This morning I have five questions
and five answers from the book of Romans chapter 8 that should
give every believer, every child of God, comfort, rest, encouragement,
and great assurance that God Almighty is out to do them good. That's something that I find
myself saying a lot in preaching. God's out to do you good, and
He most certainly is. You've probably already started
turning to Romans 8, and that's fine. That's where we'll wind
up. But I want you to look with me to Jeremiah chapter 32, if
you would please. If you've already turned to Romans
8, hold your place there. We'll get to it in just a moment.
But Jeremiah chapter 32, verse 38. Jeremiah 32, verse 38. Here the prophet Jeremiah speaking
for the Lord says in verse 38, and they shall be my people and
I will be their God. Well, that's a good thing. And
I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me
forever for the good of them, for their good. and of their
children after them. And I will make an everlasting
covenant with them that I will not turn away from them." Now
look, to do them good. But I will put my fear in their
hearts and they shall not depart from me. Boy, that's a good thing.
Yea, I will rejoice over them again to do them good. And I
will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart
and with my whole soul. Now that's what God said. With
his whole heart and with his whole soul, God is out to do
his people good. They shall be his people. Isn't
that good? He will be their God. Nothing
could be any better. He will give them one heart.
That's a good thing. And God will give His people
one way. And we know that Christ is that
way. There is no other way. He is
the way, the truth, and the life. And no man, no woman, no sinner
comes to the Father, but by Him. How good is that? With His people,
God makes an everlasting covenant. God will not ever turn away from
them ever. Isn't that good news? God will
put his fear of reverence for him in their hearts, and they
shall never depart from him. God rejoices to do his people
good. Look at the next chapter, you
may not have to turn the page, chapter 33, verse eight, look
what God says here. Verse eight, Jeremiah 33, God
said, and I will cleanse them from all their iniquity. all of it, whereby they have
sinned against me. And I will pardon all their iniquities
whereby they have sinned and whereby they have transgressed
against me. And as one little old boy once
said it, that just keeps getting gooder. How good is it that God
will cleanse His people from all their iniquity? Not one sin
left, not one. All my sin, all my iniquity,
all my transgressions against God put away. Remember, all sin
is against God. God, who all our sin is against,
is the only one who can forgive or pardon our sins and iniquities. And he says, I'll pardon all
of them. You know who pardon means something
to? Somebody in prison. Verse nine,
and it, speaking of the church, the bride, the body of Christ,
shall be to me, now look at this, a name of joy. A praise and an
honor before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear
all the good that I shall do unto them. That's what we do
when we preach the gospel. We tell sinners, chosen sinners,
all the good that God is doing for them. He's out to do you
good. They'll hear all the good that
I shall do unto them, and they shall fear and tremble, look
at this, for all the goodness. And for all the prosperity, what
God is gonna do to his people is a prosperous thing. It's a
spiritually prosperous, a soul prospering thing. He said, and
that I will procure unto you, referring again to his people.
Now the word here, good, is used in the widest sense. One of the few words in all the
scripture that's used as a noun and a verb and an adjective and
an adverb. Now I wasn't great in English,
but I do know what some of those terms mean. And the word good
is used also in the masculine and in the feminine sense. In other words, the masculine
used a word used for boys and men, and then the feminine, a
word used for girls and women, and it's used also in the singular
and in the plural. So the Word of God uses that
word good very often in many ways, and it can mean a good
thing or good thing, singular or plural. And as an adverb,
the word good means better, means best, bountiful. Gooder. And as an adjective,
the word good means to be desired or approved. God's out to do
you good. God's out to, He desires you
and He approves of you. Me? Yes, in Christ He does. Good means to have qualities
required for something particular. It means to possess or display
moral virtue, to be virtuous, to be upright, righteous, moral,
ethical, principled, clean, law-abiding, blameless, guiltless, just, and
honest. Just a few of the synonyms for
good. The word good also means to be
pleasant to look at. Well, that's a wondrous thought
when you look like I do. But not necessarily physically,
but spiritually. Pleasant for God to look at.
He who can have nothing to do with sin and me who is nothing
but sin, God now finds me pleasant to look upon. Why? Because when
He sees me, He sees His Son. Good means to give pleasure. It means it gives pleasure. to God to look at His people
that have been conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Good means to be valid or to be validated, to show to be true,
to give proof and substance, to uphold and support and vindicate
and substantiate, to confirm, to endorse, to testify, to stand
by, bear witness of. God validates us, makes us valid
in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's a good thing. The word
good means well. God has made his people well. They're no longer diseased with
sin. They've been made well by the great physician. Okay, so
let's quickly move on to Romans chapter eight and the five questions
and answers that prove beyond any doubt that God is out to
do his people good. Now let me say before we get
into these five questions and answers asked and answered by
the Apostle Paul, it's one thing for men and women to protest
a charge of guilt when they're innocent. After all, one who's
innocent should have a strong and forceful and passionate and
vehement defense. An accused criminal is passionate
about their defense because they're innocent. But here we have a
defense that is more uncommon. Here we have a guilty sinner. This is speaking to me and you. We have guilty sinners who are
now justified protesting with the same passion and the same
inspired fervor that their character is clean and their conscience
is clear, even in the sight of God. And what a good defense
they have, as we'll see. So the first question is found
in verse 31, Romans 8. Verse 31, Paul has just conveyed
some wonderful truths about God's purpose and the salvation of
his people. And here, Paul asked the first
question in two parts. Actually, he answers the first
question with the second one. But Paul asked this question.
First, what shall we say to these things? And he follows up that
question with a question, if God be for us, who can be against
us? Now you think about that. If
God be for us, who can be against us? Now we know that God is in
three persons, and we know that if God the Father is not against
his elect, then God the Son's not against his elect, and God
the Holy Spirit is not against them either. If God is for those
whom he calls his own, then God's holy law cannot be against them. God's holy justice cannot be
against them. Both have been satisfied and
appeased. God's holy law and justice have
had all their demands answered, every one of them. That's a good
thing. Neither sin, Satan, the world,
or death itself can be against the one that God is for, since
God rules over all, and isn't that good? No one can be against
any whom God is for. No one, nobody, none. Paul confirms why this is so
in the very next verse. In verse 32, he writes, he that
spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. Speaking of
all God's elect, all God's chosen, all those that believe and trust
in Christ. And that is the proof that God
is for us. He gave His own Son. He spared
not His own Son, but He delivered His own Son up to die in the
believer's room instead. And in the person of His beloved
Son, God condescended and became a man. God made Himself of no
reputation. God did. God took upon Himself
the form of a servant, though He was Lord of all, God over
all, the Creator, the one and only Potentate who rules and
reigns. God was made in the likeness
of men. God humbles Himself and He became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, the death
that you and I deserve, the death of a criminal. And He was crucified
on the cross in the middle. As to say, He was the worst of
the three men there. God in the person of Jesus Christ
took upon Himself His people's sin. Isn't that a good thing? And then it's here in verse 32
that we have the second question. And that is, how shall he, that
being God, not with him, that being Christ, freely give us
all things? Freely. Jesus Christ is God's
free gift to his people, to his elect. Christ is given to be
a covenant to his people. Christ is their savior. He's their substitute. He's their
sacrifice. And God has declared in his word
that he'll show mercy. That's a good thing. God's out
to do you good. God's out to show you mercy.
God has proclaimed that He will redeem and He will glorify particular
people. God has promised to populate
Heaven's glory with a holy, just, and righteous people who are
made conformed to the image of His dear Son. God is faithful,
it's promised. He gave His Son, the Lord Jesus,
to be a surety. Well, that's a good word. He gave His Son to be a perfect
sin offering. If God so loved that He gave
Christ, if Christ so loved that He came into the world, if Christ
bore all His people's sin and shame, the question is, shall
the Father not freely give them, His people, all that the Lord
Jesus provided for them? Yes, He will, and He does so
freely. It didn't cost you, it cost Him.
He paid the debt. Did Christ come in vain? Did
Christ suffer in vain? Did Christ die in vain? No! Then the third question is found
in verse 33. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Paul doesn't allow us to wait
long to know the answer, and he immediately adds, it's God
that justifies. Who is going to charge one with
sin whom God has chosen in Christ before the foundation of the
world unto eternal life and everlasting salvation? Will you tell me?
who by ways and means of their own appointing can charge one
with sin that God has forgiven in Christ. It's God that justifies. Isn't that good news? It's God
that justifies. That word justify means rendered
innocent. Now that'll mean something to
you if you see you're guilty. rendered innocent. All sin is
committed against God. David said, against thee and
thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. All sin is committed against
God. God is justified, that verse says. God is right when He speaks
against us. God is clear of any wrongdoing
when He judges us. And if He would condemn us, and
send us into an eternity of hell? He's right in doing so. That's
what we deserve. But I don't want what I deserve.
And neither do you. I want mercy. I want compassion,
not what I deserve. You see, God is the law giver.
God is the righteous judge. It's His law that we've offended.
It's His justice that must be satisfied. It's God who renders. It's God who makes sinners to
be innocent. So who shall lay anything to
the charge of any believer with sin when it's God that justifies? Sin. What a horrible thing. And it's all against God. And
since all sin is committed against him, he's the only one who can
charge me with it. And he's the only one who can
punish me because of my sin. And he's the only one that can
pronounce me guilty of my sin. But beloved, he's the only one
who can justify me. God is the only one who can render,
make me innocent. And that's good. Look up at verse
one here in Romans 8. There is therefore now, right
now, to a child of God, no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. You see,
if God declares, if God renders, if God makes me innocent, then
there can be no weapon formed against me that will prosper,
not one. There can be no tongue that shall
rise up against me in judgment, not a single one. This is my
heritage, being a servant of the Lord. That's your heritage. The righteousness of God's people
is of Christ, according to Isaiah 54, 17. And there's no higher
court in the United States than the Supreme Court. But I'm here
to tell you this morning about a court of justice that is infinitely
more supreme in heaven, where God presides as judge, and it's
God that justifies. Who's going to lay anything to
the charge of His people when it's He that justifies? What's
the significance and importance of it being God who justifies?
No one but God has the right to condemn, and no one but God
has the right to justify. And God has determined, according
to His own will and purpose, to justify some. I want to be
one of them. Don't you? Sure, you do. The matter of eternal condemnation
and eternal justification lies with God alone. It's God, not
God and. It's God that justify. And verse
29 makes it very clear as to why. These are the reasons why
God has a right to save or to damn the sinner. These are the
reasons that God has a right to have mercy or judgment upon
those in their sin. And these are the reasons God
has to be a just judge or a just Savior. The first reason is this,
for whom He, God, did foreknow. Those whom God knew beforehand. Now listen, this is not just
a doctrine, this is not just the five points of John Calvin,
this is the gospel. Those whom God knew beforehand,
those whom God ordained before, those whom God determined to
choose, those whom God determined to have mercy on. That's why
he is the righteous God. The second reason is, them He
also did predestinate. And as you know, the word predestinate,
don't let that word scare you. It means to predetermine. It
means to determine beforehand. The original Greek word actually
means to limit in advance. I found that very interesting.
Limits in advance. The word means to restrain. The
word means to bound. The word means to restrict. God got a hedge about His people. In advance, we're conformed to
the image of Jesus Christ, God's beloved Son. God limited some. God predetermined some. God in advance chose some to
be perfect in His Son. It's got to be perfect to be
accepted. God won't accept anything less. And that's what God did
for His people in Christ. He made us perfect that He might
accept us. And that is a good, good thing. Verse 29 says that Christ is
the firstborn among many brethren. But it doesn't say He's the firstborn
of all who profess to be. People say things like, well,
you know, this election and this predestination stuff, that keeps
people from being saved. No, it doesn't. No, no, it doesn't. It makes it certain that some
will be. All deserve to be lost. All deserve to be condemned.
All deserve the wrath of God. But God, who's rich in mercy,
has determined to have mercy and grace upon some that are
in His Son. Only those whom God limited in
advance. Only those whom God chose beforehand. And yet, if you come to Christ,
you prove to be one of His. How do I know if I'm one of His
elect? Come to Christ. Come to Christ. Trust in Him.
Lean on Him. Depend on Him for everything.
If you do, you're one of His elect. We try to get the cart
before the horse, don't we? In verse 30, we see the next
reason why God has the right to do what He wills with His
own. It says, moreover, that word
means on top of that or in addition to this, in addition to God's
predetermining, whom God did predestinate, them He also called. That's an effectual call. That
word called means much more than to just call. It means to bid,
it means to allow, it means to permit, to command. It means
to demand, instruct, require, charge the sinner to come to
Christ. Come to Christ and live. If any man thirst, hunger for
righteousness, come to me, our Lord said. It's not a choice
we make. It's not a decision we decide
upon. Come to Christ for life, or you'll
die in your sin. He that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son hath not life. And those whom
he God called, them he also justified. So again, we see the justification,
the act of being rendered innocent, is of God. It's God that justifies. And because it's God alone who
justifies His elect, He will one day, very soon, glorify every
chosen, called, and justified sinner. You see, all of us will
one day, very soon, it's coming quick, time flies by us, life's
like a vapor, here for a moment and it's gone. My last birthday,
I realized I'm closer to 70 than I am 60. I don't know where the
time has gone. Where has it gone? It's flown
by. It's like a vapor, here for a
moment, and then it fadeth away. But all of us one day very soon
will lay down this body of death, this flesh of corruption, but
some, the elect, whom God foreknew, predestinated, and called, and
justified, will be glorified. You know what that means? They're
gonna put on incorruption and be perfectly conformed to Christ.
They're gonna be without sin. What will that be like, Linda?
To be without sin? They'll be just like Him. They'll
be without sin because God has rendered them innocent. Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Well, who are the elect of God?
Well, look at verse 28. We're kind of reading backwards,
aren't we? That's all right. Look at verse
28. And we know that all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are the called according to God's
purpose. So first we see that the elect
are those that love God. How do I know I'm one of God's
elect? Do you love God? Do you love his son? Are you
trusting in his son alone? That's how you know. Men by nature
don't love God. The carnal fleshly mind is said
to be enmity against God. That means hostile toward God. Light has come into the world
and men love darkness rather than light. Something wrong with
us. By nature, something wrong with
us. Human nature, man's nature is evil. This is the condemnation. Light has come into the world
and men love darkness rather than light. Why? Because their
deeds are evil. Man loves darkness, hates light,
and that's why. Deeds are evil, he's evil. To
hate light is to hate Christ who is the light, the elective
God of them that love God. That's the proof that they're
the elect. Loving God is not the cause that they're elect.
Loving God is the proof. It's the result of being one
of God's elect. We love Him because He first
loved us. So we can't even take credit
for our love, because we wouldn't have loved Him if He hadn't loved
us first, if He hadn't given us life to where we could love.
We come to Him because He chose us. The Lord says, you've not
chosen me, but I've chosen you, and I've ordained you. I've predetermined,
I've decided before the foundation of the world that I was gonna
save you. Peter said, Lord, thou knowest all things. You know
that I love you. Secondly, we see the elect of
God are those who are the called according to his purpose. We're
so called of God that that's our name, the called. God's call
is so effectual that he calls those that are called, the called.
Isn't that a wonderful name? That's a good name. The word
His is italicized, added, but all things are predestinated
according to the purpose of Him, God, who works all things after
the counsel of His own will, Ephesians 111. So the elect are
those that love God. The elected are those that God
calls. They love the Lord because He
chose them, because He first loved them. They love the Lord
because He called them. They love the Lord because He
gave them life in Christ. I don't know why He loves me,
but I know why I love Him. Then in verse 34, we have the
fourth question, and have the fourth answer, which is pretty
much the same as the third one, but this question takes this
glorious thought of our salvation even further. Who, verse 34,
is He that condemneth? There's none that can charge
the elect of God with sin, There's none that has the power, the
authority, or the right to condemn or pardon a sinner but God alone.
We've already established that. The holy law stands ready to
condemn every son and daughter of Adam. Romans 3.19, now we
know that what thing soever the law sayeth, it sayeth to them
who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all
the world may become guilty before God. That's what the law does,
as we saw in the first hour. It shows us that we're guilty. The law was never given for us
to keep in order to be saved. The law was given to show us
our inability to keep and our need to come to Christ. All have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. All we like sheep
have gone astray. We've turned everyone to our
own way. God's holy law stands ready to
condemn us all. Who can stand in God's presence? The psalmist said only one with
clean hands, only one with a pure heart. How are we going to get
that? Our hands are filthy. Our hearts
are wretched, deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. How are we going to get that?
Only one way. And the Lord Jesus Christ and
His finished work for us. And out of the darkness of man's
depravity, out of the depths of the sinner's great fall, out
of the filthy rags of human righteousness comes a question and an answer
that should give comfort to every single sinner who's trusting
in Christ for the payment of their sin. Who is he that condemneth? It's Christ that dies. Now pay
close attention to the rest of the verse. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. Now look
at it, look at it here, yea rather. You know, I've read over those
words so many times, but this time, yea rather, meaning even
more importantly, a more powerful argument, yea rather, Christ
is risen again. We receive great comfort, no
doubt, in knowing that Christ died, but we receive even more
comfort knowing that Christ's grave is empty. Don't we? You
think about that. Why? Because in Christ's resurrection,
we're assured that God accepted Christ's payment for our sin
and He considered it to be paid in full. The reason that the
Lord Jesus Christ is not still in the grave not still in that
tomb, but is risen, is because God accepted His perfect and
finished work. And He did so on my behalf. And notice that this verse just
escalates. Paul adds, who's even at the
right hand of God. Not only did Christ die, not
only did Christ rise again, but He's now at the right hand of
God. You see, being at God's right
hand, there's no record whatsoever of the believer's sin. For when
Christ rose from the grave, He left your sin in it. And God
cast that sin away forever, never to be recovered. Threw it behind
His back. God never looked back. He always,
He's I am. He's ever present. He's always
in the now. Christ is now at the right hand
of God in power. What's Christ doing there? Just
escalates more. He's making intercession for
His people. He's praying for you. What's
Christ doing at the right hand of God? He's praying for you.
He's pleading your cause. He's pleading your case. He's
making intercession. He's mediating for His elect.
None can condemn those for whom Christ died. And then the fifth
and the last question found in verse 35, who can separate us
from the love of Christ? Who is the us spoke of here? The elect of God. The people
of God. The ones that God is for. Those
to whom nothing can be charged. Those upon whom there is no condemnation. That's who. Who can separate
them from the love of Christ? Can tribulation? No, tribulation
can't do it. Can distress or persecution?
No, not in the least. Can famine, nakedness, peril
or sword? No, none of those things can
separate. What about death? Surely that
can. Nope, not even death. What about angel, demon, principality,
power? Nothing present, nothing to come.
There's no creature that shall be able to separate us from the
love of God. Isn't that good news? Once again,
do you believe once saved, always saved? If God saved me, yes.
If I saved myself, no. The love of God is found in Christ
Jesus, our Lord. So in closing, let me tell you
once again, salvation is of the Lord. From beginning to end,
salvation is of the Lord. I did the sinning, God does the
saving. That means that it was the righteous
work of Christ that was charged to my account that makes me perfect
before God, nothing else. Nothing I do, nothing I am. I am nothing, I can do nothing.
It's Christ's work, which is perfect. That's what God accepts. And he accepts me and him. It's
God's work that is finished. And if God's work is, if Christ's
work is perfect and his work is finished, God accepts it because
it's perfect. And it's so beautiful to me that
it's finished because as we said earlier, there's nothing that
I can add to it. Can't add to perfection, can
we? God accepts me on the finished work of Christ. Nothing I did
saved me. There's nothing I can do to be
lost either. I have eternal justification.
I am justified forever. There's none that can charge
me. It's God that justifies. There's none that can condemn
me. It's Christ that died. And if it's Christ that died,
if Christ rose again, if Christ is at God's right hand pleading
my cause, He's my one mediator, and I cannot be separated from
my God. Because Christ, my Savior, cannot
be separated from me or His Father. See, that's what it truly means
to be one with the Father and the Son. That's what the Lord
Jesus said. He said, I in them and thou in
me, speaking to His Father. Oh, that they, God's elect, God's
people may be perfect in one, that they may be one even as
we are one. That's a wonderful thought, isn't
it? Doesn't that bring you great
comfort? Well, it should. Because to every believer, I
can confidently and assuredly say, God is out to do you good. He really is. He really is. Well, may God be pleased to make
that even more real to you than it is now. May we continue to
grow in the grace and in the knowledge of Christ and what
He's done for us. Amen.