Spiritual Confidence (2)
Spiritual, Not Religous • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Intro
Intro
I’m so grateful for Jacob and what God is doing in and through his story. One of the reasons his story is so powerful, is not only because God is at work and has given Jacob a sense of hope, but because the question that he asked God, is a question that many of us wrestle with.
When he was in the midst of anxiety and depression he found himself asking the question, “Where are you?”, “Why don’t you help me?”
These questions are vulnerable and real; and I believe many of us wrestle with the question: Is God for me?
Is He? That is the question we are going to look at today; so if you have a Bible would you turn with me to Romans chapter 8 as we continue our series.
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
The idea proposed by Paul is that:
The idea proposed by Paul is that:
NO ONE CAN BE AGAINST US; nothing, at least not any opposition worth concern.
NO ONE CAN BE AGAINST US; nothing, at least not any opposition worth concern.
BECAUSE GOD IS FOR US.
BECAUSE GOD IS FOR US.
But things are against us:
People
circumstances
death - everyone of us faces
spiritual warefare - demonic realm
So the tension in the text arises because we struggle to believe that God is for us!
How could God be for me if:
How could God be for me if:
My kids or grandkids left the faith
my prognosis got worse
i have to retake the class
My loved one just died
And so we often wonder: IS GOD TRULY FOR ME?
IF GOD IS:
IF GOD IS:
all powerful
sovereign
divine
Shouldn’t my life be a breeze? Shouldn’t it be filled with success and victory?
Why is my life filled with such opposition?
Why is my life filled with such opposition?
Paul answers these types of questions with definitive clarity by stating that God IS FOR us. So how can we be sure and have the same confidence Paul has?
We’re going to look at three reasons for which we can know with confidence that God is for us. And so in Romans 8:31, Paul begins to hint at the first evidence that God is for us.
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
What is “these things”?
What is “these things”?
30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
(For Slide: How do we know that God is for us?
Three acts of God’s Grace: predestines, justifies, glorifies)
It’s in verse 30 that we see three acts of God’s Grace:
It’s in verse 30 that we see three acts of God’s Grace:
Predestined: God chose you before the foundation of the world
Justified: “just as if I never sinned” not only has God removed your iniquity; but he’s clothed you in righteousness - now God sees Jesus’s perfection when he looks at you
Glorified - future reality where we are fully restored & have heavenly bodies
(1 Cor 15, 1 John 3:2 “2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” )
All of these are in the past tense. Why? Why does paul speak of this in the past tense if glorification hasn’t happened yet?
“prophetic present tense”
Because He is so certain, so confident of who He is in Jesus that he can speak with definitive clarity; that it is sure to happen.
And so we see that Romans 8:30 is evidence that God is for us. And yet Paul doubles down on this idea to make it abundantly clear. By stating that God is for us Rom 8:31, and then providing evidence of this claim in verse 32,
32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
God is for you, and He has justified you, so who is left to accuse or criticize?
33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
WHO Condemns - no one left
WHO Condemns - no one left
Satan accuses Revelation 12:10 “10 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 Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.”
But God alone has power to condemn; and He does condemn, but the person he condemned was Jesus!
3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
and if you’ve put your faith in Jesus Romans 8:1 “1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,”
Furthermore, not only is there NO CONDEMNATION, but there is NO SEPARATION.
Furthermore, not only is there NO CONDEMNATION, but there is NO SEPARATION.
The second evidence that God is for us is we have two new statuses
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
Isaiah 59:2 “2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.”
But because we are IN CHRIST, the SPIRIT is IN US
But because we are IN CHRIST, the SPIRIT is IN US
The Church is not a building; its a people. It’s not a place where we dwell, it’s the place where the spirit of God dwells.
The Church is not a building; its a people. It’s not a place where we dwell, it’s the place where the spirit of God dwells.
2. The second evidence we have that God is for us is that the Holy Spirit lives inside of us!
2. The second evidence we have that God is for us is that the Holy Spirit lives inside of us!
11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
IF THAT IS TRUE our life should look radically different. It should look not natural, but supernatural.
IF THAT IS TRUE our life should look radically different. It should look not natural, but supernatural.
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
We have divine power! What this means is that we are not rowboats, we are sailboats, and we have divine power the Spirit of God is already alive and active and on the move.
One of the images used for the Holy Spirit in the New Testament is that of wind.
One of the images used for the Holy Spirit in the New Testament is that of wind.
In Acts 2:1-2
1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
The Spirit of God is compared to wind - and if we’ve put our faith in Jesus, than we have access to this supernatural motive force at Work in our life.
The Spirit is blowing. The problem is our sails aren’t up because we’re so convinced that we need to row.
And so we approach faith with a religious mindset and a self-help type of view of Phil 4:13
13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
And our faith journey is all about trying harder, and doing better, because this is what we experience in school, in sports, in the workplace.
But that’s not the way of Jesus.
Our confidence and aptitude to overcome isn’t based on our strength or sufficiency but Christ’s.
Our confidence and aptitude to overcome isn’t based on our strength or sufficiency but Christ’s.
Story of Zae, 1) I was so proud of him for being confident 2) It got me wondering, where does our source of confidence come from?
We don’t believe it because we draw from the wrong source for confidence.
Competency —> Confidence
Problem: we see our inadequacy, sin —> feel incompetent
Our confidence is not found in our competency but in Christ’s.
Our confidence is not found in our competency but in Christ’s.
but Paul gives us divine encouragement; by reminding us that our confidence doesn’t come from the basis of who we are but WHO JESUS IS. And Jesus is a conqueror, Jesus is a reigning King, Jesus is victorious, and Jesus desires to be in proximity with us - HE is Immanuel
but Paul gives us divine encouragement; by reminding us that our confidence doesn’t come from the basis of who we are but WHO JESUS IS. And Jesus is a conqueror, Jesus is a reigning King, Jesus is victorious, and Jesus desires to be in proximity with us - HE is Immanuel
Paul’s argument is that we are united to the God of the universe and we’ve become recipients of divine power. And if that is true; nothing shall separate us!
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
Paul doesn’t promise us a life free from adversity; or free from opposition. No, he guarantees we will have things and people against us. But the promise is that God is for us! and more than that:
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul makes a bold claim we are MORE THAN CONQUERS.
Now He is writing this to ROMANS; who’s entire empire was built on conquest.
Paul makes a bold claim we are MORE THAN CONQUERS.
Now He is writing this to ROMANS; who’s entire empire was built on conquest.
And what He is telling us, is that not only are we victorious because of Christ but we are more than that!
And what He is telling us, is that not only are we victorious because of Christ but we are more than that!
We are not only defined by victory.
We are not only defined by victory.
Yet, question: WHY DO WE NOT LIVE AS IF THIS IS TRUE? IT’s because we don’t believe it.
Yet, question: WHY DO WE NOT LIVE AS IF THIS IS TRUE? IT’s because we don’t believe it.
Problem: we see our inadequacy, sin —> feel incompetent
Maybe you struggle to see yourself this way; if so, ask God to help you in your unbelief
Because you want to know what’s fascinating about this passage and how it relates to Jesus? The Jewish people thought the Messiah - their savior would come as a militant and victorious leader and instead He came as a crucified Savior. The Jewish people thought Jesus would who overthrow the Romans, but instead He was executed by them and died for them. And do you know what Jesus said in that moment on the cross?
Third way to know that Christ is for you is to look at the cross.
Third way to know that Christ is for you is to look at the cross.
Tetelestai
Tetelestai
30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
3 contexts of use during that time
Business: Debt is fully paid
Judgment/court: Sentence is fully served
Military: Battle has been fully won
Why was the moment of Jesus’ death the moment of His Victory?
Y’all we want victory and glory without the suffering but that’s not the promise of Christ
17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Our victory is found despite our suffering not in the absence of it.
And we suffer not without help and not without hope. Rather we suffer with a identity that is secure and a God that is both with us and for us.
If that is true; than our lives should be marked by Spiritual confidence; not in who we are but in who Christ is and it should lead to a radical way of living; one empowered by the holy spirit
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
If we believed: we are more than conquers
If we believed: we are more than conquers
We wouldn’t need to row: Our life wouldn’t be about penance.
We wouldn’t need to row: Our life wouldn’t be about trying to do more good things to offset the bad.
We wouldn’t listen to the lies and accusations of the enemy condemning us for past sins.
We wouldn’t believe that our circumstances could separate us from the love of God.
You see; the identity Christ gives us is not an identity that we need to live up to, but rather live into.
You see; the identity Christ gives us is not an identity that we need to live up to, but rather live into.
If we believed who we are in Christ, we wouldn’t be scared to leave the harbor. No, we’d be longing to venture out into oceans deep.
So how do we raise the sails and experience the movement of the Holy Spirit in our lives?
Action Step:
Acts 1:8 “8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.””
Not Beyond Reach (SHOW SLIDE)
Opportunity to set sail, get out the harbor, allow the Spirit of God to move in your life and use you to advance His Kingdom.
Opportunity for nothing to separate others from the love of God
Quick set up of demonically oppressed boy and his father’s concern:
Mark 9:22–24 “22 “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” 23 “ ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!””
2. Help me in my unbelief - set up prayer.
Our trials tend to make us put the goodness of God on trial; but it’s the goodness of God that sustains us in the midst of our trials.
