Romans 8:36-37
Undeniable Victory
Notice in \\#Romans 8:37\\, an extraordinary statement. Let’s outline it.
1. Who is this statement about? "For thy sake WE…." Paul is making the
statement, so the WE would be us, Christians.
2. What is the statement? What is it’s point? "…we are more than
conquerors…." Paul is declaring that we have victory, that we,
Christians, are undefeatable.
3. When or where? In which battle are we undefeatable? "…in all these
things…."
a. The word ALL would imply in all battles.
b. However, if we place it in the context, we might see a more strict
interpretation.
c. \\#Romans 8:35\\ We are the victors in….
(1) tribulation
(2) distress
(3) persecution
(4) famine
(5) peril
(6) sword
d. \\#Romans 8:36\\ Even while we are killed like sheep all the day long,
we are still more than victorious.
4. How? "through him that loved us."
Paul’s statement, then, is of an undeniable victory. How can this be?
We can be persecuted, but we are victorious.
We can be distressed by others, but we are victorious.
We can be in peril, but we are victorious.
We can be killed, but we are victorious.
How can these things be? The victory Paul speaks of must not be of our body. It
must be of our soul. This passage seems to be indirectly teaching us that our
bodies, and what happens to them, are not as important as we may think.
As you contemplate that possibility, think on these thoughts.
I. We have a soul that cannot be harmed.
Mt 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul:
but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
A. All of these things that Paul describes are things which can be done to
the body.
1. The body is nothing more than the shell we live in.
2. Certainly, what happens to the shell affects the disposition of the
soul, but it brings no harm to it.
3. Notice John the Baptist.
Luke 7:19 And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus,
saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?
20 When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto
thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?
21 And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of
evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight.
22 Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye
have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are
cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to
the poor the gospel is preached.
23 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
a. John had been in prison since before Jesus began His ministry
\\#Matt 4:12-17\\.
(1) How long he has been in there, we do not know.
(2) However, those conditions appear to be affecting him.
(3) \\#Luke 7:19\\ It appears that John has some question
about whether Jesus is the Messiah or not!
b. \\#Luke 7:21\\ Notice that Jesus does not rebuke John but
reassures him.
(1) Jesus reassures John by doing miracles that only God could
do.
(2) No doubt, some of Jesus’ greatest miracles were
performed that day!
(3) Equally of no doubt is that John’s spirit was refreshed
and his spirit encouraged and his soul was protected.
c. Herod will later behead John’s body, but no one will touch
John’s soul.
(1) This is the way God has designed things.
(2) Our souls are beyond the reach of everyone and everything.
B. From time to time, we think, "Wouldn’t it be nice if this spiritual
walk did not have to be completely by faith?" Wouldn’t it be
easier if we could see the spiritual?"
1. Have you ever wondered why God keeps the spiritual and the physical
so well separated?
2. Suppose for a moment, man with all of his science, could see the
human soul. What do you suppose he would do then?
3. I know I am stepping into the Twilight Zone here, but is man ever
content with just knowing something?
4. Doesn’t he have to see if he can play with it?
a. We saw the atom but we were not content to know it was there.
(1) We had to understand it, to know how it worked, to harness
it.
(2) The next thing you know, we have created a bomb with the
potential of destroying the world.
b. What about the molecular cell?
(1) We saw what cells were made of, on a molecular scale, so
we felt bound to see what we could do
(2) We started by taking it apart, then trying to mix it up.
(3) We put cells of rabbits in mice and cells of mice in pigs
and to be honest, we don’t know what has been created
in secret laboratories.
(4) We do know man was not content until he could clone a
living thing, and Dollie the lamb was just the beginning.
5. I am not saying what we learned or created hasn’t been helpful in
many ways, just that mankind doesn’t like to leave things he
sees alone.
6. So suppose we could see the soul?
a. What do you think man would want to do then?
b. I do not know, but I believe that he would not be content until
he found, if it were possible, some way to torment the soul.
7. God has not left that issue as a possibility.
a. God has placed the soul and spiritual matters totally out of
the reach of human beings.
b. God has put barriers between the physical and the spiritual,
barriers that I feel mankind will never breach.
c. God has insured that no harm will ever come to the human soul.
C. Because our soul cannot be harmed, we have an undeniable victory.
II. We have a soul that cannot be stolen.
A. In John 10, Jesus describes the safety of our soul.
1. Repeatedly, Jesus points out that robbers and destroyers are after
our soul.
John 10:1 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into
the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
John 10:5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they
know not the voice of strangers.
John 10:8 All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep
did not hear them.
John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to
destroy….
2. Yet, we are safely locked behind the walls of the sheepfold and
the Door, which is Christ Himself.
John 10:1 …He that entereth not by the door into the SHEEPFOLD….
John 10:9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall
go in and out, and find pasture.
Joh 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able
to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
B. What is the point of the parable? No one can steal our soul from God.
No one.
1. Satan cannot steal our soul.
a. He would like to.
b. Indeed, he would if he could.
c. He cannot.
2. The world cannot steal our soul.
a. The world can steal our body but not soul.
(1) Sickness can afflict our body but not our soul.
(2) Our bodies are subject to the starvation of famine and the
perils of war, but our soul is safe.
(3) Accidents may steal our health even our life.
(4) Time will steal our youth.
(5) Thieves may steal our riches.
(6) Oppressors may steal our freedom.
b. But nothing in, on, under, or above this world will ever steal
our soul.
3. No human or power of this world can steal our soul.
a. Friends may betray us.
b. Spouses may divorce us.
c. Children may abandon us, but our souls are save.
4. Neither can we lose our soul.
a. Well I remember the man who denied eternal security.
b. He agreed that no man could take his soul, but he thought he
could sin away of his own accord.
c. Yet, the text is clear.
d. "NO MAN IS ABLE TO PLUCK THEM OUT" - You cannot pluck your own
self out of God’s hand for that power is not given to you.
C. Because no man can steal our soul, we have an undeniable victory.
III. We have this victory because no one can separate our soul from God.
A. Quite often, I speak about predestination and election.
1. I do this because there is a great deal of confusion about it.
2. I constantly affirm that God has not predestinated WHO will go to
heaven but HOW we will go to heaven.
a. God, in His foreknowledge, does know WHO will accept Jesus
but I do not believe He has determined who will accept Jesus.
b. Rather, God has decided that anyone who will repent of their
sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ will be the saved.
B. What, then, is so special about this group? If each individual must
make a decision, of their own will, to trust Jesus as their Savior,
what makes them special? What have they been "elected" to?
1. It is not the salvation they have been predestined to, it is all
of the other perks!
a. Everyone who accepts Jesus gets heaven.
b. Everyone who accepts Jesus gets the Holy Ghost.
c. Everyone who accepts Jesus gets discernment.
d. Everyone who accepts Jesus gets understanding of the Word.
e. Everyone who accepts Jesus gets an Intercessor.
f. Everyone who accepts Jesus gets direct access and fellowship to
the God.
g. Everyone who accepts Jesus gets a glorified body.
h. Everyone who accepts Jesus gets enrollment in the rapture.
i. Everyone who accepts Jesus gets a "get out of the tribulation"
card.
j. Everyone who accepts Jesus gets access to the riches of God.
k. And this text tells us, that everyone who accepts Jesus gets
eternal life, a written guarantee that nothing will ever
separate their soul from God’s love.
2. God did not ask us if we wanted these. He pre-determined to give
them to us whether we want them or not.
a. It might actually be that someone would prefer not to be
raptured before the tribulation.
b. We will all have lost ones who are left behind.
c. Some, knowing their souls is safe, might prefer to endure what-
every physical torments there are to aid, comfort, and even
witness to the lost during that time.
d. But God did not ask you.
e. He has made that choice.
f. Therefore, you have been predestined. You are the elect.
C. Here Paul tells us that among the things that God has pre-determined
is that nothing will ever separate our eternal from God or His love.
1. Once a child of God, always a child of God.
2. Once you are in, you are forever in.
3. Once saved, always saved.
4. Word it any way you like, it is a predestinated fact.
5. Nothing will ever separate you from God!
D. Because our soul cannot be separated from God or His love, we have an
undeniable victory.
We have a victory we have, not in this body but in our soul. Let the devil and
the world hurl their sharpest daggers, they cannot claim our victory. We have an
undeniable victory which cannot be revoked!
What we need to learn to do is to concentrate more on the victory of the soul than
on the battles of the flesh. The effects of this life has very little meaning
when it comes to what is really important. Safety, comfort, ease, luxury,
longevity - if we are not where Christ wants us to be, they have no value at all.
May God help us to comprehend what is truly important.
May God help us to have wisdom to select what is truly important.
May God give us the courage to seek that is truly important.
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