God’s Work on Behalf of Believers

Transcript

GR 1443
09/26/10
God's Work on Behalf of Believers
Romans 8:28-30
Gil Rugh

We're in Romans 8 together. The book of Romans has been unfolding the gospel, the good news of God concerning His Son and our salvation. We've seen something of the glory that God has promised for those who become His children through faith in Christ. He has prepared us to be heirs of His and co-heirs with Jesus Christ. Romans 8:16 says: “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.” Then that verse ends, “if we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” Remember during His earthly ministry Jesus invited people to come and follow Him and enjoy the good life. But that's not what He said. He did promise them abundant life if they would believe in Him. But He invited them, “Come, take up your cross and follow Me.” To become a child of God, a follower of Jesus Christ means you are joined with Him in suffering, and even though we are the children of God, heirs of the glory that God has promised to those who are His children, this present period of our lives is a time of suffering, trial and difficulty of one kind or another. That doesn't mean every day is a hardship, but we as God's people experience the trials and tribulations and problems associated with life. Then we add to that the added battles and conflicts that come to us as those who are followers of Jesus Christ.

He said in verse 18: “I consider that the sufferings of this present time [the “now” time], are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” I want you to put your present sufferings in the context of future glory. So he has moved in to talk about this whole area of the difficulties and trials of our lives. This encompasses all kinds of difficulties and trials. And after a word of encouragement that we have a hope that is sure and settled and secure, and we will ultimately experience the redemption of our bodies being glorified in the presence of the God of glory. So we persevere. That's why Paul wrote to the Corinthians and said, “though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.” (2 Corinthians 4:16).

Then he proceeded here in verses 26-27 to remind them of the work of the Spirit on their behalf. Romans 8 is the chapter in the Bible, you remember, about the work of the Holy Spirit. And we are told a number of things that the Holy Spirit has done or is doing on our behalf as God's people. In Romans 8:26-27 we were told that the Holy Spirit of God intercedes on our behalf. And in our weakness, whatever that is, our frailty, the difficulties we experience during this earthly life as God's people, the Spirit of God undertakes to pray for us according to the will of God. And even in my deepest trials, the most overwhelming situation, the pain that seems to shatter me, I don't even know what to pray for.

I was talking to someone recently. They used that expression, I don't even know what to pray for, I don't even know how to pray. That was just this past week. I said, “Well, that's interesting, I've just been studying Romans 8:26-27 and was reminded that we don't know. But as the child of God we have the confidence that the Spirit of God knows. He knows God's will and He intercedes for us according to the will of God. There is perfect communication between the Father and the Son. It doesn't even become verbal. Unspeakable groanings that are not brought to words because God the Father, God the Spirit know each other's mind, if you will. So the Spirit of God is interceding on our behalf according to the will of God.”

That leads us into perhaps the most familiar verse to us as believers in this section, verse 28. How often have we quoted this verse for ourselves or for others? “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.” We often give this verse in an abbreviated form, “we know that all things work together for good.” But you know that's not what the verse says. It says God causes all things to work together for good to those who are loving God. So there will be a narrowness on the focus here that has characterized Romans 8. The blessings of God, the provisions of God, the sufficiency of God are provided for His people. The intercession of the Spirit of God is limited to God's people.

Look at the end of verse 27: “He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” We noted as we looked at that passage that the intercession of the Spirit was on behalf of the saints, the holy ones, those who have experienced the salvation of God through faith in Jesus Christ, have become partakers of the character of the God who is holy. That's the word “saint,” the holy ones. We belong to God, we partake of the character of God and His character is being produced in us.

So we know that God works all things, He causes all things to work together for good. It's the sovereign work of God, the context makes clear. Some don't have the word “God” causes in their translation, but in the context that is clear. God causes all things to work together for good. Some of the manuscripts have “God” in them, some don't, but the context is the same. It's the sovereign work of God that is being emphasized here, and the Spirit of God is interceding on our behalf according to the will of God. In that context God causes all things to work together for good. Because you see, Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all at work on behalf of the child of God, assuring and guaranteeing that the purposes of God in saving us will come to their appointed conclusion—glory in the presence of God.

We can say “we know” because we know. This is something of common knowledge that we have as believers. He's not telling us something we don't know, he's telling us something we easily forget. You know it's easy for me now, I'm relatively healthy for an old man, I don't have any particular overwhelming situation facing me. So I can say all things work together for good, God is good. And of course, as I look over the past I can see in many cases how even things I thought were bad, the Lord worked for good. So all things work together for good. But you know, really the time that we grab onto this verse is in times of pain, difficulty and trouble. Right? Suffering. All of a sudden things aren't right as I would see them. Something very difficult has come into my life.
The kind of things Paul is talking about, jump down to verse 35: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword?” Any kind of trouble and difficulty? These are the kinds of things he is talking about, that can be so painful, so troublesome. And I don't see any good in it, I don't see any purpose in it. And yet I'm told God causes all things to work together for good for those who are loving God.

God is the sovereign actor here, it's His work that brings about this result. He causes all things, all things. Doesn't say “most” things, doesn't say certain kinds of things. He causes all things to work together for good, all things, whatever it is. The list we just read in verse 35, I don't have enough food, don't have enough clothes, I'm in distress, persecution, trouble. Whatever the problem is, whatever the suffering is, He causes all things to work together for good.

Now note, all things aren't good, but God causes all things to work for good on my behalf as His child. So that doesn't mean everything. A person gets drunk and hits you with his car. It wasn't good he got drunk, it wasn't good he hit you with his car. But as a child of God, He causes all things to work together for good for His children. So whatever comes, whatever the difficulty, whatever the problem, whatever the trial, it does not frustrate or short circuit God's plan for me. That was verse 35, “Who will separate us from the love of Christ?” Can there be a breakdown in God's plan to bring me to glory? No. So no matter what comes into my life, what happens to me, what I do, as God's child it is all under His control, and He works everything for my good.

Now don't call me this week and say, “I have a problem. You tell me how that works for good?” I can't, I'm not God. But I can tell you, if you are His child, He will cause it to work together for good, and it will not frustrate His plan for you. That's complete confidence. It doesn't get me every answer I would like to have, and we all in our despair in our difficulties find ourselves saying, “I don't see any purpose in this. What good could come of this?” I have to admit I don't know how you bring any good out of this, this is a situation I can't see anything good coming of it. But, if you are a child of God, the sovereign God says He causes all things, all things, all things to work for good. So they will be used in His work in my life, ultimately bringing me to the glory of His presence.

Now there is a qualification here, “All things work together for good.” Sometimes we have to be careful as Christians, even talking with unbelievers we want to say something and it seems like they need a word of encouragement. We say, “well everything works together for good.” No, it doesn't. It only works together for good under the sovereign plan of God for a certain group of people. “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God.” Present participle, “to those who are loving God.” That's the same group that the Spirit intercedes for at the end of verse 27, “He intercedes for the saints.” “He causes all things to work together for good, for those who are loving God.” In Greek, which the letter to the Romans was written in, you rearrange words. We do that somewhat in English, but even more of that is done in Greek. You want to give something emphasis, you just put it first in the sentence, even though you translate it, literally it would be awkward English. So at the first of this sentence is, “to those who are loving God, He causes all things to work together for good.” The emphasis on these are the people we are talking about, these are the individuals we are talking about—those who love God. For those He causes all things to work together for good.

We sometimes talk about a Christian is one who has trusted in Jesus Christ, and that is true. But you understand another way to define a Christian is “one who is loving God.” Not just something that happened in the past where I made a decision for Christ, but one who has an ongoing loving relationship with God. One who loves God.

Turn over to 1 John 4:7: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” The love that we have for one another as believers is a result of God's work in our lives. Having been born of God, having a saving knowledge of God gives us a love for one another as believers. “The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (v. 8). We have “become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4), as Peter says, and “God is love.” “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the satisfaction for our sins.” (vv. 9, 10). God is the initiator in the relationship and He initiated it by loving us. What does that mean? He acted on our behalf, He gave His Son to be the propitiation, the satisfaction, that paid the penalty for our sin. That's the manifestation of God's love.

You see what we're talking about primarily here is an action. We always think of love as a feeling, an emotion. And of course there is a place for emotions in love, as in all of our life, our feelings. But that's not the primary thing we're talking about. God loved us, He did what was necessary for us, for our good and our benefit. And that's the reason we are to love one another, the next verse tells us.

Come down to 1 John 4:11, “If God so loved us, we ought to love one another.” Verse 19, “We love, because He first loved us.” So God has initiated a love relationship with us and now we love one another, and we are described as those who love God. We love God and we love the children of God. John has made a point in this. You can't claim that you love God if you don't love the people of God because they go hand-in-hand. So God established the love relationship with us, acting for our good, bringing us to salvation in His Son. And now we love Him and we love one another.

What does it mean to love God? Come back to John 14. Many people profess to love God, to love Jesus Christ. If you ask the average Protestant or Catholic, “Do you love God?” “Of course.” “Do you love Jesus Christ?” “Yes.” So much of what is done, even religiously, is to stir some kind of emotion and feeling because we identify that with love. But that's not what Jesus talked about when He talks about loving Him. John 14, Jesus is speaking to His disciples shortly before His crucifixion and He says in verse 15, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” If you love Me you will keep My commandments. This is in the context of promising them the provision of the Holy Spirit that Paul has been writing about in Romans 8. Verse 16: “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.” In that context, “If you love Me you will keep My commandments.” Verse 21: “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me.” Do you see why in Romans 8 we are told that God causes all things to work together for good to those who are loving God? What does it mean to be loving God? Living in obedience to Him. “If you love Me you will keep My commandments.” “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me.” Come down to verse 23: “Jesus answered and said to him, 'If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word.” Verse 24: “He who does not love Me does not keep My words.” So a Christian can be defined as “one who is loving God.” By that we are not saying you have a particular emotion or feeling in your heart. You are one who lives in obedience and submission to God and His word. If you don't, you don't love God. That's what Jesus said in verse 24: “He who does not love Me does not keep My words.” They are inseparably joined together.

Is your life a life of obedience to the word of God? And we all sit here like good people. But what is my life like through the week? How do I live? “If you love Me you will obey Me,” Jesus said. “If you don't love Me you don't obey Me.”

So God causes all things to work together for good to those who are loving Him, living in obedience to Him. That doesn't mean our emotions are not involved in our love of God, like they are involved in our love for one another. But that doesn't lead the way.

I wake up in the morning, I'm not a morning person. Marilyn says to me (I just made this up), “Do you love me?” at 6 o'clock in the morning. “Of course I love you, now can I go have my cereal and a cup of coffee?” Do I wake up and say, “How do you feel this morning?” “I don't have any feelings this morning, ask me later.” But does that mean I don't love? The feelings will come. So they come and go and I have to be careful otherwise. . . Do you love your wife? Not today, not this morning. Wait a minute. Do I love God? Yes. Oh, you mean you have that feeling and emotion? Not necessarily, but I want to do what He would have me do, I want to honor Him and obey Him in loving my wife or loving others. I want to do what is best for them. So my relationship with God is a relationship of desiring to please Him, obey Him. Sometimes the feelings run very deep, sometimes the feelings are not there the way we like to have them. Doesn't change the reality, it gives stability to our love relationship with God and with one another. That's what Jesus is talking about.

So come back to Romans 8. “We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God.” (v. 28). We're living in a relationship of love with God, we love Him, we are keeping His word, we are obeying Him, we are doing what is pleasing to Him as He is revealed in His word. “If you love Me you will keep My word.” That describes a believer.

Now he is going to further elaborate on those who love God. That's a present action, they are loving God. Then he says, “To those who are called according to His purpose.” This further describes the group for whom “God causes all things to work together for good.” It's those who are loving Him, it is “those who have been called according to His purpose.” Now we are moving into the sovereign work of God on our behalf in our salvation. They have been “called according to His purpose.” And this ties to why He is working all things together for our good, because we are those that He has called according to His purpose. The called. Paul began the book of Romans by telling them that they were called.

Come back to Romans 1, and we'll break in here, we have a rather long sentence to start in Romans 1, verse 6, he says that they are among. . .they are Gentiles who have experienced that salvation, “among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ.” Verse 7: “To all who are beloved of God in Rome, called saints.” So the called of Jesus Christ are called “saints.” When Paul uses the word “called” in his writings he always uses it to refer to the call that resulted in salvation. In the gospels, like Matthew 22:14, Jesus said, “Many are called, few are chosen.” There He is using the word “called” to refer to the invitation that goes out to all people. “Come unto Me all ye that are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest,” Jesus said (Matthew 11:28). Everyone is invited to come to salvation in Jesus Christ.

So when Paul talks about those who have been called by God, he is talking about that call of God that always results in the salvation of the one who has been called. So we call it the “effectual call,” it is effective in resulting in the required response—faith in Jesus Christ. So those who are loving God are those who have been called according to the purpose of God.

Come back to Romans 8:28: “To those who are called according to His purpose.” This is a reference to God's purpose, foundational to everything. God is operating with purpose, His determination, His plan, what He has determined to accomplish and carry out. In this context he is talking about His purpose in our salvation, “called according to His purpose.” Down in Romans 9:11. . .When we get to Romans 9 we're going to talk in some detail about the sovereignty of God in salvation, the doctrine that we often refer to as the doctrine of election, and what is entailed in that. So we will be touching on that in what we're talking about in the verses before us in Romans 8, but we will do a more thorough examination of that doctrine when we come to chapter 9. Paul unfolds it in some detail. I mention that because some of you may be wondering about some things that will be answered in chapter 9.

But look at Romans 9:11: “For though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, [note this] so that God's purpose according to [election] His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls.” You'll note there, His purpose and it's according to His purpose as the One who called. The call and the purpose join together. “Those who are called according to His purpose.” It's God's sovereign call to bring to salvation those that He had determined to save.

Come over to Ephesians 1. We are told in verse 4 that “God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world.” Verse 5: “He predestined us,” we're going to get to the word predestination in Romans 8 in a moment. “He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of His glory.” Come down to verse 11: “Also we have obtained an inheritance.” Remember we saw in Romans 8, we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Jesus Christ. So he says in verse 11: “We have obtained an inheritance, [having predestined] been predestined according to His purpose.” There is our word “purpose.” “According to His purpose, who works all things after the counsel of His will.” Now there is a lot here, we'll say more about it in coming studies. But you see God is working according to His purpose. Well how does He come up with His purpose? He works according to the counsel of His will, He counsels with Himself—Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the triune God, three persons comprising the one God. It's the counsel of His will. He works everything according to the counsel of His will. I have to be careful about coming to the scripture with the mindset that this is what God will do and this is what He will not do. I come to submit myself to the revelation God has given of Himself. And quite honestly there are many things I do not have an answer for, I cannot logically unfold. He works according to the counsel of His will. That did not include me. He counseled with Himself. That's as far back as I can go. Why did God do it this way and not this way? I don't know. Could He have done this and not this? I don't know. Don't you think it would be better if He had done this? I can answer that—no. Well how do you know? Because He did it this way and He is the perfect God who operated according to the counsel of His will.

So you see in Ephesians here, He predestined us “according to His purpose, who works all things after the counsel of His will.” His purpose is what is operating on our behalf. In this context in Ephesians 1 as well as in Romans 8, he is talking about our salvation. We could look more broadly, and God is working all things in the creation ultimately according to His purpose. But He is really operating according to His purpose in this context that we're talking about for our benefit as those who are His children.

Look in Ephesians 3, talking about the plan of salvation carried out in Jesus Christ. Verse 11: “This was in accordance with the eternal purpose [the purpose of the ages] which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Second Timothy 1:8: “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling.” There is our calling again. “Not according to our works, but according to His own purpose.” His own purpose, that sovereign purpose of God. “And grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.” This was the purpose of God established before the creation. So you see He counseled with Himself, the counsel of His will, His sovereign determination, His purpose was established. That involved your salvation and my salvation. Remarkable, awesome.

Come back to Romans 8. Now, what he is going to do in verses 29-30 is show how all things work together for good for God's children. He has declared it, now he is going to unfold some of the steps that show how God is working all things together for our good, because this is His purpose for those that He has called. You'll see in verse 29 “for.” So we're going to further elaborate. “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Then verse 29: “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined.” Verse 30: “Those whom He predestined, He also called.” So you see now, he is going to take a few steps back before “called,” and see that “predestined” preceded “called,” and “foreknew” preceded “predestined.” So, whom He foreknew, He predestined. Verse 30: “Those whom He predestined, He called; those whom He called, He justified; those whom He justified, He glorified.” And he unfolds the purpose of God in our salvation from beginning to end. And that will give us the confident assurance that He is causing all things to work together for good, because He has determined it from beginning to end.

And that's why verse 35 will ask the question, “Who can separate us from the love of Christ?” Of course the answer is “nothing.” Verse 37 will tell us that in everything “we overwhelmingly conquer” because the tragedies of life, the most painful things in life, the most unsettling, nothing separates us from the love of Christ. Nothing frustrates the purpose and plan of God for His people.

So we pick up in verse 29: “For those whom He foreknew,” those whom He foreknew. The “whom” indicates the foreknowledge refers to individuals, not something about the individual like their faith. It doesn't say, “for whom He foreknew,” they would have faith, those whom He foreknew. Period. So it's not a group like the church, it's an individual. “Those whom He foreknew.” God is omniscient, He knows everything. That's one of the attributes of God, He is omniscient, He is all-knowing. But here we're told, “those whom He foreknew.” It has to mean something different than the fact that He knows everything and everyone, because here it is limited to certain individuals. So we're not just talking about the knowledge that God has as God, there is something additional here.

The background is in the Old Testament, as many of you are aware, where when you talk about knowledge, and particularly we're concerned about the knowledge that God has, we're talking about something more than just His overwhelming knowledge. Come back to Genesis 18. When you talk about the knowledge of God in many of these contexts in the Old Testament, you're talking about God's favor, or God's choice placed on someone. In Genesis 18:8: “Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed.” Now note verse 19: “For I have chosen him.” Now if you are using the translation of the Bible that I am, you have a little “1” in front of “chosen.” And if you go over and look at 19, in your margin it says, “literally known.” Because the Hebrew word translated “chosen” here is the Hebrew word “to know,” or “known.” So it literally says in verse 19: “For I have known him so that he may command his children and household after him.” Well that obviously means more than “knowing” him because God knows everything and everyone, He's omniscient. But it is Abraham that I have placed My favor upon, My love upon, I have chosen him so that he many command his children and his household after him. Out of him will come the nation Israel, which is what we're told in verse 18, he'll be “a great and mighty nation and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed.” Because through his line the Messiah will come. That word “to know” here, “used of God.” I have known him, I have placed My favor upon him, I have chosen him for Myself, is the idea.

Come to Jeremiah 1. God is speaking about Jeremiah, and note what He says in verse 5: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I consecrated you. I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Before Jeremiah was conceived and formed in the womb, this is when the action took place, “I knew you.” Well God knows everything, He knows in the general sense of knowledge, the omniscient God, He knows everything about everything and everything about everyone. But there is something special about Jeremiah. “I knew you, I consecrated you, I appointed you.” The sovereign action of God before Jeremiah was ever conceived, God had placed His favor upon him, He had chosen him, consecrated him for service, appointed him to be a prophet in this particular area of ministry, a prophet to the nation. You see again that word “to know.” We talk about God knew someone.

One other passage will be enough. Amos 3:2, God says to Israel, “You only have I chosen.” There is our word again. You look in the margin, “You only have I known among all the families of the earth.” What is God saying? Israel is the only nation He has chosen for Himself. That's why the issues in the world ultimately come to Israel, this is the only nation God has chosen for Himself. Why that desert, little patch of land, why is it such an issue? Why is the President of the United States trying to resolve the conflict there? Let them fight it out in the desert and be done with it. Who cares? We'll go to New York City. Wait a minute, we can't get away from it. Why? Because this is the center of the world in God's plan, because this is the only nation He has chosen for Himself out of all the nations. So they are the object of satanic opposition and hatred, and so on. But you'll note the word “known,” “You only have I known.”

So we come to the New Testament. We talk about God knowing in a case like this, we're talking about His favor, His choice. Come to Acts 2. Peter is preaching on the Day of Pentecost, talking about Jesus, His earthly life and His crucifixion. Verse 23: “This Man [referring to Christ], delivered over [now note this] by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross.” Did God just look ahead in the future to see, “if I sent My Son to earth I wonder what will happen? Oh, I see they'll crucify Him.” That's how He came up with a plan? Obviously not! It was the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God. “Predetermined plan” and “foreknowledge” here grammatically are very closely tied together. Foreknowledge of the predetermined plan. That was the sovereign choice of God that He foreordained would take place. That was the plan of God. It wasn't the act of men did and so God formed a plan as a result of what men would do? No. God formed the plan, it was the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, He foreordained it, the crucifixion of Christ.

Come over to 1 Peter 1:1, the end of verse 1. He is writing to the Jewish believers of the diaspora, scattered outside of Palestine. He refers to them, end of verse 1, “Those who are chosen.” Note this, “According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit to obey Jesus Christ.” (v. 2).You see all three persons of the triune God brought together here. “Chosen according to the foreknowledge of God.” Some read this and say, “God looked ahead to see who would believe and then He chose them.” That's not what the foreknowledge of God is. It's the sovereign choice of God made beforehand. Come down to verse 20, talking about the redemption provided in Christ, “For He [referring to Christ] was foreknown before the foundation of the world.” What does he mean He was foreknown before the foundation of the world? Foreordained, chosen and appointed to this destiny; foreknown, it was the plan of God. God is not just sitting there as a passive observer where He started creation and sits back now and looks ahead to see what happens and then formulates a plan on that. He is the sovereign God who planned the provision of His Son to die on the cross. It was the predetermined plan of God, as Peter said. The predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, what He foreordained, determined to come about. So, “chosen according to the foreknowledge of God,” is chosen according to the sovereign determination of God.

We come back to Romans 8:29, he is explaining why “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him,” because they are the “called according to His purpose.” Now let's go back here, these are the ones He foreknew, He determined to place His love upon, to choose for Himself, and those He predestined to conformity with His Son. And He carried that out, those that He predestined, verse 30, He called. We will come back in our next study and look a little more into this. But I want you to have at least the fuller picture. Verse 30: “Those whom He predestined, He called.” Now there is our call that we saw at the end of verse 28, “Called according to His purpose.” Those were the ones that He had predestined, the ones that He foreknew. Then they are called. And those that are called are justified, and those that are justified are glorified. An interesting thing, we talk about the aorist tense in Greek, it's the normal past tense. In fact, all of these verbs here are in the past tense—those whom He foreknew, He predestined, He called, He justified. You would think the last one would be future, He will glorify. But that's also aorist tense. We talk about Old Testament prophets, we talk about the prophetic past. When a prophet often gave his prophecy of the future he spoke in the past tense, that's why we call it the prophetic past. The prophet is talking about a future event but he is talking about it in the past tense. Why? When God says it, it is as good as done. What God says about the future is just as settled as what happened yesterday. So when he talks about that we will be glorified, it's the same as justified, it's done.

So you see the purpose of God cannot be frustrated, and glorification is included in that. So all things are caused by Him to work together for our good, to bring us to the ultimate appointed end—glorification. Can't fail. Verse 35: “Will anything separate us from the love of Christ?” No, in all things we overwhelmingly conquer. “In all things we overwhelmingly conquer,” verse 37 says. What do you mean? Nakedness, don't have enough clothes; famine, don't have enough food; distress of any kind, persecution, tribulation. Whatever it is, God is sovereign, and that's the security we have.

Salvation is God's work. We are saved as a trophy of God's grace. People say this and you've probably heard it, “I know I'm not one of the elect.” Well I can tell them that's a lie. You may not be one of the elect, but you don't know it because you weren't in the counsel of God when the determination was made. We know God is sovereign and I know God says, if you will call upon Him, He will save you. So I invite you to cast yourself upon the mercy of God. “God, I'm a sinner, I know I'm unworthy to be saved, I'm undeserving. I don't know how you would choose me and I don't know if you did, but I'm calling on you to save me.” That's where I am, that's where we are. Right? If you are not saved, why not? Why don't you turn from your sin and stubborn rebellion and say, “God, you are a God of mercy. You are a God who commands all everywhere to repent, and I want to repent. I want your Spirit to convict this hardened heart of mine and I come to my knees before you. I want to place my faith in Christ. He is the only Savior, He is the only One who can help me. God, save me.” He will. He cannot lie, He is the God who cannot lie. “Whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13). The doctrine of election is not a barrier to that. It's the sovereign grace of God and the convicting work of His Spirit that brings a person a person to that point. And when we have become the children of God we live in the security that His work is a perfect work, and “He who has begun a good work in you will bring it to completion in the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6).

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for the richness of Your word. Thank You for a salvation that was planned and purposed in eternity past before we were born. Before there was a creation You the sovereign God established and determined Your work of salvation and the redemption that would grip the hearts and minds of fallen, sinful human beings. We thank You for your grace that continues to offer that salvation to men, women and children today. We thank You for that grace that promises the security, and Your care for everyone who believes in Christ. We thank You in Christ's name. Amen.