Eternal Security - Part 2 (Romans 8:28)
INTRODUCTION:
In Romans 8:28 we have a wonderful promise made by God to Christians, it is a promise of eternal security, or once saved always saved. This promise can easily be divided into four parts: first, knowing we are secure; second, our security in all things; third, those who are eternally secure; and fourth, the source of our security.
Last Sunday, we looked at the first two parts of this promise, knowing we are secure and our security in all things. First, we learned that we can know that we are eternally secure because the Bible makes that abundantly clear when we take God at His word, our salvation is totally a work of God and what we do or do not do has no bearing on our salvation, our salvation is totally and only dependent on God who saved us and keeps us saved and He does this through the sustaining work and intercession of Jesus Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit that He has given us. Not only can we know that we are eternally secure in Christ, but we also know that we are eternally secure because God is causing all things to work together for our good, not only our ultimate good in the life to come when we will be in heaven and our salvation will be complete as we spend the rest of eternity in God presence in our glorified bodies, but God also causes all things to work together for good in our present life, renewing our inner man, sanctifying us preparing us for our future, glorified state. We learned that “all things” refers to all circumstances and situations that we find ourselves in whether good or bad. At the time that we are going through especially trying times it may be difficult to see the good, but often in retrospect we can see what God was teaching us and how it was for our good, how it benefited us or blessed us. We are now in the midst of a global pandemic and we cannot see how this can be for our good, we are isolated unable to meet together, our schedules and plans are all up in the air, but this has not taken God by surprise and even in this He will cause it to work together for good. This morning we are going to look at the last two parts of this promise: those who are eternally secure, the recipients of God’s eternal security, and the source of our eternal security. Let’s pray and then get into our passage for this morning.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
If you are following along in your Bibles, this morning I would like you to turn again to Romans 8:28 our Scripture text. Please follow along while I read from God’s Word.
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.” (Romans 8:28, NASB95)[1]
THOSE WHO ARE ETERNALLY SECURE (Romans 8:28c)
The third part of this promise is the only part of this promise that is limited, there are qualifications for those who are the eternally secure, for those who are the recipients of the good that God causes all things to work together for. “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called…” (Romans 8:28c, NASB95)[2] There are many names that are used in the Bible to describe Christians, and here Paul uses two titles that are used elsewhere in the New Testament, those who love God, and those who are called. We might say that these two titles come from two different perspectives, from the human perspective Christians are those who love God, and from God’s perspective Christians are those who have been called. I want to spend a little time this morning looking at each of these titles separately and learning what it means for us to be called those who love God and those who have been called.
THOSE WHO LOVE GOD (Romans 8:28c)
Paul begins by saying that those who are eternally secure, those to whom God is causing all things to work together for good are those who love God. Love for God should be the distinguishing characteristic of every person who has put their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, if for no other reason we should love God for the redemption that was purchased for us through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is opposite of the unredeemed, because they are dead in their trespasses and sins, they hate God, they are described in Scripture as God’s enemies. Understand that from God’s perspective there are only two types of human beings, those who love Him and those who hate Him. Those who belong to God are those who love God, Paul speaks of this in several of his epistles, that we are lovers of God. He closes out Ephesians with these words in chapter 6, verse 24, “Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love.” (Ephesians 6:24, NASB95)[3] In James 1:12 James writes concerning believers, “Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” (James 1:12, NASB95)[4] This love for God should be the first evidence that we are truly saved, and this love for God is closely related to forgiveness, because we have been forgiven so much we cannot help but to be grateful to God for His gracious and merciful forgiveness and love Him for it.
There are many different ways that we show our love to God and because we are lovers of God our love is seen in the things that we desire. For example, love for God will give us a desire to obey God’s Word and a desire to do what it says. Our love for God will grow as we grow in our faith. Our love certainly is not perfect now or Paul would not have said to the believers in Philippi what he writes in Philippians 1:9, “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment,” (Philippians 1:9, NASB95)[5] Our love for God will be seen in our desire to spend time with Him and commune with Him through His Word and in prayer. The psalmist spoke of this desire in Psalm 42:1-2 when he wrote, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42:1–2, NASB95)[6]
When we truly love the Lord our life will be characterized by peace that only God can give us, a peace that transcends all understanding because we trust Him and know that He is in control of all things, so even in the midst of a global pandemic like we are in right now we can have peace by giving our anxious and worried cares to the Lord. Paul explained it this way in Philippians 4:6-7, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6–7, NASB95)[7] A God who can give us such peace should cause our hearts to swell in love for Him.
As a lover of God we will love what God loves and we know what He loves by going to His Word because in His Word He reveals for us the things that He loves, one of the things that we learn that God loves are His people, those who have put their faith in His Son Jesus Christ for salvation. God loves His children so we should love them as well. The Apostle John speaks of our loving God’s people to great extent in his first epistle. In 1 John 4:7-8 John writes, “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.” (1 John 4:7–8, NASB95)[8] Here he says that if we do not love one another then we do not know God because God is love. Then just down a few verses in that same chapter John uses even stronger language when he writes in 1 John 4:20-21, “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.” (1 John 4:20–21, NASB95)[9] John goes on in the next chapter and writes in 1 John 5:1-2, “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments.” (1 John 5:1–2, NASB95)[10]
On the flip side of that , if we love what God loves, then we will hate what God hates. The one who truly loves God will hate evil, if you love God you will grieve over sin, your own sin and the sin of others. If we love the things of this world, then we are loving the things that God hates. James writes in James 4:4, “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (James 4:4, NASB95)[11] John wrote in 1 John 2:15, “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15, NASB95)[12]
For those who truly love God they will be longing for Christ’s return so that they may be with Him forever, sinless, righteous and glorified. Paul longed for that day and wrote near the end of his life his hope for the future in 2 Timothy 4:7-8, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:7–8, NASB95)[13]
The greatest demonstration of our love for God is obedience and this should be our greatest desire. Jesus said on the night that He was betrayed and arrested in 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.” (John 14:21, NASB95)[14] Love for God will bring about obedience and as we already have seen in 1 John 5:1-2 obedience to God is inseparably tied to both love for God and love for His children. “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments.” (1 John 5:2, NASB95)[15]
God’s Word commands us to love God and to love God’s children, with that said this love does not originate with us. Godly love is given to us and originates with God. Romans 5:5 says, “…and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:5, NASB95)[16] John makes it abundantly clear in 1 John 4 that our love originates with God, he writes in verse 7, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” (1 John 4:7, NASB95)[17] He goes on in verse 10 and writes, “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.” (1 John 4:10, NASB95)[18] Then he writes in verse 19, “We love, because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19, NASB95)[19]
THOSE WHO ARE CALLED (Romans 8:28c)
As I said earlier that these two titles can be looked at from two perspectives, those that love God is from the human perspective, those who were called from God’s perspective. But both originate from God. Our love as we just have seen originates with God and our calling into His family also originates with Him. As I have said before, the plan and the provision of salvation are completely and only God’s. We cannot have anything to do with it because in our sinfulness and fallenness we are only able to hate God; we are enemies of God according to Romans 5:10 and Ephesians 2:3 says that we are children of wrath.
As we begin to look at those who are called, we must understand how the word “call” is used in Scripture. In Matthew 22:14 Jesus says at the end of the parable of the wedding feast, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:14, NASB95)[20] Jesus was referring to the gospel’s external call to all men to repent and believe in Him. As we look down through church history we can see that this is true, many people hear the gospel call but most do not respond.
When we come to the epistles, this word “called” or “calling” takes on a different meaning or sense and it refers to the sovereign, renewing work of God in a person’s heart that brings him to new life in Christ. Paul is going to explain the meaning of those who are called in the verses following this one which we will look at next week. Theologians like to use the term “effectual call” to refer to those that Paul refers to as those who are called. John MacArthur writes, “In this sense, all those who are called are chosen and redeemed by God and are ultimately glorified. They are securely predestined by God to be His children and to be conformed to the image of His Son.”[21]
When we understand calling in this sense, we must also understand that believers are never called on the merits of who they are or what they have done, but only on the basis of who God is and what He has done. The gospel is God’s good news for mankind, and it operates completely by God’s power and will and because of this it never fails in accomplishing and securing the work of salvation in those who believe. Just as faith is necessary for salvation, even more necessary is God initiating salvation by His grace and mercy. Jesus speaking of those who would believe in Him said in John 6:65, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.” (John 6:65, NASB95)[22] Paul speaks of those who were called when writing to the Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians 1:2 in his opening greeting to the church Paul writes, “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:” (1 Corinthians 1:2, NASB95)[23] then down in verse 24 again he uses the term called to refer to those who believe in Jesus Christ, beginning in verse 22 Paul writes, “For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:22–24, NASB95)[24]
It is through the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit that God calls men, women and children to Himself. Peter speaks of the agent of God’s Word calling us to salvation when he writes in 1 Peter 1:23, “…for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.” (1 Peter 1:23, NASB95)[25] Paul speaks of the power of the Holy Spirit in our salvation in Titus 3:4-7, “But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:4–7, NASB95)[26]
ETERNAL SECURITY’S SOURCE (Romans 8:28d)
God causes all things to work together for the good of His children and He does this because it is according to His purpose. Although the Greek does not contain the word “His” as indicated in my Bible by having it in italics, it is clearly implied, whose purpose would it be if it were not God’s, He is the subject of this verse, and His is added in most translations. I looked at six different translations and it was added in all of them.
I am not going to go into detail as to what God’s purpose is because Paul goes into detail in the next two verses which we will look at next week, Lord willing. When we speak of God’s purpose, we must recognize that God has a wider, more general purpose and a more limited purpose.
God’s wider, more general purpose is to offer salvation to all mankind. John wrote Jesus words to Nicodemus in John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” (John 3:16–17, NASB95)[27] Peter wrote concerning this broader purpose in 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9, NASB95)[28]
God’s purpose spoken of here in Romans 8:28 is His more limited purpose which is His plan to save those whom He has called and predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. We will look at that more next Sunday, Lord willing. The purpose spoken of here is God’s sovereign plan of redemption which He set into place before the foundation of the world.
Let me try to illustrate this purpose another way, when Israel was still wandering in the wilderness before the conquest of the land of Canaan, Moses told them in Deuteronomy 7:7-8, “The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 7:7–8, NASB95)[29] The children of Israel were not chosen because of who they were but because of who God is. The same is true of God’s choosing believers, He chooses only on the basis of His will and purpose. We can quibble about election, but the bottom line is that salvation is completely and only an act of God. God said concerning Himself in Isaiah 49:9-11, “Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’; Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it.” (Isaiah 46:9–11, NASB95)[30] God will fulfill His purpose towards those who love God and are called according to His purpose of salvation.
CONCLUSION:
I know that I have gone long this morning, but I wanted to finish up this verse and since we were not meeting together, I thought I could go a little longer. This morning we have looked at those who are eternally secure, those who love God and those who are called by God. We have looked at God’s purpose for those who love Him and those whom He has called and His purpose is our salvation, every part of it until it is completed and we are glorified, conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, having a glorified body like His, sinless, righteous, and immortal. Because we are God’s children, because we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, we are eternally secure, what God has begun as we read in Isaiah He will bring to pass, He will bring our salvation to completion, this is a fact that we can place all our hope on. John wrote in His Gospel concerning Jesus in John 1:12-13, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12–13, NASB95)[31]
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[12]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[13]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[14]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[15]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[16]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[17]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[18]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[19]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[20]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[21]MacArthur, John F., The MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Romans 1-8. Chicago, IL : Moody Press, 1991.
[22]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[23]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[24]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[25]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[26]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[27]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[28]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[29]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[30]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[31]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.