31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
32 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?
33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
36 As it is written,“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
39 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.
— Romans 8:31-39, ESV

There is a beautiful and familiar Robert Frost poem that ends:

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

God has made certain promises to certain persons, identified in this text as “God’s elect” (vs. 33).  He will keep them, the promises and the people.  And in doing so, He “will not slumber nor sleep” (ref. Psalm 121:4).

Are you among the people to whom God has made these promises?

Five Points From the Past

“These things” are the five points presented in the previous passage (8:8-30).  They each serve to highlight the sovereignty of God in salvation.  A short review is in order, so that we may observe the present text in context.

Foreknowledge is God’s choosing for Himself a people to know, love, and save, a decision He made before the very dawn of time.  Predestination is God’s determined plan to bring every one of His elect to their place and point of salvation.  Effectual calling is what God does with His word and His Spirit to bring regeneration, repentance, and faith into the life of the newborn believer.  Justification is what God grants, forgiveness of sins.  Glorification is what God guarantees, eternal life with Him, the angels, and the saints in Heaven.

The doctrine of divine election is not meant to disturb, though many are bothered by it.  What about my freedom to choose?  You have it, exercise it daily, and both Testaments proclaim, “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved” (ref. Joel 2:32; Acts 2:21; Romans 10:13).  God’s free grace and your free will may be antinomies, but they are not enemies.  Why witness, pray, or preach if God is going to save whom He wants to save?  Because God commands it, and it is a loving honor to obey His commands, as such are the means of grace God uses to bring about salvation in others.  I thought the kingdom of God is a democracy.  You thought wrong, and what part of the word “kingdom” do you not understand?

The doctrine of God’s sovereignty in salvation is meant to comfort the true child of God.  Even John Calvin in his Institutes of the Christian Religion only discussed predestination in the sections dealing with comfort, assurance, and security for the believer in Christ.  It is not all about the past and it is not puppetry.  Election is personal, powerful, and comes with certain promises about your future.

Five Promises for the Future

Here is what the present text promises for the future to every person saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone:

There will be no termination, ever, of your personal relationship with God. “Who can be against us?”  No one, no body, no thing, not even your no good self can cause you to lose God’s gracious gif of salvation.  You didn’t earn it, though you will prove it, and you cannot lose it.

There will no limitation upon the blessings God has bestowed upon you in Christ.  “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?”  “All things” include unlimited forgiveness, the permanent presence of the Holy Spirit, and the indescribable inheritance awaiting you in Heaven.

There will be no accusation anyone can ever make against you that can discredit or disqualify you from being a child of God.  “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.” We will all be like the baptized Delmar in O Brother, Where Art Thou, who claims absolution for every sin his fellow sojourners could throw at him, claiming “Neither God nor man’s got nothing on me now … it’s the straight and narrow from here on out, and Heaven everlasting is my reward!”

There will be no condemnation, as Paul stresses this at the beginning (vs. 1) and end of the glorious chapter.  If you are pardoned by the blood of Jesus, there is no punishment, no purgatory, no penalty whatsoever .  “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died, more than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”  Jesus Christ is Lord, Savior, and unfailing Advocate (ref. 1 John 2:1).

And fifth and finally, there is no separation from a genuine child of God from his or her Heavenly Father, forever.  Paul belabored this point: “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.”

Paul had personally experienced six of the seven trials and tribulations mentioned, and his life would be ended by the seventh.  God gives grace for this life, which includes suffering, and what a great honor and witness it is to suffer for the cause of Christ.  But the major thrust of God’s saving grace is for the afterlife, infinitely longer than this present life, where we will bask in the glow of Heaven where absolutely nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Five Priorities for the Present

Remember, these promises are for “God’s elect,” those He has chosen in the past to spend a glorious future with Him.  Are you confused about His past decrees for future glory?  To be included, make sure you are prioritizing these things in the present.

Repent, and keep on repenting before the Lord.  Develop a holy hatred of sin, and keep a tender heart before God to confess when you do.

Believe, and keep on believing in the Lord.  Repentance and faith are the gifts that keep on giving.  They are God’s gifts, which you keep on giving back to God.  Live by faith.  In oth4r words, be faithful, to God, and to others to whom you have made commitments.

Be baptized, and act in accordance as a baptized believer in Jesus Christ.  Baptism is a holy ritual and a high honor.  Those who refuse it refuse grace.  Though we are not saved by works, we are saved to perform all the works God has prescribed in His word, like baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Join Christ’s church, commune with the saints every Sunday while you are here on earth.  You’ll be seeing a lot of them in Heaven.  Not all in the visible church are members of the invisible church, but those invisible in the visible church will not be in that number when the saints go marching in, either.

Obey God’s word.  You cannot earn salvation, it is by grace, but you can prove it.  As John MacArthur wrote in The Gospel According to Jesus, “Obedience is the only proof that a person really knows Jesus Christ.”

At the end of day, God elects those who are saved.  All who are saved freely and willingly come to Him for forgiveness and eternal life through Christ.  Jesus said, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (ref. John 6:37).

The sovereignty of God is “lovely, deep and dark.”  The ways of salvation are His “promises to keep.”  Trust Him with your life, so when your soul lays down to sleep, you will arise and awaken in His glorious presence in Heaven, where you will live forever and ever.