Romans 8:31-39
THE DISTINCTION OF THE SPIRIT LIFE
Intro: Of all the promises made to the child of God
relating to our salvation, to me, the most precious is the
fact that those who are saved by grace are saved
forever. Of course, I am referring to the doctrine of the
eternal security of the believer. I know that many will
take various passages of Scripture and string them
together to try to prove that a person can be saved
today and lost again tomorrow. I realize that, but what
I want to know is this: Why? Why not just let the Bible
say what it says and rejoice in the fact that if you have
ever been saved, you will always be saved?
That's what these verses are all about. If we had
none of the other precious passages in the Bible that
teach eternal security, John 3:16; 5:24; 6:47; 10:28-29; 1 Pet. 1:5, etc., Romans 8 would be sufficient to
make that doctrine crystal clear. As we bring our study
of this great chapter to a close this evening, Paul tells
us about The Distinction Of The Spirit Life. There is
one thing that sets Christianity apart from the rest of the
belief systems in the world this evening. That thing is a
distinctive plan of salvation that guarantees absolute,
eternal security to everyone who is saved thereby.
Let's look into these verses this evening and allow the
Lord to teach us that if we are saved, we are indeed
secure. Here is why I can say that:
I. V. 31-33 SECURE BY THE LABOR OF CHRIST
A. V. 31 His Interest In Us - According to what we
have already learned in this chapter, we are
partakers of a wonderful salvation experience
that forever changes us and places us into the
family of God. Paul's question reminds us of
those things and it teaches us that God is
infinitely interested in each of us.
His interest is seen in the fact that He loved us
before time began and formulated a plan to bring
us to Himself. He knew us, yet He loved us and
made a way for us to be saved by His grace.
That is proof that He is interested in each of us.
(Ill. Note the last part of verse 31. Paul's "if" is
not the if of possibility. He is not questioning
whether or not God is for us, but he is stating the
fact that God is on our side. Therefore, no one
can stand against God, and no one can stand
against us. Friend, regardless of where you are
in life this evening, God is interested in you! He
cares, and because He cares, you can walk in
victory in every circumstance of life, 1 Cor.
15:57; 2 Cor. 4:17.) His interest in us secures
us!
B. V. 32a His Investment In us - Because God
loves sinners so much, He gave His Son Jesus
to die on the cross for our sins. When Jesus
died, He became sin for you and me, 2 Cor.
5:21, and He was judged in our place. He made
the ultimate investment in you and me. He laid
done His life for those He loved, John 15:13;
Rom. 5:8.
(Ill. The provision of His life for mine was an
investment in my salvation. When I received the
finished work of Jesus as the payment for my
own salvation, I also received the dividend of
that initial investment. When I trusted Jesus to
save me, His death became my death. His
payment became my payment. At that moment,
all the books were balanced and I was set free
from the debt of sin I owed the Lord and I was
forever saved by grace, Col. 2:13-14; Eph. 2:8-9.) I am secured by His investment in me.
C. V. 32b His Intentions For Us - Paul asks
another question. He wants to know that if God
would pay this high of a price to save us, did not
He plan to do something with us? That answer
is, of course He has a plan! He has a plan for
everyone of His children. His plan is to take us
all to be with Him in His home in Heaven. This
was the prayer of Jesus, and this is the plan of
God, John 17:24. God did not save a single
one of us to lose us along the way home! We
are kept by His power, 1 Pet. 1:5. We are
destined to be with Him in Heaven some day! In
fact, the proof of that is seen in the fact that we
are already considered to be there right now,
Eph. 2:6. His intentions for each of us is to bring
us home to glory and nothing will stop that from
taking place. We will be with Him in that land,
Eph. 2:7.
D. V. 33 His Insistence Concerning Us - Another
question is asked by Paul. It wants to know who
has the right to say that we are guilty before
God. The problem is this: a lost world see those
who claim to know Jesus. As they view our lives,
they see within us characteristics and traits from
our old lives of sin. They see us ands how we
live and then they wonder how we can claim to
be saved. And, the fact of the matter is this:
God's children ought to live lives that are
different from the world. And, they are watching
everything we do!
Paul's point, however, is that no one has the
right to try to place anything on our account
before the Lord. No one, not even the devil
himself, has the right to accuse the redeemed of
sin before the Lord. Why? Because when we
trusted Jesus for salvation, God justified us! He
did not just take away our sins, but He declared
us to be righteous. He took all the sin that was
in my account and transferred it to the account of
the Lord Jesus. There is was paid for forever.
Then He took the spotless righteousness and
holiness that is in the account of Jesus and He
applied that to my account. On that basis, He
declares us to be right with God.
(Ill. There are times when you and I do not act
saved. If a lost person were watching our walk,
they might conclude that we were just as wicked
as they were. However, what they cannot see is
the fact that a transaction took place in Heaven
one day and that every child of God is as
righteous as he or she will ever be! One of these
days this flesh will be changed, but until then, we
are still declared just be the power of God.) We
are secure because God says that we are!
I. Secure By The Labor Of Christ
II. V. 34 SECURE BY THE LIFE OF CHRIST
(Ill. This verse asks another very important question
related to the matter of our security. Does anyone
have the right to judge the believer and find them
worthy of judgment? Can anyone point a finger at a
redeemed sinner and condemn them to Hell? Paul
answers that question here.)
A. The Price He Paid On The Cross - Who has
the right to condemn us, since it was Jesus Who
died for us? The answer is no one! His death
on the cross took care of the sin debt of every
person who will accept Jesus as their Savior.
Since He died and paid the price, no one else
has the right, or the power to judge you and me.
B. The Power He Displayed At The Tomb - Of
course, we know that just three days after He
died on the cross, He vacated the tomb forever.
He arose from the dead. He lives! The facts
that He lives gives us hope for our future, but it
also lets us know that the same power that
brought Him back from the dead was at work
putting away our sins. Therefore, no one has
the right to judge the redeemed saint of God this
evening!
C. The Position He Holds At The Throne - After
His resurrection, Jesus ascended back to
Heaven and sat down at the right hand of God,
Heb. 10:12. There He continually makes
intercession for the redeemed. That is, Jesus is
our Advocate, or representative, before the
Father in Heaven, John 2:1. The word
"Advocate" refers to one "who pleads the case
of another before a court of law." In the
courtroom of Heaven, Satan accuses the
redeemed. Jesus, the Advocate, defends us
before the Father and the Father always
dismisses the case, because the crimes have
already been paid for. God is a just God and He
will allow no such thing as double jeopardy.
Thank God that when the world, the flesh and
the devil try to accuse us before the throne of
God, we have One Who stands in our place to
defend us, Heb. 7:25. What exhibits does He
use for the defense? The marks of the cross in
His body prove that the price has been forever
taken care of and that believers are free.
(Ill. Because He lives, no one has the right to
accuse us before the throne of God! No one has
the right to judge the redeemed sinner!)
I. Secure By The Labor Of Christ
II. Secure By The Life Of Christ
III. V. 35-39 SECURE BY THE LOVE OF CHRIST
(Ill. Now Paul moves into the circumstances of life
that cause us problems and trouble. He tells us that
what sin could not and what Satan cannot do, even
the terrible situations of life cannot take away our
security. In this context, the term "love of Christ"
refers to our salvation. It speaks of our special
relationship with our God.)
A. V. 35-36 His Love Is Enduring - Regardless of
what we face as we go through life, nothing we
face is able to come between us and the love of
God. His love will endure through anything at all.
Do not get caught up in the things that happen
and feel that God has forsaken you. He loves
you and has promised you that He will be with
you until the end, Heb. 13:5; Matt. 28:20. His
promise is that nothing will be able to come
between us and the Lord our God. By the way,
the word "separate" is a strong word. It carries
the idea of a "divorce, or a dividing asunder."
Regardless of what happens in life, nothing that
man can do to you can come between you and
what you have in the Lord Jesus! His love
endures all and makes us secure!
B. V. 37 His Love Is Enabling - Paul moves on to
tell us that through the things, we are
"overwhelming conquerors". We are super-conquerors when we face the battles of this life.
Why? Because he lives within us and enables
us to stand. You see, the genuine believer
proves that he is real by the life he lives. If the
things of the world, such as those mentioned in
verse 35, can come between us and our living
for God, then we are probably not saved to begin
with. If a professing Christian can walk away
from the things of God and live in persistent sin,
that person did not lose their salvation, they just
never received it in the first place. True, Bible
salvation will produce and endurance in the saint
of God. Some people call it "perseverance".
The true child of God is enabled by the prevailing
love of God to carry on until He calls home to
glory.
(Ill. When you are able to weather the storms of
conflict, affliction, turmoil and persecution and
you want to live for the Jesus, that is a good sign
that you have the real thing! When every thing
that comes along blows you off course, you had
better check up! According to this verse, the
love of God enables us to persevere until the
end!)
C. V. 38-39 His Love Is Everlasting - Paul closes
this chapter by speaking of his confidence in his
own security and in that of the redeemed. He
tells us that what we have is not a hope so thing,
but that we can be confident. He tells us here
that there is nothing from the beginning or our
life with God until the end of our life here that will
ever be able to separate the believer from the
salvation he enjoys in Christ Jesus. The end
result of all this is the blessed assurance that in
Jesus we are forever protected and secure come
what may in life or death!
Conc: When everything is added up and all these truths
are digested, it becomes clear that in Jesus we have
absolute, eternal security. The believer need never fear
anything coming between himself and God's salvation.
If you are saved, you are saved forever! Therefore, we
can say with all the assurance of our souls, "Which
hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure
and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the
veil", Heb. 6:19. And, "The eternal God is thy refuge,
and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he
shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and
shall say, Destroy them.", Deut. 33:27. And, "I will
both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou,
LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.", Psa. 4:8.
And, "So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my
helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto
me.", Heb. 13:6.
