The Nature of Justifying Faith

[♪ INTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ Romans chapter 4, we've been going through the book of Romans and spending some time in chapter 4 in this glorious truth of justification by faith alone, apart from works, that we gain acceptance with God and a righteousness as a gift from God through faith in Jesus Christ. We have in this passage really the center, the heart of this glorious message of justification by faith. And in chapter 4 what Paul does, he looks back to the Old Testament and looks at the Father of the faithful, Abraham himself as the ultimate picture of what justification by faith is. And as we've been going through here, we've been seeing all kinds of things about the nature of justification, the nature of the faith that justifies. And today, when I end this chapter, look at the last few verses regarding the nature of justifying faith. Justification is a glorious truth.

It's a biblical term and it's a term that refers to the fact that God receives sinners who believe on Christ based upon the righteousness of Christ alone. When we come to him in faith that he gives us, grants us a righteousness that is not our own, what Luther called an alien righteousness, clothes us in that righteousness and receives us as righteous and then treats us as righteous. In other words, this is how we become right with God.

And so this chapter has been answering this question, how can God say that you're right when you're not right and him still be right? He does that through the work of Jesus Christ. Now what I'd like to look at today is what sort of faith is this, the nature of saving faith, but notice a couple things in the text that we won't spend a lot of time talking about, but I think it's helpful maybe just to take note of this. And that is that the objects of our faith, in fact let me read from beginning in verse 22, in fact let me go back further than that, I'm sorry, let me go back to verse 16, let me get this whole section, for this reason it is by faith that it might be in accordance with grace that is God's unmerited kindness towards us, undeserved kindness. It has to be by faith in order to be in accordance with grace, in order that the promise may be certain to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the law, that is not just Abraham's physical descendants, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham who is the father of us all, as it is written the father of many nations I have made you. In the sight of him whom he believed even God who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist in hope against hope he believed in order that he might become a father of many nations.

According to that which had been spoken so shall your descendants be. And without becoming weak in faith, he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb, yet with respect to the promise of God he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God and being fully assured that what he had promised he was able to perform. Therefore also it was reckoned to him as righteousness.

Now not for his sake only was it written that it was reckoned to him, but for our sake also to whom it will be reckoned as those who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He who was delivered up because of our transgressions and was raised because of our justification. Like I didn't notice just a couple things here in this before we look at the main thing I will look at. And that is the one that we trust in and the validity of faith is always the object of faith. In other words the thing that makes your faith valid is what are you trusting? Who are you trusting?

And the description of the object of our faith in this context is very helpful because this is the God. The God that we trust for justification is the God who exerted his great power in raising Jesus Christ from the dead. Notice in the last part of verse 24 he raised Christ from the dead. That's the one we trust, the one who has resurrection power.

Now in the context that has significance because Abraham was being promised that he would have a seed, a son and inheritance. And yet he was 100 years old and his wife was 90 and they had born no children and yet God makes him this promise. And so the fact that God has the power to raise the dead, to call into being those things that are not, had great significance to Abraham because he wanted a child and he had no ability to have a child. All he had was the promise of God and the circumstances that he was in that said that promise could never be fulfilled. And yet he grew strong in faith and believed God. The second thing about the one we trust is the fact that he is the one who is merciful and therefore has accomplished a redemption for us in Christ Jesus.

You notice the first part of verse 25 he who, and notice these are descriptions of a person. It's a person we trust. It isn't simply facts. Being a believer isn't simply that you believe certain facts. It is important that you have the truth, that you have the facts, that you have the information, but it's a true, it's a person that we are trusting in and relying upon. The second thing he says about this person and the first part of verse 25 is he who was delivered over because of our transgression.

Well we have to ask a question, well who handed him over? Who delivered Jesus over? Big uproar today with the passion of Christ coming out and Mel Gibson on the firing line because they don't want this movie to offend any group within our culture that somehow somebody is going to be blamed for the death of Christ.

Well let me ask you, who did hand him over? Wasn't the Jews? It was you, that's right, it was you, but to a certain extent, but it wasn't just you. The main person that handed him over was the Father. We didn't hand him over for what he was going to go through. We didn't come up with the idea that we needed a substitute.

It was God who handed him over. And this God that we trust in is the God who handed over his own son in order to redeem us from our sins. So he's a God who raises the dead, he's a God who's so full of mercy that he would hand over his own son to redeem us from our sins. And then finally it says the one that we trust is the righteous one who accomplishes real justice. Look at verse, the last part of verse 25, here you have real justice, he was raised because of our justification. He was raised because of our justification.

And what Paul is saying there is it would have been unjust for Jesus to remain in the tomb after he had paid for our sins. He was in the tomb, he had gone to the cross, he suffered death because of our sins, but once he paid for our sins, then the just thing to do was for God to raise him from the dead. And that's exactly what he did. God raised him from the dead and fulfilled all righteousness, all justice in raising this one who took our place on the cross and died for us.

But what I'd like to do to spend our time, I'd like to really focus on and that is the nature of justifying faith. What sort of faith is credited to Abraham so as to give him righteousness? What kind of faith does it take to receive justification from God? And when we look at Abraham, he is of the pattern that we're looking at, right? He says, we believe like our Father Abraham. How did Abraham believe and when did Abraham believe?

What faith was it of Abraham's that actually justified him, that God reckoned to him as righteousness? Was it the faith that he exercised when God first spoke to him in ear of the Caldys and he brought him out of ear of the Caldys in Genesis 12? Was that the faith that justified him? Or perhaps it was the faith in Genesis 15 when he promised to make his descendants like the stars of the sky and like the sand of the seashore? Was that the faith some years later? Or was it the faith in Genesis 13 when God promised him a son in the next year and he believed God?

Or was it the faith of Genesis 22 when he offers up his son Isaac? Which act of faith was it that brought justification to Abraham? Are we justified in the very first twinkling of faith? Or does faith, does righteousness come after we have believed for a while or repeatedly? Or a lifetime of faith? What faith is it that justifies?

Well, there's two things in this text that point to the answer. The first is found, if you look at chapter 4, verse 3, notice what it says. He quotes from Genesis 15 6, am I confusing you? Romans chapter 4, verse 3, and he quotes from Genesis 15 6, that helps us because it tells us what point in his life Abraham is believing here in this particular moment that he's referring to in verse 3 of Romans chapter 4. What does the scripture say, Paul writes, and Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.

Well, that faith at that time was the way he was justified. He believed God in Genesis 15 6 when he makes this promise to him that his descendants are going to be like the stars of the sky and the the sand on the seashore. He believes God. And according to Romans 4, 3, that's when God declared him to be righteous.

But wait a minute, if you look down in verses 19 through 21, this describes Abraham's faith that was exercised 13 years later after that time in Genesis chapter 15. He's 99 years old now, almost 100 years old. If you notice in verse 19, this is now, I'm sorry, verse 19, without becoming weak and faith, he contemplated his own body. He looked at the facts. God says, I'm going to give you a son through your wife Sarah, and he looks at his body. He looks at the facts, the reality of things.

He's almost 100 years old. We're told in Genesis 99 years old. Now as good as dead, that is, he's not able to bear children since he was about 100 years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb. Sarah had never had a child her entire life, and now she's 90. How in the world could God ever fulfill promise then?

Well, in this text, in verses 19 through 21, he says, the faith that he exercised at that point, 13 years after his initial faith was reckoned to him as righteousness. Wow, therefore it was credited to him as righteousness. So because of his earlier faith and his later faith, Abraham was justified. And this is one of the things that's confusing. Sometimes you read Romans, and he says, in the beginning of chapter 4, what do we say then, that Abraham, our forefather, according to the flesh is found, for if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast, but not before God. When we go to James chapter 2, and James cites, Acts 22, when he offers up his son, and he says, that was when his faith was fulfilled.

So what's going on here? Well, what's going on is actually very important to us, and that is that the faith that Abraham exercised in Genesis 15, and then the faith that he exercised 13 years after that in Genesis 17 were credited to him as righteousness. So what do we conclude?

Well, we conclude this. First of all, we're justified on the very first act of faith. The first time that Abraham believed God trusted him, put his trust in him. He was justified. Justification is not a process. It is a verdict.

It's God's verdict. God counted him then at that moment to be righteous in his eyes. He was counted righteous and acceptable to God based upon Christ's righteousness, which was to come. Just like you were justified, the moment you rested your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you were declared righteous.

But it also tells us something else that we learned from this, and that is that this first act of saving faith is the kind of faith that will persevere. Justifying faith perseveres. The faith that justifies always perseveres. All subsequent faith. Every other act of faith that follows your initial faith in God is contained in that first faith. It's like the oak tree is contained in the acorn.

If you rest faith in Jesus Christ, the promise of Scripture is, if you have justifying faith, that faith will persevere to the very end. This is what Jonathan Edwards says. Jonathan Edwards isn't easy to read, but I've modified this just slightly and read this with me. Perseverance, that is persevering faith. He's talking about persevering in the faith. Continuing to believe in trust God.

Perseverance is virtually contained in that first act of faith. In other words, your faith throughout life is contained in that first act of faith. Persevering faith and persevering in faith is a property of that initial act of faith. God is respect to the believer's continuance in faith. He is justified by that, as though it already were, because by divine establishment it shall follow. The person who believes under justification will continue to believe and trust in this God throughout all of life.

That's the testimony of Scripture. And so it's the same faith. The faith you exercise at the beginning is the same faith that you exercise throughout your life as a believer. The reason the most prominent title that's given to a Christian and the New Testament is a believer is because that is the predominant thing about you, that you continue to believe. That's the meaning of that term. A believer is someone who continually believes.

They can't stop believing. Sometimes they stumble and so forth, but they continue to believe. Now, what are the practical implications for us?

Well, first of all, it is that justification comes all at once. This was the heart of the message of the Reformation. What had happened was the church adrifted away from biblical truth, and in order to control people, I began to teach a justification that came at the end of life. After you had lived a life of faith, a life of obedience, then at the end the verdict would be, you are righteous.

Now, that would be a very handy tool. I could use that. It's great for your kids, for raising kids, people think, you just keep telling them, if you don't act right, you're never going to make it to heaven.

Well, that's a powerful message, isn't it? We don't want to give them any advanced confidence that they're going to make it no matter what. The Catholic Church had developed this doctrine of justification. It's not a biblical doctrine, but it's a doctrine, a teaching that says that if you believe throughout your life at the end, God will declare your righteous. And the Reformers said, no. Martin Luther said, no. I have to stand on this truth that the Bible is clear. The message broke through into his heart that the just shall live by faith.

It's faith that makes us right with God, and that righteousness is a gift that comes at the beginning of our believing. So this complete and permanent justification, that's given to us through one simple act of faith, we have assurance of eternal life at the very beginning. At the very beginning of our life of faith, we are given assurance of eternal life. So justification doesn't come in installments. It doesn't come peace by peace. It's not accumulating all the pieces, and then when we get to the end, we finally have total justification.

There are no pieces. Justification is an act of God when we believe. The work of Christ in whom we have righteousness is complete and a perfect work. The reason it's complete is because of the way that it comes. Here's how it comes, according to Paul, in 2 Corinthians 521. For our sake, God made him to be sin.

That is, God made the Son to be sin, the one who knew no sin, so that in him, in the Son, we might become the righteousness of God. So the moment we believe in him, and we come to be in him, that is, we come to be connected with Christ, we have the righteousness of Christ given to us. We are clothed in it. We have it on like a garment, the Bible says.

And so when God looks at us, He sees us as being as righteous as His own Son. So justification comes all at once, being united to Christ at once through our faith, through an act of faith, not progressively, not a half here and another half later, but completely and totally, we come to have a righteous standing before God. Now this is wonderful news for sinners. Wonderful news for sinners who face a long haul in becoming what they ought to be throughout life, that God declares you to be righteous, receives you as righteous, treats you as righteous, because of your faith in Jesus Christ. Good news.

But here's the second thing this teaches us, and that is that God will make sure of our perseverance in faith. Perseverance in faith, the faith that justifies, the faith that takes hold of Christ, the faith that rests its entire hope in Christ and His righteousness and in nothing else, that faith will persevere. It will persist. It's persistent faith.

Now we know that from all kinds of ways, but let me just show you one. One is found in Romans 8, 29 and 30. Notice this. Paul says, for whom he for new, the idea for knowing in this context is for loving, for whom he chose beforehand, before the world was even founded. God set his affection upon you, for whom he for new, he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son. Predestined to become conformed to the image of his son means he determined how he was going to sanctify you, conform you into the image of Christ.

And if you look around the room, you will see that he has chosen a different path for every one of us. He has a custom fit plan for you. You all are hard cases, and God knows exactly how to sanctify you. He has a unique plan just for you. So all that he said is affection on, he predestined to become conformed to the image of his son, that he might be, that is that Jesus Christ might be the first born among many brethren. He's going to so transform you that you're going to be comfortable, and Jesus is going to be comfortable in being the first born among us.

Isn't that amazing? That he's going to be comfortable being the first born among this race that he is saving. This church, this people of God, it's an amazing thing. Nobody's going to be heightened over in the corner. We're all going to be so transformed by this work of God that we will be comfortable being called a brother of Jesus Christ, that he's our elder brother. What an amazing fact.

But then notice this. And whom he predestined, these he also called. That's when you heard the gospel, and it penetrated your heart. When the spirit of God brought the gospel to your heart, it penetrated your eyes were open to the truth of it, and you believed on Christ. When he called you, he says, all those he predestined, these he called, and whom he called. The whole impact of this phrase is every single one that he called, these he justified, because talking about effectual calling, but then notice this.

And all that he justified, he also glorified. Now, to be glorified means to be transformed in the very image of Christ. All that he justified, he glorified, even puts it in a past tense, it's so sure. This is a divine past tense. Only God can call those things that are not as though they were. You can predict all you want, but it doesn't mean it's going to happen.

But when God says something, has taken place, that has not yet taken place, it means it's certainly going to take place. And so here it tells us that God will certainly and eternally save those who have been justified. He will certainly and eternally save those who have been justified.

Now, if our justification, as Paul implies in Romans 4, if our justification comes through a faith which perseveres, then God will see to it that we certainly will persevere in faith. We will persevere in faith. I remember when this, I first got exposed this truth because I was brought up in a church that taught you could lose your salvation. We believe you could be born again, again, again, again, again, again. I saw plenty of people get saved and they got saved again, they got saved again, so they got saved again. It would go on and on and on, because you got saved, you got lost, you got saved, you went out and sined, you got lost, you came back, you got to get saved again.

And I can remember the first time I ever heard this doctrine, we called it infernal security. And this teaching that you can live like the devil and still go to heaven. Of course, that's not what the doctrine teaches, is it? Eternal security, a better called the perseverance of the saints. The perseverance of those who've truly believed is the teaching that God is a good enough parent to raise his children. And according to Hebrews, those whom the Lord loves, he chastens and he scourges every son whom he receives.

That's every father's life verse who loves to spank his kids. But the idea of that verse is much greater than that. He scourges every son whom he receives means that God is absolutely determined that you are going to persevere in faith.

Now, persevering in faith doesn't just mean, oh, I believe in Jesus, even though I'm living in disobedience to Jesus, I believe in Jesus. That's not perseverance in faith. Perseverance in faith is perseverance in obedience, right? We all know that. Faith manifests itself in obedience. So what the guarantee is is that God has committed himself that you will persevere in obedience throughout your life.

You will persevere to the end because obedience is a manifestation of faith. And God knows how to deal with his children. He's much better at it than we are.

Now, one of the things I've noticed about God is he's not near as interested in the reputation of his children as we are. If you've ever noticed this, you get people, for example, leaders, spiritual leaders, leaders in the church who go along for years and they're hiding something inside of them, a big hole inside that's never been dealt with. And then the God of the universe, the Lord Jesus Christ, decides that it's time to deal with that hole in the soul, in that believer.

And so he just pulls the cover off and they're exposed. And the exposure is we see that there is this huge problem deep down inside in the development of their character because that's what the Christian life's about. It's the development of our character to be like Christ. That's why we live the Christian life. It is the glorified God through this transforming process. He transforms our heart, our mind, our will, our feelings.

He transforms us. And God is determined that we're going to be transformed even if it means that he allows us to go through painful things. And so sometimes what he does is he lets us go along. And I think most evangelical churches are like this. I grew up in one like this, where even though it never was said, nobody would ever say this, but the fact was that you came to learn pretty early in your Christian life that it's much more important to look holy than to be holy. In other words, if people find, if you aren't holy, please don't let anybody know.

And so we learn to cover it up. And so we live our lives and we advance in the in the society of the saints. And maybe we gain places of leadership. And then one day, God says, okay, it's time to deal with this son of mine, this daughter of mine.

And so I'm going to pull the blanket off. I'm going to pull the cover off. I'm going to unveil the truth because I care more about they're being transformed into the image of Christ than I care about them having a good reputation. That's what God will do because he's a father who is absolutely committed to your transformation. You're being conformed into the image of Christ. He is going to conform you.

He is going to make you like his son because he loves you. Now if he didn't love you, all of us know parents who don't love their children, they just want their children to look good for them. And so they hide everything. They just want their kids to make them look good.

And so when their kids go through difficult times, the first priority is get them out of sight. I know a guy, one time his son, he was about 14 years old and got some serious trouble. His dad shipped him off to the Midwest to get him out of the area because he didn't want to be embarrassed by him and he didn't want to pay any money for the fines.

And so he just sent him away. To live with some other family. To hide him. God isn't like that. God isn't like that. God disciplines those whom he loves and he scorches every son whom he receives.

He loves you so much that he is absolutely committed to conforming you into the image of Christ. You will persevere to the end. I wish I had to pick the picture. Any of you seen that painting it's called forgiven.

And so picture of a man, he has a mallet in one hand and a big spike in the other. And it looks like he's been driving nails in the cross. And he has completely collapsed.

But behind him is Jesus holding him up. You ever seen that one? Nobody. We'll pay attention next time you see it.

But the picture, the picture is, I think it's a, it's a, this is how my interpretation of it anyway. Is that is a perfect picture of the person who finally, finally comes to the end of themselves. Paul says, God will bring about circumstances in your life to bring you to the end of yourself because he has a great program for you. And the program is called this, according to Paul. In order that, we would no longer trust ourselves, but him who raises the dead.

And so what God does is for people who begin to develop this pattern of Christian living where the most important thing is the externals, what they look like, what people think about them. And I have fallen that trap many, many times. And I'm sure you have too.

But he has a program for that. And it's called exposure. And he just brings us to the end of ourselves. And then it becomes obvious to us and everybody else. We can't do this on our own. We must trust him.

We must believe him. We must trust him more than we trust ourselves. Or as Solomon says in the Proverbs and in Ecclesiastes, stop trusting your heart. You can't trust your heart. You can't trust your feelings. You can't trust yourself.

God doesn't want you to trust yourself. He wants you to trust him. And so Paul says, he'll let you come to the end of yourself. He says, we even disparate of life. We didn't think we were going to be able to live.

Well, this wasn't any renegade. This was Paul the apostle. But he said, God allowed us to do that so that we would no longer trust in ourselves, but him who raises the dead. This is a glorious truth. God himself is committed to keeping his own sheep and not letting them forsake him utterly. Isn't that glorious?

Man, I love this truth. I love this truth so much for me and for you. Look at John. Look at John chapter 10. John chapter 10. This is the passage that describes Jesus as the good shepherd.

The good shepherd, the good shepherd loves his sheep. He's proved that by laying down his life for us. And listen to what he says. The Jewish leaders are complaining to him. If you look back in verse 24 of John 10, it says, the Jews therefore gathered around him and were saying to him, how long will you keep us in suspense? If you are, the Christ tell us plainly because they want to accuse him.

Jesus answered them. I told you and you do not believe. The works that I do in my in my father's name, these bear witness of me. It is so obvious that he is the Messiah that you can't miss it when you read the Gospels because he fulfills the prophetic description of him and the Old Testament.

But he says, you don't heed the evidence that the father is putting forth through me, through my works. But notice this verse 26, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. That's why you don't believe. You're not my sheep.

Now he's using this metaphor that they understood very well, that sheep knew the voice of their master. You could have four flocks all mixed in together. One shepherd comes up who's the shepherd of one fourth of those sheep and he could begin to call them to himself and his sheep knew his voice and they would come to him and they would follow him.

And so Jesus says, you do not believe because you are not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. That's the characteristic of the sheep of the shepherd. They follow the shepherd. They hear his voice. They are so attracted to the voice of the shepherd that they can't resist following the shepherd.

My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give eternal life to them and they shall never perish and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. Please let me tell you what that means. Some people, and I used to use this illustration, you know, because he goes on to say, my father has given to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand. I used to say, well here's the hand of the son and we're right there in the hand of the son and there's the hand of the father and you can't get out of his hand.

But that's not really the picture here at all. The picture here is the hand of the shepherd. We sing a song, a praise song sometimes when we talk about how we're the shepherd of his, we are the sheep of his hand. What that meant was his hand was a picture of his power to lead his sheep and to discipline his sheep and to care for his sheep and to herd his sheep where they needed to go. When it says no one's going to snatch them out of my hand, it isn't just protection, it is discipline. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God, but there's no better place to be than in the hands of God and the hands of the shepherd.

This shepherd whose sheep you are, whose voice you know and you find irresistible will lead you and what does the shepherd do with sheep who have wondering heart? Well, he does things like, for example, if you have a young lamb who just begins to go this direction in that direction, hasn't learned to follow the shepherd's voice, the shepherd, and there's dangerous things out there, they could run off a cliff, they could be eaten by a predator, and so what does the shepherd do? Well, the shepherd might break the leg and then the lamb couldn't run away. He would have to be carried by the shepherd. See when it says no one's going to pluck them out of my hand, he's no one's going to pluck them out of my control. Neither the enemies of the sheep nor the sheep themselves.

You ever tried it? I've tried it. If you tried it, you ever try to run off from the shepherd? The long reach of the shepherd's crook. It's amazing. You know what a shepherd's crook is?

That big cane with my wife used to be a shepherd and she has this big, whatever, the shepherd's crook, and it's a big tall thing like a cane, but it's got that big hook on the end to grab the sheep. And that's exactly what it is, isn't it? When you go running off the path and the shepherd says, come back here and you act like you don't hear him and you keep going. It's like you don't hear his voice and all of a sudden, wham! The shepherd's crook grabs you by the neck and you're flat on your back and he convinces you that you need to listen to the shepherd, because the shepherd loves you more than anyone else in the universe and is committed that you will persevere in the faith. See, the sheep may stray for a season.

You may stray from Christ for a season, but He will bring them back. It isn't that, well, okay, let them go. You know, sometimes your kids get people raising kids, the kid gets rebellious and you just have to let them go like the father of the protocol and you hope they come to the end themselves and come back. That's not the way it works with the shepherd. You see, the shepherd brings us back. The shepherd brings us back.

It's the shepherd's job and he will do whatever he needs to do in order to keep us on the path. The path is real simple. You wonder, what is the will of God for my life?

Well, the will of God for your life is to listen to the voice of the shepherd and follow the shepherd. It's really that simple. Listen to the voice of the shepherd. It's right here. You find it, tells you what to do. Obey his commands, follow him and that's a safe place.

You'll protect him. You know, the clouds can gather over you. Your faith may get weak and falter. You can go in circles. Sometimes the shepherd will watch you go in circles, but he's not going to let you wander off because the good shepherd knows his sheep and he will see to it that no one snatches you out of his care and his control. The sheep of the shepherd will persevere to the very end.

That's what eternal security really is. The security is the security of a savior. The security of a savior. If John says, if we stop believing, he will remain faithful because he cannot deny himself. You go through fits of unbelief.

Well, Jesus doesn't. He's faithful and he can't deny himself. And if you're a part of himself, then he will see to it that you persevere in the faith. The third thing is, is that perseverance in faith is evidence of eternal security. It's evidence of eternal security. We're justified by a faith which perseveres.

That's the nature of the faith. The nature of the faith that truly takes hold of Christ is a persevering faith. But you have to fight. The fight is this. Paul says to young Timothy, his legate in Ephesus. He says to him, fight the good fight of faith.

Now, the reason he's encouraging Timothy in this way is that Timothy has been sent on a job and things aren't going the way Timothy wants him to go. He's very timid. He's easily intimidated. And there are those here there in Ephesus who want to intimidate him.

And so Paul says to Timothy, fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called. And you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. Continuing this, in other words, fight the good fight. Are you having times of doubt? You have struggles with being obedient to the Savior?

Paul would say to you, fight the good fight. Get your eyes back on Jesus. Believe in this Christ, this shepherd of yours. Trust him. Believe on him. As John says to the church at Leodicea, sometimes you have to do the things that you did at first.

You need to renew your commitment, your vows to the Savior. But you will persevere, but you must fight the fight. Justification, glorification, he tells us are connected. They're not going to be separated. Nobody who's been justified is not going to be glorified. There is this ongoing work of faith and you have to fight the fight of faith.

You have to persevere in your faith. The great and glorious truth of eternal security is based upon this greater truth that God keeps us secure by keeping us in the faith. Haven't you noticed that? Isn't that how he's worked in your life? You've wandered off the path. You've gotten cold.

You've gotten interested in other things. You put other things in the place where only God should be. You worship other things.

But the shepherd is always there and he always gets you back on the path. And man, we got some great war stories in this church. I can guarantee you we could go around the room and everybody tell their story of how he got you back the last time.

Let me show you this scar. You see this right here? Are there just dent in my forehead? This was the last time I ran off the path and ran into this big rock. And as I lay there dying, Jesus came along and picked me up. He's a persevering Savior.

That's why we know that we have security. Eternal security for all God's justified people. Sinful saints is true and it's precious. It's glorious truth. And the evidence of being eternally secure is we persevere in the faith. We keep coming back to him.

We keep responding to his voice. We stay on this path of obedience as he goes. But what I want to impress upon you is that the Scriptures are very clear in the New Testament. This is a fight. This is not falling off a log. Sometimes we can so modify Christianity that it does seem like there's no effort to it at all.

That's why I think some of you ought to go to Uganda for six months with a Miriam. And it'll sober you up. Be good for us. That the Christian life is a war. It's battle because we have enemies. Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, who will sustain you to the end?

That is God will sustain you to the end. Guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of his son Jesus Christ our Lord. 2 Corinthians 122. And who has also put his seal? That idea of a seal is its proof of ownership. When God seals you, the word seal are a bone.

It was a word that described a stamp of ownership. I'm sorry, this isn't our bone. It's another word I got myself. That's a earnest. This word here means to put your stamp to seal something to identify it as yours which guarantees safe delivery. He has also put his seal on us and given us his spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

What's the guarantee you're going to make it? What is the guarantee you're going to continue to believe? And you are going to bet. You are going to repent of your sins. You are going to turn back and live an obedient life. What is the guarantee?

The Spirit of God who lives in you. The Spirit of God who lives in you. Don't you hate to live in a house with people you're disagreeing with and fighting with all the time? Isn't that miserable? Guess what? You have a residence.

You have a resident in your heart named the Holy Spirit and you're always going to be at odds with him unless you're living an obedience to Jesus Christ. Always. First Thessalonians 5, now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. May your whole Spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful. He will surely do it.

You know, that description there, body, soul and spirit includes, and this is the most powerful force. We're going to start looking at this next week when we get to Romans 5. Most powerful force in the lives of most believers is their feelings. I got to tell you, over 25 years, the explanation of every person I've ever talked to of why they're living in a disobedience to Christ is their feelings. They may not even recognize that's what they're describing. Sometimes they describe in different ways, but it is their feelings.

Well, the glorious thing is that God is doing a work in our lives in which He is interested in transforming your feelings as well as your thinking. Now, it comes through changing your thinking, but He has told us to be diligent in following Him so that we would no longer be dominated by the feelings of the flesh, but now we can be dominated and led and influenced by the feelings that the Spirit produces within us. Romans 8, who shall separate us from the love of Christ, salvation, hardship, you're going through hardship, you're going through really difficult times, or distress, being overwhelmed emotionally, or persecution, people are attacking you, or famine, you don't have enough to eat, or nakedness, you don't have enough to wear, or danger, scary out there, or sword, combat. As it is written, Paul says, for your sake, we are being killed all day long, we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. So this was the testimony of the saints. It's hard out here to be a follower of God, but notice this, no, in all these things.

We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us, 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. Can you think of any category He doesn't mention? The sure category fit here? Absolutely. If you aren't enjoying this security that the New Testament teaches that you have in Christ, and this peace with God, which He describes in the next chapter, Romans chapter 5, therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace, we have peace with God. If you're not experiencing that peace with God, then either you have never trusted in Christ, or there's a real dark cloud that's temporarily concealing the face of Christ from you.

But in either case, it doesn't matter in both cases, the answer is for you to consider Christ to fix your mind on Christ, to look at Him, to consider His righteousness. Maybe you are freely by simply trusting in Him, believing in Him. And as you believe Him today, as you walk in faith today, you will experience the blessings of the life of righteousness, clothe in the righteousness of Christ and being transformed into the very character and image of Christ. I would encourage you that you will persevere, if you've started in the faith, you will persevere in the end. And if you're trying to live in disobedience to this Christ, it's a losing battle. It's a losing battle because you're fighting Christ.

Fight the good fight of faith. Trust Him. Get your eyes upon Him. Walk in obedience and trust in Christ alone. Come to the Word. Immerse yourself in the Word.

Immerse yourself in the revelation of Jesus Christ. Come to know Him better. Come to understand Him better. Come to understand His will and His purpose for your life. And His glorious gifts better. This is your shepherd.

And His sheep know His voice. Let's pray. Our Father, we are grateful for justification that we've been declared righteous, that we have a righteous standing before you. We thank you for the doctrines of grace, these glorious truths that you've revealed in your Word, that we chosen before the foundation of the world, that you called us to yourself. You empowered us through the Spirit to believe on you. We are so blessed by the doctrines of grace.

But, oh, God, we thank you today for the grace of living the life of obedience, that grace is manifested in our lives daily through a life of obedience. And I pray that you'd help us to experience this justifying work of Christ, the ongoing effects of it as we trust Him every day, as we draw closer to you every day, as we begin to experience, continue to experience the effects of faith in our lives, in our heart and mind and will and emotions and all phases of our life, Father, we pray, sanctify us and change us. Make us like your Son, we pray, in Christ's name. Amen.