Three Things We Know

In this day and age, there isn’t much that we don’t know nor couldn’t find out. Uncertainty seems to us as foreign as woolly mammoths. It only takes a quick google to find what we need. So, it can seem somewhat trite to us when we hear the words in this letter, “we know.” Of course, we know! We know everything.

But as we go through this passage, we should be struck again by beauty of the love of God for us and confidence of knowledge we can have from this passage proclaiming the work of God for us.

The whole way through this book Paul has been trying to get us to understand that not only are we sinful, but that sin means that we fall short of God’s glory. But that we have a hope that by faith alone we can have Christ’s righteousness given to us.

For, Abraham believed God, that He would justify both the circumcised and uncircumcised by faith, and it was counted as righteousness. Now, if righteousness is through faith, then it cannot be by works!

This does not mean that we can continue in sin as we please, in chapter 6 we hear with emphatic certainty that just as we have been buried with Christ in baptism, we have now been raised to new life in Him also! We once were slaves to sin, but because we have been set free by the blood of Christ, we are described as slaves to righteousness! So now, says Paul finishing chapter 6, present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

But here in lies the problem, doesn’t it? When we look at ourselves, we don’t see righteousness. All we see is the remaining sin within us. We see envy, jealousy, impatience, disobedience, pride, lust. You may think to yourself, I can hardly be described as a “slave to righteousness.”

We, like Paul, say, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” But thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! He has come and in order that the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us so now we live by the Spirit and not by the flesh. The flesh leads to death, but the Spirit is life. Indeed, you have received the Spirit if you have Christ.

So now, there is no condemnation for you who are in the Spirit, and as surely as He has raised Christ Jesus from the dead, you too will be raised. We are now partakers of all the benefits of life in the Spirit; we have God as our Father and are heirs with Christ, our sufferings will fade to glory that will be revealed at the coming of Christ, it is then that the full realisation of the New Creation will encompass the whole earth.

And now, in this time here, as we hope for the New Creation, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. Though we have been raised, our flesh is still weak, we do not pray as we ought in order to live as we ought but the Spirit Himself intercedes for you and for me according to the will of God.

Paul moves on with emphatic surety saying to us, all these things are true of you and me because, “we know” that God works all things for good for those who love Him. There is no doubt in His mind, nor should there be any doubt in our minds, that the Father whom we love, first loved us, turned His face towards us, and ordered all things for Good working His mighty hand of salvation so that we should be united with Him in glory.

Today what I want you to get from this text is that we would learn to know and be happy in the complete salvation of God, joyfully living in loving response to Him.

There are three things here in this passage that we know according to Paul. Firstly, we know that God works in all things for our good. Secondly, He does this for His purpose. And finally, He works all things by His power alone.

Our headings today will be our good, His Purpose, His power.

Our Good

Beginning in vs 28, read with me.

Paul begins this section of three things that we know with a great assertion that all things work together for good. Rather than our present sufferings and current weakness hindering our progress in salvation, Paul reminds us that all these things work together to help rather than hinder that salvation.

When I was at university living in a flat, the realisation that I could eat what I wanted was gloriously received. If you ever saw my rubbish tin, you would have known seen my deep love for skittles. Now this combined with laziness saw the realisation of childhood that now I can eat easy food rather than healthy food that required time, prep and wasn’t that comparatively tasty. But as I soon found out, the easy food I loved wasn’t helping me at all, tiredness and lethargy was the fruit of the day. Eventually I grew up a bit and now I love our veggie garden and the cucumbers the size of my forearm. Though the “healthy” food in the moment isn’t as desirable as skittles, it is far better for me.

The same is for our sufferings in this world. Our natural response to this verse is to interpret this verse as God working all things for our good and that which we think is good which usually just means our comfort. We would rather an easy life.

And if you’ve been around Christianity for long enough, I’m sure you’ve heard some version of this verse quoted in response to bad things happening. “Don’t worry, it’ll all be worked out for your good,” usually meaning you’ll be physically better off.

Unfortunately, I think the translation of this verse in the ESV hasn’t helped that way of thinking. The NIV emphasises the theological intention behind this verse. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Paul isn’t saying that because we’re Christian, “things” just work out for us. What He is saying is that events and circumstance we go through are worked in by God to bring about for His purpose. The things don’t just happen to work out, they are effectively worked in and by God for our good.

Like Joseph who said to his brothers, “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.” When we are filled with the Spirit, we can see beyond our circumstances and as Joseph trusted God to provide, we too can know and trust that God will ultimately bring about His good purposes which are far greater than we could ever have thought.

This is one of the benefits for those who love God. But this love doesn’t come about by our own doing. Paul does not speak in a vacuum here, when He says that we love God, he assumes that we heard Him back in chapter 5, that God’s love has first been poured into our hearts.

It is not as though God looks around for those who love Him and then makes their lives lead to good, but the love of God, “does not find, but creates, that which is pleasing to it.”

Pause

God’s love goes out and through the effectual call of the Gospel, draws you to Himself. There may be times often in your life that you feel as though your love for God wanes, it falters, like an old tv’s colour flickering in and out. But know this, God’s working out all things for your good isn’t dependent upon your continued love for Him, but it is based upon the blood of Christ for you, and according to His purpose and will.

Even our prayers for help fail us but because God loves us, it is the Spirit in us who prays on our behalf. In all these things, whether physical or spiritual trials, your heavenly Father cares for you, loves you, and has provided for you in Christ.

And He will not leave you there. The good that He promises to work in your life is greater than any good you could imagine.

Pause

His Purpose

Read with me vs 29 of the second thing that we know as Christians.

What are the good purposes that God will bring about in your life? It is that you would be conformed to the image of Christ.

This image and perfection is what we were originally supposed to attain when we were made “in the image and likeness of God” but because of sin, we have fallen from that. We have ceased to be what we were designed to be. In sin, we can no longer be what God created us for. We have, in a sense, become less than human.

We can see earlier in the book of Romans, that Paul laments this very point. When the law came, it was a holy reflection of who God is, but because sin seized an opportunity through the commandment, it deceives and kills. For Paul and for us, “the very commandment that promised life proved to be death.”

Trusting in our own strength, we have no hope of ever reaching the righteous requirement of the law. Because we have no hope in ourselves, we must fall upon the grace, love and mercy of God who has predestined us to be conformed to the image of Christ. He has fulfilled the demands of the law on our behalf.

Some may baulk here at the mention of predestination. If you’ve been around Reformed circles for any extent of time, you’ll have doubtless heard many debates about the topic. I don’t want to get distracted by the trees at the risk of losing sight of the forest. But I will say a couple of things as to how the doctrine impacts our life.

Three Things concerning Predestination

Firstly, when we begin to ask questions about predestination, we are asking questions about the Divine Mind of God. These are questions that we cannot possibly begin to answer fully and there is a sense in which the questions themselves are improper for us as finite beings to ask of infinite creator.

Secondly, and more positively, we must ask what hope would we have without God’s acting on us first? The Bible describes us as dead in our sins. We have hearts of stone naturally. We cannot love God as He ought to be loved. God’s predestination of us means that our salvation isn’t tied up in how well do, but in the decision and provision of God alone.

And if God is our Father, we can know that He truly will provide what is best for us. Rather than predestination being a bitter pill we must swallow that strips us of our dignity, it is a sweet pillow upon which we can rest our heads. Trust in God, weary sinner, He has provided all in Christ our Lord.

Finally, the doctrine has a purpose. Predestination gets a bad rap because of how certain people have applied it in their lives. There is criticism that it cannot be true because some become prideful and arrogant in their insight into theology.

But notice how Paul applies predestination here, it is not because of something special in us that we are chosen, but because of God’s good purposes and so that we would be conformed to the image of Christ!

When we are born again, it does not result in sin. Rather than producing pride within us because we are special in some way, or because we’ve “got it figured out” it should produce humility. Predestination strips us of all our claims to merit, faith or works. Predestination should result in character like that of Christ.

He is the ultimate example of humility, He did not count His equality with God as something to be grasped, but because of His love for you and me, he humbled Himself and took upon Himself our form in order that we would be made like Him.

Our salvation is bound up in the mind and work of God, it should not produce things so repulsive as pride and arrogance, but instead should produce the fruit of the Spirit. Predestination should not bring arrogance or complacence but security and an eagerness to please our Father who has predestined us.

We have both a reason and now the power to live a holy life. We ought to be caught up in the grandeur of grace. God has looked upon us, He has foreknown and foreloved us. By His grace and His grace alone we can be made like Christ.

This is the great purpose for which he orders all things in our lives. How can we learn humility unless we are forced to lay aside our pride? How can we learn patience unless someone tries that patience? How can we learn true peace and trust in God unless there are times in our life when we are in turmoil? God desires that you should be like His Son and He puts in place everything to bring that about. You will not see completion of that in this age, but in the age to come what is called your sanctification will give way to glory.

So now, you are able, by the power of the Spirit who is in you, because God has predestined you to be so by the blood of Christ, to live a life holy and pleasing to Him. Your remaining sin is not cause for despair but reason to fling yourself upon the grace of God, to look to the cleansing power of the blood of Christ which makes you pure.

All this is so that Christ would be the first born among us all. Paul draws our attention now to our saviour. He has been raised to life and has entered glory. As the author to the Hebrews says, he has gone before you and just as He has entered glory, so you too will also. Not in yourself, but in Christ alone.

Pause

Believe now in this promise. As surely as Christ has been raised from the dead so you too will also be raised! In Him we are admitted and adopted into the family of God and call God our “Father.” What a great privilege this is, that we should be called Sons and Daughters of God Most High.

Pause

His Power

Turn with me to vs 30 as Paul finishes this great section with the third thing that we know.

Have you ever received jewellery so precious that you could never let it leave your sight? Perhaps you are married, and you wear your wedding ring wherever you go. Or your parents have given you a special piece as a gift of their affection and love for you? None of these, no matter how precious, can compare to what is lovingly called the golden chain of redemption. We have nothing more precious than the promises of God.

Those whom He predestined, he also called. This is the call of the gospel as it goes out. This the ordained means by which God saves His people. Just because God has predestined us, does not mean that there is also not a response of faith. The connection is unbroken, the ones who respond in faith are also the ones whom God has predestined.

As surely as you have heard the call of the Gospel and believed, so surely can you know that you are justified by God. This justification is a huge theme for Paul that He expounds throughout the letter. Simply put, to be justified is to have both the perfect life of Christ lived in perfect obedience to God and His atoning death given to you.

Christ took upon Himself our sin and was like us so that we would have righteousness earned by Him given to us so that we would be made like Him. This is our only hope for happiness and holiness, by His blood you are cleansed, by His life you are righteous.

And based on all this, you will be glorified. It is so sure that this will occur that Paul uses a past tense to describe our glorification. The promise of glory held out to us means that this body of sin you now dwell in with all its infirmities will one day be made completely like Christ. Our hope is that we would see God and that we would be made like Him. To dwell gazing upon His face, glorifying Him perfectly in our bodies.

Your glorification is not dependent upon your progression in holiness here and now. Do not be deceived, glory is not dependent upon anything extra that you add to the faith, you cannot earn favour from God by obedience, it is purely based on your justification in and through Christ. Obedience to God’s law is obedience from love, not from duty.

Your glorification is dependent upon Christ and the promise of God that He has given us a deliverer who has crushed the head of the serpent. We once fell short of the glory of God by our sin. But by His grace we have been glorified and meet the glory of God by His hand alone through the power of the Spirit in us by the blood of the Son.

This is abundant reason for great confidence and sure knowledge. May we go from here renewed in our love for our God who has ordered such a beautiful salvation for us and so live lives in response to His grace.