Chosen, Called, Justified & Glorified

You are listening to a message from Thrive Community Church, a church located in Southwest Florida. For more info, visit us at thrive-fl.org. We are in our ninth week of this series called Justified, How God Mends Broken People, Broken Hearts, Broken Lives, a Broken World. The Book of Romans is just amazing. It's quite the letter, inspired, of course, and we're coming to probably the highlight in one sense, one of the most glorious chapters. I think Paul himself struggles in this chapter with just getting the right words out, and I'm not saying they aren't great words. It's just like language itself limits, almost. It feels like it limits what God all intends with his love, that nothing in all creation can separate us from God's love, that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We're going to be looking at some of those words today. Over this series, we actually, way back in the first one, Justified number one, we started actually at the end of the letter of Romans, showing at the end of the letter what was going on and where we were headed, in a sense, just kind of like, I don't know if you've ever done that, and kind of sneak peek at the end of a novel to find out how things turn out. Well, that's kind of what we did. We did that for the sake of understanding why Paul starts where he does and where he's taking it. We found justification, or justified, is the thing, the one thing that runs through it all, and the fact that this was not an abstract theory that he came up with and then applied. It's the fact that he looked at the Roman Christians who were from Jewish and Gentile backgrounds and how they had gotten divided in a number of ways, like the rest of society in that day. They were divided between Gentile and Jew, between the weak and the strong, between women and men, between slave and free, and how in the church, Paul said, because of justification, because of that one amazing teaching of what has happened for us in Jesus Christ, we are all equal at the foot of the cross. We are all to treat one another as Jesus has treated us, so different from the way the world is. So this whole idea of no divisions within Christianity is not just a nice thing, it's actually the best way we, as a Christian church today, can still show the world the gospel. The fact that we treat each one with grace, because that's how we've been treated and cared for by God ourselves. Because we've been justified by grace through faith in Christ, we have confidence, confidence to live in this world. No human effort can give you such confidence, no security measures can give you this confidence, no firewall of protection can give you this type of confidence, no amount of money could do it, no military weapon could do it, no nation can give you what God has done for you freely in Jesus, and that's what we find here in Romans chapter 8. So today we're starting at verse 28 and going to the end of the chapter, we could read the whole chapter but I'm not going to do that just because of time, it's all good stuff. So let's read Romans chapter 8 verse 28 through 39. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son. In order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and those whom he predestined he also called and those whom he called he also justified and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things if God is for us who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God as elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Since Jesus is the one who died more than that he was raised who is at the right hand of God who indeed is interceding for us who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written for your sake we are being killed all the day long we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. 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. Wow right wow I could end it there maybe you'd like that sorry we're going to go through these three points today. In Romans 8 we learn these things because God justifies you can be confident of God's love and you can be confident of God's plans and you just can be confident in God we'll take them one at a time. Confident of God's love I've mentioned this before you know the emotional mental psychic spiritual health of children is to know that they are loved no matter what so like with Joh...