The Benefits of Being Christians
A Sermon Series from Romans 8
Part V: "God For Us"
By Dave Redick
Contrary to what some of us may have been told or concluded on our own, God is on our side! He's for us! He wants to see us spend eternity with Him. He is not our adversary if we're Christians. He's not a crabby old man in the sky watching anxiously for us to mess up so He can gleefully condemn us to Hell. He wants to see us make it - so much so that He has made the supreme sacrifice on our behalf. If you really want to go to heaven, He wants it, too.
Introduction
I often hear people quote the phrase, "God helps those who help themselves," as if the expression were found in the Bible. It isn't. Actually, the saying comes from the ancient Aesop's Fables and is a lot more pagan than it is Christian. The fable reads as follows:
"A Wagoner was once driving a heavy load along a very muddy way. At last he came to a part of the road where the wheels sank half-way into the mire, and the more the horses pulled, the deeper sank the wheels. So the Wagoner threw down his whip, and knelt down and prayed to Hercules the Strong. ‘O Hercules, help me in this my hour of distress,' quoth he. But Hercules appeared to him, and said:
‘Tut, man, don't sprawl there. Get up and put your shoulder to the wheel. The gods help them that help themselves.'"
(I won't ask how many of us are surprised that the saying isn't found in the Bible!)
Actually, if the Bible says anything at all resembling that saying, it says the very opposite, though not in so many words. A closer statement to what the Bible says would be something like, "God helps those who cannot help themselves!"
The clearest statement of that is in Romans 5:6 where we read,
"For while we were still helpless [we could not help ourselves], at the right time Christ died for the ungodly [God helped us]"
Now that would be a great introduction for a sermon on Romans 5:6, but we're not studying Romans 5. We're studying from Romans 8. This will be the fifth sermon I'm bringing you from chapter 8. My introductory words aren't wasted, though, because in Romans 8:31-39, Paul is talking about how far God has been willing to go to help those who cannot help themselves.
Let's read it...
(Read Romans 8:31-39)
Again, this will be the fifth and last message in our series from Romans 8. The theme of the series has been "The Benefits of Being Christians."
We've seen that in Christ we have (1) A Freedom That Takes Away Condemnation (2) An Indwelling Companion Who Gives Us Life (3) A Hope That is Worth A Wait (4) Connections With The Greatest Being in Existence.
From these verses we just read, we see the grand finale of all the benefits we have in Christ. I've called it simply, God for Us.
Contrary to what some of us may have been told or concluded on our own, God is on our side! He's for us! He wants to see us spend eternity with Him. He is not our adversary if we're Christians. He's not a crabby old man in the sky watching anxiously for us to mess up so He can gleefully condemn us to Hell. He wants to see us make it - so much so that He has made the supreme sacrifice on our behalf. If you really want to go to heaven, He wants it, too.
You'd think these statements I just made would be obvious to those who pride themselves in being people of the Book, but as I look around me, and listen, I find that many people don't get it. They don't understand God's disposition toward His saints. They look at God as an adversary instead of an ally. They are insecure in their salvation. That's sad, but it's true. I hope in this message to make the issue clearer.
God is for us! That is the message of this passage. From these verses I want to look at (1)The Principle (v. 31), (2) The Proof (v. 32), and (3) The Parameters (v. 33-39) of this "God For Us" idea.
Let's look first at
I. The Principle.
(Read v. 31)
These verses are really the "grand finale" of all Paul has said in this chapter. "What shall we say of all these benefits we have as God's people? What would be the proper conclusion to it all? If God is for us (which His giving all these benefits shows) who could possibly mount a successful campaign against us so as to deny us salvation?"
I came across a story last week that I think will illustrate this point. It was written by another preacher, but sounds like a familiar story.
"A few weeks ago at our elders' meeting, Barney Brogan was telling us about his grandson. His daughter has moved to Missouri with the boys. As some of you know, their father is Chicano, and the children look like their dad. Their 13-year-old ran into a tremendous nest of White Supremacy at school. Because of the prejudice against blacks and Chicanos, that little innocent lad began to suffer very unjust torment and persecution. He didn't understand it; he came home weeping, beaten up because of his looks. His mother didn't know what to do, and so she wrote and asked us to pray for this situation, and we did.
"A week or so later a letter came back and described how one night the biggest kid in school appeared at their door and said that he was a Christian, that he knew they were Christians, and that he had come to tell them that he had gone to every kid in school who had beat up on the boy and told them that if they ever did anything like that again, they would answer to him. I don't know what that boy's name was, but let's call him Mike. I can imagine this little boy going back to school, walking in the shadow of Mike, with all his tormenters looking at him. He probably would be saying to himself, ‘If Mike is for me, who can be against me?'"
That is similar to what Paul is saying here in Romans 8:31. If God is for us, how could anyone make much headway against us?
God, then, is the Guarantor of the promises in this passage. Much bigger than any "Mike" who might come to our aid, He is the one who will protect us and provide our security.
Of course, I hope it goes without saying that this principle is limited to a select group of people. The "us" here whom God is for are those "in Christ," as mentioned back in verse 1 of this chapter. They are those who "set their minds on the things of the Spirit" as it says in verse 5, those in whom the Spirit dwells (v. 9), those who are the children of God (v. 16), those who are being conformed to the image of His Son (v. 29), those who are called, justified, glorified (v. 30). This principle of God's protection does not operate outside of the realm of those who are true Christians.
The principle, then, is one of protection and security for those in Christ. "If God is for us, who is against us?"
We move on, now, to
II. The Proof.
How can we be sure that this principle of "God for us" is really true?
(Read v. 32)
Paul's proof reasons from the greater to the lesser. If God didn't spare even His own precious Son, but delivered Him up to die on the cross for us, can we possibly doubt His love and concern for us - the fact that He is for us - He's on our side?
You see, He who has already given us His best, His greatest, His dearest, His most precious possession, and He did it while we were sinners - while we were helpless! Can we possibly think that He would now withhold something necessary for our passage into heaven and eternal life?
If someone thinks enough of you to give you a costly, brilliant, beautiful, flawless diamond, do you think he will object when you ask him for the box that goes with it? That's the idea here.
If a mother will give up her baby for adoption, do you think she will object if they ask to take his clothes, too?
Paul's argument is unassailable. If God has given us his own Son already, can we possibly think He's going to withhold anything else that we need? Of course He won't!
This same argument is used in Romans 5. There, in verses 8-10, we read, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."
When you or I have sinned against God and the Accuser of the Brethren (Satan) comes to us and suggests we've messed things up too badly for God to possibly ever forgive us, or even care about us again, what should be our answer?
Our answer should be that God proved a long time ago, even while we were still sinners, that He was willing to forgive us if we come to Him in confession and repentance! If He would do it while we were wilfully living away from Him, He will certainly do it now that we are trying to live for Him!
The principle, then, is that God is on our side. The proof is that He sent His Precious Only Son to die for us. Now let's look at
III. The Parameters.
Just how far does this "God is for us" principle go? If I'm secure in Christ, how far does that security go? Does this mean I can never lose my salvation as some teach? If not, where is the security?
Let's read the verses first.
(Read v. 33-34a)
Paul uses the language of the courts and the legal system here. The question is, "who will be able to press charges against God's elect that will stick at judgement?" Paul's asking "Who will bring a charge against God's elect?" does not mean God's people will never be accused of anything here on earth. Indeed, Jesus Himself was falsely accused, and He said to His followers, "Blessed are you when men cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me." No, verse 33 in our text is talking about the judgement to come.
"God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns?" If God is the one who justifies Christians, will He, as the Judge, turn around and condemn them? That's absurd! Not to mention the fact that it is Jesus, the Judge's Son who intercedes for them!
(Read v. 34b)
You see, with God (our Justifier) as the Judge and Jesus, His Son as our lawyer, how can anyone make a charge of condemnation stick? You can't get around a court like that! Both the judge and our lawyer are on our side and have proven they are on our side. Who is going to succeed in getting a charge to stick in a court like that?
(Read v. 35-37)
Tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, the sword. Sounds like a description of life at its worst doesn't it?
The word "tribulation" is thlipsis and it comes from a root word meaning "pressure." Can the pressures of life separate us from Christ's love? No!
The word "distress" comes from a compound word in Greek meaning "narrowness of room." It describes when circumstances put the "squeeze" on you. It describes circumstances when you don't know where to turn because all escape routes seem blocked. Can such things cause God to turn away from us and quit loving us? No!
Can persecution ever get so tough so as to cause God to abandon us? No! Can famine? No! Can losing everything we have so that we don't even have clothes on our back (called "nakedness" her)? No! Can peril? No! Can war (referred to here as "the sword?") No!
Can any external circumstance separate us from the love of Christ? No!
Indeed, "In all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us." (V. 37)
When an enemy is "overwhelmingly" conquered, the battle is a rout. It is a totally one sided affair with utter victory on one side and utter and total defeat on the other.
The one who remains in Christ through the ups and downs of life will, in the end, be the consummate victor! He will stand fully justified and victorious in the end.
Paul says,
(Read v. 38-39)
Wow! What assurance! What a promise! What victory! And it is your's Christian, as long as you stay "in Christ."
Notice - that is what it says in verse 39: "the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
To have this manifold promise, you must remain in Christ.
In Acts 27, Luke describes a time when Paul was on a ship caught in a storm. After much distress, God informed Paul that he and the crew would survive. But there was a qualifier on their survival. In Acts 27:31, Paul told those onboard, "Unless these men remain in the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved." The safe place was aboard the ship. If someone took it upon themselves to abandon the ship, they would perish. In the same way, unless we remain "in Christ" we cannot be saved. The security is "in Christ." If we depart (which we are always free to do), we have none of the guarantees God gives us in this passage.
The modern doctrine of "eternal security" or "once saved, always saved" is false. Yes, there is full security, but we must stay in the ship!
I like these comments by author Sherwood Smith: "On the basis of what God has done and is doing for us through the intercession of Christ, Paul concludes that there is no external force in earth or heaven which can separate us from the love of God. The term ‘external force' is used because there is an internal force which can turn us from God, and God will never violate our free moral agency... If you keep yourself in God's love, nothing can destroy your security. The usual concept of ‘eternal security' or ‘once in grace, always in grace' is not taught in this passage and is refuted by a host of other scriptures."
I agree with that statement. So does the New Testament writer, Jude. Hold your finger in this passage and go quickly with me to Jude 20-21.
(Read Jude 20-21)
We must stay on the ship. We must "keep ourselves in the love of God."
Thirteen times in Romans, and no fewer than 100 times in the entire New Testament, we are told that the benefits God offers people are found "in Christ." If we don't stay "in Him," we lose it all.
Is there security in Christ? Yes, provided we don't quit Him.
Conclusion
A believer was fleeing from his enemies during a persecution in North Africa. Pursued over a hill and through a valley with no place to hide, he fell exhausted into a cave, expecting to be caught. Awaiting his death, he saw a spider weaving a web. Within minutes, the spider had woven a beautiful web across the mouth of the cave. The man's pursuers arrived, but on seeing the unbroken web assumed it was impossible for him to have entered the cave. Later that believer wrote, "Where God is, a spider's web is like a wall. Where God is not, a wall is like a spider's web."
What shall we say of these things? "If God is for us, who is against us?"
Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.
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