Faith's Standing-Ground

"What shall we then say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" Romans 8:31, 32

In this glorious and noble chapter (Romans 8), the apostle, as a faithful steward of the mysteries of God, spreads before us the inheritance of the estates of the heir of heaven. I shall, by way of introduction, therefore, briefly run over some of the ample possessions here assigned to the heir of God and joint heir with Christ, assured as they are with a certainty of the goodness of his title, and a security of his undisturbed and eternal enjoyment of his property.

The first is no condemnation, as being in Christ Jesus.
The second is freedom from the law of sin and death.
The third is the fulfillment of the righteousness of the law in him, as walking not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
The fourth is the indwelling of the Spirit of God.
The fifth is the being led by the Spirit.
The sixth is receiving the Spirit of adoption, to cry "Abba, Father."
The seventh, the Spirit bearing witness with his spirit that he is a child of God.
The eighth is the inward intercession of the Spirit, interceding for him with groanings which cannot be uttered.
The ninth, the knowledge that all things work together for good to those who love God.
And then a whole cluster of beautiful estates, all, as it were, in a ring fence–
being called according to God's purpose;
being foreknown; being predestinated;
being justified; and being glorified;
until he ends the blessed catalogue with no separation from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.

Heir of God, read your inheritance! Do with this chapter what Abraham did when God commanded him to walk "through the land, in the length of it and in the breadth of it" (Genesis 13:17); for God has as surely given you all the goodly land of the heavenly Canaan, here traced out by the apostle's pen, as he gave unto Abraham the literal Canaan– that "good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig-trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey." (Deut. 8:7, 8.) So do you walk up and down the length and breadth of this glorious chapter, and see and note well the fountains and depths of love and mercy that spring up in it, how fat the wheat, how good the wine, how rich the land in oil, how full the woods of honey. Is it not a land wherein you may eat bread without scarceness, and not lack anything in it which your soul can hunger after?

But having enumerated these ample estates, and given us so full and clear a catalogue of the possessions of the heir of promise, the apostle, as if in a transport of heavenly joy, breaks out with the inquiry, "What shall we then say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" And then filled, as it were, with a glorious view of the surpassing grace of God in the gift of his dear Son, he puts to himself and to us that decisive, all-satisfying question, "He who spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?"

In laying open the divine truths folded up in these words, I shall, as the Lord may enable, examine,

First, Faith's forcible Inquiry– "What shall we, then, say to these things?"

Secondly, Faith's firm Standing-ground– "If God is for us, who can be against us?"

Thirdly, Faith's solid Argument– "He who spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?"

I. Faith's forcible inquiry– "What shall we, then, say to these things?" You will observe that when the apostle had given us this choice list of heavenly blessings, and especially that glorious cluster, so richly heaped together, like the Pleiades in the sky, of eternal fore-knowledge, predestination, calling, justification, and glorification, he then asks the question, which I have named Faith's forcible Inquiry, "What shall we then say to these things?"

A. May I not well urge the same question upon ourselves? What shall we say to these things, or rather what shall faith in our breast say to them?

1. First, shall we say that they are not true? But can this question be necessary? One would certainly think not, when they are so clearly revealed in every part of the inspired volume; and yet we know that in every age the glorious truths of election, predestination, fore-knowledge, effectual calling, and the certainty of salvation to God's elect people have been not only denied but fought against with bitter, unrelenting enmity. But shall we say that these things are not true because thus denied and opposed, when they shine as with a ray of light, not only through the whole word of God, but especially meet our believing eye in this chapter as if illuminated with the very light of God's countenance beaming upon them? May we not indeed say that they shine forth in it as bright and as glittering as the stars in the midnight sky, so that to read it in faith is like looking up into the very face of heaven all radiant with the heavenly effulgence of a thousand constellations? Blind indeed must those be who can read this chapter and see no beauty or glory in it! And worse than blind must those be who see the truths contained in it, and hate them.

But I hope there are some here present who have seen them as clearly and as plainly as Abraham saw the stars in the sky on that memorable night when the Lord brought him forth abroad and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars, if you be able to number them;" no, have believed in their divine Giver with the same faith as Abraham then "believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness." (Gen. 15:5, 6.)

2. But shall we say that though true, they ought to be kept back– that they are truths which may be believed in the closet, but should never be proclaimed in the pulpit, lest they should stumble weak believers, offend many very serious professors of religion, damp the earnestness of the inquiring, or add gloom to the troubled spirit of the depressed children of God? Shall we listen to such objections, viewing these heavenly truths as deep mysteries which should never be examined or searched into, as being among the secret things which belong unto God? Shall we, I say, give ear to such subtle arguments which men have so frequently employed to keep back what they cannot deny, and to throw a veil over that which their heart inwardly abhors?

No! faith cannot act so treacherous a part. On the contrary, faith says that they are revealed in the word of God for the express purpose that they might be believed, and if believed that they might be spoken of, and as if proclaimed upon the house top. Is not this both the faith and the expression of the apostle? "We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak." (2 Cor. 4:13.) What faith, then, inwardly believes the mouth outwardly speaks; for "with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Rom. 10:10.) They are then to be proclaimed by all the ambassadors of God as a heavenly message; and surely they are worthy of being borne, as with the voice of cherubim and seraphim, to the very ends of the earth, that they may be sounded far and wide as with the trumpet of God.

3. But are they not dangerous? Will they not lead to presumption? May they not inspire a vain confidence? May they not harden the heart, and make it careless how we work out our salvation with fear and trembling? Yes, they may, unless the Spirit of God reveals them to the soul. They may, if taken by a presumptuous hand; they may, if laid hold of by fingers unsanctified by the Holy Spirit, be made very injurious; as no doubt has been the case in very many instances. But the abuse of a thing does not disprove its use. Are not God's best gifts in providence abused by ungodly men? If then the doctrines of grace are abused to licentiousness, that does not disprove either their truth or their influence, if used rightly. But the question may perhaps be best settled by your own experience, if indeed you have received them into a believing heart under the teaching and testimony of God the Holy Spirit. Have you found them dangerous– you who have received them from the mouth of God, and felt the savor and sweetness of his Spirit bedewing them to your inmost soul? Have they made you presume? Have they inspired vain confidence in your breast? Have they hardened your conscience, made sin less sinful, drawn you into evil, or made you rush, in daring rebellion, upon God's shield? "No," you say, "I have felt them to produce in me just the contrary effects. I have found that, as they were made spirit and life to my soul, they softened my heart, made my conscience tender, gave me a holy reverence of the name of God, and a dread of sinning against him; and, so far as I felt their power, they humbled, melted, and broke me down in love and sorrow at his dear feet." Then, how can we say they are dangerous as tending to presumption, if we have felt anything of their efficacy and power, and know, by experience, that they produce self-distrust, humility, brokenness, and godly fear?

4. But may they not lead to sin? If we believe we are elect, may we not live as we wish, and walk in all manner of ungodliness and evil, as being certain of our salvation, whatever we do or whatever we leave undone? Here, again, we must come to spiritual experience. Does the child of grace find them to have this licentious tendency, when a powerful impression of their truth and blessedness rests upon his soul as with a cloud of grace and glory? When he views a bleeding Lamb upon the cross; when he sees by the eye of faith the bloody sweat falling in big drops from the dear Redeemer's brow in the gloomy garden; when love and mercy unfold their treasures through the groans, sighs, and agonies of the suffering Son of God– for this is the channel through which these mercies come– it is at the foot of the cross these blessings are learned; I ask, when the child of God has a view of these precious truths as sealed by a Savior's blood and witnessed by the Spirit's testimony, does he find that they encourage him to live sinfully, and thus trample upon the blood of the cross, crucify the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame? Do these living truths harden his heart, make sin less hateful, and holiness less desirable? No; on the contrary, every child of grace who has ever felt the presence and power of God in his soul, can truly and feelingly say that these precious truths have a sanctifying influence, a holy tendency, that they draw from sin instead of leading into sin; and that the more he sees and feels of a Savior's dying love, the more he hates sin and the more he hates himself as a sinner.

What then shall we say of, or to these things? We dare not say they are not true; we dare not say they are not to be proclaimed; we dare not say they are dangerous; we dare not say they are licentious. But what shall we say? I have shown the negative side– have I nothing to say on the affirmative? Must we be put wholly upon the defensive? Let us see.

B. We say then that they are blessedly true.But how do we know they are blessedly true? Is it because we see them, read them, study them as written by the pen of the Holy Spirit in God's word? That is one reason I freely admit. There they are revealed as with a ray of light– there they shine in all their own effulgence, beaming forth with a clearness with which no human pen could have invested them. But will that suffice? Do I want no more no better evidence? I am glad, so far, of that; I highly prize that, and am often obliged to fall back upon it as a firm support against unbelief or infidelity. But will that satisfy me, fully satisfy me? It will not. I want something more strong, more powerful, more convincing, more confirming than that. Then what do I want? I want to know that they are the truths of God in a peculiar way– a very peculiar way, one so peculiar that none can know it but by the power of the Spirit. I want, then, to know that they are the truths of God by one of these three peculiar ways. I call them peculiar ways, because they differ from each other; not in nature but in degree, and thus are so far distinct.

1. The highest, the best, and the most blessed way of knowing them is by the INTERNAL Witness of the Spirit to my spirit that they are God's own truths, and that I, even I, have a personal, eternal, and indisputable interest in them. If then the Lord the Spirit graciously speaks them into my heart, and reveals them with power, unction, and savor to my soul, that is God's own express testimony to their reality and blessedness; and this is the highest witness we can have of the truth as it is in Jesus, for it is the Spirit's inward teaching, testimony, and seal; as we read, "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God" (Rom. 8:16); and, again, "In whom also, after you believed, you were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance." (Ephes. 1:13, 14.)

But is there no other knowledge of the truth but this? Can all rise up into this firm security and full certainty? Do all receive the full witness of the Spirit? Are all favored with the sweet assurance of faith? Do all know the sealing testimony of the Spirit of God? Surely not. There are many who really fear God who cannot and do not rise up into the sweet assurance of faith, nor have the sealing witness of the Spirit in their breast, and yet do know the truth so far as the Lord has shown it them. How then do they know it? Are there two kinds of knowledge? No; not in kind, but there are in degree, as the apostle speaks of their being "differences of administrations, but the same Lord; and diversities of operations, but the same God which works all in all." (1 Cor. 12:5, 6.) They may know it then by one or both of those two things, which always attend God's truth as made known to the soul by divine power.

2. The first is, that whenever truth comes with divine power into the heart, it LIBERATES. "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32.) Thus there may be here present some that have not received the Spirit as sealing home the word of God with his own heavenly witness upon their breast, who yet may have so far received the love of the truth into their hearts as to experience something of its sweet liberating power. Have you never, at the throne of grace, felt the power of God's truth upon your heart communicating liberty of access, encouraging you to pour out your soul before the Lord with some inward testimony that your prayers were accepted? This was just what Hannah felt when a word from Eli's mouth dropped with power into her heart. It liberated her from her sadness, and gave her a testimony that the God of Israel would grant her the petition which she had asked of him. This gave her rest and peace.

Again, have you never, as you have sat under the sound of the gospel, felt an inward testimony that it was true by the liberty it gave you from your many pressing doubts and fears, your discouragements and hard bondage and guilty apprehensions, under which you for the most part labor? The feeling might not last long, but while it lasted, it was in you a spirit of liberty; for "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." And though you might not rise up to the full assurance of faith, so as to be filled with all joy and peace in believing, yet, having experienced a measure of the liberating influence of God's truth upon your heart, you could set to your seal that it was the truth, and that you had received the love of it into your soul.

3. But there is another way also whereby we may know these precious truths in vitality and power; and that is, by the SANCTIFYING influence which they produce upon the soul under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. "Sanctify them through your truth," said our blessed Lord to his heavenly Father, in his intercessory prayer for his disciples; "your word is truth." (John 17:17.) Whenever the word of truth comes home with power to the heart, it carries with it a sanctifying influence. It draws the affections upwards; it fixes the heart upon heavenly things; Jesus is viewed by the eye of faith at the right hand of God, and every tender desire of a loving bosom flows forth toward him as "the chief among ten thousand and the altogether lovely one." This view of Christ, as the King in his beauty, has a sanctifying influence upon the soul, communicating holy and heavenly feelings, subduing the power of sin, separating from the world and worldly objects, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

Now just see whether you know anything of the power and preciousness of heavenly truth by an experience of it in any of these three different ways– the witness of the Spirit to your spirit in his sealing testimony; or having felt its liberating influence; or knowing its sanctifying effects? Not indeed that these three evidences can ever be separated, but there may be in them different degrees, and as it were stages of divine testimony. But if you can find these three evidences, or any one of them, in your bosom, what shall you say to these things? "Say of them?" you reply– "That they are blessedly true, for I have felt their power in my own breast." Whatever then others may say to them, or of them, that they are false, or should be kept back, or are dangerous, or pernicious, you can stand up before God and man with an honest conscience and undaunted front and testify to their divine reality.

C. But, again, what more shall we say to these things? Why, we shall say of them that they are exceedingly Suitable to the wants and woes of a needy sinner; that in this chapter there is everything adapted to the necessities of one truly convinced of his sins and thoroughly sensible of his lost and ruined condition; who is drawn by the power of God to the footstool of mercy, and comes unto the throne of grace that he may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. How suitable to such a guilty, condemned sinner is the declaration, that "there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." How suitable to such is the testimony that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus makes him free from the law of sin and death. How suitable to such that as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. How suitable to such that the Spirit helps his infirmities, teaches him how to pray, and himself intercedes for him and in him with groanings which cannot be uttered. How suitable to such that all things work together for good to those who love God, and are called according to his purpose. I do not mean that the poor, convinced sinner can lay hold of these blessings until they are brought into his heart by the power of God; but I am showing you their suitability to his wants and woes; and if his faith cannot rise up into the spiritual enjoyment of them, he can yet believe in their exceeding suitability to his forlorn, miserable condition.

D. But faith goes beyond their suitability when drawn forth into living exercise upon them, and is able in some measure to realize and appropriate them. Faith, then, views them as rich in comfort and filled with sweet consolation. For how consoling it is to a cast-down soul to believe that there is no condemnation for him from a broken law, from the holiness of God, from his tremendous justice and his dreadful indignation, as being in Christ Jesus safe from every storm. What consolation to the poor, broken-hearted child of God, to find and feel that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus makes him free from that law of sin and death in his carnal mind, which is his constant plague and hourly vexation. How comforting to believe that he is under the guidings and leadings of the blessed Spirit, and thus has an evidence of being a son of God. How full too of consolation to find the Spirit helping his infirmities, and interceding for him with groanings which cannot be uttered.

And is not this, too, replete with consolation to every one who loves God, to believe that all things, however painful or distressing to the flesh, are working together for his good? What consolation also is there in the belief that he, being called according to God's purpose, has a saving interest in his eternal fore-knowledge, his fixed and immutable predestination, so that nothing can change the purposes of mercy and grace which God has towards him! How blessed too is the thought and sweet assurance that he is justified freely by the imputation of Christ's righteousness, and is in a sense already glorified by having received into his bosom a measure of Christ's glory!

E. But, again, faith says, "How Glorifying are these divine truths to God!" How they put the crown upon the Mediator's head, to whom alone it rightly belongs, and whose glory fills the heavens. Rightly viewed, every link in this heavenly chain brings glory to the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. How glorious in God to set the sinner free from all condemnation, as being in Christ Jesus. How glorious in God to give him the Spirit to help his infirmities and to teach him how to pray. How glorious in God to make all things work together for his good. So might I run through the whole chain from beginning to end and show how the glory of God is reflected, as with a heavenly radiance from every part; but I forbear, and yet cannot but mention the last link which binds the Church of God fast on to the throne of glory; for how glorious it is that neither death nor life, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate her from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Thus Faith answers the Inquiry by clasping to her bosom these glorious and heavenly truths, and says, "How suitable are they to all my sins and sorrows; how they distill consolation into my burdened spirit; how adapted they are to every season of darkness and distress; how they come down to the groaning of the spirit in the first cry of mercy, and how they soar with the sweetest assurance, as if borne up on eagles' wings to the very gate of heaven!" And if faith can say this, what more can or need faith to say? This, then, is faith's answer to the Inquiry, 'What shall we say to these things?' Faith has spoken, if I have rightly heard and rightly interpreted her voice; and O may that voice find a responsive echo in every believing heart here present.

II. Next we come to faith's firm standing-ground.

Faith has found in these heavenly truths firm ground on which she can plant her foot; for only as faith can stand upon this firm ground can she lift up her mighty voice and send the challenge throughout all creation, "If God is for us, who can be against us?"

What words are these! How the apostle here seems to throw the gauntlet down– to hurl defiance against sin, Satan, and the world– to stand with his foot firm upon the ground of God's eternal love, and, in the confidence of faith, undauntedly look in the face every foe and every fear, and boldly say to them all, as if bidding them do their worst, "If God is for us, who can be against us?"

A. But the question may arise in many a throbbing breast, "Is God for ME? I know if God is for me, none can be against me. But I know also," the trembling heart adds, "if God isagainst me, then none can be for me." You speak right. If God is for you, not all the men on earth nor all the fiends of hell can keep your soul out of heaven. And if God is againstyou, not all the men on earth nor all the absolution of priests can keep your soul out of hell. This, therefore, is the point– the narrow point to be decided in each man's conscience, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" But O, if God is against us, who can be for us? Take both sides; look at each face of the medal. There is a pro and there is a con; there is a victory and there is a defeat; there is a winning the crown and there is a losing it forever. Examine, then, both sides– see on which you stand; and before you lift up your voice and say, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" get good ground for your feet, that they may be on the rock and not on the sand. Have some clear testimony that God is for you; and then you can look a frowning world in the face, hurl defiance at Satan, and appeal to the gospel against the law, and to the blood of sprinkling against an evil conscience. I shall, then, as the Lord may enable, look at both these sides, and show what it is for God to be against you, and for God to be for you; and then you will be able to see how far you can join hand in hand with Faith as she stands upon the vantage-ground of the text, and lift up your voice on high in union with hers, "If God is for us, who can be against us!"

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