Prairie Bible Church

Jesus was Jewish, and he loved the Jewish people. Before the gospel spread to the Gentiles, Jesus came “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Like Jesus, Paul was also Jewish. Though he was frequently accused of being an enemy of the Jews, his lament in Romans 9 makes clear that Israel’s rejection of the Messiah had broken his heart. Paul had to answer an important question: Did God fail with Israel? In other words, how can God be all-powerful if his own people reject Him? Paul’s resounding answer will be: No. God did not fail, “for not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel.” Instead, God sent an Israelite named Jesus, and all who place their faith in Jesus, both Jew and Gentile, become true children of Abraham. It is God’s plan to save a remnant of all peoples, both Jew and Gentile. The mark of His true children is not the flesh (ethnicity), but faith in Jesus Christ.

Take-Home Message: The children of faith are the true children of God.

Paul’s Heartbroken Lament for Israel (1-3)

• How Should Gentiles Respond to Israel’s Rejection of Jesus?
• We should be grieved by Israel’s rejection of Christ.
• We should not be arrogant about Israel’s rejection of Christ.
• We should pray for Israel to be saved through faith in Christ.

The Unique Heritage of Israel (4-5)

God Did Not Fail with Israel (6-8)

• Paul’s Groundbreaking Argument: 
  • Israel’s unique heritage did not guarantee Israel’s central role in God's plan for saving people.
  • Being an ethnic Israelite does not guarantee salvation.
  • Becoming an Israelite is not a requirement for salvation.

In Romans 8:31-39, Paul is applying the promises of Romans 8:1-30 to the lives of believers, and he applies these truths with five questions. He was writing to 1st-century Roman Christians who would face severe suffering, opposition, and persecution. If looking at their circumstances alone, they had every reason to be afraid and discouraged. Yet, Paul says, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” As followers of Christ, we are a victorious people, even when our circumstances look like defeat. Our confidence is not the result of wearing rose-colored glasses; rather, it is rooted in the finished work of Christ. Paul was well acquainted with hardship, and according to early Christian tradition, he would ultimately be martyred in Rome. Yet, he finishes one of the greatest chapters in the Bible with consummate assurance: “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Take-Home Message: We are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us.

• Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? (33)
• Who is to condemn? (34)
• Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? (35-39)

• Take-Home Lessons:
  • I conquer condemnation through Christ’s finished work. (33-34)
  • I conquer hardship through Christ’s foundational love. (35-39)

The Bible says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble,” and no one opposed to God ever wins. By the same token, if God is for us, who can be against us? Just as those fighting against God always lose, those whom God is fighting for always win. While followers of Jesus will experience affliction, we will not be fully and finally defeated. When doubts about God’s provision and goodness creep in, may we remember: “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” If God did the harder thing, He will do the easier thing.

Take-Home Message: If I am in Christ, I can’t lose.

What then shall we say to these things?

• If God is for us, who can be against us?

• What are “these things”?
  • I am not under condemnation (8:1).
  • I am indwelled by the Holy Spirit’s power (8:10-11). 
  • I am a child of God and heir with Christ (8:15-17).
  • I have the hope of glory (8:18-25).
  • I have the promise that all things work together for good (8:28).
  • I have the golden chain of salvation (8:29–30).

• If God gave His Son for us, how will He not give us all things?

Take-Home Commitments:

• I will live with confidence.
• I will take sin seriously.
• I will trust in God’s control over dark days.
• I will not doubt God’s provision and goodness.

The promise of Romans 8:28, that all things work together for good, is built upon the Golden Chain of Salvation in Romans 8:29-30. This chain is made up of five divine actions– foreknew, predestined, called, justified, and glorified– which connect God’s plan toward believers in eternity past (foreknew and predestined) with His bringing them to eternal glory (called, justified, and glorified). God is the subject of each link in Romans 8:29-30, placing the saving act squarely with Him. The Golden Chain reminds us of just how big God is and how small we are, which can feel disorienting. Yet, believers should gain a sense of peace from these foundational truths: because God is in control, I don’t have to be. I can rest in God’s choosing love, knowing that as I follow Jesus, God will get me to glory.

Take-Home Message: The Golden Chain of Salvation cannot be broken.

And those whom he predestined he also called.

• Defining foreknew– God knew me and chose me before the foundation of the world.
• Defining predestined– God’s unfolding in time what He settled in eternity past, framing history as the outworking of His purposeful counsel.
• Defining called– God’s creation of faith in us that unfailingly brings sinners to salvation. 

And those whom he called he also justified.

• Defining justified– God declaring us righteous through Christ’s righteousness being credited to us

And those whom he justified he also glorified.

• Defining glorified– God’s exalting of us to a glorious and heavenly dignity, condition and rank.

Applying the Golden Chain of Salvation:

• Foreknew: God chose me and knows me, so I can rest securely in His love.
• Predestined: God is in complete control, so I don’t have to be.
• Called: God is able to create faith in lost people, so I won’t give up on them.
• Justified: God declared me righteous, so I will act accordingly.
• Glorified: God will get me to glory, so I will live with hope.

The giants of church history stand out for their emphasis on God’s saving initiative rather than their own. Their testimonies tell of how God saved them on the basis of nothing in themselves. Paul’s emphasis is the same throughout his letters, where he states that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4). Jesus highlighted His own choosing in John 15:16, telling his disciples, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you…” While mystery surrounds God’s choosing grace, the proper response for followers of Jesus is an overflowing of thankfulness and an elimination of all spiritual pride.

Take-home message: God acts first.

• Foreknown and predestined

• My response to being foreknown and predestined: 
  • My boasting is eliminated.
  • My prayers for the lost are God-focused.
  • My thanksgiving overflows.

• Foreknown and predestined to be conformed to Christ

• God’s purpose in my being foreknown and predestined:
  • To fill the earth with redeemed image-bearers
  • To bring about a great, big family around Jesus
  • To exalt Christ as the firstborn among many brothers

Romans 8:28 is universally esteemed by Christians. Yet, it is one of the grittiest verses in the Bible. It reminds us that God works all things together for good, even the circumstances that leave us saying "How can any good come from this?” 

Romans 8:28 is easy to love until something difficult happens to us. But if we will believe its truth taken to its greatest extremes, we will have an unshakeable endurance in our faith. May we have the perspective of Joseph when he spoke to the brothers who’d sold him into slavery: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. (Gen. 50:20) 

Take-Home Message: All things work together for good.

• And we know

• That for those who love God

• How do I know that I love God?
• I obey God.
• I love God with my whole being.
• I love others.

• All things work together for good

• Applying “All Things Work Together for Good”
  • Don’t put God in a box.
  • Give God time to work it out.
  • Have a biblical perspective of “good.”

• For those who are called according to his purpose

These verses combine two of the most misunderstood subjects in Christianity: The Holy Spirit and the will of God. The Holy Spirit is perhaps the most elusive member of the Trinity. And, if you ask Christians, “What is the will of God?” you will get many different answers. Romans 8:26-27 reminds us that God has not left us alone in our weakness and ignorance; rather, He sent His Holy Spirit to us who intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 

Take-Home Message: The Holy Spirit helps me according to the will of God.

• The Spirit helps us in our weakness. (26)

• The Spirit intercedes for us according to the will of God. (27)

• What is the will of God?
• My salvation 
• My sanctification
• My sobriety and Spirit-filledness 
• My discernment
• My suffering
• My submission to authority
• My thankfulness

Sadly, many walk away from God when they begin to suffer. This betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of Jesus and what it means to follow Him. The Bible teaches us that we will suffer, but that our sufferings are labor pains leading to incomparable, eternal glory. Romans 8:18-25 reminds us to hope in God through suffering rather than walk away. For followers of Jesus, there is hope beyond suffering, the hope of the resurrection: “For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” (Romans 8:24-25)

Take-Home Message: I have hope beyond suffering.

Making Sense of Suffering:

• Suffering is incomparable with future glory. (18-19)

• Suffering is decreed by God, in hope. (20-21)

• Suffering is comprehensive. (22-23)

• Suffering is not the end. (24-25)

• My Hope Beyond Suffering:
• The hope of glory (17-19)
• The hope of creation set free from corruption (20-22)
• The hope of the resurrection (23)

We have a tendency to forget the reality that we are in a grave spiritual war. This war is against the passions of the flesh, which wage war against our soul (1 Peter 2:11). Jesus Himself used wartime language: “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.” (Matthew 5:29-30) Are you living with a peacetime mindset in the midst of this great war? If we have relaxed, sin has not. As John Owen famously said, “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.”

Take-Home Message: I wage war against the flesh by the Holy Spirit.

• The Harsh Reality of War (12-13)

• The Holy Spirit’s Reinforcement in War (14-15)

• The Holy Spirit’s Reassurance in War (16-17)

Hope is a core Christian Principal. Sometimes we use the word hope to indicate a desire or want like “I hope you feel better”. Christian hope is different; it is a confident expectation for the future. We have hope because God holds our future in His all-capable hands, what a great hope we have in Jesus Christ!

Take-Home Message: Put your hope in the God of all hope.

It’s easy to lose hope.
Hope is a core principle of Christianity.
Abraham is an example of hope.
Christians are people of hope.
God is the God of hope.