Romans 8:33-39 Who shall bring any charge against God’s
elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ
Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right
hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As
it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are
regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For
I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things
present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor
depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the
love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul ends this part of the letter to the Romans giving us an
assurance that God’s love will never end. Before God created the universe he
had a plan! That plan is far beyond our ability to understand. At the same
time, it is simple. We suffer and experience attacks by satanic forces in the
world. Yet we can say with Paul, “Thanks
be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1
Corinthians 15:57) His love is sufficient to meet all our needs.
Jesus identified himself as the good Shepherd that laid down
his life for the sheep (John 10:11). We can see that God anticipated our need
for salvation and made arrangements for it, because of his love, before he
created the world. The good Shepherd was planned for by God the Father and God
the Holy Spirit in agreement with God the Son before the creation. His love
began in the depths of eternity past and will continue into the depths of
eternity future. We are not saved by our own strength or goodness. It is God
who justifies. To be justified looks in two directions. First, God declares
that we are forgiven from our sins. That’s wonderful, but it’s not enough!
Second, God declares that we inherit his righteousness and not our own.
So, we have the question and we know the answer…
Who brings charges against God’s
elect? Let’s look at
1 Peter 5:8. Be sober-minded; be
watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking
someone to devour.
That has always been Satan’s role and goal! Beginning with
the Garden of Eden when Satan tempted Eve to sin and continuing through the
Bible we see him opposing God. We see him active in the book of Job chapters 1
and 2. There he attempted to pull Job down from his faith in God. I would like
to report to you that he failed! With the first attacks, Job’s reply was “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken
away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). Job’s response to his
suffering went on to one of the greatest confessions of faith in the Bible.
From the depth of agony, Job stated “For
I know my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And
after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19:25). You see Job understood
that it was not his righteousness but it is the fact that…
God justifies. Let’s look at Isaiah 50:8-9. He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my
adversary? Let him come near to me. 9 Behold, the Lord God helps me; who will declare me
guilty? Behold, all of them will
wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up.
Isaiah is recording for us truth about the Servant of God
whose obedience paid the price for Israel’s sin. The Suffering Servant is
clearly represented in Jesus. In verse six, he says “I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks that those who pull
out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting” (Isaiah 50:6).
The Servant is beaten and insulted yet remains faithful to Yahweh. In this,
Isaiah is contrasting the attitude of the nation of Judah who complained of
being forsaken by Yahweh. Isaiah could see that the justifier — or vindicator —
is near and will settle the issues of sin and rebellion. It is God who
justifies not self-righteous humanity.
Who can condemn? Let’s go back to Romans 8:1. There is therefore now no
condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Believers are not subject to condemnation. The death of Jesus
covered the sin of his people. In Romans chapter 3 verse 25 we are told that “God put forward (Jesus) as a propitiation by his blood to be
received by faith.” And then in chapter 8 verse 10, we find these words “But if Christ is in you, although the body
is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” Righteousness
does not come from our attitudes or actions. One of my favorite verses is 2
Corinthians 5:21 in it we are told: “For
our sake, he (God the Father) made
him (God the Son) to be sin who knew
no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” We know
that Jesus had no sin because of repeated statements to that effect throughout
the New Testament. He had no sin of his own and literally, we have no
righteousness of our own. The Bible tells us that “all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. (Isaiah
64:6). In order for us to be justified in God’s sight, we must have faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ who died for our sins and rose again to complete our
justification.
That brings us to a position where we are forgiven and
protected by God. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, God demonstrated His
righteousness by judging sin and showing mercy to sinners. As a result of God’s
justification, we receive a right standing before God. Something we could not
do on our own. Jesus Christ took our sins to the cross and nailed them there.
If you like, he took them into the grave and left them there. In the Old
Testament, we are told that God takes our sins and hides them in the bottom of
the sea! (Micah 7:19) Miss Corrie ten Boom added that he posted a “no fishing”
sign over that spot. He takes our sin from us as far as the east is from the
west (Psalm 103:12). All of this encourages us to believe that we might be free
from guilt because of the righteousness of God. Still, there is a concern on
our part. Are we free from the punishment? Is it possible that God has forgiven
us and given us eternal life in his Son? Who is the one who paid the price?
When we think that we need to be justified. We need to be
past condemnation. Who takes up our cause? Jesus, that’s who! He stands at the
right hand of God the Father. He ever intercedes on our behalf! We are
reminded, “If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
(1 John 1:9). If Jesus is interceding for us who can condemn us? No one
can! Since we cannot be condemned we desperately need to know…
Who can separate us from the love of
Christ? In verse 31
we are encouraged by the words “If God
is for us, who can be against us?” God is for us the evidence is plain for
us to see. He did not spare his own son! If he would give up his son on our
behalf he will not hold anything back! Paul is speaking autobiographical. He
has experienced all that he writes about here! Reading Luke’s account in the
Book of Acts we see Paul facing the things he mentions here. Trouble was
everywhere! Hardship characterized his life. Wherever he went he was
persecuted. He suffered physical need. In 2 Corinthians 11:16ff Paul tells
about the difficulties. He spoke of great labor, imprisonments, beatings,
shipwrecked, danger, danger everywhere! Once when Paul was in Corinth and
beginning to be discouraged. Doctor Luke recorded these words in Acts 18:9-10. And the Lord said to Paul one
night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 for
I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this
city who are my people.”
I am reminded of Elijah who was used mightily by God to
destroy the pagan worship in Israel and replace it with the worship of Yahweh.
After a great victory at Mount Carmel, the Queen threatened to take his life.
Rather than face the wrath of the Queen, Jezebel, Elijah went into the
wilderness. There he met an angel who fed him and sent him on to Mount Horeb.
There, he stood in the entrance of the cave and was required to explain why he
was there. He said, “I have been very
jealous for the Lord, the God of
hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your
altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left,
and they seek my life, to take it away.” (1 Kings 19:9-10) God reaffirmed
his commission and outlined the work he had for him to do. Then he told Elijah
not to worry about being the only one left because “Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not
bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” (1 Kings 19:18).
We may often be disappointed but we should make every effort not to be
discouraged because…
We are super conquerors. Let’s look back at verse 37. “No, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
In spite of all that the apostle had gone through. In spite
of all the persecution of Christians beginning in the Roman Empire. Paul was
encouraged! In all the difficulties that he had listed for them, he still
asserted that they were “more than conquerors”. The original language would
allow us to use the term “super conquerors”! Where did he get this claim? Oh,
of course, I know the spirit of God guided him but was there any evidence of
this bold attitude? It certainly wasn’t the idea that suffering would disappear
anytime soon. It wouldn’t and it won’t. Rather his claim is based on the bigger
picture in Romans 8. We have previously been assured by Paul “And we know that for those who love God
all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his
purpose.” (Romans 8:28). This passage can be very encouraging to all of us.
John Bunyan sat at his desk in deep depression
wondering if he could go on, worrying about the future, when this text came to
his rescue. “I remember,” he says, “that I was sitting in a neighbor’s home,
and was very sad, that word came suddenly to me. ‘What shall we say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be against us?’ That was a help to me.”
It can be a help to all of us…
Because his love is unending. Let’s look at one of the most
popular Scripture verses in the Bible John
3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever
believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Surely God will hold nothing back and taking care of his
chosen people. He sent his son to die in order for us to live.
Our only hope, in the face of our sinful nature, is the love
of God. Jesus commanded his disciples, and us along with them, to love one
another (John 13:34-35). The kind of love he called for is the kind of love he
has for us. Love that will go to the death for another. The eternal Father loved
us enough to send the eternal Son to bear our sins in his own body. To have
that body beaten beyond recognition and nailed to the cross demonstrating his
love for us. His unending love should be reflected in our love for one another.
One last thing we must remember. “Christ
died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6b). He loved his enemies — THAT’S US — to
the death. We should love others in the same way. In order to do that, we need
to have is kind of love flowing through us. In order to have that, we must confess
Jesus as Lord. Have you put your faith in Him? Is He your Lord? Today can be
your day.
All scriptures quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English
standard version. 2001. Wheaton, Ill, Standard Bible Society.
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