This is Romans chapter 8 and
verse 31. Paul writes, by inspiration of
the Holy Spirit, what shall we then say to these things? And
of course, these things is everything that he's written from Romans
chapter 1 all the way up to this point. These things of salvation. These things of God's grace. and mercy in Christ. These things
of how God justifies the ungodly. These things of the gospel wherein
the righteousness of God is revealed. These things that concern God's
purpose. Remember he said those who are
called according to the purpose of God. What is the purpose of
God? It's to glorify himself in the salvation of his people
by his grace through the Lord Jesus Christ based on his blood,
his righteousness alone. That's God's purpose. And God
cannot fail in his purpose. God cannot be defeated. God will
not fail to save even one sinner for whom Christ, whom he gave
to Christ as the surety and the representative and for whom Christ
died. And so he says, what shall we
say to these things? And here's the question, look
at what he says. If God be for us, who can be
against us? If God's for me, there's no way
that I could ever remain lost and perish in my sins. If God
is for me, who can be against me? What can be against me? I
include the what because of what he's going to be saying in the
last part of this chapter. when he says who shall separate
us from the love of Christ, the love of God in Christ. And basically
he says nothing can separate us from it. Now here's the question
of questions. When I read passages like that,
if God be for us, who can be against us? Here's the question.
How can I know without fail of an assurity that God is for me? All right, that's what I wanna
know. How can I know that? Well, most people who call themselves
Christians today honestly believe that God is for them, that is,
God is engaged on their behalf, but they believe God's for everybody,
even those who perish in their sins. Well, what comfort could
I gain in knowing that God is for me if I could still perish
in my sins? What comfort could there be?
Well, they'll say, God loves everybody. Christ died for everybody. God's trying to save you. He's
for you. But you've got to put your stamp
of approval on it. You've got to meet the condition.
And if you don't, you're going to perish even though God's for
you. Well, first of all, and I've talked about this before.
You know, we talk about matters of God's love and God's hate,
hatred, and of course, you know, as you know, people today, they're
not even gonna even consider that God could hate anybody because
they think that's unfair and unjust, and we all, by nature,
think we deserve to be loved. But the Bible has a different
view of that. The Bible speaks of God's hatred. For example, I've got in your
lesson there, Psalm 55, God hates all workers of iniquity. And
what does that mean? That means God is against them.
He's not for them. And God's hatred is not like
our sinful hatred. You know, we're commanded to
love our neighbors ourselves. Well, we're sinners. And we're
commanded to love other sinners. But now God is not a sinner.
God is not sinful. He's holy. He's righteous. He's just. His hatred is not
like ours. Ours is sinful. When we hate,
it's sinful. It's usually selfishness, vengeance,
you know, all kinds of things we could bring in there. But
God's hatred is simply His righteous indignation. His righteous judgment
against all to whom sin is imputed. That's what God's hatred is.
God loved Jacob and hated Esau. That means God purposed to save
Jacob by his grace, Jacob who didn't deserve salvation, Jacob
who didn't deserve God's love, and he chose to let Esau go on
in his sin. God was against Esau. God gave
Esau what he deserved, but he didn't give Jacob what he deserved.
He gave Jacob the grace. And somebody says, well, that's
not fair. Well, you take that up with God, and just like the
poet said, your arms are too short to box with God. If you
want to debate with him, well, Paul dealt with that in Romans
9. We'll be getting to that later on in a few weeks. Who are you
to? This is God. When God made the
earth, you weren't there. He didn't consult with you. Or
me. Well, what God does is just and
right. And that's the way it is. Our
children sometimes think that we deal with them unjustly and
unfairly, don't they? But we know better than they
know. And that's the way it is with
God. We're children of God. He knows better. Well, aren't
we all workers of iniquity? Aren't we all sinners? And the
answer is yes. So that begs the question. And
this is it. How then could God love any of
us? Most people when they read that
Romans 9 passage, Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated, they're
perplexed over God hating Esau. That shouldn't perplex us at
all. That's all we deserve. What we should be perplexed over
and question is how in the world could God love a sinner like
Jacob? How in the world could God love a sinner like me? How
could God, I can understand how God could be against Esau, but
how can God be for me, a sinner? Who if God, if God would ever
give me what I've earned or deserved, even at my best, he'd be against
me. Well, and that, again, that comes
to the question of the gospel. And that's what he says. He answers
the question. Verse 32, look at it. He says,
he that spared not his own son. Now, who is this? This is talking
about the Lord Jesus Christ, whom God spared not. but delivered
him up for us all. Now who is the all here? All
whom God is for. Not all without exception. God
is against some, he's for others. Who is he for? He's for those
for whom he delivered his son up. And how did he deliver his
son up? On the cross. as the representative,
as the surety, having our sins imputed, charged, accounted to
him. And he went under the wrath of
God for the sins of his people. This is how God can love his
people. This is how God can be for his
people. It's based upon the merits of
what Christ accomplished to satisfy the justice of God, which was
against us. in the sense that we deserve
nothing but hell and death. And so here's the key. So that
shows you the all there is not all without exception. It's all
whom God is for because of the righteousness of his son imputed
to us, charged to us. And then here's the next line.
How shall he not with him also freely, unconditionally, without
a cause, give us all things? All things? Yes, sir. That proves
the all there's not everybody without exception because whoever
he's talking about, these are people, sinners saved by grace,
to whom God has freely given all things because of his son
not being spared. That's the basis of it. They
didn't deserve it, they didn't earn it, it's given freely, unconditionally,
without a cause. You say, well, now I can't have
this unless I believe. Well, that wouldn't be freely.
That wouldn't be unconditionally without a cause. That would be
God giving it to you because you believed. Should we believe? Are we commanded to believe?
Yes, but that's not the ground or the cause of us getting all
things. What are the all things? All things that pertain to salvation. All things that pertain to eternal
life and glory. Blessed with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So whoever he's talking
about that God is for is those for whom he spared not his son,
for whom Christ died and redeemed them from their sins. It's those
on that basis, on that ground, by that worthiness of Christ,
by his blood, by his righteousness imputed, are given freely all
things that pertain to life and godliness and glory. And therefore,
nothing can be against us in this area. Now, that doesn't
mean that we won't have opposition. We can talk about Satan opposing
the brethren, accusing the brethren. If you read Revelation chapter
12, it talks about the great dragon, Satan, who persecutes
the woman in the wilderness, that's the church. And that's
what he does. And he accuses them day and night. But his accusations don't stick
because we plead the blood of the lamb. That turns his accusations
back. Satan looks at me and says, you're
a sinner, you're right, but my sins are not charged to me. And
so that goes to verse 33. And this is another proof that
the all there is not all without exception, because the all there
for whom Christ died, for whom Christ was not spared, to whom
God freely gives all things that pertain to life and godliness,
it says it's upon this basis, verse 33, who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect, it is God that justifies. There's
the basis. If God is for me, that means
this, that means he cannot and will not charge me with the demerit
of sin, the debt of sin. Sin cannot be laid to my charge.
I'm a sinner now, and I deserve condemnation and death, but God
doesn't lay those sins to my account legally. Now why? because he laid them to the charge
of Christ as my surety. Christ took my debt and he paid
the penalty. He paid the debt in full on the
cross with the price of his blood and brought forth righteousness
that God imputes to me. The non-imputation of sin is
a very, very fundamental and important truth of scripture.
And I always, when I talk about that, turn back to Romans 4. David, King David, wrote Psalm
32. In fact, that was the subject
on our television program today. No charge. A sinner without charge. And it was from Psalm 32 where
David said, blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not
iniquity. Now, if you want to know anything
about that blessing, find out what that word imputeth means.
And like I told you, now I won't ask you for a show of hands,
but how many of you owe money to like a credit card company
or to a bank? Well, that money, that debt,
is charged to you. It's imputed to you. And you're
legally responsible to pay that debt. And that when we fell in
Adam in sin and death, see, we became subject to all the consequences
of sin and death, but our sins had been charged to Christ. The
debt was put on His account as our surety. And so when David
says, blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputed not iniquity,
what he means is, blessed is the person to whom God does not
charge with sin. Who shall lay anything to the
charge, and who is it that he says there in Romans 8.30? God's
elect. That's the all. All of God's
chosen people out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation.
Well, look at Romans chapter four, where the apostle Paul
was inspired by the Holy Spirit to quote and explain What David
said there in Psalm 32, look at verse six. It says, even as
David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth
righteousness without works. Verse seven, same blessed are
they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed
is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. You see, the
non-imputation of sin, the non-charging of sin to my account means that
God had to charge them to someone. Because God is just, the penalty
must be paid, the debt must be paid. Well, how did God find a way
to do that? It was all through Christ. The non-imputation of sins in
God's sight to me means my sins were imputed to Christ. charged
to him the debt. It's like Philemon. He said,
if he is wrong thee or owes thee anything, put it on my account,
I'll repay it. If you owe a debt right now and
somebody came along and paid that debt for you, that's what
that means. But not only that, as Paul wrote
there in Romans 4, 6, it means righteousness is imputed to us.
I use the bank analogy quite often there. You know how if
you owe a million dollars to the bank and you find you don't
have one penny to pay it, and you go to the banker to throw
yourself at his mercy, he opens up the book, he sees your name,
he says, wait a minute, you don't owe anything to the bank. Somebody's
paid that for you. You don't know who it is. That's
the way it was with us. We were born dead in trespasses
and sin, having been ruined by the fall. Christ had already
paid our debt. This is believers now, the elect.
But we didn't know, did we? We were walking around in ignorance
and darkness, deceived. And so we thought we had to contribute
to the debt in some way. And then you feel relieved the
debt's paid. The books are clean. The bank
has no legal hold on you to pay that money. It's been paid. You
get up to leave the banker's office and he says, hold on,
there's more. More news, more good news. Not only did that
person pay your debt, he put a million dollars in your account,
charged to you. And that's what Christ did for
his people. He paid our debt in full, but
he gave us his righteousness that's been charged to us. So
look back at Romans chapter eight there. Verse 33 again, who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies,
and that's key. If God is for me, he spared not
his own son to die in my place and pay my debt. And if God is
for me, he has freely given me all things. He's not against
me. He delivered his son up for me,
and he will give me all things freely, unconditionally. And
who shall lay anything to my charge? God cannot do it because
God justified me. God forgave me. God declares
me to be righteous in his sight. And then in verse 34, he says,
here's the basis of it. Who is he that condemneth? I
cannot be condemned. Now that's another proof that
the all is God's elect, not all without exception, because whoever
God's for, whoever Christ died for, whoever God freely gives
all things, whoever God cannot charge with sin, but God justify,
they cannot be condemned. They cannot be condemned. And
he said, why? Verse 34, it's Christ that died. Christ was condemned for us in
our place. Yea, rather, that is risen again,
Christ, when he died, When he was condemned, he satisfied the
justice of God and brought forth righteousness, which demanded
that he be brought out of the grave, and which demands that
every one of his people be raised from the dead, first spiritually
in the new birth, and then lastly in glorification. And it says right now, it says,
who is even at the right hand of God, that's the right hand
of acceptance, who also maketh intercession for us. He intercedes. What is that intercession about?
That's his intercession on the basis of his work, his obedience
unto death, his blood, his righteousness, pleading continually on our behalf
so that we cannot be charged with sin. Well, who is he talking
to here now? You say, well, how can I know
that he's for me? Well, remember back up in Romans 8, 28? Look
at it again. We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. Who are those who can say honestly
they love God and are called according to his purpose? Those
who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for all salvation, the
Christ of this book, the Christ of the Bible, and all who have
repented of dead works and former idolatry. Those are the evidences
that God is for us. He goes on, 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. And moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called. What is that calling? That's
the calling of the Holy Spirit by the preaching of the gospel
Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, that
brings a sinner to faith in Christ and repentance of dead works
and idolatry. That's what it is. And those
whom he called, that's the evidence that they've been justified,
them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. That's the evidence that they
will surely be glorified. The Bible teaches us in, let
me find it here. I think it's 1 Peter, it might
be 2 Peter. Yeah, 2 Peter chapter one, in
verse 10. It says, wherefore the rather
brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you
shall never fall. How do I know that God is for
me? How do I know that I'm one of his elect? Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's by my calling. People today,
they say, well, I was saved or I was called into the kingdom.
The calling here is the calling of truth. It's the calling of
the gospel. Paul wrote in Romans 1 16 and
17, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power
of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, the Jew first,
the Greek also, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed.
From faith to faith as it is written, the just, the justified
shall live by faith. Those who are justified, go back
to Romans 8 there. Those whom God is for and not
against. Those for whom Christ died and
are freely given all things. Those who are chosen of God and
not charged with sin but charged with righteousness. Those who
are not condemned and cannot be condemned. There are those
who have been called into the kingdom by the spirit through
the preaching of the gospel wherein the righteousness of God is revealed.
And what is the righteousness of God? Well, here it is, verse
34 of Romans 8. It is Christ that died, yea,
rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of
God ever living to make intercession for us. It's the merit of his
work on behalf of his sheep to secure their salvation unto final
glory. Is that what you're resting in?
That's the just shall live by faith. They live by looking to
Christ, Jesus Christ, as the author and finisher of their
faith. That he is the completer. He
is the one who, he is all my righteousness before God. And
it's his righteousness imputed. Is that your hope? Is that your
ground? Then you can know that God is
for you and not against you.