Chapter 8:31-39

Oh, Victory in Jesus!

“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 delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? ³³ Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

“‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ ³⁷ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.“

We live in turbulent times. There is a lot of unrest in the world around, and there is a lot of death. Just this week I was on my way to work, and just before I got to work, I saw the remains of an investigation involving the death of a cyclist just around the block from my dealership. It reminded me of how fragile life is. Most likely, that person did not leave home thinking that today would be their last day. They had plans, maybe a family, a job expecting them to show up, a Facebook page waiting to be updated, and on and on we can go. But that day, that Tuesday morning was that day, the day that they died and then had to face the judgment (Hebrews 9:27).

My wife and I put close to 100,000 km per year, about 60,000 miles for my US readers, on the road. We drive in all manner of weather and conditions. We have driven when we are tired and sick; we have driven in the middle of the night; often we have driven 24 hrs. with just washroom and fuel stops. God has been gracious to us and has watched over us all these years. The Word of God is the only sure footing we have in this life. In it are the promises that grant us security in the insecurity of this world. It is the true foundation that cannot be moved.

We celebrated Father’s Day last Sunday, and I enjoyed it. I had dinner the night before at my daughter’s home. On Sunday I got a couple of nice gifts and enjoyed some Chinese food. I got a card from my son; we have had a tumultuous relationship for the past 2-3 years, one filled with arguments, lots of tears, broken hearts and, at times, long periods of silence. He has been asked to leave our home at times and has been back just 6 months. He gave me a card thanking me for being his dad and letting me know that he is still working on making better decisions. It surprised me and brought me great joy.

This chapter that we are considering in Romans is so powerful that it is one of those chapters that one can read over and over and not get tired of. It completes the journey that we take from Salvation on and gives us a very in-depth understanding of the Christian life. Let us do a quick review;

1. No Condemnation, verse 1

Those who are in Christ Jesus are no longer condemned before God. While God does love all mankind and, in his Holy love, has provided a way for us to be saved (John 3:16), He also reminds us that those who are not in Jesus are under the wrath of God (John 3:36);

“He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

So, we have two classes of people on earth – just two; no more – those who are in Jesus and are no longer under condemnation, and those who are not in Jesus and are under the wrath of God. It is that simple; we like to complicate things. God makes things really simple for us. We that are in Jesus should not fear the wrath of God. God, we are told in Hebrews, deals with us as children, and He lovingly chastens us (Hebrews 12:6-11); 

“‘For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.’ If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

To chasten is to discipline and to instruct in righteous behavior. God deals with us as children. We all understand children; we have all been children or have children, and we understand the relationship that is there; it is permanent. Once you have a child, there is nothing that child can do to stop being your child. You may disown him or her, but that does not change the fact that they are your children. Being born into a family is a permanent situation. As God has allowed mankind to discover the science of life, we have come to understand DNA, and that we can trace one’s ancestry back for generations with DNA; you are family to people you did not even know and vice-versa because of blood. In the spiritual world, we are washed in the blood of Jesus and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and we are children of God, and no longer under the condemnation of the 2nd Death (Revelation 20: 11-15).

We are told that God works on us to help us learn to live by the Spirit and not to the flesh. He chastens us and trains us to give ourselves to Him (verses 9-17).  And then last week we talked about our sonship in Jesus and the special relationship we have in Him with God the Father (verses 18-30). This is the journey that the Christian’s life takes.

Salvation (many want us to believe that sonship is seen by rampant prosperity, health and favor), rather, is seen by chastening and correction. Then, as we mature in Jesus, we begin to have this sweet relationship with God the Father. We see it in our human lives. A child is born into the family, and they grow up; and over the years there is chastening – some little, like being denied a privilege; some harsher by a spanking – and then, maybe as they get older, the loss of freedoms. There may be a lot of hard moments, fights, raised voices, tears and long periods of silence; but as children mature, the vast majority enter into this loving relationship with their parents. There is less conflict and more harmony and more joy. Parents and their children can be friends, they can laugh at things that went on, forgive, forget and love.

2. Eternal Confidence verses 31-39

We, you and I, who are saved and washed in the blood of Jesus, are no longer under the wrath of God. On the contrary, we are now targeted by the devil. We have bullseyes on our backs and fronts, so to speak. At times it may feel that we are abandoned; we are not. It may feel that we are under the wrath of God; in Jesus, we are not. It may feel as if we are not safe in His hands; we are. Paul comes to the conclusion that NOTHING can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. You did nothing to earn it, and you can do nothing to keep it; it is a gift. A child does not earn our love, even as human parents. If we sinful people understand that power of love for a child, then imagine the powerful love of our Holy Heavenly Father.

The goal, of course, is that of friendship, for us to move beyond being mere children of God; that is done in a one-time act of instant salvation at the time of belief. And, to become the friends of God. In John 15:14-15 we see these words,

“You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything I have learned from My Father, I have made known to you.”

In Genesis 18: 17-19, God revealed what He was about to do in Sodom to Abraham because they were friends. There are parts of the Bible you will only understand as a friend of God. God will only reveal them to His friends. There were saved persons in Jesus’ day that did not get the same revelations and personal teaching that the apostles did. He showed them things that only they knew, and only they understood; and only they could understand. Friendship opens doors that other relationships can’t, even the relationship of being a parent. Thus, we have two secure relationships in Jesus: We are children of God, saved and secure forever. And, we have friendship with God, one that is intimate and personal.

Nothing can separate us from God; neither external nor internal forces can separate from God. In His love, according to 1 Corinthians 13:6, God does not keep a record of our sins and failures; they are cast into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19) and are covered by the blood and in His love (Proverbs 10:12). Not even our sins as saved persons can separate us from God; they were and are covered by Jesus’ blood. We will be chastened lovingly, but never condemned. We are secured in Jesus, secured by Jesus, secured with Jesus; and in John 10: 28-30, Jesus puts the cherry on the cake with these powerful words,

“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

Are you secure in Jesus? Are you under the wrath of God? Are you a child of God? And, if you are a child, are you learning to be His friend? Do you have eternal life in Jesus?

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding

Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

Email: missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MississaugaMissionaryBaptistChurch

Online: https://www.mississaugamissionarybaptistchurch.com/

Chapter 8:18-30 

The Labour Pains are All Around US 

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.

“24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. 26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

“28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.“

I love being a part of the family of God. I have been blessed to have family in the Lord all over the world. I have dear friends who are missionaries in Ukraine, the Philippines, all over the US and in many other parts of the world. I have friends that are saved in Barbados where I grew up; and as much as I love my ‘human’ family, I love the spiritual family that I will spend eternity with.

We live in perilous times, and it is impossible to see what is going on around us and not feel a sense of eternity and the nearness of it.

We live in a time where we are beginning to see the cracks in the ‘modern church movement.’ Many churches are no longer driven by the Bible and what it says; they are driven by feelings and a sense that they want to change the world and right all the wrongs, and they are missing the point. This is the very essence of what the church of Laodicea was all about; they were powerful and rich and they did things that were not about Jesus. The things they did looked religious and they sounded like the things that religions are all about, but they were not doing Jesus’ work.

Today, we find many of the people out there do not have a clear understanding of the Gospel. Many Christians today do not understand that people need to be saved from Hell, not life. They need to be reborn in Jesus, not saved from the perceived oppression of the earth. They need to be redeemed by the blood of Jesus, not given better opportunities or more things. Sadly, a lot of the people in the modern churches need Jesus as well; they are not saved and have no understanding that they need to be saved.

Paul is about to tell us some things that will fly in the face of much of what we hear in the modern pulpits of many churches today. As we get closer and closer to the return of Jesus, there will be more and more suffering. What? Are you serious, Sean? What about the utopia that our governments are building? They are going to stop people from getting offended; they are going to stop all the suffering in the world; they are going to stop all the evil in the world; everybody will be equal; everyone will have money even if they don’t work; on and on we can go; our world governments are going to solve all the issues of life.

Unfortunately, those of us that know the Bible and take it literally understand that things are NOT going to get better. In fact, they are going to get worse and worse. Those of us that understand the truth, that take the Bible literally, that understand that God is Holy and right is right and sin is sin, will be hated and outlawed and, eventually, killed.

1. The Suffering is to be expected, verse 18 

Paul talks as though we should not be surprised that there is suffering. Paul was writing in the first century, and he lived in a time when Christianity was under great persecution. Many of the emperors of Rome made Christianity illegal, many chased the Jews out of Rome, and for decades a lot of Christians were killed and murdered for their faith. Paul was not complaining about the suffering. He simply held the persecution in perspective. In light of eternity the current persecution was nothing. Here we are 2,000 years later and the suffering is beginning to ramp up again. Like it was in Paul’s day, the people hated the truth. People today hate the truth. Here is a truth that is not popular: all men are evil. All men are lost and are not intrinsically good. All men, left to themselves, will do evil.

As we assess Paul’s perspective, it would seem that we should expect to suffer. We should not be surprised that suffering comes and, in fact, should be expectant of it. Paul then tells us that if we take the right perspective on the suffering that we can actually get through any suffering that comes our way. This is the power of knowing the truth. This is the power of having the Holy Spirit living in us and the truth of the Bible driving our lives and ruling our emotions.

I don’t talk much about my life, but as many of you know, I grew up in Barbados. I was blessed to grow up in a Christian family and to be saved at the age of 14.

I moved to Canada after my father died in 1982. My heritage is mixed; my mom is black and mixed, my father is white, and all his siblings are mixed. I have an older brother who is mixed, his father (mine) white and his mom black. My stepdad is black, and I have all of my brothers and my sister either mixed or black. It was not until I moved to Canada that I ever had to worry about my skin color, though lighter than most from Barbados. But it is clear that I am not pure white.

The first year we went to church camp in the US in 1983, we were warned by our dear Pastor that some may say something to us. Our church here in Canada had many nations represented from all ethnicities. We were told that if someone said something to us in a derogatory way, then we should not respond, but to come and speak to our Pastor, and he would deal with things. When I surrendered to the ministry, there were certain seminaries that I could not attend; I eventually went to a seminary in Florida and was privileged to meet come of the most awesome teachers one could have. But there were many churches in the south that I could not attend; and for the years that I attended seminary, my parents, my step-dad who is black and my mom who is mixed could not come and visit with me.

Here is what I want to say: it would have been easy to give in and give up. But the Lord gave me the grace to get through some of the stuff. And truthfully, many of the men who led in this area are now gone, and us younger men who know the truth about race are the leaders. But we had to allow God to make the move; we had to allow God to change the minds and move the hearts. It took time, but we are far better off now. But I had to learn that these are just the hiccups of life.

One of the things we learn is to love like Jesus; love covers a multitude of sins (Proverbs 10:12). In the sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5), love those that hate you and despitefully use you. Love your enemies. Love and forgiveness go hand in hand; if you love someone you will forgive them. There is a serious lack of love in the Lord’s churches today. These are the things we need to learn. Jesus loved His enemies, Stephen in Acts 7 prayed for his enemies, and on and on we can go. Paul tells us that the suffering of life is real and that it will come, but the proper perspective will help us to get through it all. Too many of the Lord’s people are earthly minded, and we do not see ourselves as temporary citizens of earth. in the OT we are called ‘resident aliens,’ and in the NT we called ‘sojourners’ by the Apostle Peter.

2. The Creation is Waiting as well for Jesus, verse 20-22

The UN will not save the planet. Greta Thunberg will not save the planet. Al Gore will not save the planet. The creation is smart enough to know that Jesus is its salvation. The creation, like those of us that are saved, is waiting for the return of Jesus.

I have a dear friend who had a program on his computer or smartphone that tracks earthquakes, and he had to turn it off because there were so many earthquakes that the app just kept alarming. The birth pains signaling the Lord’s return are happening all around us. We have some places on earth with drought, others with too much rain. There are places where huge cracks have opened in the ground. On July 9^th, 2019, a huge opening visible from space was caused by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake in Ridgecrest, California. In 2017 a huge crack opened over in Pinal County, Arizona; it is 2 miles long. They have had other huge cracks, one in Mexico from 2017 as well. In April a 50-foot-deep and 65-foot-wide crack opened up in Kenya, Africa, and is still there as far as I can tell. They say it was caused by torrential rains. This year so far, there have been over 6,100 earthquakes over 4.0 magnitude.

Jesus is coming back to save the planet and bring in the new Millennia. But it will not be a man or any manmade institution that saves the planet. The planet is waiting for Jesus. But a reading of the Revelation tells us that there is a lot more destruction coming to the earth before the utopia comes upon us. But it will come at the hand of Jesus and He alone. Look at Isaiah 11: 6-9: 

“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,

The leopard shall lie down with the young goat,

The calf and the young lion and the fatling together;

And a little child shall lead them.

The cow and the bear shall graze;

Their young ones shall lie down together;

And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole,

And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den.

They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,

For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord

As the waters cover the sea.”

Jesus will solve all of the world’s problems and bring in peace, provide for all and rule in righteousness; and yet still, at the end of 1,000 years, Satan will be able to find men to rebel against Jesus. Why? Because, people need to be reborn, they need the rebirth of salvation, they need the life of the Holy Spirit in them. Without salvation all of man’s evil comes to the surface even when they see the goodness of God firsthand. All of us, all of creation is waiting for Jesus. Are you waiting for Jesus as well? Are you looking for your redemption from on high or are you seeking your salvation from an earthly source?

3. We have a Prayer Partner in the Holy Spirit, verses 25-27 

In John 17 Jesus prayed for us that we would have unity like He and the Father. But in our daily lives, our everyday walk, the Holy Spirit is praying for us. He is wording our deepest desires and speaks for us when we cannot speak. He prays when we are too weak or too hurt to speak. He prays for us when life takes our words and kidnaps our emotions. You see, this is why Paul could endure the sufferings of life and sing in the persecutions of life; the Holy Spirit was his companion when it looked like he was alone.

And for you and me who are saved, He is our companion as well. We are never alone, never abandoned and never without someone on our side. The Holy Spirit has our backs, He has our minds and He comforts our broken hearts when we are hurt by those we love and that love us. He gives us the grace to forgive, to forget and love again. He helps us to know hope when it seems we have no hope, and He clears our vision to the truth when the lies are loud.

With this knowledge we can face all of the trials and tests of life and grow in the Lord, grow in grace, grow in love, grow in forgiveness and grow in patience, grow in faith and grow in peace. We stop looking for revenge and we stop asking ‘why me’? We begin to have compassion for people and seek to serve and help rather than chastise and condemn. We are more able to speak the truth and to say that God’s way is the only way; we can say it boldly in the Holy Spirit and lovingly, even if it is taken wrong.

4. Perspective, verse 28-30 

In the book of Genesis, we find an amazing story of Joseph; he is sold into slavery by his brothers and is wrongly accused of sexual misconduct and is put into prison. He eventually, by the hand of God, comes to be the Pharaoh of Egypt and is used by God to save his family from starvation. As Jacob comes to the end of his life, Joseph’s brothers are afraid that once Dad is dead, then Joseph will get back at them for their evil deeds. But over the course of the 13 years from the time he was sold into slavery to the time he became ruler, Joseph had learned a great lesson from the Lord, and it is recorded for us in Genesis 50:20: 

“But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. ”

No matter what man does to us, God is in charge; and He can take even evil actions and turn them for good. God can do this. We need to have this perspective, that God is in control. We are His children, He has bought us and ransomed us from the enemy, and He is allowed to let us go through anything He determines is necessary for His glory and our edification. Once we have the right perspective, then we are less likely to be angered by the ‘hand we are dealt.’ We realize that God is simply doing what a loving Father does to grow us into the image of Jesus. All that happens to us is for the good of those that love God and are called for His purpose.

If you have a desire to be like Jesus, if you have a desire to grow and become more like Jesus, then God will work in you and through the circumstances around you to change you. You are surrendered, and understand that you are not your own; you are bought with a price, and God is in control.

In this life we will have trials and troubles; in this life we will have times of suffering; and in this life we will have tests and trials that are sent by God to purge us and grow us into the image of Jesus. Remember, you are not alone; as a child of God, the Holy Spirit is praying for you; as a child of God, He is working all things for good, even the things that hurt; and as a child of God we know our home is not here and we stop looking to man and manmade solutions for our hurts. Instead, we depend on the Lord and His awesome, eternal power.

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding

Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

Mississionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca