Romans 8:28-32 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. 31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Our Enemy Wants Us “Religious”

When I was a little boy I was taught to pray before a meal. Mama taught us to say:

God is great, God is good;
Let us thank Him for our food.
By His hands we are fed,
Bless the Lord for daily bread.
Amen.

I grew up in a “religious” household. Not overly religious. Daddy didn’t go to Church. Mama made us go a Church on Sunday, a local Presbyterian Church. If you notice the prayer I said at meals (saying “Grace”) was not addressed to God.

“Religious” people talk about God. Those “saved by Grace” talk to God. Religious people want God to belong to them. Saved people belong to God. There is a difference between “religious” and “saved, born again”!

As a “religious” person I learned the “Shorter Catechism” of the Presbyterian Church, was baptized by sprinkling, and was given a Bible. I thought I was fine with God. The “Shorter Catechism” is 107 questions about God along with the answers. It taught us as young people about God. The first three questions (and answers) were:

Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?

A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

Q. 2. What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?

A. The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him.

Q. 3. What do the Scriptures principally teach?

A. The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.

Religion teaches a lot about God. I knew a lot about God – but I didn’t know God. I had no personal relationship with God. Many in Christianity are the same way. They know about God. They talk about God. But there is no relationship with God.

The Enemy loves you to be “religious”.

Our enemy is the Devil, also called Satan, Lucifer, that Old Serpent or the Red Dragon.

It was the Devil who tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3). It was the Devil who tempted Jesus Christ when He was in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-4). The Devil was created perfect by God, called “Lucifer” which means “Light Bearer”, but he revolted from Heaven and led 1/3 of the angels in Heaven to rebel against God (Revelation 12:4). God cursed the Devil in the Garden of Eden, and promised that the Messiah would one day come and stomp on his head (Genesis 3:15). The Messiah Himself would be wounded in the encounter, but Satan’s power would be destroyed by Jesus.

Many people don’t believe in the Devil, Lucifer, that old Serpent. If you don’t believe in the Devil, you don’t believe in Jesus.

Jesus and the first Church believed in the Devil, a.k.a. Satan. Jesus gave His disciples power over demons and Satan in His name. Jesus said:

Luke 10:18 (ESV) … I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

Jesus’ followers were amazed that demons trembled at the sound of His name, and that they had power over the enemy (Luke 10:17).

“There’s POWER in the Name of Jesus. There’s HEALING in the Name of Jesus. There’s MERCY in the Name of Jesus. There’s SALVATION in the Name of Jesus. The Demons tremble at the sound of that Name.” (Andre Crouch)

Jesus told His disciples when they saw the demons cast out in His Name,

Luke 10:20 (ESV) … do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.

God writes the names of those saved in the Name of Jesus in Heaven. If you have submitted yourself to the Name of Jesus, your name is written in “The Book of Life” (Revelation 20:12). Those who are spiritually dead are NOT in the Book of Life.

• Those in the Book of Life “labor together in the Gospel” (Philippians 4:3).
• Those in the Book of Life “live as overcomers” (Revelation 3:5)
• Those in the Book of Life “worship the Lamb of God”, not the world (Revelation 13:8)
• Those in the Book of Life will never be damned (Revelation 20:12, 15)
• Those in the Book of Life do not pursue a life of sin (Revelation 21:27)
• Those in the Book of Life love the Bible, and will not modify God’s Word (Revelation 22:19)

The Devil wants you in Church, but he doesn’t want you in the Book of life. The Devil loves that you’re on a “Church Roll”, and that you know all about God.

The Pharisees knew all about God, but Jesus said of them:

John 8:42-45 (ESV) … If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.

The Gospel Is About Loving The LORD

“Love” is a relationship – and the Enemy doesn’t want you to have a relationship with Jesus. Jesus told the Bible Scholars, the Pharisees, “If God were your Father, you would love Me”. The mark of the Christian is that you love Jesus, you love God. Satan doesn’t want you to love God. Jesus said:

John 5:39-40 (ESV) You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

Jesus is the Source of Life. He said,

John 10:10 (ESV) The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

That’s what Jesus wants for you – an “ABUNDANT LIFE”. The Devil wants to steal that from you, just like he stole Paradise from Adam and Eve. Satan has convinced some of you that you don’t need a relationship with God. The Psalmist wrote:

Psalm 34:10 The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

“YOUNG LIONS” are prideful, arrogant. They are full of themselves. They think they don’t need the Lord. The Christian is not filled with pride, but is humble and submitted before the Lord. We are Jesus’ sheep, and He is the Shepherd. We follow Him, and obey His Word. Why? Because we love Him. Jesus said:

Luke 6:46 (ESV) Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?

John 14:15 (ESV) If you love Me, you will keep My commandments …

The Christian loves God. The Christian loves Jesus. The Christian surrenders their life at the foot of the Cross. We recognize ourselves as unable, as sinners, as people who deserve Hell and want to be saved. We seek the Lord. We are not young lions, but understand that “they that seek the LORD shall not want in any good thing”. We “submit ourselves to God, but RESIST the Devil” (James 4:7). We do not want to be religious. We who are saved have a growing, going, dynamic relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ our Lord. We believe His Word,

Romans 10:13 (KJV) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved …

We Defeat The Enemy By Giving Ourselves To The Lord Jesus

Romans 8:28 And we KNOW that all things work together for good to them that love God…

The world classifies things as GOOD or BAD. When the lost have a GOOD day, they are happy. When they have a BAD day, they are unhappy. Christians, however, are very different. We KNOW something the world does not know. “We KNOW that all things work together for good”. This doesn’t mean that all things are good, but that all things WORK TOGETHER for good.

All Things WORK TOGETHER for GOOD – but only if you LOVE GOD!

Why should a person love God? Because God gave the greatest thing He could give for us. Consider what Jesus did for YOU:

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

God the Father “spared not His own Son”. When Adam brought sin into the world, sin brought with it death and disease. Sin brought separation from God. But rather than abandon us, or to leave us to a state of eternal damnation, God the Father “spared not His own Son”. He sent Jesus, the Beloved of God, to this earth to be born in the meanest of estates. Born in a manger, born to an unknown family, raised up in a small town few had any respect for, Jesus – the Infinite Son of God – was made lower than the Angels. Why? For the suffering of death.

Hebrews 2:9 (KJV) … we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

The Wages of Sin is DEATH (Romans 6:23). Adam made us all sinners, separated from God. But God reached out to us to save us through Jesus. We deserved death, and Jesus did not. But Jesus tasted death for us. Jesus bore our punishment, our separation from God, so that we, believing on and loving Him, could be saved. The Scripture says:

1 John 4:9-10 (KJV) In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. {10} Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation {the covering} for our sins.

Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, yet many – like the Pharisees – decided that they would rather love their rituals and their religion. They denied a relationship with Almighty God because they thought they were good enough for Heaven. Dear friends, none are good enough to get into Heaven. You must receive the Love of God by faith in Christ Jesus. You must turn away from your present way of life and turn toward Him Who loves you still. You must REPENT to be saved.

When you are saved, God sends the Holy Spirit to you to cause you to love God:

Romans 5:5 … the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

The saved LOVE GOD. Those who LOVE GOD know that all things work together for our good. The saved LOVE GOD’S COMMANDS and HIS WORD. We obey Him, for we love Him. We do not carry grudges or hatred. That’s the old man, the way of Satan. The Way of Christ is to love God, and love others. We read:

1 John 4:20-21 (KJV) If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? {21} And this commandment have we from Him (from God), That he who loveth God love his brother also.

All things work together for good to them that LOVE GOD.

The Saved BELONG To God

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

When we are saved, we belong to God. The Apostle said:

1 Corinthians 6:20 (KJV) For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

1 Corinthians 7:23 (KJV) Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.

PREACH: If you are saved by Grace in the LORD Jesus, you belong to Him. You defeat the enemy when you live your life to bring glory to Jesus. You do not live to please yourself, Satan, or the world around you. You live to please the One Who saved you!

Illustrate: If you are saved by faith in Christ, you not only love God and know that all things work together for your good, but you know that your life is a part of God’s PURPOSE and PLAN. Bethany Hamilton was surfing off the coast of Hawaii in 2003 when a 1500 pound tiger shark bit through her surfboard, taking with it most of her left arm. Was that “good”? No, but all things work together for good – for Bethany loved the Lord. She said:

“This was God’s plan for my life, and I’m going to go with it. … Jesus Christ … gave me peace when I got attacked by the shark, which severed my arm, and had to get back to the beach, which would take 20 minutes of paddling.”

The Christian’s focus is to love and serve the Lord Jesus, Who loves and cares for us.

Christian, you defeat the Devil when you realize you belong to God. Your God is not:

Humanism
Philosophy
Darwinism
DEI
Satan
Politics
Riches
Fame
Religion
or even Yourself

You belong to Jesus Christ. You belong to the Kingdom of God. You cannot split your allegiance. Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:13). Jesus said “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation: every city or house divided against itself will not stand” (Matthew 12:25; Luke 11:17). When Moses came down from Mount Sinai and saw Israel worshiping a golden calf, he cried out:

Exodus 32:26 (KJV) … Who is on the LORD’S side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.

When Joshua – after a life of success in battle got ready to leave Israel in retirement, he cried out:

Joshua 24:15 (KJV) … choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

In the formation of the early Church, Paul, Timothy, James, Peter and Jude all describe themselves as “BOND SLAVES OF JESUS” (Romans 1:1; Philippians 1:1; James 1:1; 2 Peter 1:1; Jude 1).

We who are saved by Grace are no longer under Satan nor the gods of this world. We who are saved follow Jesus as sheep, with Him as the Shepherd. We are “bond servants or slaves of Christ” (1 Corinthians 7:22; Ephesians 6:6; 2 Timothy 2:24).

We belong to God. We are “the CALLED according to HIS PURPOSE” (Romans 8:28).

What Is The Great Benefit Of Surrender To Christ?

We read:

Romans 8:29-31 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. 31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

If you belong to Jesus, everything is uphill. You have cancer, or some other disease. So what? You are, dear Christian, “predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son”. Everything that happens to you is to make you more like Jesus. Though people argue about what this verse means:

Romans 8:30 Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified.

You know what these verses mean to me? They mean simply this:

“If you belong to God, you will one day be in glory with God”

You defeat the enemy by giving yourself fully to Jesus. You trust His Word, the Bible. You hide in the salvation that the children of God receive. When the world challenges us, we look to God our Father. We rely on Jesus. We drive between the lines, knowing that while we are doing so, God is in control of the engine.

Romans 8:31 … If God be for us, who can be against us?

Beloved, you cannot defeat the enemy while playing on his team. Come to Jesus. Give your lives to Him. Stop being your own god, or following other gods. If you surrender to God in Christ, if you follow Him as LORD, you need not fear the little gods this world trots out.

I pray that God will lead you to Christ today. Amen.