Our ‘confidence’ in walking in the Spirit (3 points) vs. 29-39

• 1^st – Predestined… vs. 29-30
  • God chose us – ‘predestined’ – to decide before hand…
    • This can be a hard concept for us to comprehend – God chooses those who go to heaven
      • John 15:16 – “You did not choose Me, but I chose you…”
      • It does not seem fair to us that God chooses whom get’s to go to heaven…
      • When you got / or will get married – who chose the woman you married…
      • Would you’ve liked it if someone else made the choice – choosing you life mate
      • We want the freedom to choose whom to spend our lives with…
      • Does it not seem fair that God gets to choose whom He spends eternity with…
    • Who does God choose…
      • Whom He ‘foreknew’ – it turns out God knows who will choose Him…
      • God is eternal – that means He has no beginning or end – Revelation 1:8
      • It doesn’t mean God has an endless amount of time – it means God is outside of time!
      • God sees all of time – from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21 all at once!
      • Isaiah 46:10 – “Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done…”
      • If you knew a woman would say no if you asked her to marry you – would you ask…
      • If you knew a beautiful woman would say yes – would you not ask…
      • In a sense God ‘cheats’ – He knows every ones choice before they every make it…
      • Since God sees EVERYTHING – He knows exactly who will believe in/receive Jesus…
      • So He chooses those who He knows will choose Him!
    • What if you do not want to choose to believe in Jesus…
      • Then you are not one of those whom God has chosen to be saved – to go to heaven
      • You might say – ‘but I want to go to heaven’ – then choose to believe in Jesus
      • When you do you’ll find out you were one for those whom God had already chosen!
  • To be like Jesus…
    • To be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ…
      • When God choose us – He knew exactly what He was getting – He knows everything…
        • He choose us knowing all of our sin / weaknesses / faults / and failures…
        • I know how much of a challenge I can be – how many times I make mistakes…
        • I am always amazed – that God also knowing exactly who I am – still choose me!
        • God is not surprised by our mistakes – He choose us knowing we were sinners
      • God choose us – to change us – mold us into the image of Jesus Christ…
        • Ephesians 2:10 – “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
        • We are clay on God’s potter’s wheel – He desires to make us His masterpiece!
        • It is not something that happens in a moment – the very day we are saved…
        • It is a process of growing in Jesus – learning to become more like Him…
        • God does not want to us to stay the same after we are saved…
        • He desires for us to grow – following the example of Jesus – become like Jesus!
    • It is God who – Called – Justified – Glorified (Aorist/Active/Indicative)…
      • How do we grow in Jesus – how are we conformed in the image of Christ…
      • God does it – the same one who ‘called us’ / ‘justified’ us – took away our sin
      • He is also the one who ‘glorified’ us – made and is making us into the image of Jesus!
      • We can have complete ‘confidence’ in our walk with Jesus because…
      • God Choose us! God forgave us! And He will also conform us – to be like Jesus!
      • He’s the one who began a good work in our lives – and He will finish what He started!
      • Hebrews 12:2 – “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…”
        
• 2^nd – Who can be against us… vs.  31-34
  • Since God is for us – nothing can stand against us…
    • I can remember as a kid – when a bigger kid than you picked on you…
    • You would fall back on ‘my Dad is bigger than your Dad…’ – Dad was the protector!  
    • We have a ‘Dad’ who is bigger, tougher, stronger, and more powerful than anyone…
    • Who can come against us – who can pick on us – when our Father is God in Heaven!
  • ‘Sin’ does not count against us… vs. 32
    • If a man had already given you 1 million pesos – would he refuse to give you 100 pesos…
    • In Jesus – God showed His great love for us through the sacrifice of the cross…
      • God freely forgave us of all our sin – paid our penalty so we could have life…
      • If God offered up Jesus while we were still sinners – Romans 5:8
      • Now that we are sons what would He not be willing to forgive us for…
    • With Jesus – Charizomai – God freely gives us Grace to forgive – ALL THINGS
      • We might get the idea we are ‘pushing our luck’ when we fall into sin…
      • As though we are guilty – God accusing us of our mistakes – condemning our sin…
      • But as we saw in Romans 8:1 God now sees us as perfect – as though we had NO SIN!
      • Gave forgave us all sin – and He continues to forgive – ALL THINGS!
  • ‘No one’ can come against us… vs. 33-34
    • Men cannot make accusations against us – since it is God who justifies us…
      • People have a tendency to judge others – quick to notice other’s faults…
      • ‘You go to church – you believe in Jesus – and you do that…’
      • The world has the impression Christians are perfect – that only saints go to church…
      • The church is not for saints – it is a hospital for sinners…
      • You would not be surprised to see sick people in a hospital – nor sinners in a church!
      • Christians are not perfect – they are just forgiven – God justifies them…
      • If God – who’s THE judge of all men – has forgiven us – who has the right to accuse us…
    • Men cannot condemn us – Jesus is our ‘lawyer’ at God’s right hand defending us!
      • Picture a courtroom – you are on trial for you sins – God is the judge…
        • Satan is accusing you – Revelation 12:10 – wants to see you condemned to hell…
        • He has all the ‘evidence’ he needs – all your sins / your immoral thoughts…
        • But Jesus – our defender – comes to our rescue – He points out one simple fact…
        • All our sins were paid for in full on the cross – we are found not guilty!
      • If satan could not condemn us – how much less men…
        • If men do try and condemn us – they will find they are arguing against God…
        • It does not matter if the world says we are guilty – God says we are innocent!
        • We have total ‘confidence’ in our walk with Jesus – cause the judge of all men…
        • Has found us not guilty – we are justified – forgiven of all our sin!
      • The list of those who cannot condemn me – includes me…
        • One of the hardest ‘men’ to not listen to – is myself – I condemn myself…
        • Conviction is good – the work of God’s Spirit telling us not to sin – but repent…
        • Condemnation is bad – focusing on our failures – dwelling on our mistakes…
        • Disappointed – frustrated – that we cannot keep ourselves from sin
        • When we are focused on our mistakes – we are not looking to Jesus…
        • We are condemning ourselves – even though God says we are NOT guilty…
        • I John 3:20 – “For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart.”
        • If we are caught up in self loathing / pity over our sins and poor choices…
        • We just need to get our eyes off ourselves – and put them back onto Jesus!
          

God gives us His assurance – nothing and no one – could ever separate us from Him

3^rd – Nothing can separate us… vs. 35-39

Circumstances cannot separate us from Jesus… vs. 35-37

Tribulation / distress / persecution / famine /nakedness / peril / war…

There is no trial or hardship in life greater than God – that will separate us from God…

But there certainly can be those times when we ‘feel’ like God has left us…

When there is no food / no money / no job – when life seems to be falling apart 

When we are made fun of – when those we trust turn on us – we ask ‘where is God’…

Psalm 44:23 – “For Your sake we are killed all day long… sheep for the slaughter…”

But the trials of life are not keeping us from God – God allows those trials…

Perhaps to teach us to keep away from sin – to live a holy life…

If your child did something wrong – you would punish him for his ‘sin’…

You do not punish them in anger – but in love – to keep them from harm

But a stranger’s child did the same thing – you would do nothing… 

When we are ‘punished’ by the Lord – is proves we are His kids – Hebrews 12:5-6

God desires to teach us – His kids – how to live a pure and holy life!

Perhaps to teach us not to trust in ourselves…

If everything in life is going great – we tend to forget about the Lord…

It is in the hard times – when we are overwhelmed – we turn to the Lord for help

God will allow those ‘tough time’ so we learn the most important lesson…

Not to look to and depend on ourselves – but instead cling to Jesus!

The result – we are more than conquerors…

The hardships of life do not separate us from Jesus – on the contrary…

They are what draw us closer to Jesus – as close as we can get!

II Corinthians 12: – “My grace is sufficient… strength is made perfect in weakness.”

The closer we are to Jesus – the more we become convinced that…

NOTHING can separate us… vs. 38-39

Paul gives us a complete list of things that CANNOT separate us…

Death / Life …

Philippians 1:21 – “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” 

Death for the believer means entering into eternal life!

Angels / principalities / powers (the spiritual world – satan & his demons)…

I John 4:4 – “You belong to God, my dear children. You have already won… cause the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.”

No need to fear spirits – or the abundant superstitions we were raised with… 

Jesus is FAR greater than any power that might try and come against us

Present / future – nothing we can do today / nothing that will happen tomorrow…

We may not see tomorrow – or next week – or next year…

But God does – and He knows – and can assure us nothing can separate us…

Height / depth / or any created thing – in case anything was missed...

From the ‘agape’ of God – in Jesus Christ our Lord!

The ultimate reason we have for our ‘confidence’ in Jesus – is His LOVE for us