“What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?.”
Romans 8:31

WE come now to the concluding verses of Paul's long, wonderful and full, treatise on salvation. These concluding verses continue to the end of chapter 8 of Romans, of which verse 32, which we are looking at in this sermon, is the first. Chapters 1 to 8 cover the doctrinal part of this letter. Chapters 9-11 have doctrine in them, but Paul wrote these to deal with the special problem of the place of the Jews in the whole scheme of God's redemption, and are not needed as such to complete Paul's teaching by the Holy Spirit on salvation. Chapters 12-16 contain Paul's application of the teaching concerning salvation to the Christian's daily life.

"RESPONSE TO THIS".

As we look at these concluding verses, and particularly verse 31, we need to appreciate what Paul is referring to when he asks the question, "What, then, shall we say in response to this". It is plain that he is referring back to the verses immediately before verse 31 from verse 28. These verses, as we have seen, place before us, in concise words, the plan of God in the redemption of sinners. However these words simply are a summary of all the teaching which has gone before from chapter 1:18, and so we can safely conclude that Paul is looking back to all that he has been saying concerning God's plan of salvation from the beginning of this letter.

Paul uses the device of questions in this concluding section of his doctrinal thesis, because by doing this, he enforces the wonder of Christian assurance, by focusing our attention upon it, and so causing us to see and appreciate more fully the implications to ourselves, for now and eternity, of the wonderful blessing the Christian has been brought into in Christ.

The response we make to the revelation of God's love and grace in Christ, which Paul has been speaking about, as we appreciate more perfectly the glory of it, is one of thanksgiving for the secure position and relationship with God we find we enjoy. The purpose behind what Paul says in these concluding verses is to confirm believers in the security and assurance of eternal life in Christ. There is no doubt that such assurance is greatly needed by us all. The fact is that however much we know, and however long we have been believers in Jesus, there are times when doubts assail us, and shake our faith. We need the assurance Paul gives us, in these concluding verses at the end of chapter 8 of Romans, and the more we can appropriate their meaning, the greater will be our comfort while in the battle of this earthly life.

GOD IS FOR US.

Here is the crux of salvation. Salvation, as Paul has been expounding it, tells us of this glorious truth, that God is for those who have experienced salvation. We need to stop and think and meditate on this fact. God is the one who created all things, who is sovereign over all the earth, and all who live on the earth. God reigns, and even devils have to submit to his sovereign will and power. All came from God and all are subject to God in the end, and all derive their ability and power from God, so God's power and authority must overpower all other powers. This is God and he is 'for us', whom he has brought to faith in Jesus.

This is the revelation that God the creator and omnipotent king is for those who believe in Jesus, and so his protection overshadows us, and so we are safe for all eternity. This does not mean that God will take away all pain and suffering in this earthly life, but that he has claimed us as his own, and has pledged to keep us for himself for eternity, and so will keep us safely in his love for eternity. Though the Christian falters and fails, and so often succumbs to the wiles of the devil, and although the Christian is weak and so prone to fall, yet because God is with us, he will keep us from falling finally and cause us to persevere to the end of this earthly life, safe in his love.

This fact that God is with us is seen particularly in the preceding verses, for there Paul has opened up to us that God foreknew us before time existed, and because of this predestined us to be partakers of salvation and conform to the image of Christ. This choosing of God to be our God is declared so clearly by Paul in chapter 1 of Epjesians. In verse 4 of this chapter we read, "For He (God) chose us in him (Christ) before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight." What clearer statement could there be that God is for his believing people. He selected us from the mass of humanity, and chose us with the firm purpose to make us in character like Christ, and so members of his family. It is certain that God is for us, because there could not be a stronger assurance that he has loved us by sovereign choice, and in consequence wants us to be with him for all eternity.

That God is for us is seen in the lengths God has gone to deliver us from Satan, sin, death and hell. Paul has opened up the glory of this redeeming purpose of God in Christ from the beginning of this letter to the Romans. No greater proof of God's commitment to us who believe in Christ could be found. He has given all to save us, not counting the cost, and he has made sure that all has been done, so that there may not be anything that hinders his purpose that we might be his own for ever.

That God is for us is seen in that he has by his mighty power overcome the evil one and delivered us from his dominion. Through Christ God has overcome Satan, and spoiled his goods, and set his people free, and Satan can't, and has no sufficient power, to take us from God. This is because God is for us, and he will not allow anyone to take us from him.

All that Paul has taught concerning salvation declares that God is with us - that is those who have been brought to faith in Jesus, and so have received God's salvation. The fact that we believe and rejoice in Christ our Saviour is evidence that God is with us. Look out on society all around us and in the world. Speak to these people in the world about Christ, and it will leave them cold towards Christ. Things that hold so much meaning to us, have no meaning or relevance to them. What makes the difference? The difference is that God is for us, and he was for us before we believed. It was because he was for us that we do believe, for the gift of faith, and appreciation of Christ, is a gift of God to those he is for. There is no way that any would believe if it was not for the fact that God is for us, and has been from before the foundation of the world. Those who minister in Christ's name know from constant evidence that people only believe when God works by his Spirit in their lives, and this can only be because he has chosen to be for them. Whatever questions may arise in our minds about the plight of those who do not believe, this should never take from us the assurance which the faith we have been given gives us, which is that God is for us. We would not have believed unless this were so.

WHO CAN BE AGAINST US.

Again, for emphasis, Paul uses the form of a question. By asking the question "who can be against us", Paul is calling us to see our safety in God's love. Enemies may seek to be against us, and in life we shall experience such enemies, but because God is with us, these enemies have no chance. In this sense no one can be against the believer in Jesus, and for this reason these enemies will always fail.

In asking this question "who can be against us" and giving the answer to it that no one can be against us, Paul is not saying that there will not be enemies who seek to be against us, but simply that they can not defeat us.

It is a fact that we wrestle against the devil's schemes. We struggle against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. So Paul tells us at the end of his letter to the Ephesians. However although the devil and his evil angels have tremendous power, and from the moment we are brought to faith in Jesus, seek to reclaim us and tempt and harass us, yet Paul has told us the truth in chapter 6 of Romans, Satan has no dominion over us. Sin has no dominion over us. Satan is no more king over us, and has no claim upon us, and so can't triumph against us.

The fact is we have been translated into the kingdom of Christ. We have entered the heavenly country. We have been raised to sit in heavenly places in Christ. We are under the kingship of Christ, and the devil has no access into this realm. He can't even send his devils as illegal immigrants into this realm, for nothing that defiles enters this territory. The truth is that while in this earthly body, the part of the heavenly realm we live in, is superimposed on this earthly world, but this does not mean that Satan can enter the realm of God.

The fact is that Satan can harass us through our earthly body. It is like shouting and hurling things at us over the boundaries. But he can't touch us. In this way he can't be against us, because the new person we are in Christ, he can't touch. We are already beyond his reach.

Satan may seek to show enmity by bring accusations against us by which he would seek to claim that we belong to him by right, but this claim has no foundation in law before the judge of all the earth, who is for us. The fact Paul has been telling us ever since chapter 1 of Romans is that Jesus has paid our debt to God's law, and so there is no sin Satan can accuse us of. This is expressed so triumphantly in lines from a hymn by Augustus Toplady -