GOD’S PROMISE OF VICTORY
There are many times when situations or circumstances just don’t turn out as we plan or desire. What happens- reality sets in! The different picture that develops may be a minor inconvenience or a life-changing event. We are often faced with having to make a decision on something that sounds too good to be true. So what decision do we make? We learned from Luke 11 to seek our answers first from God in prayer. No matter what life may have thrown at us, we can still experience good things from God. God’s goodness and love overcomes life’s difficulties. In fact, God can use those very difficulties to work His goodness into our lives. In the Book of Romans, Paul showed us how God works His goodness and love on our behalf. God’s “no answer” to our prayers will definitely produce greater glory to His name and likely give greater blessings to the one whose prayer got that “no answer”. Apart from greater glory to God, why do we get “no answers”? (Not God’s Will, Not God’s timing, Our request would really not be good for us, or Something better is coming.)
Read Romans 8:28-30
In Romans 8:28-39, Paul ends this chapter by proclaiming the full assurance believers have that God will bring to completion the work of salvation in them and the incomparable nature of God’s love for believers in Jesus Christ. There is much in these 12 verses, we all should go back and study them over and over. One of the greatest promises in the Bible is found in this passage: “We know all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose” (v. 28, KJV).
Notice that this verse does not say that all things work together for good for all people. Micah 6:8 God tells us what He requires from us. “He told you, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God!” (ESV). This means that the primary forms of love are justice, mercy, and faithfulness and to respond to His redemption (Matt. 23:23; Deut. 10:12-13). Many people live in an open rebellion against God. Others live in a complete indifference to His claims upon them. To suppose that their revolt works to their good is to propose a moral contradiction. For sin in the hearts of men is real for God. On the contrary, in Romans 6:23 Paul said, “The wages of sin is death.” (all translations).
The passage specifies those for whom the promise of this verse holds when it says, “to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose”. The first clause sounds as though the initiative rested with man. That is, as a consequence of man’s love for God, all things work together for good. But the second clause acknowledges that the initiative in our conversion is taken by God. He calls us by His grace and according to His purpose. To God’s extended grace we respond in faith. For those who respond to God’s love with love, and for those who answer God’s call in faith, the promise is assured.
God works in “everything”- not just isolated incidents- for our good. This does not mean that all that happens to us is good. Evil is prevalent in our fallen world, but God is able to turn every circumstance around for our long-range good. Note that God is not working to make us happy but to fulfill His purpose. As specified before, this promise is not for everybody. It can be claimed only by those who love God and are called by Him, that is, those whom the Holy Spirit convinces to receive Christ. Such people have a new perspective, a new mind-set. They trust in God, not in worldly treasures, their security is in heaven, not on earth. Their faith in God does not waver in pain and persecution because they know God is with them.
Evil and tragedy are real in the world, and sometimes God’s people suffer crushing sorrow. We must refrain from attributing to the Will of God that which is not true to Christ’s revelation of Him. God is not responsible for terrible crimes; sinful men and women are. They occur because God’s will is flagrantly transgressed. And the transgressing of the will of God can never be carrying out of His Will. Yet God’s love and resources are so great that He can overrule in the tragedies we suffer. Whether sorrows and tears or joys and laughter, He can work through them all to make us increasingly like Jesus Christ. And that is what God’ grace is all about. The larger the family of God’s children, the greater the honor to His Son in being the firstborn!
God’s ultimate goal for us is to make us like Christ (1 John 3:2). As we become more and more like Him, we discover our true selves, the person we were created to be. How can we become like Christ? By reading and heeding the Word, by studying His life on earth through the Gospels, by spending time in prayer, by being filled with His Spirit, and by doing His work in the world.
In verse 30, Paul bridged eternity past and future with his majestic summation of God’s redemptive purpose. Notice the four mighty spans in this bridge. Predestination is God’s purposive grace at work before the foundation of the world. Calling and justification are God’s grace confronting us and making right with Himself in the midst of history. Glorification is the ultimate triumph of God’s grace in the consummation. Paul regarded our future glorification with Christ as so certain that he described it with a past tense, as though it had already happened.
Some people believe these verses mean that before the beginning of the world, God chose certain people to receive His gift of salvation. They point to verses such as Ephesians 1:11 which say that God “chose us in advance, and He makes everything work out according to His plan.” Others believe that God knew in advance who would respond to Him, and upon those He set His mark (He chose them). What is clear is that God’s purpose for His people was not an afterthought. It was settled before the foundation of the world. People are to serve and honor God. If you believe in Christ, you can rejoice in the fact that God has always known you. God’s love is eternal. His wisdom and power are supreme. He will guide and protect you until you one day stand in His presence. Remember, God gives all free choice, so we make the choice to follow Him or not!!
Read Romans 8:31-34
ASSURANCE OF SALVATION!! Predestination, calling, justification, glorification; these great terms comprehend the scope of God’s redemptive purpose. Having set them forth in stair-step fashion in verse 30, Paul asked, “What then shall we say to this?”(v.31). His answer has provided the grandest passage on Christian assurance in the Bible. Observe the solid foundation of our confidence.
First, our assurance is based upon the heavy investment that God has already made in our redemption (vv.31-32). As evidence that God is for us, Paul pointed back to the cross, “He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, will He not also give us all things with Him?” (v.32). Here is a confidence based upon what God has already done, and so it is neither an idle speculation nor an unsupported hope. Golgotha was God’s firm commitment to us, not a trial run (Rom. 5:6-11).
Second, our assurance is based upon God’s acquittal and Christ’s continuing intercession for us (vv.33-34). A courtroom scene is imagined. The question is asked, “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?” (v.33).This is a challenge that might well cause us to tremble, except for one thing: “It is God who justifies” (v.33). And none can press further charges against those whom God has acquitted.
If God gave His Son for us, He isn’t going to hold back the gift of salvation. If Christ gave His life for us, He isn’t going to turn around and condemn us. He will not withhold anything we need to live for Him. The Book of Romans is more than a theological explanation of God’s redeeming grace- it is a letter of comfort and confidence addressed to us. Paul says that Jesus is pleading for us in heaven. God has removed our sin and guilt, so it is Satan not God, who accuses us. When he does, Jesus, our advocate, sits at God’s right hand to present our case.
Then Paul asked the question- “Who is the one who condemns?” Paul mentions four reasons in the verse 34 why Christians can never be condemned (and Paul answers his own question). First, we cannot be found guilty because Christ Jesus is the one who died. Second reason is because Christ has been raised. Third, we cannot be found guilty because Christ’s position at the right hand of God (Heb. 1:3; 12:12). Finally, we have no condemnation because Jesus intercedes for us to God. The only one who could condemn us is actually pleading our cause at the right hand of God.
Read Romans 8:35-39
Nothing can separate us from God’s love. This is the concept and promise that Jesus spoke in John10:28-29. To complete the thought on assurances of our salvation after listing the first two previously, here is the third assurance. Third reason is that our assurance is based upon God’s great love for us in Christ, which guarantees that nothing will be able to separate us from Him (vv. 35-39). After enumerating the various calamities that have assailed God’s people (vv.35-36), Paul claimed, “We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (v.37). This statement provides the background for one of the greatest affirmations of faith in God of all time, “I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us form the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (vv.38-39). In this sentence Paul included the full range of existence (death and life) and all hostile supernatural forces (angels, principalities, powers). He included all uncertainties of time (things present and things to come) and every each of space (height and depth). Then, lest any source of threat be overlooked, Paul added, “nor anything else in all creation” (v.39).
Verse 38 mentions “angels. It seems clear Paul was referring to fallen angels or demons. Jesus used the same term referring to the angels aligned with the Devil who will be cast into the lake of ire (Matt. 25:41).
These words were written to a church that would soon undergo terrible persecution. In just a few years, Paul’s hypothetical situations would turn into painful realities. This passage reaffirms God’s profound love for His people. No matter what happens to us, no matter where we are, we can never be separated from His love. Suffering should not drive us away from God but help us to identify with Him and allow His love to heal us. These verses contain one of the most comforting promises in all Scripture. Believers have always had to face hardships in many forms: persecution, illness, imprisonment, and even death. These sometimes cause them (and us) to fear that they have been abandoned by Christ. His death for us is proof of His unconquerable love. Nothing can separate us from Christ’s presence. God tells us how great His love is so that we will feel totally secure in Him. If we believe these overwhelming assurances, we will not be afraid.

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