Romans Series # 41 June 05, 2002
Title: 6 Reasons Christians Can Be Certain Of Heaven, Part 3
Website: www.newlifeinchrist.info
Email: pastorsarver@yahoo.com
Introduction: Welcome to New Life in Christ. We are currently in Chapter 8 of Romans as we continue with message #41 of our verse-by-verse study of the Book of Romans.
Read Romans 8:31-32
Opening Prayer
Over the past two weeks, as I have taught on Romans 8:26-39, I have been sharing with you six reasons that Christians can be certain of future glory in heaven. So far we have looked at three of the seven.
1. Christians can be certain of their future in heaven because God’s Spirit prays for us perfectly
2. Christians can be certain of their future in heaven because God is working in every situation for the good.
3. Christians can be certain of their future in heaven because God’s predetermined plan is that all Christians are glorified.
We’ve seen three reasons for this certainty; now let’s look at reason number 4 of the 7.
4. Christians can be certain of their future in heaven because God is for us and not against us.
Read Verse 31
In verse 31, Paul states the encouraging truth “If God is for us, who can be against us?" In other words, how can we lose if God is on our side? How can we be kept from future glory if God is for us? Obviously we can’t. Paul is not saying that no one or nothing is against or opposed to our success or victory. Satan with his temptations, the flesh with its weakness, this world what is attendant troubles and even people are all against us at times, but since God is for us we are certain of the victory. God is greater than anything that is against us so we have nothing to fear!
Read Psalms 118:6
In school, most of us dealt with bullies. If you were small and timid like I was, the only way to ensure a peaceful and safe time throughout the school day was to have a friend who was bigger than the bully and committed to your well-being. As long as that bigger friend was with you and for you, you had nothing to fear. The same is true for God, he is for us and he is bigger than anything that is against us.
Now some people may have been saying to themselves, “Ok Paul I agree with you, If God is for me I cannot lose, but how do I know God is for me? How do I know that God will not change his mind and forsake me? Maybe God will get fed up with my failures and reject me?” In answer to these concerns and questions Paul basically says, “Use a little common sense!”
In verse 32, Paul reminds the people that God “did not even spare his own Son but gave him up for us all...” Now common sense dictates that if God was willing to do that for us, won’t he “also along with him graciously give us all things?” In other words, since God has went to such great sacrifices in the past to save us, we can be certain that he will bring that work to a fulfillment. God is not investing in a losing cause! God’s love for us is not wishy-washy but is certain. He proved his love for us on Calvary so we can be certain that nothing, absolutely nothing will keep him from completing his loving plans. Even when you struggle and fail, God still loves you and is thus still for you.
Illustration: A certain speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. "Who would like this $20 bill?" he asked. Hands started going up throughout the audience. He proceeded to crumple up the bill. He then asked, "Who still wants it?" The same hands went up in the air. "Well," he replied, "What if I do this?" He dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, all crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?" Again, hands went into the air.
"You have all learned a valuable lesson," the speaker said. "No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20. Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the foolish decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value in God’s eyes. Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are priceless to him." Source: Unknown He proved this at Calvary!
4. Christians can be certain of their future in heaven because God is for us and not against us.
Read Verses 33-34
5. Christians can be certain of their future in heaven because there is no one and nothing that can condemn us.
That imagery here is that of a courtroom with God the Father as the Judge and Jesus as our advocate or attorney pleading for us. In our lives here on earth most of us do not fear being sent to prison and therefore being separated from all that we love, i.e. our families and freedom. Why don’t we have that the fear? Because a person does not go to prison unless charges are brought against them and they are found guilty. We have no reason to expect that charges will be brought against us, therefore we do not fear prison.
It is the same in regard to our relationship with God. The only way we can be separated from him, miss heaven, and be sent to hell is if charges are brought against us of sin and we are found guilty. Will that happen? Can we be rightfully accused or charged with sin? The answer would seem to be "yes", since we have all sinned. It is obvious that we have at times been unfaithful, spoken abusively, lied and deceived others, had moral failures and sinful thoughts, etc.
Satan knows these things and does accuse or bring charges against us “day and night”, according to the Book of Revelation. Despite all this, the Bible says that no one will successfully bring a charge against God’s chosen people. When Paul says in verse 33 “who will bring any charge (or accusation) against those whom God has chosen,” he is referring to an effective or successful accusation being brought against us. The implied answer to Paul’s question is “no one.”
Satan may accuse us, people may accuse us, our own conscience may accuse us, but no one will be able to successfully charge you with any sin and therefore separate you from God. Why can’t anyone charge you, the Christian, with sin? Because it is “God who justifies...”
Every accusation against Christians, even when true, fails because God, the Judge of all the Earth, has already declared us “not guilty!” Who can argue with God? Can any court overrule or set aside his judgment? Certainly not!
5. Christians can be certain of their future in heaven because there is no one and nothing that can condemn us.
Here’s Paul’s point in a nutshell. You don’t have to worry that your own sins, faults, and failures might separate you from God. The only person who could condemn you has already justified you. Verses 33-34 can be punctuated several ways, but it seems best to follow the NASB which places a semicolon, not a period after “justifies.” In other words the basic message or sentence is something like this: “If it is God who justifies you, then who can condemn you?” The answer is obviously “no one”, since God is greater than all.
Can we count on this verdict? Will God change his mind because of our failures? The answer is “absolutely not!” In verse 34 Paul gives us 4 reasons why we can be sure that God’s verdict of “not guilty” will hold up. The first is that “Jesus… died” for us. This is a reminder that Jesus already paid the penalty for our sins in full. Since he has paid the price, we do not need to fear paying the penalty ourselves.
The second reason we can be confident that the verdict of “not guilty” will hold up is because Jesus not only died but “more than that was raised to life.” This is important because Jesus’ resurrection was absolute proof that his sacrifice was sufficient and acceptable. It was like God’s stamp of approval. Everyone knew that only God could raise the dead and that he would never do that for someone who had been a deceiver or a fraud. The resurrection thus validates Jesus’ sacrifice.
It is like possessing the winning grand prize lottery ticket. The ticket may seem to be the winner, but it could be a forgery and it is not recognized as a winner until it is checked by various tests and then it receives the official stamp of approval. Only then is there is no doubt about its authenticity and you can be sure that you are a winner. The resurrection made God’s acceptance of Jesus sacrifice official thus leaving no doubt about Jesus sacrifice being fully sufficient for all our sins, therefore making us winners!
The third reason we can be confident that we will not be condemned by our sins is that Jesus is now “at the right hand of God...” In other words, the same Jesus, who loved us enough to die for us, is now in the ultimate position of authority, power, and influence. Talk about having “friends in high places!” We have a friend in the highest place! If you have a close friend who is the President of the Bank, you can be sure that you will get the loan. If you have a close friend who is the Sheriff, you can be sure that the traffic ticket will be torn up. And if you have a close friend that sits at the right hand of Almighty God, you can be sure that you will not be condemned.
The fourth reason we can be sure that the “not guilty” verdict will not be overturned is because Jesus is “also interceding for us.” This probably refers to Jesus acting as our defense attorney, although it could be referring to Christ acting as our high priest. In either case, the point is that we have someone to speak on our behalf when we fall short and sin. This means that no accusation, no charge, no condemnation can better successfully be applied to the Christian. There is no better advocate than Jesus!
5. Christians can be certain of their future in heaven because there is no one and nothing that can condemn us.
Read Verses 35-39
6. Christians can be certain of their future in heaven because there is nothing that can separate us from God’s love.
Our future in heaven, our relationship with God does not depend on our power or efforts. It doesn’t depend on our works or righteousness. It is rather the result of the love of Christ. As long as that love remains, so does our future hope. The Bible is basically saying the same thing as the well known song from the Captain and Tennille, “Love Will Keep Us Together.” The problem of course is that human love does not always endure. It does not always “keep together”; sometimes we can be separated from human love. Paul wants us to understand that divine love is not like human love. It does not fail. It will endure. As Paul says in verse 39, nothing “in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
God’s love holds better than Super Glue! It can endure the “troubles and hardships” of this life as verse 35 says. It can endure the attacks that sometimes come to us because we are Christians. “Persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, or sword" may come to us as a result of being a Christian but not one of them could break the bonds of God’s love.
6. Christians can be certain of their future in heaven because there is nothing that can separate us from God’s love.
In verse 36 Paul quotes from Psalm 44 to remind Christians that suffering has always been a part of being God’s people. We are not exempt from suffering because we are Christians but “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
Christians are the ultimate over comers in this life because nothing can ultimately defeat us by separating us from God’s love. The Greek word for “conqueror” here is “nike”, just like in the shoe brand. It is actually a compound word, the first word meaning super and the second word being nike or victory. Every time you see the Nike shoe commercials you can say "I am a super-nike." In other words, as a Christians, you are a super-conqueror because of God’s love!
In verse 38, Paul expresses they he is convinced and is absolutely sure about God’s love. “Neither death nor life” can separate us from God’s love. If the Christian dies, they are not separated from God’s love but brought into his presence. As we go through life, with all its troubles, nothing can separate us from God’s love. Supernatural powers like demons and angels cannot separate from God’s love. Present situations or future difficulties cannot separate from God’s love. No power on earth or in heaven can! “Neither height nor depth” can separate you from God’s love. You are never beyond the reach of his love. In case Paul’s point is not clear, he states it very clearly in the last sentence of verse 39 where he in summary says, not “anything else in all creation can separate us from God’s love!
Conclusion: As a Christian you can be certain of future glory in heaven. Why?
1. Christians can be certain of their future in heaven because God’s Spirit prays for us perfectly
2. Christians can be certain of their future in heaven because God is working in every situation for the good.
3. Christians can be certain of their future in heaven because God’s predetermined plan is that all Christians are glorified.
4. Christians can be certain of their future in heaven because God is for us and not against us.
5. Christians can be certain of their future in heaven because there is no one and nothing that can condemn us.
6. Christians can be certain of their future in heaven because there is nothing that can separate us from God’s love.
