I begin, now this is taken from
my message this morning. It's coming from Romans 8, beginning
at verse 32, going through 35. Through the Apostle Paul, from
verses 31 through 35, God gives us statements in the form of
rhetorical questions, which are questions that are not asking
for information, but are posed to make a point. a point meant
to teach a lesson or to emphasize the truth. This morning, we'll
deal with these points. And having to do with no separation
from Christ, as you see here on the screen, in verse 31 of
Romans 8, it says, if God be for us, who can be against us? 32, how shall he not with him,
with Christ, also freely give us all things? In verse 33 it
says, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Verse 34, who is he that condemneth? And verse 35, who shall separate
us from the love of Christ? Leading up to verse 32 here,
which will be the first main verse that we'll begin with,
but the Apostle Paul had posed the rhetorical question in the
prior verse in verse 31. What shall we then say to these
things if God be for us, who can be against us? These things
that's mentioned here include all the blessed truths of salvation
for God's elect, for God's people in and of the Lord Jesus Christ
and according to God's purpose. In the next part of verse 31,
Paul gives the answer to his question the question of what
shall we then say to these things. And the answer is, if God be
for us, who can be against us? Nothing can defeat us because
we have an eternally secured victory in Christ, which not
only justifies us before God, but also gives God's elect life
from Christ. God's elect will be brought to
final glory, where we will be perfectly conformed to his image. As I stated in our last study,
who can be against us? The law cannot be against us
because Christ has honored the law for us. God's justice cannot
be against us because Christ has satisfied all the law's demands
on our behalf. Satan cannot be against us because
he is judged and cast out. John 12 31 says, now is the judgment
of this world Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. Sin
cannot be against us because Christ has put away our sins
by the sacrifice of himself. Most of religion today that carries
the name of Christianity and who believe sinners can be saved
and then lost must deny the truth of these verses that we'll be
dealing with this morning and therefore must deny Christ and
his gospel. As we proceed this morning, we'll
see that nothing, nothing can separate us from the love of
Christ. As we begin verse 32 here, as
the Apostle Paul gives us many reasons, many reasons why nothing
can be laid to the charge of God's elect. Romans 8, 32 says,
he, speaking of God the Father, 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? The first part of Romans 8.32,
he that spared not his own son, to accomplish God's purpose of
grace and saving his chosen people, God the Father did not spare
his own son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This shows the magnitude of God's
love for his elect. Look at 1 John 4.10. Herein is
love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his
son to be the perpetuation, the satisfaction for our sins. It also shows salvation is not
conditioned on the sinners, but on Christ, who was not spared
in order to fulfill all the conditions of salvation of those that the
father give him in the everlasting covenant of grace. You see, there
were conditions that were to be met in order that sinners
might be saved. But those conditions were not
placed on the sinner, on God's elect, on those that were given
to Christ, but rather placed on our substitute and our surety,
the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son. And he met and fulfilled
all those conditions by his perfect obedience, even his shed blood
on the cross of Calvary. Look at our next part of Romans
8.32. It says, but delivered him up
for his all. And we'll speak on this all here
a little later, but Christ was delivered up on the cross as
a substitute and a sacrifice for all that the Father gave
him in the everlasting covenant of grace made before time. Christ
was delivered up by the determinate counsel and the foreknowledge
of God. He was delivered up to the justice
of God. And he was also delivered up
from the grave in his resurrection. First part here that we'll talk
about is he was delivered up by the determinate counsel and
full knowledge of God. Acts 2.23. says him being delivered
up, delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified him. Crucified
and slain. This was something that God before
the foundation of the earth determined to do. God did not look down
that telescope of time as a lot of preachers might tell you.
Look down through that telescope of time in order to see what
man would do to Christ and then decide to deliver him up. The
second point that we'll talk about is he was delivered up
to the justice of God. Second Corinthians 521 says,
for he, God the Father, hath made him, God the Son, to be
sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him, in Christ. God is a just God. He's going
to do what's right. He's a just God and a Savior.
Christ was made sin as the sins of God's elect were imputed and
charged to his account. As a surety, the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ took on the condemnation
and the wrath of God in the stead and in the place of all those
that God give him before the foundation of the earth. God's
justice must be satisfied. because of sin, and it was in
the person of his dear son. That satisfaction was made by
Christ in his person and his work on the cross. The third
point, he was also delivered up from the grave in his resurrection. Speaking of Christ, Christ was
delivered up from the grave in his resurrection as the first
fruits of his people, which make certain our resurrection from
the dead. Christ was the first to be resurrected from the dead,
the firstfruits, and the firstborn. His resurrection is a sure and
a certain pledge of our resurrection and our final glory. The resurrection
of Christ reveals that God satisfied with the work that he accomplished
on our behalf of all those that he represented. God raised him
from the dead. He was satisfied with what Christ
accomplished on the cross. Now let's look at the last part
of verse 32 where it says, how shall he, or God the Father,
not with him, God the Son, also freely give us all things? This
proves that Christ being delivered up for us all does not refer
to all without exception, but to all who receive his grace
and salvation. God would not give his Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ, to die for us and then leave us in our sins. When He gave His only begotten
Son, He gave His people all things pertaining to His purpose of
grace, salvation, righteousness, eternal life, and final glory,
all in the Lord Jesus Christ. If we have Christ, we have all
things, for He is all and in all. Look at Colossians 2 and
verse 9. For in Him, in Christ, dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, Our next verse makes
the point that nothing can be charged to God's elect. Romans 8, 33 says, who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God to justify. There are four reasons for the
believer's eternal security in Christ. There are many more,
but these are the four reasons that I've chosen to use this
morning. The first reason God is for us. He sent his son into the world
that we might live. This proves that he sent his
son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into the world to secure our whole
salvation by his obedience unto death. Our second point, it is God that justifies, is
that no charge can be justly laid against God's elect. God
has justified all of his elect, all of his sheep, all of his
people, based on the blood and righteousness of Christ. His
obedience unto death for us, his blood shed on the cross,
this is where justification has its beginning and end. To be
justified means to be not guilty, and it means more. It also means
to be declared righteous in God's sight. God cannot charge his
people, his elect, with sin because he has charged all the sins of
all his elect people to Christ, according to 2 Corinthians 5,
beginning at verse 19. To wit, or how that, God was
in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their
trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of
reconciliation. Now then, we're ambassadors for
Christ. As though God did beseech you
by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, be you reconciled to God. For he, God the Father, hath
made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him. Even King David of old
knew that God would not charge him with his sin. And we all
know about King David, and the scripture's plain and clear,
that he was a sinner. But he knew that God wouldn't
charge him with his sin. Look at Romans 4, beginning at
verse 6. Even as David also described
it, the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputed righteousness
without works, saying, this is King David, this is a quote from
Psalms, saying, blessed are they whose iniquities or sins are
forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin or will not charge them with their sin.
God would be unjust to charge us with the sins that he's already
charged to his son. God cannot justly demand payment
for sins from us when Christ has already paid for all our
sins by his death. When God justifies, he does so
on the ground of righteousness, the righteousness of Christ imputed
to us and charged to our account. Satan, the world, our enemies,
and even our own hearts may accuse us because of sin, but God has
justified us in Christ. He's made us righteous in and
by the Lord Jesus Christ. Now let's look at verse 34, where
it says, who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather, that is risen again. Who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us? This verse brings us
to the third point here. The third point for our eternal
security in Christ, which is, it is Christ that died. It is
Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again and who lives
eternally to make intercession for us. Those who are in Christ,
all for whom he lived and he died and rose again from the
grave, cannot be condemned because Christ took on our condemnation.
as he came under the wrath of God. He suffered that wrath of
God in our room and in our stead as our substitute and our surety. He stood in our place. And when
he went to the cross, he didn't go to the cross for his sins.
He went to the cross for the sins of those that the Father
gave him before the foundation of the earth. And when he went
to the cross, he paid the debt. He paid the debt in full, all
the debt. that we owe. He paid in full. God would be unjust to turn around
after Christ had paid the debt on the cross, turn around and
charge it to us again. And he's not unjust. He's a just
God when he saves sinners. Now, let's look at Galatians 3.13. Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written,
cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Christ died under
the wrath of God for our sins. He made satisfaction, satisfaction
in full. And he rose victorious from the
grave, showing that his death conquered sin, conquered sin
and death for us. See, Christ's death was effectual. It accomplished something. For individuals to say that he
died, Christ hung on the cross, shed his blood, precious blood,
for everybody without exception, and then some of those wind up
in eternal hell. If you say that, there's no value
in his blood. There's no value in that blood
shed if you say that multitudes for whom he died winds up suffering
eternal hell. No, we believe that that blood
was effectual. It accomplished something, that
precious blood. All those that he shed his blood
for, all those that are in him, in him in eternity, in him at
the cross, and in him by faith, all those that are in Christ,
will not have to suffer eternal death because of their surety,
because of their substitute. He made satisfaction to the wrath
of God in our room and in our stead. He now lives to intercede
for us so that we can never be condemned for sin. No condemnation
to those that are in Christ Jesus. Look at 1 John 2 beginning at
verse 1. My little children, these things
write unto you that ye sin not. And if any man sin, and really,
when man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous. And he is the propitiation, the
satisfaction for our sins. And not for ours only, but also
for the sins of the whole world. And we'll deal with that in a
little bit. The word propitiation carries the basic idea of appeasement
or satisfaction. Specifically towards God, propitiation
is a two-part act that involves appeasing the wrath of God and
the offended person and being reconciled to them. Propitiation
is that by which it becomes consistent with God's character and government
to pardon and bless the sinner. The propitiation does not procure
God's love or make him loving. It only renders it consistent
for him to exercise his love toward sinners. The word world
here in verse two of 1 John refers to both Jews and Gentiles. See,
not just Jews only. Christ didn't die for Jews only.
He died for Jews and Gentiles all over the world. It says here,
according to Revelation 5, in verse 9, speaking of Christ,
has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, tongue,
and people, and nation. This is the world that we're
talking about. Christ didn't just die for the
Jews. He died for Jews and Gentiles
from all over the world. Christ, a God-man, died in the
stead of his sheep. and truly did propitiate or satisfy
and reconcile us to God. Christ and all his sheep are
one in the view of God's law and God's justice. He represented
the whole election of grace. God chose his elect before the
foundation of the world. He gave them to his son in the
everlasting covenant of grace made before time, and in time,
God the son came. And He fulfilled all righteousness
on their behalf. And that according to John 10,
they'll never perish. Look at John 10, beginning at
verse 27. My sheep, this is Christ, it
says, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow
Me. And I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand, my Father which gave them me." That means in
that eternal covenant of grace made before time, God the Father
give Christ, give Christ these individuals, call his elect or
his sheep. It says, My Father which gave
them Me, greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them
out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one. Those
who believe that Christ died for all without exception, even
those who perish eternally, cannot support their claim by God's
Word. And therefore, they worship a
different God and a different Christ. The last part, the last
verse that we'll deal with this morning, In verse 35, who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, distress,
persecution, and famine, and nakedness, or peril, or sword? Let's first look at the fourth
reason for the believer's eternal security. The fourth reason and
the last reason that we'll talk about here For our eternal security
in Christ is the sovereign, powerful, and unconditional love of God
in Christ for us. We who have been born again by
the Spirit of God, we do love God, even though our love for
him is not perfect because of the remaining influence and contamination
of our flesh. We're still sinners. We do love
him, however, And our love for him, however, is not the cause
and not the ground of our salvation or our preservation unto glory. It is God's love for us in Christ
that saves us and keeps us forever. Look at 1 John 4 and verse 10.
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and
sent his son to be the propitiation or satisfaction for our sins.
Therefore, we can never be separated from his love, from his love
for us, for he will never stop loving us and he'll never let
us go. Look at John 10, beginning at
verse 14. Christ said, I am the good shepherd
and I know my sheep and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth
me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the
sheep." Also, again, let's look at John 10, verse 27, beginning
of verse 27. It says, Christ just got through
saying, we've seen here, I lay down my life for the sheep. He
said, my sheep hear my voice in time. in time, in each successive
generation, God the Holy Spirit's going to bring his elect under
the sound of the gospel of how he saves a sinner based on Christ's
righteousness alone. He's going to bring them under
the sound of this gospel. And it says, my sheep hear my
voice. That's how you're going to hear
his voice through the preaching of the gospel. And I know them,
and they follow me. They follow me. And I give unto
them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any
man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
my hand, my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. The
Apostle begins here in Romans 8.35 to list all the things that
in their very nature, if possible, would separate us from the love
of God. And we talked about that having
to do with Job and all the things that happened to Job. And surely,
all of that happened to Job. Surely, those sort of things
should separate God's elect from the love of Christ, but it cannot
separate us from God. If you're in Christ, you're safe
and secure. And that in Christ is such an
important phrase that in scripture, used some 78 times in the New
Testament, and it warrants are searching out to know what does
that mean to be in Christ. And we need to know what that
means. And what it means is, in eternity,
God the Father put you in Christ. He placed you in Christ. Christ,
He obligated Himself, Christ did, God the Son, on the behalf
of all those that the Father gave Him. He willingly took on
that obligation. to do everything, everything
required by God the Father to save a sinner. Thank be to God, because of His
great love, all of these things cannot separate us from our God.
He will not allow them to carry us away from Him. None of these
things. Look at Romans 8, 28. And we
know that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose. The all things
include the things mentioned in verse 35 that we talked about
a little earlier. All things pertaining to salvation.
These things here having to do with tribulation. Tribulation
is every kind of trouble or loss we experience in this life. Distress
or anguish is the feelings of despair and loss we have during
these tribulations in this life. Persecution is affliction we
suffer for Christ's sake. When we stand with him and his
truth against the world, famine, nakedness, peril, our sword were
all frequently experienced by the Apostle Paul as he suffered
hunger, thirst, cold, and neckiness for the gospel's sake. In the
end, he was put to death by the enemies of Christ. As to why
the Lord permits the world to afflict the objects of his love,
we see through a glass dimly at this time. We must bow to
God's wisdom and be thankful. We have his promise that all
these terrible things will ultimately be for our eternal good. and
cannot, cannot separate us from the love of Christ Jesus. Amen.