More than Conquerors: The Greatest Chapter in the Bible, Part 2

Today on Summit Life with J.D.

Greer. What Satan meant for evil through famine and persecution and distress and sword, God meant for good. And God uses those attacks now to work things in you that he wouldn't have worked without him. And the who of your salvation is greater than the who of your opposition. Therefore, the who of your salvation transforms the opposition into the servants of his purpose. Hey, welcome back to Summit Life with J.D. Greer.

As always, I'm your host, Molly Vidovitch, and I hope you're having a fantastic Thursday. Okay, let's be honest. When we're suffering, it's hard to imagine how God might be working it out for good. In fact, it often seems impossible.

It's way too painful, way too out of control. But today, Pastor J.D. wraps up the eighth chapter of Romans and helps us understand that when we suffer, we can have the assurance of being called, justified, and glorified.

And that makes us more than conquerors. It's an important truth to cling to as we live out our walk with Jesus each and every day. So let's rejoin Pastor J.D. right now in Romans chapter eight.

Here's questions three and four. If God accepts me, whose disapproval need I fear any longer? Number four, verse 34. If Jesus the judge was judged in my place, well, how can I still feel guilt from anywhere?

Let me do this in reverse order. Scripture tells us that God has committed all judgment to the Son. That means that one day, get this, everybody in the world who've ever lived is gonna stand in front of Jesus. That means that one day, the one who will judge me is the one who has died in my place. That means the one who sits on the throne, who will judge the whole world is the one who bears in his own body the proof of my justification. That means I cannot be condemned by him because for him to condemn me would mean he would have to deny the marks in his own body.

He can't deny himself. The only one who could bring judgment is the one who bore judgment in my place. And Paul says, even now, this judge stands there. He stands there beside the throne of God, the Father, interceding for me based on his finished work. I've told you before, I love how the apostle John talks about this in the passage in verse John where he talks about Jesus' role in advocacy, advocating for us before God the Father. The verse right before that, 1 John 1.9, if we confess our sin, oh, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all righteousness. I told you that verse never brought me that much comfort because I just naturally assumed that what they meant, what John meant was he is faithful and merciful as a high priest. You say, well, what difference does that make?

Here's the difference that it makes. Here's how I saw the scene going down. All right, so here's God the Father on his throne. He's got a big old file called Greer, and it's just chock full of dumb things that I've done.

Right? And then I do another dumb one, and I just pictured God the Father in heaven being like, that's it. That's it for Greer. He did this for the 10,000th time. We got to zap him. We have to zap him. We have to zap him.

And I just pictured Jesus there by the way, but no, no, no, no. Hold on. Let's just give JD one more chance. He's a good kid. He really is.

He does a lot of dumb stuff, but I feel like he's got some potential. So just lay off the lightning just one more time, and let's just give him another chance and do it for me, Father. I died and everything, so you got to do it for me. And that's how I persuaded this thing going down. And I just thought at some point God's going to be like, I'm out of bed. He's out of tries.

And then it's all over. But that's not, it doesn't say merciful. It says faithful and just, which means that when Jesus stands before God, he's not arguing for God to give me mercy. He's arguing for God to give me justice.

You say, well, that doesn't sound encouraging. Yeah, it does because Jesus took all the punishment for my sin in my place, which means that what he says to the Father, metaphorically speaking, is he says to the Father, you cannot punish him for his sin because I was punished in his place. And what is just is for you to treat him like a beloved son. There is not a single thing that has happened in my life since I became a Christian that was done to pay me back for my sin. Sure, God will send things into my life to sometimes wake me up and to correct me, but it's never done in punishment.

It is always done in love to bring me back. Paul said, that's the confidence that I have. I have the confidence that the one, only one who could actually judge me is the one who now stands there and demands justice and says, you can't punish him. You have to transform it for good because I took the punishment in his place.

Paul says, well, that's true. If God has accepted you, then why are you worried about anybody else's approval? Why would you struggle with feelings of guilt or inferiority or a sense of condemnation? I know that some of you struggle with feelings of inadequacy because of things that were said to you or done to you in the past. Maybe you grew up in a tough home environment and your dad was just really critical of you.

Or maybe it was an abusive spouse or some other tragedy and something was said or done. And eventually you just started to believe the things about yourself that they were saying or doing to you. And listen, I'm not telling you that memorizing the phrases of these verses is going to make those feelings of inadequacy just magically go away. People are a lot more complex than that, but what I am telling you is that the core of overcoming that sense of disapproval and condemnation is the realization that you have a heavenly father who approves of you and thought you were worth saving and who has justified you in his sight, which means there's nothing you could do to make him love you anymore and nothing in your past that would make him love you any less and has now declared a purpose over you that is greater than when anybody else says or thinks about you. They might not think you have value. They may not think you're that awesome. They may not think you're that special, but he does. And he's got a purpose and a plan and he's created you and he put the blood of his son to rescue you. And then he put his Holy Spirit in you and he's got an unbelievable purpose from you. And so you don't have to care about what they say because you're focused on what he says.

Now, let me deal with one objection there. People say, well, pastor, it sounds so awesome, but I know God has forgiven me, but if you knew what I'd done, I just can't forgive myself. When somebody says that to me, here's what I say back to them. I would say, so you think you're greater than God?

You think your opinion of you is more significant than God's opinion of you so that God can forgive you, but you can't forgive yourself? Let me tell you what's really happening when somebody says that. The only way that they say that is they feel like the only way they can have worth is when they reach some standard of excellence. And it's usually established by the way, by comparing themselves to others.

And they're like, I can't have worth until I am a mom like this, until I am a husband like this. And if they fail to reach that standard in comparison to others, then they feel like they have no worth. But I ask you, is your worth established by the good that you've accomplished? Is your worth established by the evil you have avoided?

Friend, if so, we're all doomed. You have worth because of what God says about you. I've heard before that your identity is established by what the most important person in your life thinks about you. By the way, this is not religious, just psychology. Your self identity is established by what the most important person to you, whoever they are, what they think about you. If that person is you, if you're the most important person in your life, if that is somebody else, if it's a group of people, listen, you're always going to struggle with feelings of inferiority or insecurity because eventually you're going to feel like you don't measure up or you're not going to be afraid that you're not going to measure up.

You need to reestablish God as the most important person in your life. You need to say, I am who you say that I am. I'm not who they say I am. I'm not who I say I am.

I'm who you say that I am. True story. When I was in college, one of the many jobs that I got for a semester is one of my favorites was as a soccer coach of a middle school soccer team, fifth and sixth grade boys, at least. They and I were about the same maturity level, so we really connected. I felt like one of my roles was to toughen these guys up because they're boys to men transition. I was like, all right, we used to have this ritual before the game where they would all take off their shirts, they'd spit on the ground, they'd make mud, they'd wipe it on their faces and their chest, and they'd put their shirts on.

It looked like a scene out of Braveheart, and it worked. We went undefeated the entire season, and you've never seen a cockier group of fifth and sixth grade boys. And so we made it in the league we were in, you could play for the county championship. If you won that, you go to the state championship. We made it all the way to the county semifinals undefeated. We were gonna play at night.

First time we'd played at night under lights. They were nervous. They were confident. They strutted out on that field, and we got killed.

We got killed. It's just one of those games where the other team was in control of the ball the entire time. And they had this one player on their team, key detail. They had this one player on their team, and she was fantastic.

And my little fifth and sixth grade boys did not have a category for this because first girl time they played a girl. And I mean, I don't know if future me a hammer or whatever, but she was amazing. She was like Michael Jordan with the soccer ball. Best player we played all season. She just dribbling through these guys like they were invisible. And so it was 10 minutes left to go in the second half.

We were only losing two to one. I'm not sure how. She'd missed like 30 shots, but she just kept getting shot after shot on goal. Maybe she was doing it on purpose.

I don't know. But she just, you know, I was like, I was like, if we have any hope of tying this game up, we've got to take care of this girl. And so I pulled out the best fullback we have and I was like, David, David, I am sick and tired of that girl getting all those shots on goal. Oh, me too, coach. I hate that girl. I was like, let's don't go there, David.

Okay. But we just, we can't have any more shots on goal. So I was like, David, you got one responsibility for the rest of this game. Yes, sir, coach. That girl is your responsibility.

Anytime that girl steps foot in the penalty box with a ball, I need you on her and I need you to put her on her rear end. You understand, David? Oh, yes, sir, coach. I said, David, you get that. I was like, that's your assignment because I don't think the guy next to you burst into flames. That's not your responsibility.

She's your responsibility. Yes, sir, coach. I said, okay.

He goes back. I was like, David, he gets about five feet from me. I said, David, do it legally. Do it legally.

We worked on this. It's called a slag tackle, right? I mean, everybody plays soccer and knows how to do this.

So I was like, do it legally. Oh, yes, sir, coach, of course. Goes back in.

All right. Play starts again. Another minute or two goes by. Here she comes down the left side of the, right side of the field. She goes through our left half back like he's invisible. She, I don't know what she does, the left fullback, but he's in the fetal position crying for his mom. Then she comes back in. It's just her, the sweeper, and the goalie. And she does a pump fake. And I don't, I mean, pump fake inside. She pump fakes. Both of them jumped to the side like after the ball. And it's just her on the wide open ball. And I'm like, dadgummit. This is it, end of the game right here.

When out of, and I temporarily forgotten what I told David. Left side of my peripheral vision comes this blur. I mean, it's like a tractor beam. He hits her from behind like full spread eagle attack airborne. Just, I mean, she didn't even see it coming. She just, you know, there was a little cloud of dust and mushroom cloud. And it was one of those moments where everything was just like, like just really quiet, like what happened?

You know? And then, and it was like, like, like, like everybody got angry at once at the same time, but for different reasons. Their team was angry because they thought that we tried to take out their star player. The referee's angry because he's, you know, refereeing fifth graders. He's like, can I give a kid a red card in the fifth grade?

Is that possible? Like, our parents are angry because they think psycho code sent this kid in to take this little girl out. And I'm like, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm angry because I know that he just handled them a penalty kick and the ability buy. And so, so, you know, the only person who's not angry, David. He stands up, he dust off his leg.

He reaches down, helps her up, make sure she's okay. Like a perfect little gentleman. Then he turns 180 degrees, looks 50 yards across the field where I'm standing and goes, fuck that. And I'm like, I mean, I got one word in my mind, lawsuit, or is that two words? But I, you know, I'm thinking lawsuit, lawsuit. So I, David, get out of here. And so I pulled David out. He comes running over, just meandering like a little 11 year old, looks up, stands up, he gets about five feet from me.

I'm doing this for the parents, not for him now. And I'm like, I'm like, hey, what's wrong with you? Son, where's your brain?

Point your brain. He's kind of points out, but I'm like, Dave, I don't understand. What are you thinking?

What, what possibly? He said, and he get this little indignant look on his 11 year old face. He's like, coach, you told me to take her out illegally, illegally.

The last thing that he thought I told him before I sent this kid back in was, hey, they get nasty, right? Now he knew the rules enough. He knew, he knew when he did that, that A, he might get a yellow or red card. He knew that, you know, they give him a penalty kick. He knew he might get grounded by his parents after the game, but in his little warped 11 year old minds, none of that matters.

Only one thing mattered to David. And that was the expression on the face that he turned around to look at after the deed was done. Right? And he was like, if coach is happy with me, then it doesn't matter what any of the rest of these people are saying about me. Right? That is how you follow Jesus. That's what Paul is saying in Romans eight. This is Summit Life with J.D.

Greer. For more information about this ministry, visit jdgreer.com. You know, following Jesus doesn't always seem easy. And if you're like me, you've run into a lot of questions along the way.

All of us do. That's why we created a free resource that we've recently been telling you about that's available on demand. It's called the Ask Me Anything podcast. Each episode is 10 to 15 minutes long and features a question from listeners just like you about life, relationships, theology, the Bible, and so much more, along with wisdom-filled answers from Pastor J.D. You can listen on your morning commute, during your afternoon workout, or anytime you want to hear honest questions and quick answers from a biblical perspective. Visit jdgreer.com slash podcasts or search for it on your favorite podcasting app. Now let's get back to today's teaching with Pastor J.D.

Greer here on Summit Life. Last question Paul asked there, verse number 35. Who can separate us from the love of Christ? I love this.

Watch this. Can affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? Here's a question.

Number five. If we can't be separated from the love of Christ, is there really anything else in the universe left to fear? Now you notice, watch this, Paul list out all kinds of dangerous things.

Persecution and famine and distress. Here's what's most interesting to me. You see the question that he started or the word he used? Who? Do any of those look like whos to you? They look like whats to me. You don't say who and then give inanimate objects.

Fair? So is this a typo? Did Paul just, did he forget to say what? He meant to say what, but then he just accidentally said who?

I don't think so. I think who is very, very intentional for a couple reasons that I can come up with at least. Number one, when you're in the midst of these things, it feels like it's personal. It feels like somebody is coming against you. And more importantly, I think what Paul is doing is he's setting up a contrast to try to show you that the who that is for you is a whole lot stronger than any of the whos that are against you. That the who on your team is a lot more mighty than any of the than any of the whos that are on their team. He's trying to show you that your dad is stronger. And your dad is not just going to defeat those things for you.

In fact, he's going to make you, look at verse 37 in your Bible. He's going to make you more than a conqueror. Oh, what a great phrase. How do you be more than a conqueror? Well, a conqueror would be somebody who defeats the enemy. What would more than conquering be? Well, I love how John Piper explains it.

Look at this. A conqueror defeats his enemy, but one who is more than a conqueror subjugates his enemy. A conqueror nullifies the purpose of his enemy. One who is more than a conqueror makes the enemy serve his own purposes.

A conqueror strikes down his foe. One who is more than a conqueror makes his foe his slave. It's not just that God delivers you from suffering. It's that God transforms suffering into the agents of his purpose. If he had just delivered you from suffering, you would be a conqueror. The fact that he now takes the suffering that you're in and transforms you into good and to glory through those sufferings makes you not just a conqueror. It makes you more than a conqueror. So that verse we looked at last week, 2 Corinthians 4, where Paul said these light and momentary afflictions, they are working in me an eternal weight of glory that I would not have had had I not gone through the afflictions. I'm not just being delivered from the afflictions. I'm being delivered through the afflictions and with the afflictions so that I have more glory after going through the suffering than I would have had without those very things. And that makes me not just a conqueror. It makes me more than a conqueror. Because what our enemy meant for evil, what Satan meant for evil through famine and persecution and distress and sword, God meant for good.

And God uses those attacks now to work things in you that he wouldn't have worked without him. And the who of your salvation is greater than the who of your opposition. Therefore, the who of your salvation transforms the opposition into the servants of his purpose. Which, by the way, also explains the strange little quote that he gives you. This never made sense to me until this week.

And finally, I read a commentator that showed me what it meant. The next verse, as it is written, because of you, we were being put to death all day long. We were counted as sheep to be slaughtered. I always thought when I memorized this passage, I always thought it's like we're soaring rhetoric.

Who can conquer? Like the Bible says, we are sheep to be slaughtered. And I'm like, that's a downer.

And let's get back to the happy stuff. Why does Paul do that there? Paul is using an ancient teaching technique common to rabbis at the time called a remes. A remes is where you would quote the first line of a popular song, and then everybody in their minds would fill in the rest of the song. And we do the same thing today, right?

If I'm like, ooh, I want to dance with. In your mind, you just suddenly filled in the rest of that song, right? So Paul quotes Psalm 44, that's what that is, which was a Psalm written in a time of despair when Israel was suffering, honestly, because of her sin, and her enemies were all around her, crushing her. And everywhere she turned, it was despair. And the Psalm throws up his hands and he says, God, is this ever going to end?

Are you ever going to bring anything good out of this? I even know it's my fault. Romans chapter eight is Paul's answer. It's God's answer to Psalm 44. Because it's Paul saying, yeah, yeah, I know you're in Psalm 44 right now. And for some of you, that Psalm 44 is not your fault. It's the injustices caused by others. And for some of you, it is your fault.

You're in a bed of your own making. And Paul says, either way, either way, you've got a savior who died and a savior who is going to bring good out of that Psalm 44. And he has transformed your Psalm 44 into a Romans eight. So then he just soars into Romans chapter eight, verses 38 and 39, where he says, I'm persuaded he's hidden in the death of their life or angels or rulers, present things present or to come or powers or height or depth or any other created thing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Some of you are living Psalm 44 today. And you're like, pastor, if you only knew what I was going through, if you knew how much of it was my own fault, you wouldn't say that God could use this for good. But can I tell you something? If you are living in that dark, desperate, hopeless place of Psalm 44, you are precisely the person that Paul is talking about in Romans chapter eight, because your Psalm 44 is swallowed up in Romans eight. Do you feel like a sheep to be slaughtered? Paul calls you more than a conqueror.

Do you feel like darkness is your only friend? Paul says that not even death itself could harm you. He says God's purpose is unchangeable. His power is unchallengeable and his love is now unconditional.

So what do you have to be afraid of? You can look into the face of God right now and say, I am who you say I am. And the who of my salvation is greater than the who of my opposition. And that makes me more than a conqueror.

You see all those things that threaten you, all those things that oppress you, persecution, famine, and sword, and even demonic powers. Paul says those can affect your situation right now. But I got good news for you. You're not your situation. Your identity is going to trump your situation. Your identity is greater than your situation. And no matter what your situation, you're defined by who you are in Christ. And you are who he says you are.

You are a treasured child. And if you are who he says you are, what is there for you to be afraid of? Who can stop the Lord Almighty, right?

He's roaring with power and fighting our battles. Every knee one day is going to bow before him with the things in heaven or things on earth. Who could stop the Lord? So who is there who could condemn you or discourage you or disrespect you or marginalize you? What unexpected news could devastate you?

What unexpected diagnosis could send you spiraling into despair? You have no need to fear any part of the future no matter how much famine or nakedness or persecution or sword it contains. And so at the end of your theology lesson in Romans 8 verse 30, you need to explode in praise like Paul does in the midst of that promise and sing with that kind of confidence and just start saying, who can stop the Lord Almighty? And realize, by the way, that sometimes God gives you those things so that you can taste some of the excellencies of God that you could not have tasted in the calm and peaceful pasture. And even maybe, well not more importantly, but also important, sometimes God lets you go through these things because other people need to see it. And the only way they'll ever be able to see it is when they see that you've got a joy and a hope in those extraordinary promises that you didn't have that they couldn't have until they saw you walk with courage and confidence through the midst of famine and nakedness and persecution and sword.

Did you hear that? You are not your situation. Your life is defined by who you are in Christ. You are who He says you are. You're listening to Summit Life with pastor and author J.D.

Greer. On top of the many free resources we have at jdgreer.com, we are always offering featured resources just for our supporters and gospel partners. And this month we have a Bible study through the first half of Romans.

J.D., can you tell us a little bit more about it? Yeah, this Bible study through Romans by Tim Keller is going to be two different books and it will go along with the series kind of around the same pace that we're going through it. You can get the first book right now when you donate to Summit Life.

Again, these donations don't come in to line our pockets. They go into to opening up new radio opportunities for us to be able to go into to new places where the gospel needs to be preached. Every study will walk you through not just a passage but it'll give you about a dozen questions that will really get you into the meat of it. One of the things I love about it is it's not telling you all the stuff that's there, but it's asking you those leading questions where you'll be able to discern it for yourself with the help of the Holy Spirit. Go to jdgreer.com right now, jdgreer.com and you can reserve yours.

Thanks, J.D. You can use this study to grow your own faith but also to help facilitate discussions with a friend or even with a group and we selected it because we always want to be offering you resources that help you be a disciple making disciple. We'd love to send you a copy with your financial gift of $35 or more to this ministry. To give, simply call 866-335-5220. That's 866-335-5220 or you can always give online at jdgreer.com.

I'm Molly Bidevich and guess what? It is time for us to move on to Romans chapter 9, so be sure to join us again Friday as we continue this important teaching series right here on Summit Life with J.D. Greer. Today's program is produced and sponsored by J.D. Greer Ministries.