Some days in the Christian life can feel like episodes of a soap opera, with twists and turns, changing allegiances, and a cliffhanger leaving us wondering what will happen next: “I know that Jesus has loved me to the end, but can I do that for Him? Will I persevere?”
In some ways, though, the Christian life is more akin to an episode of the 1950s detective show Perry Mason. Perry Mason always got his man before the hour was up. With the evidence presented, the guilty party found out, and the innocent party acquitted, the resolution was definitive. The viewers could rest assured.
In Romans 8, Paul, like Perry, works the jury on behalf of the beleaguered Christian, putting up the evidence to show that their acquittal is valid and permanent. The fact that “there is … now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (v. 1) is affirmed by the ultimate promise that nothing “in all creation … will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (v. 39).
Romans 8:31–39 is something of a closing argument in this trial. And at the center of this closing argument is the friendly testimony of the star witness: God Himself.
The Case as It Stands
Verse 31 asks, “What then shall we say to these things?” To what? To all that has preceded! Paul has presented the evidence, and now he is about to tell us what it means. So what is the evidence?
In the preceding verses, Paul has asserted that Christ has stood in the place of sinners, and there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ. And those who are in Christ demonstrate this glorious reality by a new mentality, centered on what the Spirit of Christ desires (v. 5).
Furthermore, he points out the evidence that should point to the new spiritual life filling the believer: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (v. 11). This Spirit assures us of our adoption as children of God (vv. 12–17), helps us to persevere in hope amid suffering (vv. 18–25), and aids us in our weakness as we consider the glorious, electing love of God that knows us, predestines us, calls us, and justifies us in order that we might be ultimately glorified (vv. 26–30).
“What then shall we say to these things?” Paul then asks. Given all this evidence, how is the troubled Christian to understand his or her place in God’s kingdom?
The Theory of the Case
The crux of Paul’s argument is summed up in the next words: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (v. 31). It’s as if Paul were saying, “Judge and jury have already decided for you, defendant. The prosecutor can shout and scream and stomp his feet, but he cannot contradict them.”
If the God who calls us and justifies us is on our side, then the opposition is of no account. We may be tempted to set our eyes on own ability, but the Bible teaches us that our victory or failure really hinges on God:
If it had not been the LORD who was on our side
when people rose up against us,
then they would have swallowed us up alive” (Ps. 124:2–3).
This is the constant testimony of the Old Testament Scriptures. The success of God’s people is not to be looked for in God’s people but in God Himself. It was God who defeated Pharaoh (Ex. 14:4). As the people trembled at the thought of giants, Joshua and Caleb reminded them, “If the LORD delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us” (Num. 14:8). God knocked down the walls of Jericho while the people stood by (Josh. 6:15–20). God defeated overwhelming forces before them as they conquered Canaan (Josh. 10:14). And “time would fail … to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets” (Heb. 11:32).
The Scriptures are clear: When God is on someone’s side, victory is certain, even if the odds seem slim from a human perspective. The whole world and all the spiritual powers may stand up to accuse our souls; still the answer to Paul’s question—“Who can be against us?”—would be: No one of any account whatsoever!
The Knock-Down Argument
It’s no question that if God is on our side, victory is ours. And if we are left with any question about whether God is on our side, Paul reminds us of this fact, established already in the record: God the Father, he writes, “did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all” (Rom. 8:32). As the hymn writer puts it,
How deep the Father’s love for us,
How vast beyond all measure,
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.1
We were sinners. Nevertheless, the Father, Son, and Spirit covenanted from eternity to save us from sin through the sacrifice of the incarnate Son on the cross: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Nothing in us deserves God’s love. Nevertheless, the cross demonstrates the marvelous fact that He has indeed loved us!
This incredible fact raises another question: “How will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32). If God has given us the greatest and the best in Jesus, He will not withhold all of the blessings of grace that will complete His work in the lives of His children. In Christ, we have the promise of every grace—for “if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life” (Rom. 5:10).
John Murray helpfully explains, “‘All things’ is an obvious example of an expression in universal terms used in a restrictive sense.”2 In other words, God will not literally give us anything we ask, but He will definitely give us the whole package of grace that comes with knowing Jesus. If Jesus were a present opened on Christmas morning, we would never find the words “Batteries not included.” In giving Him, God has given us all we need; and having started us off, He will not fail to bring us to completion.
The work which His goodness began
The arm of His strength will complete;
His promise is Yea and Amen
And never was forfeited yet.3
This article is the first in a three-part series examining Paul’s closing argument in Romans 8. Stay tuned to the Truth For Life blog for the second and third parts, coming soon!
This article was adapted from the sermon “If God Be for Us…” by Alistair Begg.
- Stuart Townend, “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us” (1995). ↩︎
- John Murray, The Epistle to the Romans: The English Text with Introduction, Exposition and Notes, vol. 1, Chapters 1 to 8, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1959), 326.↩︎
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Augustus Montague Toplady, “A Debtor to Mercy Alone” (1771). ↩︎