The Recipients, Source, and Certainty of Security

The love we have for God doesn't all of a sudden disappear. Because it comes to us by the Holy Spirit through the work of God in the conversion miracle, that love will be sustained through all of our lives. Grace is continually extended to all of those who love God with this incorruptible love.

It's great to be chosen class valedictorian or most valuable player or employee of the year, but the cheering fades and the plaque ends up in a box somewhere. The fact is, there is only one thing you could be selected for that really counts, that matters for eternity. John MacArthur explains that today on Grace To You as he shows you what it means to be chosen by God, to know that God's love for you will never wane. The grip of God, that's the title of John's current study. So take your Bible now and follow along as John looks at things you'll find true of someone who is held in the grip of God. We're looking at Romans chapter 8, verse 28.

Familiar words, let me read them to you. We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. This says what we really wanted to hear, and that is that no matter what happens in our lives, it works together ultimately for our eternal good. And that is to say that nothing can ever change our relationship with the living God.

No matter what happens, it works together for our good. Paul has been masterfully revealing the great truth that justification is secured forever. It is secured forever by the decree of God. It is secured forever by the sacrifice of Christ and His imputed righteousness. And it is secured forever by the unique intercessory ministry of the Holy Spirit. We have then God securing our eternal redemption, Christ securing our eternal redemption, and the Holy Spirit securing our eternal redemption.

And that's why we could call this chapter security in the Spirit. As we've called it life in the Spirit, it really is life in the Spirit which is eternally secure. Obviously there has been a great debate through the years between Christians about whether salvation is forever, whether you can get it and lose it.

This chapter, I think, answers very clearly that discussion in no uncertain terms. Salvation is forever. It is secured to us forever by the decree of God, by the work of Christ, and by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And verse 28 really is the ultimate statement.

God causes all things to work together for the eternal good of those who love Him. That is a profound truth loaded with hope. And there's so much in this verse that we only sort of got a running start at it last time. The verse emphasizes four elements. Let's just remind ourselves these four elements of our security. The extent of it, the recipients of it, the source of it, and the certainty of it. The extent of it, the recipients of it, the source of it, and the certainty of it. Let's look then at a second point, and I want to sort of camp on this a little bit because it's a very important statement to make.

And it should be very obvious, but it isn't. We talked about the extent of our security. Let's talk about the recipients of this security.

Who really possesses this kind of security? Well, it makes it very clear in verse 28. God causes all things to work together for good to those who what? Who love God to those who are called according to His purpose.

You have two very, very pertinent statements there with tremendous implications. One of them views our relationship with God from our side, and the other views our relationship with God from His side. On the one hand, we love God.

On the other hand, He called us. This promise of eternal security belongs to those who love God and who are the called of God. You could say that those two wonderful truths sum up our identity. We are the called who love God. Now, God's people are described in many ways, and I want to just look at that description that is given here in verse 28, those who love God. God's people are described as His children. They're described as His sheep, His flock. They're described as His sons.

They're described as His bride, His beloved, His church. They're described as believers. They're described as true worshipers. They're described as saints.

They're called Christians. But no designation of believers is more indicative of their character than this one. Here, believers are defined as those who love God. We are the people who love God.

That's summing it up as simply as it can be summed up. And for those who love God, God is causing all things to work together. Now, this is not a new way to describe God's people. In fact, it's an old way to describe God's people. Go with me into the Old Testament for a moment, and let's go back to the 20th chapter of Exodus, the place where God gave the law. And as He speaks the law to Moses, He says, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, Exodus 20, verse 2, out of the house of slavery. Then He starts into the Ten Commandments. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.

You shall not worship them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children on the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me. And then verse 6, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. And right there at the very outset when the Decalogue was given, when God gave His law, He starts out by dividing the entire human race into two kinds of people, those who hate Him and those who love Him.

That is the simplest and purest definition of a believer, not just in the New Testament, but as duly noted there in Exodus 20, in the Old as well. And this designation became something repeated in the book of Deuteronomy, the second law, which in many ways repeats what is in Exodus. Deuteronomy chapter 7 and verse 9, we read this, know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps His covenant, or His promise, and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments. Then verse 10, but repays those who hate Him to their faces to destroy them.

He will not delay with Him who hates Him, He will repay Him to His face. And there again, the same twofold designation of the human race, they are divided into two categories, those who love God and those who hate Him. The words of Nehemiah in Nehemiah chapter 1 and verse 5, and I said, I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him. This then, this designation of God from Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 7, became common language when referring to God on the part of the Jews. And there in the book of Nehemiah, long after the law was given, long after Israel had forfeited the right to the land and Judah had forfeited the right to the land and they had been carried off into captivity, they were still defining God as the God who blesses those who love Him, keeps His promise to those who love Him, and demonstrates His lovingkindness to them. Even the psalmist refers to God in very similar terms in Psalm 69 and verse 36. It says, And the descendants of His servants, speaking of God, will inherit it, that is the promised land, and those who love His name will dwell in it. Again, believers being identified as those who love His name. I'm sure you get the point, but I want to show you some other Scriptures because of the richness of this truth.

Psalm 97, 10, here is injunction to God's people. Hate evil, you who love the Lord. You who love the Lord simply refers to people who were true believers, who had committed themselves in faith to the true and living God.

They were those who loved the Lord. In Psalm 116, verse 1, I love the Lord because He hears my voice and my supplications, because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live. The cords of death encompassed me and the terrors of Sheol came upon me.

I found distress and sorrow. I called upon the name of the Lord. O Lord, I beseech Thee, save my life. Gracious is the Lord and righteous. Yes, our God is compassionate. Here is the psalmist, and the psalmist loves the Lord because the Lord saved him. The Lord gave him salvation in the midst of his sinful distress. Psalm 145, verse 20, the Lord keeps all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.

Now, I think you get the picture. This is a very common designation for people to be identified as true believers. In Isaiah 56, just briefly, it says in verse 6, the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord to minister to Him and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, everyone who keeps from profaning the Sabbath and holds fast my covenant, even those I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer. There God again pledges Himself to those who love the name of the Lord. 1 Corinthians 2, 9, very interesting verse, quoted from Isaiah. Just as it is written, things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who what?

Who love Him. Christians are people who love God. Believers are people who love God. That is the distinguishing characteristic of their lives. You remember that the Apostle Paul in writing to Timothy condemns those people who are lovers of self rather than lovers of God? Again, that's the defining character of man in the world. He's either a lover of God or a lover of self. He's either a lover of God or a hater of God.

And everybody falls into those categories. And the love we have for God doesn't all of a sudden disappear. Because it comes to us by the Holy Spirit through the work of God in the conversion miracle, because it is part of regeneration, it is part of transforming our natures and giving us the Spirit to produce that love, first given to us at salvation, that love will be sustained through all of our lives. And the testimony of that is given in Ephesians 6 24, Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with a love that is incorruptible. Grace is continually extended to all of those who love God with this incorruptible love. It's not a here again, gone again love.

It's not an on again, off again thing. It's not a sometime affection. And I admit that we don't love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We don't love God as fully as we ought to love God. In fact, in Philippians 1 9, Paul says, I pray that your love may abound still more and more.

But we do love Him. And we find ourselves, I think, in the same situation Peter was in, John 21, the last chapter in John's gospel. Jesus says to Peter, who has been caught in the midst of disobedience in this chapter, and He says to him in verse 15, Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these, more than fishing and boats and all the stuff that you've gone back to in disobedience?

And he said, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Here was a disobedient, sinful guy. Here was a guy who had denied the Lord at His trial. Here was a guy who had forsaken Him at His death. Here was a man who had been told to go to Galilee and wait for Him, and instead he'd gone back to his old trade of fishing. Here was a disobedient servant.

Here was a servant who had proven to be cowardly. But when he was asked, do you love me, he said, you know I love you. He said to him a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? And he said, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? And he was grieved because he said to him the third time, do you love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you.

In other words, you're omniscient. Look at my heart. You know how much I love you. We don't love Him as we ought to love, and a lot of the time we're like Peter, but sin causes us to respond the way it caused Peter to respond, and you remember when Peter came face to face with his betrayal of Christ, his denial of Christ, he went out and wept bitterly, didn't he? It was his love that produced the tears. We love the Lord for what He's done for us. We love Him for who He is. We love Him, and it is that love that marks us as true believers. And if somebody doesn't have that compelling, driving, dominating love for Christ, He's none of His. So, Christians are those who love God. When you find someone who claims to be a Christian and who does openly confess they don't love God, you can be sure they're not. When you find someone who confesses to be a Christian but has demonstrated absolute indifference to Christ and to God and to the things of God and Christ, there's clear evidence there that there's no affection, there's no passion, there's no consuming longing and desire for fellowship and obedience. No matter what the claim is, if the love is not manifest, you have a right to question the validity of that person's salvation. Now, how do we mark out this love?

I want to take a few minutes with you on this because I think it's very, very basic and important. If I want to look at my life, let's just stick with us. If I want to look at my life or if need be help somebody else and I want to determine whether or not they really love God, what am I looking for? Am I looking for some sentiment? Am I looking for some emotion? Am I looking for some sort of nostalgia that comes out of the roots of my childhood or my background? What am I looking for when I'm looking for evidences of love for God?

Well, I'm going to give you a few. First of all, it is a love that meditates on God's glory. It is a love that meditates on God's glory. To love God is to be caught up with God's glory, to be caught up with the honor of God. In Psalm 18, the psalmist says, I love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised. It is love that is consumed with worship. To say you love God and be indifferent to worship is to betray your claim. It is a love that meditates on God's glory. It is that love, I think, that was in the heart of the psalmist repeatedly when he expressed his love for God by reciting all of the attributes of God which were so wondrous to him.

He found his single greatest joy in worship, praise, adoration. It is a love that meditates on God's glory. It is a love that is consumed with God being honored. Secondly, I believe this love is a love that trusts in God's power. It's a love that trusts in God's power.

In Psalm 31, verse 23, we read, Oh, love the Lord, all you His godly ones. The Lord preserves the faithful and fully recompenses the proud doer. Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the Lord.

He's assuming that life's going to have its downturns. It's going to have its trials and there are going to be areas of suffering and pain and disappointment. But in it all, he says, Love the Lord.

What do you mean by that? I mean realize that he's going to preserve the faithful, that he is going to recompense the wicked. Be strong.

Take courage. You can trust in the Lord. It is a love that trusts in his power. It is a love, to put it another way, that doesn't doubt him. It's not a love that says, Oh, I don't know, God hasn't been faithful to me.

He's going to have to deliver if he's expecting me to love him. It is a love that has complete confidence in God's great power. It is a love that meditates on his great glory. Thirdly, it is a love that seeks communion with him. You can tell if you love God basically by whether or not you have any interest in his fellowship.

I mean, if you said you loved somebody, you could certainly prove it easily enough if you sought their companionship. Psalm 63, the psalmist says, Oh God, thou art my God. I shall seek thee earnestly. My soul thirsts for thee.

My flesh yearns for thee in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Thus I have beheld thee in the sanctuary to see thy power and thy glory. He went to the place of worship. He went there all the time. He couldn't be kept away. He wanted to be in the place of worship because he wanted to be nearer to the presence of his God. He wanted to commune with God.

Why? Verse 3, because thy lovingkindness is better than life. My lips will praise thee. I'll bless thee as long as I live.

I'll lift up my hands in thy name. My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness. In other words, it's the satisfaction of my soul like eating a great meal when I, in verse 6, meditate on my bed and remember thee and meditate on thee and the night watches. For thou has been my help in the shadow of thy wings.

I sing for joy. My soul clings to thee. This is a man who longs for fellowship, who loves worship, who seeks communion, who finds himself drawn to the place of prayer, drawn to the intimacy of the presence of God. I find myself drawn to know God. I find myself irresistibly drawn to books and articles that are written to tell me more about my God.

No matter how much I've learned and how much I may know and how much I've filed in my mental computer and how much I've taught through the years, I'm never satisfied. I always want to know more of my God. I always want to know Him better.

I want to discover some other nuance, some other richness, some other truth about Him. I want to know the fullness of communion with Him. Psalm 143, 7, Do not hide thy face from me, lest I become like those who go down to the pit. I'll die, Lord, if I don't have fellowship with you.

It's not something you can take or leave. Furthermore, it is a love...it is a love that secures the peace of the soul. Psalm 119, 165, Those who love you and your law have great peace and nothing causes them to stumble. It doesn't matter what goes wrong, you know you're loved.

It doesn't matter what changes, you know you're loved and you're secure in that love. So, loving God is basically defined as an attitude toward God that meditates on His glory, that trusts in His power, that seeks intimate communion with Him and that secures the peace of the soul. Do you have the kind of love for God which gives you rest? Further, it is a love that is sensitive to God's feelings. It is a love that is sensitive to God's feelings.

What do I mean by that? Well, Psalm 69, 9 is a familiar verse. I've commented on it many times through the years, but it's a very important one.

Listen to what it says. David says this, Zeal for your house has consumed me. In other words, David says, I'm so passionately concerned about your name, your honor, your glory, your majesty, your temple. I'm so concerned that worship be true and pure and holy that it's eating me up.

Why? Because it wasn't that. The worship wasn't what it ought to have been. It was desecration of God in the temple, and it was just tearing up the Psalmist. In fact, he says in the same verse, the reproaches of those who reproach thee have fallen on me.

In other words, when people speak evil of you, I feel the pain. And by the way, Jesus Himself fulfilled that passage. In John 2, when He makes a whip and cleans the temple out. When God is dishonored, He felt the pain. And you know you really love God when what dishonors God causes you pain.

That's a great indicator of your love for Him. You should feel some holy indignation. You shouldn't be upset or angry or hostile about what happens to you, but you certainly should be concerned with what happens to dishonor the name of God. If you love Him, you will be sensitive to those things that dishonor Him, and you'll feel the pain. If you really love someone, when they're hurt, you feel the pain. Is that not true? Does a mother feel that pain for her child?

Does a child feel that pain for a parent? Of course. Friend to friend, and so with us in God. This is Grace to You with John MacArthur.

Thanks for being with us. John is Grace to You's featured speaker. He's pastor of Grace Community Church, and he's chancellor of the Master's University and Seminary. Today's message is part of his study from Romans 8 titled, The Grip of God. Well, it's no surprise that when people contact Grace to You with questions, the questions we get frequently concern salvation, the doctrine of salvation, soteriology. So with that said, John, let me have you listen to this question from Colin, and then you can respond.

Hi, John, my name is Colin. I'm from Pennsylvania. I came across one of your videos on, I think the title was Saved or Self-Deceived, and I was just curious. I didn't get all the way through it. Honestly, I kind of got scared. I was just wondering why I asked myself if I was truly saved or if I was self-deceived. The video after watching half of it made me ask that, and then I prayed for assurance, and then the next morning, being today, I don't feel as worried.

I was just curious as to should I be alerted and worried as to why I asked myself that question. Thank you for all that you do, and God bless. Yeah, Colin, you should be alerted to that question, because the Apostle Paul said that we need to examine ourselves to see if we'd be in the faith. So how do you know that you're saved?

You don't go back to some time when you prayed a prayer, you don't go back to some time when you raised your hand or when you went forward or when you had an emotional experience. To be sure you're saved, you really ask one question, what are my heart desires? What are my heart desires? Because here are the things that would mark a true salvation. Love is the first one, love for the Lord, that you love the Lord to some degree. He has your affection. He has your worship. You not only love the Lord, you love the Word of God, you have a desire to read the Word of God, to know the Word of God, you love the Church, you want to be with God's people.

That's evidence that you are truly transformed. The second, I think, is humility. There's a sense in which you recognize your sinfulness, you're honest about your weakness because you came penitently to salvation, you confessed your sins, you know you're a sinner. John says if we are the ones confessing our sins, he is faithfully forgiving us our sins. So the humility of recognizing your sin and confessing that sin is a mark of true salvation.

And the third mark is obedience. In other words, your heart's desire is to obey. But Paul says, look, I don't do what I want to do, I do what I don't want to do, there's a wretchedness still hanging on, but my desires are right, and that's the thing that marks obedience. It's not that you always obey as you should, but that's your desire. So do you love the Lord and the things of the Lord? Do you recognize your own sin and confess it?

And do you desire to obey him? If your heart is in that direction, that's evidence of the new creation. Thanks, John, that is really helpful, and friend, if you're someone who lacks assurance of salvation, if you wonder where you'll spend eternity, John's book, Saved Without a Doubt, can help. It provides biblical help for breaking that cycle of spiritual doubt, and it shows you how to have genuine assurance. To order a copy, get in touch today.

Our number is 800-55-GRACE, or you can order from our website, gty.org. Saved Without a Doubt is not only for folks wrestling with the question, am I saved? It's also a training tool for mature Christians. It can help you strengthen others with what Scripture says about salvation and assurance. To pick up a copy that's affordably priced, call us at 800-55-GRACE or go to gty.org. Also a reminder about the Grace to You Q&A line. If you have a question about the Bible or Christian living or really any theological subject, I would encourage you to call our Q&A line and record your questions, and you might hear John answer on a future broadcast. The Q&A number is 661-295-6288. Once again, that's 661-295-6288, and if you're driving and you can't write it down, you'll find that number at our website, gty.org. Now for John MacArthur and the entire Grace to You staff, I'm your host, Phil Johnson. Remember to look for Grace to You television this Sunday on DirecTV channel 378, or check your local listings for channel and times, and then join us again tomorrow when John continues his study called The Grip of God with another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time, on Grace to You.