Romans 8:31-39

God is For You

In Romans 8, Paul has one thing on his mind:  He sums up all of God’s marvelous work on your behalf in Jesus Christ to assure “you” that the work for your eternal salvation is complete – nothing more to be done – and therefore, you can have complete confidence and assurance that you belong to your loving Heavenly Father for all eternity to enjoy Him forevermore!

It is for this reason that Paul is exuberantly beside himself this morning.  Paul is elated in God.  He celebrates before the majesty of Jesus Christ as King David danced and rejoiced before the Ark of God (cf. 2 Sam. 6:12-15).

This morning we hear and join in as Paul rejoices in the Gospel, the good news that you will never know any condemnation of any kind from God.  Your salvation is complete and you are only waiting for what is already accomplished to be revealed for all creation to see.

Paul is like a treasurer hunter who has suddenly broken through a wall in a hidden cave and found billions and billions of dollars worth of gold and jewels that were safely hidden away and forgotten hundreds of years before.  Paul wallows in the abundance of God’s mercy and grace which are lavished upon each of you in Christ Jesus.

It is at this point, that Paul now says in v. 31, “What shall we say to these things?”  From Paul’s pen, the love of God for you has been described in great beauty throughout the first 8 chapters of Paul’s letter to the Romans.  Now, Paul sums up all that he has written in v. 31 to say – If God is for you! 

To begin to fully grasp what Paul is saying this morning – you must go back to the Fall when God sent enmity between you, His people, and the whole world.  In Gen. 3, God curses this creation for the rebellious sin of your forefather, Adam.  He begins with the Tempter and says:

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel (Gen. 3:15).

Satan, with all his powers, is working against you to destroy you.  He has already lost the battle at the cross and he is seeking to take as many of you down to eternal destruction with him as possible. 

But even the creation itself is at war with you.  God said to the woman:

I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you (Gen. 3:16).

The hardship you now know began all the way back in the garden when even the joy of childbearing and your relationship to your husband would be a struggle against you.

Finally, God said to Adam:

Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat from it'; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life.  18 "Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field;  19 By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return (Gen. 3:17-19).

You will labor to make just enough to survive.  And the earth will not give up its fruit gently.  You will fight and struggle by the sweat of your brow to make ends meet only to return to the dirt of the ground when you are finished.

This enmity God set up between you and the whole creation is working against you to the end that you can be assured that the curse will accomplish its purpose for everyone who has been born.  No matter how wealthy or powerful you may be, the curse will get you in the end and you will die and be judged by God.

That’s why you often feel like the whole world is against you.  Because it is!  And notice that Paul doesn’t say that when you become a Christian that you will no longer know any opposition.  He knows better.  He has experienced many forms of opposition, some very intense. 

Jesus told you:

"If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.  19 "If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you (John 15:18-19).

And that’s why John the apostle told you:

Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you (1 John 3:13).

The whole world is against you and everything you stand for – it hates you because it hates Christ who is in you.

But do you hear what Paul is saying to you this morning?  Even if the whole world and all of its demonic forces stand against you, WHAT DOES IT MATTER?

You have on your side the ONE who far outweighs, infinitely so, all who stand against you!  This is what it means when you say, “Immanuel is with you even to the end of the age.”

If God is for you, then what does it matter who is against you?

Now, we sometimes miss the true impact of Paul’s declaration here because we are so used to sentimentalizing these words.  We read things like “Footprints in the Sand” and we think, “Oh, isn’t that nice, Jesus carries me through difficult times.”

But Paul is actually telling you this morning that the Sovereign God of all creation, among whom the angels forever cry, “Holy, Holy, Holy!,” the very One who will one day judge all humanity for their sin and rebellion and therefore the One who holds yours and all mankind’s eternal destiny in the palm of His hand . . . This One is “for” you!

God Almighty is for you!  He is on “your” side.  So what does it matter who lines up against you?  Nothing and no one can bring you ultimate harm.  Before all threats and difficulties we can confess with Joseph:

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive (Gen. 50:20).

This means that whatever does happen to you, God is for you and He is Sovereign over all creation – you can be certain that whatever happens in your life, whatever trials or struggles is solely because God has sent them to you as His gift to use all means necessary to conform you into the glorious image of His Son.

Now, if this is true, the how has God demonstrated His loving friendship toward you so that you can be certain that He is for you?

In v. 32 Paul drives us back to the cross of Christ:  God gave you His Son.  What more could God give you?  The one who owns the whole universe, visible and invisible – who has the whole creation at His immediate disposal – He has given you what is most precious and close to Him.

Have you ever promised to lasso the moon and give it to the one you love?  Well, God has given you His “own” Son.  Rather than sparing Him, keeping Jesus close and safe at His heart, God handed Him over to wicked and evil men.

Notice that Paul says that God actually “handed Jesus over to us.”  He knew exactly what He was doing from the beginning.  God didn’t send Jesus on a mission that Jesus didn’t succeed in fulfilling – The cross was no failure!  It was God’s foreordained plan written in Heavens before the world began.  Peter said on the Day of Pentecost:

Acts 2:22-23  "Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know--  23 this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.

Acts 4:27-28  For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,  28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.

The cross was no accident or afterthought in the mind of God.  The bleeding Lamb of God was sent by design from all eternity and when the time came to execute God’s eternal plan, God handed Jesus into our hands knowing full well what we would do with His beloved Son.

Now, if God has given to you the most precious possession he has, can anyone doubt that He will not easily give up all things with Him.  How inconceivable would it be that He would not withhold His very Son and then fail to give you everything else?

Can you imagine the disciples arguing on the night Jesus was arrested about who would be the greatest in Christ’s kingdom?  Can you imagine how the disciples must have felt once they understood all of this?  And here Paul tells you that God is giving you all things – all His possessions – are given to you as your inheritance.  All that rightfully belongs to Christ is now yours.

And if God has done all of this, then how could you ever imagine that anyone could possibly bring a charge against you (v. 33)?  Who could do it?  Satan the Accuser?  Your enemies?  How about your own multitude of sins and your lack of faith?  Can anything accuse you before the God who is for you?

No accusation – not even your own guilt – will ever be effective before God’s holy throne.  Why?  Because any accusation would have to be made against the One who has chosen you – the elect ones – and Paul has just assured you in vv. 28-30 that all who are chosen by God will certainly be justified and glorified in His sight.  Who can charge you with anything when God is One who is justifying you on account of Christ?

Do you see how amazingly God has stacked the deck in your favor?  Not only is God the judge, He is your defense and there you stand with Him before all your accuses as He pleads your case.  Christ Jesus stands for you, with His nail-scarred hands before Him, as proof that your debt has been paid in full.  God is justifying you – Who could possibly stand against His declaration?

Further who could condemn you when God justifies you?  -- Now you see why Paul started this chapter with those marvelous words -- There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (8:1)!?

Who will condemn you then?  No one!  Why?  In v. 34 Paul says, because Jesus Christ has died for you to secure your assured justification – but more than that – He was raised for you and has ascended to the right hand of the Father, with all power.  But why?  Why has Christ been seated next to God the Father in Heaven?  So that He may pray for you?  But what?  What is Jesus praying for?  He is your High Priest before the face of God who is constantly ensuring that the judicial declaration that He died for is applied to you in all of its glorious fulfillment.  The author of Hebrews says:

Hebrews 4:14-16  Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.  16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

That is why you have full confidence and boldness before the throne of God!  Jesus Christ is alive and at God’s right hand making constant intercession for you that what He has begun in you will be completed on the day of redemption.  He prays for you as He prayed for Peter:

Luke 22:31-32  "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat;  32 but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail.

This is why nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ (v. 35).  Who or what can separate you?  It’s interesting to note that everything Paul mentions in v. 35 is repeated in 2 Cor. 11:26-27 as his own experience in the daily trials of service to Christ.  Paul can assure you that nothing can separate you from God’s love because he personally has walked deep into the valley of death and God’s love perfectly sustained him.  Nothing was able to destroy the sweet fellowship he has known in Christ – not even the sword was able to overcome God’s love.

And as Paul says in v. 36, this suffering should never surprise God’s people (cf. Ps. 44:22).  Yet even in the midst of the worst possible circumstances you overwhelmingly conquer in Christ.  God not only causes you to conquer all the trials of life, but even “more so” because under God’s sovereign hand even those difficulties of life are being caused by God to work toward your good in conforming you into the image of Christ (cf. v. 28).

But note that the victory you have is not yours at the end of the day – for you know it only because it happens to you “through the One who loves you” (v. 37).

Finally, in vv. 38-39 Paul lets you in on his own personal conviction that nothing – absolutely nothing – neither death nor life – not the spiritual beings in the heavens – nor things we know in the present or we will know in the future – no height or depth of the entire universe – nothing – not even your own sin and rebellion – can separate you from Christ! 

Why?  Because God has given you His Son, Jesus Christ and

Romans 5:6-11  For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.  8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.  10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.  11 And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

Amen!

-SDG-