God is For Us, But How (Romans 8:31-37)

From one point of view, Paul is coming to the end of his explanation of the contents of the gospel that he had composed for the Roman Christians in this letter. In the first chapter, he had said that he would give his understanding of the gospel of which he was not ashamed. Of course, in the letter, he will yet deal with the important matter of Israel in the plan of God as well as give instructions about several aspects of Christian living about which the Roman Christians needed divine guidance. This book may have been the first of the New Testament letters that they saw.

While we have no idea about the precise circumstances Paul was in while he dictated this letter, we can see that he is aware that he is concluding this section of the letter because he asks several applicatory questions. The first question looks back to what Paul has said either in this chapter of Romans or in the earlier chapters of the book. The other words in this set of verses are part of Paul’s answer to his first question, an answer that involves several other questions asked by him as we can see from reading the verses. It seems from his first question that the overall thought that should arise in the mind of a reader of Romans is that God is for his people.

The first question reminds us that it is important to be able to say something to one another after we hear an address or sermon or read a biblical statement or passage. Paul’s words show that he expected his readers to speak about what he had described earlier. His words also show that he intended to speak about them with whoever he was with. BT used to remind us that ‘it is good to talk,’ and that advice is good for spiritual development as well. We are to be like those described in Malachi 3:16 who met together often to speak about the things of God, an activity that pleased the Lord. Our minds should think of the names mentioned by Paul in Romans 16 and how they would have thought about his message in their house church gatherings.

Those against us

Sometimes the best way to begin thinking about or speaking about a matter is to ask questions that apply to it. That is what Paul does here. We should note that his second question does not suggest that hostile powers are not against us, as if they ceased to attack us. They are there, and it is useful for us to consider first the powers that were against Paul’s first readers. I think we will see that the hostile powers that were against them are against us in similar ways.

An obvious example from that time was pagan idolatry with its many temples and range of idols. The pagan priests had a powerful place in society and the temples controlled much of the communal trade, whether in the sense of employment or in buying or selling. Much of life was linked to those temples. There are several references in the New Testament to problems connected to temples such as the riot that occurred in Ephesus over the loss of sales by craftsmen and some of the issues facing several of the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3, as well as in Paul’s discussion of weak and strong Christians in this letter.

Another example from the first century of hostile powers in Rome was intellectualism or philosophy. There were many great thinkers in the ancient world, and they had enormous influence on Roman life as well as elsewhere. They had growing opinions on the message of Christianity, with many treating it with contempt because they thought it was foolishness. One philosophical idea that affected the church in the New Testament was the notion that the body was evil and almost pointless, and to be rid of it was better, and the apostle John deals with such notions in his first letter.

A third example from that time was political opposition to the church. Within a decade many of the Christians in Rome would be aware of this enemy because severe persecution took place because of a decision of Nero which caused a major fire, which he blamed on the Christians. In addition to that local circumstance, it would not be long before a simple verbal statement could cost a Christian his or her life if he or she would not say that ‘Caesar is Lord’, a statement that would deny that Jesus is Lord.

A fourth example from that time was love of sinful pleasure. Peter refers to this method of opposition in 1 Peter 4:4: ‘With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you.’ Awful sinful practices were pursued as pleasure, and Christians were despised because they refused to join in.

Are these four examples of hostile forces affecting Christians today? Do believers face problems from modern idolatry, from contemporary thinking, from political goals and from those whose purpose in life is the pursuit of pleasure? We do, but there is nothing knew about it because those hostile forces appear repeatedly throughout history.

No doubt there are many other examples of opponents, but Paul covers them all in later verses. Verse 35 mentions tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and sword; verse 36 quotes from Psalm 56: : ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered;’ and verses 38 and 39 say: ‘For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 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.’

Behind all the opponents is the devil and helping him are the world and the flesh. The devil is invisible, the world is pervasive, and the flesh is traitorous. As we think of the list of possible opponents, and consider their power and popularity, can we say that if God is for us who can be against us?

How is God for us?

Paul could have answered this question in a range of ways. He could have mentioned divine attributes such as God’s power or knowledge or wisdom. But Paul does not choose that way here, although he does elsewhere. The way he chooses here is to mention some ways connected to Jesus, which in themselves are expressions of omnipotence and other divine attributes. Yet we know that there is wisdom in connecting expressions of divine help with Jesus. They become more concrete in our thinking. The apostle mentions four details in connection with Jesus.

First, Paul refers to the purchasing ability of the death of Christ to show that the Father is for us. We can consider the cross of Christ in many ways. God the Father gave his unique Son to us in a special manner – he did not spare him any degree of punishment that was due to his people for their sins. We can respond to that reality by meditation on what took place at the cross, by expressions of gratitude to God for doing what he did there, and by dedication to his service while we live in this world.

In addition, we can make deductions from what the Father did when he gave his Son. That is what Paul does in verse 32 – since the Father gave Jesus to such a degree of suffering, it must mean that he is determined to give us the ‘all things.’ By ‘all things,’ he means the eternal inheritance which we do not deserve, but which we are predestined to receive from God as his heirs. Surely, since it cost the Father such a price on the cross, he will ensure that the intended recipients receive it freely from him.

Second, God the Father is for us in that he justified us for the sake of Christ (vv. 33-34). The resurrection and enthronement of Jesus is the confirmation that his offering of himself was the required payment. God can now justly forgive his people and reckon to them the righteousness of Jesus. This status cannot change, nor can it be lost, but is permanently theirs. Justification before God shows that he is for us.

Third, God the Father is for us in that he accepts the intercession of Jesus given on behalf of his people in a constant manner in the courts of heaven (v. 34). There are many details connected to his intercession that are unknown to us, but we know that his presence is sufficient to guarantee the acceptance of his desires for his people. As has often been said, the wounds of Jesus speak powerfully on behalf of his people.

Fourth, nothing can separate God’s people from the love of Christ. Individual and combined opposition against them cannot do so, and Paul’s lists some of the strongest options against them in this set of verses. It is good for us to think often of the love of Jesus because it has many aspects to it, and here is a brief list of them. His love for his people is eternal, without beginning. It is endless and will never become less in action in the future. It is both individual and communal, in that he loves each of his people personally while loving all of them fully. His love is knowable increasingly by them even in this life, as Paul described in his wonderful prayer about it recorded in Ephesians 3. Above all, his love was sacrificial, leading him to go to the cross to pay the penalty for their sins. When they become his people, they discover that his love is restorative, tender, and compassionate, always revealing itself.

The guaranteed outcome

Paul sometimes combines words to make another word. An example is the word translated as ‘more than conquerors.’ How can a person be more than a conqueror? One answer is that every conqueror in human history has succumbed to death and lost whatever he had gained previously by his conquering of others. Believers in Jesus cannot lose their inheritance. Another answer is that there has never been a conqueror who gained dominion over everything, but Jesus will share the ‘all things’ with his people.

We can also imagine Alexander the Great weeping because he had no more worlds to conquer, an indicator that his exploits had not brought him satisfaction, and sadly he did not know where to find it. But Christians will have eternal satisfaction in the presence of Christ. We also know that, in contrast to earthly soldiers, Christians will lose nothing by being wounded in the spiritual warfare in which they engaged in this life – we have seen soldiers wounded in battle and we honour them for their commitment, but we know they paid a price for taking part. But Christians shall have glory in the presence of God for ever.

It is good to read about those who will be more than conquerors. When did we last read Hebrews 11 with its brief biographical references to the heroes of the faith? Or the promises given in Revelation 2 and 3 to the ‘one who conquers’. Biographies of Christians help us as well.

Who are those who are more than conquerors? Some were great in this world, others were unknown. Some fought long campaigns, others took part for a brief time. Some were adults, some were youths and children. They were faithful. But what made them so? Love. They knew that Jesus loved them, and they loved him in return. They tasted his love in a measure here and they anticipated tasting it in fullness in the next world. They became more than conquerors because God was for them.