I invite you to take God's Word and let's turn to Romans chapter 5. Romans chapter 5. We're going to begin reading at verse 1 and we'll read all the way to verse 11. Verses 1 through 11 in Romans chapter 5. Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die. But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since therefore we have now been justified by his blood, Much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more now that we are reconciled shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have now received reconciliation. And so reads the infallible, the inerrant, and the all-sufficient Word of the living God. Why would a Christian believe that they could actually lose their salvation? Among many reasons that might be offered, the central and fundamental reason for such a conviction lies in the fact that they sincerely believe salvation to be something which is solely determined by man's will from beginning to end. In other words, salvation is provided and offered to the sinner by God, but it is the sinner who determines if he will accept the offer and thereby keep it till he reaches heaven. In the history of the church, this belief became popular among Protestants in the early 17th century by a theology called Arminianism. And since that time, it has been held as a doctrinal distinctive among the Methodists, the Pentecostals, the Free Will Baptists, and the Church of the Nazarene. But of course what matters most about this teaching is whether or not the Word of God actually affirms that a believer in Christ can really lose their salvation. Does God's Word teach that a Christian can walk away from Christ and forfeit the salvation he has received from Christ and thus be finally lost? Well, I'll first answer this question by saying that if and you can just see that in italics, if salvation was determined solely by man's will from beginning to end, then yes, he could lose his salvation, if that were true. However, when we come to the word of God, we do not find salvation to be a work of man, sustained and kept by man's will. But instead, we discover that salvation is of the Lord. It is the work of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit working together to bring forth, accomplish, and seal forever the salvation of God's people. Those whom God saves will therefore remain saved because God has done everything to ensure that His people will not be finally lost. Now there are ample passages of scripture which speak very directly to this precious truth which we call the preservation and perseverance of the saints. For example, our Lord Jesus Christ assures us that we will never be finally lost but saved to the end. In John 639, Jesus says that it is the Father's will not to lose any of those whom his Father has given him to save. And John chapter 10 verses 27 and 29, perhaps the greatest of all statements in the whole of scripture concerning the preservation and perseverance of the saints. In this passage, our Lord says, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the father's hand. But we go further. In John chapter 14 verses 2 and 3, Jesus assures us that in my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself that where I am, you may be also. And then in John 17 and verse 24, Jesus is praying for his church whom the father has given him and in that prayer our Lord says father I Desire that they whom you have given me May be with me where I am to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world so on the one hand Jesus assures us that he's coming back to take us and bring us to be with him in heavenly glory. He gives us that assurance. I'm coming back to receive you and take you to be with me in heavenly glory. But on the other hand, we see Jesus praying that the Father will bring us to heavenly glory to be with him and see his majestic glory. The great point of what we see in these selections from John's Gospel is that Jesus Christ our Lord assures us that nothing will take us away from Him because He is keeping us to the very end by His divine will and power. But as we branch out into the rest of the New Testament, we see further evidence that the Bible teaches the preservation and perseverance of the saints. In passages like Romans chapter 8, 30 to 39, where we're promised that nothing in all this world shall separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Then in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 8, we're promised that God will sustain us to the very end of our days and present us without guilt at the day of judgment. In Ephesians chapter 1 verses 13-14 and Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 30, we're told that the Holy Spirit has been given to us as a down payment, as it were, to our future eternal inheritance of future redemption. In Philippians 1 and verse 6 we have the promise that God will finish the work He started in us till the day of Christ Jesus. In Colossians 3 and verse 3 we see that our new life as believers is secured forever with Christ in God. In 1 Thessalonians 5 verses 9 and 10 we're promised that we'll never see the wrath of God as a final judgment of our souls, but shall obtain full salvation and thus be with Christ eternally. And as one last example in the benediction from Jude 24 and 25, a passage you've never heard before and you've never read. Are you catching that? It's what I repeat every Sunday at the end. We see that all believers are promised that God is able to keep us from finally falling away and therefore sustaining us and bringing us before his heavenly presence blameless with joy. So suffice it to say, With this very small sample we have seen, because there's so much more that we could have looked at, salvation is not something God places into the hands of his people to preserve and not lose by their willpower. In fact, I cannot think of anything more frightening than the prospect of God saving me and then leaving me to keep myself saved to the very end. Let's be very honest about such an idea like this. If this were true, none of us would make it to heaven. None of us. Left to ourselves, we are no match for the world, the flesh, or the devil, making shipwreck of our faith. The truth is, salvation is God's doing from beginning to end, If He saves you, He will keep you saved. And to believe otherwise is to undermine the sovereignty, omnipotence, mercy, grace, and truthfulness of God. Indeed, let me go further. Those Christians who believe that salvation can be lost are actually affirming that God has not done enough to really save. He hasn't done enough. They are unwittingly and inadvertently denying the power of God to save. Moreover, when Jesus Christ came into this world, everything He did to save His people from their sins ends up as nothing more than a mere fiction if, in the end, salvation can be lost. So let's be very clear as to the critical importance of this biblical doctrine identified as the preservation and perseverance of the saints. The integrity of God himself hangs on this issue. Have you ever thought about that? The very integrity of God himself hangs on this issue. You say, why is that? Well it's because God has promised in his word that those he saves he will keep saved and they will never be lost. And either that promise is true or it's not. But of course we know this promise is absolutely and infallibly true because it is God's promise and God cannot lie. So every Christian then can be certain and they can be secure in the eternality of their salvation. Now, in view of this great truth, we return to our present study in Romans 5, 1 through 11. where this morning we will be concluding this series as we look at verses 9 through 11. This passage as a whole is giving us snapshots as it were of those saving realities which work to provide us with a real spiritual sense of the certainty and security of our salvation. Looking back then over the ground we've covered from verses 1 through 8. We've seen, first of all, that since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God, access to God, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. What's more is that these blessings can never be taken away from us. They are permanent. They are immovable because they come to us through the mediation of Jesus Christ and His saving work. The keeping of them is therefore not dependent on our performance. In addition to this, our assurance of salvation is given in all our sufferings as Christians. The reason we have assurance in suffering is because of what God has designed suffering to be for us. It produces in every believer a greater faith, obedience, and love to God, which in turn gives us greater proof that we in fact belong to God and His promises to us in Christ are thus certain and true. And lastly, we saw that the foundation of salvation assurance is built on one supreme fact and premise, Christ died for us. Christ died for us. So that if we ever doubt God's love for us and his promise to keep us safe, Romans 5 and verse 8 tells us to go to one place that will sweep away all such doubts. We go to where Jesus laid down His sinless righteous life for our hell-deserving unrighteous life so that we would be saved and brought to God. And there at the cross we see that God is ever showing and confirming His love for us because Christ, His eternal Son, died for us. This is the foundation which the assurance of our salvation is securely, permanently, and forever built upon. But turning now to verses 9 through 11 here in Romans 5. We're going to consider how Paul fans out the reason why the death of Christ is the bedrock of our assurance of final salvation. In other words, we're going to see what is behind this profound confession of divine truth that Christ died for us. And most importantly, we're going to see here in Romans 5, 9 through 11 that the death of Christ for us is the assurance of actual salvation. It is the assurance of actual salvation. This means that Jesus did not die to make salvation a mere possibility, but he actually accomplished salvation by his death for us. When Christ died on the cross, he died to save those for whom he died. He did not die to merely provide salvation for sinners, but he died to really save sinners. His death achieved, obtained, guaranteed, and ensured forever the salvation of every sinner that his death was intended to save. This is why Christ's death for us is the foundation for salvation assurance, which in turn gives us the assurance of actual salvation. So then from Romans 5, 9 through 11, I want us to see what Christ did indeed accomplish to save those for whom he died, out of which we gain this assurance of actual salvation. I'll approach this by way of two questions. First, what did Jesus accomplish by his death? And then second, what should be our response to God through Christ for the salvation we receive? To begin with then, let's consider what did Jesus accomplish by his death, reading verses 9 and 10. Since therefore we have now been we have now been justified by his blood. Much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. Where if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his son much more now that we are reconciled shall we be saved by his life. It must be stated at the very outset of our exposition of these two verses that Paul is using here a form of reasoning and logic which is called from the greater to the lesser. That is to say if one thing is true then how much more must something else be true? And we see this clearly in Paul's usage of the term much more. Much more. This phrase, this term connects us with the truth of what Jesus fulfilled by His death for us and the results or consequences that follow that achievement. Certainly the great point Paul is making by this form of reason and logic is to assure Christians that if Jesus accomplished so great a salvation by his death on our behalf, then how much more shall he keep us saved through his life from the final judgment and condemnation of all unbelieving sinners. This is the general overall case Paul is establishing here in verses 9 and 10. But of course what concerns us is to know what Jesus did procure by his death for us. In the big picture, he obtained salvation. Yet here in verses 9 and 10, Paul gets very specific about the salvation which Christ achieved for us. In verse 9, Paul says that we have been justified by Christ's blood. And in verse 10, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son. So when Christ died for us, He accomplished and secured our justification before God and our reconciliation to God. This was not something Jesus made possible for sinners who might accept it, nor was it something he provided for sinners who might accept it. But for all those for whom Jesus died, he obtained their justification and reconciliation. Therefore, his death is the only basis and thereby the only grounds of assurance that we have for being justified and reconciled to God. Now it is important at this point that we understand these terms justified and reconciled. To be justified as it is taught in the context of the biblical gospel means to be counted righteous by God on the basis of Christ's righteousness which has been imputed to us through faith in him. This means, then, that every demand of God's law, both in precept and penalty, was satisfied completely by Christ in our place. Therefore, we are no longer under the condemnation of the law for our sin, and will never again be under the condemnation of the law for our sin, because Jesus took that condemnation and consumed it by His blood on the cross. Thus, the consequence we have received is that we have been justified by Christ's blood. Justification is the opposite of condemnation, and because Jesus achieved this for us by his death, it is therefore irrevocable. And based on the securing of our justification by the death of Christ, no Christian should ever fear facing the wrath of God reserved in the final judgment for all unbelievers. This is the blessed assurance we're given right here in Romans 5 and verse 9 look at it Since therefore we have now been justified by his blood much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. All those for whom Jesus died shall be saved by him from the wrath of God. And our only confidence in this salvation from the wrath of God is that the Son of God by his blood satisfied his father's wrath which was justly and rightly set against us for our sin. Hence, we have been justified by the death of Christ. Our condemnation is forever taken away from us because Christ died for us. But we have also been reconciled to God by the death of His Son, as we're told next in verse 10. Now, what is reconciliation? The basic meaning of this term is to remove the grounds of hostility between two parties and change the relationship from one of enmity to one of friendship. When this term is used in the biblical context of salvation, it presupposes disrupted relations between God and men. Men as sinners are hostile to God, and God, because of His holiness, is justly set against man as a rebel and a sinner. Therefore, to be reconciled to God is absolutely mandatory from the standpoint of our salvation. Mandatory. Now, in the context of Romans 5 and verse 10, it's very important for us to understand what Paul is actually emphasizing concerning our being reconciled to God. The point of this verse is not to focus on our hostility towards God being removed, but rather the focus is on God's holy enmity towards us, which is removed by the death of his son. Let's see how Paul works this out. First, this being reconciled to God occurred, notice, while we were enemies. while we were enemies. This term enemies must be understood passively rather than actively. In other words, the emphasis here is not on our active hostility toward God, but instead it is relating to God's separation from us as his enemies. James Denny makes the same observation in his commentary on Romans 5 and verse 10 when he notes, We were God's enemies, not merely ourselves hostile to God, but in a real sense the objects of his hostility by reason of our sin. This meant that our restoration to divine favor depended entirely upon God, the offended one, taking the initiative in reconciling the offenders to himself. Therefore, to suggest that what is in view is the laying aside of our hostility is to miss the point of the whole passage. So then all the stress of Romans 5 and verse 10 is being placed upon God's holy hostility towards us as his enemies and what he did to remove that hostility and bring us to himself as his friends. So what then did God do to reconcile us to himself? Since the reason for his separation from us and consequent enmity against us was our sin, what did God do to bring forth reconciliation? Well, look at Romans 510. While we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by what? By the death of his son. By the death of his son. God sent his son into the world to die for his enemies. To die for his enemies. So that his enemies would be reconciled to him and become by Christ's death the friends of God. Therefore Jesus accomplished and achieved by his death the removal of God's righteous enmity towards us by bearing the punishment of all our sins and thus bringing us into a permanent state of peace with God. Based on this, honestly, how could any Christian ever conceive of this horrible idea that they could lose their salvation? Seriously. Quite frankly, to think in these terms is really to betray the fact that they do not understand what Jesus Christ has, in fact, obtained for them by His death on the cross. Commenting once in this regard, Martin Lloyd-Jones said, God does not look upon me now as an enemy. He looks upon me as a friend. And not only as a friend, but as His child Is it conceivable that God who has done that greatest thing of all for me when I was an enemy is suddenly going to abandon me or fail me now that I am his child? It is insulting to the very character of God to imagine such a thing. To talk about falling away from grace is, apart from anything else, nonsense. It is nonsense. Now, in consequence to our being reconciled to God by the death of His Son, we're told that we shall be saved by His life. We shall be saved by his life. Here again is another truth simply to establish the believer's assurance of actual salvation. The sense of these words can be understood in this way. If Christ reconciled us to God by his death, then how much more shall he keep us saved by his life? It's the greater to the lesser argument. If the dying Savior reconciled us to God, surely the living Savior can and will keep us reconciled. Or as John MacArthur so wonderfully put it, The thrust of this truth for believers is that our Savior not only delivered us from sin and its judgment, but also delivers us from uncertainty and doubt about that deliverance. If God has already made sure our rescue from sin, death, and future judgment How could our present spiritual life possibly be in jeopardy? How can a Christian whose past and future salvation are secured by God be insecure during the time in between? If sin was no barrier to the beginning of our redemption, how can it become a barrier to its completion? If sin in the greatest degree could not prevent our becoming reconciled, how can sin in lesser degree prevent our staying reconciled? It is a greater work of God to bring sinners to grace than to bring saints to glory, because sin is further from grace than grace is from glory. Very well put. And yet, the great and awesome point of reference for this security and certainty we have for actual and eternal salvation is not in what we have done, It is all in what Jesus Christ has accomplished when he died for us. By his death, we have been justified and reconciled to God, which in turn has secured us from ever facing the wrath of God that we all deserve. Moreover, having been saved by Christ's death, we are kept forever by his life at peace with God. And this is why We go to the cross when we have doubts about God's love for us and his promises to preserve us for eternal glory. This is because there at the cross we behold that Jesus died to save us and he in fact achieved that salvation for us. His death, therefore, was not a gamble. It was not a gamble. It was not a risk to make salvation possible for someone, somewhere, who might accept what Jesus did, perish such a thought. When Christ went to the cross, he went to secure and guarantee the salvation of every sinner whom God the Father gave him to save, and that is exactly what Jesus did at the cross. He saved sinners. He saved sinners. Thus Paul the apostle can write with absolute confidence breathed into him by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Since therefore we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more now that we are reconciled shall we be saved by his life. Now, there's one final question that I want to raise in the light of Romans 5, 9 through 11. And with this question, I'll draw our study to a close. What should be our response to God through Christ for the salvation we have received? What should be the response to God through Christ for the salvation we have received? Well, the answer is very simple. Look at verse 11. More than that. We also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. When we see and understand the truth of all that God has done for us in Jesus Christ to save us and bring us to himself, what kind of response should come forth from a true child of God? It is rejoicing in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Rejoicing in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And just so we don't mistake this rejoicing as some superficial, glib kind of joy that we see so much of in the evangelical church of our day, We need to understand that the word Paul uses for rejoice carries the idea of boasting, of glorying in someone or something. It means to love. It means to delight in, to praise, to treasure above all things. So then here in Romans 5 11, We see then that the expected response of every Christian to the knowledge and assurance of what God has done for them in Christ is to treasure and love the giver of our salvation more than the gift of salvation itself. Did you catch that? We love the giver more than the gift. We rejoice in the giver of our salvation more than the gift of salvation itself. Our joy, satisfaction, and pleasure is taken up in God through our Lord Jesus Christ because of what He has done to save us and keep us saved. In other words, the final result and the ultimate reason for God saving us in Christ is to bring us to God as our supreme treasure and the joy of our souls. So, while we certainly rejoice in our justification and reconciliation, and we rejoice even in our sufferings and in the hope of our final destination as believers in Christ, however, the great purpose of all these salvific gifts is to work in us a heart that is centered upon God in Christ as our supreme joy. Or as one writer put it, the saving love of God is God's commitment to do everything necessary to enthrall us with what is most deeply and durably satisfying, namely Himself. And this is the great point of Romans 5 verse 11, which seems to clench everything Paul has been saying from the opening of this chapter. Hence his opening words in verse 11, more than that. More than that. More than what? More than everything Paul has been saying up to this point. He declares we rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the aim. This is the ultimate end of our salvation. Treasuring God in Christ above all, which is in truth glorifying God in all things. Well, in closing, Let me ask you, do you rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ? Do you rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ? Is God in Christ your supreme delight and treasure? Let me put this question in the contextual framework of Romans 5, 1 through 11. Why are there so many Christians who are not captured by the greatness and beauty of God as their principle and predominant joy? What is impeding their rejoicing in God through Christ? Well, there could be many reasons, but if we just keep the answer strictly within the context of Romans 5, 1 through 11, it is that they have no assurance that God loves them and will keep them safe. Moreover, they have no knowledge or understanding of what Jesus actually accomplished for them by his death This is why for many Christians. There is a lack of real rejoicing in God Do you know many Christians like this? Maybe perhaps this describes you You believe yourself to be saved. You've trusted in Christ is the only way to God and your only hope of redemption. I And yet, there are these feelings and thoughts that you just can't seem to shake. Does God really love me? Will God really keep me to the very end of my days and bring me safely to Himself? Am I really forgiven of all my sins? Do I really have peace with God? Or, am I under God's condemnation? Do these kinds of questions cloud your mind? and corrupt your affections. Listen, there are plenty of professing Christians who would painfully say, yes. Yes, this is where I live. This is where I'm at. I'm tortured by this. Well, if this is true of you, I want to encourage you to go back to God's word and take God at his word and what he has said is true of you as his child. Take to heart all that we have seen from Romans 5, 1 through 11. That since you are justified by faith, you really have peace with God, access to God, and the hope of the glory of God. And remind yourself again of what God is doing in all your sufferings. He's not condemning you. He's sanctifying you. But above all these reminders, go to the cross. Go to the cross. Because it is there where we will always be affirmed and assured that God does love us and he'll never stop loving us. Furthermore, at the cross, we're given the assurance that our favor with God, our forgiveness from God is not contingent on our performance, but it is all based on what Jesus Christ accomplished in our behalf when he suffered and died for us. And when we see and understand these redeeming truths, then by God's grace, our hearts will swell up with an unmistakable assurance that we are truly saved by God in Christ, which in turn will result in our hearts overflowing with joy in God through Christ as our supreme treasure. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father. The assurance of salvation. Can be very elusive Lord for many. Of your people. Born again. Bought by the blood of your son and dwelt by the Spirit of God. And yet. There's no sense of real assurance, Lord, that you have saved them. And so, Father, we thank you that in the light of such a reality for many of your saints, you have given us your word And in Your Word, You teach us, You reveal to us, You show us, Holy Father, that the very foundation, the very basis of our salvation, and therefore the assurance of our salvation, does not rest in what we have either done or have not done, but it completely and entirely rests in you through Christ, her son and what Jesus Christ, our Lord, did indeed achieve and obtain and secure for us, his people there at the cross. Father, we pray that the great truths of your word and of the very heart of the gospel that we have been so blessed and privileged to hear in these last few moments from your word that these truths will be sealed to our hearts. And especially, Lord, for those here today that are struggling deeply with assurance. Lord, may you and your great mercy take the words of truth spoken, taught, and proclaimed by your holy and fallible word, and you mercifully take those words of truth and apply them by the work of the indwelling spirit to those troubled hearts today, giving them an assurance of their salvation in Christ that is beyond anything that they can feel. But it is an assurance, Lord, that comes from you unto them. And Father, we pray, too, that you will work in us greater grace to see that our greater joy in the matter of salvation is in you through Jesus Christ, our Lord. It is in the giver and not merely and only the gift itself. Lord, we pray for. For everything necessary. To. Sanctify us with. That joy. It finds in you the Lord our God. Our Supreme. Satisfaction and treasure. above all things. These things we pray and plead earnestly with you for in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and for his sake. Amen.