Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded

by H. J. Vine.

Question. There is no legal effort in this new service, is there?

No, for we are “under grace.” All true service flows from that God in grace has justified us, and freed us from sin’s slavery; and now in liberty we become servants to the blessed Gad. Take an illustration: I remember a young typist whose last master was harsh and used bad language. She was very miserable. A new place was offered to her by a Christian. She left her old master, and gladly embraced her freedom from him to serve the new master, with whom she has prospered ever since. It is thus with the believer spiritually, but we must avoid legality, and yet be yielded wholly to God, in the sense of His grace, to pursue that which is pleasing in His sight. Fruit unto holiness is the result.

In the service of sin men contrariwise sink deeper and deeper into uncleanliness and lawlessness.

Question. There are two classes here, are there not?

There are those who are given up to evil: sin is their master. There are also the children of God who are servants of righteousness. They have got freedom from sin. The old master has no claim upon them now. The death of Christ has come in between them and sin. They are now free in the life of Christ raised from the dead to serve the new Master. Those who serve the old master receive his WAGES, “for the wages of sin is death” (Verse 33). But thanks be unto God “the GIFT” is ours, NOT THE WAGES OF SIN. The “gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Blessed be God for His over-abounding grace. May it be ours to “serve the Lord with gladness,” and not with sadness.

“May grace, free grace, inspire

Our souls with strength divine;

May every thought to God aspire,

And grace in service shine.”

5. Christian Liberty (Romans 7:1-8:15)

Liberty! Liberty! For this the new life in the believer cries out. The whole creation groans and longs for liberty; but the desire in the inward man of the believer is stronger than all. He desires liberty from all that hinders and holds him in bondage, that he may be free to do that which is pleasing to God. The fallen man wants freedom to please himself, to do his own will; the believer, to do God’s will. Now God who has called us by the gospel has called us to liberty. He has no pleasure in seeing any of His children entangled in a yoke of bondage, for we can only glorify Him, and serve in love, as we are in the enjoyment of the holy liberty of grace. The Galatians we exhorted to “stand fast … in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1). In Romans 8:15 we read; “Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption. Whereby we cry. Abba, Father.” These scriptures show that God’s thought for us is just that which the undelivered believer desires, but does not yet know the full blessedness of true liberty.

Question. Does the truth brought before us in the Scriptures read show us how the believer is delivered so as to be free and happy before God?

Yes. The Apostle begins (chap. 7:1) by telling us that he is speaking especially to those that knew law, primarily the Jew, though the majority of the Christian profession have put themselves under law also, and he afterwards describes the state of one struggling for freedom, who had not yet come to the happy day when he could say. “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death” (8:2).

Question. Was it the Apostle Paul himself who passed through this experience?

No doubt it was. He speaks of “I” and “me”; but he had come through it, and knew deliverance, of course, when he wrote these things down. He looks back upon and describes the experience he once had. Some think this should be a lifelong experience with a believer.

The fact is, it is not proper Christian experience at all, but it is the experience of one who is on the way to true Christian experience. Paul shows it was a past experience, for he says “when we were in the flesh” (Verse5); but in chapter 8:9 he says we are “not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.”

Question. Why is the illustration of the woman and her husband used in verses 2 and 3?

To show that the legal bond could only be broken by death. The woman could not be married to another till death gave her freedom from the law of the husband. She might desire to be free, but death alone could truly give her freedom.

At the beginning of this seventh chapter of Romans we have the two husbands; at the end of the sixth chapter the two masters. There is no difference in the principle by which we are delivered from the old husband or the old master. The way of deliverance from the law is the same as the way of deliverance from sin. The fact is, we all have to come to this, that the only door for deliverance is through the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the only way in which we can be maintained in holiness, fruitfulness, and happiness when delivered is by living to God as belonging to the One who has come out of death, raised from among the dead. We must, nevertheless, be careful not to fall into the snare of those who look for a perfection here which only belongs to heaven. “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

This chapter begins by saying that as long as a man lives law rules over him, therefore if the law rules over a man as long as he lives, it is clear that the only door out of it must be by death. The law says, “Cursed is every one that continues not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them” (Galatians 3:10), and he that offends “in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). Every one, therefore, is under the curse who is in an unconverted and unregenerate condition, the law rules over him. God, however, has provided a way of deliverance—Christ has borne the curse of the law, and believers have become free from the law by the body of Christ, and have liberty to take up that position before God, for they belong to Christ who now lives to God, having been raised from among the dead after having become, in His wonderful grace, a curse for them on the cross. We do well to ponder thankfully the wonderful words of verse 4. “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.”

We look back at His death, and we see the tie is broken. Truly the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives; but by Christ’s death we have become dead to the law. Many remember with deep thanksgiving, the time when they saw this truth of being “free from the law,” for the first time, after, with the mass of Christendom, having wrongly put themselves under it.

Question. But verse 6 reads “that being dead!” Does it not mean the law was ended at the cross?

No, the marginal reading is more correct—“being dead to that.” The law is right and of God, and therefore did not need to be ended. We, however, have became dead to it, and thus freed from its righteous condemnation by the death of Christ. When we were in the flesh, as we see in verse 5, our passions which were by the law wrought in us; but now (Verse 6) we can “serve in newness of spirit.” In chapter 6:4 it is “walk in newness of life.” Also in chapter 6 it is freedom by death from the dominion of sin; in the seventh chapter it is also freedom by death, but from the dominion of the law.

The law demanded love from man, but man failed utterly to answer to the demand, therefore the law cursed man. Christ came in and took our place that He might redeem us from the curse of the law; now we belong to Him in liberty and life, for He has come out from under the curse of the law. Having completely met its demands, He has been raised from the dead, and we are now His in the most intimate way. God would have us to understand this, so that in freedom we may delight in the Lord.

“No curse of law, in Him is sovereign grace,

And now what glory in His unveiled face.”

When Moses inaugurated the law—“the ministration of death”—he had to put a veil over his face. The Israelites could not look at him because of the glory that shone there. It is contrariwise with us, for we have liberty and ability, by the Spirit, to behold the surpassing glory of a greater than Moses, and there is no veil on the face of Christ. We are now connected with that which excels in glory. The Lord Jesus has become our new Object, and as this is so we become more like Him every day. We are not to be thinking—How are we getting on? We are to be learning how precious and glorious Christ is, and in that way we become changed without being self-occupied—“changed … from glory to glory”—and there is fruit to God consequently.

Question. What you were saying as to the law being right is proved in the seventh verse, is it not?

Clearly, and in the verses following too. The first question asked in the seventh chapter is, “What shalt we say then? Is the law sin?” The answer is, “God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.”

The Jews evidently blamed Paul for setting aside the law, but he was not doing that. Instead of there being anything wrong with the law, it was the very thing that gave him to know the wrong in himself—his sinfulness. When the commandment was brought home to him he discovered the wrong desires within him. When the Word comes to the soul in this way, in spiritual power, it manifests the evil within. There is no true progress till we find out experimentally how really bad we are. The sixth chapter is practical, this is experimental. Coveting is an inward thing, and the word “Thou shalt not covet” exposed its presence. In the sixth chapter the question is raised as to being “in sin;” in the seventh as to “sin in me.” The believer is “in Christ,” not “in sin,” but sin is still in him.

The law gives a conscience as to sin within us, but it cannot deliver. The Apostle shows, on the other hand, In verses 8-11, that sin gets a point of attack by the law and throws the soul into all sorts of trouble and distress which it never knew before. Sin is entirely to blame not the law of God, for it is holy, and “the commandment holy, and just, and good” (Verse 12). Paul is careful to emphasize that.

Notice the second question in the chapter, in the thirteenth verse, “Was then that which is good made death unto me?” Now mark the reply. “God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.” The soul now says, as it were, “The law is all right but I am all wrong.” It is a healthful and necessary lesson to learn.

What a mercy it is that God knew all about us before He took us up! At the cross we see God’s hatred of sin—every true believer learns that. But here all is experimental, and we learn best in the presence of God. Instead of this discovery discouraging the believer, it drives him more to God about that which he hates as God also does. To learn the exceeding sinfulness of sin is very profitable.

Question. If a soul has learned to hate sin, is it not a proof that there is a work of God in him?

It is on account of a work of God in the soul that hatred of sin according to God is produced, though much inward conflict is known at the same time, as we read in verses 15-17, “For that which I do I allow not: for what I would that do I not; but what I hate, that I do. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me.”

Another has pointed out that here he is like a man struggling to get out of a morass, but as he lifts one leg the other sinks deeper in. We must, however carefully notice how in the midst of all this the soul learns; if he hates the thing which he does, then he concludes it is not himself at all. He can now distinguish himself from sin. He says, rightly, “It is no more I …but sin that dwells in me.” Some people are afraid of this chapter because they think it leads to licence. That could never be. We seek to shun sin when there is a work of God in us. It causes all our anguish and distress. God brings the believer to a holy hatred of sin. It is a spiritual work. The unregenerate man knows nothing about this, and where there is mere profession the important conclusions of this chapter are passed over or evaded. The upright soul faces it all. One reason why this chapter is so often returned to is because its conclusions are not thoroughly reached by many.

Look now at the eighteenth verse. Here a further lesson is learned, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwells no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.”

Some say, “There is much that is bad in me,” but we must come to this, “There is NO GOOD in me,” that is, in the flesh. We never enjoy real deliverance until we learn that. Our full joy is to be in the Father and the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit, but that could not be as long as we expect to find good in the flesh. When we have experienced that in the flesh good does not dwell we are than to be done with it

Question. Does it mean that as a Christian there is no good in me whatever?

No, that would be a serious mistake to make. This is what the undelivered soul learns experimentally—there is no good in the flesh. We are, however, “not in the flesh, but in the Spirit,” as we read in chapter 8. Christ is in the believer and the Holy Spirit dwells in him; again, “he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him.” The flesh, however, remains unaltered—good does not dwell there. New desires after what is of God are found in the soul in the seventh of Romans, but he finds he is powerless to carry out what he would. He falls into what he would not and notice again he concludes, “It is NO LONGER I, but sin that dwells in me.” He would do good, but evil is present with him (Verses 19-21). He HATES SIN, he has NEW DESIRES, he has found there is NO GOOD in the flesh, and that he has NO POWER to practise the good he would. And mark what he next recognizes—he has NEW DELIGHTS, and AN INWARD MAN.

“I delight in the law of God after the inward man.” Amidst all this struggling an inward delight is discovered in what is of God. The only person that has got this “inward man” is the believer, and he accordingly delights in the wonderful law of God. Another once said, “O how I love Thy law.” Men often talk of feeding the inner man when they really mean the outer man which perishes.

Question. What are the two laws spoken of in verse 23?

One is the law or principle which delights in that which is of God, the other is the principle of sin within, which causes all the trouble, and makes the soul cry out for deliverance when it has learned it cannot deliver itself. “O wretched man that I am! WHO shall deliver me from the body of this death?” It is often a great relief to those passing through this experience to find in the Bible another describing how he passed through the same thing.

He has reached here a step beyond “no good in me,” also beyond “no power in me”—he is utterly wretched! He had got where we all must come to—to see that there is no help in self at all. But one little word is enough—“WHO?” He has had enough of “I,” “I,” “I,” and “Me,” “Me,” “Me”, He is done with self, and he cries “WHO?”

He looks away from himself and his inward struggles altogether, to seek deliverance outside of himself. The answer is immediately found. God’s way is always “through Jesus Christ our Lord”—deliverance is there. Like a man struggling in the water to save himself, and who is the more blinded to what is about him by the very earnestness of his efforts, but finding at last that he is powerless to save himself, he gives up the struggle, and looking up for deliverance he finds a lifebuoy close at hand. So here when self-efforts are given up and the question is asked, “WHO shall deliver?” God’s way is seen, and the soul says, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

It is important to see that if deliverance could be reached by our own efforts our last estate would be worse than the first, for we should be self-satisfied; but having learned our utter good-for-nothingness, how precious the Lord Jesus becomes to our hearts, for there is nothing but good in Him. God’s way of deliverance is through Him, and He becomes the blessed Object of our hearts and minds now instead of self, and we serve in newness of spirit.

Deliverance is maintained thus; but if we get down we never need to ask again, “WHO shall deliver?” for we already know. Justification is once and for ever. Deliverance is to be maintained, though there is a time when the soul enters upon it. Full deliverance will be when the Lord comes. We shall then be taken right out of this sinful world.

Question. You said that the flesh remains unchanged. Is that what is meant at the close of verse 25?

That shows I may have learned God’s way of deliverance, and with the mind “I myself” serve God’s law, yet the flesh when allowed to act will do nothing but serve sin’s law. That is an abiding principle. In the early verses of chapter 8 it is shown clearly that believers are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. The mind of the flesh is death; on the other hand, the mind of the Spirit is life and peace. What a contrast!

The Holy Spirit is here, and that means life, joy, and peace for us. When Christ comes again He will quicken our mortal bodies (raising the dead and changing the living), and meanwhile as we walk after the Spirit, who keeps Christ before us, we fulfil the requirement of the law without being under the law; whereas those who are under it are under its condemnation. The believer is redeemed from that once and for all. The law cannot condemn him, as we have seen.

Question. Is that the “no condemnation” of verse 1?

Well, there it is no condemnation whatever. It includes what you refer to, but the truth is that the Lord Jesus Christ, who bore all our condemnation on the cross, is raised again from the dead, and no condemnation of any sort can now apply to Him. How could there? Then there can be none for those who are in Him. “There is therefore now NO CONDEMNATION to them which are in Christ Jesus.” The rest of the verse is in its right place at the end of verse 4. It is clearly out of place in verse 1. No qualifying clause is needed.

We have seen that the law, though good in itse1f could not produce good in man who is bad in himself. It was “weak through the flesh” (chap. 8:3). God then sent His Son as a sacrifice for sin, and sin In the flesh met its full condemnation when He who knew no sin was made sin for us. It has been completely condemned at the cross. Believers are now to walk alter the Spirit, not after the flesh. Freedom is theirs so to do, and they are in the Spirit, not in the flesh.

There is a new principle of life in Christ Jesus which has given us freedom from the old principle of sin and death which once held us fast. Each believer individually speaks for himself, as in verse 2. “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made ME FREE from the law of sin and death.” The truth of “In Christ” is of great importance. Salvation is in Him, also redemption and eternal life. We are to take account of ourselves as alive to God in Christ Jesus. The love of God is in Him, and we are to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus There is not only no condemnation there, but also a new creation. We should know one another in Him, and not in sects or parties. Our ways should be in Him. Paul said of his bonds even that they were “in Christ.” Our blessings are in Him, our present acceptance also. We are enriched in Himself, in whom we have obtained an inheritance of which the Holy Spirit is the earnest.

Question. Have all Christians received the spirit of adoption spoken of in verse 15?

The proof that it is so is heard in the way they address God. The youngest babe in His family knows the Father and cries, “ABBA, FATHER.” You would not have heard Abraham thus address God, nor Moses either; he knew Him as “Jehovah;” but He is known to us now as “FATHER,” and we so address Him. Bondage is gone. The Spirit which is ours is not a spirit of bondage again for fear. Adoption is ours, with all the wonderful family rights, dignities, and privileges—yea, the very “spirit of adoption” too. What blessed liberty is thus ours In the presence of OUR GOD AND FATHER! All fear gone! There is no more condemnation! Perfect love has cast out all fear! We are His children! We now address God Himself as FATHER. What a blessed and marvellous exchange from the miserable self-occupation and wretched bondage of which we have spoken! How can we praise Him enough who has brought it to pass through our Lord Jesus Christ by His precious truth in the power of the Holy Spirit?

6. The Hope (Romans 8:15-30)

God’s children are passing through this world of sin and suffering, sorrow and death, to His home in glory. They are unknown by the world around, as we read in 1 John 3:1-2, “Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God therefore the world knows US NOT, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the children of God.” As such they are unknown, though they are known well enough in other respects, and should be such in conduct as to be esteemed by those that are without, but the secret of their family relationship is not known to the world. They are like a royal family hastening through a hostile country where those who meet them know not their origin. Thus the family of God are passing through this world. All around them are the children of the devil and the children of the flesh; and if it were not for the providential ordering of God they would soon be got rid of; but in this very world they have also the present consciousness of the Father’s love and the blessed hope of soon seeing and being like the Saviour for ever. ALL believers are the children of God, and heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. There is but ONE FAMILY, though many believers do not understand this great fact, and so are not governed by it.

Whilst pressing forward to the glory of God, we have not a spirit of bondage, for the Spirit that is given to us of God is a spirit of adoption. Under law there was bondage, but we have received a spirit of adoption, so that in liberty and love we address God as Father. The spirit of bondage which characterizes some today is not of God. Holy reverence is another matter, and will not be lacking where God is truly known.

Nobody under law called God “Father.” The most pious in Israel would not have thought of looking up to God and calling Him “Father,” as we do today. But now God has wrought in such wise to bring us into His presence in perfect liberty, in the relationship of children, His perfect love having cast out all fear.

Question. Is there a definite moment when a person becomes a child of God?

Yes. When one, hearing the gospel, believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as his own personal Saviour, he then becomes one of the family of God.

Question. We are also spoken of as sons of God. How do we become sons, and is there any difference in the expressions?

Galatians 3:26 tells us—“by faith in Christ Jesus.” Children are viewed in connection with love and birth. John always speaks of “children.” Sonship is connected with glory and dignity and position. Paul speaks more of that. “Children” are “begotten” in John; “sons” are by “adoption” in Paul. Doubtless sons are children, and children are sons; but we must learn the meaning of these different expressions in Scripture if we are to walk intelligently and acceptably before God our Father.

Question. Can we break that relationship into which we have been put?

Never—because we are begotten of God. You cannot alter your birth, even if you would. The believer has had two births, a natural one and a spiritual one. He was born after the flesh first, and then be was born after the Spirit. The Spirit that is given him is a spirit of adoption. You remember Pharaoh’s daughter adopted Moses—an Israelite adopted into the royal family of Egypt! She could not, however, put into Moses a spirit of adoption, therefore when he became a man he broke it all off. Now, God not only adopted us in His rich grace as His sons, with all the rights, dignity, and glory connected therewith, as the royal family of heaven, but He gave us the very “spirit of adoption,” so that we are vitally (not only positionally) linked up with His Son our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Spirit of God’s Son is sent forth into our hearts, whereby we cry “Abba. Father” (Galatians 4:6). What grace! What love!

Question. In what position does an unconverted man stand before God?

He stands before God as a guilty sinner. They that are in the flesh cannot please God. Until they have come to the Lord Jesus Christ and accepted Him as their own personal Saviour, they are exposed to the judgment of God, for all have sinned and come short of His glory.

Question. Why are believers called “heirs” here?

Because we have not yet entered upon the inheritance. We are living in this world as heirs of God and Christ’s joint heirs, and we are going on to possess with Him the inheritance which is His by right, and ours with Him according to the eternal purpose and grace of God. The knowledge of this will greatly affect our walk and ways. These are the “things to come” that the Holy Spirit brings before us. Is the hope of sharing the glory with Christ burning bright within our hearts? Faith is the substantiating of things hoped for. It fills the heart with great joy to think that for the everlasting pleasure of our blessed God we are going to be with and like the One who bled and died for us on Calvary’s cross.

Scripture points on constantly and consistently to that time, and hope has a wonderful effect in moving and purifying us. We need to see to it that we be not moved away from the hope of the gospel.

The children of God suffer with Christ now in that we are still waiting for the inheritance, as it says in the seventeenth verse, “If so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.”

But while we suffer with Him, we may be filled with all joy and peace in believing, while we abound in through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Question. Why are the creatures mentioned in this connection?

They likewise long for the time when they shall be set free from the bondage of corruption and share the coming glorious liberty. They anxiously look on for the revelation of the sons of God. The creatures will not exactly share the glory, but the “liberty of the glory of the children of God.” Instinctively they long for that time. Believers are to look on to it intelligently, a communion with God, understanding what He is doing. The Old Testament greatly helps us as to the earthly side of the glory, and also as figurative of the heavenly.

Turn to Isaiah 11:6-9, “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed, their young ones shall lie down together and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain for THE EARTH SHALL BE FULL OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE LORD, AS THE WATERS COVER THE SEA.”

The Lord will take the dominion (Psalm 8) as well as the kingdom. The earth will then be filled with joy, peace, and righteousness, and the knowledge and glory of the Lord shall flow over the earth, and He shall reign supreme, KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS. Instead of the present groaning, the world will then be vocal with the praises of the blessed Lord. What a glorious display it will be of the triumph of good over evil in the very place where He suffered and was crucified! He will then bring in publicly the “powers of the world to come,” which He used when here in humiliation in a limited way. They will obtain generally then. It is sad to see earnest Christians, every now and then, turned aside from growing in the knowledge of God to try to obtain these “powers of the coming age” now. They were seen when the Lord and the apostles were here, but they belong properly to the age to come. Satan urges professing Christians on to imitate them in so called faith-healing” and “tongues.” It should be remembered that these “powers” witnessed to the presence and power of the Messiah, but He has been rejected, and meanwhile, until He returns in power and glory, the church, His body and bride, is being formed by the Holy Spirit. When these “powers” are public we shall be in heavenly glory with Christ, over the earth, not on it, and all the blessing for the earth will flow from Christ Jesus. “Nearer and nearer draws the time, the time that shall surely be, When the earth shall be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.”

Question. We are told that in that day everything will be put under man instead of angels. How does it come about?

Jacob saw a ladder set up on earth reaching to heaven, with the angels of God ascending and descending upon. it. The Lord Jesus came into the world of the seed of Abraham and of the seed of David. He should have been received by His people, but He was rejected by Israel. He then took the place of the Son of Man. He suffered and died, and set up the ladder on earth through His wonderful work on the cross which reached to heaven. The Lord as Son of Man takes the place of Jacob’s ladder, and hereafter it shall be seen as He said “The angels of God ascending and descending [not descending and ascending] on the Son of Man.” God will have earth and heaven in beautiful and blessed communion, but this will be by the Son of Man, not exactly Son of David. Son of Man is His wider title, it takes in the vast universal dominion, when His name shall be excellent in all the earth (Psalm 8). The administration will then be directly under man, not angels.

Question. Do not believers groan also as they await that day, not only the creature?

Yes; read verses 22 and 23. “For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now. And not only they, but we ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit.”

There is the groaning of the whole creation, and we who by the Spirit are linked with the new creation groan also, as still having a link with the old creation by our bodies. But we groan in communion with God as we look around today and see and feel the ruin that has come in through sin.

But even now we are SAVED in hope (rightly translated it is not “by” hope, but in hope), and that hope is given to cheer the hearts of those who know that heaven is their everlasting home. The hope is called the anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, which enters into that within the veil, where the Lord Jesus has entered in before us. There is no doubt as to it. He is there, and all is therefore secure. It is a “sure and certain hope.”

In 1 Timothy 1:1 we read of “Christ Jesus our hope” (New Translation). We need to watch. Many are giving up the hope. Christ Jesus is our hope. There is a great deal connected with that, but we really have no hope apart from Himself. HE HIMSELF IS OUR HOPE.

“O bright and blessed hope, when shall it be

That we His face long loved revealed shall see,

O when without a cloud His features trace,

Whose faithful love so long we’ve known in grace.”

Patience and prayer also characterize the children of God as they go on to the full result in glory of God’s purpose, when we shall see Him as the Firstborn among the many brethren (Verses 25-28). We hope and expect in patience We pray; but often “we do not know what to pray for as we ought.” But the Spirit makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. He joins His help to our weaknesses and intercedes for us according to God. Mark the cheering and beautiful contrast the Spirit here gives us, “We do not know what to pray for as we ought … BUT we do know that all things work together for good to them that love God.”

We are called according to His purpose, which will soon be fulfilled, and even now everything in the world today is working together for the good of those who have been called by the gospel. God has a definite purpose before Him, and He is working all things in accordance with that purpose, and nothing in the universe can hinder Him from carrying it out to its glorious completion. He works all things according to the counsel of His own will, that we should be to the praise of His glory.

Question. Are “purpose” and “predestination” the same?

No. “Predestination” is according to “purpose,” but it is a distinct thing. “Foreknowledge” also is distinct.

“Whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

We were called according to purpose, and as foreknown of God. He has predestinated us to be like His Son, but mark, it is that HE might be pre-eminent—the Firstborn in that happy circle in heavenly glory—“FIRSTBORN AMONG MANY BRETHREN.”

The purpose of God centres in His beloved Son.

Then is added, “Whom He did predestinate, them He also called [that is the effectual call of God in the gospel]. And whom He called, them He also justified, and whom He justified, them He also glorified.” It is to be noticed it does not say “sanctified,” for the glory is looked on to here in this section of Scripture as still future.

Question. It has been said that we are already glorified. Is there any ground for saying that?

No. It seems that some must have extreme and dangerous things to keep them going, or they get down and dull. The sober truth is not enough for them We are certainly not actually glorified yet: we are in bodies of humiliation.

In the mind of God everything is seen in its blessed completeness, according to His wonderful purpose of love, as here stated in verse 30, and we shall know it soon in its perfectness actually in the glory with His beloved Son. It is ours to realize by faith as we hasten on to the day of its full and final display. It is a golden chain designed in grace, beauty, and perfection, embracing the past, present, and future! Every link is formed by divine love!

“Predestinated”—“called”—“justified”—“glorified!”

It is one chain, and, thank God, not one precious link can be broken, for each and all alike are of Himself entirely, formed for our blessing and for His own good pleasure. To Him be the praise and glory, now and throughout the coming ages. Amen.

7. God For Us (Romans 8:31-39)

It is important to let the fact that God is for us get firmly hold of us. He is for the believer in every way, never against him. The love of God for us is brought out most strikingly in these wonderful words: “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” How can we then question as believers God’s love for us? Has He not fully proved His love by giving the very best that love could give to make us His own for ever? What good thing will He withhold from us now?

Notice carefully the two words “with Him” in the verse quoted. Some seem as if they would like to have the “all things” without Him, but God gives His saints all things freely “with” His Son. God has shown the great love He has for us, now at the present time, by what He did in the past, when He gave His own Son for us.

Question. But does not the question, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” refer to His calling, justifying, and glorifying us?

It does, and also to His predestination mentioned in earlier verses, but His love was before and behind and in it all, and the section ends by saying that nothing shall separate us from the love of God. We are the children of God, a heavenly family, travelling through the world to the glory where Christ is, and everything that is for our benefit by the way God will grant us “WITH HIM.” God is for us! He never fails His own GOD IS LOVE.

Question. The effect of recognizing that would be that we should walk with God, would it not?

It would. Abraham was not only the object of God’s constant care, but he walked with God. God truly looked after Enoch, but Enoch walked with God. God looked after Lot, and saw that he was not destroyed in the fiery judgment of the wicked, but Lot did not walk with God. Caleb and Joshua knew that God was for them, and so walked with Him in this thought for all Israel.

There is a great deal involved in walking with God today. He is working for the glory of His Son. The blessed God loves His Son. “The Father’s full delight is centred in the Son,” and that is where He would have our hearts to find their only centre. Questions are often raised as to whom the Lord is with. He never forsakes one of His own! The great question is—Who is walking with Him? God did not leave Jacob, but Abraham walked with God!

Question. Are there not several important questions raised in these verses and answered in a way to show how entirely God is for the believer?

Yes, look at verse 33, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?” It might be said that we are like those who were with David during his time of suffering in the cave of Adullam; they were a distressed and troubled lot, but David virtually said, “They belong to me.” We belong to the Son of God, and here God says, as it were, “Now you belong to Me, who is going to lay anything to your charge?” God Himself raises this question, and then goes on immediately to say, “It is God that justifies.” He has cleared us from every charge that could be brought against us on account of our guilt, and He has done it righteously and in such wise as to set us in His presence perfectly clear of all charge, just as though we had never sinned at all. No accusation can be brought against us. God has justified us. Election is with God, that is His side. Our side is that we came to Him in our need as poor sinners and obtained salvation. Then, belonging to the assembly of God, which is taken up according to God’s eternal purpose, we are in the circle of God’s election. We can only learn these things inside by the Holy Spirit.

Question. What is meant by making our election sure?

That is a very important exhortation in 2 Peter 1:10. Whilst it shows that we are elect, yet it lays upon us the responsibility to be diligent as regards the knowledge of the Saviour—to have virtue in our faith, and knowledge in our virtue, etc. We must not rest satisfied simply with being justified and saved, but pursue that which is pleasing to God, since we are HIS by His own calling and election. Thus it is made sure to ourselves consciously.

Some are often perplexed and troubled as to whether they are of the elect even after they have received the gospel which says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” God’s salvation is according to His purpose (2 Timothy 1:9). We must remember that the verse in 2 Peter 1 does not tell us to make the “calling and election” ours, for it is God who elects and calls We make it sure by being diligent.

Question. What about the next question—“Who is he that condemns?”

How can those be condemned for whom Christ died and rose again? As the Scripture goes on to show, “It is Christ that died,” but He has not only died for us, He has been raised again for our justification. The first thing for us is His death, the second is His resurrection, and the third is His exaltation to the place of power at the right hand of God, where He is making intercession for us. God is for us! Christ is for us! The Spirit is for us (Verse 26)! Who can be against us?

Question, is there not a difference between supplication, prayer, and intercession?

Yes. Intercession involves intimacy, and in the place of intimacy on high the blessed Lord intercedes for us. In verse 26 we have the intercession of the Holy Spirit for us down here. In verse 34 we have the intercession of Christ for us up there. How well cared for are those who love God. We have supplication, prayer, and intercession in Scripture. They are put together in Timothy 2:1, but they are all distinct, and it is only one on terms of intimacy that can intercede properly. The saints are invited to be intercessors. Oh that we rose to our privilege!

It is like a second conversion when we wake up to the fact that the Saviour, who loves us and died for us on the cross, is a real living Man at the right hand of God, still serving us. He ever lives to make intercession for us. He is our High Priest before God and our Advocate with the Father. There is the finished work which He accomplished on the cross, and the unfinished work which He is carrying out for us now in the glory, it is the soul that rests on the first that enjoys the good of the second.

Question. Does the next question refer to difficulties in the path of testimony—as we pass through these—“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”

Yes, they are outward trials. But if His love for us has taken Him into death; if His love for us is unchanged in resurrection; if His love for us keeps Him serving us at the right hand of God day by day, who can separate us from that love?

The trials are here sevenfold: “Tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword.” Amid all these things (not by being taken out of them) the faithful believer can say, “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.”

Alexander the Great was a conqueror, but a man who is only a conqueror is not a very happy man, he gets joy for a time, but he is only a conqueror, no more.

If we have not this outward persecution today, in the same way, we should not therefore be careless, for we have to meet the wiles of Satan. We need still to abide in the love of Christ, and be prayerful and watchful.

Question. As to the seven things just mentioned they are more outward, but the next are unseen, are they not?

Yes, the ten things mentioned in verse 38 have that character. They cannot separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. The seven were as to the love of Christ: these are as to the love of God. The Apostle says, “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 creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Notice particularly that it is “the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Some try to put this love of God in the providential circle. It is in a Person, who is now at God’s right hand, who has redeemed us by His blood.

The first thing mentioned is “death,” but the love of God took Christ there for us. Where was that love expressed?—“God commends His love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us”. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Then death cannot separate us from His love, for Christ has been into death for us.

Question. Is not this Paul’s persuasion? He says, “I am persuaded.”

Yes; but it is about us all, for he says nothing shall separate “us”—not “me.” It takes all in The next thing is “life.” Life cannot separate, for Christ Jesus our Lord is now in life and God’s love is in Him. Nor “angels, nor principalities, nor powers”—none of these things can separate us, for Christ is exalted above and over all—“nor things present, nor things to come, nor height”—“for the love of God in Christ is in the height nor depth”—Christ has been into the depths. Whichever way you look, there is not a single thing that exists now, or ever shall, that can separate us from the love of God. Look into death—God’s love has been there! Look at life—God’s love is there! Look at all the vast range of angels, principalities, and powers—the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord is above all! Look at the present things, look at the future things, look up into the height, look down into the depth, the love of God is beyond, above, and has been in Christ beneath all! Look at any other creature, if there is another anywhere to be found—still the Word says, “Nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord!”

Question. That is good persuasion to have, is it not?

Yes, the very best. This chapter begins with “no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, and ends with no separation from the love of God in Christ Jesus (we are in Him and the love is in Him): and in the middle of the chapter “all things work together for good.” GOD IS FOR US.

This ends our reading for this session. Until next time, have a great day, and God bless.