MONDAY April 15th
Romans 8:31
‘What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?’
We quote so many of these verses, but I wonder how often we stop to consider what we are saying, or more particularly what we are declaring as we quote them. This verse comprises of two questions. In fact, verses 31 through to 35 is made up of seven questions, and the answer to each one of them should take us back to the very first verse which to remind us of says ‘There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’.
For those who are in Christ, every sin has been forgiven, every charge that could have been made against us has been dropped, therefore any accusation brought against us cannot and will not stand. We have been justified, our sin has been washed away, we have been cleansed by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ who as the Lamb of God was without spot and without blemish (1 Peter 1:19).
We need to remind ourselves that God is for us—he has proven it by sending his Son into the world to bring about eternal redemption. When he banished Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, God could have just washed his hands of them and of all of humanity that would spring from them, but no, because of his everlasting love, he is not only a God of justice, but a God of mercy, he is a God who is full of grace and he had shown his compassion time and time again toward fallen humanity, but none better than at Calvary, where God showed us that he loved us enough to die for us, and not just to die for our sins, but to be raised for our justification, so returning back to verse 1 ‘There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’.
The enemy can throw as many accusations as he likes, they will fall to the ground, he can accuse us in the presence of God as much as he likes, and all he will hear back is God saying, “he or she (insert your name here if you are in Christ) is no longer under condemnation. Throw whatever you like against them, I remind you Satan that I have cast their sin into the depth of the sea (Micah 7:19), in fact try and work this one out Satan, as far as the east is from the west, that is how far I have removed their transgressions from them (Psalm 103:12), if you’ve got nothing better to do. Go and try and find them! You won’t, Satan, guess why, I’ll tell you, ‘I have blotted them out!’”
So, what shall we say to these things, that is everything that Paul has spoken of already in chapter 8, well I will start with this, God’s plan of redemption is wonderful. His love is amazing.