Romans 8:18-39

The Glorious Redemption

Romans 8:18-39

Why is Romans 8 so powerful? Is it because scholars and theologians have tried to mine its depths? Is it because Reformed theology is built so strongly upon it? Is it because we love words like predestination and justification? Despite the strong doctrinal language Romans 8 has in it, it was written to lay persons. It was written to people like you and me. Paul was not finishing a dissertation for a post-graduate degree. No. Rather, he was writing to instill hope into Christians of their indissoluble union with Christ. A union which cannot be shaken, broken, or dissolved.

Sermon Points

the glory of God to be revealed (8:18-25)

the glory of God’s redemptive plan (8:26-30)

the glory of God’s eternal love (8:31-39)

1. the glory of God to be revealed (8:18-25)

(v. 18 & introduction) We find in this passage confidence in the Lord amidst suffering. The revealing of God’s glory, as we wait in eager anticipation, will surely come in due time. Our hope is grounded and founded upon that promise. Hence, the “sufferings of this present time are not worthy comparing to the glory that is to be revealed to us” (v. 18). Essentially, based upon the last section of Romans and our adoption as sons, Paul is reminding the church that receiving the inheritance to come far outweighs any suffering in the present.

He makes this point in 2 Corinthians 4:17 “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,” and Philippians 3:10–11“that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” Suffering is part of the Christian life. The suffering we endure pails in comparison to the suffering Christ himself endured on the Cross. Yet, we await with confidence, hope, and longing for the revelation of God’s glory in the full!

(vv. 19-22) Many in the military know a life of longing. Whether it is training, advanced schools, or deployments, military families are separated often for a longer time than most other professions. When spouses await for their husband or wife to return, there is an anxious longing they have to see their loved one again. If you have been away from a loved on whether spouse, or parent, or sibling, you know that feeling of anticipation to see them once more.

In the same way, all of creation longs for peace once more. When sin entered into the first man Adam, death spread to all as all have sinned, which is what Paul argues in Romans 5. Since then, the creation has not been as designed, created, or intended. Thorns, thistles, and weeds now choke out and threaten crops. Man has to work by the sweat of his brow, women endure painful child labor, it all goes back to the garden.

Yet Paul shows that God will even free creation from its bondage as well. “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now” (v. 22). The destiny of nature and the destiny man are inseparably linked together. When man fell into sin and death, nature was corrupted. When man does up into glory and Christ descends the creation will be divinely restored. We see the totality of God’s redemptive plan as we long for it, as we wait with eagerness. We are like children on Christmas Eve, waiting and longing to open up their gifts.

(vv. 23-25) The Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, gives us a foretaste of the coming reality. When we are glorified all of things will be new. Now, we still deal with sin but have the first fruits of the Spirit. Even though “we will not be totally free of sin’s power as long as we are in our present bodies, the Lord has given us complete victory over the dominion and bondage of sin” (MacArthur, 458). The Holy Spirit is transformative in the lives of believers. No longer do we long for the deeds of the flesh; rather, we pursue the fruits of the Spirit, Galatians 5:22–23“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

Now, we are sensitive to sin. We groan because we know the present creation is not right. Hence we can cry out like David in Psalm 38:4, Psalm 38:9–10“O Lord, all my longing is before you; my sighing is not hidden from you. My heart throbs; my strength fails me, and the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.” Or as Paul in the previous chapter Romans 7:24 “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Likewise, 2 Corinthians 5:4 “For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.” We know sin is not normal. While we remain in the tent of our human body we will never fully escape the corruptive nature of sin in our own lives. Sin destroys but Jesus Christ sets us free from its destructive nature.

How then do we have hope? If we are waiting for something that is not yet here, how can we hope for it?

One of the more modern hymns, composed be Keith and Kristyn Getty, is “In Christ Alone.” The very first line, or stanza, reads, “In Christ alone, my hope is found, he is my light my strength, my song.” Where does our hope come from? It comes from Christ alone. Despite the inevitable suffering we will surely endure, Christ alone is our hope. A suffering which hopes founded on the basis of the person and work of Christ Jesus himself. In his person we have hope because he took upon flesh. He was born of a virgin in a low condition. He was in every way tempted yet without sin. In his work we have hope because he purchased redemption on our behalf. We are no longer slaves to sin and death but made and declared alive in Christ Jesus our Lord. All of Christ, none of us.

How then do we hope? We wait for this glorious redemption with patience. It will surely come. How do we know it will come? It is based upon the guarantees and promises of God found in His Scriptures. As WSC 3 asks, “What do the Scriptures principally teach?” and answers “The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God and what duties God requires of man.” We hope because we have his word.

2. the glory of God’s redemptive plan (8:26-30)

This entire passage is robust in terms of theology and practical living. Once again, we are reviewing these verses so I would encourage you to re-listen to the previous sermons by Nick on the particular passages. Nonetheless, we will do our due diligence to get the gist of what Paul is talking about here.

As Paul previously argued in terms of the Holy Spirit as a seal within us and our adoption as sons to God the Father, our salvation is sure because we ourselves have the mark of God’s Spirit. Effectual calling, justification, and glorification are impossible apart from God’s Spirit. The Holy Spirit himself is the catalyst to our conversion. Similarly, when we are weak, when we are suffering, when life weighs us down like the great burden it is, the Spirit helps us.

(vv. 26-28). Part of the glory of God’s redemptive plan is the Holy Spirit as our security. This is not merely God’s seal upon us but also the one who aids us in all of our sufferings and weaknesses. When the world has anchored itself upon our backs, like a heavy rucksack pulling us down, the Holy Spirit stabilizes our bodies to endure. When we are lost for words when life has utterly destroyed us, when we feel as though our souls are lost in the darkness of Sheol, the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf.

So also, as we align ourselves with God’s Spirit, when we conform to the Spirit of Christ, he assists our prayers that they align with the will of God. One of the most difficult lines to pray in the Lord’s Prayer is “thy will be done.” Often, we truly do not want God’s will as it conflicts with our own sinful desires and intents. Yet nothing is more comforting than resting upon the will of God. When we align with God’s will, we align with his plan of redemption. We align ourselves with the maker of heaven and earth. We align with our good Father who knows what we need, when we need it.

How do we know this to be true? Paul continues, “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (v. 28). Brothers and sisters, why would you not pray according to God’s will. The Scriptures assure us that no matter what, he works all things for good. Is this not the very thing that Joseph exclaims? Joseph, a brother of 11, is thrown into a pit, sold into slavery, accused falsely of adultery, spends time in prison, yet despite that, he is exalted above the kingdom of Egypt. What is his reaction? Genesis 50:20 “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

God’s will is to bring about good for those who love him. We see this also in the life of Jesus Christ our Lord. The Word of God says it pleased the Father to crush the Son. Isaiah 53:10 “Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.” Even though the hands of wicked men sought to destroy him, it was all part of God’s redemptive work. Acts 2:23–24“this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.”

If God willed the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for your salvation, will he not also will all things for good to his beloved? To those who are in Christ Jesus? To those who are indwelled by the Spirit? Of course he will, and he does.

So brothers and sisters, even though we face all forms of persecutions, we have confidence that our God, a good God, a benevolent God, a loving God, is working out all things according to his purpose and according to his will. Cherish the Father’s love he has for you.

(vv. 29-30). The magnitude of the Father’s love is expressed in his redemptive plan. The glory of God’s redemptive plan is on display in verses 29-30. First, we start with God’s foreknowledge. A lot of debate settles around this question of foreknowledge. What does it mean to “foreknow” someone? Simply put, to know, in biblical terms is not to know facts about someone, but it is used in terms of love. To know someone is to love them. Genesis 4:1 “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.””

This is even the same language Jesus Himself uses of the Father and of his sheep. John 10:14–15“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.” Jesus does not merely know who the Father is. He is not proclaiming self-awareness regarding his deity, that Jesus is God, rather, he is employing biblical language the Hebrew audience would have been well familiar with in demonstrating the eternal love the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit share with one another. To know is to love.

This is why these verses are so immensely powerful. God loved us before the foundation of the world with a purpose, to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ his only begotten son. The reason is that we may inherit the first born blessings that Christ Himself has earned on our behalf.

And now we transition into the Golden Chain of Redemption, as Puritan William Perkins draws out in his own works. Like English or German, the Greek shows that these actions are past tense. They are completed actions. You yourselves were first predestined. Chosen by God before the foundations of the world. There was nothing about you or your future choices or decisions you would make, rather God out of his magnificent love chose a sinner to express his intimate, redemptive love to and save them.

You yourselves were called by the Spirit of God. This refers to the inward call wherein the Holy Spirit enlivens our hearts and minds to accept the truths of the Gospel. Apart from the Holy Spirit we cannot come to the kingdom, John 3:3 “Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”” Or also, 1 Corinthians 2:14“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”

You yourselves were justified by God. WSC tells us that “Justification is an act of God’s free grace wherein he pardoneth all our sins and accepteth us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by grace alone.” You are declared righteous in the sight of God. Only because of what Christ has done. All we bring is the sin that makes it necessary for Christ to redeem us. Christ takes our filthy garments and makes them white as snow.

And finally, you are glorified. We feel this tension in our lives. How can we be glorified and still act as a sinner? Positionally, in Christ, you are in fact all of these things. Yet, at the same time, we will not come to fully realize it until we are with Christ in heaven. Which brings us to our third point …

3. the glory of God’s eternal love (8:31-39)

During Jesus’ ministry, as recorded in John 10, he tells us that he himself is the Good Shepherd. Not only that, but Christ himself expresses our eternal security found in God’s love. John 10:27–30“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.””

We see again knowing in terms of love expressed by Christ and a knowledge of who his sheep are. What does Christ do? He gives them eternal life. If the author and perfector of our faith who is all mighty, all powerful, and created all things gives us eternal life, then no mere created being can take that away from them. No one can snatch Christ’s sheep our of the Father’s hand for God the Father and God the Son are one. God’s eternal love is so glorious because we need that reminder when we suffer.

This is the immensely practical aspect of Paul’s letter. All throughout there have been nuggets of truth and application but here we come to the apex. Why does predestination, calling, justification, and glorification matter in the life of the Christian? It is because we will indeed suffer. Yet, in Christ, sufferings become stepping stones on the pathway to glory. Romans 5:3–5“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” At the same moment, we need the reminder that no matter what is thrown our way, absolutely nothing will take us from the eternal grip of the Father’s hand.

(vv. 31-34). Paul asks a series of questions which are rhetorical in nature. What shall we say? Who can be against us? Who can bring a charge against God’s elect? Who is to condemn?

What, then, are we to conclude from all of this? As children of God we have been adopted into his family (v. 15). We are co-heirs with Christ (v. 17). We have received the Spirit as the guarantee of final redemption (v. 23). Our prayers are taken up by the Spirit and laid before God (v. 26). Though sinners by nature, through faith we have been acquitted of all wrong (v. 30). Our future glorification is so certain that God speaks of it as already having taken place (v. 30). Certainly if God is for us, “what does it matter who may be against us” (Norlie). Since God did not spare his own Son but delivered him over to death for us all, will he not along with this gracious gift also lavish upon us everything else he has to give? The argument is from the greater to the lesser. A God who sacrificed his own Son on our behalf will certainly not withhold that which by comparison is merely trivial. The immeasurable greatness of God’s love is seen in the infinite nature of his sacrifice on our behalf. God is by nature a giving God (Mounce, 189–190).

There are so many Old Testament echoes throughout this section as well. Abraham took Isaac to offer him as a sacrifice yet the Lord intervened. Genesis 22:12 “He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”” God Himself sacrificed his own Son on our behalf to die for our sins.

We are given all things as a result of this, an echo of Jesus words in Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” The glorious chain of redemption is the wonderful gift we have been given.

Jesus is at the right hand of God the Father, praying for us on our behalf. A look back at Psalm 110:1 “The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”” He is reigning and ruling, what could possibly seperate us from our great King’s grasp he has on our lives? Isaiah 53:4, Isaiah 53:11“Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.”

For these reasons, with both the Old and New Testament bringing to bear the witness of God on our behalf, Paul concludes “Who shall separate us form the love of Christ?” Verse 35 gives us an escalation of the kinds of persecution that we may think will indeed separate us. Tribulation is indeed a minor form of persecution compared to the sword referring to death. Yet the full magnitude of persecution shall never seperate us from Christ.

Even though Paul recognizes as the Psalmist does in Psalm 44:22 “Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” It matters not brothers and sisters. Where is our strength found? It is found in the Lord and therefore we are conquerors. Christ Himself has conquered sin and death, we are adopted and coheirs with Christ therefore we are conquerors. Live as one who has conquered!

Paul’s assurance follows that in Romans 8:38–39“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.”

You are eternally secure by the love of Christ. God has redeemed you. His plan of redemption stands for all eternity. The same way in which God redeemed and justified the people of Israel, by grace alone through faith alone is the same way that he justifies you, O Christian. And as we transition next to Romans 9, we will see even more clearly how this is brought about.