Victory in Jesus (Rom. 8:31-39)

Introduction

· This passage marks the end of the first half of Paul’s letter to the Romans. We have travelled together from the valley of man’s dead condition, to the cleansing waters of justification, to the long, uphill journey of sanctification, and now we have reached the mountain peak of glorification and eternal security.

· It is one of the most triumphant passages in all the Bible. I have been praying for you, that you will be encouraged this morning.

· Last week, we celebrated the fact that “God works all things together for good to those who love him.” He is worthy of your trust, even when life throw you a curve ball, or you just can’t figure out how all the parts fit together.

· Salvation is one continuous chain of events within the infinite mind and eternal decree of God. It moved from foreknowledge and predestination and called in eternity past, to justification, and finally will culminate with glorification. The reason he predestined (chose ahead of time to set his love on you) was that you would be conformed into the image of his son. That is God’s will for your life. He will do whatever it takes to make you more like Jesus.

· Read Romans 8:31-39

· That word in v. 37 is especially significant. “More than conquerors.” Gk. ὑπερνικάω. The athletic brand “Nike” comes from this Greek word νικάω, meaning “victory.” This is an intensive form of the word. “More than a conqueror.” NASB “we overwhelmingly conquer.” NET we have complete victory.” Whatever you are going through today, remember, you are more than a conqueror! Despite what your body might be telling you, or what your emotions might be saying, or even what the world says about Christianity. What makes us “more than conquerors”?

· In this passage, Paul shares TWO TRIUMPHANT RESULTS OF OUR SALVATION…

1. Our Opponents Cannot Erase the Favor of God (vv. 31-34)

· Paul asks a series of questions – rhetorical in nature, meaning the answer is so obvious they don’t even require a reply. No, of course not!

· But clearly, there are enemies who seek to do us harm.

· Satan is our enemy. Prowling about like a roaring lion. He got his first taste of blood in the garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned, and he has been on a relentless pursuit of believers ever since. Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. Zechariah 3:1–2 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?”

· Some of us have family who are hostile to us, to treat us as outcasts if you follow Christ. They say, “If you really love this family, and care about the honor of the family name, you will not convert to Christianity. If you choose Christ, you will be disowned by this family. But the very fact they would give you such an ultimatum, and force you to choose between family and God says more about their hatred for the true God than it does about your commitment to your family. Jesus says if brothers, or sisters, or fathers, or mothers, or earthly possessions get in the way of our faith, we are to “hate” those things for the sake of the gospel. That is, our love for Christ must outshine our love for every other person. You cannot serve two masters.

· False teachers are another common. They could not successfully attack the message, so they attacked the person. Paul went from a persecutor to the persecuted. Many accusations. A rioter, a law-breaker, an inventor of new and strange doctrines, indecisive, spineless, shameless, sloppy, greedy, a religious con-artist. 2 Corinthians 10:10 For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.”

· But look who is on our side! God (31) who did not spare his own son (31. Cf. 5:8-10), God who justifies, Christ who died, rose, and intercedes (34). God himself is the judge, and Jesus Christ is the divine defense attorney. He will never lose a case.

· 1 John 2:1–2 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins...

· Pliny, Roman Governor in Asia Minor discovered this in the early Second Century. He was so perplexed over the resilience of Christians and their unwillingness to bow to Caesar that he wrote a letter to the Emperor Trajan asking for advice. This was the kind of thing he found himself up against: A certain unknown Christian was brought before him, and Pliny, finding little fault in him, proceeded to threaten him. “I will banish thee,” he said. “Thou canst not,” was the reply, “for all the world is my Father’s house.” “Then I will slay thee,” said the Governor. “Thou canst not,” answered the Christian, “for my life is hid with Christ in God.” “I will take away they possessions,” continued Pliny. “Thou canst not, for my treasure is in heaven.” “I will drive thee away from man and thou shalt have no friend left,” was the final threat. And the calm reply once more was, “Thou canst not, for I have an unseen Friend from Whom thou art not able to separate me.” What was a poor, harassed Roman Governor, with all the powers of life and death, torture and the stake at his disposal, to do with people like that?

· That is the kind of thing Paul is talking about here.

· Psalm 118:6–7 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? The Lord is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.

· >>Thankfully, people cannot separate us. Opponents cannot erase God’s divine favor. But what about events that take place in our lives? Illness and disaster? Trials and temptations? What if we faint under the pressure? Is there a risk we could “lose our grip” on God?

2. Our Circumstances Cannot Separate Us from the Love of God (vv. 35-39)

· USPS Creed – “"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night [stops] these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

· A whole list of undesirable circumstances. tribulation (thlipsis) – a crushing pressure.

· Should not be so surprised when these Christians endure hardship. [For me, the surprise has been that God has treated me so much better than I deserve.] Quote from Psalm 44:22 Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

· Cf. 1 Corinthians 15:30–31 Why are we in danger every hour? I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day!

· Paul is speaking from his own experience. 2 Corinthians 11:23–28 Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.

· Speaks in pairs – death nor life, angels nor rulers, present nor future, height nor depth. Includes everything in between. Read the book from cover to cover. Is there any chance at all?

· Confidence – No! (v. 37) For I am sure (v. 38). A firm and settled conviction.

· If I could paraphrase this passage – “Neither recession or economic boom, neither a Republican nor a Democratic government, neither a season of church growth or church attrition, neither singleness nor marriage, neither deployment or a quiet day at home, neither sickness nor health, neither laughter nor tears, NOTHING can separate us!

· Whatever you face today, or are afraid of tomorrow, you cannot be separated from the love of Christ.

3. Conclusion

· Scottish Preacher Robert Bruce died July 27, 1631. Bruce was now some seventy-five years of age, his wife had been dead for several years and he was also ready for home. “I wonder why I am kept here so long,” he would say to friends. The following year, while having breakfast, his daughter, Martha, was about to prepare him another egg when he said, “Hold, daughter, hold; my Master calleth me.” He then asked that the house Bible, the Geneva Version, be brought. Unable himself to read it, he said, “Cast me up the 8th of Romans,” and he began to recite much of the second half of the chapter until he came to the last two verses: “For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” “Set my finger on these words,” he asked. “God be with you my children. I have breakfasted with you, and shall sup with my Lord Jesus this night. I die believing these words.” (Tim Challies)

· Truly, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.