COV LIFE BLOG

Romans 8:31-39 – Easter Service 2014

I want to explain to you the reasons why he knew that he was not condemned and never should be. Paul says, “It is Christ who died.” That is to say, it is the Son of God who died and there must be infinite merit in the Atonement which was presented by the sufferings of so august a Person. Paul says, “It is Christ who died.” He did not do it of His own will alone—He was authorized to do it—appointed and anointed to do it! God put His Son into that place. If Christ was Substitute, and if God appointed Him and anointed Him as my only Substitute, to suffer in my place, where in the whole Universe can there be found any reason why God should first punish Christ and then punish me? The only question is—Did He so die in my place? The answer to that question is this—If I believe in Christ, I am one of those for whom He died as Substitute. If I trust Him with my whole heart. If I rely alone upon Him as my Substitute and Savior, I have the mark and sign upon me that He suffered in my place, that He offered a full and complete Atonement for my sin and, knowing this, I dare to say as confidently as the Apostle Paul said it, that Christ died for me! Who can ever condemn the sinner for whom Christ died as Substitute and Savior? Is not this a good foundation to have under my feet? May I not stand here securely and, knowing that Jesus died instead of me, may I not feel assured that I can never die and that I can never be sent to Hell—for Jesus Christ has suffered all that I ought to have suffered?

But the Apostle had a second reason for feeling sure that he should not be condemned, and that was that Christ had risen from the dead. “Yes rather, “he says, “who is risen again.” Now, if Christ had not risen from the dead, He would have been proved to be an impostor. If He had not risen from the dead, it would have been clear that He was not God, or the Son of God. But His rising from the dead proved that He was both God and the appointed and anointed Savior. Christ’s death paid the debt that His people owed to Divine Justice—and when He came out of the prison of death in which He had been detained for a while, it was, so to speak, God’s receipt by which He said to the whole universe, “My Son has paid the debts of all His people; therefore I let Him go free.” When it had been certified by Infallible Justice that the great transaction was finished and the redemption of His people was fully accomplished, then Christ was set free and “He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” Now see, Believer, what is the effect of this glorious Truth of God! How can God ever condemn you after He has accepted Christ as your Substitute—after He has publicly accepted Him by raising Him from the dead in the presence of men and angels? God cannot so belie himself!

“My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.” Well, Beloved, do not let me merely say this and you simply hear it, but believe it, enjoy it, drink it in, live on it! You are not condemned by God and, therefore, the opposite of that is true—you are accepted by God, you are Beloved of God, you are dear to God—you are pure and precious in God’s sight. Let that blessed thought get into your brain and when it is there, pray to God to let it get down deeper, even into your heart and soul, and then say as Paul did, “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” And “there is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

Charles Spurgeon

---

Heart Preparation
Read Romans 8:31-39. Note the promises of God to us in these verses and the authority on which he can trust those confidences. If Christ is for us, who can be against us? If Christ died for us, what can we withhold from him? If Christ is risen, what reason should we have to lose hope?

In light of this week take some specific time to prepare your heart this week for our Maundy Thursday and Easter Sunday services and to reflect on the great gift of the death and resurrection of Christ.