31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In our previous passage we saw that God works ALL THINGS together for our good, both here on earth and in eternity to come - those of us who love God and who have been called according to His purpose. It's all God. He foreknew us - He chose to set His love on us and establish an intimate relationship with us. He predestined us - He chose us to be formed into the image of His Son to glorify Him, He justified us and made us right with God, and He glorified us - Paul speaks of it in past tense to emphasize the certainty of our future glorification. God does it all. It is so clear here that it is all God. And yet if we do not choose Him, we are held responsible for that. I don't understand how that works, but it doesn't matter whether or not I understand it, it is nevertheless true. And because God does it all - we are unbelievably secure. There is no way we can lose our salvation.
So, what do we say in response to this? And Paul knows there will be objections, so he goes ahead and answers them. Maybe someone could take away our salvation (unsaved family members, cult leaders, false religion), maybe Satan could tempt us and overcome us and we could fall away. And Paul says no way, no how. In order to do that, someone would have to be able to overpower God and that is impossible. Oh there are many who may attempt to lead us astray, but God is more powerful than all of them and if He is for us, who could possibly be successful against us? No one. No one.
And God IS for us. He sent His son to redeem us. He is for us.
Which really silences the next argument as well. What is God just gives up on us after awhile? I mean, we're growing in our faith so slowly, we fail so often, are we even worth the bother?
And Paul answers strongly again. If God would send His own Son to save us while we were yet wretched and vile sinners, do you really think He's not going to keep us to the very end? Do you really think He's going to do less than that in order to bring us to completion? Never! God gave up His Son, He poured out His very wrath on His Son in order to redeem us. Since He did that for us, there is nothing we could do, no sin we could commit, for which He would not forgive.
But what if Satan accused us? He has access to God's presence (as we see in Job) - what if he lays charges against us? And that's likely not an if. More than likely that's exactly what he's doing. But God is the only one who can condemn, and He would never condemn a person He justified, never.
Maybe Christ would stop interceding for us. Well, that's just ridiculous. He's no going to undo His redemptive work on the cross and stop interceding for us, never!
God will not turn against us. He chose us.
Jesus died for us and paid the penalty for our sin. He rose again, confirming the price had been paid in full. He sits at the right hand of God, confirming God's approval of what Jesus did. And He continually intercedes for us. We are secure.
And then MacArthur goes on to discuss the one objection I've heard (and believed myself!) - that we ourselves could choose to reject God after having come to faith. Here's what MacArthur says (it's long, but I thought it was so powerful).....
Now another objector might come along and say, "But wait a minute." Maybe not a person, but you yourself - and this is where the people who try to teach that you can lose your Salvation usually land. They say you can take yourself out by rejection, or unbelief, or changing your mind, or turning your back, or sinning and falling away.
It's sort of like there was a slide, and you could slide down it so far, but if you go past a certain point, you can't get back. And it's the sin slide. And you slip down so far, by willful rejection - you can get yourself out. In other words, they say sins, and circumstances, and temptations, and pressures, and all of that stuff cause you to reject your Salvation, and then they will invariable say, "because I know this guy and he used to be a Christian, and he turned his back and walked away." And that's always the way it's sort of defended.
And so in verses 35-37, the Apostle Paul deals with the fact of circumstance. What if, under pressure, for example - under the stress of temptation, we fall and we reject Christ, and we take ourselves out. Watch verse 35.
"What shall separate us from the love of Christ?" What's going to do that to you? What's going to pull you out? And the what here is the same word, this says the who and the only reason the "who" is in verse 33 and the "what" is in verse 35 is because in verse 33, it's obviously talking about persons, and in 35, it's talking about certain circumstances. Tribulation, distress, persecution and so forth.
And so what is it that's going to cause you to do that? What's going to make you turn your back or fall away or lose your Salvation? Some kind of heat? Some kind of pressure? What? Tribulation? Distress? Persecution? Famine? Nakedness? Peril? Sword? I mean, those are the heavies.
I mean, is it that you get into those kinds of things and you just bail out? Do those - watch this - separate us from the love of Christ? Would you notice this, please. That the love of Christ is not talking about your love for Him, but His love for you.
What can make Him stop loving you? Because listen beloved, your Salvation isn't based on your love for Him. You only love Him because he what - first loved you. And your Salvation is based on His love. So if you're getting out, He's got to change his mind. And what's going to do that? What's going to cause Him to cease to love you? We know it's the love that Christ has for you, because verse 37 emphasizes Him that loved us. Verse 39 emphasizes again, from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. So 37 and 39, put together with 35, tell us that He's talking about the love that Christ has for us. What's going to break that bond?
Oh, you say things come into the life of a person and they bail out. What kind of things? Well, all these kinds of things that He names. And I think that's just why He names them. They're the most stressful things that could be named.....
I mean, all of these things are very heavy things. Outward rejection, animosity, and bitterness. Inward temptation, and struggles, and distress. The persecution that comes. The destitution that may come on one who embraces Christ who has nothing to eat and no clothes. And the peril or the danger of being exposed to treachery and plots of those who hate what you love. And even death.
These are the worst possible attacks. I mean, these are the worst possible stress situations. Could they drive us to reject Christ? Could they drive us out of His love and affection? Could they drive us to doubt Him? Could we falter during those times, and could we get weak, and could we wonder things, and could we maybe fall into a sin and the Lord would just shut us off and boot us out?
By the way, this isn't just theory. Everything in verse 35 Paul experienced. Did you know that? All you have to do is remember II Corinthians, and the whole list is there. The whole list.
"I have been in labors more abundant, stripes above measure, prisons more frequently, death often, of the Jews five times received I 39 stripes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I was in the deep. In journeys often. In perils of waters, perils of robbers, perils by my countrymen, perils by the heathen, perils in the city, perils in the wilderness, peril in the sea, peril among false brothers, and weariness, painfulness, watching often. Hunger, thirst, fasting, cold, and nakedness."
Every one of those and a lot more that are listed there in Romans are also listed in II Corinthians 11. This is not theory. This is Paul's life. And he's saying did tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril or sword sever me from Christ? Did it cause Him in my moments of weakness to say He's not worth the trouble? I'm going to abandon him. Shall that break the bond of Christ's love which holds me?
What's the answer? Verse 36. "As it is written." As it is written. What does that have to do with anything? "For thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." And he quotes Psalms 44:22 out of Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. And what he's saying is hey folks, this is old stock. This doesn't take us out of the love of God. This just shows us we're in it. I mean, this isn't anything strange. For thy sake we're killed all day long. I mean, this is the history of those who love God.
By the way, in that passage, it's a plea for God to deliver Israel in distress, and what Paul is essentially saying in taking that text is that all the saints of all the ages have endured this. It goes with the territory. I mean, Matthew 10:37-39. If you're not willing to say no to your father, and your mother, and your home and everything, if you're not willing to take up your Cross and follow Me, if you're not willing to pay the price, count the cost, and come after Christ, you're not worthy to be what? His Disciple. So Paul says, it isn't that this drives us from Christ. This just reminds us we belong to Him.
You see, it says in II Timothy 3:12, as I pointed out many times, all that live Godly in this present age will suffer persecution. I mean, it's just the way we know we're really there. Now if the drive - you say what if that kind of stuff really happens to people, and it drives them away from Christ? Then the truth of the matter is, they were never saved.
And that is what I John 2:19 says, and you ought to know this verse because it's a very important verse. It says in verse 19, "They went out from us," I John 2:19. "They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out from us, that they might be made manifest that they all are not of us." You understand the point?
When somebody goes, that doesn't mean they lost their Salvation. That's proof that they never really had it. They never had it.
Oh, no. Verse 36 says for thy sake we're killed all day long. And that's just all day long stuff. That's nothing new. Notice the little phrase "for thy sake". "For thy sake" expresses a willingness. It does. It expresses a beautiful willingness on the part of God's truly redeemed people to bear the Cross. And it's just what the Savior said. Those who are my true disciples are willing to take up the Cross. For thy sake we're willing to suffer. For thy sake we're willing to pay a price to count the cost.....
A true believer perseveres through these things like tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, and sword. The true believer perseveres in that. He moves through that......
So Paul says what's going to separate us from the love of Christ? And he lists these very serious things that could tempt us to abandon our faith or draw us into sin. Shall these things? No. Quite the contrary. This is something that just fits us perfectly. This is just the way it's been written about God's people. For His sake we're killed all the time. We're always being accounted as sheep for the slaughter. It just means we're like sheep on the way to be slaughtered. That's nothing new.
And then comes his answer in one word, in verse 37. No, no. No, these things don't separate us from the love of Christ. No. In fact, in all these things we are what? More than conquerors through Him that loved us. Not on our own strength. Through Him that loved us. In all these things. What things? Tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril and sword. Those things will never cause a true believer to leave his faith. They'll never cause God to let go. And the reason you stay saved isn't because you hold on. It's because He holds on.
And He's not going to break His grip through those things, and you from your side are going to persevere. He doesn't let go of His grip, and you don't either. Because you're steadfast to the end. That's the mark of a true believer....
And so in all these things, not only does it not blow us out of our Salvation, instead of that, we become super-conquerors. ..... Winners of a sweeping, surpassing, overwhelming victory. We don't just win. We win big. I mean, when we get hit with tribulation and we get hit with distress and persecution, and we get hit with famine and nakedness and peril and sword, we don't just squeak through. We come out roaring! Super conqueror.
You say how can you be a super conqueror. You either win or lose. Well, no. It's more than that. We don't just win. We come out super conquerors for two reasons. Reason number one is that when we come out, the whole thing makes us better than when we started. Because everything that happens in our lives is refining us. Right? And as I told you earlier, when we go through these kinds of struggles, we come out hating sin more, loving righteousness more, desiring more of God, understanding ourselves better, able to help others because we've been through it. It just enriches us every way you look at it.
The person who's been through these things and seen the ugliness of their own sin, and seen their own weakness and their own flesh, and seen all the struggles they have, comes out the other side with a better understanding of themselves. A greater longing for God, a greater hunger for holiness. All of that is good. So it's not just a victory. It's a victory that we come out better for it. We're super conquerors.
Not only that, but let me give you a second reason we're super conquerors. It's because everyone of those things works for us, a far greater eternal weight of Glory. Ultimately there will be a greater reward. Each time we go through those kinds of things which do not separate us from the love of Christ, but refine us, we not only come out better people here and now, but we come out the recipients of a greater reward then and there. And that's the super conquering aspect. It's a great thought. It's a great thought.
And so, I mean Paul really diffuses that argument. You think that those kinds of things are going to separate you from the love of Christ? Just the opposite! Just the opposite! When a true believer goes through those kinds of things, all of a sudden the Spirit of grace and glory rests on him and he sees things that he never saw before about what he ought to be. He sees his weakness. Yes, and he sees the strength of God. He wants to run from his own sin and run to the holiness of God with a greater sense of direction than ever before perhaps. And out of that comes a pure devotion to Jesus Christ, and a greater eternal weight of glory.
They don't separate us. And who makes it possible? It's all through Him that loved us. Through Him that loved us. He holds on. He holds on. The bond never breaks. It never breaks...
And so when you see someone who appears to have believed and abandons the faith, know this. That like that seed planted in the rocky soil, there was no real root there. It sprung up for a little time and when the heat was put on, it withered and died....
there's no person in the universe that can lay a charge against God's elect and alter the Salvation God has promised, and there's no circumstance that can sever the bond of love that binds together a believer and his Savior. He doesn't let go, and we don't either....
Now, after affirming that no person and no circumstance could ever, ever, ever, ever take away our Salvation, Paul sums it up....I have a confident assurance. I am persuaded! That - and here it comes - neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor power, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creation shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Just a burst.
And the list is - I mean, I had to go look at this list. I am persuaded that neither death - the great enemy, the gates of Hades - death can't separate us....And then he says, "Not death or life." Life with all its dangers. Life with all it's difficulties. Life with all its troubles and trials, and temptations. Life with everything that it can throw at us. All the pain, and all the sorrow, and all the hurt, and all the anxiousness of life. Can it do it? No. No. Not life. No. State of being. Not death and not life!
And then he says, "Nor angels." Probably thinking of good angels here. Holy angels. You say well, would a holy angel want to alter our Salvation? No, but that doesn't matter. He's just saying it couldn't happen if they did. And he said the same thing in Galatians 1 when He said, "though an angel from Heaven preach another Gospel, but let him be cursed if it isn't the truth." It's just hyperbole in a sense. I mean it can't happen, but if it did happen, even an angel, a holy angel, couldn't do it.
Aaah, but the demons, nor principalities, he says. And that seems to be a term that he probably uses here, though it is used for both good and bad, it seems most dominantly to refer to evil angels. At least that it's usefulness in Ephesians 6. Not good angels and not bad angels. No state of being, and no supernatural being can change it.
And then he says, "Nor things present nor things to come." Not anything here and now, and not anything there and then. Not anything in this age, and not anything in eternity. No dimension of time. Not now, not ever. You can't lose your Salvation, he says. Not now, not ever. Not in death, not in life. Not by holy angels taking it, or demons taking it. No. Impossible. No dimension of time, no being, and no state of being.
Then at the end of verse 38 he says, "nor powers." That's kind of an interesting single word. Commentators struggle with what it means. Let me give you McArthur's view. When it is used in the plural in the New Testament, the form of dunamis, when it is used in the plural most frequently it refers to miracles, or mighty deeds. And it may well be that that's what Paul has in mind.
No miracle, no mighty deed, no supernatural thing, nothing beyond our control can ever separate us from Christ. No state of being, no being. No time and no power.
And then he throws this in. Nor height, nor depth. Well, what in the world does that have to do with it? What is height and depth? The word hupsoma was used to speak of a star at its zenith, and when a star was at its zenith, they said the star was at its height. So it has to do with going out into the infinity of space. And depth is the word bathos, and it was astronomically used to speak of a star at its low point. So what he's saying is this. Nothing at the end of an infinite outer space out there, and nothing at the other end either. From one end of infinity to the other. Because height is infinite, and depth is infinite.
And so the sum of this stuff is mind-boggling. Where are you going to lose your Salvation? If it can't happen in death, and it can't happen in life, and holy angels can't do it, and demons can't do it, and things present can't do it, and things to come can't do it, and nothing from the infinite edge of space up there to the infinite edge of space down there can't do it.
Oh, but there'll be someone say oh yes, but. But I can do it myself, so he says nor any other creation!...
It's the love of God in Christ, our Lord that holds us.
Thank you, Jesus!
Tomorrow's scripture focus: Romans 9:1-5
1 comment:
Amazing.
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