All Things Conquered Through Christ

Transcript

GR 2236
05/03/2020
All Things Conquered Through Christ
Romans 8:31-39
Gil Rugh

We’re going to the book of Romans, chapter 8. We conclude not only this chapter, but also this great chapter on sanctification. It encompassed chapters 6, 7, and 8, and flows naturally from the preceding chapters on justification, because when God declares us righteous through faith in the finished work of His Son, that begins the new life and the work that He is accomplishing in bringing us into greater conformity to His own character; and preparation, when that process will be brought to its fullness in glorification. Key verses are verses 29 and 30, which explain verse 28, and important we keep them together. And Romans 8:28, the verse that many of you have memorized, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Our love is a response to His love. Our love is a response to His call, which was given to us in love, and we noted 1 John says that we love Him because He first loved us. Then he explains, and you’ll note verse 29 begins with the word “for” and explains God’s plan and unfolding so that we could come to faith in Christ.

Five steps are set out in verses 29 and 30, “For those whom He foreknew…” The first step is He foreknew them. We talked a little more extensively about that word foreknow. It’s not just God looking into the future to see something that would unfold, as though He was a passive observer, and then created a plan that would fit what He saw. Because we looked at Scripture that His plan was not made based on what we would do. So, foreknowledge, when used of God, is His placing His love. He determined to place His love, His affection. We looked at Old Testament verses as well as New Testament verses, for example, Amos 3:2. God says regarding Israel, you are the only nation out of all the nations on the earth that I have known. God is omniscient. He knows every nation, but Israel is the only nation that He has made the object of His affection, of His love, of His choice. So those whom He foreknew, He determined to put His love upon, His special affection upon.

Secondly, “…He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son…” First, He foreknew them, selected them, then He predestined them. They would be those who would come to the salvation that would enable them to be brought into conformity to the very character of Christ. That would have some connection back to the end of chapter 5, where we talked about those who were in the image of Adam, the first Adam, and those who come to be in the image of the second Adam, Christ. He predestined those whom He foreknew “…to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren…” He’s the firstborn, He’s unique, but we too are the sons of God. Chapter 8 verse 14 said, “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.” But Jesus Christ is the Son in a unique way and has priority, obviously. But through our relationship with Him, we have been born again and have become God’s children, and Christ, thus is the One who has priority and supremacy upon all those who have come to be born again and become the children of God. So those whom He foreknew, He predestined.

Thirdly, He called. Verse 30, “…and these whom He predestined, He also called…” You note, all of these go together; there’s no break in the chain. One is connected inseparably to the other because the sovereign, all-powerful God has set forth the plan. It cannot fail, it cannot be broken, and that’s what the rest of chapter 8 is going to be about. Those whom He predestined, He also called. That was the third step.

The call, we noted, when used in Paul’s epistles, refers to an effective call. We call it the Effectual Call because it’s always effective. It always results in a positive response. That’s when God draws us to salvation. He reaches out at a point in time; He calls us. The voice of the Spirit of God on our heart and mind draws us to recognize and realize our sin and the provision of Christ, and we place our faith in Him. That’s the Effectual Call of God that brings us to saving faith in Christ, so we are justified.

“…and these whom He called, He also justified…” And we’ve seen that word. It was key in chapter 3, beginning in verse 21 through chapter 5 verse 21 of the book of Romans. The word justification. Think of a word that means to declare righteous, or as 2 Corinthians 5 puts it, in Christ we are made the righteousness of God. God’s righteousness is credited to us. All sin, all guilt is cleansed. He used a different picture. He can declare us righteous. His righteousness is credited to us. There is nothing that has to be satisfied. Our penalty has been paid in full. We are clean in His sight and we are righteous in His sight because we have His righteousness. He has declared us righteous. The sovereign God, who has authority over all.

And then the last step is, and those whom He declared righteous, that He justified, “…He also glorified.” Now you’ll note, if you’ve placed your faith in Christ, all of these have happened to you except this last one. When you put this last one in the Greek language, for this verb particularly, these are all in the aorist tense, and that’s the normal way of talking about something that happens in the past. Remember in the Old Testament we have what we call the prophetic past. Sometimes the prophets will talk about something that’s going to happen in the future, perhaps the far-distant future, but they talk about it in the past tense because as God’s plan is set out here, so is true of everything He plans, and His plans will always occur. So, when God says something will happen, it doesn’t matter if we’re 2,000 years away from it happening, it’s as good as done. There can be no alteration. There can be no failures. So, He’s also glorified. He has guaranteed my glorification. Obviously, you can look at me. It hasn’t happened yet. But it’s just as sure as I’m standing here. As each of these have happened, that will happen. One of the testimonies given to us, up in verse 16 of chapter 8, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” As He was raised from the dead with a glorified body, 1 Corinthians 15 says, He was the first fruits of the resurrection, the assurance, the guarantee that we too will get resurrected, glorified bodies.

That’s the nice, concise presentation. You want to take verses 28 to 30 together. God does not cause all things to work together for good for everyone. That is misleading and it’s worse than misleading, it is a lie. To imply, well, you’re going through trouble, you may not be a believer in Jesus Christ but take heart. God causes all things to work together for good. No! He doesn’t. For the unbeliever, all things will work together for good with them ending in eternal hell. So, not good in the plan of God, of punishing eternally sin and the sinner. But it’s not good in the sense that he is talking about here. All things will work out for the benefit of those who love God. They all come together, and we’ll get the details of this when we pick up with verse 31, but the point is nothing is going to interrupt or cause God’s plan to fail. Remember we talked about Philippians 1:6, “…He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” It’s guaranteed. So, all things will work together. And what is the ultimate good that we would look for and benefit in blessing? Glory in God’s presence. Well, everything is working together for good, even the problems, the trials, the failures, as only a sovereign God can and does. They work together to accomplish what He has planned for us.

We pick up with verse 31, really two sections in these closing verses, 31 to 39. Number 1, no charge can be brought against the believer before God. That’s verses 31 to 34. No charges can be brought against us, even when we sin. If anyone sins, any of us who love God, who have been called by Him and so on, if any man sins we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous One, and He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but those of the whole world. When we enter a relationship with Him by faith, then His work on the cross is credited to us and it takes care of every sin, past, present, and my future. That’s my security. So, the first thing he wants to make clear is that no charge can be brought against us, and you can see how that connects with what we’ve talked about. If what he said about God’s unfolded plan for each of those whom He foreknew, ending in glorification, then no charge can be brought against us. No sin that I would be held personally accountable for, which would put me under condemnation, no sin not covered by the provision of Christ.

The second thing, a reminder, nothing can separate the believer from God. No charges can be brought against us, and then in verses 35 to 39, nothing can come in to separate us from God.

Let’s pick up with verse 31, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?” This is important because you see the unfolding and this can become confusing in our thinking, even as believers, especially when the problems seem to impose themselves on us. We see how unsettled the world becomes when something happens of major significance. Lives are unsettled, things are put into confusion, plans are destroyed. Well, we don’t minimize the seriousness, and we as believers experience these things. He’s going to mention some of these things and some of the things we have to deal with. What do we say to these things? Well, if we could summarize it from one of the verses I pulled out, Psalm 118:6, “The Lord is for me, I will not fear. What can man do to me?” The point he’s making, what shall we say to these things that we talk about because up earlier in the chapter, he talked about suffering with Christ in verse 17. He talked about the sufferings of the now time in verse 18. And he talks about this being a time of groaning, verse 23, we groan within ourselves.

There are trials, there are difficulties, there are pains. We’ve talked about on other occasions, that Christians get cancer, they get diseases. Some Christians die at a young age. Families endure pain and suffering. We have a virus going on that’s affected everyone individually, but it spreads out. Some have lost their job, their income. These kinds of things affect us. What do we say about all these things? I’ll tell you what we say. “If God is for us, who is against us?” No one and nothing. The Lord is for me; what can man do to me? What can happen in this world that could frustrate God’s plan for me?

So, I come back then to verse 28, “…God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Then he explained why that could be, because God’s plan for me goes back before the creation and goes beyond the transformation of this creation that we look forward to when Christ comes to rule and reign. What do we say to these things and everything? “If God is for us, who is against us?” And it’s a rhetorical question; who can be against us? They’d have to stand against God because God’s there to be my protector, my defender. He’s taken me under His wing, he uses that picture. I’m under His protection. He’s the One who’s guaranteed the outcome for me.

Verse 32, he reminds us what he’s been talking about. You see how important it is to get a hold on sound, biblical teaching, what we call good theology. This gives us stability. Let’s remind ourselves. “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all…” The point is, God did for us the greatest thing that He could do. He didn’t hold back His own Son, that unique Son. He’s the “…firstborn among many brethren…” as seen at the end of verse 29. So I’m a son of God, and I am as a result of God’s grace in providing His own Son, that unique One, to take my place, to pay my penalty, so that I, through faith in Him, could experience the power of God’s salvation. God didn’t withhold His Son, so wouldn’t He give me the other things? I mean, the point is, if He gave me the most important, the most precious, if I can call it that, the context of the package of salvation that comes, the One most precious to Him, would He hold anything back? Verse 32, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all…” You’re familiar with how it went, and that Christ was given for us. “…how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” He’s already given Christ. For God so loved that He gave His only begotten Son, in order that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish. Wait a minute. That means I’m going to get to the end, I won’t perish, I’ll be glorified. That’s why he puts that He also glorified me. I haven’t experienced it yet, but it’s done. It’s a guarantee, if I can put it this way, in the package of salvation that was bestowed on me as a free gift when I believed in Christ. He’s guaranteed it. “…how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?”

Come over to 2 Peter 1. I’ve quoted this verse. I’ll sometimes quote the verses to save time, but I like you to see them in your Bibles. All the way toward the back of your Bible, go to the book of Revelation and then come back through the epistles of John and you’ll get into Peter. We’re going to 2 Peter 1:3. “…seeing that His divine power…” You see the emphasis in all this is we can’t lose sight of the fact it’s the sovereign God at work here. It’s not me at work, it’s God at work. “…His divine power has granted to us…” most of the things pertaining to life and godliness. That’s not what my Bible says! He’s “…granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness…” Or as it could be stated, a life of godliness, “…through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature…” And that gives us the rescue, the escape from this fallen world and guarantees the outcome. So, when you come back to Romans 8, he’s really saying the same thing with a little different wording. If He gave us His Son, is there anything He’d hold back? No! He’s given us “…everything pertaining to life and godliness…”

That brings you to verse 33, similar to verse 31, “…If God is for us, who is against us?” Verse 33, “Who will bring a charge against God’s elect?” That bring a charge[RG1], egkaleo, a legal term. It’s like you’re in a courtroom and someone presents a charge against you, an accusation. Who can bring a charge against God’s elect? Those referred to in verses 29 and 30, that he went down the line. Those are the elect. Those started out in eternity past when God put His love upon us, chose us, began the process that would unfold in time. “Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies…”
What do you say? If God declares me righteous, who can stand in the court of God and say, I disagree! I overrule You. I have something against them that cancels Your decree.

We say it couldn’t happen that way. That’s exactly what Paul is saying! Who will bring a charge in God’s courtroom against God’s elect? God’s elect are those ones that He’s declared righteous, according to the pattern of verses 29 and 30. Those He called, He justified. He declared them righteous. It would take someone greater than God who could overrule the action, have greater authority than God, to condemn me, to bring a charge that could stand against me. Now we’re aware the devil accuses the brethren, but remember Jesus Christ in Hebrews 7:25, is our high priest representing us at the right hand of the Father, and He ever lives to make intercession for us. And we’re back to 1 John 2, if any man sins, and this comes out of chapter 1, we’re talking about a believer here, we have an Advocate, one who represents us, in the presence of the Father; and He has made propitiation for our sins. Propitiation, what He did on the cross, turned God’s wrath away from us because our penalty had been paid. Justice had been satisfied. Christ paid in full my penalty that encompassed all my sin. If it didn’t encompass past, present, and future, we’d all be lost. If it was only good for past sins, I’ve sinned since then. Is Christ going to have to come back and die for a new sin? No!

That’s the tragedy of those who try to make works what makes you saved. We’ve talked about sanctification through this. God does change a life, and if your life hasn’t changed and you profess to be a believer, you’re a liar. The truth is not in you; 1 John 1 makes that clear. You can’t claim to be in the light and live in the darkness and be considered a child of God. You’re lying, as John puts it.

“Who will bring a charge against God’s elect?” That doesn’t mean my sin is not serious when I commit it, but it will not condemn me. It may bring me under the discipline of God, but it will never result in me being rejected by God. “…God is the one who justifies…” He’s declared you righteous when you place your faith in Christ. He’s credited your account with His righteousness, God’s own righteousness. Christ became sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him, 2 Corinthians 5.

We come to another question in verse 34, “…who is the one who condemns?” You see the process here, “…who is the one who condemns?” Same idea. Who would bring a charge against us? Who would think that we could be condemned? Who could condemn us? You not only can’t bring a charge against me; there’s no one who can condemn me. There’s no charge that will stand. Any charge brought up against me, Oh, yes, I know him. I know her. They did this. They did that, and You say in Your word it’s sin. But Christ is there, and He says, Yes, but I paid for that. It’s not on their account anymore. The account is clean. The Old Testament declares, He’s put our sins as far away as the east from the west, and they’re buried in the deepest sea. We’re home-scot-free. Oh, well then you might as well sin and sin and sin. No! Because He changed me. I don’t want to! He’s given me new desires.

“…who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised…” He not only died but He was raised. We’re back to Romans 6. See how Paul is saying you can’t just blow through this; you need to stop and understand what this means. It means there’s no one to condemn you; Christ Jesus is the one who died. This was God’s own Son who wasn’t spared, and He was raised from the dead. Crucial.

Come back to Romans 4, verse 24, “…but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.” All that was necessary for God to declare us righteous for time and eternity was done. “Therefore, having been justified (declared righteous) by faith, we have peace with God…” Come down to verse 6 of chapter 5. “For while we still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” Verse 8, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” The seal and demonstration that everything necessary for our salvation was done as He was raised from the dead because righteousness had been provided. Everything necessary for us to declare us righteous is complete. Those trying to take the sacraments, do this, do that, there’s no priests on earth. There’s no one who can do anything to absolve from sin, only the almighty God can. I can share with you the truth of how your sins are absolved, but man doesn’t have the power to absolve sin in that sense. Only the power of God can do that.

Come back to Romans 8, verse 34. This is simply reiterating the theology and applying it to life, and it’s Jesus “…who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.” Jesus at the right hand of God goes back to Psalm 110:1 and in anticipation and prophecy. And then I think about ten passages I wrote down that the fact that Christ is seated at the right hand of God is enumerated in the book of Acts, the book of Ephesians, the book of Colossians, the book of Hebrews, the book of 1 Peter. He’s been elevated to the place of highest honor in heaven, closest to the Father. Or as I mentioned Hebrews 7:25, says He is representing us. He is acting on our behalf as our high priest. The sacrifice I offered, I made of My own body, paid for that sin. Satan can accuse me, but Christ is there. That was paid for. That’s a paid for that sin, and that ties to 1 John 2 where He is our advocate, our representative in the presence of God.

Now we wonder how broad is this, what all does it encompass? I could summarize verses 35 to 39, everything. But we’ll still look through it. No charge; is nothing. It’s hard for us to recognize that, and we need to realize it for ourselves[RG2]. Sometimes Christians turn in, get depressed, get discouraged. We fail. I never want to make excuses for my sin because I never have to sin. We’ve seen that. I’ve been set free from the slavery to sin. If I would submit to the Spirit, draw upon the strength that God provided, I would live a perfect life. But it’s a process now, and that’s a process God is working out and it won’t be completed until I’m glorified. I never want to take sin lightly. But be careful that we don’t interject ourselves and our failures and our weakness and transfer them to God. I’m going to successfully arrive at the appointed goal, glorification, not because of what I have done but because of what He has done.

People have come and say, I’ve sinned. I’ve had people come and say, I think I committed the unpardonable sin and I know I can’t be forgiven, and what do I do? Well, let’s understand what God says about sin and how they’re all forgiven. Otherwise the devil drags us down, Oh, well, you’ve done that before. You can’t be forgiven. That can’t be taken care of. And then we’re depressed and discouraged, and I can’t face life. Why are all these problems coming to me? Well, here we are, verse 35. “Who will separate us from the love of Christ?” You see these series of questions here, there’s another one. “Who will separate us from the love of Christ?” Well, let’s give some possibilities. Will tribulation[RG3], trials, the difficulties, the pressures of life?

Jesus told His disciples on that last night with them in John 16:33, “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” That’s what Paul has unfolded here. “Who will separate us from the love of Christ?” He loved us enough to die for us! Will tribulations and the problems, the distresses, or distress, whatever you’re going through now as a believer. Does that mean God doesn’t love you? I feel when I’m under pressure some days, Lord, do You love me? It seems like You wouldn’t let this happen to me if You loved me. Well, wait a minute. That’s how I feel. That’s not reality. I have to come to the Word and say, Lord, You said nothing would separate me from Your love, from the love that Christ has for me, that sent Him to the cross. My confidence in this is that You still love me. No one else may, my friends may abandon me, my family may abandon me, but will something come between Your love for me? No! It won’t be tribulation, it won’t be distress, so whatever you’re going through now, does that mean God loves you less? What’s the greatest thing He could do for you? What is the greatest thing Christ could do for you? Die on the cross. Take your place. “…Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” These are things that can come to us. Particularly as believers, that come to us because we’re in a fallen world, and we are caught up in it. Because that’s part of life here. But God’s provision is for us to live! He’s provided for us everything necessary for life and godliness.

His love never ends. I need to realize that no matter what I’m facing, the Holy Spirit doesn’t leave. God’s love for me is there. You know, whatever happens, the Holy Spirit dwells in me permanently. The Father dwells in me, the Son dwells in me. Their presence is an evidence of their love for me. The assurance of His word is a love for me. Don’t let the devil put you in a spiral, down. Well, if God really loves you, would this be happening? Think about it. I mean, if God was really in control, would He let this happen to you? If He really cared about you? All these kinds of things press in, and sometimes when our bodies get weak with sickness or worn down under pressures, it seems like I can’t handle it.

Lord, it’s more than I can bear! Well, no. You won’t bring testing into my life that is more than I can bear, because You care for me. It’s Your strength that carries me through. Lord, I’m flat out of energy. I don’t have an ounce of strength in my body. It’s fine to be honest with God, but don’t tell God He’s out of strength. Don’t tell God He’s out of resources. That’s where I get into trouble. Lord, You know me. I have to be honest. I don’t know if I have the strength to roll over. But, my confidence in this is You have the strength for me to do whatever Your purpose is for me to do. You love me just as much as when I’m on the bottom of the world as the days when it seemed like I was on the top. I can tell you, look how much God loves me! Look at all He’s doing for me. Now I feel like Job. What? You’ve taken all my children. You’ve taken all my friends. You’ve taken all my possessions. You’re taking my health, and You still love me? Lord, where are You? Well, I’m right here where I’ve always been. You’ve never been out of My care, things are going along, I’m in control.

So, what will separate us from Christ? Any of these things? Verse 36, “Just as it is written…” And he just wants to remind them, as he throws in an Old Testament verse, if I can put it that way. The Spirit directs him to record a verse coming from Psalm 44, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” In other words, these trials are part of the characteristics of what God’s children will endure. Jesus said, which of the prophets didn’t they persecute? So, you can expect it. In John 15, He said, if they hate Me they’ll hate you. That[RG4] comes when anybody who puts you to death will think they’re serving God, and then we add the natural things, as we might call them. Not particularly related to persecution as a believer, but I get cancer, you get cancer. We can get the virus like someone else gets the virus. We can lose our job like someone else loses a job. Not always because we’re a believer and they were trying to get us. Sometimes the business folded and what? Sometimes the economy collapsed, and I lost everything I had planned I would have for myself. Well, those things go on. “But in all these things…” You understand, these trials, they’re just not unique to you or to this time. Go back to Psalm 44; these are the characteristics of God’s people.

But, look at verse 37, “But in all these things...” I love the expansiveness. In verse 28, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good...” Wait a minute, talk about the bad things as well as the good, what’s he saying here? “But in all these things (things he talked about here, maybe the bad things) we overwhelmingly conquer through…” our strength in getting a hold of things, getting a positive attitude? …through Him who loved us.” We’re back to His love. I don’t want anything to cause me to doubt God’s love for me because I’d be doubting God. No matter what comes up in my life, no matter how crushing it is to me, no matter how disappointing and distressing, nothing can separate me from His love. So, “…we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.” Because you know what, this is all part of God’s sovereign plan for me. I’m exactly where He wants me, and I end up glorified. “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.”

And you know, it’s like Paul, I can’t get off this. “For I am convinced…” I love that. “…I am convinced that neither death, nor life…” And what he’s doing here is just bringing up all these things and the contrary things, just throwing them all in. “…neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing…” That includes everything outside of the triune God because everything outside of Him is a created thing. Whether it’s in the spirit world, angels and demons and Satan, the things in this created world that we live in and all that comes with it “…will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” There’s nothing in creation anywhere, in heaven or earth, in the material world or the spirit world, that can “…separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Now, a person who has not placed their faith in Christ is outside the love of God. The love of God has been provided for them, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. But you enter into the experience of that love, the benefits of that love, when you place your faith in the Savior He provided in love. We’ve read in Romans 5, this is the demonstration of God’s love in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. So, His love has been provided for us, but you don’t enter into that love until you place your faith in the Savior. Then it becomes something that you experience, you can enjoy, you can find security and blessing.

How sad it is, it’s there! That’s where we don’t want to get shaped by the world’s thinking. The world goes to pieces, goes all over the place in crises because everything is collapsing, and it is. But nothing of value is changing for us. I don’t want to minimize the pain that can come, the suffering that can come, but Paul has already dealt with this in other writings, and we’ve looked at Corinthians a number of times. I don’t think the sufferings of this present time are worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Paul can say, though my outer man is deteriorating, yet my inner man is getting stronger, and then he goes on to elaborate that in 2 Corinthians 5. He talks about how we walk by faith, not by sight. I keep my faith strong. I want it to rest securely in the Word and everything God said is true.

And that gives me stability through the greatest crises, for the most difficult times, for the most discouraging of events. I can have full confidence. I don’t have to be shaken. I don’t have to be driven here and there. The world does because the external things are what they build their life around and for. I was reading about one of the world’s wealthiest men. He may be the wealthiest, he just bought another hundred million-dollar home. Fine, now you have half a dozen of them. Where are you going to live for eternity? How short-sighted. Well, I may live to be a hundred. Yes, where will you be when you’re a hundred and one? What will you have then? What will you have in a hundred million years? How short is that? I was looking at one of our billionaires. They had a close-up and I thought, My, he’s gotten old. It wasn’t that long ago he was a young man, but all his billions don’t buy him eternal life. So, as a believer, we’ve had this doctrine of justification and sanctification. If we’re shaped by that and live in light of it, it’ll give us stability in all the situations of life. What more could we want?

Let’s have a word of prayer and I’ll deal with some questions that have come in. Thank You, Lord for the riches of Your word. Lord, we’re reminded that You instructed Paul to write to Timothy about the treasure that was entrusted to him. Your truth is a treasure. As the Psalmist said it is more precious to us than gold, fine gold. Lord, it’s easy for us, under pressure, pain, disappointments, sorrow, to become distracted. That’s why it’s important for us to be refreshed in our minds, to be reminded that You are the unchanging God. Your love is an unfailing love and Your provision for us as those who have placed our faith by Your grace in Your Son is an unfailing provision and the guarantee that every step is guided by You, and we’re assured of glory in Your presence. Thank You for this time in the Word, bless our continued discussion. In Christ’s name, amen.

Alright, to change gears I have a few questions that have come in. I have a question here. What qualifications does our church generally hold for deacons? Deacons are distinguished from elders. This is in 1 Timothy 3, where they are basically mentioned. The qualifications for elders and deacons are mentioned. The qualifications for elders are also mentioned in Titus, as we just finished our study there. But the qualifications for deacons are mentioned also in 1 Timothy 3. First, he mentions the qualifications for elders in the first part of chapter 3, then in verse 8 he picks up deacons. “Deacons likewise…” And he gives the qualifications for deacons. And deacons’ qualifications are very similar to those of elders because they’re qualifications of godliness, godly character, godly conduct. It doesn’t say they have to be able to teach the Word. And it seems in light of that, there are more passages about elders, that the primary responsibility for the teaching of the Word and the doctrine of purity of the church is committed to the elders. But the deacons work together with the elders, and the way we’re structured as a local church, our elders are responsible for the overall ministry of the church. In other words, when the elders meet together, each elder does not represent an area of the church ministries. But they come together, and we together represent the church as a whole. Deacons are appointed and they serve in a particular area, and they are to be those who administer their families well. Their ministry is of great importance because he says in verse 13, “For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.” Usually we take Acts 6 as where deacons began. Certain godly men were appointed to administer in the area of caring for the widows and provision for them, and we see that the Greek widows were taken care of as well as the Jewish widows. And even Stephen was appointed as deacon, and we see him as the first martyr, a very godly, Spirit-controlled man. Deacons have a high position, but they function under the authority of the elders, and they represent an area.

You can check on our church, I take it you’re a member here. Different churches, and Baptist churches, they only have one elder. It’s normal, since my background was Baptist, one elder in a church. That’s the preacher, and then he has deacons who serve with him. We think the more biblical position is plurality of elders in each church, and the deacons we appoint, overseeing every area. They have great responsibility because we have a variety of ministries in our church, and each of those areas must be carried out biblically and efficiently. We have godly men who have accepted the responsibility of deacon and are serving in that area. We have many people who are neither elders nor deacons, and they are carrying out important roles, but everyone would be under the overall authority of elders. And whatever area you are in, you would have a deacon over that who has responsibility particularly for that area. And the qualifications are basically those. We have forms that are filled out that have qualifications and so on, that are available if you would like to have one of those. They’re available to you. We could provide that to someone who wasn’t part of our church as well, if they were interested in that. We have sometimes gathered them from other churches over the years when we were looking to sift through and try to become more biblical in the way we were handling things.

So those are the two areas we have. Deacons are not mentioned often. Philippians begins as Paul writes the letter to the elders and deacons of the church at Philippi, so there was a recognition of that. Of course, in 1 Timothy 3 there is that as well. It’s sometimes hard to tell whether you’re talking about a former deacon or just a servant, because the Greek word for deacon is the word for servant. It can be used in a general sense of serving without the official position of a deacon, but those who have the official position, those meeting the qualifications that have formally been appointed to that in our local church…

Since I’m talking about the church, I have a question. What does the Bible say about church membership, if anything? Where does this practice in some churches come from? Well, part of the confusion, I think, is that the New Testament doesn’t consider the possibility of a person who would be a believer in Jesus Christ who is not part of a local church. That’d be like, you could say it’s an oxymoron because what happens in 1 Corinthians 12:13, by one Spirit, when you place your faith in Christ, by one Spirit we have all been baptized into one body, the body of Christ. And that’s what the church is, and the manifestation of the church on earth is the local church. Individual, local churches are the manifestation of the body of Christ in that place. So, church membership, as a formal action, is not an option. You have to be a member of a church, no matter how they do it. Now if you have a congregational church, I mentioned Baptists, they’re usually congregational. By that I mean instead of having a board of elders who govern the church, every member gets to vote. A part of having a membership is who can vote? You don’t want people who may or may not be believers coming in, attending for a week or two, and they’re going to vote on the new pastor or a budget or things. You want to be sure these are those people who are part of this ministry and are eligible to vote. We used to have eligibility to vote in our country, I don’t know that we still have it or not, but that’s a different subject. The way we’ve sorted through it, we have church membership. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ and attend this church, you are a member. It’s not optional. To say I attend here but I don’t consider myself a member is another way of saying I don’t consider myself a believer. We have those who are not believers who attend this church. They are not members. But if you are a believer, you profess to be a believer, that is your testimony, ‘I have placed my faith in Jesus Christ as my personal Savior,’ I attend Indian Hills. Then you are a member. That means you are eligible for all the blessings of being part of the church, being involved, serving, and so on. That also means you are subject to the discipline of this church, so it’s not optional. If you go and the strongest Bible-believing church has a different way to handle membership, we want you to come, be interviewed, and not often their names are presented to the congregation and they’re voted on and you join. Well, then you go through that process because you need to be identified. You are a member. If you’re not a member of a church, that’s a way of saying that I’m not a believer. Sort of like being unbaptized. The New Testament doesn’t consider such a thing as an unbaptized believer. Jesus said you go make disciples and you baptize them. Well, people that don’t come forward to be baptized, I guess they’re saying that I’m not a disciple. I’m not a believer. That’s equivalent to being a Christian, being a believer. A person who decides to attend Indian Hills, I don’t consider that my church. I don’t consider myself a member there. What church are you a member of? Well, I don’t think I’m a member of any church. I just like to attend. Well that’s fine, but we don’t consider you a believer. So, don’t be surprised if we don’t consider you a believer if you don’t consider yourself a member, because the Spirit of God places a person into the body of Christ, which is the church. He’s the head of His body, the church as Ephesians 1 tells us. If you’re not a member of His body, you’ve never been baptized by the Spirit. That’s not talking about water baptism; the Spirit’s action when you believed placed you in the body. So, the Bible doesn’t say anything about church membership, it says everything! Every believer is a church member, and the manifestation of the body of Christ on earth is the local churches. Look at where the New Testament is written. Look at Revelation 2 and 3, they’re all local churches. That’s just part of being a believer.

They’re equivalent. That’s why we don’t have formal membership. We have elders who govern, they don’t vote, but we take into account the congregation. You’re aware we have information meetings and so on. We expect that if you’re truly a believer, you’d be baptized. If you’re an unbaptized believer, that raises doubt. Wouldn’t want you in certain positions. You say you’re a believer, Jesus said you should be baptized in identification with Him. Well, I don’t think it’s important. Well, people who say what Jesus says is not important aren’t eligible to serve in important places. I don’t know, I know some who may well be believers who just haven’t gone there. You say we don’t emphasize it enough. Well, I’m not taking responsibility for your action. I’m not telling you that you have to get baptized, I’m telling you Christ said that if you’re truly a believer, you should get baptized. I’m telling you the Bible says if you’re truly a believer and you attend this church, you’re a member. If you persist in open sin and won’t stop, you will be disciplined. Well, I don’t consider myself a member. Well, we go into the Bible and you should understand if you’re going to live in sin and say you shouldn’t be disciplined because you don’t consider yourself a member, you better get out, because we discipline you on the basis of your testimony. It’s like we baptize you based on your testimony.

Alright, I’ll leave you with that. I have a question about communion, but I’ve gone my hour. So, we’ll leave that. If you have any questions on this, or you want an elaboration, text it in, email it in, come by the church and drop it in one of the comment boxes or leave it at Sound Words, and we’ll get it. Let’s have a word of prayer. Thank You Lord, for Your blessings over the past week. We look forward to the week before us. We anticipate the time when we can be together physically as Your family in this place. And thank You for the blessings that are ours. Lord, even the trials and difficulties that have come as a result of the pressures that are on our country and are being felt around the world, Lord, it’s good for us to be reminded that the things of eternal importance, they’re not impacted by this. These are opportunities for us to grow and appreciate in newer and greater ways Your sufficiency for us. May we be sensitive to one another, praying for one another, and Lord, be ready to be used of one another in whatever way is important and necessary and helpful in each other’s lives. Bless the week before us, watch over each one. We pray in Christ’s name, amen.
[RG1]Greek here, 21:22
[RG2]Can’t make this out 31:18
[RG3]33:10
[RG4]I don’t understand what he means here. 38:29