Assurance of Salvation (July 25th, 2021)

Well, it's good to see you again this morning and we have been looking in the month of July at the doctrine of salvation. A doctrine that is worth dying. For certainly one of the most precious doctrines of the Christian faith. And we're looking at it in the letter of Paul to the Romans we have been considering Paul's explanation of the doctrine of salvation that he wrote to the to the Christians at Rome in order to get their support for that for his missionary work. And Romans 8, 31 to 39 which were looking at this morning is the stirring climax of a status long section of Romans that runs all the way from 1:18 to the end of chapter 8. After making the point that all have sinned in 1:18 to 3:20 that is all the Gentiles and all the Jews, all the people of the world, then he gets down to the heart of the matter. In this. This section 321 231 a densely-packed paragraph in, which she just talks about the atoning death of Jesus as the basis for the doctrine of justification by faith alone and Christ makes the propitiation for our sins. And he he Bears the punishment that was due to icy takes our place and because of what he does, on the cross salvation is made possible and God has shown to be a just God, because he always punishes sin and yet he punishes himself in the person of the Sun. Instead of us so that we could be saved. Then in chapter 4, Paul goes on to talk about Abraham as the father of the faithful. And he talks about how in Abraham's case, he was saved by faith alone, he was justified by faith alone. He points out that the law of Moses wasn't even given until five hundred years after Abraham. Lived, the 1500 BC Moses, and the Ten Commandments in the law of Moses that all Abraham precedes, all that by five centuries. And not only that, but Abraham is declared to be just in chapter 17 chapter. He's giving the promise in chapter 12 and the coven is made with him in chapter 15 of Genesis, and then it's only in its in 17, that circumcision is given. And so, Paul makes the argument that that Abraham was saved before the Mosaic law and before circumcision. And so, to expect the Gentiles to take on the responsibility of circumcision of the Jewish law, in order to be justified by faith, is not reasonable because Abraham was testified without those things. And he's the father of All those who are in the Messiah, all those who are saved. Christ is the Fulfillment of the Covenant Christ, is the Fulfillment of the law. And then in chapter 5, you presents Christ. As the second Adam, who reverse the curse resulting from the fall and bring Salvation and eternal life to those, who believe and his conclusion is there for Christ, is all we need. So what we have laid out for us, here is the beautiful and mysterious Plan of Salvation that is unveiled in scripture step-by-step until it comes to its climax in in Christ. Until it comes to its climax. In, in the coming of the Messiah. But Paul knows that there is an objection to this interpretation of the Old Testament. He knows that some Jewish Christians are worried that letting Gentiles into the church upon profession of faith in Christ, without requiring them to take on the responsibility of the law of Moses that this is going to leave tomorrow, Anarchy. That's their fear. They fear that it will bring the world inside the church. They know that the Greco-Roman society around them is decadent and wicked. They know that the Jews have a reputation for being different and they want that for the church to This is not a bad thing to want. They simply want Christians to live exemplary moral lives. but they think that the only way to do this is to teach legalism, And Paul reject legalism in chapter 6 and 7, he lays out the reasons. Why He says the point of preaching the doctor justification by faith alone is not to allow more moral standards to creep into the church. Know, the point of this Doctrine is that by faith, we identify with Christ. So completely that we become one with him, we died with him. We're buried with him. We're raised a new life with him and all. This is symbolized in baptism. You know, lives within us by means of the spirit and the believer who walks in the spirit lives aboard, a life that is not only higher than the surrounding world, but it's even higher than those who attempt to keep the law on their own strength because that's Paul rightly points out. Have you ever tried to keep the law perfectly? I mean really tried seriously. You know, that you fail continuously that's because we don't have the power within ourselves. We're not good enough. We have a corrupt, Fallen nature inherited from Adam and we do not have the ability to keep the law. What does Spirit brings is a new ability, a power and it's the same Power by which Jesus was raised from the dead. That is the power that the spirit brings to us and gives to us that allows us to live this higher moral life. And so Paul says no it's not on lower level of morality. It's a higher level of morality that the true Christian is live.

Legalism cannot make us new creatures in Christ. But being by faith in Jesus Christ can, and does that. I could virgin launches us on a journey toward the day of Resurrection, when we will be raised from the dead. And given new glorified bodies in chapter 8, Paul explains that this is who we are as Christians. Our destiny is glory. And so we shouldn't about to this. New death, new identity by living everyday surrendering to the spirit and letting Christ shine through us.

Today is the final sermon in this series on the doctrine of salvation. And as we come to these verses 31 to 39 of Romans 8, we can see that we're coming to the climax of this whole section. We're coming to the the point that that Paul has been leading up to, in many ways. Paul has been teaching up to this point. He's been explaining expounding, he's been quoting scripture and explaining the doctrine. I did these final verses of chapter 8, he breaks out into praise and worship. That's what the ology supposed to do. You know the ology a Doctrine is not supposed to be some, esoteric boring abstract irrelevant kind of hair cutting Doctrine is supposed to lead us to worship. If you really know these things and if these things are really true that your heart is full and you want to burst out in, praise to God.

And Paul shows us what our reaction ought to be to these things. In what he says here. I want to begin before we jump into these verses to ask you, by asking you a question. Do you ever doubt yourself Asian? Do you ever doubt that you are really a Christian?

Many people do their broadly, speaking two, kinds of people in the world, two kinds of people in the church. You might be a mixture of the two or you might be more one type than the other. You might have been one type in the past and have now become the other. What are these two types? What? The first kind of person is the proud Pharisee. And this person is self confident to the point of arrogant. This person is successful a high achiever off at a leader. This person never doubts that he's one of the elect. In fact, this person gives you the impression that God is pretty lucky to have him on his team.

The second kind of person is the humble sinner. This is the opposite in many ways. This person is anxious to the point of being disabled by anxiety. This person is often an introvert and withdrawn this person doubts that he or she could ever be saved. He thinks he's unworthy in unlikely to be one of God's elect. Sometimes this person gives you the impression. That his or her sins are so big, so ugly, so bad, so entrenched that God could never forgive that person.

Have you ever thought that your sins are just too big for God to handle? I dare not go back to God and confession one more time because God is going to lose his temper and give up on you.

Now obviously, these are caricatures. I've described the extremes but you probably met people who lean one way or the other and you may fall into one category more than the other yourself. Are you a proud Pharisee or are you a humble sinner?

what if I told you that these two characters have something extremely important in common, despite the fact that they seem to be opposites, they are actually identical in one key respect. Can you guess what it is that they have in common?

Both are narcissistic. You probably know what that word means. It means having an excessive interest in oneself. A narcissist has an excessive interest in himself or herself that he or she cannot really connect with the people around them. Like they can't really really take an interest in people around him. The Narcissist tends to be so wrapped up in his own feelings that he loses touch with reality and is oblivious, especially to the emotions of those around him.

Satan is the ultimate narcissist. He's so self-focused that you cannot understand why it is, right? And normal and healthy and necessary to worship God.

If you said to Satan, you should worship God, you would probably reply with something like What about my needs?

That's what it means to be a narcissist that you can be a loud and proud narcissist. You can strut around in your self-righteousness. Pretending to be better than everybody else. Where you can be a quiet and humble narcissist. Your focus is inward. Your thoughts are on yourself. Your mood seems more real than the world around you.

Question is, can you have Assurance of Salvation? That's the question. I want us to consider this morning because this passage gives the answer to that question. And so it's only right that as we try to understand the passage that we consider. What question is it answering? The question is, can you have Assurance of salvation?

And the answer the Paul Gibbs In this passage is equally applicable to the proud Pharisee and to the humble Center. It's applicable to both. Yes, seven rhetorical questions in in verses 31 to 35 and a rhetorical question is a question that to which the answer is supposed to be obvious? Now, some people are so narcissistic that it isn't all that even the even the answer to a rhetorical question, might not be obvious to that person and if the answer to the question doesn't seem obvious to you that could be an indication of a problem. but he asks these questions which he asks rhetorically expecting everyone to understand what the answer is and then he quotes a verse from the Old Testament People don't realize how littered with the the New Testament is with quotations from the Old Testament. One of the good things about the ESV is that it sets this hearse out as a quotation and you can, you can reassure reading through it jumps out at you. This is a quotation. You should always look up the quotation when your reading the New Testament. What's it quoting from? And this one is coming from Psalm 44 22 and then he concludes with two powerful statements. So, seven questions. And one quotation and two statements. Let's look at this passage together. Like Jesus. Paul often answer the question with a question. In this case, he answers a question with seven questions and we have Assurance of Salvation and the app 7 questions. First, he says, what shall we say then to these things? These things meaning The entire contents of chop with 128, this whole doctrine of salvation that is laid out for us all the stall that he has, had to say about justification by faith alone, sanctification in the spirit, and the future hope of glory fication. What shall we say? Then in reference to these things? But specifically, the immediate versus preceding this? This question, verses 27, to 30 lays out the order of Salvation. The things that God has done the start an eternity past to go to Eternity, future the whole Plan of Salvation,

And what Paul is saying? Is that what he is about, to share in these versus is the implication. Of God's Plan of Salvation.

Second question. If God be for us, who can be against us? And Nepal is just finished thing. That salvation is God's work. Thank you, Malachi.

Salvation is God's work. God just justifies the guilty Center on the basis of his of a God's Own atoning work, on the cross, the self substitution of God, on the cross. God asks us to cooperate and sanctification, but the extent of our cooperation and just surrendering Just putting to death the Flesh and living letting the spirit, do it all. Our participation is only negative. And when salvation comes to an end in glorification that again, will be the work of God exclusively. As he raises the body from the dead, and reunites with the soul and makes us perfect. The point is that salvation is God's work. It's God who doesn't, which means that if you are questioning it, you're questioning God.

Third question, 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. You see what Paul is saying here? You saying, look, God is already giving you his son. You already given you his beloved Son. He has sent the son to die on the cross for you, he gave you his son. Do you think? But having done that. God is likely to not, give you what you need. Now if he gave you, the big thing, will he give you the little things? If he gave you the most important thing, the most precious thing. You think he's just going to abandon that work. We elected you in eternity past. He has future plans for you to be made perfect. Then glorified in eternity future. You think that in the middle of all this? He's just going to stop and and say, I changed my mind.

Paul is saying.

Look at what he's already done. He's going to finish the work. and then the fourth question who will bring any charge against God's elect, it is God who justifies

God is the one who doing it. And so if if if in fact salvation was our own work, we would have plenty to be anxious about if salvation was our own effort, our own Merit, then we would have a lot of good reasons to lock assurance. Paul is trying to get us to see that. These two things are intricately connected. We can have Assurance precisely because it's all Grace. It's all the work of God. If it was partly the work of God and partly our work then we could have partly we could partly have a short cuz you know we can always trust God. We just can't always trust ourselves. what Paul has products here in these chapters, is that everything about salvation is, the work of God, he justifies it, he regenerates us, he adopts us, he Sanctified, glorifies us,

So, who is The Condemned Christ? Jesus is the one who died, more than that, he was, who was raised. It was at the right hand of God, you would indeed is interceding for us. This is interesting, and I just want to point this out. This is a, by the way.

People say that the doctrine of the Trinity is not in the Bible. That's nonsense. It's everywhere. You noticed if what he says here is that Christ is interceding for us. But it forces earlier in the previous paragraph in verse 26, he said that it is the spirit who intercedes for us to praise for us. This is a typical thing that Paul does. In fact, the New Testament, does it repeatedly where where one minute he says the spirit is doing it and the next minute he says Christ is doing it. Because Christ, and the spirit are two persons of one God there they work in separately, they, they act together. You see the same kind of thing, an ax in the story of ananias and Sapphira, where Peter says, you have lied to the Holy Spirit. And then he says, you lied to God. And he doesn't think anything of it. Because to lie to the spirit is the light of God. The light of God is to lie to the Holy Spirit. There's this, there's this fall will have other instances where he'll talk about, how, how we we we worship God and that we worship Christ. We worship Christ, we worship, God is really the same thing. We're worshiping the Triune God when we worship any, one of the three,

But notice what Paul keeps doing here. Question number 5. How many times have we already seen him refer to Christ on the cross? He keeps pointing us back to the Cross. Notice remember, back in chapter 6, when he said, show me continue in sin that Grace May abound by no means, what did you do? Then he talks about baptism and what what did he say about baptism? Because it's a picture of the death of Christ. And his resurrection, everything keeps coming back to the death and resurrection of Christ. No matter how you look at it from every angle Paul continuously, points us back to the death and resurrection of Christ. You see? We sometimes I just want to talk about our self. You want to talk about our feelings, we taught her. We want to talk about our hopes and our fears, and our thoughts, and our ideas. And the Bible keeps telling us to think about the death and resurrection of Christ. The Bible keeps saying, get your thoughts on Christ. Get your thoughts on God, and specifically on what God has done in history for your salvation. If you want to have Assurance of Salvation, get your mind off of yourself and onto Christ.

It's as if Paul is saying how many different ways do I have to say it? How many different times do I have to go back to the same thing? It's really very simple.

And then he asked this question in verse 35, who shall separate us? From the love of Christ. And again, we get the same pattern 1 minute. It's who shall separate us from the love of Christ. And then another minute it's shall separate us from the love of God. Love of God, the love of Christ.

And then chavan question 7 shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or sword or danger. We can take these two questions together who shall separate us from the love of Christ, shall any of these things.

the basic question that comes down to is this Is there anything in the universe stronger than God? Is there anything that has the power to defeat God's purposes? Is there anything in creation that can overcome God's Will and force an outcome? God does not intend. and if the answer to that is no, then we can have assurance.

If the answer to that is no. And indeed, nothing can separate you from the love of God. You see, Christianity is a resurrection faith. We have one thing going for us that no other religion has and that is the empty tomb. And the hope of bodily, Resurrection. The people can do a lot of things to you. They can slander you, they can exclude you, they can, they can harm your body, they can take away your money, they can hurt your family, they can do all kinds of things to you, but the worst thing that anybody can do to you in this world, the worst thing that the devil can do, the worst thing the world can do the worst thing that anybody can do is to kill you.

And it doesn't matter. Because you're going to be raised again. You seem God's solution to the problem of evil in this world is the power of the resurrection. And we saw that power happening in the, in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And what Paul is trying to get across to us in this chapter 8, is that that same resurrection power by which God raised Jesus from the dead. Is that working? You ended me right now? And that power in us and enables us to have faith that even if they kill us, we won't stay dead.

So what can they do? Who can separate us from the love of God in Christ.

There's nothing they can do, there's nothing anybody can do. That's the point of this series of rhetorical questions. And then he quotes from Psalm 44 verse 22.

No, I said I highly recommend that when you read the New Testament you come to one of these quotations or allusions to the Old Testament which are always marked in the little Center column of your Bible always look up the the reference and look at the contacts. It's on 44 is a very interesting song. We need to understand the context of this verse for your sake. We are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered if I come from. A, what's the context. 44 is a national Lament? It's a it's a song in which the the psalmist is is lamenting. The fact that God has allowed the armies of Israel to be defeated in battle. The enemy has overcome the armies of Israel. And there's something really interesting about this song. If it can trust dramatically with a song, like Psalm 51, where David confesses his sin. And there are many other Psalms laments where where the psalmist at confess he said it admits that he's getting what he deserves. But not in Psalm 44 Is Psalm 44. The basic question is Lord, we have kept the Covenant. Why have you allowed us to be defeated?

No, Israel. It's in many times in our history and input, but but not all the way, but but sin was, you know, there was a provision made for send them something called The levitical Law of the sacrifices in the Tabernacle Temple. And you could have him, send, you could go and and you could offer an animal sacrifice, him have your sin atone for But but but committing a sin, like, like lying or adultery or stealing was was, was not considered to be something that excluded you from the Covenant. If you if you found you could find forgiveness to the sacrificial system. The only thing that could really get you excluded from the Covenant. Totally was idolatry, was abandoning the worship of Yahweh and we're shipping another God because if you did that, you were cutting yourself off from the the sacrificial system. You cutting yourself off from the Covenant and it's it's it's coming down to the oldest the old story. If the only reason the God can't save you was if you won't ask for salvation and if Israel abandoned Yahweh and went after other gods will then that would cut you out of the Covenant but the psalmist is Psalm 44 say we have not done that. We are still in the cupboard. No, we're not perfect. We have sinned to Broken the law and various ways, but we still worship you. And we ask for your forgiveness and we want to know why have you allowed This calamity to fall upon us? I'll be interesting thing. Is that Scholars? The Bible scholars, have all the different suggestions for the historical context of Psalm 44. Some people think it gets messed with the, the attack, on the temple. With Antiochus, epiphanes, the fourth in the second century BC. Some people see in it, the Babel, the. Of the Babylonian captivity other people see the, the early days of Israel before the monarchy, the. Of the judges, which is where I think it probably fits the best. But Calvin has an interesting comment. He says, you know, what the fact is that you could make a case for this song applying to many periods of Israel's history, why? Because in almost every era of Israel's history, they did suffer persecution. The Fixx all especially those who climb the most Faithfully to the Lord did suffer persecution. And what Paul is saying here by quoting this verse is, this is a permanent condition to be expected by the people of God, We should always expect to be persecuted in this world. Isn't that what Jesus taught on the night before his crucifixion in the world? You shall have tribulation but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. If they hated me, they will hate you as well.

And so, what Paul is saying is that The people of God should expect persecution. And you should not conclude from persecution or suffering. But you're not a Christian, You're Not Safe, you should not conclude that. You should not take trouble and tribulation in distress and famine and nakedness and sword. You should not interpret those things happening to you. As evidence that you're not, you're not really saved. No, you should expect those things to happen. They're not indications that you are a bad Christian or that you are not false Christian. They are things that happened to the people of God in this life. This life is a journey, it's a battle, it's not a vacation.

By the way, the count is now, 48. Christian churches burned or vandalized in Canada in recent weeks.

Anti-christian, hate crimes are up 285% in France over the last decade. The persecution of the church in China is getting worse. All over the Islamic World. It continues unabated. Christian suffer for their faith. Not every person every day everywhere. No. But many do and you never know, when you'll be called upon to suffer for Christ.

And this neo-pagan society that we live here in here in Canada, we can expect it to get worse, not better. And the point that Paul is making here. Is that we live in a war zone, whether we realize it or not, we live in a world that is actively hostile to the gospel, it's in Rebellion against God and it's refusing to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and King. And so we Face the stress and tribulation and persecution and thumb in a naked, this danger and sword, this list, by the way, nicely sums up. Paul's experiences on his missionary Journeys, as recording the book of Acts, the Paul is speaking from personal experience and what Paul is saying is that my personal experience of persecution in danger and famine and struggle, Is just par for the course in terms of the history of God, people from Abraham to the second coming of Christ.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that just because your life is hard. But you're not really a Christian.

And then finally you can cludes with two firm statements of fact. He began by saying Can anything separate us to Pieces? No. We are more than conquerors through him, who loved us? We are more than conquerors notice. He doesn't say, we are more than conquerors in our own strength.

He does not say that. In fact, Christian don't look like conquerors. Christian's look like they're week there, they're suffering, they're being shunted. Aside, they have no power Christians, don't look like conquerors. But we are. We're conquerors through him. That is Christ who died and rose again. And then he says 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.

Yes, we can have Assurance of salvation. Yeah. We stop obsessing about ourselves. And turn Our Eyes Upon Jesus.

We need to be god-centered not narcissistic if we want to know, for sure that we are saved. The basic thought in this passages, we serve a risen savior who conquered the grave. And since the worst thing the world can do to us, is to kill us. We have nothing to fear.

It's a great blessing to know that salvation is a matter of God's grace alone. It's a tremendous relief to know that we don't have to earn it. We don't have to maintain it by ourselves. We don't have to provide the power to make it work. It's God's doing. Adidas. Wonderful.

In a moment, we're going to sing. A great hymn. It Is Well with our salt with My Soul. What is hymn was written by Horatio G spafford in. 1873 What to tell you the backstory of this him? Horatio, G spafford was a successful lawyer and businessman in Chicago with a wife and five children.

In 1871 just two years before this him, come on up. I'm going to talk for another minute or two but in 1871. He lost most of his business in the Great Chicago Fire. And his youngest son died of pneumonia. And yet, God in his Mercy, allowed his business to flourish again. Two years later. On November 21st, 1873 the French ocean lighter, Villa to Harvest Crossing the Atlantic from the US to Europe with 313 passengers onboard, and among the passengers were mrs. Spafford, in their four daughters, mr. Stafford, had intended to accompany them, but he had to stay behind and business in Chicago to take care of business. And he told his wife, that he would join her. And the children in Europe, a few days later, his plan was to take another ship. About four days into the crossing of the Atlantic developed to have collided with a powerful iron-hulled scholarship, the lochcarron. Suddenly all those on board were in grave Danger. Enterprise her four daughters to the deck and they prayed that God would spare them if it be his will or make them willing to endure, whatever awaited them, Within about 12 minutes, The Villa to harv slipped below the dark Waters of the Atlantic carrying with it, 226 out of the 313 passengers, including the force by for children. A sailor. Rowing a boat over the spot where the ship had gone down. Spotted a woman floating on a piece of wreckage. It was Anna still alive. He pulled her into the boat and they were picked up by another large vessel that arrived in Cardiff. Wales 9 days later. From there, she sent a wire to her husband. Saved alone. What shall I do?

Mr. Stafford put book passage on the next available ship and left to join his grieving wife. And when the ship was about four days out from New York, the captain called spafford to his cabin, and told him that they were over the place where his children had gone down. According to Bertha spafford, Vester, a daughter born to Anna and and her husband after this tragedy. Stoppard wrote the words to this hymn. On this journey.

When peace like a river, attendeth my way. when Sorrows like sea Billows, roll Whatever. My lot now has taught me to say it is. Well, it Is Well with My Soul.