Sermon Text: Romans 8:31–39
Date: February 18, 2024
Event: The First Sunday in Lent, Year B
Romans 8:31–39 (EHV)
What then will we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also graciously give us all things along with him?
33Who will bring an accusation against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies! 34Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus, who died and, more than that, was raised to life, is the one who is at God’s right hand and who is also interceding for us! 35What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36Just as it is written:
For your sake we are being put to death all day long.
We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.
37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, neither things present nor things to come, nor powerful forces, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Who Can Be Against Us?
If you were able to attend or connect in for our Ash Wednesday worship this past week, you know we went spent some time with Job and his sufferings. We were reminded how we all easily accuse God of wrongdoing when things are not going our way. It’s easy to think that our lives, as Christians, should be pain-free and easy-going and that any deviation from that ideal is some sort of failing on God’s part.
But as Job needed to learn, God has uses for suffering and plans for us that are well beyond our ability to see in the moment. But God goes out of his way in Scripture to assure us that his plans for us are good and beneficial—that he only wants positive things for us. But his laser focus on eternity might mean some earthly hardship until we reach our heavenly goal.
All of God’s Word is important and wonderful, but Romans chapter 8 might be my “desert island” chapter of the Bible, that is, if I could only have one chapter to refer back to and to hold dear, it might be this one. Paul heaps on the comfort and the joy for the struggling Christian in this chapter, especially to the Christian undergoing difficult trials. Our Second Reading for this morning is the tail-end of that chapter, so before we dig into what Paul says in our focused reading, let’s do a quick overview of where we’ve been in the letter to get to this point.
The first several chapters of Romans can be a downer because Paul is going out of his way to show that no person, not a Jewish person nor a gentile, could ever stand before God on their own merit. All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory and expectations. But he doesn’t leave us there, as he quickly transitions to the gospel, assuring that all are also justified (that is, declared “not guilty”) freely because of Jesus’ work for us. “The wages of sin is death,” Paul reminds us in Romans chapter 6, “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
Despite this all-surpassing comfort, Paul goes on to acknowledge that the Christian life is difficult. We struggle with a sinful nature that wants us to disobey and hate God. So, the life of a Christian is a constant, internal battle. But it’s not just this internal struggle against sin; there’s also the struggle against those things outside of us. Spiritually, the hardships of temptations placed before us by the world and Satan’s cohort make it difficult to walk the line we want to walk. All of this compounds to make our lives difficult.
They can be difficult for many reasons. Maybe as a consequence of my sin. Maybe from the persecution I face for being a Christian. Maybe from the suffering I undergo because of other people’s sins and failures. Maybe it’s just living in a sin-corrupted world and all the blech that is associated with that. But it’s difficult. There’s no getting around that. Jesus did not promise a rosy life; he promised a life of cross-bearing. And we know those crosses so very well.
But, in Romans chapter 8, God unveils some very specific comfort for us, and of great emphasis for Paul is that despite the loneliness that might come from our trials in this life, God is always on our side. And very specifically, God is on our side in ways we perhaps can’t see. Earlier in this chapter, we hear the assurance that the Holy Spirit himself prays for us in the unique language of the triune God during those times when we are so rattled that we don’t even know what to pray for. Just a couple of verses before our Second Reading for this morning is that well-known and loved passage, “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
Our Second Reading is the crescendo and high point of this soaring chapter. Paul takes a step back to look at the whole scene he’s painted up until this point—the sin we’ve committed, the hell we deserve, the forgiveness God gives, the heaven he’s won, and the constant promise of support and care—and he asks a holistic question: What then will we say about these things? What is there left to be said? How does one react to God’s amazing grace? Should it be despair? Should the worries of this life drag us down the pit of hopelessness?
Paul’s second question is even more pointed than the first: If God is for us, who can be against us? The assumed answer? No one! Who could possibly take their stand against God? Who could possibly fight God to get us? Even the account of Job and all the suffering he endured at the hands of Satan’s torment only happened because God allowed it. No one gets the jump on God. Nothing happens to us without his knowing. And he never, ever stops being on our side, in our camp, for us.
And where’s the proof? As he so often does, Paul points us to the cross! Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also graciously give us all things along with him? If someone paid off your debt of millions of dollars, do you think they’d be willing to buy you a sandwich for lunch? Seems ridiculous to even think otherwise, right? Why wouldn’t you be worth a few dollars for a meal if you were worth a vast sum to pay off that debt? And that’s the point that Paul makes here. God gave us everything when he gave us his Son. If God did not withhold even Jesus from us but sacrificed him to pay for our sins, why should we think that anything is beyond his ability or desire to give? Can God guide you through that financial crunch or that family hardship? Can he bring balm to that heartache or calm those worries? Of course he can! If he could pay for your sins and rescue you from hell, there is nothing beyond him!
And Paul underscores that point with his next questions: Who will bring an accusation against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies! Who is the one who condemns? Who could possibly bring an accusation against you? No one! Because Jesus, who died and, more than that, was raised to life, is the one who is at God’s right hand and who is also interceding for us! Jesus, our loving Savior, God the Father’s only-begotten Son, joins the Holy Spirit in pleading and praying for us! What are his prayers? It’s not for the Father to overlook our sins, nor is it an attempt at deception, trying to hide our sins from his Father. No, Jesus’ prayer is simply this, “You have declared them justified, not guilty. You cannot punish them for their sins, Father, because you already punished me.”
And Paul knows that this doesn’t always feel real. We won’t always feel loved; we won’t always feel forgiven. The hardships and difficulties of this life will lie to us and say that God doesn’t care, he doesn’t love us, he’s left us on our own. And so Paul wants to confront those thoughts and feelings head-on: What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
Will hardship separate us from God? No! In fact, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. So complete is Jesus’ victory on our behalf that we haven’t just won the day against sin, death, and hell, we didn’t just get through by the skin of our teeth. No, in Jesus, we are conquerors, obliterators of all those things that stood against us. Not because of our work or effort but because of Jesus’ work for us. His death paid for our sins; his empty tomb will prove that more-than-conquering status. He didn’t just die for us; he destroyed death for us!
God is indeed for us, and thus, no one can be against us! For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, neither things present nor things to come, nor powerful forces, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing can come between you and your Savior. No person or thing, not even Satan himself, can drag you away from the God who saved you. Those hardships and griefs and troubles that plague us now? They are dead-men-walking because Jesus has obliterated them and will bring them to a complete end in our lives when he brings us home to himself, where it will be crystal clear that nothing will ever be able to take us away from him!
We’ve begun our solemn Lenten season. It is not always pleasant to dwell on our sins or think of what our rebellion cost Jesus to save us. But take this comfort forward. Who can be against you? Who condemns you? There is no one, for your Savior is at your side to protect and forgive. Take your stand with him during trials. As you see others suffering, reach out to support them. As you go through hardship, reach out to your family of believers here because, at many times, God gives the support that he promises through us to others or from others to us.
He who did not spare his own Son will graciously give us everything we need to be with him in eternal life. Praise, thanks, honor, and glory be to our God forever and ever! Amen.
