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As we come to this passage, we are reminded of the preceding verses, for he says “What then shall we say to these things?” The things to which Paul is referring is a reminder of the unfailing purposes of God. God has purposes that He is working out in this world that He has created. And included in those purposes is the salvation of men that Christ His Son might be the firstborn among many brethren.
The first commandment, which was given to Adam to rule over and multiply in the earth, shall find its fulfillment in the God-man, Jesus Christ, who Himself has both filled the earth with those who through faith in Him have life, and also in His rulership over the whole earth. In other words, God’s purposes, namely that man would rule and reign over and through His creation find their fulfillment in Christ.
The purposes of God cannot be thwarted. For no one or no thing is greater than God who could thwart His purposes. He has all power, wisdom and authority in order to determine and fulfill His eternal purposes in His creation. And to this end, to “these things” Paul concludes emphatically, “if God is for us, who is against us?”
Consider that for a moment. The God of all creation. The One who spoke all of heaven and all of earth into existence according to His own will; and who is therefore the Lord of heaven and earth. He has infinite power, infinite wisdom, and infinite authority, and has declared you in the number of those whom He has set apart for salvation in His son. There is no force in heaven above or on earth below that can possibly thwart His plans. And you are apart of those plans. He is for you.
R. Kent Hughes says in his commentary “The logic of our text, seriously applied, pushes us to the heights of confidence. It means more than God being graciously disposed toward us. It means he is for us in all that He does. We may be defeated at this moment, but evil will never prevail. We are always being led to victory in Christ.”
What does it mean that God is for us? Well, Paul goes on to explain it in the following verses.
First, that there is nothing that He will not freely give us. I’d first like to mention that these verses are directed to the Elect of God. It is those who “love God…are called according to His purpose…are predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son…called…justified…and glorified.” These are the ones whom God has delivered over His Son for.
Therefore, if you are not the elect of God, not currently standing in the Grace of God’s salvation; then these verses are not for you. You should have no confidence whatsoever of God’s grace. You should have no confidence whatsoever of God’s desire to give you anything. You should have no confidence whatsoever of God’s love for you. If someone has told you that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life; then they have led you astray. If you have somehow conjured up an image of God that would extend to you grace on the basis of your own personal effort or perceived holiness, your own stature and/or social status, or any other perceived impotence on the part of God in His dealing with His creation; then you are sadly mistaken. And if you do not understand that in this life; then you will come to a dreadful realization of it in the next. And by then it will be all too late. For the grace of God is measured out upon those who are His, but His wrath is revealed against those who are not. They are His enemies. And He has only the vilest, most desparate, and utterly dismal ruin in store for those who are His enemies. If you think the grace of God is something at which to stand in awe, then His wrath is all the more fierce. For just as He has immeasureable joy, pleasure and satisfaction in grace to bestow for all eternity upon those who are His; likewise, He has immeasureable despair, gloom and torment for those who are His enemies. Your only hope is to seek the means by which you may know His Lord and repent, lest you perish in His wrath which in a little while shall be kindled against His enemies. The extension of God’s grace is always open to the sinner. He freely extends the gift of Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection for forgiveness of sins and new life. However one must believe in Him whom God has sent and repent of their sin. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. God does extend grace to sinners. The grace is found in repenting and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other grace given. You have no other hope. You have no confidence outside of this.
However again, if you are the elect of God, then you have great reason to rejoice because you stand in the shade of God’s insatiable grace. He is for us. And how shall we know that we have His hand extended, His grace unending? How do we know this? Paul explains in v 32, namely that He did not spare His own Son. We should notice that He specifies that it is His own Son. We are reminded of Abraham who was tested when he had taken Isaac up on the mountain to sacrifice him. And it was God’s grace then that provided a sacrifice, upon seeing Abraham’s trust in God. So too when we put our trust in God, we receive God’s grace. But we dare not forget that it was not just some sacrifice. It was His own Son. He is the One who is called the beloved of God. Countless times, God has spoken from heaven on behalf of His Son, calling Him “my beloved” and commanding all to heed His voice. It is this same Son whom the father said “ask and I will give you the nations as your inheritance.” That which is truly the Father’s, He has given over to the Son as a gift. And so are we the gift of God to the Son whom He dearly loves. And it is this Son that God spared not, for our benefit. He “delivered Him over” into the hands of those who were rightly the Son’s to command, but to whom the Son was taken and led as a lamb to the slaughter. He “delivered Him over” who was the very means through which all things were created and for whom were all things created. He delivered Him over and has forever united us with Him. To the dearly beloved Son of God, we now stand, forever united with and identified with Him. Therefore it says, “how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” To which one would wisely ponder, what is it that the Father wouldn’t give to the Son whom He dearly loves. And if to the Son, then to us also who are with Him. Whatever He would withhold from the Son, He will withhold from us. Whatever request He would provide to His Son, He will provide for us. And Paul adds for clarity that it is “all things.” In case there was any confusion, there are not just few things that the Father would give to His Son, there are not just some things. The Father would give “all things” to His beloved, and so to He would give to us who forever united with His beloved.
Ponder these passages:
Romans 9:18-23
“18 So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. 19 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” 20 On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? 21 Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? 22 What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? 23 And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,”
Romans 10:11-13
11 For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”
Ephesians 1:3-14
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10 with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him 11 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, 12 to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. 13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation– having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
Ephesians 1:18-21
18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
Ephesians 2:4-7
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 1:8-10
8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, 10 but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
Titus 3:4-7
4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
God is for us. We are forever united with His Son, through faith in Him. God has purposed this from all eternity and therefore there is no good thing that He will withhold from us in Christ. His grace is and shall be lavished upon us in Christ, for all of eternity.
God is for us. He did not withhold His Son, but rather gave Him over to die on our behalf. Having done this, while we were yet sinners, we realize that there is nothing that He would now withhold from us, who now stand as His sons.
And if His sons, then who may be able to bring a charge against us? This brings us to his second point. For we know that He has purposed to conform us to the image of His Son in the future. But what about now? What about our present state, in all of our weaknesses and distress? What about times when now we fall to the desires of our flesh and dishonor the name of God and Christ?
God is for us. He is the One who justifies us. In v 33, Paul says that it is God who justifies. V 34 says that it is Christ Jesus who died, yes rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. That God is the one who justifies, appears to me to be parallel with Christ Jesus who died, was raised and who now intercedes, for He is fully God in the flesh. Therefore it may rightly be said that it is God who justifies. However even if the subject were still God the Father, the point would be the same. For it has always been God’s purpose and plan to redeem a people to be conformed to the image of His Son, and as we saw in the previous section, justification was a part of that plan. So it also may rightly be said that God the Father is He who justifies. Either way, the point is still the same. God, who is the One offended by sin, being Lord over all, has justified a people by the blood of His Son. Who may bring a charge against those whom He has elected? For in that election, He has also provided the means for His election of them to be just.
He sent His Son to die for their sins and has raised Him on account of the sufficiency of His sacrifice and their subsequent justification. Thus the Elect now stand justified before God and His Lord who now is at the right hand of God, making intercession.
I would of course be remiss to point out the picture that Paul alludes to of a court hearing. Of course, pertaining to sin and justification, there is no greater court than heaven. And so, Paul is not merely painting a picture of what may be, but is in fact describing the present reality of Christ’s intercessory ministry on behalf of those whom He has purchased with His blood. And so the question is raised in God’s heavenly court, who will bring a charge against God’s elect? Who shall condemn them?
God purposed that they should be conformed to the image of His Son. And so they must be. Again, no force in heaven or on earth is greater than God’s purposes or His power to bring about His intended purposes, and so it necessarily must come to pass. If that were not enough, God also provided the means for their justification and also has declared them just and righteous in giving forgiving their trespasses, giving them new life and uniting them with His Son. And the Lord Jesus Christ, who purchased and secured their pardon by His own work, who Himself is also beloved of God and who sits as Lord at the Father’s right hand, is the One who is eternally their advocate. For He forever makes intercession on behalf. The Hebrew writer says “therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Heb 7:25).
God is for us. And so who, may I ask along with the Apostle under the guidance of God’s Holy Spirit, may separate us from the love of Christ? This is Paul’s third and final point. There are many circumstances and also many forces that we encounter as we go through our lives. And each of these, Paul intends to measure against the certainty of God’s purposes and His power to accomplish these purposes, which we see in Christ. He continues, “shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine or nakedness or peril or sword?” Shall any of these circumstances prevent or thwart God’s purposes? Certainly, these constitute a great part of our lot, as those who are called of God and set apart for His purposes. He says further “just as it is written ‘for your sakes we are being put to death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered” v 36. Again, in case there is anyone who believes that the life of those who are in Christ should be one of roses and ease, Paul reminds us that the life of a Christian is often anything but that. “Those who desire to live godly, will face persecution.” There will be difficulty, there will be distress, we will often go without and may even face poverty, great oppression and even death at the hand of those who have also opposed Christ. For we are His and He is God’s. And there are many who do not love Him as Lord, even as we do. And on account of those, the Elect of God face great torment throughout the world, for even between the very first offspring of Adam there arose a chasm separating those who loved God and those who loved themselves.
Is that enough to stay the hand of God? Circumstances that last but for a moment, but for a breath, are nothing in comparison to the weight of glory that awaits those who are God’s elect. In all of these things, we are “overwhelmingly conquerors through Him who loved us.” His love is greater than the most dismal of circumstances and attacks waged against the people of God in this life. And His love will prevail. We are on the winning team. In baseball, we would call it a shut out. In football, we would be that team who had a perfect record all year, fending off every advance with our defense and not only were unstoppable on our offense, but were also later accused of running up the scores…except that we also win the Super Bowl. Amen.
But it is not only circumstances which plague us but also those forces which are at work in the world. And by these, I believe that Paul means the sum total of the experiences that a person has in the World and in particular those against which the Elect must persevere. He says that “neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This whole passage is thought to be intensely poetic. It is also thought that the Apostle is quoting from an early Christian hymn or creed of some sort. I don’t think that is necessarily so, though Paul being a Jew and a Pharisee would have been completely knowledgeable in the areas of Hebrew language and poetry. And in the study of Hebrew, there is a term called a “merism.” This term is used whenever a writer chooses two parts to describe the whole of a thing. Typically those two parts are that which are considered the opposing ends or else simply the extremities of the thing. And so we see “death and life,” “angels and principalities,” “things present and things to come,” and “height and depth” all paired together. Each of these pairs represents parts of the whole of those forces to which we must contend. Death and life would sum up the whole of ones existence, as we process from birth to physical death. Of course, our Lord is the resurrection and the life. There is no life apart from what He gives and He is also able to raise it to life after it has ceased. Angels and principalities, I believe would sum up the whole of the spiritual realm, both those holy and fallen angels. He is the head over all principalities and powers. There is none greater than He. Things present and things to come, obviously speak to those things which we are currently involved and those things that we do not see. He is called the Father of Eternity in the OT. He is from everlasting to everlasting, the first and the last. He knows the end from the beginning and there is nothing outside of the realm of His ever watching eye. And finally, there is no power, nor any extent of spatial distance that can keep us from His love. For He is all powerful and ever present. There is no where that we could go, in which His Spirit would not follow. And just in case there is anything else that he forgot to mention, he wraps it all up in the final phrase that there is no other “created thing” that can keep us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. To which we must remind ourselves that He is Creator God. And as such has all authority over all that He created; and therefore we know that He has control over all things. And it is only “in Christ” that we can have such assurance. There is no other hope and there is no other confidence that one can have in this life but to align oneself with the Son of God, for it is only in Him that God’s love is manifested to sinners.
So, then what are we to say about these things? God is for us. In this, the Christian’s assurance is placed wholly on God. And who is more fit for such confidence than the Lord almighty? There is no hand that can stay His. His grace is constantly abounding upon His Son and those who are in His Son. Furthermore there is no charge that can brought against those whom God has elected. For He is the One who has both chosen and justified them. And finally, there is no force, nor reason greater than His wisdom and determination to bring about His intended plans and purposes which include our good. God’s will must be done. Again, this is the great encouragement for believers. God is for us. His purposes can never be abated. God is God over all. And there is no one to pluck His elect from His almighty hand.
