~ Are You Protected by Christ? ~
There is so much written in the Scriptures about the Christian’s safety, security, and salvation. Consider some aspects we find in chapter 8 of the book of Romans.
There is no judgment for sin (8:1) ~ “There is no longer any condemnation awaiting those who belong to Christ Jesus.” The two critical phrases are “no longer” and “those who belong to Christ Jesus”! The judgment and the penalty for all the sins of those who have put their faith in Christ have already been made by the holy God through His Son Jesus Christ at the Cross of Calvary.
There is no separation from God (8:38-39) ~ “For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from His love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels won't, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God's love away. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, or where we are—high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean—nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us.” The key word is “separate”—nothing can come between us and our heavenly Father because we have been adopted into His family. And don’t forget, your new dad is stronger and more loving than any other dad!
However, everything in this chapter is based on the phrase “those who belong to Christ Jesus.” If you have not personally accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, the good things in this chapter do not apply to you.
Now that we have the opening and the close of the chapter we need to look at the body of the chapter!
The past basis of our safety (8:2-3) ~ “For the power of the life-giving Spirit—and this power is mine through Christ Jesus—has freed me from the vicious circle of sin and death. We aren't saved from sin's grasp by knowing the commandments of God. We can't and don't keep them, but God put into effect a different plan to save us. He sent His own Son in a human body like ours (and He lived a sinless life) and destroyed sin's control over us by giving Himself as a sacrifice for our sins.” It is the death of God’s Son Jesus Christ in the past for our sin that is the basis of our safety, security, and salvation.
The present basis of our safety (8:13b-14, 26-27) ~ “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” ~ “And in the same way—by our faith—the Holy Spirit helps us with our daily problems and in our praying. For we don't even know what we should pray for nor how to pray as we should, but the Holy Spirit prays for us with such feeling that it cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows, of course, what the Spirit is saying as He pleads for us in harmony with God's own will.” The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit and His work in us as well as His external work on our behalf are keys to our safety, security, and salvation.
The future basis of our safety (8:18-23, 28-31) ~ “Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will give us later. For all creation is waiting patiently and hopefully for that future day when God will resurrect His children. For on that day thorns and thistles, sin, death, and decay—the things that overcame the world against its will at God's command—will all disappear, and the world around us will share in the glorious freedom from sin which God's children enjoy. For we know that even the things of nature, like animals and plants, suffer in sickness and death as they await this great event. And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as His children, including the new bodies He has promised us—bodies that will never be sick again and will never die.” ~ “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 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. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” It is the future work of the Father on our behalf that is the foundation of our safety, security, and salvation.
Summary of our status (8:35-39) ~ “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ [Psalm 44:22] Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For 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 created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” We see explicitly stated both the “love of God” and the “love of Christ” toward us as the eternal basis of our safety, security, and salvation.
If you are a believer, you belong to a wonderful and gracious triune God who provides your safety, security, and salvation. Jesus Christ provided for you in the past. The Spirit is providing for you in the present. The Father will continue to provide for you in the future.
~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW
