Our Confidence in God
“8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set youb free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
January 29, 2012
Romans 8, Our Confidence in God
Doug Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church
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6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.
12 So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13 for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
Future Glory
18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; 20 for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; 23 and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. 27 And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. 29 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 within a large family. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.
31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? 33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all day long;
we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
My final sermon for this month is on Romans chapter 8, another chapter that one could easily go through for many Sundays. The theme is, “Our Confidence in God.” By confidence I don’t mean a belief in our own abilities, but belief or trust in God to do right; to act in a proper, trustworthy, reliable manner. If we take someone into our confidence or tell someone something in confidence it is because we believe we have a relationship of trust. It is hard for me to think of a situation in which confidence both in our selves and in God isn’t helpful and beneficial. At the same time, misplaced confidence can be disastrous and even deadly. In the last few weeks there were several stories in the news about people who had confidence in ice being frozen over a river or lake that was sadly misplaced. Perhaps the most widely known was the tragic death earlier this month of Michael Philbin, the 21-year-old son of then Green Bay Packers Offensive Coordinator Joe Philbin.
When it comes to confidence it is not how much confidence we have that matters, but where we are placing that confidence. We can have great confidence that thin ice will support us and it won’t help us. We can have only a little confidence in thick ice but it will hold us safely because that is its nature. So it is with God. It is not so much the size of our faith, confidence, trust or hope, but where we place them that matters most. Jesus says in Matthew 17:20, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” A mustard seed is tiny, but tiny faith placed in the right place makes all the difference. Romans chapter 8 describes a host of reasons why we all should have confidence in God. While I won’t go into great depth, I will touch on many of them.
First, Romans 8 begins with the stunning and powerful words, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” We can be confident in God because we have been freed from condemnation. Condemnation means judgment, doom, and death, but those of us in Christ have been set free from fearing those things because God has sentenced sin itself to death by sending Jesus who died for us.
We can be confident in God because God has given us the Spirit. Paul describes the difference between life lived in the flesh and in the Spirit of God. Paul uses the words “flesh” and “spirit not to designate two parts of human nature but to represent two ways of living. Life pursued according to the flesh is life shaped by rebellion and idolatry, in which the perspective of the human being is turned in on himself or herself and the person becomes the center of everything. Think country singer Toby Keith’s song “I wanna talk about me.” “wanna talk about me, Wanna talk about I, Wanna talk about number one, Oh my me my, What I think, what I like, what I know, what I want, what I see.” Life in the flesh is essentially life carried on under the lordship of the sinful self. It is a life of self-idolatry.
Life in the Spirit, on the other hand, is life set free from bondage to self and sin. It’s life in relationship and service to the Creator, which freely acknowledges God’s lordship in Jesus Christ. The power of that lordship has broken the enslaving power of self-idolatry and sin and sets us free to enjoy a new relationship with the Creator, the relationship of a child rather than a rebel. In this way of life, even the law has been set free from the domination of sin; and it can now serve the way of redemption rather than the way of rebellion.
So another reason for our confidence in God is because thanks to the Spirit we are no longer rebels or slaves but children of God. Pastor Mary has preached before on Romans 8 and the power of that image of being adopted into the love of a new family. God has done that for us, choosing to adopt us and bless us as joint heirs with Christ. Sadly, there are members of our congregation who have been hurt or wronged by a family member when a loved one has died and they have been denied part of an inheritance that was rightly theirs to share in. That is always painful and is often because someone is still living according to the flesh (remember the Toby Keith song), rather than by the Spirit. The awesome thing about being adopted into God’s family is we will be heirs of God and joint heirs of Christ – isn’t that exciting?
It is, but, read the small print, we are “heirs of God and joint heirs of Christ, if, in fact, we suffer with him” (Romans 8:17). While we may not be any more thrilled about the idea of suffering than we are of being left out of an earthly inheritance, there is still more good news to give us confidence. Paul says in verse 18, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.” What does that mean? The valleys of suffering we experience in our life on earth, no matter how deep, will be exceeded by the heights of glory we will experience in the life to come. So our confidence in God is not shaken or surprised by suffering. It is sustained by the hope of glory. “Pity the human being who is not able to connect faith within himself with the infinite…. He who has faith has … an inward reservoir of courage, hope, confidence, calmness and assuring trust that all will come out well-even though to the world it may appear to come out most badly.” B. C. Forbes. Paul was familiar with physical suffering and hardship in his missionary work of sharing the good news about Jesus, but he had a deep reservoir of trust, confidence, hope and courage that not only sustained him but inspired others as well. Let’s face it, as the great football coach Vince Lombardi noted, “Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.”
Paul’s confidence in God enabled him to endure great suffering and trials both because of the glory he hoped for in the future and because he was not alone in the present.
In verses 8:26-30, he gives us yet another reason for confidence in God, the Spirit is interceding for us. In our times of suffering and weakness when our faith is wavering, our confidence in shot, our hope seems lost and we don’t even know how to put our thoughts and feelings into words to pray, Paul says, don’t think it is all on you because 26 “the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. 27 And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” It is remarkable, if you stop and think about it, that Paul is suggesting that the Spirit intercedes for us, prays for us, according to the will of God. So the Spirit’s prayers may not be what we are praying for or even what we want to happen, but the Spirit is interceding for us, praying for us all the time. That gives us confidence. Someone made the following observation about prayer: “There are two main pitfalls on the road to mastery of the art of prayer. If a person gets what she asks for her humility is in danger. If he fails to get what he asks for he is apt to lose confidence. Indeed no matter whether prayer seems to be succeeding or failing humility and confidence are two virtues which are absolutely essential.” The interceding of the Holy Spirit on our behalf is both humbling and lifts our confidence.
There is more good news, beyond the Spirit’s interceding for us. Paul says in verse 28, “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” This is one of many verses in Romans 8 that deserves a sermon on its own. What does Paul mean all things work together for good? He doesn’t mean all the things that happen to us or to anyone are good. There are plenty of bad, sad, painful, heartbreaking things that can and do happen in life. However, if we have answered God’s call and love the Lord, then God can work in and through the experiences of life to bring something redemptive. A poet (Rainer Maria Rilke) wrote, “Were it possible for us to see further than our knowledge reaches perhaps we would endure our sadnesses with greater confidence than our joys. For they are moments when something new has entered into us, something unknown.” The great American pilot and patriot, Eddie Rickenbacker, who survived an unbelievable 24 day long ordeal after the plane he was traveling in had to ditch in the Pacific Ocean in October of 1942 during World War Two said, “I believe that if you think about disaster you will get it. Brood about death and you hasten your demise. Think positively and masterfully with confidence and faith and life becomes more secure, more fraught with action richer in achievement and experience.” All things work together for good for those who love God. The purpose God has called us to is that we are to be like the Son, Jesus, who came and died and rose again, not so he would be an only child, but the firstborn in a very, very large family. Author James Baillie noted, “To grow and know what one is growing towards-that is the source of all strength and confidence in life.” We are growing toward and into the likeness of Jesus our Savior and our brother in the family of God.
Five times in Romans 8:31-38 the apostle Paul asks questions to emphasize the amazing privileges of belonging to Jesus Christ that give us confidence for living. Verse 31: “If God is for us, who can be against us?”
Verse 32: “Will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”
Verse 33: “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?”
Verse 34: “Who is to condemn?”
Verse 35: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”
The answers are clear and wonderful, Paul lets us supply them and rejoice in them. Verse 31: No one can be successfully against us. Verse 32: God will supply everything we need, even when all seems lost. Verse 33: No one can make a charge stick against us in the court of heaven, no matter who accuses us. Verse 34: No one can condemn us, in fact, the only one who could, Jesus, is also interceding for just like the Spirit! And in verse 35: No one and no-thing can separate us from the love of Christ. Paul spells out the kinds of things that cannot separate us from the love of Christ – not hardships, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, violence, death, life, angels, rulers, the present, the future, height, depth, nothing. The reason Paul chose to mention so many terrible things is to make sure we knew he was saying: there is nothing so horrible that it could separate us from the love of Christ. Nothing can separate us from Christ’s love. Not even ourselves.
We can be confident in God because we have been freed from condemnation. We can be confident because God has given us the Spirit.
We have confidence because we are no longer rebels or slaves but children of God.
Our confidence in God is not shaken or surprised by suffering. It is sustained by the hope of glory.
We have confidence for living because the Spirit prays for us and intercedes for us, because all things work together for good for those who love God and we are invited to be part of God’s family and to be made into the image of Jesus. And if all that weren’t enough, to top it all off, “nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
This is why we live confidently as disciples of Jesus. Paul closes by asking five questions (vv. 32–35) and answering them clearly. There is no need to fret over what God will do, for God is for us and not against us. The proof is that God gave the very best on the cross. Surely God will freely give us anything else we need. Can anyone indict us for sin? No! We have been justified before God. Can anyone condemn us? No! Christ died for us and lives now as our Advocate at God’s right hand interceding for us. Can anything separate us from God’s love? No! No condemnation—no obligation—no separation! “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (NKJV). That is why we all can have great confidence in God, now and forever.
I close with these words from Martin Luther, “Faith is a living and unshakable confidence, a belief in the grace of God so assured that a man would die a thousand deaths for its sake.”
Blessing by Andrew Murray
Do not strive in your own strength; cast yourself at the feet of the Lord Jesus and wait upon Him in the sure confidence that He is with you and works in you. Strive in prayer; let faith fill your heart-so will you be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
b Here the Greek word you is singular number; other ancient authorities read me or us