The Bible Baptist Church, located
at 2015 Beulah Road in Madisonville, Kentucky, would like to invite
you to listen to a message of the sovereign grace of God in
the Lord Jesus Christ by their pastor, David Edmondson. Let's start this morning in the
eighth chapter of Romans. Romans chapter 8, verse 31. What shall we then say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? Now I would have you notice the
first question that Paul asked here. He said, what shall we
say to these things? What, what things what's Paul
talking about? It's, it's very important for
us to know. It's important to know because
these things are. the things that show us that
God is for us. I want to know if God is for
me. Don't you? Paul asked, what shall
we say? What do you and I say? What does
God say? This is talking about God and
us. If God be for us, then who can
be against us? You know, when it comes right
down to it, salvation is personal. It's between the center and God. If God be for us, who can be
against us? Are you interested in knowing
if God is for you, do you have any concern that God may be against
you? Do you have any interest if you
are included in the us spoken of here? The question, if God
be for us, who are the us spoken of here? Let's answer that question
first. Who are the us that God is for? And Paul's letter to the church
of Rome here, uh, it was a letter addressed to the beloved of God. Those called to be saints, Romans
one seven to the church at Corinth. Paul wrote to those who were
sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be saints. To the church
at Galatia, Paul shares the gospel with those to whom Christ gave
himself for their sins. You see these letters, these
epistles were written to a particular people. They were written to
God's people. They were written to believers.
To the church at Ephesus he addresses those chosen in Christ before
the foundation of the world. To those who in Christ have become
holy and without blame before him in love. He's not talking
to the whole world here. He's talking to us. Those who have become holy and
without blame before him in love. To those who are in Christ predestinated
and adopted as children by Jesus Christ to himself according to
the good pleasure of his will. He's talking to those who are
by the glory of His grace, by Christ made to be accepted in
the beloved, accepted in Christ. That's who God is for us, all
who are described in these letters of love from God. To the church
at Philippi, they're called saints in Christ Jesus. To the church
at Colossae, they are called the saints and faithful brethren
in Christ. the church at Thessalonica the
Holy Spirit calls them brethren beloved friends these epistles
as I said they were letters and they're written to the children
of God believers in Christ the elect of God sinners saved by
God's mercy grace and love And if you do not love, worship and
trust in Christ as your substitute and sacrifice for sin, God is
not for you. Contrary to popular preaching,
God's not trying to save the whole world. That's never been
his intention or his purpose. God has from the beginning chosen
his people to salvation through sanctification of the spirit
and what? Belief of the truth. If you don't
believe what this book says about how God saves sinners, then you
can know most assuredly that God is not for you. This is the
condemnation that light has come into the world and men have loved
darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. John 3.19.
So again, I ask you, who is God for? Who are the us that God
is for? What are the things that show
us, teach us, reveal to us, and cause us to say that God is for
us? Now, let me also say this before I answer that question.
I think that every saved sinner would tell you this about themselves. I believe that I am a child of
God. I really do. Not because of anything
that I do or anything in me, But I believe that God's spirit
bears witness with my spirit that I'm a child of God. I'm
trusting in Christ and his work of righteousness for me alone,
for my salvation. I'm not looking to anything that
I've done or must do in order to be saved. I pray that I am
a trusting child of God. I believe, though far from perfect,
though not having apprehended I believe that I'm growing in
the grace and in the knowledge of my Lord, Jesus Christ. And
I hope that I am beloved of God sanctified, set apart in Christ
Jesus. You see, my hope is in Christ. So I know it's a good hope. And
I rest my eternal soul upon the blessed revelation that Christ
took my sin upon himself. And he died the just for the
unjust to bring me to God. Oh, how I desire to be one whom
God is for. What are the things that cause
us to see that God is for us? Well, Paul gives us four things
here. Look at verse 29. God is for us because he conforms
us to the image of his son. Verse 29, for whom he did foreknow,
he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his
son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. You see,
God has to be for us since he predestinated, he predetermined
before the foundation of the world that his people should
be conformed to the image of his son. And here's a very important
lesson. Election is not salvation. Election is unto salvation. You see, being conformed to Christ
is my hope of salvation. Being made like Him, perfect,
holy, without blame, unblameable, unreprovable in His sight. Salvation is being conformed
to Christ. Election shows us who did the
saving. Election shows us when God determined
to save us, but salvation is being conformed, being made perfectly
holy and righteous and just before God by the work of righteousness
that Christ would accomplish in the fullness of time. Christ
came at the appointed time to accomplish and finish what God
had purposed in eternity, and that was to conform me to his
image. Isn't that what that verse says?
God foreknew certain people, those whom he foreknew. God predestined,
God predetermined that certain people would be conformed to
the image of his son. God decided, God determined,
God predetermined That those people would be made just like
his son. God chose these people for no
other reason than it pleased him to do so. That's the beauty
of election elections, not salvation. Election shows me and removes
all doubt about who saved me. And God saved me only because
it seemed good in His sight. God wasn't influenced by anything
outside of Himself. There's nothing in the chosen
sinner that obligates God to save them. Do men and women really
believe that God looked ahead in time and chose them based
on a future good work that they would do? Boy, I'm telling you,
that's giving the dead sinner a lot of credit that he doesn't
deserve. Speaking of Jacob and Esau, God
said for the children not being yet born, not having done any
good or evil that the purpose of God according to election
might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. And many
say, preacher, that doctrine of election, it stirs up doubt
about sinner salvation. No, it does not. It removes all
doubt about who saved sinners. Oh preacher, you teach election
and you're shutting certain centers out. No sirree, I'm not. In election,
God's bringing certain centers in. God's having mercy on some
when all deserve to be shut out. Matter of fact, every center
by nature is already out. They are without, without God,
without Christ, and without hope in this world. No sinner deserves
salvation. You see, grace would not be grace
and mercy would not be mercy if sinners deserved either. Grace
is God giving sinners what they don't deserve. And mercy is God
not giving sinners what they do deserve. Oh, I deserve death,
condemnation, judgment, wrath. Mercy, God does not give me those
things. I don't deserve God's favor. What is man that thou art mindful
of him? He's nothing. None that doeth
good. No, not one. All have gone astray. All seek their own way. Grace
is God giving me what I don't deserve. And I'm telling you
the glory of God is found in his sovereign choice of being
gracious to whom he will be gracious and showing mercy on whom he
will show mercy. Exodus 33, 18. as the potter
molds the clay according to his own will, even so God does according
to his own good pleasure. And if God wants to have mercy
on a sinner, it's his prerogative to do so. And if God is not pleased
to intervene into a sinner's life, that too is his prerogative. And yet God has never turned
down or passed over a sinner who sincerely desired to be saved
from their sin. Why? Because he's the one who
put that desire in their heart. Second thing Paul gives us here,
God is for us because he calls us. Verse 30, moreover whom he
did predestinate, then he also called. The Word of God puts
great emphasis on the calling of sinners by God. Do you know
why? Because if God does not effectually call a sinner out
of spiritual darkness, that sinner will never come. Why? Because we're dead in trespasses
and sin. We've got to be first given life
before we can heed the call of God. God called Abraham out of
idolatry, and Abraham packed up, and he left without even
knowing where he was going. Now, what would cause a man to
do that? The effectual call of God. None
can resist the call of God. God's call's always effective.
Paul asked, for who hath resisted his will? The gifts and the calling
of God are without repentance, without change, Romans 11, 29.
When God calls his people to himself, he never changes his
mind. He always remains faithful to
the call that he's given. He says, for I'm the Lord, I
change not. Therefore you sons of Jacob are
not consumed. Oh, so you're one of those preachers
that believe once saved, always saved. Absolutely. If God saves
you. If God saves you, you can't be
lost. Why? Because he's the Lord and he
changeth not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. Oh, what a God we serve. If our
salvation was based upon our changing faith, the wrath and
judgment and justice of God would consume us. But since our salvation
is based solely on the faithfulness of Christ and his unchangeableness,
God's people are forever saved and never consumed. Third thing. God is for us because he justifies
us again, verse 30, more over whom he did predestinate them. He also called and whom he called
them. He also justified when God calls a center, he's sure
to justify that center. Justification is the act of being
made just, just like Christ. Justification is a supernatural
act where God absolves the chosen sinner from his sin and from
their guilt. And by putting that sin and guilt
on the spotless substitute, Jesus Christ. Justification is being
stripped of our self-righteousness, our filthy rags righteousness.
and then wrapped completely about with the perfect righteousness
of Christ so that God only sees him, not us. How so? By the divine transaction of
God. We've been conformed to Christ.
It didn't come about by a work of righteousness that we've done,
but according to His mercy, He saved us. If God declares me
to be innocent, who can charge me with guilt? And that what
verse 33 says, who can lay anything to the charge of God's elect?
It's God that justifies. Friends, we've offended God,
no one else. Against thee and thee only, David
said, have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. All our
sin is against God. It's God that justifies. If God
justifies you, then who's going to charge you with anything. Verse 34, who can condemn the
elect of God? It's Christ that died while charging
me was sin is the same as charging the sinless son of God was sin.
Therefore we save God before us. Who can be against us? If
God acquits us, it matters not who condemns us. If God absolves
us, it doesn't matter who's against me. God is the one that we've
offended and God is the only one who need to be appeased. God makes us righteous by the
imputation of the righteousness of his son. That simply means
that God charged, put his made me righteous in him. God makes
us righteous. Christ was made to be sin. His
people were made to be righteous in him. God is for us because
he's justified us. And the fourth thing that Paul
mentions here is that God is for us because he will glorify
us. One day, this mortal shall put
on immortality. And one day, very soon, for the
child of God, this corruptible shall put on incorruption." That's
what Paul wrote in Ephesians 2, verse 6, that our Lord has
raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus. There's not going to be a sinner
sitting in heaven, dwelling in heaven, living in heaven. There's
going to be glorified saints. That's who's going to be in heaven
made perfect, made righteous. Perfectly. So God was for us
before the foundation of the world and God was for us, or
he would have never given us his son. And God was for us or
he would have never caused us to seek his face. That's right. God is for his people. For just a few minutes. I want
the scriptures alone to show us many of the things that God
has done for us in Christ. David said, the Lord had done
great things for us. Therefore we are glad he certainly
has done great things for me. And I certainly am glad that
he has. Okay, let's talk about a few of these things. First,
Christ came into the world for us. The Holy One came into the
world in order to be made sin for His people. My, isn't that
an amazing thought? God could not die, and man could
not save, so God became a man, and the God-man could both die
and redeem. Only one who was perfect could
justify and justly pay sin's wages. That's why Paul wrote
to Timothy and said, this is a faithful saying and worthy
of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners of whom I am chief. God could save no one until Christ
came into the world. Christ came into the world to
save sinners. Our sin had to be dealt with.
Holy justice required that the debt of sin be fully paid by
man. Therefore, God the Son must come
into the world. Notice what great humiliation. Philippians chapter 2 verses
7 and 8 tells us that Christ Jesus made himself of no reputation
and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the
likeness of man. And being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. You see, it was Christ's death
on the cross that paid in full and satisfied and appeased the
holy justice of God. Christ had to become a man. He
had to come into the world to redeem his people in the world.
And I think about the ageless, the eternal one came and lived
just a little over 33 years. He who was in the beginning with
God in the beginning was the word and the word was with God
and the word was God and the word was made flesh and dwelt
among us and we beheld his glory. The glory is of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. You see, the incarnation
of Christ was the uniting of the divine and the human into
one being, one person. Jesus Christ was fully God and
fully man, and therefore could only be the one mediator between
God and man. Christ had to become a man to
redeem man. Christ had to take on the nature
of man for man to have a new nature, a new nature that was
conformed to his own image. Christ came into the world for
us so that he could put away our sin. Second, Christ gave
himself for us. Who gave himself for our sins,
Paul wrote, that he might deliver us from this present evil world
according to the will of God and our father, Galatians 1.4.
He said in the second chapter of Galatians, I'm crucified with
Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by
the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself
for me. Who gave himself for us that
he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar
people, zealous of good works. Christ gave himself a ransom
for his people, 1 Timothy 2.6. Christ gave himself to suffering.
That's the third thing I want you to see. Christ suffered for
us. Acts 2.23, we're told that Jesus
Christ being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge
of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and
slain all the suffering, not only the physical, but the soul's
suffering. 1 Peter 3.18 For Christ also
hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that
he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but
quickened by the Spirit. When the Lord Jesus walked along
the road to Emmaus with those two disciples, they were downcast
and sad. And he said, why are you so troubled?
And they said, are you a stranger here? Do you not know what's
been going on? And they told him about the death of not knowing
who he was, not knowing that he was the risen Christ. And
then he said these words to them, ought not Christ to have suffered
these things and to enter into his glory. Christ suffered for
sin. The just one suffered for the
unjust one. Why? To bring us to God. That's
the best news I ever heard. He was put to death in the flesh. That's why he had to come into
the world. That's why he had to give himself. That's why he had to suffer for
sin. That's why he had to lay down
his life for us. That's the fourth thing. First
John 3.16, Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid
down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our
lives for the brethren. Christ laid down His life for
us. Well, you think about that. You
see, it was a voluntary thing. No man took His life. He laid
it down. How many times in the scriptures
do we read that they would have taken the Lord Jesus by force
and done him some great harm, but he walked through the midst
of them because his time had not yet come. But when his time
came, he laid down his life for his people. That's what he said
in John chapter 10. He said, therefore, does my father
love me because I laid down my life that I might take it again. No man take it from me, but I
lay it down to myself. I've got power to lay it down
and I have power to take it again. And this commandment have I received
in my father. Fifth thing I want to give you
quickly, Christ died for us. In Romans 5, verses six and eight,
we read, for when we were yet without strength in due time,
Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man, some would even
dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Who did Christ die for? He died
for the ungodly. Who did God commend his love
to? Sinners. While we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. My Christ was delivered up for
us. Romans 8 32. He that spared not
his own son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not
with him also freely give us all things. He's still talking
to us. Are you one of the us? Next thing,
Christ was made to be sin for us. My, we'll never understand
that. We cannot figure that out. We've
just got to bow to it and believe it for he, God had made him Christ
to be sin for us. He that knew no sin, that we
might be made the righteousness of God in him. You see Christ
obtained eternal redemption for us. Hebrews 9 12 neither by the
blood of goats and calves but by his own blood he entered in
once into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for
us that goes back to that one saved always say you see my redemption
is eternal Didn't do anything to deserve it. I can't do anything
to lose it It's strictly based upon the work and perfect righteousness
of my substitute and Savior the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh my notice
also that we're consecrated Christ consecrated for us a new and
living way and Hebrews 10 20 by new and living way, which
he had consecrated. And that simply means made or
declared for us through the veil. That is to say his flesh. Oh,
I think about that new and living way. Therefore, if any man being
Christ, he's a new creature, old things are passed away. Behold,
all things have become new and all things are of God who has
reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ. Christ appears in the
presence of God for us. Hebrews 9, 24, for Christ has
not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the
figures of the true, but unto heaven itself now to appear in
the presence of God for us. Christ is in heaven interceding
for us. Romans 8 34, he who is even at
the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. I think so often about what our
Lord told Peter. He said, Peter, Satan has desired
to have you. He's desired to sift you as wheat. And you know, that request by
Satan was not denied. Peter certainly was sifted, tried,
and tested while he denied the Lord three times. But Peter's
redemption was found in what Christ afterwards said. He said,
but I prayed for thee that thy faith fail thee not. Our faith
and love for Christ endures to the end because his faith and
love to us endures to the end. And I've got to be quick, but
Christ will come again for us. Beloved, now we are the sons
of God, and it doth not appear what we shall be, but we know
that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall
see him as he is. Oh, if God be for us, who can
be against us? You have been listening to a
message by David Edmondson, the pastor of Bible Baptist Church
in Madisonville, Kentucky. If you would like a copy of this
message, or to hear other messages of God's free, sovereign grace
in Christ, you can write to our mailing address at P.O. Box 652
Madisonville, Kentucky 42431. or log on to our website at FreeGraceRadio.com. If you would like to come and
worship with us, we meet at 2015 Beulah Road, Madisonville, Kentucky,
and our service times are Sunday morning Bible study at 10 o'clock
a.m., worship services begin at 11 o'clock a.m., Wednesday
evening services at 7 o'clock p.m., Please tune in again next
Sunday morning at 10 o'clock AM for another message of God's
free and sovereign grace in the Lord Jesus Christ.