Today was a very special one for my little family. Arianna was dedicated this morning at church. An agreement was made between us (her parents) and the church family with which we belong. Together we solidified an understanding to raise Arianna in a way that points her to Christ. Since before she was born this has been my prayer as her mother, but to know that we belong to such a supportive group of people who have vowed to assist us in that hope means a lot.
This week we finished up a sermon series in Romans 5 about Friends with Benefits at Covenant Church. Seth Simmons brought the Word today and was on fire! This was a fantastic service for many reasons. Mostly because we all need reminders about our assurance in Christ.
Assurance
The passage for today’s sermon comes from Romans 5:6-11:
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Assurance is confidence in a promise. Our assurance is God’s love. This assurance is not based on works or anything we can do to earn his love. There are two ways we can know this assurance of God:
I. Subjected Evidence:
-The scripture above says that we have assurance because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.
-This type of evidence is internal and not easily explained. It is that still small voice. It is a feeling that others cannot explain or deny.
-This evidence means that we can know God and have a personal relationship with him.
II. Objective Evidence:
-Romans 5:6-8 says that we can also know God’s love because of Jesus’ death.
-Romans 5:8 also says that Christ died while we were still sinning. He did not wait for us to get things all together nor did he give up when we messed everything up. God loves us now and always has.
-There should be no question about if God loves you. You have his assurance!!
In Romans 5:9-11, Paul goes on to say that Christ’s work gives us hope for past, present, and future assurance. That means that you’re going to make it. You can’t do anything to make him give up on you. In fact, Paul offers more promise on this ground later in Romans:
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39)
Rest in your assurance this week. God loves you!
The Ameri Brit Mom
The Ameri Brit Mom 