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Free to Live Securely
In this message Pastor Floyd shows how to live securely by looking through the lens of scripture in Romans 8:31-37.
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“What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He did not even spare His own Son, but offered Him up for us all. How will He not also with Him grant us everything? Who can bring an accusation against God’s elect? God is the One who justifies. Who is the One who condemns? Christ Jesus is the One who died, but even more has been raised. He is also at the right hand of God, and intercedes for us. Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written because of you we are being put to death all day long. We are counted as sheep to be slaughtered. Know in all these things, we are more than victorious through Him who loves us.”
What would be your feelings today if when you arrived home after attending worship you noticed that someone had broken into your home? And as soon as you noticed that, you called law officials, and you waited for them to come to insure that your home was secure. And then as you walked through your home with them, you begin to notice there were some things missing. And all of a sudden it dawned on you not only had your security been lost, but it dawned on you that you had been robbed. Now what would be the worst feeling? Would your worst feeling be that someone had stolen something from you? Or would your worst feeling be that your security had been violated?
I think if you could look long-term, and you could think intellectually about that, rather than the emotional attachment of losing something that you owned, you would come away believing that the worst element in all of that is that your security had been violated. And that you realize that every day you are very vulnerable.
When you look back at the course of human events in the history of the United States, we remember significant moments like Pearl Harbor, or 9/11, when the tragic element of both of those events ended in the death of thousands of people. And even today there is a lingering effect upon our nation even because of those two events. And we realize the significance of always trying to secure the borders of our nation.
You see in the United States of America, we do not like it when people enter into the territory called the United States and they kill fellow Americans. That may be okay in some other country of the world, but no, not here in the United States. Because we believe that occurs, that security has been breached, and we have lost the element of feeling secure.
Listen very carefully, while the security of your home can be violated, and the security of our nation can be violated or breached, your relationship with God can never be violated or could never be breached. There is no possible way that you will ever lose the security of your relationship with God. There is no way it will be violated, nor is there any way it will ever be breached. Why is that? Because we are free to live securely in Jesus Christ.
Romans 8 talks about what that means. And today that’s what I want to talk about with you. I want to talk to you about what it means to be free to live securely. You know we are always looking for matters and ways in which we overcome elements of our lives, elements like addictions, our personal weaknesses, or even perhaps some troublesome relationships in life. But let me ask you today; were those reasons really why Jesus died? Did Jesus die simply to help you with your addictions, or troublesome relationships, or your human inadequacies? Please understand that the ultimate victory has been accomplished for us by the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The lesser matters of life like persecution and wants, and needs, and addictions can be overcome only because of the ultimate triumphant victory of Christ on the cross, and through His bodily resurrection.
I guarantee you the vast majority of you have never thought about the next statement. The number one goal of God is to not help you overcome your problems in life. You see that’s what this culture breeds into our mentality that God’s number one goal in life is to help me with my problems. No it’s not. That is shallow thinking, shallow understanding of the scripture, shallow theology that’s been contributed by shallow curriculum that we use at times, and shallow music that we might be prone to sing every now and then. We’ve got to be really careful to understand there is something far deeper, and far greater than all of those things. The number one goal of God is not to help you over your problems and through your problems; the number one goal of God in your life is to have a personal, intimate relationship with you through His Son Jesus Christ. That is God’s number one goal.
And the only way in the world that can ever happen is when you have an experience with Jesus Christ and His death on the cross. You see, what does our passage teach us today about how we can know we can live securely? You see I want to share with you today no one can threaten your relationship with God. No one can put in danger your relationship with God. No one, and I mean absolutely no one. Nothing you lose, nothing you experience can ever contribute to you losing your relationship with God. We know today that we are free to live securely because of some elements here that we find in Romans chapter 8, and I hope you’ll be ready to walk through this great passage of scripture with me. I believe one of the finest sections of any New Testament text.
How do we know that we can live securely in Christ? Simply put, because:
1. God is for us.
The scripture says in verse 31 that if we know that God is for us, it does not matter who or what may be against us. Are you getting that? Would you please dial in with me for a moment this morning? If we know that God is for us, it does not matter who, nor does it matter what may be against us. If you were to have a Greek text in front of you, you would see that the Greek construction of that verse really is, “Since God is for us…” not if God is for us, but since God is for us. I want you to be notified today God is for you.
Now how do we know all that? Well the scripture says it clearly, but let’s go deeper for a moment. I want to share with you that verse 32 tells you the Father is for us. That’s right. The Bible says He did not spare His own Son, but offered Him up for us all. I’m telling you, when He sent His One and Only Son to die on the cross for you, the Father is for you.
The Son is for you. Jesus is for you according to scripture in verse number 34. You hear what the scripture says in verse 34? Who’s the One who condemns? Christ Jesus is the One who died, who died. I want to share with you today the Son of God, Jesus Christ, is for you.
The Spirit is for us. The Bible teaches us that in verse number 26, in the same way the Spirit also joins to help in our weakness. Even that even though while we are weak, the Holy Spirit is with us. But listen carefully not only is God for us, Jesus for us, and the Holy Spirit is for us, let me give you some great news today, all things that go on in your life, they’re also for you.
Verse 28 says and we know that all things, all things work together for good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose. See God is even making all things work for us for our good. Question. Is there anything greater than God? Question. Is there anyone greater than God? The answer to both of those questions is no! Therefore, today no one or nothing can ever rob you; no one or nothing can ever rob you of your salvation in Jesus Christ, not one thing, nor one person.
Since God is for us, you are free to live securely. No one can take away your free status. Nothing can take away your free status. You see there is nothing or no one who is ever able to take away what God says in verse 1 of chapter 8, there is now no condemnation to those of us who are in Christ Jesus. There is no one that can take that away from you! They can state it, they can accuse it, but I’m telling you God has said no I justified you, you’re free. I’m looking at you just as if you had never ever sinned in your life.
So this morning, what is the challenge for you? Here’s the challenge. Would you live this week in a different way than you lived last week? Would you live this week knowing that God is for you? Would the first thing that you think about even before your feet hit the floor in the mornings for the next 7 days, would you know that first thought you have is that God is for you? And when you go through the events of this week knowing that God is for you. I mean some of you are going to need that. You’re going to have to be around people this Thursday that you don’t even like! Family is coming in, friends are going to have to be with you that maybe you’re under pressure about, I’m telling you today it doesn’t matter what you may face in your life, please understand God is for you. There is no reason to fear, nor is there nothing to fear losing because God is for you. We are free to live securely because we know God is for us.
But we’re also free to live securely because of the next section of Romans 8, and that is because:
2. Jesus is with us.
Oh what a powerful passage. The Apostle Paul is like an investigative attorney in this passage. He asked question after question, after question with rapid fire in verse 32 through 34. Verse 32 says He did not even spare His own Son, but offered Him up for us all. How will He not also with Him grant us every thing? How will He not also with Him grant us everything? Him meaning the Lord Jesus. This phrase “grant us everything” is seen in some translations that He freely gives us everything. The word there in the Greek language is the word charisomai. You know what the word comes from originally? It’s a gorgeous word, charis. You know what charis means? Grace.
So you know what God is saying? God is saying that all you have in your life God has given to you out of grace. He freely gives it to you. Because once you give your life to Jesus Christ, you are secured tightly between now and through all of eternity. And because of the reality of that my friend you understand here the teaching of the text, and the teaching of the text is, is that because of that everything you have in your life God freely gives to you. In other words, your life in Christ began with grace, and your life goes on in your life because of grace! That’s it. Period. I have what I have; I am what I am by the grace of God. Anybody believe that today?
Oh no, not me man I’ve worked hard for it. Oh you are so messed up. You need a therapist, but you need a spiritual therapist, a biblical therapist to help you through that. And here’s your therapist right here, Dr. Ron, you have what you have, and you are what you are because God has given it to you freely! Freely! The point is that since God has given us the greatest gift of His Son, the high cost of calvary, everything else flows from that high cost of calvary. Amen. And nothing cost Him more than the death of His own Son Jesus Christ on this earth. He gave us His own Son. How? Freely.
Verse 33 of chapter 8 or Romans says, “Since God has justified you, and He has set you free, then who can really bring a charge against you?” Now this is a great word because people accuse us of stuff all the time, don’t they? But notice what it says. “Who can bring an accusation against God’s elect?” It’s the God the One who justifies. You see God is the One who set you free, so it doesn’t matter what anybody says to you, you’re free. Right? Right. And so what that means is that God looks at you just as if you had never sinned. That’s what justification is. So it doesn’t matter what they say, how they treat you, who can bring a charge against God’s chosen people? Against those who have met Him personally? And you know what the answer to that is? No one, because God is the One who justifies! He’s the One who has set free.
Verse 34 talks about who can condemn you. That’ what the question is in verse 34, who can condemn you? Who’s the one who condemns? I want to tell you today, are you ready for this answer? No one. You know why no one can condemn you? Because of verse 1. What is verse 1? “Therefore those who are free, or in Jesus Christ, are free from condemnation.” We have no condemnation because we are free in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have that intimate, personal, dynamic relationship with Christ and no one can condemn me.
This passage gives us an interesting insight. I want to go on a side street for a moment, but it’s in the text and therefore we’re going to deal with it like we’re on a side street but we’re going in the same direction. This passage gives to us four reasons your salvation is secure. I mean how do you know that your relationship with God is secure? You ever thought about that? You ever gotten into a debate with somebody about it? Somebody says, “Well I don’t believe, you know, that it’s secure. Once you have it means you can lose it.” Well I believe, I believe, I believe you can’t lose it. Well why do you believe that? I don’t know. Let me help you out, okay?
This passage in verse 34 gives to us four reasons your salvation is secure.
(1) Christ died for you.
You’re salvation is secure because notice what it says: “Who is the One who condemns?” Then he says, “Christ Jesus is the One who died…” What does that mean? That means that Christ took on the penalty for your sin. It means that Christ bore your condemnation. It means that Christ died the death of a criminal, and that all of our sin, and the sins of all of the world were bore by Jesus Christ on the cross. Christ died for us. Therefore, our salvation is secure. He died for you.
There are many of us here today who are in this worship center and you have never understood how Christ died for you. Some of you are watching on our Crossover Live internet service, you’re wondering is my salvation secure? I’m telling you it can be. Christ died for you. Some of you will be watching by television and I’m telling you Christ died for you. And I ask you today, have you ever trusted in the death of Jesus Christ for your sin? Have you ever been freed from your sin by releasing yourself to Jesus and asking Jesus to put His precious forgiveness all over your life where you are free not only for now, but forever? We call that salvation. Christ died for you.
(2) Christ was raised from the dead.
I love the way he says it in verse 34, notice what he says, “It is Christ Jesus is the One who died, but even more…” oh that means there’s something more, “…even more,” in other words that resurrection that occurred is very, very important, but “…even more Christ was raised from the dead.” Let me give you some great news this morning, the grave could not hold King Jesus. You see He proved His victory over sin at the cross, but He proved His victory over death through the resurrection bodily. So therefore, please understand, your salvation is secure because of why? Christ died for you, and that Christ was raised from the dead.
(3) Jesus is at the right hand of God.
That’s what verse number 34 says. It says that Jesus Christ is at the right hand of God. Now why did he mention the right hand of God? In the scripture you see periodically it’s referring to Christ at the right hand of God. This is not the only text. There are others here that you may see it in, in the New Testament. What does that indicate? The right hand means two things: honor and exaltation. Honor and exaltation. So for Christ to be at the right hand of God means that He is given the place of honor, and He is given the place of exaltation. Do you remember what he said? Paul wrote over in the 2nd chapter of the book of Philippians when he said that, “He is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” You know why He is made Lord? Peter says it over in Acts chapter 2. Because this same Jesus who died for us was raised from the dead for us, and is now exalted, exalted, He’s lifted up. He’s honored. Why is He honored and exalted? Because He has done what no one else has ever done, no one else ever died for you that meant anything in the world that could do anything about you. And no one else ever was raised from the dead; no one was ever raised from the dead by the power of God ever before the Lord Jesus Christ.
(4) Christ intercedes for you.
The Bible here talks about how He intercedes for you. Verse 34 says He lives to make intercession for you. That’s going back to verse 26 and even 27. And he talks about how the continual ministry of Jesus is to pray for you. You know what? I find it real hard to believe that while Jesus is praying for me 24/7 something or someone can come in and snatch me away from Him. That ain’t much Jesus. You see the reason some people think that is that because their view of God is very low. Did you just hear what I said? I mean I really need you to be with me today. Are you listening very carefully? God is praying for you. And how in the world can anyone ever snatch you away from Him when Jesus is praying for you all of the time?
Now listen, I don’t care what your religious tradition may be. I do not care what you were taught when you were growing up by your parents. You have to evaluate all of that on the basis of the word of God. And what you must understand is that once you come to Jesus, you are in Jesus until the end. And you are in Jesus throughout all of eternity. No one or nothing can ever take away your salvation! Why? Because Jesus is with you! You think Satan or some sins is going to tug you away when the Bible says He’s with you? When the Bible that, that He is taking care of you? He’s praying for you? He’s already proven Himself worthy over death, hell and the grave, and He is right now working all things out for your good, that somebody’s going to come in and steal you away? Or something you do is going to steal you away? Oh my friend, listen, who or what can take you away from Jesus Christ? You listen to me today, nothing! And no one!
You may say, “Well Ronnie I don’t agree with you.” That’s fine, you don’t agree with me, you may disagree with me, but you are also disagreeing what the Bible teaches. You say, “That’s a pretty strong statement.” Absolutely. I’ll back it up any time. Why do I say that? Because listen carefully, if you believe you did anything to get it, then let me tell you, you also believe you can do a lot of things to lose it. But I’m telling you, you don’t have what you have in your salvation because of anything you did, but you have what you have in your salvation because of what Jesus did for you. And since you didn’t get anything to get it, you can’t do anything to lose it! You are secure in Jesus Christ!
I’m telling you today God is for us, Jesus is with us, and if you’re trusting in anything other than Him, then you’re trusting in your works, and my friend I’m telling you, you’re in trouble, and you have a great, great desperate need today to come and meet the Jesus full of grace and truth that I know in my life. You need Him to revolutionize your life. You need to come to the end of yourself today and realize that unless Jesus comes in my life, I am hell bound, I am sin driven, and I don’t have a shot in my life to be anything more than what I can do. But I’m telling you, that’s not the way it is once you come to Jesus.
Once you come to Jesus, you’re forgiven. Once you come to Jesus, you’re cleansed. Once you come to Jesus, potential begins to be realized. Once you come to Jesus, things change and they change forever. And once you come to Jesus, listen, it’s eternal. It’s eternal. Nothing, no one can ever take you away from God whatsoever at all.
Then the Bible teaches us that our salvation is secure because our:
3. Salvation is forever.
God is for us. Jesus is with us. And salvation is forever. The Bible says in verse 35 through 37 these words: it says, “Who can separate us from the love of Christ?” That’s a good question. In fact, if you have a pen, why don’t you take your pen and circle that word separate in the scripture? Who or what can separate us from Christ? The word separated there you’ve seen before if you’ve read any part of the New Testament.
The word separated there is the words put asunder, meaning that it’s the same word used by Jesus’ famous statement, “What God has joined together, let no one put asunder.” What God has joined together, let no one separate. Now let me ask you, do you remember those words maybe spoken at your wedding? What God has joined together let no one put asunder, let no one separate? Do you know why it’s the same word that’s used? Because it means the same thing. In other words, God says once marriage happens, marriage is permanent relationship. It is a permanent commitment.
But also the scripture says we must take on ourselves and our marriage to not let anyone, we must hold the responsibility to not let anyone disrupt our marriage. In other words, just as our marriage should be secured tightly, Jesus is saying even greater than that, my relationship with Him is tight. I mean it is so tight that nothing, nor no one can take that away from me.
And then He goes through this litany of questions. And he mentions several things. Can affliction take it away from me? The word affliction there is the word thlipsis in the Greek language, now that’s not an easy word to say. Thlipsis. You know what the word means? It means being squeezed or under pressure. So what was Jesus saying? Jesus was saying in His word, can those moments in your life when you feel squeezed, those moments in your life when you feel this incredible pressure upon you, can those moments take away Jesus, and separate you from Jesus? And Paul said no way! That’s right, no way.
Well can anguish? That word anguish there means when you feel like you are hemmed in helplessly. Have you ever been in a situation in which you didn’t think you could ever get out of? And you felt like you were hemmed in, and you were not only hemmed in, but you were helpless in all of that? Paul was saying, “Can anguish separate you from the love of Jesus Christ?” Not even when you feel hemmed in, in a helpless state. None of that can separate you from Jesus Christ.
Well can persecution separate you? Persecution here’s referring to affliction that is suffered for the sake of Christ. Affliction that is suffered for the sake of Christ. So when are get under the affliction of being persecuted, or we go through things in our life because we attempt to live right, or we’re trying to live righteously, all of a sudden, even if the persecution comes, can that persecution keep me from the love of Jesus Christ. Paul says, no way!
And then he mentions famine. Famine. Hurting, or discriminated, or denied, because of the faith. In other words, people are just not feed because they are so Christian. People would deny them as an act of persecution of the opportunity of food. Well, it doesn’t matter if it’s that, or in reference to world hunger, which is obviously a major, major concern, should be for the church of America, and the church of the world today, the global church. To imagine that millions of people go hungry every day should break our hearts, and should break our hearts to know that beginning this afternoon and tomorrow that there will be some 4000 plus families who will line up on both of our campuses in great need for food! Even in the midst of some of the greatest corporations in all of the world there is a need for hunger to be met!
But when you’re hungry, does that ever separate you from Christ? Paul says not even hunger will separate me from Jesus Christ. Nakedness, nakedness meaning that you have been denied the proper clothing, or the symbolism is that when I feel most vulnerable in my life, should my vulnerability separate me from Jesus Christ. And Paul says no way!
What about danger? Would my danger separate me from Christ? Danger means when I’m exposed or I’m mistreated, should that separate me from Jesus Christ? He says no way will that separate you from Jesus Christ.
Then he says, hey what about the sword? Do you know what the sword is here? A sword here is the use of a word that is indicating a dagger. A dagger that is a symbol of death, and what the Apostle was saying is that even if someone walks into your life with a dagger, and they murder you, not even that will separate you from the love of God in Jesus Christ.
In other words, nothing can separate you from that. That’s why he quotes in verse 36 Psalm chapter 44, verse 22, indicating that we are not exempt from trouble, tribulation, or even death for Christ, none of us are exempt from that, and then he gives to us an affirmative promise in verse 37, and please note this promise. Know in all these things we are more than victorious. All these things meaning what? All these things like the sword, danger, nakedness, famine, anguish, persecution, affliction, not any of those things, nor anything else used in this passage will keep me from being more than victorious!
More than victorious here is a special word. This word is used nowhere else in the New Testament. Nowhere else. The word can also be translated more than conquerors. It’s a compound word in the Greek language, hupernikao, which means what? It means that I in all these things can, listen to this, listen to this, I can hyper-conquer even when I face all these things in my life. That’s what it means. It means that I am able to conquer with plenty to spare. In other words, I’m not barely getting by, barely surviving. How many times have people come up to you and say, “Hey how you doing today?” “Oh I’m surviving.” Oh that’s a victory in your Christian life, isn’t it? Oh no, no there’s much more than that he says. He said I am able through all those things, I’m able to help you to see that through Him you hyper-conquer; through Him you conquer with plenty to spare! With Him you are more than victorious! With Him, here’s another way to see it, we are super-conquerors! Because our ultimate destiny is heaven, and nothing can separate us from what God has done in our lives! Nothing! And it doesn’t matter even if we die for our faith; the reward in heaven will far outweigh any persecution, any affliction, any anguish, any death, any denial that ever has to take place on this earth. In other words, who was able to separate me from the love of God in Jesus Christ? You listen to me today, no one and nothing, period. Nothing.
You see the tragedy is that many of you are used to hearing that it doesn’t mean anything to you anymore. You need to get your heart right. You need to get your heart tender. God has done an amazing thing for you. Don’t ever let it get old. If it gets old, maybe it’s old because it’s never happened.
One of the great old hymns of the faith is the great hymn “Victory in Jesus.” At the Faith Baptist Church in Yoakum, Texas, we used to sing that song quite often. Many of you would even know the words of that song if we sung it today, you could sing it by memory. The writer of the song was a man by the name of Eugene Monroe Bartlett. He wrote countless hymns according to history, in fact history says he wrote hundreds of hymns. But do you realize that when he wrote the song “Victory in Jesus” it was his final hymn to write before his death?
This hymn, “Victory in Jesus” that he wrote, he wrote it following a stroke that almost debilitated him. And he was hoping to show that through this hymn, he was hoping to share with God, and share with others that, that his hope remained in Christ in spite of the setback that he was facing his life, and it was an enormous setback. It took Bartlett one month to write the hymn “Victory in Jesus.”
Perhaps the next time you sing that hymn maybe that one verse will come alive like never before as to why he would ever say it. Do you remember this verse? “I heard about His healing, of His cleansing pow’r revealing,” and notice how he reflects of what he knows in the scripture. “How He made the lame to walk again and caused the blind to see.” And with that biblical foundation, notice what he says in the midst of his affliction, he says, “And then I cried,” he personalized it, “Then I cried ‘Dear Jesus, come and heal my broken spirit’ and somehow,” don’t know how it happened, but somehow, “Jesus came and brought to me the victory.”
You listen very carefully today; you are free to live securely. You do not have to worry, nor do you have to fear, that you will ever lose your relationship with God. Since you didn’t do anything to earn it, you won’t do anything to lose it. And how could anybody snatch it away from you when you have Jesus praying for you 24/7? He never shuts up about you to the Father. He is always making intercession for the saints.
So how do I know all this? Cause God is for us. Jesus is with us. And salvation is secure. I can be rock solid knowing these words all is well. Cause if I had that, all is well. In the midst of the storms, the tumultuous waters, and the uncertainties of tomorrow, all is well.
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