Unanswerable Questions
“Who can be against us?”
This is the first of several unanswerable questions the apostle Paul
asked in Romans 8:31-39.
To be very honest there are days when I don’t have to look very
far over my shoulders to give you the answer. The
Apostle Paul suggests a most violent opposition: tribulations,
distress, persecutions, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, death,
principalities, etc.
The devil himself, Satan, is a powerful enemy of every Christian. He
is “a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). At times, like
in the Garden of Eden, he calls God a liar, and at other times he is like an angel of
light with beautiful wisdom. He would even deceive the elect if he were permitted.
However, “There is no one on par with God,” writes A. T.
Robertson. Satan and his hosts of demons can never ultimately triumph over the believer in
Jesus Christ. God has given us spiritual armor and He expects us to use it in our
spiritual warfare (Eph. 6:10-17).
John Calvin correctly said, “There is no power under heaven or
above it which can resist the armor of God.”
“If God is for us” does not suggest doubt. Since it is true "God is for us" we do
not have to be concerned about all other opposition.
Since God is for us who can be against us? The world, the flesh and
the devil are always plotting and scheming, but God has demonstrated that He is always for
us. Since He is for us, nothing can possibly defeat His eternal purposes for our lives.
The Sovereign Creator God is for His redeemed children. He has proved
His love for the sinner by sending His very best, His only begotten Son, to die for us on
the cross.
Since God is for us, we can rest assured all things
work together for our good.
Who can be against us when the Lord God is making “all
things,” even that which is against us, to work for us (Romans 8:28)? Everything is
working for us, and ultimately not against us.
It makes all the difference in a good day or a bad day when we
realize that God is for us all the time. “There is no one on par with God.” No
one. Since He is always for us, who can be against us?
Moreover, since He is for the believer who has been purchased by the
blood of His Son, He always provides His very best for His children.
In Jeremiah 29:11, God told Jeremiah, "'For
I know what I have planned for you,’ says the Lord. ‘I have plans to
prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled
with hope'" (Jeremiah 29:11, The NET Bible)
Does God want anything less for the person He has chosen to
be conformed to the image of His Son? The Psalmist declares, “Many, O Lord my God,
are the wonders which You have done, And Your thoughts toward us; There is none to compare
with You. If I would declare and speak of them, They would be too numerous to count”
(Psalm 40:5, NASB 1995). Again in Psalm 139:17, “How precious also are Your thoughts
to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!” (Psalm 139:17, NASB 1995).
The emphasis of the
last paragraph of Romans eight is the perseverance of the saints or security of the
believer in Christ. “What shall separate us from the love of Christ?” (Romans
8:35). The whole point Paul is stressing is we are secure in the love of God in Christ
Jesus.
“What then shall we say of these things? If God is for
us, who is against us?” (v. 31). We can answer with the words of the Psalmist again,
“The Lord is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me?” (Psalm 118:6, NASB
1995).
What is the worst thing that men can do to me? The world
says, “Kill me.” Even that would only usher me into the very presence of the
Father in heaven (Acts 7:56-60). To live is Christ and die is far better yet. The apostle
Paul said, “We are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the
body and to be at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8, NASB 1995).
As for my lovely wife and daughters His favor alone is sufficient for
every sorrow. His strong arms protect against the dark storms in life’s violent seas
(Ps. 23:4; Ps. 56:11).
“If God is for us, who can be against us?” Who can stand
against the LORD God? Nobody. Nothing. The LORD God reigns!
The LORD God will protect His investment. Next to His only begotten
Son, we are the most precious possessions He has because we were purchased with His own
blood.
Let us come
boldly, yet humbly, declaring “defiantly, triumphantly, challenging
any creature in heaven or earth or hell to answer” or deny the truth. But there is no
answer for this and several others questions posed by Paul in this paragraph, for nobody
and nothing can harm the redeemed people of God.
Selah!
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
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