God's Golden Chain of Security (Romans 8:29-30)
Romans 8 • Sermon • Submitted
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So much to pray for - young families in our church, the election, a family in a van hit by a drunk driver in Oakland who ran a red light at over 80mph, and we must never forget 9/11
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. 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 Golden chain of salvation - you will be glorified
God’s Golden Chain of Security - this is the work of God. God and God alone has accomplished this.
If you do not know Christ - I appeal to you, come to Jesus in humble brokenness
If you have come to Jesus - salvation, your salvation, your regeneration, your being born again, this is the work of God
In Romans 8 -it is Jesus who has help you when you could not help yourself. He died on the cross and took upon himself the condemnation that you deserve
It is the Holy Spirit who helps you in your weakness - we do not know what to pray and so the Spirit intercedes for us.
It is God the Father who has helped us and intimately known us since the beginning. It is God the Father who has predestined us, and called us, and justified us and glorified us. It is God the Father who sent his Son Jesus to be God in the flesh and the savior of all who come to him in Faith. It is God the Father who sent his Holy Spirit. It is God the Father who is the architect, the builder, the planner, the giver of this golden chain of salvation. This is the work of God and I pray that in this passage you will see less of yourself and be humbly blown away by what God the father has chosen to do in your life. And all of this is because of His grace.
Let’s talk about the security of the believer
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
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. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Steven Lawson
And what you will note is there’s no one added along the way, and there is no one subtracted along the way. The group that God began with in eternity past is the group that will stand before the throne of God in heaven, in eternity future. There are no dropouts from this university. The group he began with is the group that he will consummate with.
And you will note that those whom he foreknew he predestined. This is all God. This is none of man. This has nothing to do with man. We have no contribution to make to this. This is entirely a monergistic work of grace, and the word monergistic there’s only one active agent. Synergistic means there’s two or more active agents.
Now there’s only one. You can read it for yourself in your own Bible. Those whom he foreknew he predestined. Those whom he predestined he called. And those whom he called he justified. And those whom he justified he glorified. It’s all God. You’re caught up in something that is so far bigger than who you are, or will ever be. It is rooted and grounded in God himself.
It was God who chose to lay his hands on me and to save me. God chose me long before I ever chose him, and God loved me long before I ever loved him, and God pursued me long before I ever pursued him. God knew me long before I ever knew him.
Foreknew - to choose or select in advance of some other event—‘to choose beforehand, to select in advance.’
The Holy Bible: King James Version Chapter 4
And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.
The Holy Bible: King James Version Chapter 1
Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: 25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Predestined - to come to a decision beforehand—‘to decide beforehand, to determine ahead of time, to decide upon ahead of time.’
This is the intentional destination that God the Father has for you - and that destination is to spend eternity with him. But notice what Paul specifically says: you were predestined to be conformed to the image of his son.
Jesus came in the form of sinful man in Romans 8: 3 “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,”
Now we see that through salvation sinful man will take on the form of a sinless savior. image or eikon means that we will have the same form as Jesus. We will become his image bearers.
Where does election fit in? - that which has been chosen
Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—
Romans 9:11-13 - now you may ask, why did God hate Esau - Esau who was rebellious and godless and despised his parents. The real question is why did God love Jacob/ Jacob the deceiver, the liar. The question is not, why is Jesus the only way, it is why has God provided a way?
This is the sovereignty and wisdom of God. And we can’t know why God has done what he has done in our lives but we can choose to share his love with everyone we know.
Notice how verse 11 ends, because of him who calls
Called - to communicate directly or indirectly to someone who is presumably at a distance, in order to tell such a person to come—‘to call, to summon.’
Justified - to cause someone to be in a proper or right relation with someone else—‘to put right with, to cause to be in a right relationship with.’ Some scholars, however, interpret δικαιόω, δικαίωσις, and δικαιοσύνη in the following contexts as meaning ‘forensic righteousness,’ that it to say, the act of being declared righteous on the basis of Christ’s atoning ministry, but it would seem more probable that Paul uses these expressions in the context of the covenant relation rather than in the context of legal procedures.
Yes you were known by God, chosen in advance. Yes you were predestined, God has a plan and a purpose for you. You were called. But to be justified you had to come to Jesus. You had to call out to the God who called to you. You had to respond with the faith that the Holy Spirit gave you. While it is God ho justifies, it is the believer who must surrender completely and you must give your life completely to the will of God and follow Jesus with all your heart. Yes God is sovereign but he has called you so that you might walk in obedience to him. As Paul says in Philippians 2, you must continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling because it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. God has done the work but you seek his power, you must share your faith, you must give your life to becoming more like Jesus.
Glorified - to cause someone to have glorious greatness. Nothing is greater than eternal life. Not just free from the penalty of sin and the power of sin, but eternally free from the presence of sin.
God’s golden chain of salvation - are you saved
God’s golden chain of security - are you resting in what God has done?