The text is one of the most sublime found in all of scripture. It is a part of Paul’s discourse on the redemptive work of God, accomplished in His Son Jesus, Paul concludes by considering the victory we enjoy as a part of our relationship to Him. Consider Paul’s glorious words!
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 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? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 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 shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 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” (Romans 8:31-39).
First Paul contends for the preeminence of God. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (31). God is our Creator, and the only ultimately wise and powerful Being in our universe. He transcends all. It is ludicrous for us to even think the combined power of all men can stand before Him. “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You” (Jeremiah 32:17).
Second, Paul affirmed the nature of God’s love for mankind. He “did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all” (32). “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” ( 1 John 4:9-10).
These two arguments: 1) God’s preeminence and power; and 2) God’s fulsome love for mankind; serve as the basis for Paul’s assurance of our victory. These two arguments reveal the inability of any created being to stand between us and our salvation! Not men, not angels, not the devil, not machinations, not time, not distance, etc. Consider Paul’s observations of the consequence of these truths.
God is the One who justifies us. No accusation made by others jeopardize our standing before Him. Paul knew this well. He knew himself to be a faithful steward of God. Therefore he wrote, “Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord” (1 Corinthians 4:2-4).
Christ is the One who can condemn us, and He alone. I am so glad that He is my Judge rather than any fallible man. I know that He is just. I know that He loves me. I know that fearing Him will assure my standing for eternity. How do I know this? He demonstrated it by dying for Me sins, being raised from the dead, and ascending to heaven to sit at His Father’s right hand, (the message of the saving gospel). “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).
So, with these powerful Advocates on our side as the elect, what are our enemies? Consider that they are powerful, and IF WE ALLOW IT, can cause us harm. Consider Peter’s warning in 1 Peter 5, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world” (8-10). The only way that any enemies can have any effectiveness in separating us from God is if we allow it! Otherwise, they are powerless. We can’t be overpowered by evil. Not with God on our side! “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand” (John 10:27-29).
They all are powerless against us, if we lean on our Lord. Tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, death, life, angels, principalities, powers, things present, things future, height, depth, nor any other created thing! (35, 38-39).
This brings us to the wonderful conclusion Paul wanted to share with his brethren. Because of that love of God, demonstrated in His Son Jesus Christ, “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (37).
Notice the past tense “loved.” That doesn’t mean that God no longer loves us, it means the divine demonstration of that love has already been fully accomplished! It is because of God’s sacrifice of His Son, and His Son’s willing participation in this (cf. Philippians 2:5-11) that our salvation is a fait accompli. The devil lost when Jesus ascended to His Father’s throne. We are hypernika?. Hyper – (super, above and beyond); nika? – (to prevail, to conquer). We are “more than conquerors”!
