The Great Eight - Pt 43

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 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. (Romans 8:38-39 ESV).

We have reached the end of our series digging into “the Great Eight.” It is here, at the end of the chapter, that Paul adds one all-inclusive encouragement to make sure he hasn’t missed anything: "… nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (v. 39). For those who are worried they may have done too little or too much, depending on the behavior, rest easy. Your position is secure in Christ’s work on your behalf. We don’t need to focus on our power to hang on to God; He is hanging on to us. And, NOTHING can change that status. And that includes ourselves. There are those who say the elect can’t be snatched out of God’s hand (cf. John 10:29) but they can jump out. In other words, they say, you can be elect, born again, justified, and in the end perish. That is not what the Bible teaches. "Those whom he justified he glorified" – that is the radical assurance of the elect. The assurance is not that you can forsake the faith and live in sin and go to heaven. The assurance is: God keeps his elect from final apostasy and unbelief. The new covenant promise for all God’s people is this: "I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me" (Jeremiah 32:40). There may be many times when we stumble; we may wander far from the center of God’s perfect path for us; however, if you are his, you will be brought back. Trust him. So nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate God’s elect from him. The result is massive security for merciful service through many sufferings. John Calvin wrote that “faith is not simply the removal of all doubt or disturbance. Faith is not certainty. Saving faith has very little to do with the strength of our faith or our ability to conjure up mental images to remove all worries.” Calvin defines faith elsewhere in the Institutes as “a steady and certain knowledge of the divine benevolence towards us.” Faith is trusting that Christ will be faithful even in the times when we’re not faithful to Him. Faith is resting in the fact that God loves and enjoys us. Far too often I put faith in faith instead of faith in Christ. This leads to a loss of peace and to my thinking that something is wrong with me or that I’m not even saved, just because I have doubts and worries. Whatever your worries or concerns, trust in Christ. He’s got this!