Inseparable
(Romans 8:33-39)
Intro
1. Separating Siamese Twins
“Formerly Conjoined Twins See Each Other
By KAREN MATTHEWS, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - Six days after a delicate 17-hour operation that separated their joined heads, 2-year-old twins Carl and Clarence Aguirre were allowed to emerge from sedation Tuesday, waking up enough to see each other directly for the first time.
The momentous event was mostly lost on the Aguirre boys, who seemed to prefer looking at a television and their mother, only occasionally glancing at each other while drifting in and out of sleep...
"...Doctors said they were extremely pleased by the progress of the twins from the Philippines.”
2. Couples who are married for years separate and divorce…
3. Rifts in families…
4. Every relationship on earth is potentially vulnerable….
• Societies change. Did you know that 30 years ago there was only one Muslim mosque in the United States, & that today there are over 3,000 mosques? And that new mosques are being built here at the average of one a week?
• Gay marriage – next election will be key
5. But there is one relationship that is NOT up for grabs, one that is secure: the elect believer’s relationship with God.
• One definition of hell is to be separated from God’s love forever.
• Is the true Christian in danger of this happening? Our text today shouts out, “No.”
6. Many of our brothers and sisters in Christ do not believe that a Christian is secure. Of course these same people reject the doctrine of election, because once you accept election the security of the believer is a natural outflow of election.
7. But I am convinced that election IS taught in Scripture, which is why Paul brings up the security of the believer. This makes the point: security does flow from election..
8. Many people have a hard time with GRACE because they cannot understand how Christians can become godly without being on probation and constantly under the thumb of fear. They do not comprehend the power of GRACE.
Main Idea: Because we are God’s elect, we have an impenetrable defense and we are secure in Christ. We cannot be separated from God’s love. This helps us to truly understand what Grace means.
I. Bringing A Charge Against Us Is Like Trying to Sue God (33)
1. Note: many people think they are saved, but are not; this applies only to the truly elect!
2 Peter 1:10, “Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall...”
2. Accusations are sometimes unwarranted:
• John was driving home late one night when he picked up a hitchhiker. As they rode along, he began to be suspicious of his passenger. John checked to see if his wallet was safe in the pocket of his coat that was on the seat between them, but it wasn’t there! So he slammed on the brakes, ordered the hitchhiker out, and said, "Hand over the wallet immediately!" The frightened hitchhiker handed over a billfold, and John drove off. When he arrived home, he started to tell his wife about the experience, but she interrupted him, saying, "Before I forget, John, do you know that you left your wallet at home this morning?"
• Early believers were considered atheists because they had no images they would worship; they were accused of being cannibals because of a misunderstanding of Communion…now we are accused of being mindless, narrow, or stubborn, simply because the idea of having convictions is lost to modern society…
• Sometimes legalistic Christians are the worst accusers. They are ready to pounce upon any flaw or failure and to rub it in to make sure you are kept humble and in line.
But many accusations made against us can be true; we all mess up. Yet the good news is that justice has been served…in Christianity, God does not just forgive sins. In His justice, He sees to it that sins are given their due penatly…
• But for us, it is all about grace! When you understand that God has chosen you before the world was founded, called you and saved you, and that He guarantees your destiny….and you do nothing…nothing…that’s GRACE.
• Control freaks cannot handle this. They do not understand how grace works because grace is not part of their character…
• When you raise kids, little kids should not be given many choices or asked their opinions very frequently; they need to obey to obey.
• As the kids get older, you inquire, give choices, compromise, and negotiate.
• As they approach adulthood, the only influence you have comes from relationship
• God treats us as mature; He influences us BY RELATIONSHIP. He writes His Law on our hearts so that we WANT to follow Him.
Chuck Swindoll talks about how people become wrongful accusers by going overboard on some good qualities. I am listing his four points, but the illustrations are my own.
1. With a commitment to excellence there comes an attitude of intolerance.
“You don’t meet the standard.” This kills body life.
2. With a lifestyle of discipline there comes impatience and the tendency [to wrongfully judge].
Often highly disciplined people wonder why they don’t have much of a social life as far as friends and fun…being too disciplined is intimidating to others; if you are very disciplined, hide it!
3. With a broad education and a love for culture and the arts, there is usually the flip side of exclusive sophistication.
4. With an emphasis on independence and high production, there is the presence of pride.
The black and white, hard driving, no-nonsense, “I did it so you can do it” person.
(The Grace Awakening, pp.279-281)
Galatians 3:13, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’"
3. But where do these accusations come from?
• Our consciences: either working right or wrongly (too sensitive)
• I John 3:19-20,
This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
• Our families, friends, and associates (sometimes rightly, other times not)
• The word “Satan” means adversary, but the word devil means, “accuser.’
Revelation 12:10 reads,
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down
4. But God, who is the Judge, has already justified us and declared us “not guilty.” It’s too late.
5. Christ rises to DEFEND us against the accusation
• 1 John 2:1-2 reads
1My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for[1] the sins of the whole world.
Application: All of us have done or said things for which we are now ashamed. When we receive God’s forgiveness, we are free from condemnation before God. Jesus Christ is the ultimate attorney!
The judge sends His Son to defend us, and our attorney has also paid for our crimes against God.
Main Idea: Because we are God’s elect, we have an impenetrable defense and we are secure in Christ. We cannot be separated from God’s love. This helps us to truly understand what Grace means.
II. Nothing Can Separate Us (the elect) from God’s Love (35-39)
1. Paul lists all kinds of troubles that people postulate could separate us.
(1) The pressures and distresses caused by an ungodly world
“Since in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus promised these to the heavenly Father’s children, would not their absence suggest that after all he does not care?”
(2) Risk of death or actual death
• danger
• sword (ending life?)
• Paul himself would be beheaded for the faith…
2. None of these things, or the second list which covers every created thing, can separate us from the “love of God which is IN Christ Jesus our Lord.”
• Christ Himself is the expression and incarnation of God’s Love; He is the source of God’s love to us….
3. John 10:27, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one."
4. Can God trust you with grace?
Main Idea: Because we are God’s elect, we have an impenetrable defense and we are secure in Christ. We cannot be separated from God’s love. This helps us to truly understand what Grace means.
Conclusions
1. Grace is a powerful force.
2. It is based on relationship and the power of the Holy Spirit.
3. But if we are truly born-again, saved, and one of the elect, God’s ultimate plan for us cannot be thwarted; nothing in all creation can separate us from God’s love.
