By Diane Caston
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36As it is written:
“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
At the closing of this amazing chapter, Paul gives us a series of rhetorical questions to which the answer of each is, No one or Nothing! The Lord is challenging us to really understand the depths of His love for us by getting us to think and reason about the conclusions to be drawn from the love that led Him to sacrifice His very life to bring us to Himself.
*Vs. 31 What then shall we say to these things? What things? The things Paul has been spelling out in this whole epistle so far, and the things we have especially been focusing on in this Chapter 8, no condemnation, set free from the law of sin and death, sending His Son to redeem us, leaving the Holy Spirit to guide us, bearing witness that we are the sons of God and joint heirs with Christ, the Holy Spirit helping in our weakness and teaching how to pray, and if we can receive it, understanding that all things work together for good for us. We are foreknown, predestined, called, justified and glorified!! What can we say ? We can say, Hallelujah, thank you Jesus, our minds are blown when we meditate on the work He has done through the cross! It is the single most amazing thing that has ever taken place in time and space. God came down from heaven in the form of a man to save wretched mankind from our sins. The commentator, Brown says, “This whole passage, to verse 34, and even to the end of the chapter, strikes all thoughtful interpreters and readers as transcending almost everything in language.”
*Vs. 31 If God is for us who can be against us?
If God is for us who can be against us…How many times these words have comforted me in times of rejection and hurt. God is for us, think about it, even when we mess up; He is for us. He is for our marriages, our child raising, our singleness, our struggles caring for ailing loved ones, in our work, on good days and bad days, He is our constant ally! He’s on our side! He’s our coach, our cheerleader, our confidant, the friend that sticks closer than a brother! He is for us! Don’t ever forget that! Comfort yourselves with that fact! No one has ever loved us this way. There are no strings attached. We are the apple of His eye! There is nothing to be earned; it was all done on the cross. We live in such a works-oriented world. We always feel we need to measure up. But we fail others; we fail ourselves and our own intentions, in spite of that God loves us unconditionally! We need to meditate on this. We need to make it our own reality.
William Newell, “Our weak hearts, prone to legalism and unbelief, receive these words with great difficulty: God is for us... They have failed Him; but He is for them. They are ignorant; but He is for them. They have not yet brought forth much fruit; but He is for them. If our hearts once surrender to the stupendous fact that there are those whom God will eternally be for…then we shall be ready to magnify the God of all grace.”
Who can be against us?
Put that on as your armor! Who can be against me? I am a child of the Living God, a child of the King of Kings. I am the inheritor of all that He owns. I am going to live forever with Him and enjoy the fruits of His kingdom and be stunned by all that He has prepared for me in His house. I do not need to be afraid or worry about what others think of me and what I do or say. And this is not pride; it is confidence, because we know He has taken all our guilt and all of our shame and put it under the coverage of His blood.
Who is it that tries to be against us? Satan and the world fight against us. But what is Satan or the world compared to God? Ps. 118:6 “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
1 Jn. 5:18 We know that whoever is born of God does not sin (continually); but he who has been born of God keep himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.
*Vs. 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
This is the God who is for us, and this is the proof! God the Father spared not, delivered up, His only Son! Mocked, spit on, scourged, and crucified by worthless men. Do we really need any more proof than that?
Why is the assurance that God is for you so important? Because this confidence encourages you to come and receive the things that are freely yours. God’s desire to freely give to you is revealed throughout the Bible.
From the beginning of scripture, Gen. 2:16, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat". God declares that He will love us freely, Hos. 14:4 “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely”.
If we will receive His love, we can be forgiven and justified freely in His sight.
Rom. 3:24being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus . The Bible even closes with an open invitation to all. "The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely" (Rev. 22:17).
2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
We know our Father is for us, because He did not spare His own Son, so will He not give and do all that is necessary in our lives to bring us to Himself for all time?
*Vs. 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
*34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
Who is he who condemns? Satan tries to condemn us. Condemnation is of the devil. People may condemn us. But why should I worry about that? God is for us! The Holy Spirit convicts us; conviction drives us to the Lord, Satan and people condemn us: that drives us away from the Lord if we listen to it! Satan condemns us night and day, and apart from the work of Christ, he would be right. We were what he says we are.
I Corinthians 6:11 “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
Ps. 32:2 Blessed is the man to whom God does not impute iniquity!
No human or evil spirit has any right to try and condemn us. They have to take their insults up before the throne of God who ever lives to make intercession for us. Heb 7:25.
David Guzik: We are secure from every charge against us. If we are declared “not guilty” by the highest Judge, who can bring an additional charge? We are secure from all condemnation. If Jesus is our advocate, promoting our benefit, then who can condemn us?
*Vs 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
This word separate, chorizo, pronounced khoridzo, is the same word used for a divorce between a husband and wife. In other words, God is saying that there is nothing in this world that can divorce you from His love. There is no external force that can snatch you from God’s hand (John 10:29). Do you believe this? You should; it’s a promise signed in the blood of His Son. Paul gives every possible scenario in the coming verses 38-39 of circumstances that cause people to question God’s love. However, if He is a God who does not change, then His love cannot change towards you. That is the most incredible and reassuring fact of God’s nature and character. No matter what you have done or how far you have fallen or what sin you have committed, His love for you will never change.
Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Often the things we encounter in this life look nothing like the things we hoped for. Often what He give us are not things we would ever have wanted. Sometimes we may question if He even cares for us at all.
This verse we looked at a few weeks ago. 2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,
It may not seem like that at all, but as we mature and grow, we see that troubles draw us closer to Him, and expose the weakness of our own flesh. Then we gladly welcome them, so they will do the work in us that He desires.
James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. ...
These Roman Christians that Paul is addressing suffered death all the time. Thousands of Christians were martyred for their faith. It doesn’t really matter what we feel; it is the facts that matter. These outward troubles are the things that make us doubt; what could happen to us? Will we suffer? But His word is true, and we need to receive it by faith. No matter what happens, nothing can separate us from the love of God.
Yes, we are groaning now. We are suffering,but nothing we face in this life can separate us from Him. Connie Ten Boom, (does everyone here know who she is)? She could say after her years in a concentration camp: “There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still.”
* Vs. 36 As it is written:“For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
Here Paul is quoting Ps. 44 when Israel thought they had been abandoned by God. It is a reminder that the life of the Christian is not one of ease. Our goal is not to be safe and comfortable. To name ourselves as sons of the living God is to invite persecution, and we are living in a time that the love of many has grown cold. We see it even here in our country, as people are becoming more and more violent against righteousness and truth. Jane’s school board meeting.
In Romans chapter 11 Paul asks, ‘Has God cast away His people’ ? And he answers his own question with, ‘God forbid’ . God has not cast away His people who He loves. God has a plan for Israel just as He has for us. He has had to correct them over and over, and only a remnant will remain, but He is still at work in them. We can see it to this day. He also has a plan for us that may include suffering and difficulties. These things refine us. We should be ready and willing to give up our very lives for Him.
Who are the heroes in the stories that we love? Are they not the ones who have suffered and overcome? The ones who have laid down their lives for others? Do we ever tell the tales of people who had had everything easy, or lived a charmed life? No, we love and admire those who sacrifice themselves for others and for the Lord. We should do the same whatever the cost. Lord of the Rings
Vs.37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
We are more than conquerors, whatever we go through, we will come through as conquerors, if we have faith, but it is only through Him that we can be conquerors, because we know that He loves us.
We know there is a reward ahead. We know that we can do all things through Him who strengthens us, and one day we will be rewarded, crowned for the faith we displayed in overcoming the trials and difficulties through the strength He has given us.
So much of maturing in the Lord is surrendering, accepting the road He has chosen for us, not resisting Him in it. Not just being passive but seeing through the glass that’s now dark to the light that shines beyond. There is a purpose in everything He has allowed and even ordained in our lives. This is the true Spirit filled life!
Newell “What a wonderful book this Word of God is! “Sheep for slaughter” naming themselves “more that conquerors.”
Vs. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
Vs. 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul could say this experientially. He walked in it before us as an example. He could tell us it is true. Since God is for us, no power of hell can prevail against us. There is nothing that Satan or life in this fallen world can bring upon us that has any power to separate us from His love. Satan does not have the power. He is not the opposite of God, far from it! He is a created being like we are. He might be compared to Michael or Gabriel, but never to God. Do not let him have a voice in your life.
Remember that! God so loved the world. God’s love extends to the entire world of people He has created, and to those who have chosen to walk with Him, we are His special treasure! He delights in us! He has filled His word with promises for us. He has given everything to be with us. Don’t ever forget that, no matter what situation you are in.
When you begin to doubt or fear or become depressed, remember always that God is for you! He wants your best! If He points out something in your life it is not to shame you or condemn you. It is to help you overcome it, so that you can be set free and live in that hope and joy that Kasey taught us about a couple of weeks ago.
So, in conclusion, these verses this morning clearly promise that there is nothing that can separate you from the love of God. These are the things that are promised here: His love is the strongest force in all of creation, stronger than any trial or peril in life. Do you have this confidence that nothing can separate you from God’s love? Are you absolutely sure that there is nothing that could ever change His love for you?
One final caveat to these verses is it is God’s love that is certain and unmovable, but Paul is not promising that you can’t ever be separated from the blessings of God or a relationship with God. Does that sound like a contradiction? It is quite clear from Scripture that sin can and does separate God’s people from the Lord and His blessings. Isaiah declared, " Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear" (Is. 59:1-2).
This is the reinforcement of the statement in Romans 8:1 There is now therefore no condemnation to those who are “in” Christ Jesus .” God’s love hasn’t changed; men have changed in their behavior and thus have removed themselves from His grace and blessing.
You must always consider the balance of Scripture on such a sensitive and important topic such as God’s sovereignty and unfailing love and your human responsibility. Jude declared, "keep yourselves in the love of God" (Jude 1:21). Keeping yourself in the love of God is every Christian’s responsibility. However, Jude turns right around and directs your attention to the One who enables you to do this . "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 1:24). What a balanced presentation of this truth! Why does he tell us to keep ourselves in the love of God? Because His love never changes towards us, but we must keep ourselves in a place where we can receive it. How do we do that? Note how Jesus balances this truth. He said, "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love" (John 15:10). Jesus couldn't have made it simpler than that. In other words, just trust and obey Me, and we will stay in a love relationship with one another.
Your obedience to His commands is what keeps you unspotted and separated from the world and its corruption (James 1:27). Paul also explained that this separation from sin was essential if we wanted a relationship with the Father. "Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty" (2 Cor. 6:17-18). Therefore, if you never want to be separated from God’s unfailing love then be separate from all that would draw you away from abiding in His love. Bask in all that He has done and promised you! Thank Him and praise Him and worship Him for the unfathomable gift He has given to those of us who are abiding in Him!