Romans 8.28b-The Christian Is Characterized As Loving God

Romans Chapter Eight  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  1:09:16
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Romans: Romans 8:28b-The Christian Is Characterized As Loving God-Lesson # 275

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Wenstrom Bible Ministries

Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom

Thursday January 8, 2009

www.wenstrom.org

Romans: Romans 8:28b-The Christian Is Characterized As Loving God

Lesson # 275

Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 8:28.

This evening we will continue with our three part study of Romans 8:28.

In Romans 8:28, Paul teaches that for those characterized by love for God, namely, the Christian, the Spirit works all things together for good, i.e. conformity to the image of Christ, for the chosen ones in accordance with God’s predetermined plan.

Last evening, we studied Romans 8:28a and in this passage, Paul teaches that on behalf of the Christian, the Spirit works all things together for good, which refers to conformity to the image of Christ.

This evening, we will note Romans 8:28b, in which Paul teaches that the Christian is characterized by love for God.

Then Sunday, we will complete the verse by noting Romans 8:28c, which teaches that the Christian is chosen by God in accordance with God’s predetermined plan.

Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

“To those who love God” is the articular dative masculine plural present active participle form of the verb agapao (a)gapavw), which means, “to divinely love.”

Its cognate noun is agape, “divine love,” which is used in the Greek New Testament for an attribute of God and thus originates with Him.

1 John 4:7-8, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

Agape, the love of God has many characteristics: (1) Loyal (John 21:7, 15-16, 20; Rom. 8:35, 39; Eph. 5:28).(2) Self-sacrificial (John 3:16; 15:13; Gal. 2:20). (3) Eternal (John 17:26). (4) Kind (1 Cor. 13:4). (5) Not self-centered (bragging, jealous) (1 Cor. 13:4). (6) Immutable (Rm. 8:39). (7) Unconditional (Rm. 8:35, 39). (8) Faithful (Rm. 8:35, 39). (9) Compassionate (1 John 3:16-17). (10) Merciful (1 John 3:16-17). (11) Righteous and Just (Rm. 13:8-10). (12) Thoughtful and Considerate (Rm. 13:8-10). (13) Truthful or Honest (1 Cor. 13:6). (14) Long-suffering (1 Cor. 13:4). (15) Enduring (1 Cor. 13:7). (16) Confident in the Future (1 Cor. 13:7). (17) Forgiving (Eph. 4:32-5:2). (18) Tolerant (Eph. 4:2). (19) Giving (John 3:16; Gal. 2:20). (20) Encourages Others (1 Thess. 4:18; 5:11). (21) Prays for Others (Jam. 5:16). (22) Considers Others More Important Than Self (Phlp. 2:3). (23) Considerate Others (Phlp. 4:10-18). (24) Shares Another’s Burden in Adversity (Gal. 6:2). (25) Delights in Being Obedient to God (John 14:23-24). (26) Reciprocates (Phlp. 1:3-7). (27) Sincere (1 Pet. 1:22).

The greatest act of love by the God-Man was His voluntary substitutionary spiritual death on the Cross.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the love of God incarnate since He is the God-Man (John 1:18).

All men are the objects of God’s “impersonal” love and all believers are the objects of His “personal” love.

Before salvation, the believer was the object of God’s “impersonal” love meaning that he was obnoxious and unattractive to God since he was enslaved to the cosmic system of Satan and his old Adamic sin nature and under real spiritual death.

At salvation, the believer became the object of God’s “personal” love meaning that the believer is attractive to God since God imputed His righteousness to the believer at the moment he exercised faith alone in Christ alone and is now a child of God and a partaker of the divine nature.

The divine-love of God the Father expressed itself through His plan for the incarnation of the Son, which was designed to provide salvation for all mankind.

The divine-love of God the Son expressed itself through His willingness to volunteer His services to execute the incarnation plan of God the Father.

The divine-love of the humanity of Christ in hypostatic union expressed itself through His voluntary spiritual death on the cross as a substitute for all mankind.

The divine-love of the Holy Spirit expressed itself through His work of making the gospel understandable at the point of salvation and also performing His seven salvation ministries when an individual believes in the Lord Jesus for salvation.

The fact that we are beneficiaries of God’s divine-love before salvation and objects of His personal love after salvation will serve to encourage us when we go through adversity in life and also serves to challenge us to advance to maturity and execute the plan of God.

God commands the believer to love his fellow human being.

John 13:34, “A new commandment in example I give to all of you, that all of you divinely love one another, even as I have divinely loved all of you, that all of you also divinely love one another.”

When we obey the command to love one another as Christ loved, we reflect God’s love.

But in order to obey this command we must first prayerfully meditate upon the Spirit’s revelation in the Word of God of the Lord Jesus Christ’s self-sacrificial love for us at the Cross.

Romans 5:5, “In fact, this confidence, as an eternal spiritual truth, never disappoints because God’s love is always being poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us for our benefit.”

Then we must accept by faith the Spirit’s revelation of the Lord’s self-sacrificial love and service for us, and which faith expresses itself in obedience to the Lord’s command to love one another as He has loved him.

1 John 4:7-21, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.”

When we obey the command to love one another as Christ loved, we are in effect responding to God’s love for us, which He demonstrated at the cross and by saving us and giving us a new nature and making us His children.

Love for others is motivated by our love for the Lord and our love for the Lord is demonstrated by our obedience to His commands to love one another and our obedience to His commands is the response in our souls to the love, which He exercised towards us.

In the Greek New Testament, agape, “divine-love” has two directions: (1) Vertical: Love directed toward God (Mark 12:30). (2) Horizontal: Love directed toward man (Mark 12:31).

Mark 12:28-31 illustrates for us the directions of love.

Mark 12:28-30, “One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, ‘What commandment is the foremost of all?’ Jesus answered, "The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD.’ AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.”

“Love” is the verb agapao (a)gapavw), which refers to the act of honoring, respecting, revering and being dedicated and devoted to God to the point of self-sacrifice.

This act is the proper, appropriate, obedient and obligatory response by the believer to God’s revelation of Himself since the believer has been created and redeemed for God’s purpose and good pleasure.

Mark 12:30 indicates that the believer is to love God with his entire being, with his kardia, “heart,” psuche, “soul,” dianoia, “mind,” and ischus, “strength.”

Mark 12:31, “The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

“Love” is the verb agapao (a)gapavw), which refers to the act of honoring and respecting your fellow human being to the point of self-sacrifice.

This act is the proper, appropriate, obedient and obligatory response by the believer to his fellow human being since both he and his fellow human being were created by God, according to His image of God and redeemed at the Cross.

We are to love the Lord who we can’t see in our fellow believer who we can see.

Matthew 25:39-40, “When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You? The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’”

The believer does not love God, who he can’t see, if he does not love his fellow believer who he can see (1 Jn. 4:7-21).

The believer who obeys the Lord demonstrates his love for the Lord.

John 14:21, “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”

The Christian’s love for God is an act of divine love since the Christian’s love for God is based upon and finds its source and motivation from God’s love for him.

Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

“To those who love God” is the articular dative masculine plural present active participle form of the verb agapao (a)gapavw), which means, “to divinely love.”

The present tense of the verb agapao in Romans 8:28 does not indicate a “temporal” condition but rather a “characteristic” of all Christians since it is a “gnomic” present used to make a statement of a general, timeless fact or in other words, an eternal spiritual truth.

Another example of this use of the present tense is found with the present tense of the verb eimi, “is” in John’s statement “God is love” that appears in 1 John 4:8, which is also a “gnomic” present indicating that love is a “characteristic” of God.

In the same way, the present tense of agapao in Romans 8:28 is indicating a “characteristic” of the Christian, namely that he loves God.

A “temporal” condition would indicate that Paul is saying that as long as you love God, everything will work for the good, i.e. conformity to Christ and if you don’t love God, things won’t work together for the good, i.e. you won’t be conformed to the image of Christ.

This is not what Paul is saying since the context is clear that Paul is assuring his readers that they will be perfected and conformed into the image of Christ in a resurrection body regardless of the circumstances, good or bad since he uses both “for good,” which refers to conformity to the image of Christ.

Further indicating that there is no temporal condition expressed by the present tense of agapao is Paul’s statements in Romans 8:29-30, which speak of the Christian’s conformity to the image of Christ, the Christian’s future glorification in a resurrection body, as the inevitable outcome of those who love God.

This glorification of the Christian in a resurrection body and his conformity to the image of Christ is “not” dependent on how much the Christian loves God but rather it is based upon the finished work of Christ on the cross.

Lastly, in Romans 8:38-39, Paul explicitly states that nothing can separate the Christian from the love of God, which by implication would include even the Christian’s many failures to love God by being obedient to Him.

There is no hint of an idea that the temporal condition of loving God must be met by the Christian in order for God’s plan for them to be conformed into the image of Christ to be completed.

In fact, Paul’s certainty that the Spirit works all things together for good, or in other words, for the purpose of conforming the Christian into the image of Christ is based upon what God has done for them through the Spirit identifying them with Christ in His death and resurrection (Romans 6:1-10).

To say that loving God is a condition that must be met in order that the Spirit can work all things together for the good, or in order that they might be conformed to the image of Christ disregards the context before Romans 8:28 and after in which Paul in both instances guarantees that the Christian will be conformed to the image of Christ.

In Romans 8:28, Paul is teaching that God guarantees that the Christian will be conformed to the image of Christ and that regardless of the circumstances, whether good or bad in the Christian’s life, God’s purpose to conform the Christian into the image of Christ will be accomplished.

Therefore, in Romans 8:28, the gnomic present tense of the verb agapao describes the Christian as someone who is characterized by love for God in contrast to the unbeliever who is hostile towards God.

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