Why a True Believer Cannot Be Lost

Romans, chapter 8, verse 31 through verse 39. Paul reaches the climax of this magnificent chapter.

And he says, What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Shall God that justifieth? Who is he that condemneth? Shall Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us? What 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 thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that 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 creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Paul is saying to us that the believer is secure in the grace of God. But can a true child of God ever be lost? This question has unfortunately divided some of God's people.

I have never made this doctrine a test of fellowship or a test of orthodoxy because I know good people disagree. But my own conviction is that a true child of God can never be lost. The Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 8 is hammering away at the security of the believer.

More secure is no one ever than the loved ones of the Savior. In Romans chapter 8 Paul is discussing this whole matter of security. Can a true child of God ever be lost? You say, well, does it make any difference? I think it makes a great deal of difference.

Imagine the problems a man would have if he was not sure if he was legally married to his wife. A person says, I know I am married. I belong to her and she belongs to me, and therefore whatever privileges, responsibilities, benefits, and blessings accrue to this marriage, we know we belong to each other.

I can't conceive of a Christian having much of a witness if he's not sure he has anything or if he's afraid he might lose it. I can't conceive of a Christian having much joy or much effervescence of blessing if he's constantly worrying about whether or not he's lost something. It seems to me that the very foundation on which we stand has to be the security that we have in Jesus Christ.

It makes all the difference in the world in your fellowship, in your witness, your peace in your heart, just the joy that you have day by day to know beyond a shadow of a doubt you are a child of God and you always will be a child of God. Whenever you bring this subject up, people usually dive into the book of Hebrews, and I always say, why don't you dive into the book of Romans? Why do you want to dive into the book of Hebrews? Let's dive into the book of Romans and see what Paul has to say about this matter of the security of the believer. Before we look into these verses, Romans 8, 31 through 39, let's be sure we understand what we mean by a child of God.

Nowhere does this chapter teach that everyone who professes faith in Christ is truly born again. Nowhere does this chapter say that those who lift their hand or sign a card or even walk an aisle or pray a prayer are truly born again. People have come to me and said, have you heard about so-and-so? Well, tell me.

Oh, he's lost his salvation. I fear not. I think he never had it to begin with.

There are many, many people who profess to be saved, but their lives deny it. And Jesus said, by their fruits you shall know them. In Romans 8, Paul says the test of real salvation is, do you have the witness of the Spirit of God in your heart? If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he's none of his.

And so the real test of salvation is not that we have joined a church or we've walked an aisle or even had some kind of exciting experience in a prayer meeting. The real test of salvation is this, do I have the Holy Spirit of God witnessing in my heart? Now if not, all of my religion is sham. All of my morality will never get me into heaven.

Paul is very careful in Romans chapter 8 to lay a strong foundation in those first 30 verses. He says this is what it means truly to be saved. Now, if you are truly one of God's children, according to Romans 8, 31 through 39, you cannot be lost.

And Paul gives to us five very compelling arguments to prove that a true child of God can never be lost. Argument number one is in verse 31, God is for us. What shall we then say to these things? All these things we've been talking about in the last 30 verses, what shall we say? Well, there's only one thing we can say.

God is for us. And if God is for us, who can be against us? I can detect a little bit of a smile in Paul's voice as he dictated or wrote these words. Can you imagine if God is for us, who in the world can ever be against us? Now it makes it very clear in this section that God is for us.

For example, I noticed back in verse 26 that the Holy Spirit is making intercession for us. I notice in verse 32 that God the Father delivered up God the Son for us. In verse 34, I read that Jesus Christ is making intercession for us.

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit together and individually are for us. Now God's relationship to me can be on one of three levels. Either he's against me or he's unconcerned about me or he's for me.

I cannot conceive of God being against me. I'm one of his children. I cannot conceive of God ignoring me.

I'm a child of his love. I can only conceive of my Heavenly Father saying, there is my Son and I am for him. This is a conclusion that Paul draws from everything he said in the first 30 verses of Romans chapter 8. There's no condemnation.

Why? God is for us. The Holy Spirit lives within to give us victory. Why? Because God is for us.

We don't have to worry about circumstances and suffering. Why? Because God is for us. He's prepared glory.

Then you get down to verse 28. If verse 28 doesn't convince you that God is for us, nothing will convince you. We know that all things are working together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

God is working all things together for us. If God is working all things together for us, how can we ever be lost? Oh, my friend, what a beautiful thing it is to awaken in the morning, to look the day right straight in the face, and then to look up to God and say, dear God, I'm so glad that you are for me. You're not going to be up there making life difficult for me today.

You aren't going to discourage me. I don't find any place in the Bible where God ever discourages people. He discourages us not to sin.

He discourages us against sin. This is true. But he'll never discourage his children.

The Holy Spirit is the encourager, the comforter. Jesus Christ never discouraged anybody. And so you and I can walk into the day knowing that our Father's smile is upon us because God is for us.

You come to me and you say, Pastor, I think I can lose my salvation. My friend, if you lost your salvation, God would lose far more than you would. God has far more at stake in your salvation than you do.

He would lose the testimony of his faithfulness. He would lose his own glory. Romans 8, verse 29 says, and verse 30, these two verses tell us that God has determined that we shall one day share his glory.

And if God be for us, who can be against us? Satan himself cannot snatch us from the hands of God. Our sins cannot drive us from the hands of God because God is for us. And the only way I could ever lose my salvation would be if God decided to turn against me.

And if God turns against me, he turns against his own child. And he could never do that. Argument number two is in verse 32.

God is for us and Jesus Christ died for us. He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. Here's the argument.

How shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Paul is a master at logic. Sometimes Paul argues from the lesser to the greater, and sometimes Paul argues from the greater to the lesser. Our Lord Jesus loved to argue from the lesser to the greater.

He would say something like this. If you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father in heaven give good things to them that ask him from the lesser to the greater? He says, if God is taking care of the sparrows when they fall, how much more will he take care of you? If God watches over the grass, which today is, and tomorrow it's thrown into the oven, won't he take care of you? He argues from the lesser to the greater. Here Paul is arguing from the greater to the lesser.

If God has given to you the greatest gift that he ever had, Jesus Christ, won't he give you everything else that you need to live the Christian life? Can you conceive of Almighty God giving his Son for us, and then somewhere down the line we lose our salvation? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all. The beautiful thing is this. God did this when you were his enemy.

Back in Romans chapter 5 and verse 10, Paul has another one of his little bits of logic. Verse 10, Romans 5, for if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. That's a beautiful argument.

He is saying if when you were an enemy, God gave you salvation, now that you are his Son, is he going to take it away from you? If when we were enemies, Jesus died for us, now that we are reconciled and he lives for us, is he going to reject us? Don't you see the logic of this? You come and say, pastor, I believe I could lose my salvation. I say to you, well, if you can, then Jesus Christ died in vain. God gave his very best.

He gave his all when Jesus died on the cross. Now you are a Christian. You know Christ is your Savior.

Does this mean that you're going to lose that? Let's go one step further on this. How shall he not also with him freely give us all things? With him. Every blessing you get comes in a package with Jesus Christ.

All the fringe benefits of faith come with Jesus Christ. When you receive Jesus Christ, you receive, get this now, everything you will ever need to live a victorious, successful, productive Christian life. You need nothing more.

It's all been given to you. How shall he not also with him freely, graciously, without money and without price, freely give us all things? You say, yeah, but sometimes I sin. Then he will freely give you his forgiveness.

Sometimes I stumble and fail. Welcome. We all do that.

And he will freely grant his cleansing. The argument is so logical. He gave you his best.

He'll give you everything else. Having given you his best, he won't take it away from you. Your salvation does not depend upon your good works.

It depends upon his finished work. One of the greatest words ever found anywhere in sacred literature is when Jesus cried out, It is finished. As I have often said, and probably will say many times, your salvation doesn't mean that Jesus made the down payment and you keep up the installments.

Your salvation means Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe. Argument number one, God is for you. Argument number two, Christ died for you.

Therefore you cannot lose your salvation. Argument number three, verse 33, God has justified you. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Shall God that justifieth? The authorized version reads, It is God that justifies.

They both mean the same thing. Can anyone ever come up to us and point to us and say, You ought to lose your salvation. Now no man can do this.

There is not a man in Moody Church, a woman in Moody Church who has the right to point the finger at anybody else. We are all sinners. There is not one of us whose hands are so clean that we can look at someone else and say, You are going to lose your salvation.

Can the devil do it? No. Paul is saying here in verse 33, God has justified you. Therefore you cannot lose your salvation.

What is justification? Justification is the gracious act of God whereby He declares the believing sinner righteous in Jesus Christ. Justification to use the Sunday school language means just as if I had never sinned. Get this now.

When you were saved, God didn't just simply forgive you. If that's all salvation is, the next time you sin, you're in trouble. You've lost your salvation.

God didn't just pardon you. Pardon means you're guilty, but we'll let you off. God didn't just pardon you.

If that's the case, the next time you break the law, you're back in jail. God justified you. You know what that means? God took your record and He wrote across your record, sinless in Jesus Christ, righteous in Jesus Christ.

Some folks don't want to accept this. They think that it's too good to be true, and it is too good to be true, but it's true. There are many things that are too good to be true, and justification is one of them.

When you trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, God performed a spiritual transaction that will never be changed. He took all of your guilt and all of your debt and laid it on Jesus. That took place at Calvary.

He took all of Jesus' righteousness and put it to your account when you trusted Christ. Some of you have the idea that when you trust Jesus Christ, all your past sins are forgiven, and from then on it's up to you. That's not what the Bible teaches.

Justification doesn't mean God forgives your past sins and says, okay, be good from now on. Five seconds after you walk away, you're in trouble again. No, justification means God declares you are righteous in Jesus Christ, and that never changes.

There are people here at the Moody Church today who are more sanctified than others. They're sweeter and more loving and better witnesses, and they live holier lives. It's possible to be more sanctified than someone else.

You can't be more justified than somebody else. Because justification is equal for all believers. God declares you are righteous in Jesus Christ.

Now, who's going to accuse you? Well, Satan would like to. Back in the book of Zechariah, there's an interesting scene in which Satan accuses the Jewish nation. Zechariah chapter 3. There's some symbolism here, but I want to explain this.

It's the most beautiful illustration. Zechariah the prophet had a vision, and he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuketh thee, O Satan, even the Lord who hath chosen Jerusalem rebuketh thee.

Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and stood before the angel. And he answered and spoke unto those who stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.

Now what's this all about? The high priest was never supposed to wear dirty clothes, always clean. Here's the high priest standing before God in dirty clothes. You know why? The nation had sinned.

And Satan's standing there pointing to the dirty clothes. And he's saying, God, you're a holy God. You're a just God.

Condemn them, condemn them, condemn them. That's what Satan does every time you sin. He's the accuser.

And usually he finds some saints to help him in his accusations. Look at what she's done, look at what they've done, destroy them, punish them. The accuser stands before the throne of God and points to our sins, upsteps the Lord Jesus Christ, the advocate, and he points to his wounds.

And he says, I died for those sins. This person is one of my chosen ones. The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, even the Lord who hath chosen Jerusalem.

Paul says, Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect, his chosen ones? We stand before God. And God says, Take away those filthy garments. I will forgive you your sins.

Why? You're one of my chosen ones. You have been justified. This does not mean that God winks at our disobedience.

God chastens his children if they repeatedly disobey. It does mean that God will not condemn one of his chosen ones because those chosen ones wear the righteousness of Christ. So here's the third argument Paul presents, proving that God will not cast out any of his children.

God has justified us. One more remark on that, and we'll move to the fourth argument. You may not believe this, but it's scriptural.

It's true. God is no longer dealing with you on the basis of law. You see, the unsaved person is under law, and every time he breaks the law, he adds up more condemnation.

God is not dealing with you and me on the basis of law. He's dealing with you and me on the basis of grace through the righteousness of Jesus Christ. This is why nobody can condemn the Christian.

Satan can't do it. The fallen angels can't do it. Ungodly men can't do it because we're not even under law.

We're under grace. Now, this is not an excuse for us to go out and sin. Quite the contrary.

When I stop to realize that I'm not under law, I'm under God's grace, it makes me want to live a more obedient life for his glory. The next time you're accused, Satan comes to you and says, aha, see what you've done. Say, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.

God is for us. Christ died for us. God has justified us.

Now, there's a fourth argument found in verse 34. Jesus Christ is making intercession for us. Who is he that condemneth? Well, is God going to condemn us? No, he justified us.

Is the Holy Spirit going to condemn us? No, he lives in us. Is Jesus Christ going to condemn us? Of course not. He died for us, and right now he's making intercession for us.

Shall Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. That word also means somebody else is making intercession for us. Back in verse 26, the Holy Spirit is making intercession for us.

Now, watch this. When you were saved, God gave you the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives within your body, and he makes intercession for you according to the will of God.

Up in heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ is your high priest, and he's making intercession for you according to the will of God. I should think that God the Father would answer the prayers of his Son. I should think that God the Father would answer the prayers of the Holy Spirit.

If my Christian life depended upon me, I would lose it five minutes after I received it. But it doesn't depend upon me. It depends upon him.

You remember the person who said to the dear Christian lady, Aren't you afraid you will slip through his fingers? She said, Of course not. I am one of his fingers. I belong to his body.

And this is true. The Holy Spirit of God within me prays with groanings that cannot be uttered. And he's saying, Oh, Father, keep him in your will.

Guide him. And then God the Son up in heaven is praying. You say, What's he praying about? Well, God the Son is our high priest up in heaven.

If you'll turn to Hebrews chapter 7, you'll find out what he's praying about. I think he's praying about our needs, our burdens, our problems. But there's something very special he prays about.

Hebrews chapter 7, verse 25. Wherefore, he, Jesus Christ, is able also to save them to the uttermost. Pause.

It doesn't say save them from the uttermost. We read that verse as though no matter how deep you may be in sin, he's able to save you. That is true.

But this verse doesn't say that. Wherefore, he is able also to save them completely. That's the Greek word.

To the uttermost. Who? All that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. As long as Jesus Christ is alive, you're going to be saved.

And my Bible tells me he's ever living to make intercession for us. Do you see how beautiful that is? Your salvation is secure because Jesus Christ lives for you. And he lives by the power of an endless life.

He's never going to die. And what's he doing? He's simply representing you before God. And God always answers his prayers.

I have searched through the scriptures, and I have yet to find a prayer of the Lord Jesus that God didn't answer. Now, what is Jesus praying? What did he pray in John chapter 17? Listen to it. Father, I will that those whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which I had before the foundation of the world.

What is Jesus praying? Father, take them to heaven. Is God the Father going to answer that prayer? Why, certainly he is. He always answers the prayers of his Son.

That's why I know a true believer can never be lost because Jesus lives and intercedes for us. The final argument Paul gives is in verses 35 through 39. God the Father is for us.

No question about that. Jesus died for us. God justified us.

Jesus lives and intercedes for us. The climax of the whole thing is God loves you and nothing can separate you from his love. What Paul has been doing here is this.

In verses 31 through 34, Paul has been saying, Can God fail us? Oh, no. God can't fail us. The Father can't fail us.

He is for us. The Son can't fail us. He died for us.

He is interceding for us. Well, then, can we fail God? That's what some of you folks have been thinking. You've been saying, Sure, preacher.

No question about what God can do. But what about us? We go through difficulties. We get bitter.

We even get full of unbelief. God won't fail us. But is it possible we might fail God? And the answer in verses 35 through 39 is no, no matter what circumstances of life you may be in, God loves you.

And that love continues. This chapter begins with no condemnation. It ends with no separation.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Now, he's not just talking about God's love for everybody. There's a sense in which God loves the whole world.

He's talking about that special personal Father love to his children. What is he saying? Your love may grow cold. You may go through circumstances that make you cry out bitterly and say, Why God? But he said, in spite of all these circumstances, nothing can separate you from God's love.

Look at it. He tells us here that tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, these things won't separate us from God's love. They're a part of the Christian life.

Verse 36, they come for his sake. For your sake, we're killed all the day long. Christians expect persecution.

They expect difficulties. They expect perils. Nowhere does God promise Christians that they're always going to be rich and prosperous.

So we expect difficulties. In fact, in verse 37, he makes us more than conquerors over these difficulties. How do you become more than a conqueror? You don't just overcome the difficulty.

You use the difficulty to overcome. That's how you're more than a conqueror. Even an unsaved person can say, Well, I'll go through this surgery.

I'll make it somehow. But a Christian doesn't just say, I'll make it somehow. He says, I'm going to use this experience to build myself up and to bring glory to God.

That's how you're more than a conqueror. You don't just win the battle. You use the battle for the winning of the victory.

Somebody comes along and says, Yes, but what about the other things? How about verse 38? Life, death, Satan, things present, things to come, height, depth. Paul, isn't there something in the universe that can separate us from God's love? And Paul says, No, I am persuaded that none of these things shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. My friends, when these things come to your life, the first thing you say is, God doesn't love me.

If God loved me, why did this happen? If God loved me, why did that happen? Paul is saying, Wait just a minute. These things may be the evidence that God loves you. Because when a Christian goes through these experiences, it draws him closer to the love of God.

No, a true Christian can never be lost. The circumstances of life, including the onslaughts of the principalities and powers, the evil angels, none of these things can separate us from His love. That says to me that we have a very wonderful Savior and a very wonderful salvation.

Our security is found not in ourselves but in Him. If you are keeping yourself saved, you may not be saved at all. But if you are trusting Him to keep you, then you have that liberty and that joy and that power that comes from assurance.

And you can sing from your heart, Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine! He died for me. He lives for me.

One day He shall come for me. I am His, and He is mine, and nothing shall separate me from Him. Do you have that kind of assurance today? Oh, I trust that you do.

Now, if you don't, God can give it to you. The Holy Spirit of God can take the word of God and replace your question marks with exclamation points, and you'll be able to say, I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day. If He was great enough to be able to save me, He certainly is great enough to be able to keep me and one day take me to heaven.

Father, we are grateful for the security we have in Christ and that when the Holy Spirit gives us this blessed assurance, it humbles us and makes us want to be more obedient. How wonderful you are to give to us a salvation that is complete. Oh, how marvelous! Now, Lord, may we believe it.

May we not go by our feelings or our circumstances. May we believe your word. Thank you for these compelling arguments that assure us that a true child of God never can be lost.

I pray for those who are not your children that they might come and trust Christ and be saved. Oh, God, apply this word to our hearts and do in us what needs to be done that we might do your will for Jesus' sake. Amen.