I. Text: Romans 8:33-39
33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 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. 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 Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who 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 created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
II. Study Questions
1. What does the statement, “God is for us” mean to you?
2. Why is Christ’s death, resurrection and ascension vital to our faith?
3. Why did Paul consider us to be “more than a conqueror?”
Let’s begin with the context of these verses.
Romans 8:31-39 is also known as the “Christian’s Triumph Song.” Hopefully by the end of today’s devotional, you would understand why it is called as the “Christian’s Triumph Song.” It is divided into two sections, 1. V. 31-34, impossibility of any charge against the believer and 2. V. 35-39, the impossibility of anything separating the believers from the love of God. I would like to encourage you to not to read this verses as the conclusion of the immediate text but Paul’s letter to the Romans as a whole up to this point.
Paul’s literary technique for these verses should be recognized in that we see Paul’s brilliance in developing layers from one idea to the next, like a building structure, layer upon layer that results in understanding the depth of God’s Word, in this case, the Grace of God. For example, Paul begins with celebrating God’s omnipotent grace (v. 31-32), next vindicating grace (v. 33-34), then overcoming grace (v. 35-37), and the grand finale victorious grace (v. 38-39).
33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
We must begin within the premise of the previous verse (v. 31), that “God is for us.” It is because “God is for us,” that we stand firm in our faith. It is because “God is for us,” that we are justified by faith. It is because “God is for us,” that the grace of God has been poured into our heart.
When we are justified by faith in Christ, God considers us righteous, not because of our works, but because of Christ’s sacrificial substitutionary atonement (the finished work of Christ on the Cross). When God’s people are chosen by God, who can possibly charge or reopen the case against them?
34 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.
Paul continues with his pattern of repetition by adding there shall be no one who will condemn those who are God’s elect. Why? Because of Christ’s death, resurrection and ascension to heaven. It is God and Christ alone who will judge the believer. It is important to note here that we, the believers are under the righteous Judge, who will judge according to our deeds. 2 Corinthians 5:10 tells us, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Would tribulation separate us from the love of Christ? How about distress? Persecution for our faith in Christ? Famine? Nakedness? Danger? Sword? Paul’s plead comes from his own experience, his hardship for believing in Christ (2 Corinthians 11:23-29). Let’s put this in perspective, Paul who has experienced tribulation and persecution for his faith, is writing to his reader, Roman Jews and Gentiles that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. This is the city where Paul would be martyred by the sword (according to the church history). Paul, in his remaining days understood his call, to suffer for Christ’s sake:
“But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” (Acts 9:15-16, NKJV)
Even with great suffering, we must understand that the love of Christ is permanent and forever for those whom God has chosen. We must not look at the circumstances or suffering to measure God’s love for us, for God is just and the justifier of those who call upon Him.
36 As it is written:
“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
Does suffering equate to failure? Not in Christianity, for suffering is not a sign of failure but process of God’s will. There are Christians who are being persecuted for their faith in Christ, as for those who are on the outside looking in, it might feel as God is not just and circumstances look as if God neglected His people. When we understand who our God is, and His sovereignty and will, it should lead us to plead to God to intervene on behalf of His people, but even if He doesn’t, He is God and we trust in His will because God is just and His will, perfect.
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
Who conquers? How can we be consider conquerors when we are failures according to worldly standard? Our victory is not about conquering nations, escaping suffering or even defeating the enemy. We are conquerors because “God is for us,” and His love is with us, even in the midst of sufferings. It is through Christ Jesus, we are conquerors.
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 created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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