Let's turn our attention now to the Word of
God for Romans chapter 8. We are looking at verses 28 through 30 in
particular. Really, I'd love to read the entirety of chapter
8 to get a better understanding of what Paul is doing here in verses 26 and following. I was looking over some notes in preparation
for this talk today, and my assistant sent me my sermon transcripts from my sermons through
Romans, which I preached about three years ago if I recall. And in looking at verses 28, 29, and 30, I
think I preached seven or eight sermons. And so I'm attempting, in one part, to summarize
and distill those seven or eight sermons in these few minutes together this afternoon. And so I'm going to read verses 26 through
30 of Romans chapter 8. This is the Word of God. "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. And he who searches hearts knows what the
mind of the Spirit is because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all
things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 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." This is God's holy, inspired, and infallible,
and inerrant Word for His people. Let's pray together. Father, we thank You so much for our time
together today. We thank You, Lord, for Your Word. And Lord, we thank You for our Savior Jesus
Christ, without whom we would be completely hopeless. Lord, we ask that You would help us in our
time together at this conference today that we would not come away simply having a greater
amount of information or simply a greater amount of knowledge. We want information, and we need knowledge. We need understanding. We need to grow in our understanding of Your
Word and the theology of Your Word. But in having that knowledge and in having
that understanding, Lord, help us to apply it by Your Spirit. Help us to be not only hearers of Your Word
but doers of Your Word. Help us to come away, not only with heads
full of knowledge, but hearts full of passion for You, hearts full of love for You. That we might not only love Your Word more
but that we might love You more, and we might love our neighbor as ourselves. Lord, that you might get all glory from our
lives. For it's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. So much of what Paul is teaching us in Romans
chapter 8 is really a summary and defense and explanation of what he said at the outset
of chapter 8, namely verse 1, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus." Now don't forget what Paul has just come through
in chapter 7. He has come through his explanation of how
it is the flesh wages war against the Spirit. And when the flesh wages war against our spirits,
how do our spirits feel? They feel restless. When the flesh is waging war against us, when
sin is coming knocking and crouching, when temptations come, and when the flesh does
battle against our spirits, we grow restless, and we sometimes grow in fear. We sometimes grow in doubt. Sometimes we lack assurance because when temptation
comes and when sin comes we wonder, "Am I really Christ's? Do I really belong to the Lord? Am I really His? I keep sinning. I can't stop sinning. Am I really a Christian? Am I really among God's children? Am I really the bride of Christ when I can
be so unfaithful to Him?" And so Paul, just coming off of that long
and difficult explanation of the way in which the flesh wages war against the Spirit and
Spirit against the flesh, Paul assures the Christians at Rome, God assures us that there
is therefore now no condemnation, not for just anybody. Paul was not a universalist. There is therefore now no condemnation for
those, a particular group of people who are in Christ Jesus. For those who are united to Christ by faith
and faith alone, and only for those. The rest of the world who doesn't know Christ,
who's not in Christ, who's not united to Christ, better worry. They better be afraid. They cannot claim this promise for themselves. They must recognize daily when they wake up
and look in the mirror that they stand condemned before God, that hell is awaiting them, and
that God's eternal punishment is coming unless they humble themselves and repent and trust
Jesus, all by the grace of God. See, there is therefore now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ, for those who know Him, who love Him and are known by Him. And then throughout the rest of Romans chapter
8, and it could be argued into Romans 9 and so on, Paul is showing us why we can rest
assured, why we can have assurance, why we can know this truth. He talks about the earth groaning, and how
we groan, and how the earth cries out, and how we cry out, "Abba, Father!" The Spirit helps us in our weakness. The Spirit helps us in our weakness for we're
all weak. Whether we recognize it or not, we are all
weak. We are weakened by sin, and in that weakened
state the Spirit helps us. We don't even know what to pray for. Isn't it amazing that Paul himself, the great
Apostle Paul, the great theologian, even he admitted we don't even know what to pray for. It's not just you it's not just me who feels
that way at times. Lord, what do I pray for? How do I pray? What words do I use? We don't even know what to pray for as we
ought. We don't know how to pray as we should, but
the Spirit Himself, the Third Person of our triune God, the Spirit Himself intercedes
for us with groanings too deep for words. And He who searches hearts knows what the
mind of the Spirit is. So, this God knows our hearts. This God, who is the Spirit, who searches
hearts, He knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints
according to the will of God, that is in accordance with the will of God. The Spirit intercedes for us while we don't
know what to pray for. We don't always know what to ask for, and
that's why so often times when we pray we conclude, as Jesus did in the garden, "Lord,
not my will but Yours be done." Lord, I don't know exactly how You're directing
me. I don't know precisely what path You're taking
me down. Lord, I don't know exactly what You want me
to do next. You see, that's the thing about following
Christ. We don't always know where He's going to take
us, do we? But we know He's always going to be with us. But the reality of it is that it's not just
that Jesus is with us, He's not just beside us. It's much better than that. You see, He said, "It's better that I go away
because if I don't go away then the Spirit cannot come." And the Spirit is not just beside us or around
us or upon us; He's in us. The Spirit is within us, and this same Spirit
who is within us is the same Spirit of God, and He is interceding for us even when we're
praying gibberish and we don't know what to pray, and we're praying like children. We're saying, "Lord, help me." Do you ever notice that the prayers of little
children sound awfully a lot like the prayers of older saints? They're not real wordy, they're pretty simple,
they're pretty clear. Because the more we grow in Christ, the more
we really do become like little children, dependent, grateful. "Lord, thank You. Lord, help me. Lord, I love you. Lord, forgive me. Lord, I'm sorry. Lord, help me today. Lord, thank You for this day. Thank you for the little things in life." The Spirit is doing this now. This is part of the context, friends. When we look at what comes next in verses
28 and following, we need to understand that all this is in the context of what Paul is
teaching the Romans. And we can't forget this because this in the
midst of a church that was being persecuted and suffering. This is at the time when Christianity was
still an illicit and illegal religion, when they were still taking Christians and covering
them with fuel, putting them on stakes throughout Rome to light Nero's garden parties. And they would burn for hours. You don't know what to pray for. You're feeling weak. You're doubting. You're questioning. You're not sure. Rest assured, there is therefore now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ because even in the bad times, even in the hard times, even
in the times where there is such persecution, when your husband is being ripped from your
arms, when your children are being snatched from you, when your wives are being taken
from you. Rest assured, for now we know this, that all
things work together for good. Notice what Paul says there the outset. It's beautiful. These two little words, "And we know." I think we skip over those words. Paul is giving us words of assurance there. He's giving us words of confidence. He's saying, "We know this." It's similar to what John writes in 1 John. He says, "I am writing to you who believe
in the name of the son of God that you may know that you have eternal life." Not that you might guess that, not that you
might have wishful thinking, that you might know. You see certainty, certainty of our salvation,
being assured of our salvation is not arrogance; it's humility. You know, have you ever asked the question
or had someone ask you the question, "Do you think you're going to heaven?" or, "Do you
believe you're going to heaven?" How do you answer that question? Some people, when they're asked that question,
you know, "Do you believe you're going to heaven?" or, "Do you think you're going to
heaven?" Here's how they answer that question, "I hope
so." And I think that for many people, while I
can't read hearts and I can't judge motives, I think for many people when they answer that
way, when they say, "I hope so," I think they're wanting it to sound humble. I think they're wanting to give off an air
of humility saying, "Well, I know I'm not good enough, and I know God is God, and I
hope, I hope I get into heaven." It sounds kind of humble, doesn't it? The truth is it's arrogant because if we're
saying, "I hope so," then that means we are depending upon our own works. We're depending on something in us to get
us there rather than on the finished works of Jesus Christ. And that's why we need to always remember
that question. The question that R.C. used to always ask,
"Are we saved by works?" And the answer to that question is unequivocally
"Yes." But it's not by our works. It's by the works of Jesus Christ. And so when someone asks us, "Do you believe
you're going to heaven?" We say in humility, "Yes. Yes, I am. I am going to heaven." And the reason I'm certain about that is not
because of anything in me, it's not because of any inherent righteousness or inherent
goodness, it's not by goodness that is within. It's by a goodness that comes from without,
an alien righteousness that God has imputed upon me, placed upon me, taking my sins and
placing it upon Christ. And that's why I know. I know because I have a Savior who didn't
just come to make an atonement that was a possibility for salvation, but He came to
make atonement that was a propitiatory salvation that assuaged the wrath of God. It actually did something. It accomplished something. It didn't just make it possible. And so our certainty and our assurance is
not arrogance. It's true humility because it's based on Christ's
works, not on our own. That's why Paul says, "And we know this." You see, when we say to our friends and our
loved ones, when we remind them of this passage and of this promise, "All things work together
for good," don't forget those first words, "And we know." You see Paul's saying, "We know, right? We know this, right? Don't forget this, Romans." It's like talking to little children, "We
know. We know that we say, 'Thank you' and 'You're
welcome.' We know to say yes ma'am and no, ma'am and
yes sir and no, sir, don't we?" We know that all things, not just some things. See, what that means, friends, is usually
when we quote this passage, usually when this passage comes to mind, usually when we remind
ourselves of this promise, it's usually in the hard times. But this means not just the hard things; this
means even the good things. This doesn't just mean the tough things; it
means the easy things. That's hard for us to believe. You see, even the good things in life, even
the things that God blesses you with, the knowledge God gives you, the possessions that
you have, whatever it is, in the end ultimately in some way all things work together for good. You see, it's not just the bad things. It's not just the good things. It's not just the extreme things. It's all the little things in between. You see that, in and of itself, helps us to
see the sovereignty of God in all things. It's not just the major things. It's not just the big traumas in life. It's not just the big joys in life; it's everything. That's part of the reason, I think, the Lord
tells us to cast all our cares upon the Lord, not just some of them, not just the ones we
don't think we have control over, but to cast all our cares upon the Lord because He cares
for us. "And we know that God works all things together
for good." He is sovereignly orchestrating all things
ultimately for our good. He is active in His working to make all things
work together for good. God is not playing games with us. God is not sitting back, watching us to see
how we do and how we make it or if we make it. God's not one who created and then sort of
let us go on about life and sort of watching and toying around with us. God is actively at work, ensuring that all
things will ultimately work together for good, but not for everyone. And when we read this last portion of this
verse, a portion that many people don't quote, a portion that many people don't refer to. They quote the first portion of the verse,
but they don't quote the last portion of the verse. They say, "Well, all things work together
for good," when they want to cheer a friend up. They want someone who's hurting or someone
who's been through a struggle, someone who's just been diagnosed with cancer, someone who's
found out that the baby in their womb has a disease, someone who's just found out that
the baby in their womb has died. And we want to comfort people, and we want
to tell them it it's all good to be okay, don't we? We want to tell them it's all going to be
all right. We want to say it's all going to work out
in the end. Friends, we have to stop lying to people,
because the reality of it is in this life things aren't going to work out for good for
everyone, nor in the next. And we also have to face the reality that
even for us Christians that not everything in this life is going to work perfectly out
in the way we think it should, that we're going to get sick, that if the Lord doesn't
return soon before we die, we're going to die. We shouldn't be surprised by death, and we
shouldn't be surprised by disease. We shouldn't be surprised by burdens and miseries. We shouldn't be surprised by the sadnesses
and the hurts of this life. We shouldn't be surprised even when we have
to share in the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ. Christ promised it. He said it was going to come, but all things
are going to work out together for good ultimately. But they're only going to work out good ultimately
for those who love God, for those who are called according to His purpose. You see, dearly beloved, it's not going to
work out for people who don't trust God, who don't love God, who don't know God. Things are going to work out very, very badly
for them. Do you care about them? Do you pray for them? Do you pray, "God, may they know You. May they love You," or do you just despise
them and say, "They're not worthy of Your salvation." The minute you say that is the very minute
you're calling your own salvation into question. Because if you don't care about the lost,
be sure of this, as Spurgeon said, "You may very well be lost yourselves." And if we think that they deserve it and we
don't, the reality of it is we don't know Him at all, because it's only when we can
see that we are undeserving, it's only when we can see that we don't deserve it, it's
only when we can ask the question, "Lord, why me? Why did you save me?" That's when we begin to have grace for others. That's when we begin to pray for our neighbors. That's when we begin to pray for people even
when they've hurt us, even when they've persecuted us, even when it seems they hate us, they
would still pray for their salvation. That's what's amazing about Christianity. Christians are the only ones who can work
against, who can perhaps vote against, who can protest, who can stand against, who can
want justice for, and still pray for them and still love them. That's the beauty of our faith. It's only for those who are called according
to the purpose of God. "For those whom He foreknew he also predestined
to be conformed to the image of his Son." Now everything that Paul said in verse 28,
everything that he said there does indeed apply generally, as long as we understand
that in all of life we're speaking ultimately not temporarily, we're speaking of ultimate
things. But the context of verse 28 is verse 29 and
verse 30. Paul is ultimately directing our attention
to the all things of our salvation, the all things of what we have in Christ. And that's why Paul uses that word "for" there
at the beginning of verse 29. He's going on to explain how all things really
do work for good for those whom He foreknew. See, this is Paul's theological explanation,
and notice here that in chapter 8 and really in every chapter of Romans, Paul's not just
doing theology, if you will. He is doing theology that applies, and all
theology applies, all theology is practical. To say "practical theology" is superfluous. It's unnecessary because all theology is applicable. All theology is practical. And what Paul is doing here is he is taking
these Christians who are hurting and persecuted and worrying and struggling and not knowing
about tomorrow and saying all things ultimately are going to work out for our good because
God is working them out for our good. And here's why. "For those whom He foreknew," not those whom
He knew things about, not those whom He knew would choose Him, not those whom He knew would
someday believe in Him, not those that He really, really hoped would believe in Him,
not those that He was wishful that they would choose Him or believe in Him or trust Him
or follow Him, not those that He really wanted to, not those that He looked down the corridor
of time and said, "Ah! I see. There's a good one out there. He is really good. He had the right upbringing. He came from the right family line. He had the right education. He looks good. He dresses well. I am glad he chose Me. I'm glad he believed in Me. He had the faith to believe in Me. I'm glad he had that faith." It doesn't say any of that. In fact, that's not said anywhere in Scripture. Yet that's what I believed for many years,
as did some of you, as did R.C. Because we so wrestled with these blatant
truths of Scripture in light of all of our false presuppositions about who God is and
what God would do and what God won't do, and we had that image of God in our minds, and
we argued that image of God in our minds and our presuppositions about who God is against
Scripture. And so we tried to make Scripture say what
it doesn't say in order to align with our view of our God because our God…by the way
anytime someone begins a sentence like that, just run. "My God would or wouldn't." It's just "the God." It's just "God." But you see, we thought "My God who is this
and is this would never do this." We're asking the wrong question. We're asking the question, "Why wouldn't God
just save everyone?" When we should've been asking, "Why would
God save anyone?" He doesn't deserve…He didn't have to. We're the ones who sinned against Him. We're the ones who rebelled against Him. We're the ones who when He came we put Him
on the cross, and we killed Him. We hid from Him. We ran from Him. We're at enmity with Him. God didn't need to save us. But we were asking those hard questions, and
we made this verse say things it didn't say, and we read into words things that the words
don't say because what it says here very plainly is just as it says it, "And those whom he
foreknew." That is that those whom He knew before. Just as He said to Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1,
"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you." This is not just a knowledge about. This is a beautiful portrait of an intimate
knowledge, both in the Greek and the Hebrew yada. This language of this intimate knowledge,
this affection for, and that's why some people in reading this will say, there's a flavor
here of a covenantal love, of a covenantal relationship. See, what God's saying is, "I knew you beforehand." That's why Paul can say, "He chose us in him
before the foundation of the world" because He knew us before. He just didn't know about us. He just didn't know what we would do. He knew all that too, but He knew us. Try to get your mind around that for a second
that God knew you in some way, in some mysterious way before the foundation of the earth. Here's the amazing thing about even what we
read in Romans 8 about the earth groaning, our groaning. See, the environmentalists say
that in one sense we were created for the earth. God says the earth was created for us. That's not to say we're not to take care about
things in the environment. The point is this, God created the world to
be inhabited by a people that He could have for Himself, not a people that He needed,
but a people far greater than that of people that He wanted. He created the earth for us, for Himself. He created the world that we might inhabit
it that He might have a bride for His Son. And He knew us before He created all of it. Those whom He foreknew, those whom He knew
beforehand, those whom He knew before the foundation of the world, He also predestined. Now that word "predestined," I know it's scary
for some. I'm not presumptuous to think that everyone
who is here believes these doctrines and understands these things. We still have people in our church, at Saint
Andrew's Chapel, who don't believe these things yet. But I know that for many people that's a scary
word, as it was for me. But you see the reality of that word is that
every Christian believes in that word. Every Christian believes in predestination. They might not have the right view of predestination,
they might not have the right doctrine of predestination, but every Christian has to
deal with this doctrine. Every Christian has to deal with that term. Every Christian has to have a doctrine of
predestination, and every Christian has to believe it. They can't just say, "I don't want to talk
about that. That's delving into the mystery of God." Well, if it's delving into the mystery of
God, why does God reveal it to us? Why does God want us to learn about it? Why does God teach it to us? He's saying, "I'm telling you about your salvation. I'm telling you about the order of your salvation. I'm revealing to you the mysteries of your
salvation." Why? So that you might take comfort, that you might
have assurance in this life, that you might rest in the fact that there is therefore now
no condemnation, that you might know that in the midst of life's hurts and worries and
struggles that all things are going to work together for good. This is how far back it goes. It doesn't just go back to your believing
in Christ ten, twenty, fifty years ago. It doesn't even go back two thousand years
to the death of Christ our Savior. It goes back before the beginning of time. That's how…that's how secure you are in
Christ. You see, it's not based on the ever-changing
emotions of your hearts. It's not based on the thoughts and the doubts
of your minds. It's based upon the eternal decision of God
in time past before the creation of the world that He knew a people, and He loved a people,
and He predestined a people. He said, "You're mine." Why did He do that? He did it out of love, and He did it for His
glory, and He did according to the good pleasure of His will. And He did it for the glory of Jesus Christ
because He predestined us, not just to final salvation. He predestined us, notice what Paul writes
there in verse 29, "to be conformed to the image of His Son." Now some people who read this very quickly
and say, "Well, where's sanctification?" Well, it's right there. You see, a lot of people think of salvation
and God's electing grace just in terms of their justification or just in terms of their
final salvation. Or God predestined us, He elected us simply
so that we might be in heaven. Those things are true, but they're not merely
the case. What Paul says here, and what we read throughout
Scripture, is that God saved us to have a people for Himself. Why did God rescue Israel out of Egypt? It wasn't just that they would be free. It's not just for the sake of them being redeemed
or delivered. It's that they might worship God according
to how God commanded it. Because God wanted a people to worship Him,
not in any way but a way, the way He wanted them to worship Him. That they might go out, that they might be
delivered not simply for the sake of being delivered, that they might be delivered to
be worshipers. You're saved not just to be saved. God didn't save you just to liberate you,
not just to deliver you. He saved you, He delivered you that you might
worship Him. That's why a non-worshiping Christian, or
a Christian who is not in a local, worshiping church, that's an oxymoron. Christians worship, Christians gather together
in worship, Christians gather together publicly and say to the world, "I'm a Christian. I love the Lord, and I'm going to worship
Him according to His Word." "To be conformed to the image of His Son,"
and when we hear that most of us just think, "Okay, well that's nice." When you hear that word "conformed," you need
to understand that the root of that word is "morphos," "to morph." And in a similar morphing, to morph us similar
to Christ, in the same way as Christ. You see, when you think about it in those
terms, we have to understand that that means this conforming us will hurt because death
to self hurts. It means humbling ourselves. It means getting over ourselves. It means killing sin in the flesh. It means running from it. It means getting on our knees and repenting
of it. It means dying more and more to sin and living
more and more unto righteousness. It means giving up our lives for the sake
of Christ. It means giving up certain ambitions for the
sake of the kingdom. It means evaluating and reevaluating our lives,
saying, "Is what I'm doing, how I'm living, am I living for the glory of Jesus Christ? Am I living for the kingdom of God, or am
I living for the kingdom of self?" I was touched deeply, as many of us were today,
by the testimony of a dear sister of ours who is here with us today. We're either living for our own kingdom or
for the kingdom of God. If we're being conformed to the image of His
Son, that's how we can rest assured that even in this morphing that we can rest assured
that we belong to the Lord, that we are the Lord's, that we belong to Him forever. And then Paul writes something that is absolutely
stunning that most people just skip over, "To be conformed to the image of His Son in
order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers." Most people when reading this passage, they
just ignore it. I've heard entire sermons on this passage
where it's not even addressed. Well, this is one of the foundational points
of what Paul is making in this passage that Christ might have preeminence. You see, the point of our salvation is not
our own glory ultimately. The point of our salvation is not our own
happiness, ultimately. The point of our salvation is not that we
would feel good. The point ultimately is that Christ would
have preeminence, that He would be the firstborn among many brothers, that He would have an
entire family that is united to Him and in Him by faith, that he is bringing to heaven. The firstfruits of that is His resurrection. The first part of His fourfold exalted state
-- His resurrection, His ascension, His session at the right hand of the Father, and His coming
again in glory. That He might be preeminent, that He might
be the first born, that he might be shown to be "and those whom He predestined, He also
called," by that internal call of the Holy Spirit regenerating us, making us alive and
making us to be born again. He is the one who takes us. He is the one who changes our will. He doesn't come against our will; He overcomes
our will and changes our will, makes us willing to believe, willing to repent, willing to
follow. "And those whom He called, He also justified,"
not making us righteous, but declaring us righteous. For that's what justification is. It is God's act of pardoning us. It is God's act of declaring us righteous. It is God's act of saying, "You are definitively
righteous because of the righteousness of Christ." And the way in which we obtain that righteousness
is by the grace of God alone, through faith and faith alone, through Christ and Christ
alone. "And those whom He justified, He also glorified." It's as good as done. That's why when someone asks us if we're saved,
we don't say, "I will be saved." What do we say? "I am saved." When you state that simple three-letter word,
that declaration, "I am saved," it is one of the most technical, theological terms that
you could utter. Because what we are uttering is that beautiful,
beautiful theological concept of the "already and not yet." We are not yet there, but we are as good as
already in heaven. We are seated with Him in the heavenly places
in Christ Jesus where we have every spiritual blessing given to us already. It's as good as done. We are glorified. But here's the thing about it. Ultimately our glorification, our salvation,
our justification, our calling, our being conformed to the image of His Son, our being
foreknown and predestined by God. It's not ultimately for us. You see, this is salvation simplified. God saves us by Himself, for Himself, unto
Himself, and for Himself. God saves us for His own glory. Just as Paul writes at the end of this beautiful
section in chapter 11 in verse 36, I believe, "For from him and through him and to him are
all things. To him be glory forever." You see, friends, God didn't need to create
the world, but He did. He didn't need to create us, but he did. God didn't need to save any of us, but God
did. And He did it for His own glory. God doesn't need us, but God wants us, and
God wants us for His own glory forevermore. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank You for Your love and
we thank You for the salvation that we have in Christ. Lord, help us to look to this salvation with
humble hearts, grateful hearts, looking now and always to Christ our Savior. For it's in His name we pray. Amen.
