It is necessary to highlight a few of the foundational verses in Romans chapter 8 before coming to the subject at hand.
“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.” Romans 8:29.
The first phrase means that God foreknew in eons past who would accept Jesus as their Savior. It does not say that He created them to accept or reject Him; that is up to the individual.
The second phrase means that those that God foreknew would accept Jesus as Savior are, “predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son”.
This means that God wants to look into the Christian’s eyes and see Jesus, and He will have this even if He has to drag his reluctant child kicking and scratching all the way.
Why does this seem so strange? Does not every family have a reputation, whether good or bad?
Would it surprise you to hear that the entire family in heaven loves and cares for each other? Indeed Jesus is “the firstborn of many brethren”.
“Moreover whom He predestined [to be conformed to the image of His Son], these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” Romans 8:30.
Why the necessity to call? The answer to that is given in Romans chapter 3.
“There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all gone out of the way; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.” Romans 3:10-12.
No one is left out of this statement, it encompasses all of us, both those who will accept God’s call and those who will reject Him, we all are, or were drowning in the same raging river of sewage.
This maelstrom of sin permeates, suffocates and soon drowns us. But Jesus is able to rescue.
“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name [Jesus] under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12.
Thus through the shed blood of Jesus Christ we can be cleansed of all sin (even as though we had never sinned); by this we are justified. And in this God also glorifies us.
I am sorry, I have trouble with this. How can I be glorified when all I brought to the table were my sins and this statement, “God I see that you are not a liar and so I believe that Jesus died for me just as you said and by accepting that I am cleansed of all sin”?
Do not get me wrong, every word of that verse is true. In fact let me show you how The Amplified New Testament reads.
“And those whom He thus foreordained He also called; and those whom He called He also justified – acquitted, made righteous, putting them into right standing with Himself. And those whom He justified He also glorified – raising them to a heavenly dignity and condition [state of being].” Romans 8:30, The Amplified New Testament, Zondervan Pub. House; THE LOCKMAN FOUNDATION-1958.
All glory goes to Christ and what He accomplished on the cross, it is His glory that we show forth. What will you do with this glory?
“And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some [who rejected Christ as savior] to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.” Daniel 12:2-3.
With this foundation I wish to speak to the lonely, the fearful, the dying, and any in despair. Having been justified at such a great cost, the death of God’s Son, and knowing we shall be glorified what should our response be?
“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?” Romans 8:31-32.
“Where are you?”
“Well sir, I am down in this hole.”
“Oh my, yes, I can almost see you. It is deep isn’t it?”
“Yes sir, it is and muddy on the bottom. I am up to my hips, and I think I am still sinking!”
“Hmm, yes, well I will go find someone who can help you. Jesus loves you!”
There are a few things wrong with this conversation. The first is that “Jesus loves you” becomes quite trite if the speaker does not show the love of Jesus to his hearers. The one in the hole can be a believer or an unbeliever as we shall see.
It is difficult to gossip and cuss like a drunken sailor in the office place and then to use those words. You have already lost your audience.
We are, “predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son”, it would be best to allow God to conform you, rather than be dragged to a place you are already predestined to go.
If you really want it the process can be quite simple. If you use profanity, the Holy Spirit taps you on the shoulder and says, “You should not use those words.” You respond by saying, “I see Lord, and help me not to use those words again.”
This does not work overnight, but it will work. God will also show you the really big things that need to be confessed and forsaken such as gossip, theft, attempting to seduce a co-worker, or drugs. You will have to let God take control of these things or face being dragged for a while.
This may also be why our friend mentioned earlier is in a hole to begin with.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9.
This verse does not mean that we can lose our salvation and go to hell for sins not confessed. It means that if the Christian wants to live a more peaceful life they need to confess any sin that they become aware of.
Our Christian said to the man in the hole earlier, “I will go find someone who can help you”; this is a mistake we all make. We think that our message is not good enough, so when we find someone to tell about Christ we ask them to our church or recommend a good televangelist’s broadcast or take them to a Bible study.
How often have they accepted your invitation? If you answered never or rarely, you are correct. That is why God had your paths cross. You are the evangelist!
This does not mean that you are to preach to them continually, it means that you give them the gospel when prudent, patiently answer any questions and then live it out before them.
The preacher has them for an hour then the world spends the next 167 hours a week wrecking them.
God delivered up His Son for us all, is it too much to ask us to live a holy life? Do you not see Jesus bloodied and hanging from a cross, alone and in darkness, and crying out,
“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning?” Psalm 22:1.
This was done for you whether you accept Him as savior or not. Many people mock Jesus today with their jokes, cartoons and comedy skits; they do this to their own peril.
Whatever you do, do not throw in your lot with them, even if you do not accept Jesus as Savior, it will be one less humiliation for you on judgment day.
But what does God’s word say?
“He [God] 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?” Romans 8:32.
These verses tell us that God is for us, and asks who can be against us, think of it, we have joined ourselves to the most powerful Being in all of creation, and even a nuclear force cannot be against us.
On top of that He gives us all things. You have to step back and see that the power of the blood of Christ is beyond imagination.
When you count the blessings you have already received and the many more promised here.
When you realize that every sin has been expunged, erased annulled, and blotted out.
When you realize that:
“No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me,” says the Lord.” Isaiah 54:17.
The Christian has the option of seeking to live a holy life and claiming these promises, or he can go on his merry way, living a life of error, for himself and gathering the few crumbs that fall from the Master’s table.
A lot of Christians gather these few pitiful crumbs, praise the Lord, and think that is all He is capable of. Such foolishness!
“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.” Romans 8:33-34.
Who can bring a charge against us, it is God that we have sinned against and it is Christ who died to cleanse us of sin and it is the very God we have sinned against who justifies us.
Where is the accuser? Sinful man has to put his hand over his mouth, how can he point at another? Satan though is the accuser of the brethren.
“Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, ‘Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser [Satan] of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.’” Revelation 12:10.
But it says this of Satan, and all of us:
“…that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:10-11.
“For it is written: ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’” Romans 14:11.
The question, “Who is he who condemns?” Romans 8:34 earlier is self explanatory, however there is an aspect of this that you should never forget; while there is no one who can condemn you before Christ, there is one who will condemn you to yourself, Satan.
As noted earlier, the Holy Spirit convicts us when we sin, He may say, “That was a lie.” we then respond by confessing our sin and forsaking it.
Unless repeated, that sin will not be brought up again. Satan and his demonic followers however will condemn you to yourself.
The next day Satan will whisper in your ear, “You lied yesterday, that was awful!”
Then later still he will whisper, “You lied to your friend. What a horrible thing to do!”
Still later, “Don’t you feel awful about lying to your friend? You are nothing but a liar!”
Then on your bed, “Liar, liar, liar, all the lies you have told to your mother, your teachers, and your wife, how she cried when…!”
So what do you think, the Holy Spirit condemning you continually will help form you into the image of Christ? Not so, Satan and his followers will condemn you to absolute frustration.
You must remember that the Holy Spirit convicts, the demons of hell condemn. Understand this and you will have greater peace of mind.
“For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.” Psalm 103:11-14.
To the Lonely, the Fearful, and the Dying, Part 1 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 9-13-15, updated on 8-2-19.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.