How do we know that we are right with God? How do we really know that we are saved from eternal separation from Him? He gives us assurance in His Word that if we will repent of our sin and believe that Jesus died and rose again for us, we will be saved. God is always faithful to His word. Every. Single. Time. We can always trust what He says. Once you accept His free gift, no one can take it away from you. Remain faithful to God, and He will never allow anything to come between He and you. Pray to come into His family today.
Questions of Assurance from Romans 8
Spiritual maturity is impossible for believers who have come to doubt their eternal salvation. Yet the lack of assurance is a common problem among Christians and those who call themselves Christians.
Doubts can originate from many sources. Perhaps the person who doubts was never really saved by believing in Jesus Christ alone. Or they could have been confused about the gospel. Sometimes persistent sin or difficult trials may cause people to doubt whether they are really Christians. Some personality types are prone to doubt their salvation because they are oriented toward introspection or emotional feelings. In any case, the lack of assurance is a sad and unnecessary hindrance to growing in grace, since assurance is the birthright of every Christian. John was able to say to his readers,
“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.”
(1 John 5:13).
In Romans 8 we find four questions that when asked and answered settle the assurance issue without a doubt. It is no surprise that these questions come in a book that mentions grace more than any other New
Testament book. Up to this point, Paul has shown that grace has justified,
“being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…
…to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
…Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.
… Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ
(Romans 3:24 and 26, 28 & 5:1)
and sanctified (made Holy) the believer.
“But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.” (Romans 6:22)
Now he shows how it secures the believer
“For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,”
”And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. “
(Romans 8:15-16and 28).
He explains that God has predestined all who are justified to be finally glorified, i.e. conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He predestined, these He also called;
whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. (Romans 8:29-30).
That in itself is a strong argument for assurance. However, the end of Romans 8 represents the mountaintop of this grace logic.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:
“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 8:32-39)
The four questions are themselves introduced by a rhetorical question, “What then shall we say to these things?” (8:31a). The truth Paul has discussed is so forceful and magnificent it demands a worthy response and conclusion. Here are the four questions presenting his conclusion:
1. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (8:31b)
This opening question challenges anyone who disbelieves Jesus Christ’s saving work. Of course, no one can oppose God’s end plan of glory for His people. Paul answers this first question with a rhetorical question: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (8:32). If God gave us His Son, why wouldn’t He give us everything else to ensure our glorification? Christians can be convinced they’re forever saved because no one can stop God’s purpose.
2. “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect?”
The second question sounds like it belongs in a trial. We are not guilty of any sin because God has made us right with Him. In the highest court, our judge, the most honorable, high, and holy God, found us not guilty and said we were righteous in His eyes. If God has already said this, then who can bring up the charges of crime that would bring us back before Him? God’s law doesn’t allow for double jeopardy There is no sin that Jesus Christ, our Lord, has not already paid for, so we can be sure that we will be saved forever.
“Who is he who condemns?”
The third question asks if there is anyone who can cast a verdict of “Guilty” against us. But if we were declared “Not guilty” in our justification, who can reverse God’s verdict? “It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” When Jesus said from the cross, “It is finished,” He was saying that our sin debt was paid in full by His death. He took the punishment for us. Then He arose from the dead, proving that God accepted that payment, so we are safe from future punishment. The word “intercession” is also from the courtroom. It refers to the work of a defense attorney or advocate. As our defense advocate, we can count on Jesus Christ to win our case. He now lives in the presence of God, at His right hand, pleading our case before the Father.
Therefore, He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. (Heb. 7:25)
His plea for us is based on the finished and sufficient work He did on the cross. As believers, we can be sure we are eternally saved because our sins, past, present, and future, remain paid for by Jesus Christ Himself.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”
Who can come between us in our relationship to God? What can interrupt His purpose to love us from the beginning of our salvation to its final destination? Paul’s answer is inclusive. He searches the physical universe and the spiritual realms to find anything that has the power to come between us and our Heavenly Father.
Hardships like “tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword” tempt us to think that since God allows these things, He must not love us. But there is no contradiction between God’s love for us and our suffering. Even forces as powerful and menacing as death, evil spirits, or the uncertainty of the future cannot cancel God’s love for us. And the phrase “any other created thing” even includes us! His conclusion is comprehensive: Absolutely nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” With such an assurance, we who have believed should never doubt that we will be with God forever.
Conclusion
Can anything interrupt God’s love for His children, which brings them to their final destiny of being glorified in the image of Christ? Paul answers, “No one, nothing, nowhere, no way!” Our eternal salvation rests in what Jesus
has done for us and God’s ensuing faithfulness and power. What God has promised, He will do. We can rest in the assurance of this salvation if we have received it as a gift from God through faith in Jesus Christ, our Savior. These four questions from Romans 8 keep us from looking subjectively at our feelings or our conduct. Instead, they keep us focused objectively on the person and work of Jesus Christ, the Anchor of our souls.
NKJV
1 John 5:13
Romans 3:24, 26, 28
Romans 5:1
Romans 6.22
Romans 8:15-16
Romans 8:28
Romans 8:29-30
Romans 8:32-39
Hebrews 7:25