Blessed Assurance | Romans 8:28-30

Scripture

• Romans 8:28–30

About this sermon

Introduction: It is important when we dig into the details of a passage of Scripture to remember those details add up to something. They add up to form a picture. There is something grand, something larger than the details, that those details form when taken together. We have been digging into some details lately. *We’ve looked in detail at what Paul teaches in this chapter regarding adoption *The promised presence of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life *The glorious future that is the believer’s inheritance *And the Holy Spirit’s help to us in the ministry of prayer. The details are all wonderful, but there is a great theme that our God is communicating to us. That theme, as we said beginning back at the 5th chapter, is the theme of assurance. And that theme of assurance is meant to drive home the truth that salvation is by grace. GOD SAVES. GOD SAVES FOREVER. The saving work of God places a child of God in the most secure position imaginable. And everything that God has done for us in Jesus Christ explains that security. Adoption speaks of security. The Spirit’s very presence is spoken of as a seal, a pledge, of a FUTURE inheritance. The fact that we have an inheritance speaks of the security of God’s plan for us to receive that inheritance. In fact, the Bible goes on to tell us that it is on deposit for us, it is prepared and kept for us who are being kept by God’s owner power through faith. ESV 1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. And the fact that we have a helper in prayer, that we have an internal intercessor — THAT TOO SPEAKS OF OUR SECURITY. This morning as we begin looking at the one of the most powerful statements in all of Scripture regarding God’s saving plans, we think about the blessed assurance that these verses are meant to convey. God has not only saved us in a way that is secure, He wants all those who are saved to KNOW that they are secure. THIS MAGNIFIES HIS GRACE. All of this demonstrates the truth about the gospel. All of this demonstrates the truth about how God saves sinners. It is the freeness of salvation that guarantees the FINALITY of that salvation. If salvation is indeed secure, it is only because God saves, and we don’t save ourselves. I want to begin today by thinking about the will of God for the Christian. What is the connection between what we have just been told regarding the Holy Spirit’s intercession for the Christian in prayer, and the word of assurance that we are given in the 28th verse? And as we consider that, I want us to begin with what Paul tells us that WE KNOW. WHAT THE CHRISTIAN KNOWS ABOUT ALL THE DETAILS OF LIFE What do we know, according to verse 28? Before we take note of that, I would remind us again that the Christian lives his or her life on the firm ground of God’s revelation. This is not private knowledge on Paul’s part. He is celebrating what every Christian knows to be true. What do we know? We know that everything that takes place in a Christian’s life has a purpose, and that the purpose when viewed from the vantagepoint of eternity, adds up to something good. The connection with the previous verse has to do with the will of God. The Spirit intercedes for us, when we don’t know what to ask for, and His intercession is always according to God’s will. WHAT IS GOD’S WILL? Well, this becomes clearer in verses 29-30, but it helps us to mention it right here. THE WILL OF GOD IS THAT EVERYONE WHOM HE CALLS INTO SALVATION WILL ONE DAY STAND BEFORE HIS PRESENCE GLORIFIED. GOD’S WILL IS THAT EVERYONE CHOSEN FOR SALVATION, BEFORE TIME, WILL BE SAVED IN TIME, AND THEN BE KEPT FOR THE REST OF TIME. EVERYONE WHO IS JUSTIFIED WILL, IN FACT, ARRIVE HOME SAFELY. The God to whom we pray will lose nothing.

Topics

• Salvation
• Blessing & Favor