared with the certain future glory awaiting every child of God vs. 17b-18

A.     Paul says, I continually take note of the fact, I consider, I think on the truth that present pain is nothing compared to future gain (John 16:33; Rom 5:3; 2 Cor 1:6)

B.     One should focus their mind on the future glory rather than today’s troubles

C.     Suffering, not prosperity, is the normal lot of believers who are at war with the world, the flesh, and the devil, but suffering is temporary and is a prelude to glorification (which is a onetime event that happens to us) [Acts 5:41, 9:16]

II.                The earth’s present creation longs for the future glory vs. 19-23

A.     All of creation continually yearns for the revealing of the sons of God at the return of Christ at the glorification event vs. 19

B.     After the glorification event, the curse on the earth from the fall is lessened (during the millennium) [Isa 65:19-25] and then removed [Rev 22:3] vs. 19

C.     The created universe was subjected to struggle and natural disasters when Adam sinned, which resulted in the creation being cursed by God vs.20

D.     At the glorification of God’s people (2^nd coming of the Messiah) the creation will be set free from bondage to decay and destruction [Murphy’s law and matter going from order to disorder will be dialed back, cf. Deut 8:4; Rev 20:1-10] vs. 21

E.      The present creation continually groans and greatly desires that hour of release from the curse. (ILL. Contraction pains are gone after the baby’s delivery) vs. 22

F.      The present believers on the earth also long or thirst for that hour of glorification at the return of Christ (1 Cor 15:45-58; 1 Thess 4:16-17). vs. 23

1. There is always a desire in the believer to be totally free from indwelling sin, to be in Jesus’ presence, to be reunited with a glorified body and to receive his/her full, everlasting salvation.

2. Even with justification, a new nature, the Bible, the Holy Spirit, the believer can still pray, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus, come!”

3. The Holy Spirit puts this longing in every believer (beyond Eccl 3:11, “placed eternity in their hearts,” which is for all men) and gives us assurance that we have received everlasting salvation (cf. Rom 8:16)

4. We have already experienced some of the first or earlier workings of the Spirit: conviction of sin, regeneration, conversion, adoption, beginning the process of sanctification, spiritual gifting, and understanding of the Word (illumination). If we receive the first, we will also receive the last.

III.              The believer victoriously awaits the future glory that he/she will receive at the moment of glorification vs. 24-39

A.     He/she continuously waits and lives in hope, which is a future certainty. Their assurance of glorification has moved beyond a mere belief to a full conviction—a principle of life. Our deliverance/salvation has past, present, and future aspects to it. Justification (past), sanctification (present), and glorification (future). I was saved. I am being saved. I will be saved. We have not yet seen our complete deliverance from sin (salvation), but we have seen enough to wait on God with a sound faith and a know-so hope. vs. 24

B.     He/she continuously waits with patience and perseverance. The believer remains loyal to the Lord and faithful to the task He has given (Great Commission) as he/she walks by faith and trusts in the unfailing promises of God vs. 25

1. This will not be done perfectly; remember Romans chapter 7

2. We are governed by grace, led by the Spirit and only guided by the moral law to discern what pleases the God we love

C.     He/she continuously awaits glorification prayerfully with the help of the Holy Spirit. vs. 26-27

1. The Holy Spirit continually helps us where we are weak concerning prayer and helps us when we suffer

2. The Holy Spirit continually intercedes for us to the Father with communication much clearer between them than human words

3. The Holy Spirit continually knows the matters for which we should pray. He instructs us how to pray and what to pray for as we read the Bible

4. God the Father searches human hearts and discovers what the mind of the Holy Spirit is about each matter in His universe (persons have minds)

5. The Holy Spirit continually intercedes in prayer for the saints (believers= saints/sinners simultaneously) according to God’s will. His prayers always get a “yes” answer. This could mean that when we pray the best way we know how in a situation, the Holy Spirit says to the Father for us, “What he/she meant to request or should have requested it this . . . “

D.     He/she continuously awaits glorification with certain assurance concerning his/her past, present, and future salvation vs. 28

Romans 8:1-17: The Holy Spirit Provides the Power to defeat Indwelling Sin

Okay, Paul, if the law is not the power and source of godly living, then what is the source? First, one must receive an outside righteousness and be declared righteous by God (conversion, justification, salvation) and then they will find the only true way to godly living is by the power of the Holy Spirit as they obey the inspired Scriptures. Indwelling sin cannot be defeated without the power and strength of the Holy Spirit.

I.                  For those in a new covenant relationship with the Messiah, Jesus, the condemnation of the law is gone vs. 1-3

A.     There can be no condemnation for the person in Christ. Once a person is delivered from the penalty and authority of sin in their life through identification with the person and work of Jesus the Messiah, instead of being condemned, they are declared righteous. Instead of being on the road to hell, they are on the road to heaven. They are a new person because of their identity and relationship with Jesus Christ. vs. 1

B.     There can be no bondage to the law of sin and death for the person in Christ. Every human, as a sinner, is condemned to death by the moral law. But once one is delivered (saved) from the penalty, authority, and love of sin through their identification with Jesus the Messiah, they have also been set free from the condemnation of the moral law. The believer’s life is wrapped up in Jesus; they have a new and abudant life in connection with Jesus through the indwelling Holy Spirit. vs. 2

C.     The problem is not with God’s holy law; the law is limited by the sinner’s weakness. The law cannot save sinners; only God can save sinners. How? By sending Jesus, the God-Man, to pay the penalty of death in our place for our sin. He was condemned in our place; thus, it is impossible for us to be charged again for the same set of sins. Jesus was the believer’s wrath-bearing sacrifice so that he/she could be declared righteous. vs. 3

II.                For those in a new covenant relationship with the Messiah, Jesus, the indwelling Holy Spirit has been given. vs. 4-9

A.     The believer is to live under the Holy Spirit’s control, authority, and by His power. This will result in a godly life that fulfills by grace the requirements of the moral law. The believer is not to live under the direction of the flesh, his/her indwelling sin. The solution to the weakness of the flesh is the powerful Holy Spirit and the powerful Bible He inspired and illuminates for the believer who reads and studies it. The believer’s identification and relationship with Jesus the Messiah guarantees the presence of the Holy Spirit. vs. 4

B.     The contrast is clear. Humans who are in the flesh are under the law’s condemnation, but those who are in Christ are delivered from condemnation. God has given the believer a new relationship with Jesus and the Holy Spirit to indwell and direct him/her. Thus, they differ from those who are still lost (unsaved, pagans, unbelievers). vs. 5-8

1.      The unbeliever is directed by his/her sinful nature, is selfish and sinful in his/her thought life, is separated from God’s grace and holiness, is on the broad road to everlasting death, his/her mind is a war with God, His truth, and His moral law. The unbeliever is unable and powerless to submit and surrender to God’s righteous standard (moral law). They do not want to obey God, and even if they did, they are totally unable to do so. They cannot live in a way that pleases God.

2.      The believer’s mind under the direction of the Holy Spirit is full of life and peace. Saved people think about the things the Holy Spirit inspired in the Word of God. They love and serve God. They surrender to God’s person, will, and His written Word. By the power of the Holy Spirit, they are able to obey God, submit to His moral law and Word. By submitting to the Spirit’s control and by His producing of spiritual fruit in their lives (love, joy, peace, self-control, etc.), they can live a life that is pleasing to God and brings glory to His wonderful name.

C.     The Holy Spirit immediately indwells every human at their justification (which followed their faith and repentance). When one embraces or receives Jesus by faith is when they also receive the Holy Spirit, not later at some event. The Holy Spirit is given to the believer at conversion because of the work of Jesus the Messiah and is the rightful heritage of every genuine believer. vs. 9

1.      If one is justified, he or she is not under the control of the flesh but under the control of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit indwells them, and they belong to Jesus.

2.      If one is under the control of their sin nature and does not have the Holy Spirit indwelling, leading, and directing them, then he or she does not belong to Jesus. (yet?)

III.              For those in a new covenant relationship with the Messiah, Jesus, the power of the Holy Spirit is released in their lives. vs. 10-11

A.     Since Christ is in you all (pl), your body’s purpose is not sin but is righteousness. vs. 10

B.     The Holy Spirit, who powerfully raised Jesus from the dead, indwells you and will use that same power to make your mortal bodies enabled to live a godly life. vs. 11

IV.              For those in a new covenant relationship with the Messiah, Jesus, they also have the leadership of the Holy Spirit, spiritual life, and the power to fight indwelling sin. vs. 12-14

A.     The believer is not required to follow his/her indwelling sin and live a life of sin. vs. 12

B.     Those who live a life under sin’s reign are lost and are under the condemnation of everlasting death. They must obey their sin nature as sin’s slaves. vs. 13

C.     The believer must continually kill indwelling sin by the Holy Spirit’s power. vs. 13

D.     Only those being led by the Holy Spirit are real Christians (sons of God). The believer’s one evidence of sonship is the presence of the Holy Spirit in his/her life. vs. 14

V.                For those in a new covenant relationship with the Messiah, Jesus, they have been adopted as spiritual children by the work of the Holy Spirit. vs. 15-17

A.     They do not have a mentality of captivity, bondage, or paralyzing fear. vs. 15

B.     They have the mindset of belonging—as children of the Father. When in trouble, they can pray to their Father (papa). The Holy Spirit reveals their intimacy with the God they love. As adopted children, they have no birthright or claim to sonship, but by grace they are placed into God’s family with the full rights and privileges of the family of God.

C.     Their status has changed from enemy to adopted children and fellow heirs with Jesus the Messiah. vs. 17a

Romans 7:14-25: The Believer’s Internal War with Indwelling Sin

 Indwelling Sin

The Christian life is a war with many battles. Indwelling sin must be chased, killed, and weakened like a band of guerrilla soldiers. Kill sin, or it will kill you. You are a Trojan horse.

II. The law has no power to produce sanctification in a sinner/saint. It only highlights a person’s failures in obedience. vs. 14-25

    A. Transitional statement (vs. 14) that concludes the former section and introduces the new section. This section (14-25) discusses the believer. Paul says that even with the law, he is still the same person, weak, and helpless to obey God in his own strength. But he clearly understands right and wrong (sin).

    B. A puzzling situation—being pulled in two directions. My desire is to obey God, but my body and mind go back to obeying sin. I do not understand myself. vs. 15

    C. A necessary admission and confession—the problem is in me while the law is good and doing what it is supposed to do. I am the one failing to obey; the law is working; it is showing me what attitudes and actions I should have and do have, and it exposes my lack of compliance, and it displays that I am the problem. vs. 16

    D. An enlightening proposition—there is a war going on inside me. vs. 17-19

1. Indwelling sin is an enemy force inside every believer. Sin is not just outside me, nor is it just the absence of good. The believer has indwelling sin.

2. If I submit to it, my indwelling sin will lead me into all kinds of wrong thoughts, words, and deeds. vs. 17

3. My flesh is a house of sin, and in this quadrant of my being nothing good dwells at all. This is ever-present in the believer. The flesh is not trained to do good, but to do the opposite: sin, rebellion, wickedness, and transgression. vs. 18

4. At the same time, a real believer has a God-given strong desire to obey God and His Word, but we as persons are weak and helpless to perform righteousness all the time. vs. 18

5. Each day the believer will fall to the power of indwelling sin in word, thought, and deed and do the things he/she hates. (If a person has no tension with sin and is still in love with sin, they are not yet delivered [saved]). vs. 19

6. When I allow indwelling sin to lead me, I am miserable because I am acting, saying, and doing things I hate and that produce guilt. vs. 20

7. This is a principle that never fails—while my soul is still in my body (until my death), I will always have indwelling sin inside me, while at the same time, I desire to obey the indwelling Holy Spirit and the Word of God. vs. 21

    E. An accurate conclusion, I am at war on the inside. The Christian life is difficult and involves an internal struggle. vs.22-23

1. The inner person joyfully agrees with God’s moral law. vs. 22

2. Something keeps me from fully keeping that law (indwelling sin). vs. 23

3. There is another principle that is true: the outer person, my body, has indwelling sin inside it, which fights against the truth in my mind. There is a war in my mind, will, and emotions. (You cannot trust your heart). vs. 23

4. If I do not fight the indwelling sin inside my body, it will take me prisoner and lead both body and soul into sin. vs.23

5. If I ignore my indwelling sin, it gets stronger and will lead me into captivity and cause all my good intentions and desires to fail. vs. 23

6. [If I fight indwelling sin, the biblical way, it becomes weak and quiet] See Rom 8:13, 13:8-14

    F. An overwhelmed exclamation—I am a wretched, distressed, miserable person. I long for this war with indwelling sin to be over, and I hate sin and love Jesus. vs. 24

1. The believer’s soul at death is set free from the presence of indwelling sin forever. Heb 12:23; Rev 6:9-11

2. At the resurrection, our glorified bodies will be free from the presence of sin forever and be joined to our souls. 1 Cor 15:51-58; 1 Thess 4:13-18

3. I am trying to be good and do good works, yet I fail repeatedly. How can I get out of this mess? Who will deliver me from this war with my new nature, the Holy Spirit, new loves, and desires versus indwelling sin, this remaining corruption?

    G. A victorious proclamation—Praise God, Jesus is the only way out of this struggle with sin’s indwelling presence. Through deliverance, salvation through the Messiah, once I have fully received my salvation in the future, I will be free from sin. vs. 25

    H. An honest declaration—I am inconsistent in my lifestyle before God. vs.25

1. My mind often serves the law of God and obeys the Word of God.

2. My flesh (where my indwelling sin resides) often serves the law of sin.

3. In my own power, I cannot live for God; I will fail over and over again.

4. If I allow indwelling sin to get strong, fortified, and well-stocked, it will be very difficult to overcome. It will win numerous battles inside me.

5. The moral law (mitsvah) is the guide to godly living, but never provides the power, strength, or governor of the believer (grace). The law does not bring death to the sinner; transgressing the law brings death. All sinners must die.

6. I am a mess, but through the Messiah Jesus and the Holy Spirit (Rom 8) I can live a life by grace that pleases God, motivated by love and gratitude, longing to glorify God.

7. The Christian life involves a constant struggle—the battle of our redeemed faculties and nature against indwelling sin. It is deceptive and loves surprise attacks. It fights against the means of grace, its greatest enemies (Bible reading and study, prayer, Christian fellowship, witnessing).