I'm Sure I'm Saved

Romans 8:20-34

English Standard Version (Chapter 8)

20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope

21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.

23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?

25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 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.

29 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.

30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.God’s Everlasting Love

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

32 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?

33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.

34 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.

The Sermon in a Sentence

Expository Outlines from Romans (15. The Assurance of Salvation (Romans 8:20–34))

God’s promises are true. He cannot lie — Num. 23:19. What He promised, He will do. He will save all who call on His name —Rom. 10:13. Jesus didn’t die for a select few—He died for all. It is not God’s will that any perish, but that all be saved—2 Peter 3:9. He will forgive all sin if we confess to Him—1 John 1:9.

Promised Freedom 20–23

1. Promise—vv. 20–21. “For on that day thorns and thistles, sin, and death, and decay—the things that overcame the world against its will at God’s command—will disappear, and the world around us will share in the glorious freedom from sin which God’s children enjoy”—LB.

Paul spoke of the creation being “subjected to frustration” (v. 20). That was not because of some inherent fault in creation but because that is what God decided. In punishment for his disobedience, Adam was to garner his food from ground cursed with thorns and thistles. But the curse was not permanent. The physical universe was frustrated by Adam’s sin, yet there is hope. Verse 21 states the content of that hope. The day is coming when the created order will be set free from its bondage to decay. Freed from corruption, it will share in “the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (literal translation). The scene is eschatological. Some have suggested that this points to life during the millennium, but it is better to see it as the entire created universe celebrating together the glorious state of final redemption and restoration. Paul’s use of personification is striking. As sin brought the curse of death to the physical universe, the day is coming when a new heaven and earth will be in place (2 Pet 3:13; Rev 21:1). They will take their place with the children of God in the perfect freedom of a sinless universe.

2. Pleasure—v. 23. God’s children look forward to being with Him. Heb. 11:10

German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once sneered that “in reality, hope is the worst of all evils, because it prolongs man’s torment.” Hope is often vilified as a thief to logic and a fool to reason. But like the crazy homeless man under the bridge, it just won’t shut up. Hope often fortifies itself in the most pathetic and pitiful of places and takes root in the most desperate and despondent of people. Hope has a habit of keeping the faith when others have long since retired from the race.

The evangelical faith is one that is indelibly connected to hope in God. Hope has come in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the promise of the gospel, the gift of the Spirit, and the anticipation of life everlasting.

Hope is not optimism, it is the audacity of faith under adversity. Hope is the cheering in triumph for what others deem a lost cause. Hope expiates the misery of life. Hope is currency in the land of melancholy. Hope is the dancing when the music has longed ceased. Hope is bread for the soul that is starved. Hope is the voice that whispers…Hope is the grace to face our fears, knowing that there is someone greater than the sum of all fears. Hope holds out a light rather than curses the dark. Hope is the physician of a terrified soul. Hope is the hero of the weak. Hope is defiance in the face of the tyrant.

Colossians 1:5—Hope stored up in heaven

Colossians 1:23—Hope held out in the gospel

Promised Forgiveness—Romans 8:24-27

Salvation—vv. 24–25. Salvation by hope. Our faith is in this hope of 1 John 3:2; 1 Peter 3:15.

Spirit—v. 26. Intercession in prayer for others—James 5:16. The Spirit can take control of us and pray through us.

Supernatural—v. 27. “God knows the hearts of men. He knows what the Holy Spirit is thinking. The Holy Spirit prays for those who belong to Christ the way God wants Him to pray”—NLT.

Currently, however, the entire universe is in travail as if it were giving birth. As in childbirth, the pain is not meaningless but “carries with it the hope of new life for all creation.” Likewise, we ourselves are inwardly groaning as we await the final phase of our adoption—the redemption of our bodies (cf. Phil 3:21). Christians are those “who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,” that is, who have the “Spirit as a foretaste of the future” (Conybeare). In the Old Testament firstfruits consisted of the initial portion of the harvest that was given in sacrifice to God (Exod 23:19; Lev 23:9–14). Paul used the term in reference to the gift of the Spirit as an eschatological pledge (cf. 2 Cor 5:5, where the Spirit is given “as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come”). The Spirit is evidence that at the present time we are the sons of God (vv. 14, 16). He is also the “down payment” (the term aparchēn, “firstfruits,” having essentially the same meaning here as arrabōn in 2 Cor 1:22; Eph 1:14) on the inheritance that will be ours as members of the family of God.Our salvation involves the hope that our mortal bodies will someday be liberated from the bondage of decay (v. 24). We are not saved “by hope” (as the AV has it), but our salvation is characterized by hope. Since salvation, viewed in its completeness, is necessarily future, we wait for it in hope (cf. 1 Thess 5:8; Titus 3:7). But hope that is seen is not hope at all. Why would we hope for that which is in plain view? So since we are hoping for something that is still unseen (cf. 2 Cor 4:18), it falls to us to wait for it with patience (cf. 2 Cor 5:2, 4).

As it is hope that carries us through our times of suffering (vv. 24–25), so it is the Spirit who comes to our aid when we find ourselves unable to pray as we ought. Paul said that the Spirit “helps us in our weakness.” In context that weakness is our lack of understanding regarding prayer.184 Prayer has always been one of the great mysteries of the spiritual life. We understand that God is listening, but we sense our inadequacy when it comes to knowing how to pray or exactly what we should pray for. How many times have we wondered how to pray for a friend suffering a serious illness? Sometimes volumes of prayer have gone up to God, but the response from heaven was not what we wanted or expected. When our lack of faith undermines certainty in prayer, the Spirit himself intercedes on our behalf. So intense is his prayer that Paul described it as “groans that words cannot express.” The NEB makes the believer, not the Spirit, the one who groans (“through our inarticulate groans the Spirit himself is pleading for us”). This removes the somewhat difficult image of the Spirit groaning in prayer, but in view of Gethsemane (cf. esp. Luke 22:44) there is no reason to deny emotional/spiritual involvement in prayer to the third person of the Trinity. Here again we stand at the edge of mystery. It is better to acknowledge humbly our spiritual incapacity than to reduce the action of the Spirit to human terms.God understands what the Spirit desires even though it is inexpressible in human terms (v. 27). God is the one who has complete access to the heart. His knowledge is direct, not dependent upon one’s ability to articulate concerns. God is a searcher of hearts and knows the desires of the Spirit as the Spirit intercedes for us. He knows that the Spirit is interceding for saints in harmony with his will. No passage of Scripture provides greater encouragement for prayer. The Spirit comes to the aid of believers baffled by the perplexity of prayer and takes their concerns to God with an intensity far greater than we could ever imagine. Our groans (v. 23) become his (v. 26) as he intercedes on our behalf.

Promised Faithfulness—Romans 8:28-30

Divinity—v. 28. God uses everything in our lives for His glory, even our failures and mistakes. See Gen. 45:5. Job knew God had a purpose in all his losses—Job 19:25.

8:28 We come now to one of the favorite verses in Romans. How often in times of trial have believers turned to Paul’s reassuring words that God has not deserted us but is at work in every circumstance of life. While the AV and other English translations follow the textual tradition that makes “all things” the subject of the sentence, the NIV has chosen an alternate tradition that supplies the word “God” as subject. Since “things” are incapable of independent action, the two translations actually come to the same conclusion. In both cases it would be God who is at work in the circumstances of life. God directs the affairs of life in such a way that, for those who love him, the outcome is always beneficial. The “good” of which Paul spoke is not necessarily what we think is best, but as the following verse implies, the good is conformity to the likeness of Christ. With this in mind it is easier to see how our difficulties are part of God’s total plan for changing us from what we are by nature to what he intends us to be. Moral advance utilizes hardship more often than not.The verb (“works”) and the participial phrase (“those who love him”) are in the present tense. Not only is God continually at work, but those for whom he works are steadfast in their love for him. The Christian faith is never presented in Scripture as a static relationship. A person’s salvation is not something that took place sometime in the past with little or no impact in the present. By definition, a relationship is a continuing affair. A vital ongoing love for God is the necessary prerequisite for his active intervention in the affairs of our life. From the human side we love God. From God’s side we are called in accordance with his purpose. By calling Paul meant an effectual calling—one in which our response is invariably positive.

2. Design—vv. 29–30. God knows who will be saved. He gives man a choice; He wants us to be like His Son 2 Cor. 3:18.

8:29–30 These verses contain a series of five verbs (all in the aorist tense) describing how God has carried out his saving purpose. The first two are foreknowledge and predestination. We know that God is at work for us in the circumstances of life (v. 28) because we have been predestined to “share the likeness of his Son” (Weymouth). As Jesus “learned obedience from what he suffered” (Heb 5:8), we too should expect our share of difficulties in the process of being conformed to his image. Verse 29 is sometimes interpreted to mean that God predestines on the basis of his prior knowledge about how each of us will in fact respond. But this would mean that in election God would not be sovereign; he would be dependent upon what he would see happening in the future. Theologians rightly point out that prior to knowledge must be the divine decree. Unless God determines in some sense that something will happen, he cannot “know” that it will. For God to foreknow requires an earlier decree. The etymology of the Greek verb translated “predestine” suggests marking out a boundary beforehand. In the present context predestination is not concerned with election to salvation. Rather, God has foreordained that believers be brought into “moral conformity to the likeness of his Son.”196 What is predestined is that we become like Christ (cf. 2 Cor 3:18). The purpose is that Christ might be the “eldest in a vast family of brothers” (Weymouth). If we were to bear no family resemblance to him, the intention of the Father would never be realized. The supremacy of Christ is reflected in the designation “firstborn” (cf. Col 1:15, 18; Heb 1:6; Rev 1:5). It speaks both of his priority in time and of his primacy of rank. It also implies that there are to be others who will share in his sonship.Verse 30 continues the sequence of divine actions (in the aorist tense). Not only did God foreknow and predestine believers, he also called, justified, and glorified them. Only the final term raises a problem. Scripture teaches that glorification awaits our future resurrection (1 John 3:2). It usually is said that since future events are determined by God’s prior decree, Paul could speak of glorification in the past tense. It is as certain as if it already had taken place. Another interpretation is that God has in fact “given his splendour [glory]” (NEB) to those whom he has justified. Even now we enjoy a portion of the spiritual benefits of God’s redemptive work on our behalf (cf. 2 Cor 3:18).

Promised Fellowship—Romans 8:31-34

Protection—v. 31. If God is on our side it doesn’t matter who is against us. No one can destroy our character except ourselves. See Isa. 54:17. Gossip, lying and criticism against God’s child may for the moment seem to destroy; but God will use this for good.

8:31–32 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.

Promise—v. 32. God gave us His Son. He will give us all we need—Phil. 4:19. There is a difference between our need and our greed!—Ps. 37:25.

Pardon—vv. 33–34. Who can criticize those whom God has justified? To them there is no condemnation—Rom. 8:1; Ps. 103:3.

Paul continued by asking rather incredulously, Who is there who dares to bring an accusation against those whom God has chosen (v. 33)? No one! It is God himself who pronounces his people righteous. There is no higher tribunal. Who is the one with the authority to condemn (v. 34)? Translations are divided on whether to take the response as a statement or a question. If a statement, the answer to “Who is he that condemns?” would be, “It is Christ Jesus [that condemns], the one who died and rose again.” But Jesus said, “I did not come to judge the world, but to save it” (John 12:47). So it must be a question: “Will Christ? No! For he is the One who died for us” (TLB). If he is for us, he certainly will not condemn us. Far from condemning us, he is right now at the right hand of God interceding on our behalf. Not only does the Spirit intercede for us (8:26) but the glorified Christ as well.

The Bible says that whosoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved—Rom. 10:13; whosoever believes in Him will have everlasting life—John 3:16. He rejects none who come to Him—John 6:37.