The Triumph of God's Love (Romans 8:31-39) | John MacArthur | GTYtv

To me, life is all about the truth. We've  been moving phrase by phrase, verse by verse,   paragraph by paragraph, chapter by  chapter through these great truths. Open your Bibles with me. We in order to enjoy the prospects and the  promises of our eternal salvation need to   understand what Romans 8 provides for us and that  is the triumph of our savior's love. I was reading   an article from some psychoanalysts who were  trying to talk about what people want and the   article suggested that the first thing they want  is food and I get that and the second is water   and the third is shelter and the fourth is love.  People need to be loved. Created in God's image,   we were created for affection. We were created  for love. They long for loving relationships.   hard to generate in this isolated culture where  people spend all their time looking at media and very little time cultivating face-toface  relationships. People long for a loving  

relationship that lasts. They are crushed when  love fails. Human beings long for a love that   will never fail. and not even Wayne,  certainly not die and not disappoint. That love is really very  rare in human society. But   there is such a love that endures in its fullness and gives lasting satisfaction and lasting joy.  And when I say lasting, I mean everlasting. To be loved by the God of the universe.  To be loved is such a lavish love that love promises to us is even incomprehensible. We  can't grasp the height and depth and length and   breadth of it. It's an amazing love. Before  we go to Romans 8, turn back for a moment to   the 13th chapter of John. Familiar scene in the  upper room. Then Jesus is with his disciples. And   there's a statement made in the first verse that  has long penetrated my own heart. Before the feast  

of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour  had come, that he would depart out of this world   to the father, having loved his own who were in  the world, he loved them to the end. This is the   hardest night of his life. This is the eve of his  crucifixion. This is the night of his betrayal. And this is when his disciples had  been unable even to watch for a few   hours and uphold him in prayer in the  midst of his incomprehensible agony. They fell asleep. They were seen in their weakness. When the Lord  needed them to stand with him in intercession,   they were useless. They were really at  their ugliest. They had been squabbbling   about which of them would be  the greatest in the kingdom.

And in that moment when they were self-centered  and indifferent to the reality that was told   to them and was looming in a few hours. They  couldn't find it in their hearts to fix their   attention on him. It is in that moment that  he loved them to the end. Ice tell us to the   max to the end. Every way you can define the  end. He loved them to the end without limits   completely fully to the extent of his capacity  to love. God loved them. He couldn't love them   more. He couldn't love them less. A love that  surpassed all other loves could not be increased,   could not be decreased, but a love reserved for  his own. He loved his own who were in the world.   And Romans 5'8 says, "God demonstrated his love  for his own in that while we were yet sinners,   Christ died for us. He loved his own when they  were yet sinners. He loved them so much it would  

be impossible to love them more because it would  be impossible to do more than give his son as a   sacrifice. He loves his own with an everlasting  immeasurable love. This is the greatest gift a   human being can be given. No matter how many  other loves fail, this one never does. And it   sounds too good really. And some people who  call themselves Christians think it is too   good to assume that this love is that complete  and permanent. Can we be sure? Can we really be   sure that we are loved like this all the way to  the end even in the ugliest moments of our lives?   Well, the answer to that question is back in  Romans 8. So, let's let's go there. This, I think,   is the most precious of all promises that the  Lord's love never fails because if I wasn't sure   of that, I couldn't enjoy any of the benefits.  So, go down to verse 31. What then shall we say   to these things? What things are you talking  about? Well, we're talking about everything   from the beginning of the book of Romans. The  gospel. I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it   is the power of God into salvation of everyone who  believes. And then Paul unfolds the bad news and  

then the good news. And and we see justification  by faith in chapter 3. And then the glories of   the gospel unfold from chapter 3 20 all the way  to chapter 8 30. And in verses 28 to 30 which we   read earlier you have a summation of the glories  of our salvation. It's a secure salvation because   verse 28 says we know that God causes all things  to work together for good. If all things work   together for good, then nothing can work together  for bad. He causes all things to work together for   good to those who love God, to those who are  called according to his purpose. His purpose   and his call determine that everything's going to  work together for good. Then Paul looks at those   wonderfully familiar terms in verse 29. For those  whom he forneew, those whom he predetermined to   set his love upon. He predestined predestined to  what? To become conformed to the image of his son.   He didn't predestined them to justification.  He predestined them to glorification.

To conformity to Christ. This is his purpose  so that he Christ would be the proatocus,   the premier one among many brethren. And then Paul  says it another way. These whom he predestined,   he also called. And that is a lifegiving,  regenerating, irresistible divine call. And   those whom he called, he justified. No  one is called and not justified. And he   also justified those who were called so that  they could be glorified. That's the purpose   of God. To glorify those whom he called by  conforming them to the image of his son.   So what should we say to this? This is  breathtaking. Everything in our lives   is working toward the purpose of God, which  is our eternal glorification and conformity   to Christ likeness. Everything, nothing works  against that. Everything works for that because   that is what God purposed. that is determined by  his predetermination to love us, predestin us,   justify us. It all brings us to eternal glory.  Can this be true? Can such grace be a reality?  

Going back to the first verse in chapter 8, is  it really possible that there is no condemnation   for those who are in Christ Jesus? That we  will never be condemned. Is this really true? It introduces two hypothetical  questions. Number one, can God reject us? Can God become so weary  of us that he changes his mind? Can God say,   "I've had about all I can take out of you.  You're such a disappointment. You fall short so   often. You bring reproach on my name. You are an  embarrassment. You You are a problem to my church.   You don't honor my word as you should. You stumble  and fall into the same sinful patterns that you   were stumbling and falling into years ago. I'm  worn out picking you up and dusting you off.

I'm weary of the mixed messages you  send to the people who know you because   sometimes you act like a Christian and  sometimes you don't. Could God just say,   "I really can't take anymore. I'm  I'm cancelling your eternal life." Or the second question would be this. The  hypothetical possibility is that we reject   God. That we say, "Look, I've been hanging  in there as a Christian doing my part and I   don't really get the answers to my prayers  that I would like. Does Does marriage have   to be so difficult? Does my husband have  to be such a jerk? Do I have to struggle   at work? Do I have to fight the people  close to me that should love me but make   life difficult? And why all the illnesses and  the diseases? And I've prayed for a long time.

And I'm weary, God, of your failure to step in and make my life what I think it should  be. if you really loved me. So those are   the two hypothetical possibilities that God  gets tired of us and rejects us or we get   tired of him and reject him. God rejecting  us has a theological category, doesn't it?   Those who deny the security and perseverance of  the believer. And now there's a new theological   category of people who reject God. It's called  deconstruction or exeangelicals hashtag. Can either of these things happen? Can he  stop loving us? Can we stop loving him? Well,   the answers are in this section starting in  verse 31. And that's why the question is posed.   What then shall we say to these things? How do we  respond to the absolute character of salvation as   summed up in verses 28 to30? How do we respond  to that? That God had a purpose and the purpose   was to conform us to his son in eternal glory and  he takes every step in the process to make sure  

that it comes to pass. What should we say to these  things? And first Paul poses the question, can God   reject us? Back to verse 31. It's assumed. If God  is for us, who is against us? Can God find reason   to take away our salvation? Well, certainly not  based on verses 28 to 30 because whom he forneew,   he predestines, he calls, he justifies, and he  glorifies. Look at that first part of the second   half of verse 31. God is for us. The assumption  here is that God is for us. There are some people   in some forms of evangelicalism who thinks who  think God is against us. But listen to what   scripture says. Psalm 27 1:3. The Lord is my light  and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord   is the defense of my life. Whom shall I dread?  When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh,  

my adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled  and fell. Though a host encamp against me,   my heart will not fear. Though war arise  against me, in spite of this, I shall be   confident. Why? The Lord is my salvation. Listen  to Psalm 46. God is our refuge and strength,   a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we  will not fear. Though the earth should change,   and though the mountains slip into the heart  of the sea, though its waters roar and foam,   though the mountains quake at its swelling  pride, if everything starts to fall apart, God is going to be our refuge and our help. I love  this in Psalm 46:7. The Lord of hosts is with us.   Verse 11, the Lord of hosts is with us. Or Psalm  56:11, in God I have put my trust and I shall not   be afraid. What can man do to me? Or Psalm 84:  11-2. For the Lord God is a son and shield. The   Lord gives grace and glory. No good thing does he  withhold from those who walk uprightly. Oh Lord of  

hosts, how blessed is the man who trusts in you.  Psalm 118 verse 6, the Lord is for me. Isaiah 50   7-9. For the Lord God helps me. Therefore, I'm  not disgraced. Therefore, I've set my face like   flint. And I know that I'll not be ashamed. He who  vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me?   Let us stand up to each other. Who has a case  against me? Let him draw near to me. Behold,   the Lord God helps me. Who is he who condemns  me? The Lord is for us. All of this is saying   to the degree that Isaiah 54:17 familiarly  says, "No weapon that is formed against you   will prosper. No weapon." And every tongue that  accuses you in judgment, you will condemn. This   is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and  their vindication is from me, declares the Lord.   In the wonderful language of John 10:es 28-30,  I give eternal life to my sheep. They will never   perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.  My father who has given them to me is greater   than all and no one is able to snatch them out  of the father's hand. I and the father are one.

Summed up, God is for us. He knows how weak we  are. He knows how sinful we are. But he is for   us. And Paul's about to prove that. How do we  know that? Look at verse 32. He, meaning God,   who did not spare his own son, but delivered him  over for us all. How will he not also with him   freely give us all things? Amazing statement.  The greatest proof of God's promise to keep us   is what he sacrificed to get us. Amen. This is an  argument from the greater to the lesser. His love   is so strong that he gave his son for us. Will he  not do what is less than that to keep us? He can't   do more than to give your son to save us. We would  assume you would do less than to keep us. He gave   us the most, the best, and he has no capacity to  hold back the least. That's why the scripture says   you're blessed with all spiritual blessings in the  heavenlies in Christ. He gave you Christ. That was  

the big sacrifice. The rest follows. Back in the  fifth chapter of Romans, just by way of reminder, wonderful familiar text. Romans 5:6,  for while we were still helpless,   at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  We were helpless, we were ungodly. Verse eight   adds that we were sinners. Christ died for us.  If when we were helpless and ungodly and sinful,   Christ died for us. Then verse 9, much more  than having now been justified by his blood,   we shall be being saved from the wrath of  God through him. For while we were enemies,   we were reconciled. And if that is true  that God reconciled us to himself through   the death of his son, much more having been  reconciled, we shall be being saved by his life.

Much more. in verse 9, much more in verse 10,  much more in verse 15, much more in verse 17,   all the more in verse 20. And all of that  language there is to say that if he gave   you the greatest of all gifts, he would  follow that up with the lesser gifts.   This language draws me back to Genesis 22 where it  talks about a sacrifice. Let me just draw you back   for a minute. Genesis 22, a very familiar story.  And we don't need to go through the whole story, but verse 12, if I can get there, Abraham,  Abraham, verse 11, ready to offer Isaac,   took a knife to kill his son in verse  10. And in verse 12, Abraham says,   "Here am I." And the Lord says to him,"Do  not stretch out your hand against the lad   and do nothing to him. For now I know that you  fear God since you have not withheld your son,   your only son, from me." and verses 15 and 16.  Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a  

second time from heaven and said, "By myself I  have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have   done this thing and have not withheld your son,  your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you." The story of Jesus was different. Abraham had  only one son, one that was a true child of   the promise. In him, all the covenant  promises would be fulfilled. In him,   the nations would be blessed. Through him,  salvation would come and the Messiah would   come. And he was willing to offer him in  death. Isaac was spared by God by divine   intervention. Jesus was not. So the picture is  really contrast. The willingness of Abraham to   offer up Isaac provides only a faint analogy  of the father's ultimate self-sacrifice in   refusing to spare his son. Abraham was willing,  didn't have to do it. God was willing and did it.

Would he have spared his son if in the end he  would accomplish nothing for those for whom it   was said that he died? Would he have given his  son if he did not have the power to hold on to   the ones for whom his son died and whose sins  his son beared? Isaiah 53 bore rather Isaiah   53:10. It pleased the Lord to bruise him.  He put him to grief. He made him to be sin   for us. He put the curse on him. Galatians 3.  Delivered his son to damnation and abandonment. Who delivered Jesus to die? Not Judas  for money, and not Pilate for fear,   and not the Jews for envy, but the father for  love. The father for love. John Murray wrote,   "It is only as the ordeal of Gethsemane  and Calvary is viewed in the perspective of   damnation vicariously born, damnation executed  with the sanctions of unrelenting justice,   and damnation endured when the hosts of  darkness were released to wreak the utmost   of their vengeance. that we shall be able to  apprehend the wonder and taste the sweetness   of love that passes knowledge. Love eternally  to be explored but eternally inexhaustible.

He put damnation on his son to make us  his own when we were ungodly sinners.   You know they say never meet your heroes, but  meeting him personally had even greater impact   on me than the influence his pulpit ministry and  his writing ministry had had on me. God has been   kind to let me know some of my heroes. I had a  a blessed 30-year friendship with Pastor John.   John is what he looks like. John is real. He  is a real Christian. He is a real gentleman.   He was a much bigger man than even evident in  his in his pulpit ministry. What a delight to   be around that man. The gospel influence that  John had on us. We're profoundly indebted. There   wouldn't be an HB Charles Jr. without John  MacArthur. In so many ways he has touched   my life and ministry and shaped the man, the  Christian and the preacher that I have become.