What Shall We Say To These Things

Q: What does the Bible say about predestination?

The Bible teaches that predestination is God's act of choosing certain individuals for salvation before the foundation of the world. Predestination is clearly articulated in Scripture, particularly in Romans 8:29-30, which states, 'For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son.' This reveals God's sovereign choice to save a specific people and prepare them to be like Christ. Many people misunderstand predestination, arguing against it without grounding their opinions in Scripture. However, God's Word affirms that He has an elect people whom He predestines based on His grace and purpose, not on any foreseen merit or action on their part. The assurance of God's intent to conform believers to His Son reflects His profound love and commitment to His chosen ones.

Q: How do we know God is for us?

We know God is for us through His promises and the sacrifices made by Jesus Christ on our behalf. The assurance that God is for us is rooted deeply in Scripture, particularly in Romans 8:31, which asks, 'If God be for us, who can be against us?' This rhetorical question emphasizes the security and strength believers have due to God's unwavering support. God has demonstrated His commitment to us by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to be the sacrifice for our sins, thus securing our justification. Furthermore, throughout Scripture, such as in Isaiah 43, we see God’s continual presence and care for His people, reminding them that He sees their afflictions and is with them in trials. This consistent message of God's faithfulness provides confidence and hope for Christians in all circumstances.

Q: Why is justification important for Christians?

Justification is crucial as it denotes our declared righteousness before God through faith in Christ. Justification is a fundamental aspect of salvation and is highlighted in Romans 8:30, where it explicitly states, 'Whom he called, them he also justified.' This means that when God justifies someone, He declares them legally righteous in His sight, based on the perfect life and atoning death of Jesus Christ. It is not by works or adherence to the law that we are justified, but solely by grace through faith (Romans 3:28). This doctrine is essential because it assures believers that they are no longer condemned and have peace with God (Romans 5:1). Understanding justification instills hope and security in the believer's relationship with God, as it signifies His unbreakable declaration of righteousness despite our inherent sinfulness.

Q: What does it mean to be glorified in Christ?

Being glorified in Christ signifies that believers will ultimately share in His glory and eternal life. Glorification is the culmination of God's salvific plan for His people, as outlined in Romans 8:30, which assures us that 'whom he justified, them he also glorified.' This statement indicates that in God's sovereign purpose, the believer's glorification is assured and, in God's view, is already a completed act. This means that one day, believers will be transformed and perfected in body and spirit, fully reflecting the image of Christ. The nature of glorification emphasizes the eternal glory, joy, and inheritance that await believers in heaven, providing hope and motivation for a faithful life here on Earth. It is a promise that reinforces the believer's identity in Christ and highlights our ultimate destiny with Him.

Turn with me back to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. Look at verse 31. What shall we say to these things if God be for us? If God be for us. And he is, isn't he? His word says that he's for us, that he will never leave us. that he will never forsake us. In Romans 11, beginning with verse one, we read, I say then, hath God cast away his people? That's not possible, is it? God forbid. He says, for I'm also an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin, God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew." He's for us. In Exodus 3, turn there with me, turn back to Exodus 3. Look at verse... Verse 2. Here we read where the angel of the Lord appeared unto Moses. Verse 2.

The angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush, and he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, but the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I'll now turn aside and see this great thing. Why this bush is not burnt?" And when the Lord saw that He turned His side to see, God called Him out of the midst of that bush.

And He said, He said, Moses, Moses. Moses said, Here am I. And the Lord said, Draw not nigh hither, put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover, he said, I'm the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said, he said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people. This is a particular people. He said, I've seen the affliction of my people, which are in Egypt. And he said, I've heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters.

I know their sorrows. And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land into a good land, and large into a land flowing with milk and honey, under the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, He said, I've seen. Is He for us? He said, I've seen their affliction. I've heard their cry. He hears the cry of His people. He said, I know their sorrow. And He didn't leave them there, did He? He said, I have come down to deliver them.

God is for us, He is for His people, and He's always been. He's always been for His people. And seeing that He is for us, that He has a tender affection for His people, isn't that evident through the gift of Himself? Through the gift of His Son, His Spirit, all the blessings of His grace and glory, He's with us. He's on the side of his people.

In Isaiah 43, thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not. I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name. Thou art mine. And when thou passest through the waters, Does he leave us alone then? No, he says, I will be with thee. Through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. And when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. if God be for us. If God be with us.

Back in second Kings, the king of Syria had made war against Israel. And he called together his servants and he made plans to camp a certain place to ambush the king of Israel. And Elisha sent word to the king while he was in route. And each time, Each time they planned on attacking Israel, remember that? Elisha, he would warn them and they would escape.

God's with his people, isn't he? And finally, the king of Syria, he felt like, he said, there's a traitor. One of my own men has betrayed me and is sharing this information. And he asked, he said, who's doing this? Who's leaking this information? to them. And one of his servants said, there's no traitor. There's no traitor. Elisha, the prophet of Israel, he tells the king of Israel everything. He said, he even tells, whatever you whisper, whatever you say in your bedroom, he knows it.

And the king of Syria said, well, Elisha's down in Dothan, so he sent horses and chariots, think about this, a large army to surround that city to capture one man. And the servant, Elisha, his servant rose up early and he went out of the house and he looked out and he saw that great army of the enemy surrounding them. And he said to Elisha, he said, alas, my master, How shall we do? What shall we do?

And Elisha, I'm just certain, with calmness, with certainty, with no worry, no fear, he replied, don't be afraid. Well, we have to be reminded that, don't we? Don't be afraid. They that be with us, God's with us. They that be with us are more than they that be with them. King Hezekiah, he told the people of Judah the same thing. When the king of Assyria came against them, what'd he say? He said, with them is an arm of flesh. I don't care how big their army is.

It's an arm of flesh, but with us. God's with us, isn't he? With us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles. If God be for us. Turn back to verse 31 of Romans 8. What shall we say to these things? If God be for us, what shall we say to these things? These things written in these previous verses. Look at verse 29 and 30. Listen to just a few of them.

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. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called. And whom he called, them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Now these verses declare God is for us in a number of ways, but the first one is this. God is for us in that he has predestinated us. He has predestinated his people. Predestinated them to be conformed to the image of his son. Now if God predestinated us, that's what Scripture says He did. If He predestinated us to eternal life, who can be against us?

You know, people get upset about this. I don't know how people get upset about the word predestination. They come up with all kinds of meanings, saying it means this and it means that, all based on... I don't even know where they get their information from, but they certainly don't get it from God's Word. In the Bible, in God's Word.

When this word predestination is used, it declares what God's people are going to be. What are they going to be? They're going to be conformed to the image of His Son. He predestinated us, His people, to be conformed to the image of Christ. He elected people and He predetermined the means and the way that He would bring them to that final goal. What is that? To be like His Son, to be made like Christ.

The Lord Jesus Christ, we read this in scripture, He didn't come into this world to condemn the world. His world is already condemned. For you or I or anybody else to go to hell, the Lord only has to do one thing. Just leave us to ourselves. Just leave us to ourselves. But God has a people. Isn't that, and he's for them. If God be for us.

He has a people and he predestinated them to be conformed to the image of his son, to be made like Christ. Do you still have verse 29? 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. whom he did predestinate, then he also called. He called.

God is for us in calling us. There's a lot dealing with this calling in the word of God. We read this earlier. All things work together for good to them who love God, to them, or what? Who are called according to his purpose. In 2 Timothy 1.9, it says, God's word says, He saved us. And what else? He called us with a holy calling. Not according to our works. but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Galatians 1, 15, listen to the words of Paul. He said, God who separated me from my mother's womb, and what did he do? Called me by his grace. and He was pleased to reveal His Son in me. You know, Paul, there was a time when he absolutely hated the Lord Jesus Christ. He despised Christ. He despised His gospel. He despised the message.

Paul says this, He called me by His grace. That's a gracious call, isn't it? Let me read another verse to you here on God's calling. Romans 11, 29, it says that the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. Without repentance. In sports, Sometimes the official makes a call and sometimes they go along with that call and then other times they go back and they reverse that call. They say that's not what, that wasn't the call, that wasn't it. They change the call. That's not so with God. where God calls. He doesn't go back on it. He'll never desert his chosen people. He doesn't take back a call that he's made. He calls his children, and he remains faithful to them. faithful to the call that he's given, faithful to the end.

If God be for us, he's for us. In predestination, he's for us in calling. And back to our text, look at verse 30. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified. He's for us in justification. He's for us having justified us. Now scripture's clear on two things. One, on how we're justified, but also how we're not justified.

This is counter to the words of man. This is counter to the words of organized religion. But listen to the word of God. It says, therefore, by the deeds of the law, shall no flesh be justified in his sight. Before God, before a holy God, in his sight, we're guilty. And the law cannot justify a guilty man. The law cannot pardon the guilty. The law cannot declare that which is unclean to be clean. The law can only declare us guilty. We've transgressed God's law. The law declares us guilty. The law condemns us.

Well, how then is a man justified? being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Justified. That means I have no guilt. That means I have no sin. I'm perfectly justified. I'm perfectly righteous in the sight of Almighty God.

Scripture says we're accepted. Where? In the Beloved. Justified, justified by His grace. Listen, if God be for us, and He's for His people, isn't He? He's for us in justification. In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be what? Justified. and shall glory. And then we read again here in our text, verse 30, whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. If God before us, He's for his people in glorification. Eternal glory. Eternal good and eternal inheritance. How? By union with him.

I think Henry used to say that a living, personal, vital, intimate union with Christ. Whom He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called, them He also justified, and whom He justified, them He also glorified. That's past tense, isn't it? In God's purpose, in God's view, the believer is already glorified. glorified in our head, in our representative, glorified in Christ. Turn to Isaiah 46. Look at verse, beginning with verse 9 of Isaiah 46. Remember the former things of old.

I'm God, there's none else. I'm God, there's none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand. I'll do all my pleasure. Calling the ravenous bird from the east, the man that executed his counsel from a far country. He says, yea, I have spoken it. I will also bring it to past. I've purposed it. I will also do it. That means it's finished, it's complete. That's what our Lord said, didn't he, on the cross. He said, it is finished. Well, quickly, look at verse 31, back to our text, here in Romans 8. What shall we say to these things? What can we conclude from these things. Look at verse 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 didn't withhold from Christ all that he must be, all that he must do, all that he must endure, all that he must suffer, all that he must accomplish in order to take up our hopeless case and redeem us. The Lord Jesus Christ is the surety of his people. He's the representative of his people. The sacrifice for his people, a sin offering for his people. And if God so loved us, and if God so loved his son, and Christ loved his people, and he came into this world, he came into this world and he bore the sin and shame of his people. That being so, how shall the Father not freely give us all things? How shall he not give us everything that Christ purchased?

Look at verse 33. Here's the second conclusion. Who shall lay anything anything to the charge of God's elect. Now, there's no question we're chargeable, right? A number of things we could be charged with. David said that. He probably said that better than any of us. He said, I acknowledge my transgression and my sin is ever before me. Against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified when you speak and clear when you judge." We're chargeable, aren't we? We're accusable. Satan, he's called the accuser of the brethren.

But in light of what Christ has done for his people, those charges mean nothing. Every charge was answered in Christ. He bore the wrath of Almighty God for the sins of his people. And in him, our sins are They're put away. Our sins are pardoned and we have a perfect righteousness before God. His just demands are completely satisfied. He said their sins and their inequities shall I remember no more.

Verse 34, who is he that condemneth? No one. For this reason, it is, we read it right there, it's God that justifies. Fourth, verse 35, who shall separate us? Who shall separate us from the love of God? No one and no thing. He goes on to list a few. He says, tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, As it's written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long. We're accounted as sheep for the slaughter. In all these things, we're more than conquerors through Him that loved us.

He says, I'm persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, and here's the key to it, which is in Jesus Christ our Lord. What shall we say to these things? Look back at verse 31. What shall we say to these things?

If God be for us, who can be against us? And listen, if God the Father's not against us, then the Son's not against us, the Spirit's not against us, His angels are not against us, the law is not against us, because it's been fulfilled. Every bit of it. Justice, is justice against? Justice has been satisfied. Every demand answered. Isn't that glorious? What shall we say? What's the conclusion? If God be for us, who can be against us? All right.

What Shall We Say To These Things

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about predestination?

How do we know God is for us?

Why is justification important for Christians?

What does it mean to be glorified in Christ?

Sermon Transcript

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What Shall We Say To These Things

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about predestination?

How do we know God is for us?

Why is justification important for Christians?

What does it mean to be glorified in Christ?

Sermon Transcript

Comments

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