Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: Romans 8:28-39 | Date: September 11, 2022 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

We continue our series today in the doctrine of salvation, today again in the book of Romans, chapter eight, where we have been before several times. Today, considering the latter part of the chapter, particularly verses 28 to 39, our subject this morning is the preservation of the saints, or if you like, safe in Christ forever. Safe in Christ forever.

Romans chapter 8, I’ll begin with verse… I would like to begin back at verse 18. We have seen that before recently, so I’ll just call that to your attention. I’ll begin with verse 28.

And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined, he also called. And those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, for your sake we are being killed all day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What a marvelous passage. Let’s bow for prayer.

Our Father, we are grateful for this wonderful portion of your word that is a favorite of so many. It is rich with encouraging truth that is intended to enliven our hearts and to give us confidence before you. And we pray that your spirit would minister to us to that end today. Encourage the hearts of your people, we pray, in Jesus’ name, amen.

As I mentioned, our topic for this morning is the preservation of the saints. Last time we looked at the perseverance of the saints, and we emphasized that true believers, by definition, are people who persevere. They continue in their faith to the end. We’re looking at a related subject to that today, and this is the preservation of the saints, often referred to as eternal security, or as I’ve given the subtitle, safe in Christ forever.

There are a hundred passages we could look at to expound that theme, particularly in the New Testament, but I can’t think of any more direct and more to the point than Romans chapter 8. And what we want to do this morning is just walk through this passage and see how Paul argues exactly that point, that we are safe in Christ forever. And I want you to try to follow with me. I’ll be running through all of this quickly, but I want you to see the flow of thought that Paul has in this chapter.

In chapter 8 and verses 1 and following, remember he has come now just off of Romans chapters 6 and 7, where he has said that now in Christ sin no longer has dominion over us. And in fact, then in chapter 7, he shows the struggle of sin, and now in chapter 8, he shows what Christ has accomplished for us, and that what the law could not do, God has done for us in Christ. And what Christ has done, this is verses 1 and following, is not only accomplish our justification and our acceptance before God, but he’s accomplished our transformation as well. He has worked in us in such a way and accomplished such a great saving work that now the demands of the law will be fulfilled in us, and we will walk in obedience to Him.

This, we find in the later verses here, is the common experience of every Christian. We’ve seen that in verses 9 and following, that the Spirit of God is given to every one of the people of Christ. Every one of us has the Spirit, and in fact, by definition, a Christian is one who is led by the Spirit. There’s this new dominating factor in our lives. It’s no longer sin. It’s no longer the law. It’s no longer the world; it is the Spirit of God in us who is this new dominating factor. And this is the mark of sonship for every one of us. Verses 14 and following: all who are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. And so the Spirit is called the Spirit of Adoption. He’s been given to us to make us sons in the Son, in Christ. We are God’s sons and daughters.

And then we get to verses 17 and following, and here is where the thinking shifts just a bit to our theme this morning. In verse 17, Paul reasons from our sonship in Christ to our inheritance that we will have in Christ. Now we’ve seen this in previous weeks, but just glance back through verses 17 and following and you’ll see that where he’s talking about the anticipation of glory, if we are sons then we are heirs. And he kind of checks himself. Not just heirs. We’re co-heirs with Christ. We will inherit what Christ inherits. We are in him and united to him. We will, in the end, have all that he has. And we will inherit with him all things.

And so there’s this anticipation of glory that marks verses 17 through the end of the chapter. Now Paul talks about the whole created order being caught up in this hope. The whole created order is caught up in our fallenness. Ever since Genesis chapter 3, we have been under a curse, and we have felt the effects of that, and we see it in the created order itself. What we are waiting for is the revelation of the sons of God, he calls it, when in the resurrection we will have a new body as well, and we are redeemed men and women, body and soul, wholly restored to God. And in fact, he says, the whole created order is caught up in that hope, waiting for that day of the revealing of the sons of God.

Called According to His Purpose

And then we come to verse 28, which is a favorite of so many. And this is the climax of Paul’s argument in Romans chapter 8. And here Paul is not, in verses 28 and following, he’s not just reasoning out the logic of his argument. But he’s reveling in the anticipation of glory because of that argument. Because we belong to Christ, because in Christ we are sons of God, and because we will in Christ inherit all things with Christ, we have this great anticipation of glory, and that’s what he summarizes for us in verse 28: “For we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Now that phrase at the end is so important. We’ve seen that in previous times together. Called according to his purpose. That is, we are in this thing ultimately not because of some choice that we made, because we saw ourselves clear to do it, but we are in this thing as the outworking of God’s eternal purpose. And this, therefore, he says, all things work together for good for these people. That is, if we are in this because of God’s eternal purpose, we’re called because of his initiative in grace, well then we can be sure that the outcome will be good and all things will work together for good.

The good in view in verse 28 is the final realization of our salvation that’s been in view from verses 17 and following, inheriting all things in Christ. And Paul says now in a summary kind of way in verse 28, because we are in this because of God’s initiative, and this is the outworking of his purpose, we may be sure that the intended goal and the destined goal will be reached. All things work together for good for these who love God and who are the called according to his purpose.

Now the reasoning is just ironclad. If we’re in this because of God’s purpose and his initiative, then how could it possibly fail? If, as the Arminian theology teaches, it is true that God looks ahead, sees who will believe, and then chooses who will believe, and we’re in this because of our purpose, well then you could see how somehow along the line we would fall and fall away and the saving purpose would fail. But if in fact we are called according to God’s purpose, and this is an outworking of his eternal plan for us, destined for us from eternity past, well then it is sure. And that’s Paul’s reasoning here, and you can see that it’s just ironclad.

The Golden Chain of Salvation

Well, verse 28 says it all. Called according to his purpose, God’s purpose for us, His good purpose for us will be accomplished. But just to make sure we understand, Paul wants to restate the various steps in broad strokes. So we have in verses 29 and 30 an itemization of what he means in verse 28. God’s purpose for us, His good purpose for us, will be fulfilled. This was His initiative. It will work out good. Well, what do you mean by that? Answer, verses 29 and 30:

For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined, he also called. And those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified.

For centuries in the history of the church, preachers and theologians have referred to this as something like the golden chain of salvation, or the five golden links in this golden chain of salvation. Notice them in verses 29 and 30: foreknew, predestined, called, justified, glorified. There in broad strokes is God’s purpose for us. He foreknew us, and so he predestined us, so he called us, and so he justified us, and so he glorified us. He has accomplished all things in Christ for us from beginning to end, and the purview is from eternity past to eternity future.

He foreknew us. We’ve seen before this indicates not just an awareness of who we are; this is God’s love for us, and His favor for us from eternity past, and because He knew us in that way, He predestined us. He set our goal for us. And having set that goal for us, in time, He called us into the fellowship of Christ. And calling us into Christ and in union now with Christ, we’re justified. We receive His righteousness because of what we’re called into union with Him. And having justified us, He glorified us.

And Paul’s reasoning is solid. It’s from eternity past to eternity future; this is what God has done for us. Now, one of the things that’s fascinating about this passage is you can work at either direction and you can see the same lot of people involved in each step. Who are the ones that God foreknew? Answer: it’s the ones he predestined. Well, who are those people that God predestined? Answer: it’s the ones he called. Well, who are the ones he called? It’s the ones he justified. And who are the ones that he justified? Answer: it’s the ones he’s glorified.

Or we can work it backwards, looking at it from the end. Who are the ones who will be glorified? Well, it’s the ones he justified. Well, who are the ones he justified? It’s the ones that he called. And who are the ones he called? Well, it’s the ones he predestined. And who are the ones he predestined? They are the ones that he foreknew. Paul is looking at this in just broad, sweeping steps of God’s purpose for us from eternity past to eternity future. This is God’s purpose. It must, by the nature of the case, work out. God’s saving purpose for us will be fulfilled. Already now we know that if we are in this, we are in this because of God’s initiative, God’s grace, God’s power at work in us, in joining us to Christ, and if that is the case, we’re already there.

Challenging Questions

Now he’s still not done. He’s summarized it in verse 28. He’s given us the particulars and broad steps in verses 29 and 30. But now in verses 31 and following, he pushes the thought further with kind of a challenging, almost an argumentative kind of tone. And you gotta love this. In verses 31 and following, he asks a series of challenging questions—I’m tempted to say in-your-face questions—as though if there’s a challenger to this program, this saving purpose of God, Paul’s coming back with these challenges, with a series of questions.

Number one, verse 31: “What shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Well, now he’s said the whole thing, hasn’t he? The logic is irrefutable. God is for us. He is the one who started this. It’s because of his initiative that we are saved. And if God is for us, who in the world could ever be against us? Answer: doesn’t matter. God is for us. And Paul is taking great confidence in the fact that this is all coming from God’s side. This is his purpose, not ours.

Verse 32, he reasons from the greater to the lesser again: “He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” That’s kind of a complicated sentence. It’s just extremely important that you see it and understand it. He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all. There’s the doctrine of substitution. God giving his son in the place of sinners, bearing our wrath, bearing our shame, propitiating God in our behalf. He gave up his son. He did not spare him. He gave him up for us all. For all of us.

Now if that’s the case, then consider the last half of the verse: “How will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” Again, you see he’s reasoning from the greater to the lesser. If he gave you his son to bear your sin and to take your punishment and to propitiate God, to redeem you from your sin, is he going to withhold anything lesser? Having given you his son to bear your sin, do you think he’s going to withhold redemption? Do you think having given you his son to take your place, he’ll withhold reconciliation? Do you think having given you his son, he’ll withhold justification? Do you think that having given you his son, he would withhold glorification, the endgame of this whole thing? You see his reasoning? He’s done the big thing already. He gave you his son to die in your place. And it’s a given, then, that all the rest of it will come with him.

Now, this is one of those verses, by the way, and I just have to stop and point this out. This is one of those verses that argues, I think, an ironclad exegetical argument for what we call particular redemption or limited atonement. All of those for whom Christ died, Paul says, all of those for whom Christ died receive all of the saving benefits. You see that? That’s exactly his reasoning here. All for whom Christ died necessarily receive all of the saving benefits of it. If he’s given you his son, if Christ has died for you, then it is inevitable that you’ll receive all saving blessing: justification, glorification, and all.

Paul’s reasoning is tight, it’s ironclad, and he continues in verse 33, but now in terms of the courtroom: “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.” So the atmosphere now is the courtroom, the heavenly courtroom. God’s the judge. And someone comes—imagine this—someone coming and laying a charge against one of God’s elect. How could it matter? God, the judge, has pronounced us righteous. And if God, the judge, has pronounced us righteous—the one who knows all, the one who in fact has foreknown us and predestined us and called us into the fellowship of Christ, the one who has given us his son—if God then has pronounced us righteous, who can bring any charge against us? God is the judge after all, and having justified us righteously on the grounds of what Christ has done, no charge could ever successfully be brought against us.

He continues that again in verse 34. Again, speaking of the demands of justice: “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” I want you to see his thinking here. He’s thinking of the priestly work of Christ, making intercession for us, offering a sacrifice on our behalf—the sacrifice was himself—and now pleading that sacrifice in heaven before the throne of God where any charge might be brought against us.

And Paul is simply reasoning what an unthinkable notion that Christ, having stood in our place, having answered for all of our sins, having made satisfaction to God for all of our offenses, now in heaven is enthroned there to make intercession for us. What an unthinkable thought that someone else could step in and possibly condemn us. He pictures, as it were, Christ having died in place of sinners. God’s raised him from the dead. He’s ascended to the throne. And now someone comes in and says, “No, wait a minute. That Fred Zaspel, he’s…” And the Lord Jesus steps forward and says, “No, not as long as I’m here. You won’t condemn him.” And God says, “He’s been one of mine from the beginning, from before time. I loved him, I predestined him, I set his destiny, and so I called him into fellowship with my son in whom he’s justified and glorified.” Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus has taken our place and borne the punishment of our sin, and having borne the punishment of our sin, we have no sin left to be answered for.

Now again, we have one of these verses here that I think is just another one of these ironclad verses. I just have to point it out again. Another one of these, I think, unanswerable exegetical arguments for what we call particular redemption or limited atonement. If in verse 32, Paul says all for whom Christ died receive all of the attending benefits, in verse 34 now, he says no one for whom Christ died can possibly be condemned. Isn’t that what he says? No one for whom Christ died can possibly be condemned. By the very nature of the case, because Christ has died in their place and been condemned on their behalf, they therefore cannot be condemned. Calvinists have often given what is called the law of double jeopardy. Two people can’t be punished for the same crime. That’s exactly Paul’s thinking here. Christ bore the punishment for that sin; we cannot. No one for whom Christ died can possibly be condemned.

More Than Conquerors

Well, you see now how he’s arguing with regard to the safety of every believer in Christ in this eternal purpose of God’s. Then in verses 35 now and following, he expands the question a little bit further:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

As I say, Paul is quoting here from Psalm 44, which has to do—we’ll see this eventually in our exposition of the Psalms—where the psalmist is speaking of the suffering of the righteous. And in fact, it’s not just the suffering of the righteous; it’s suffering of the righteous because they are righteous. They’re exposed to suffering of various kinds. And Paul references that and he says, shall we fail because of all of these things? And so he itemizes all of the things that may come against us in terms of opposition. And then he answers it himself. No, it’s impossible. This thing ultimately hangs on God, not on us, and because it is his, the outcome for us is sure.

Now notice that phrase toward the beginning of verse 37: “In all these things we are more than conquerors.” It exposes my job to explain phrases like that and I gotta tell you, I’m not sure what that means—more than conquerors. What does it mean to be more than a conqueror? It must mean something like really, really, really conquer. I guess I would know what barely conquering means, and Paul wants to set in contrast to that. We’re not just barely squeaking through here. We’re more than a conqueror. We’ve won big because we have such a great savior working on our behalf.

Now it’s just striking here the breadth of Paul’s purview in these verses. He comes to work that in at the conclusion, verses 38 and 39:

I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth—and in case I left anything out—nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Notice the breadth of his purview here, and the boldness, the confidence with which he answers the question, what shall separate us from the love of God? Can this, that, the other, something up, something down, something future? No, it’s impossible. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I have heard Arminians, when presented with this argument concerning the safety of the believer in Christ forever, respond, “Well, no one can take you from the love of God in Christ, but you can take yourself away.” You know, you just scratch your head and say, did you read the same verse that I read? Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come—not things now, not things later—not powers, not anything up, nothing down, and just so you get it, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This verse is often read, and I think very appropriately, at funerals. I remember years ago now when George Bush was president, and I don’t remember which funeral it was where he had a part, and he made reference to this verse. And I don’t know whether I’m disappointed with him or his speechwriter or who it was, but it was just a great disappointment because he read it like this: “I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God.” Period.

And at that point, you’ve missed Paul’s point. His whole argument here is that God’s love to us in Jesus has secured for us eternity in fellowship with God. And he’s exalting, he’s reveling now in the inevitability that God’s purpose for us, because of Christ, will be finally and fully realized. All of this is just the necessary entailments, the outworking of God’s eternal purpose. That’s verse 28: “for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.” God works all things together for good. And now he’s worked out that argument that through Jesus Christ everything is secured for us.

Biblical Examples of Preservation

Well, there in just brief fashion is Paul’s argument in the second half of Romans chapter 8. You can’t read through this thoughtfully but that you’re left with a striking sense of both our safety in Christ and the great anticipation of glory that we have, a certain hope that we have in Christ. Paul here relates the question of our final salvation to God’s eternal purpose; he relates it to the priestly work of Christ; he relates it to the keeping power of God’s love in Christ. And all of these thoughts he brings to bear on this question of our eternal safety in Christ.

And I want to mention this just in passing, as I alluded to it at the beginning, that this is just one of many passages. This might be the most pointed in the New Testament about this subject, but it’s just one of many passages that speak to it. And let me give you some others. If you would like to follow along quickly, you can turn there. Otherwise, I’ll just cite them for you.

John chapter 6, verses 37 and following, where Christ now is speaking of his determination to fulfill the mission to which he was sent. God sent him on this saving mission. He gave him a people that he would save. Christ took that mission. He came, and this is his delight, to do the will of God who sent him, so that none of those that the Father has given him will ever be lost. In the midst of that, he says in verse 37, “All that the Father gives me”—there’s God’s elect—”all that the Father gives me shall come to me.” There’s what we call irresistible grace. All that the Father gives me—there’s the elect—shall, not might, shall come to me. And of all those that come to me, I will in no wise cast out. Father gives me a people, they will come, and I’ll never reject them. I’ll never let them go.

We have the same in John chapter 10, verses 22 and following, where Jesus speaks of the security and the safety of all of his sheep. God has given him a sheep. He’s arguing at that point with the Jewish leaders, and he says, “You don’t believe me? Tell us if you’re the Christ. I’ve told you, but you won’t believe me. And you don’t believe me because you’re not my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and they come to me. And I take them, and they will never perish, and no one is able to pluck them out of my hands. My Father which gave them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hands.” You see the layers of safety that he has. As an outworking of God’s purpose, my sheep come. They hear me, they follow me, and I keep them safe in my hand forever. And the Father who sent me, he keeps them safe in his hand forever, and no one is able to take them.

Another, Philippians chapter 1 and verse 6, a familiar verse for many of you: “being confident of this very thing that he who had begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” This great work that he has started, he will certainly bring to fruition. And again, Paul’s reasoning is just the same. If God has initiated this work, God doesn’t waste his time. He doesn’t spin his wheels. If God has initiated this work, we may be sure from the outset that it will be fulfilled.

We have the same in 1 Thessalonians 5, verses 23 and 24. I’ll have to skip that. Maybe we should look at Jude verses 24 and 25. Here in this brief letter, as you remember, Jude is writing about the apostates—those who have claimed to be one of us, those who have turned away, and those who have made shipwreck of the faith. And he has all kinds of terrible things to say about them through the letter, warning us against them. There is an “us” and there is a “them,” and those who profess to be us and are not are not to be trusted. That’s the thrust of the whole letter. And then we come to verse 24:

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time, now and forever.

I’ve always thought there is a doxology that ought to be put to music. There’s one to sing. But notice he says, in contrast to these who have fallen and who have made shipwreck of the faith and denied it, Jude gives a doxology, a praise, to him who’s able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before him with great joy. Jude tells us here that he has a confidence with regard to those who are truly the people of God, and his confidence again lies not in them, but in God, who’s able to present them blameless before God with great joy.

Now again, I have to tell you, I’ve presented this to those who hold to an Arminian theology. What do you do with this verse? And you know the answer I’ve heard on more than one occasion: “Well, it says that God is able to keep you, it doesn’t say he will.” Is that the way you read the Bible? It not only misses the point, it ruins the point that Jude is making. The clear statement is that amidst the growing apostasy, God has purposed to protect his own people in such a way that they will not fall away. And he’ll present them in glory, blameless forever.

I can’t think of too many things in the Bible that are more clear than a certain final salvation of all of God’s people. My dad used to have a saying, and this is not just good rhetoric. I think it says a lot. It capsulizes it well. He said, “It’s called salvation, not probation.” That’s more than just good rhetoric. God has brought us in, and he hasn’t said, “Oh, you’re on your own. Make sure you stay.”

And of course, as we saw last week, we have to persevere. But he has not left that to us. Now let me bring this together quickly with what we saw last time. We saw last time that we must persevere and that the mark of genuine saving faith is that it does continue and bears fruit in the long haul. So let’s bring it all together. Just a few statements here.

Number one, there is a kind of faith—this is a reminder from last week—there is a kind of faith that does not save. We saw that in Matthew chapter 13, the stony ground hearer and the thorny ground hearer. There is a kind of faith that does not save.

Number two, in contrast to that, true, genuine, saving faith is marked by continuance. We saw a contrary example for that in 1 John 2. They went out from us that it might be shown that they’re not of us. If they were of us, they would have stayed with us. And that’s what we find in the New Testament.

And then we saw, and we’re seeing today now, that all genuine believers will persevere. I even pointed out for you in 1 Peter 1 that God is the one who keeps us, but he keeps us through faith. And there the two are brought together. We are kept through faith by the power of God forever. It’s not a preservation that’s irrespective of faith, but it’s a preservation in faith.

That’s exactly what God promised to us way back in the New Covenant. In Jeremiah 31 he promises to write his law on our hearts and change us so that we will follow him. In Jeremiah chapter 32 verse 40, a very significant statement with regard to the New Covenant: “I will make with them an everlasting covenant that I will not turn away from doing good to them and I will put the fear of me in their hearts that they may not turn away from me.” He preserves us in faith forever. Yes, I must persevere. And yes, it is in that continuance in faith that God has promised to keep me forever.

Uses for This Doctrine

Now quickly before we go, some uses for all of this. How does all of this matter? I think it’s obvious. I’ll just mention a few here quickly.

Number one, this ought to leave us with a profound sense of rescue. What a different view of things we have from those who say, “God looked ahead, saw that I would believe, and therefore chose me, and ultimately I’m in this because of my purpose.” What a different view we have that God looked ahead and saw me not believing. He saw me running away. He saw me in rebellion and all of my sin, and despite all of my design, He chose to save me, gave me to his son, and in him gave me all things. A profound sense of rescue. By sheer grace, God has come to us and made us his.

And with that, number two, this ought to leave us with a profound sense of safety. And I think that’s the whole tone of Romans 8:28 and following to the end of the chapter. Now this passage that we have looked at has very close bearing on the doctrine of assurance, and we’ll see the doctrine of assurance next time. There’s a distinction to be made between our safety in Christ and our assurance of that safety. We’ll see that next time. But this has a close bearing on that. If in fact we are saved because of God’s purpose, then we may be sure it’ll never fail. We have many promises like this passage here that are intended to shore up our confidence before God.

Spurgeon made a comment, I think more than once, that he says, “I don’t know how people, Christians who believe that we can eventually lose our salvation—I don’t know how in the world they can be happy.” Face it. If we could fall away from our salvation, we would. Paul’s whole argument, as we have seen, is that God just won’t let that happen. He has kept us for his own sake forever.

And so also, thirdly, this ought to leave us with a profound sense of hope—eager anticipation. And that is the tone of Romans chapter 8 verses 17 and following. We have this great hope of inheriting all things in Christ, and in Christ God has secured that for us forever. And we talk about heaven, we talk about the eternal state, we talk about the new heaven and the new earth, we talk about the doctrine of glorification that we’ll see. We need to recognize that all of these things are ours. And they’re ours for certain, because God has granted it and safely granted it in Christ. It’s our secured destiny.

And then last, this ought to leave us with a profound sense of worship. What a God this is, who sees us in sin, running away from him, rebelling against him, chooses us, chooses to save us, gives us to his son, sends his son to do everything for us that he requires of us, and secures us in him forever.

That’s the big picture of Romans chapter eight. And again, I want to ask—I’ve said this many times during this series—why is it doctrines like this are revealed to us? What’s God’s purpose in it? Why would he tell us this? Doesn’t he risk that we’ll take salvation lightly? And all I can say is that He reveals this to us, one, for our enjoyment, so that we’ll revel in it, and two, that we will worship and praise Him for it. And every day ought to be marked by that. What a great God, what a great salvation He’s given to us, that we’re safe in His Son forever. Amen. Let’s pray.