As you read this passage, notice how verses 31-35 show 4 attributes
of God, all of which work in our favor. Verse 31 shows God’s
power, 32 shows His grace, 33 &34 His justice, and
35 His love.
Romans 8:31-39
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?
33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's
elect? It is God that justifieth.
34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ
that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right
hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of
Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are
killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than
conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things
present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other
creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Vs 31.)
If God in all His
POWER is "
for us",
we don’t need to fear anyone.
(Ps 118:6; Phil 1:28)
(Vs 32.)
God gave what He valued most, His Son, to be a ransom for us.
(I Tim 2:6; John 3:16) He asked nothing of us
because we were
powerless to do anything.
(Eph
2:1; Rom 3:10-20; 5:6; Gal 2:21) Salvation from God’s judgment
on sin is
undeserved and is given to us
freely as a
gift
because Christ paid our debt.
(Rom 3:24;
5:18,19; Eph 2:8,9; II Cor 9:15) That’s
GRACE!
Now that God has purchased us at such a high price,
(I Cor 6:19,20; Eph 1:7) there isn’t
anything good for us that He does not freely give us. So what
are these "all things" that God
freely gives us? Are they good health, money, and great
relationships? How would we ever develop spiritual character if He
always gave us those? Remember Rom 5:3-5. Sadly, many saints value
those temporal things more than all the eternal spiritual blessings
God gives us in Christ. (Eph 1:3; II Cor 4:18;
Col 3:1-2) Colossians 2:10 tells us we are complete in
Christ. He has completely provided for us, we are not required to add a
thing. It’s a great idea to make a list of the spiritual blessings God
has freely given, and keep adding to it as your understanding grows. The
first blessing is our justification, as in the next verse.
(Vs 33 & 34.)
No one can condemn you before God if
God Himself has
JUSTIFIED
you.
(Rom 4:5; Gal 2:16) We have been
cleared by the
highest court in the universe! Our verdict is 100%
righteous in Christ.
(II Cor 5:21)
God is just in justifying us even though we are guilty, because
the penalty for our sin is paid by Christ.(Rom
3:26) "The wages of sin is death" (Rom
6:23) so when Christ died for our sin, He could not have
conquered death if even one sin was left unpaid. Christ, alive from the
dead, at the Father’s right hand, is living proof that all
our sins are paid and can never count against us.
(Heb 1:3; 10:12-14)
Who are "God’s elect"?
Mark 13:20 shows the elect are those "whom he hath chosen". Eph 1:4
shows God has chosen those of us who are in Christ to be "holy
and without blame before Him". God does not choose who
will be in Christ, He chooses those who are in Him to serve His
purpose. God elects saved people to fulfil His purpose, and He
saves anyone who believes. (I Cor 1:21)
I Peter 1:2 shows God elects people according to His
foreknowledge, as we studied in Rom 8:29,30 in the previous class.
(Vs 35-37.)
If God
LOVED us enough to die for us when we were still His
enemies, how
much more must He love us now that we are justified
by depending on His sin-payment.
(Rom 5:8-10)
God’s love for us was displayed once and for all
at the
cross.
Do we ever need further proof of it? But when
trouble
comes, we tend to think God forgot us, or doesn’t care and left us on our
own.
But what should our attitude be? What was Paul’s?
(II Cor 2:14; 12:7-10; Phil 4:4,11-13) Troubles
will come, so we need to be ready and know how to respond.
(I
Thes 3:3,4; II Thes 1:4) Remember, God is
always for us and
has
proven His love,
regardless of our circumstances.
The last half of the list of troubles in verse 35 are things that
we have not experienced yet in America. (Heb
12:2-4) Most of our sufferings are caused by someone’s bad
decisions or by age and illness, but Paul’s troubles were for God’s
sake. (vs 36) Paul wanted nothing more
than to be totally fearless as God’s ambassador
(Eph 6:19,20) even though that brings
persecution. (II Tim 3:12) He tells us
to be bold too in spreading the gospel. (Phil
1:27-29; 2:15,16)
Troubles only work more glory for us in heaven
(II Cor 4:17) and teach us to trust
His word in order to handle life here. (Rom 5:3-5)
We can’t loose. (II Cor 6:9,10)
We are "more than conquerors"
because God loves us and works everything out for our good
in the long run. (Rom 8:28) We can trust
Him. (I Cor 1:9)
(Vs 38-39.)
Verses 35-37 listed all kinds of
physical troubles that we might
run into on earth, especially if we stand for the message Paul preached.
(Gal 1:6-12; Eph 3:1-5: Col 1:24-26) Now verses
38 and 39 list the
spiritual sources
of opposition
causing
these troubles. II Cor 10:3-5 and Eph 6:10-18 tell us
how to win this
spiritual war here on earth. But no matter how we are attacked
or how
we respond, in the end,
we are victorious because we are in Christ.
Being "
persuaded" of this is what gets us
through troubles without despairing.
(Rom 8:23-25; II
Cor 4:8,9,16; 5:1,8)
Notice how vs 39 says "the love of
God which is IN Christ Jesus our Lord." God’s love is
in Christ. Christ is the center of everything God values and
plans. (Col 1:15-19) We were placed into
Christ by the Spirit when we believed. (That’s
our spiritual baptism, Rom 6:3,4; I Cor 12:13; Gal 3:26-28) Now,
because we are in Christ, we are in the center of God’s love.
When verse 39 says "nor any other creature
shall be able to separated us...", that includes Satan and even
ourselves (II Tim 2:13). Nothing can
ever alter our position IN Christ, or God’s love for Him.
Romans 8:31-39 is a great passage showing our eternal
security, although it's primary purpose is to show how
to face suffering without despair. This passage concludes the
second section of Romans. Remember chapters 1-5 deal with man’s
need and God’s provision for eternal salvation, and chapters 6-8
deal with the believer’s walk after salvation. Next, Paul shifts
gears and tells us about something altogether different - Israel!