The Recipients, Source, and Certainty of Security
Romans 8:28
We're looking at Romans chapter 8 verse 28. I said to you last time that the someone has described the book of Romans as the Himalaya’s of Scripture with chapter 8 being Mt. Everest, and verse 28 being the peak. Be that as it may, it goes without saying that it is a tremendous verse of Scripture.
In fact, it may be the greatest promise God ever made. It is so comprehensive in nature. Here is a verse that promises that no matter what happens in our lives it works together ultimately for our eternal good.
Now we are in the context of the assurance of salvation. What does this verse say about the eternal security of the believer? .
At a bare minimum it means that nothing can ever change our relationship with the living God. No matter what happens, it works together for our good. We all agree that losing our salvation is a bad thing. How can that occur if God has promised that all things, without limit, work together for good in the lives of His children?
Obviously there has been a great debate through the years between Christians about whether salvation is forever. This chapter, I think, answers very clearly that discussion in no uncertain terms. It is declaring to us unequivocally that salvation is forever.
And verse 28 really is the ultimate statement of the chapter. God causes all things to work together for the eternal good of those who love Him. That is a profound truth loaded with hope. And there's so much in this verse that we only sort of got a running start at it last time.
The verse emphasizes four elements. Let's just remind ourselves of these four elements of our security:
the extent of it,
the recipients of it,
the source of it and
the certainty of it.
Two weeks ago we looked at the extent of it. Just a reminder about that:
"All things work together for good..."
There are no qualifiers, there are no exceptions. Good things work together for our good. Bad things work together for our good. Neutral things work together for our good. And we talked about those things and we showed how that suffering works together for our good. Struggling with temptation works together for our good. Even sin God causes to work together for our good by overruling it for our present benefit and our ultimate glory.
But primarily the Apostle Paul is not talking about matters in this life. The good of which he is speaking is eternal, future glory. We see that more clearly when we look at verse 29 where he talks about those who are foreknown being predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son.
Then in verse 30, he discusses it in these terms, "Those whom He predestined He called, those He called He justified, and whom He justified He also glorified."
So the good that he's talking about in verse 28 is the good of eternal glory, and that is being made in the very image of Jesus Christ. The point being, nothing can happen to you in this life be it good, bad or indifferent, that can change your future glory. All things God causes to work together to produce the ultimate good of your eternal glory.
Why? Because of the work of Christ in justification, because of the decree of God in redemption, because of the ongoing intercessory work of the Holy Spirit described in verse 27.
Remember the Spirit is praying for us in verse 26 and verse 27 He always intercedes for the saints according to the will of God and the will of God is our eternal glory and the Spirit intercedes for us to that end. And that's why God causes all things to work together. He hears the prayers of the Spirit interceding for us. He, of course, also hears the prayers of Christ as our great High Priest on high interceding for us and as a result we come into eternal glory.
And that's why in verse 31 down to verse 39 there is this great statement of praise. What should be our response? What do we say to all of this, if God is for us, who is against us?
In other words, who is more powerful than God? If God says it's all going to work for our good, who is going to thwart that purpose? And the answer is no one and nothing, and he gives a litany of the things that cannot separate us from the love of God that is in Christ.
So the promise of Romans chapter 8 is that those who have put their trust in Jesus Christ will receive eternal glory.
That is the extent of our security. It is limitless.
Let's look next at
The Recipients Of This Security.
Who really possesses this kind of security?
Well, he makes it very clear in verse 28. "God causes all things to work together for good to who?
To those “who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."
There are two very important statements there with tremendous implications. One of them views our relationship with God from our side, and the other views our relationship with God from His side.
On the one hand, we love God. On the other hand, He called us. This promise of eternal security belongs to those who love God and who are the called of God.
You could say that those two wonderful truths sum up our identity. We are the called who love God. Now God's people are described in many ways.
God's people are described as His children. They are described as His sheep, His flock. They're described as His sons. They're described as His bride, His beloved, His church. They're described as believers. They're described as true worshipers. They are described as saints. They are called Christians.
What is the significance of this description?
No designation of believers is more indicative of their character than this one. Here believers are defined as those who love God. They are the people who love God. That's summing it up as simply as it can be summed up.
The promise is for those “who love God”.
Christians are those who love God. When you find someone who claims to be a Christian and who does openly confess that they don't love God, you can be sure they're not.
When you find someone who confesses to be a Christian but has demonstrated absolute indifference to Christ and to God and to the things of God and Christ, there's clear evidence there that there's no affection, there's no passion, there's no consuming, longing and desire for fellowship and obedience, no matter what the claim is, if the love is not manifest, you have a right to question the validity of that person's salvation.
Authentic Christians are those who love God. And for those who love God, God is causing all things to work together for good.
Now how do we identify this love? If I I want to determine whether or not I really love God, what am I looking for?
Is it some sentiment or emotion? Am I looking for some sort of nostalgia that comes out of the roots of my childhood, or my background?
What am I looking for when I'm looking for evidences of love for God? I don’t have time to fully develop the thought, and maybe at some point I’ll do a series on what it means to love God, but let me simply state it:
True Christians are lovers of God, whose heart desire is toward God. They seek His glory. They trust His power. They long for sweet and intimate communion with Him. They enjoy peace and rest and tranquility of soul because of the unbroken relationship they have with Him.
They're not agitated and troubled. They feel the pain when He is dishonored. They love the things He loves. They love the people He loves. They hate what He hates. They grieve over sin. They reject the world. They long for His coming and they obey His Word.
Now, can a man generate that kind of love on his own?
Can I just decide one day that I've been hating God all my life and I just think it's a much smarter thing to start loving Him?
There's no way in my spiritual deadness and alienation from God I could ever pull that off.
How then can I come to the place where I love God, where there's a total turn around and stop being a hater, become a lover of God?
That takes us to the second part of the verse, go back to Romans 8:28.
There is only one way it could happen and this is profound stuff here.
Verse 28, "God causes all things to work together for good for those who love God, to those who are... what?
called according to His purpose."
The only reason they love God is because they're called. The called, and only the called love God.
There is a divine love which initiates our love. We love Him, 1 John 4:19, because He first loved us.
The word "called" is never used in the New Testament epistles in some general way. It always means what the theologians have called an effectual, or an effective, or a saving call. It literally means to be brought to salvation.
Verse 30 explains that. "Whom He predestined He called and whom He called these He also...what?...justified."
We're talking here about the divine act that initiates salvation and brings it to fulfillment.
We have been called, not according to our own purpose, not according to our own plan, not according to our own wisdom, or our own choice or decision, we have been called to be saved because of God's eternal everlasting redemptive purpose. And it is because of the call of God that we are transformed and made capable of loving Him.
As Martin Lloyd-Jones said, "The only reason you love God is because God interfered with your life."
First came the conviction of sin, then a subsequent humbling and brokenness, followed by a hunger for salvation, followed by the preaching of the gospel, mixed with the gift of faith and by the Word and by the Spirit you were called to justification. And we love God because He first loved us.
We love Him because He called us. He called us when we hated Him. He called us when we were enemies. He called us out of darkness.
So for whom is this promise God causes all things to work together for good? It's for those who love God. And who are those who love God? They are the called according to divine, eternal purpose.
And that takes us to the third point,
The Source of Security.
The source of this whole security is the purpose of God. It all springs from the plan of God. It was all determined before the foundation of the world. He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, Ephesians 1:4 says, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.
In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself. And it was all according to the kind intention of His will, His purpose, His plan. The source of this security is all bound up in God Himself. We are the chosen of God.
You know why you love God? Because He planned for you to do it. You love Him because He determined to set His love on you.
Listen to Deuteronomy 7. This was written to Israel. "You are a holy people to the Lord your God."
How did that happen?
"The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth."
The reason that Israel had a special relationship with God is because God ordained it.
Verse 7, "The Lord did not set His love on you, nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, or you were the fewest of all peoples."
In other words, it wasn't anything about you that caused Him to make a choice, but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers.
The Lord just chose to love you and He is therefore the Lord your God, God the faithful God who keeps His covenant, His loving kindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him. He loved you first so you could love Him back.
I love God because He planned for me to love Him. Herein lies the supreme guarantee of my security. It's all wrapped up in God's purpose.
I didn't come along at some point in my life of my own initiative and arbitrarily say, "I'm going to love God." If that were the case, I could come to another point in my life and say, "I'm not loving Him anymore."
But we were born, John 1:13 says, "Not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God."
Salvation is based on the sovereign purpose of God who said, "I am the Lord, I change not." No wonder the psalmist said, "I will lay down in peace and sleep, for Thou, Lord, only make me to dwell in safety." Isn't that wonderful? We're secure.
Well, last point, the extent of our security: all things; the recipients of our security, those who love Him because they're called; the source of our security, His purpose;
The Certainty Of Our Security:
verse 28, "And we...what? what does it say?...we know."
That's the certainty. It is a matter of divine revelation. We know...that God is causing all things to work together for our good, which means our eternal glory because we love God because He first loved us and purposed to bring us to glory. What a tremendous verse.
Question: Do You Know? You can.
