Confidence to Stand
Romans 8:28-31
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.
29 Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers;
30 and those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified; and those whom He justified, He also glorified.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
Romans 8:28-31 (LSB)
Well, the “these things” that Paul has been addressing are for those who have been called by God and have been (vs 29-30) predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son and will someday be glorified. And in (vs 28) the “called” have been guaranteed that all things will work together for good. And now Paul is going to ask the question: If God is for us, who can be against us?
Now, those of us who are somewhat competitive, we like that kind of statement. Who can stand against us? It is almost like an I dare you kind of statement. You know that statement you make when you sort of get mad. I remember when our boys were young, and I was trying to make sure they were all Blackhawk fans, and at the time, the Hawks were terrible. And so, when they would lose, especially when they would lose by a lot, I would often say, “Ooh, that team that beat us, they made us mad; they shouldn’t have done that. And the boys all thought things like, just wait until next time. But we like that kind of language: who can stand against us? I mean, as Team Red this year in 2-pitch, we were pretty much by the end of the year, who can stand against us? No one!
Now, that is a question or could even be considered a statement, by many regarding what we believe. For many have claimed God to be on their side. I mean, if God is on your side, who can stand against you? The U. S. penny says, “In God We Trust.” And in some ways, we might be tempted to say, “Boy, I wish Canada had that same rah! rah! patriotism and certainty in God.” Yet on the other hand it may be quite presumptuous to think that America in general trusts in God. It is interesting that the phrase first appeared on the American two-cent coin during the U. S. Civil War in the 1860s and became part of the one-cent coin in 1909.
Now, our passage says, “If God is for us, who is against us?” This certainly states that rah! rah! motto, who can be against us? But it also includes the condition “if,” as it says, “if” God is for us, who is against us? So, I believe we cannot presume that God is for us, for the statement merely says that “if” God is for us, who can be against us? In other words, the confident statement insinuating that no one could ever be against us is clarified by the word “if” which means that God must be on our side. So, what does the “if” qualify? As not every man and woman can say that God is for them, though most would think that if they had some thought or some belief in God. But the condition here is that the ones who have God on their side are clearly those who: one, love God; two, are called according to His purpose; and three, are being conformed into the image of His Son. So, we must be careful here that we do not jump at the “who can stand against us” before we are very certain about those who are on God’s side.
You know, there is a strong sense inside of likely most human beings that they are in the right and that they are on the right side. This shines forth in our battles in sports all the time, doesn’t it? Whenever a call is made by a referee against your team, you are inevitably thinking that it was the wrong call. I mean, most Leaf fans that I know are still complaining about the call made against them in 1993, thirty-three years ago! I couldn’t remember all the details, so I thought I would just ask Larry, and he went on to whine for the next twenty minutes about the bad call made by referee Kerry Fraser. Just kidding. It is true, I couldn’t remember all the details, so I just googled: famous call against the Toronto Maple Leafs. And instantly this came up: “The most famous call—or rather, missed call—against the Toronto Maple Leafs is referee Kerry Fraser’s failure to penalize Wayne Gretzky for a high-stick on [their beloved] Dougie Gilmour in Game 6 of the 1993 Campbell Conference Finals.” Thirty-three years ago! You would have to have a poor, dismal team to still be belly-aching about that call. We have some Leaf fans that play hockey with us on Friday nights who were born in the nineties, and they complain about the call, as this historical heresy has been taught to them by their Dads!
But we hold to our guns, don’t we, as most often when something goes wrong at work, we usually hold to our side. In a marriage issue, we hold to our opinion. When we fail on a test at school, students, it was the teacher’s fault. We certainly tend to defend our side and hold to our guns. And to go along with that, if we can convince ourselves that God is for us, of course, that makes our argument even stronger.
So, how do we determine from the Bible that God is for us? In other words, what is the clear evidence that God is on our side? And God must be on our side if we can have the confidence that all things will work out for our good. In fact, it is likely the lack of faith that God is on our side that causes us to fret and worry about much of life and also limits our confidence in being able to do all that we have been gifted and called by God to do. In other words, if we were completely confident that God was on our side. R. C. Sproul said, “It is one thing to believe in God; it is quite another to believe God.” In other words, if we believed God, who could ever stand against us? True, we may somewhat frown on this kind of militant thinking: who can stand against us? But this is God’s Word that obviously wants those who love God, those who are called, and those who are being conformed into the image of His Son, God wants them to live with this kind of confidence.
Cambridge Dictionary defines confidence as “a belief in yourself and your abilities, or a firm trust in someone or something.” And of course, using the word confidence here is referring to confidence, not in ourselves, but a confidence in Someone, in God. And this is certainly a biblical concept. Psalm 78:7, “They have set their confidence in God.” Proverbs 3:26, “For the Lord is your confidence.” Acts 4:13, it says that the people observed the confidence of Peter and John. Acts 4:29, the servants of Christ speak with confidence. And we see the implication that this is confidence not in self, but in God, as Paul said in Philippians 3:3, that he places no confidence in the flesh. But 2 Corinthians 1:9, “in the God who raises from the dead.” Second Corinthians 3:4, “and such confidence we have through Christ.” You know, if Satan can steal our confidence as believers, we become so ineffective. Not arrogance, not rudeness, but a sincere confidence in God. The writer of Hebrews speaks a lot about confidence as well. Hebrews 3:6, he said, “Hold fast to our confidence and the boast of our hope.” Hebrews 4:16, speaking about prayer, he said to draw near with confidence to the throne of grace. And in Hebrews 10:35 he wrote,
“Therefore, do not throw away that confidence of yours, which has a great reward.”
Hebrews 10:35 (LSB)
This is becoming one of the hardest character qualities I would suggest of Christians today. One, it would seem that some Christians come across as arrogant and therefore are very disliked, often to their own discredit. But man, is there a need today for Christians to be lovingly confident in God? Even when most around them may be either opposed to Christianity or rather indifferent to Christianity. Yet we seem to have allowed our smaller minority to affect our confidence. Tough for a Christian student to be the only Christian in a class, or maybe just two Christians in a class. Tough to be confident when no one around you is saying the same things or holding to the same faith. And we might think that being confident at home is easier, but our decisions and actions often display how unconfident we are in God. I mean, if a Dad is constantly worried about finances or the government or the future, this does not instill a great deal of confidence in his wife or children. And we may say all the right things, but sometimes our actions can betray us. And Moms who might worry and fret do little to instill in their children that God is good and that we can be very confident in Him. So, confidence in God is a massive character quality that demonstrates to others that God will be our strength, especially when things are tough. Hard to have a stronger statement in the power and greatness of God than the famous words of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they said:
“If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to save us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will save us out of your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods, and we will not worship the golden image that you have set up.”
Daniel 3:17-18 (LSB)
Boy, that’s a good one. Man, we need to live that as husbands and Dads, and not just in words or during the Bible study, but in actions. Why? Because we are completely confident in God. Because if God is for us, who can be against us? So, this morning, I want to ask the obvious question: How can I have full confidence in God? And as I thought of that question from our passage, for me to have full confidence in God, I must be certain that God is for me. So, I tweaked the question to: How can I be certain that God is for me so that I can have full confidence in Him? And the reason we must consider this question this way is that true biblical confidence is dependent upon God being for us. So, the first thing I notice is this:
- The Loving Action of God Toward Me
The Bible reinforces at every turn the great love of God. We have four verses before us this morning, and look how, in four short verses, the love of God is expressed: He works all things for our good; He foreknew us before creation; He is making us into conformity with His Son; and He has justified us, and He will glorify us. So, we must know that God was for us before the world began. And then to realize that God gave His Son for us. And not merely sent His Son to earth, but allowed His Son to be crucified, as the Father placed upon His own Son His wrath for our sin. And this was while we were enemies of God. This is not because we loved Him. No, this was because He loved us. Charles Spurgeon wrote:
“He is for us, let me say, with all the infinity of his heart, with all the omnipotence of his love; for us with all his boundless wisdom; arrayed in all the attributes which make him God he is for us—eternally and immutably for us … Here, child of God, is matter enough for thought, even though [you have had] ages to meditate upon it: God is for [you]; and if God be for [you], who can be against [you]?”
Charles Spurgeon
This is not a God who merely spoke to communicate His love. But God showed His love by His actions. We could say that talk is cheap, but God has acted in proving His love for us. And when we consider this great love of God, it would seem that we need to be reminded that no one loves us as God loves us. This is why Jesus warned at times to beware of them, understanding that we cannot expect the world to embrace what we embrace. In other words, no one is going to sympathize with our faith who does not love God. And we will never be in the majority, for the side we have chosen is the narrow gate; it is not the wide gate. So, there will never be some kind of glorious celebration outside of our Christian circles. We cannot expect the news guy or the politician to applaud Christianity. So, we do not necessarily even need to look for that. That someone important praises God. That may be great, but our confidence cannot be dependent upon that. Student, it would be great when you find another Christian in the classroom, or if you find out that your teacher is a believer, that’s wonderful. But do not make your confidence in God dependent upon that. Listen, God must be your foundation, whether anyone else agrees with you or not. But is that not okay? For God is on our side. In other words, if you were the only Christian on earth, it’s okay if God is on your side.
And I am not a protester, as we have been commanded in the Bible to be at peace with all men wherever possible. We have been commanded to be obedient to government where possible. But the fact that the world would be opposed to Christ should not steal our confidence, nor should a movement one way or the other give us any more encouragement of victory. Christianity will never be judged by numbers, but the Christian will be judged whether he was faithful or not. For God is already on our side. What more do we need? For God has already guaranteed our victory. God has already guaranteed that all things will be for our ultimate good. Now, you might think that is all well and good, if God is for me. But how do I know that for sure? How do I know that God is for me? How do I know that when I stand before Him someday, He will not be against me? Well, not only the loving action of God toward me, but:
- The Reality of My Love for God
The reality of my love for God. That’s a tough statement. But it is a statement we need to consider. It is something that we need to contemplate. Because Paul has said that all things work together for good for those who love God, which would obviously include God being for us. And I chose the word “reality” of my love for God because it does not mean a “perfect” love for God, as perfection is not something we can attain this side of eternity or this side of our glorification. But reality means that love for God is very evident in the heart of the one who claims to be a Christian. When Jesus was recommissioning Peter for ministry, Jesus kept saying to Him, “Peter, do you love Me? Mark, do you love Me?” And this is not only in actions, for many can do actions without love. The guys that Christ said at the judgment, depart, I never knew you. And they said, “Lord, Lord, did we not do this and that?” But it is more than actions. For there must be a reality to our love for God. A reality that is exposed if we are honest and willing to examine our own hearts.
And our obedience is not the essence of our loving. Jesus said, “If you love Me, then keep My commandments.” Our obedience to Christ, and we could say all things working for good, are conditional on the reality of our love for Him. In other words, our obedience and our good are fruits of our love. So that all the good we do and all the good that happens to us stems from a heart that rejoices in who God is, so that, if you love Me, you will keep my commandments. Keeping of the commandments is not the focus. For acts can be superficial and can be hypocritical if their source does not come from love. Do you know what I am saying here? Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will. “ I do not love God so that all things will work out for my good. I do not love God so that I can go to heaven. I do not love God so that I do not go to hell. No, I love God for all He is. And we do not love God for His gifts to us. This is the difference between coming to Christ because you want heaven, versus a genuine love for God, that you are just amazed at God! In other words, I want heaven. Why? So that I will be with the One I love, Christ!
And the danger of loving God for what He gives is that when things are a struggle and God is testing me. We may be tempted to start measuring God’s love by our circumstances. If Joseph measured God’s love by what happened to him, he would have concluded for much of his life that God did not love Him. And we can do many things. We can do ministry. We can attend church. We can do our Bible reading. We can check off our spiritual to-do list. We can do all these things, all the while we really love watching TV, or we love our hobbies, or we love to eat. And God will often cause difficulties so that we grow spiritually. And the difficulties that God brings to His children are because He loves His children. Therefore, we cannot doubt God’s love when times are tough, as it is often in times in life when our experiences are painful. And yet these are times when we most often grow in our walk with God. If God allowed us to go on and be attracted to earthly things, one, this would be unloving by God; and two, our love for God would soon grow cold. Peter spoke of the various trials we go through. Why? So that the genuineness of our faith would be proven. Trials so that the reality of our love for God is proven.
- The Love of God in Calling Me
Verse 28, “All things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose.” Two things must be true for things to be for good. One, that we would love God; and two, that we would be called according to His purpose. And John Piper asks the question, “Why these two qualifications and not just loving God or loving God and trusting God?” Piper said that if Paul taught that all things work together for good only if you love God. He said it would seem to make a massive, sweeping, majestic, heavy, seemingly unbelievable promise stand on very flimsy ground. And he said, “Namely me!” As in our humanness, we can be a fickle crowd. Our hearts can be weak and often too emotional in a wrong sense. And Piper said, “Lord, are you going to place this massive promise dependent upon me?” He said it would be like counting on a marshmallow to hold up a massive weight. Paul reminds the Christian that this promise is based upon our calling by God. For we could never be good enough or faithful enough to make this promise stick. So, Paul adds that this is true of those who are called.
And so, we could ask the question, “Why did Paul not just say that the good was for those whom God called, period?” Why did he add that they were to love God? Well, this has to do with our confidence. For if God merely did a work in my life without giving me a great love for Him, there would be zero assurance that I have been truly called. Do you understand that? Why do you love God? Why would you give your life for God? Why do you spend hours every day thinking about God and desiring to be with God in eternity? When your neighbour does not. When the guy you work with gives little thought and no real love for God, why? Well, that is a confirmation to the true believer that we have been called by God. For this is why you passionately love Him. Because if He had never called you, you would never love this way. So, your love is an authentication to you of your calling. Which brings us to our last point.
- The Love of God in Transforming Me
“Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son.”
Romans 8:29a (LSB)
God’s love desires to change us into the image of Christ. And to properly understand this transformation, we must think of ourselves more in terms of being called, but we do not. If someone asks us about our faith, we most often respond with “I’m a Christian, I’m a believer, I’m saved.” But we do not use the term “I’m called” very often, do we? But Paul uses it all the time. And I am not sure why this is true, and I know that I do not use it. If someone asked me about my faith, rarely would I say to them, I have been called by God. Yet, if we were not called by God, we would not be predestined or justified or someday glorified. And I do get the hesitancy to use such strong language about ourselves, saying that I have been called by God, as it sort of gives the idea in some “evangelical” circles that we are some kind of prophet or faith-healer or miracle worker. Some might think we believe we are like Benny Hinn or Kenneth Copeland, claiming that God said such-and-such to me. As Kenneth Copeland, at age 89, said, God told him that he would live to 120. Not sure why he picked 120 years, maybe because that was how long Moses lived. I mean, why not go all the way to Methuselah and say 969 years.
So, we do not go around saying things like, God told me this, or God told me to buy this car or this house, or God told me to marry this gal. Well, maybe God told you that. I just married Anne because she was a strong believer, and the Bible gives freedom to marry a great Christian girl. And because I just really liked her. And because her Mother liked me. But no, we do not go around and say unique things about ourselves that God said this, or God said that to me. But we can, when the Bible states it for us. For when the Bible says that we have been called by God and someone asks us about our faith, we can confidently say, yes, I have been called by God.
And because we can be certain of this calling, we then know that the love of God transforms us because, yes, this is a great work of God that He has called us to. But it is also the responsibility of the believer to understand that because God has specifically called him or her, there ought to be a great desire in the heart of the believer to change into the likeness of Christ. Why? Because God has called you for this purpose. In other words, I cannot sit around and mope and feel sorry for myself when times are tough or try to hide as a Christian. Why? Because we have been called into the service by Christ, and we have been called to be like Him.
Folks, we may have a tendency to give up at times in our Christian walk. Maybe even as a Mom or Dad, thinking that I don’t even know what to do. Or maybe at your workplace or in ministry, thinking that this is not going great. Good to remind ourselves that we have been called by God, and that we are being transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ, so that we would have every confidence in doing what God has gifted us to do. Not confidence in self, no confidence in the flesh, but a confidence in what God is doing. So that we cannot afford to give up or to think, I can’t do this, because we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. And our children need to see that confidence in us. Our adult children need to see that. Our grandchildren need to see that. The guy or gal at work beside you needs to see that. A Christian who has been called by God, and therefore, he or she lives with a confidence that hopes and prays and works and strives and never gives up. Remember when Paul was writing to the Philippian Christians, he said:
“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 1:6 (LSB)
How can I be certain that God is for me so that I have full confidence in Him? The Loving Action of God Toward Me is incredible. The Reality of My Love for God is a confirmation. The Love of God in Calling Me is a massive responsibility. And the Love of God in Transforming Me is a great privilege. Maybe it is time for us to gain some confidence in what God is doing? Independent of what everyone else is doing. For if God is for us, who can be against us? Let’s pray. Lord, we are assured and confident that all things work together for good. Because You have chosen us, You have called us to be like Jesus. And we have been justified before You based upon the work of Christ. And all the struggles and trials that come our way are means that You use to accomplish that goal. So, might we live with that confidence that You are doing an amazing work in us, and that You have called every Christian for that purpose. So, grant us resolve, effort, striving, and work that never gives up, so that we can do all things for Your glory. And all God’s people said, amen.