God Gives Us Assurance - March 8th, 2026

If you have your Bibles, turn to Romans chapter 8. And while you're turning to Romans chapter 8, I'm gonna see if I can get it on the screen here. Let's see here. I pressed it once there, Abraham. There we go. Romans chapter 8. I want to talk about God gives us assurance. And we talked about that in the catechism this morning, the assurance we have of our salvation. Now, I'm 77, and when I was seven years old, I trusted Christ as my Savior. So it's been 70 years, and I'm still not what I would hope to be or what I long to be in being like him. But as a seven-year-old, uh, it was August 3rd, uh 1954 or so that I that I trusted Christ as my savior, and 1955, excuse me, and at that seven years of age, um, it was my my brother's birthday.

So his birthday became my spiritual birthday. And the pastor came over to our house. He asked, he asked us if we'd ever trusted Christ, we'd ever invited Christ into our lives, if we ever, and you know what I said to him? I said, Oh, I was so excited, you know, here a little seven-year-old. I I said, I was so excited. Yeah, I do that every night, because my parents would come up and pray with us in our bedroom, and then we would sing a little chorus. Maybe you've heard it. Uh, into my heart, into my heart, come into my heart, Lord Jesus. Come in today, come in to stay. Anyone know that one? Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. And so I said, Yeah, I I do it every night. And he says, Well, uh, you don't, you don't have to do it every night.

And he went through the you know, the plan of salvation, and then shared with me that to as many as received him, to them gave you the power to become the sons of God. John 1, 12. And I invited Christ into my life. And you know, from that point on, there was there was there were some speed bumps. You ever had any of those? And you know what? Uh, as I sinned as a small seven-year-old, an eight-year-old, a nine-year-old, and sixty-nine-year-old and seventy, no, you know, as you sin as a small child, you know what I begin to think? Maybe I'm not saved. You know, I maybe I need to get saved again. You know, and before you know it, I was uh I was feeling like I needed to go. We had you know altar calls at our church, and I would go forward, and I, you know, and I would you know let's make sure on this.

I want you today to see that God gives us assurance based on his word, so that when you trust him as Lord and Savior, he saves you, and if he saves you, he keeps you. So uh let me say it this way. I'll see if I can advance this. Everyone feels the Lord at some point in their life, right? Everybody. Let me just let me just throw out four people that have failed the Lord in their lives. I'm gonna, Abraham. I mean, he's the father of faith, isn't he? And he lied about his wife, not once, but twice. You got it? I'll use theirs, their clicker. He lied about the Lord twice in his life. In Genesis chapter 12, and again in Genesis chapter 20. And you know what happens in chapter 15?

In chapter 15, it says, and Abraham believed God, and God counted it for righteousness. So he lied about his wife. I don't know about you, but my wife wouldn't be happy if I said to her, Hey, why don't you tell them you're my sister? You know. What are you ashamed that I'm your wife? What is that? You know, and Abraham goes, and you know, here's the here's the deal. When when we uh go in a court, we swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, right? The whole truth. Well, Abraham told a partial truth. Because his dad and Sarah's dad were the same. Their moms were different. So she was his half-sister. And he was afraid that they were going to kill him if she told the truth.

Hey, I'm his wife. So she lied about it. And then, oh, he had that glorious uh statement of faith. He believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness in chapter 15. And then chapter 20, he's lying again about it. So Abraham has a problem with that. How about David? David committed adultery. He wrote a lot of the Psalms, but he committed adultery. Let me ask you this. If you were without a pastor, and David applied to be your pastor, would you want to come have him come on as your senior pastor? He committed adultery, and then he arranged for her husband to be killed, Uriah. And now he's going to apply to be the pastor of your church. You say, I don't think so. You know, but could God forgive him?

Yes. And when David prayed in Psalm uh 51, he said, Restore to me. Do you know what the next word? The joy of thy salvation. He didn't say, Restore to me my salvation. Did you catch the difference there? He'd always had salvation. But he'd lost the joy. But every one of us fails the Lord at some point in our life. Abraham failed the Lord, David failed the Lord. Let me just click here again. There we go. Peter denied the Lord. Here he is. Someone who had been with the Lord for three years. And turned around and denied the Lord. You'd have thought, based on like a Hebrew 6 or a wrong interpretation of it, that it would be impossible to restore him to repentance. If Hebrews 6 were about salvation in that sense.

You ever felt that way? I want you to leave here today based on the word of God with the understanding that if you have trusted Christ as your Savior, if you have invited him into your life, if you've repented of your sins and said, I want you to be the Lord of my life, that he said, I'm never going to leave you. I'm never going to forsake you. John MacArthur would uh have some Sunday nights where he would take questions and answers. And uh this is one of those question and answer times. If I can thank you for uh answering my questions. My name is Joy. Hi Joey. And that's uh answer to prayer to be here. So here they are. Three real quick questions. A little complicated. How do I know if I am saved, if I have blasphemous thoughts?

Should I be taking communion if I am not sure if I'm saved? If I am not chosen, would I even care about being saved? Good questions, Joy. I won't give you his answers, okay. God in his omniscience knows every believer has struggled at one point with the feeling of not being saved. I want you to leave here today, having the assurance of your salvation if you've trusted Christ as your Savior. Got that? Let me uh illustrate it this way. Someone has said in the past that this circle kind of represents your life, and in every person's life, there's a throne, and the question is who's on that throne in your life? Usually it's you. See it there, and where's Christ? Well, Christ uh is outside.

This is this is an unsaved person. Christ has never been invited into their life, they're on the throne of their life, they're in charge. We understand. It's an unsaved person. But there came a point in your life where you invited Christ in, and you got off the throne, and Christ is on the throne, he's the Lord of your life, and this is the spirit-filled life. Somebody that says, I want to be filled with the Spirit, I want to have love and joy and peace and patience and the fruit of the Spirit. But there's there's another person that scripture talks about.

I want you in my life. Oh, Lord, be the Lord of my life. And then as time goes on, what do we do? Sometimes we we get back up on the throne of our uh of our lives, and it becomes this carnal Christian. It's this way in in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 1. I want to put a King James version on and then another version, but here's what it says. And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as babes, but babes what? In Christ. Did you catch that? I can't write unto you as spiritual people, but you're still in Christ. You're you're acting like babies. And what do we what do we expect? What do we want to see in a person that trusts Christ as their savior? We want them to stop acting like babies.

Quit being a baby. Time to grow up, to be spiritually mature. I couldn't write unto you as unto uh spiritual, but it's under carnal, even as babes in Christ. He goes on in verse 2 with these words. I have fed you with milk, not with meat, because babies, what do they eat? What do they have milk? I've I fed you with milk, not with meat, and hitherto you you were not able to bear it, neither yet now are you able. For ye are yet carnal. For whereas there is among you, oh, let me back. Can you back out there? Yeah, whereas among you envying and strife and division. Does that sound like a uh a person that is submitted to the Lordship of Christ? Not at all. But what did he say just the verse before?

Their babes in Christ. Because see, not everybody just grows up overnight. When you're born physically, it takes you years to grow up. Praise God that some of you, when you trusted Christ, you grew quickly. But it takes time. Do you understand that? And God is, and this is where Pastor Peter is working with you in terms of memorizing scripture. Because it's the word that's going to make you strong. Wherewithal shall, Psalm 119, verse 9, wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word. Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. So as you memorize God's word and he puts you on that path, man, here's where you are. But let me take you to the same passage in the Christian standard Bible.

For my part, brothers and sisters, I was not able to speak to you as spiritual people, but as people of what? People of the flesh, as babes in Christ.

Since you were not yet ready for it. In fact, you are still not ready because you are still what? Who is he writing here? He's writing the church at Corinth. To the saints at Corinth. People who were still acting like babies. Do you know what he says later on? And I haven't, I don't have it on the screen, but later on he says, you know, sometime you're going to be tested. God's going to test the work you've done. And it's going to be tested by fire. And some's going to be gold and silver and precious stones. And some's gonna, some are gonna have wood, hay, and stubble. And it's gonna just burn up. The works that you've done are just gonna burn up because you've done them in the flesh. You've done them in carnality.

But you know what he says? It's gonna be like wood, hay, and stubble, but he's saved. Did you hear that? Because once Christ comes into your life, he wants to mature you in Christ. But when you take a step and go the wrong way, like Peter did, and like Thomas did, and like Abraham did, and like David did. Does God still go after you? Yes, because he said, I'm never gonna leave you. I'm never gonna forsake you. Let me even illustrate it this way. Um in Hebrews 13 5. Here's what Christ said. And it wasn't he said, He said. It wasn't he said, he himself has said.

Okay. I'll just give them quickly to you, and then we'll go back and look at them. The first question is this if God is for us, who can be against us? How will God not give us all things? The third question is, who will bring any charge against us? The fourth question is, who can separate us from the love of Christ? These are four questions from Romans chapter 8. But let me uh first say that God wants you to know you're saved. And then 1 John 5, he says it this way. And this is the testimony. God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his son. The one who has the Son has life. The one who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God.

So that. And I always love it when God's word says, by the way, here's why I'm writing you. So that and then he's going to tell you why. So that what you may know you have eternal life.

I love it when Jehovah's Witness or Mormons come by my house. Because it's a great opportunity to witness. I know that, hey, God has sent them my way. And I have a chance to share the Lord with them. I was where I live, it gets really hot in the summertime. Two Jehovah's Witnesses came to my house. I'm out mowing the lawn. I used to take Mondays off as a pastor. So I'm out mowing my lawn. It's 95 degrees. It's really hot. And I'm I'm on it. And these two came by. And so I stopped everything. I thought, I love heat. I can take the heat. You know, I'll I'll just stand here and I'll keep them from wasting other people's time with a false gospel. I'll just, I'll just, I'll just continue to share the Lord with them.

So they came by. And I'm asking them questions, like, you know, if I follow, well, what do I have to do to go to heaven? Well, you have to do the works of Jehovah. Well, right away. I mean, you know, not by works of righteousness, which we have done. So, you know, it's in their Bible as well. So I'm I'm listening to them, and I said, Well, if if I follow your way, will I know I'm going to heaven? And now I got them into a debate. Because one of them says, No, you can't know. And the other one says, Yeah, you you can know. So now they're really, they're really in consternation. And I've had them for about an hour so far. So it's really warm. They're sweating bullets. I said, Hey, hold on a second.

I said, I'm really interested in spiritual things. I said, hold on a second. And I go in my house, and I get their Bible. The Jehovah's Witness Bible. That just happens to be in my shelf. And I bring it out. And I said, now they're going, you know, because they're Jehovah's Witness, and I've got their Bible. They said something, there's a problem coming. I think I can see it now. So I said, I ask you if I followed your way, would I go to heaven? Would I have eternal life? And you're basically saying you can't know that. And so I said, let me show you the first John 5 in their Bible. And it says, these things are written so that you might know you have eternal life. So I said, I tell you what, today, you know, I'm not, I don't want to argue with you.

I said, here's what I want to do. I want to leave you with a question. I hope that question will haunt you until you get it decided based on God's word. The question is this. If your Bible says you can know you have eternal life, why don't you know you have eternal life? And I just left that with them. Just so that they could. Here's their Bible. Here's what God's Word says, and that Christ is the only way. And I told them that. But why did he write it? So that I could know I have eternal life. That's what I want you to know today. If you've trusted Christ as your Savior, based on God's word, that you can know your eternal life. This is Romans 8, verses 28 to 31. It's just the background of this whole passage that we're looking at.

Obviously, you could take Pastor Peter could take five or six weeks on this passage. Okay. And it's because it's it's so rich. But here's the passage. Look at the focus on this passage. Um there we go. He foreknew, he predestined, he also called, he also justified, he also glorified. Can I have you look at each one of those things? Each one of those things, those statements are past tense. They've already happened.

That's before you knew anything about it. He called you, he justified. Not he's going to justify you, he's going to glorify you. And he has glorified you. You know when glorification takes place in heaven. He when I see him, I'm going to be like him. For I'll see him like he is. And what is Romans 8 say?

Why? If you trust him, if you respond to all that and you trust him as your Savior, it's already a done deal. He's already raised you. Let me give you the full passage here. Here's Romans 8, 28 to 37. I know it's tiny. Only only the young people, brother. You know, you and I, you know, we we try to read it, but so here's here's what I want you to see. He's gonna give you seven questions that are pretty simple. Uh, the the first one, what then shall we say to these things? And then he goes on. The second thing, the second question is if God is for us, who's against us? The third question is, how will he not also with Christ grant us everything? The fourth question is who can bring an accusation against God's elect?

The fifth question, who is the one who condemns? The sixth question, who can separate us from the love of Christ? The sixth the seventh question, can affliction or distress or peril or yeah, he goes through all that. He has seven questions that he's gonna lay out. Like I said, you could this passage is so rich, it could take forever. But what I'm wanting you to get out of it today is the assurance of our salvation based on God's word. And I want these questions to lead us to that point. Let me highlight, starting with uh who can condemn us. Let's just advance the slide. Uh, who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

Ah, no. In all these things, we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. So nothing can separate us from that love of Christ. Let me continue on here and say it this way. God in his love assures us of our salvation. And the four questions, let me give you the first one on the screen. It says this if God is for us, who can be against us? Let me even give it to you this way. Romans 8, 28 to 30. We know, and you know verse 28. People love Romans 8, 28. And we know that all things work together for good to those that love God. You know, and we he kind of claim that, and it's gonna be, oh, everything's gonna, yeah, it is true. It doesn't mean he's not gonna give us difficult times, but all things are gonna work together for good to them of God, to the to who are called according to his purpose.

For those he for knew he also predestined uh to be conformed to the image of his son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters, and those, let's raise that up, and those he predestined, he also called, and those he called, he also justified, and those he justified, he also glorified. Do you get that? What he is saying is, by the way, this is past tense, remember? He also glorified you. This is let me even put it this way. This is a done deal in God's mind. Do you understand that from scripture? He's already said, look, I predestined you, I've justified you, I've I've called you, I've justified you, and I've also glorified you. Because he who has begun a good work in you, Philippians 1, 6, he who has begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Christ Jesus.

If he started that work and you got saved, he's gonna continue to perform that until he comes. What are we to say about these things? If God is for us, I'm gonna slide that down. If God is for us, who is against us. Look at that top line. What are we to say? Let me highlight in yellow here. What then are these things? What are what are we to say to these things? What are these things? Let me drop this in and say, He foreknew you, he predestined you, he called you, he justified you, he glorified you.

But let me eliminate that for a second and raise this up. Now let me let me uh circle this little word if let me wade into the weeds, okay? Rather than just giving you a cursory view of this text and say this. The if is a Greek particle, it is used with the indicative to express a condition of fact. See, we often use the word if uh, you know, if if I graduate from college, if I graduate from high school, I'm gonna do this job. Or if I win the lottery, man, I'm gonna have all sorts of money.

It's uh if I if I win, you know, I'm gonna do that. But when the Bible uses it here with the indicative to express a done deal, here's the case. If God is for us, we use a new word. In English, we say because or since. And we would say it like this, because God is for us, who can be against us? Or we use it in this sense. Since God is with us, who can be against us? Do you understand that? It is a certainty, not a if if it doesn't rain today, we'll have a picnic. That's just a conditional kind of thing. This is wow, it's a statement of fact. Let me uh show you this picture. You recognize anybody in that picture? I'm in there. I I'm in there someplace, you know, in the audience.

No, no. That's that's me. In high school, we won the state championship. And what was interesting, you know. Let me let me show you the picture of the team. This is our team. I'm number 24 in the middle there. Let me tell you this way. Because I'm using this question. If God is for us, who can be against us? Right? So let me just illustrate it this way. I was playing. This is a picture of me and my next door neighbor. His name is Fred Fortune. He just passed away. Fred was uh he was born the same day I was. He was born at six in the morning. I was born at 6:30 in the morning. He got a half-hour jump on me, you know. He got that height.

We were at we were having a basketball game against uh a town in western New York State, a city called Forestville, you know, before the game, you come out and you saw the audience there, you know, and you do the warm-up, and you have your warm-up suit on, and you're you're doing layups, and you're you know, you're trying to get it get the jitters out, is what you're really trying to do. But and and uh Fred, number 50, like in the warm-up times, uh our people would be cheering him on in the audience because he would go up and stuff the ball, you know. Me, I I was lucky to get the net, you know. But you know, I was I was uh five five feet nothing, you know, and and Fred was really tall. At that game, the the captains were to go out to the center and and with the referee and meet the captains of the other team.

The refs called us out to the center. I I went out, Fred wasn't quite ready. So I go out to the center to meet the other two captains, and they introduced me to uh a guy by the name of Eric Hahn. Eric Hahn, and Eric was six feet five inches tall, and so here I am, five feet and nothing, you know, and and they they introduce me, and I I shake his hand, and I'm thinking, oh my we're in trouble tonight. Do you follow me there? I mean, I see this guy, I I'm gonna handle him. No, I'm not gonna handle him, but it all changed just like that. You know why? Because Fred showed up, and Fred was six, seven, and they introduced him, and I slid behind Fred, and I thought, we got you, buddy.

Why? Because he was bigger, he was taller, he was gonna guard him, not me. Right, and what is the same relationship with the Lord? Let me advance it this way and say, you are from God, little children, and you have conquered them because the one who is in you is greater than the one. Let me highlight that, is greater than the one who is in the world. Who's in you when you trust Christ? Who's in you? Christ is, and he's greater than the one that's in the world, and your salvation hinges on him, not on you. Let me even go back to John, John chapter 14, verse 30. I will not talk with you much longer, Jesus says, because the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over me.

Isn't that a wonderful thing to know? If Christ is in you, and he's greater than the one in the world, and Satan has no power over Christ, who's in you. Listen, your salvation hinges on him, not on the works you've done. Listen to me carefully. I don't, I am not raising any monument to mediocre Christians. I am not raising a monument to easy believism and anything against the Lordship of Christ. I want you to understand.

But you're going to fail at times. And when you do, he's still in charge. And your salvation hinges on his finished work on the cross. Listen to me carefully. Works cannot save you. Your works cannot save you. And your works, your works cannot keep you.

It's what he did on the cross. So let me let me just continue on here. God in his love assures us of salvation. And what's he gonna do? He's gonna give us uh four questions in this Romans passage. The first question is, if God is for us, and I probably should have just changed the word there and said, since God is for us, who can be against us? But I'm just taking it the way it's translated in the text. If God is for us. Secondly, how will God not give us all things? What is he saying about that? Let's go on to the text. Okay, Romans 8, 31 and 32. What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He did not even spare his own son, but offered him up for us all.

How will he not also with him? Grant us everything. I hate to say it to you this way because it sounds so bad. Audre and I have a son, and uh he today is uh over the LA Marathon's going through Beverly Hills, and he's a sergeant in Beverly Hills, and he's over the 128 officers that are handling the pass through Beverly Hills. Twenty-seven thousand people are running the LA Marathon today, and they're all you know passing through Beverly Hills. He's our son is uh 45. We have a son, we have a daughter. And you know something? We love them dearly, and we wouldn't let either one of them die for you. You know, not that I don't really like and love you guys, but I'm not gonna let my son die for you.

I'm not gonna give him up for you. But God, if God didn't hold withhold his son from us, why would he withhold something like salvation? He gave us the most important thing he could give. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. How shall he not with him, if he gave Christ? He said, here, you can have Christ. You can have my only son. And oh, by the way, here's this, this, this, and this. I'm gonna give you the joy of the Lord. I'm gonna give you peace, I'm gonna give you gentleness, I'm gonna give you self-control. I'm gonna give you everything that you need to live this Christian life. Let me go on from there and say it this way. How did God know Abraham loved and feared him?

Do you remember Genesis chapter 22? Abraham has how many sons at that point? One son. His name was Isaac. And God said, I want you to sacrifice your only son. I'm not sure I could do that. You know? God would have to give me the grace.

But what did he do? Then Abraham reached out. He had a son. He reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. He replied, here I am. Then he said, Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God. How do I know it? Since you have not withheld your only son from me. Listen to me. How do I know God loves me? He didn't withhold his only son. He said, I how will God not only with him give us all things? If I give you the most important thing, can I give you my car?

Can I give you, you know, other junk that I have? Yeah, if I want to give you the most impressive thing I have, God gave you the most precious thing he had, his son. Let me continue. What's he gonna say? Ah, you're saved. If you've trusted me, you're saved. I'm gonna keep you. What are the questions? Ah, here they are. First, if God is for us, who can be against us? These are just questions right out of Romans. Romans chapter 8. If God is for us, who can be against us? Secondly, how will God not give us all things? Let's not confuse this though with, oh, I'm gonna win the lottery. He's gonna give us all things. No, he promised to give you the things you need. The Lord is my shepherd. I'll have everything I need.

I shall not want.

There's a big difference between your wants and your needs. God's going to meet your needs. The third question. Who will bring any charge against us? We're saved people. Who's going to bring the charge against us? Here's what the text says. Who can bring an accusation against God's elect? God is the one who justifies just that highlight. Who can bring any accusation against God's elect? The text, now let me give you some more text on this. In Revelation chapter 20, chapter 12, excuse me, verse 10. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say, the salvation and the power in the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ has now come. Because, here it is, because the accuser of our brothers and sisters who accuses them before God day and night has been thrown down.

Who's he talking about here? Who wants to accuse us before God? Satan, constantly. But he's been thrown down. Who's going to bring any charge against us if the one that makes the charge to God himself about us gets thrown down? Hey, God is in you. And he gives you eternal life. And they shall never perish. And neither shall any man pluck them out of my hands. That's what we read in the catechism this morning. Let me go on to the Old Testament, Isaiah chapter 50. The one who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us confront each other. Who has a case against me? Let him come near to me. In truth, the Lord God will help me.

Who will condemn me? Listen to me. This is even Old Testament. Old Testament has a solid biblical base as well. He said, Who's going to condemn me? You know, God, the condemnation they want to give is like a garment and a moth that will devour them. That accusation means nothing to God. Because God is the one who is the attorney on our behalf. He's the advocate. We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

We're in the last part of it. But how's the first part start? Therefore, there is what? Now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. Do you catch that? Man. Are we fortunate and blessed? There's no condemnation. By the way, you know, I'll wait in here just a bit. I don't have time to really deal with it. The majority text, King James uses it here. The focus is on uh there's no condemnation to the door in Christ Jesus. And by the time you get to verse 4, it says, who who walk not after the flesh? You know, it makes it conditional. There's no condemnation as long as you don't walk according to the flesh. Listen, if there's condemnation if you walk according to the flesh, this verse isn't true.

There is now, therefore, no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. You can't have it both ways. Either there's no condemnation, or it's a conditional thing. And he say, look, that's why the text, you know, is at times there are people that want to insert you know some things into a text that aren't really the focus. There's no condemnation. Because Christ is our advocate. Let me go on. You do you know you're saved? You ever kind of want to get saved all over again because you're not sure? Listen, I want you to leave here today with the assurance based on God's word and the questions that lead us to the conclusion: greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Who, if he gave us his son, he'll give us all things.

What are the questions? Here they are. If God is for us, who can be against us? Secondly, how will God not give us all things? Thirdly, who will bring any charge against us? And lastly, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? The text says it this way. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Let me highlight that. And the answer to that question is this. No one can separate me from the love of Christ. And you know what, people? I mean, this is this is where church, this is where Christianity has gotten divided for years. You've got, you know, uh, a Calvinist and an Arminian. Okay. An Arminian believer would believe that you can lose your salvation. And a Calvinist says, wait a minute, God's word says, I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hands.

And you know what an Arminian would say at that point?

It would say, wait a minute, nobody can pluck you out of his hands, but you can leave his hands. What's God's word say? Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Well, no one is the answer. But aren't you included in that no one? No one. You can't unify born physically, you can't unborn yourself, can you? If you're physically born, you're born. If you're spiritually born, you're born. You have eternal life. If you, he says, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Okay.

Did he tell you the truth or did he lie about it? You will never perish. He doesn't go, wait a minute, I'm going to take that back. I I was wrong about you. You're not going to make it, you know. No, he doesn't do that. He said, right from the beginning, I have chosen you, I've elected you, I've called you, I've justified you, I've even glorified you. You're the done deal. So that you have the hope. Your salvation hinges on his finished work. When he said it is finished on the cross, he meant it is finished. Not only your salvation is provided, but he saw every person for all eternity.

Those people who are being saved. And he's giving you eternal life. So I want you to leave here, being able to say, okay, based on God's word, yeah, there are some scriptures that, oh, blessed are they that endure to the end, they will be saved. You know, I have to look at all of God's word and say, how does that verse apply to my eternal security and salvation? Let me go on. Love consists in this, not that we love God, but that God loved us and sent his son to be the atoning sacrifice for us. Do you understand that? Your salvation doesn't hinge on how you love God.

Let me read that again. Love consists in this. Not that we love God, but that he loved us. And that's why you we respond to him. Because man, if he loves me this much, why wouldn't I want to respond to that? Why wouldn't I want to give him after all he's done for me? You ever know this chorus? After all he's done for me. After all he's done for me. How can I do less than give him my best and live for him completely? After all he's done for me.

Look, he's done this. It's a finished deal.

Let me say it this way. Romans 8 28 starts out with, we know. Wow, we we know all things work together for good to them that love God. And because we know, and we had answers to all these questions, then we end this passage with, I am convinced, I am persuaded. We know, and because we know we can be persuaded that neither life nor death, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor any other, nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of Christ. Let me leave you with this question. Okay.