Let no Christian soul tremble in fear, for God himself is here

“Those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? …Who can bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died – more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.”

– Romans 8:29-34

What undeserved grace we peoples of God have received! That God himself should choose men and women in whom there was no pleasing thing, no righteousness, and no strength to free themselves from the sin in which they dwelt! And not only this, but He has chosen them and has promised by all His infinite grace through His Son to make them into images in the likeness of Christ. Just as Christ took on the likeness of sinful man, so in the end shall those who have been chosen by God be made into the likeness of Christ. So sure a thing it is that the Apostle Paul was able to write of our final glorification as a thing that has already happened.

It is with that same confidence – the confidence that is so sure of the truth in God’s word that it believes them as if they had already come to pass – that we are to live lives completely given over to God. We are to sacrifice ourselves and our fleshly desires, putting to death by the Spirit every sin, deed, thought, and passion that would lead us away from Christ. Our lives are to be led by His Spirit, not by our own. (Rom. 8:13)

Rise up, oh men and women! Dwell upon the glorious truths held within the eighth chapter of Romans and let them carry you out upon wings of infinite strength. If God is for us, who can be against us? Not government, not death, not starvation, not another human, and not even the wickedness left in our own bodies that so often causes us to falter in our walk; none of it can come against us and condemn us, for God has justified. And know this, oh saint; when God does something He does it completely, above and beyond any chance of retracting the deed. Christ Jesus, who died and now resides at the right hand of God eternally interceding on our behalf, has purchased us for God (Rev. 5:9) and it is a purchase that shall never be revoked.

Gaze upon the wonder of those things, and be not slow to respond. Be reckless in your devotion; cast off all else. Set your mind daily, minute by minute, upon Christ and what He has done. Know that He will not fail you who God has called, justified, is sanctifying, and will soon enough glorify. Let that knowledge free you from all constraints to live a comfortable life, to avoid pain, and to provide for yourself. For is it not true that if He “did not spare his own Son, but gave Him up for us all – how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32)