God is for us. Romans 8:31-39 These last verses in this chapter summarize the first eight chapters of Romans. When God is for us, no one can succeed against us. God is for us in Christ which is what the Gospel is all about. The series of questions clearly states God will give us everything He knows we need and will keep us safe from the effects of false charges. Those who condemn the children of God wrongfully will not succeed in the long run. Nothing will keep those who belong to Christ from receiving all the benefits divine love has for us.
V.31. The blessings of the new covenant are that we are justified before God, and because of the sacrifice Christ made on our behalf on the cross, sin has been dealt with once and for all [v.31-34]. Also, our justification is solidly established and rooted in the love of Christ and the love of God [v.35-39]. “These things” are all that Paul wrote about regarding our blessings in Christ from chapter five through this chapter. “For us” means that the atoning work of Christ and then God’s work on our behalf since we believed, will be our safety and security.
V.32. The whole of the Gospel theme brings us to the high ground where we can see the leading of God from being chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, to being glorified together with Him. All of this is an accomplished fact in God's eyes because God is for us. The purpose of God is not up for speculation but we rejoice in it with a sense of gratitude and victory because God is for us. He has called us and saved us by His grace. We have died in Christ and risen in Him. The Holy Spirit is in us and Christ is at the right hand of God for us - God is for us! If God is for us, who can be against us. This is not a question but a challenge that goes out and no one can rise to it.
God did not spare His Son. He gave Him that we might be redeemed and brought to Him. We who were nothing, "not a people,” are now the “people of God." Therefore, He will not deny us anything that has to do with our salvation. “All things” lets us know that there is nothing more that needs to be done, or nothing withheld that we need to have. Who or what could ever meet such a challenge by the One who "delivered Him up for us all!"
Now, that great salvation that has been provided for us as an unspeakable gift, in no way can be defined or described. It has been given to us freely. What can be compared with the gift of His Son! God is for us in ongoing blessings which He chooses to give us now and in the future. Those whom God is for are confident no charge can be laid against them, no matter who the foe is or how strong the enemy might be. God justifies us; He has made that pronouncement. Even further is the fact that Christ Jesus, who made this all possible, is raised from the dead and, at God's right hand, is occupied as intercessor for us. The Holy Spirit here; the Lord Jesus there and God on His throne! These are astounding words - God is for us!
V.33. In this courtroom-like scene, four terms stand out: “Bring a charge” is a challenge against one who has done wrong. “Justify” has to do with the fact that all charges and evidence of guilt have been completely eradicated. To “condemn,” is to pass a sentence on one who has been proven guilty. To “intercede” means one person speaks as an advocate for another. God has accepted this person in the Beloved.
V.34. The point being made is that when God justifies a sinner, and they become a child of God, He makes them new in Christ. Christ has died for them, was buried and rose again for their justification and now intercedes for that believer in Him. Who could possibly hold a charge against one who has been cleared of all guilt by a perfect Substitute for the person who believes in Him? Jesus Himself is our Advocate and in His concern for us, covers all the bases as our intercessor.
Paul personally experienced all the hardships except perhaps the sword until the end of his life. This goes for the life of those who live godly in Christ Jesus and are a public testimony for the Lord. Paul certainly knew what he was talking about when he spoke of the love of Christ. God’s love for His people is always a reality, no matter what might happen to us. We are never so far away that His love cannot reach us.
V.35. The assurance of this is a great and personal comfort. Satan will try to deceive us into doubting God’s love when we mess up or are in a hard place, and things are really bad. In spite of all that is difficult, God’s love is there for us. The things we pass through on this journey through life do not separate us from God but actually take us along during this training time to our ultimate goal.
God's people have, and many still do, suffered hardships that have sorely pressed them, but God is for us. Some of them have been and are being persecuted, but God is for us. There are those in hunger in Christ-rejecting societies who may feel abandoned by men, but God is for us. Humiliation, danger, and death may come to many of the chosen people of God on earth, but God is for us.
V.36. Suffering for righteousness’ sake has always been part of the experience of God’s people who have been faithful to Him. Challenges by others do not make the love of Christ for us less or ineffective in our souls. Neither should we love Him less because of the trials we may have to go through. The apparent defeats of God's people by the hosts arrayed against them are really the means God has used to bring triumphs over the hosts of hate by the power of love.
In these terrible situations, the elect of God are more than conquerors. A conqueror may win a victory. To be more than a conqueror indicates the love of God through suffering saints and wins the enemy himself. Many have been reached for God through the love of those they have persecuted. They have surrendered themselves to the grace of God and have been joined to the ranks of the people of God by the love of the saints that led them to faith in Jesus Christ.
V.37. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Christians are victorious despite the cost of living for the Lord by faith in a hostile world. On this high ground of fellowship with divine Persons, we are as close to heaven as we can get this side of death's door. The fear of death has no claim on the believer from the vantage point where he sees things through God's eyes. Life, with all its tensions, difficulties, and disappointments, cannot interfere with or separate us from God's love in Christ.
V.38. No force of evil of any kind can separate us from the love of God. Angels and authorities, for all their power and demands, cannot separate us from God's love - God is for us! Nothing that has happened or ever will: governments of men or powers of darkness, nothing in the universe around us or hell beneath us, can keep God from being for us or separate us from His love in Christ. There is nothing that has been or ever will be, that can keep God from being for us and from His unchanging love in Christ Jesus our Lord.
V.39. It is impossible to get beyond the love of God. There is no condemnation because of Christ’s atonement on our behalf. There is no separation because of Christ’s love. Here on this mountaintop of faith, one can see into the past before the foundation of the world, and into the brightness of the eternal future that lights up the whole future horizon. And then with a look down to where daily life is lived, we can testify to what we now realize - God is for us! “CASE DISMISSED!”