“From the Heart” teaching by Drs. Rodney & Adonica Howard-Browne.
Romans 8:31-39 NIV
31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31
If God is for us, who can be against us? Who can be against us, when God is for us? Who can be our foe if God is on our side? This is a rhetorical question. It does not need an answer. There is no one who can stand against God. There is no one who can conquer Him and no one who can defeat Him. His side is the winning side. If we are on His side – He will be on ours. With God on our side we cannot fail and we cannot be defeated.
32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Romans 8:32
God gave us His best – His Son – why would He hold back anything from us that was good for us? If He did not spare His Son, then would He not graciously give us all things that pertain unto life and godliness? If He sent His only Son to die for us then He is going to see it through all the way. We are not merely saved by the skin of our teeth. We are His own family – His own children – bought with a price. He did not save us from hell so that we could have hell on earth – He saved us from hell now and later. We can have heaven on earth!
33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Romans 8:33
Who dares to bring an accusation against God’s elect? God has justified us and brought us into a right relationship with Him. Who dares to accuse or impeach those Whom God has chosen and washed in His blood? Satan is the accuser of the brethren (Revelations 12:10), but He cannot argue with the Blood of Jesus! We are acquitted by the sacrifice of our Savior and justified by His blood. If God, the Great and Righteous Judge, has acquitted us, then there is no one who dare bring an accusation against us. The courts of Heaven have been satisfied. The law has been fulfilled. Justice has been done.
34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died-more than that, who was raised to life-is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Romans 8:3
Jesus, the only One Who has the right to condemn us, has chosen to forgive us instead. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world (John 3:17). Not only does Jesus not condemn us, but in His position at the right hand of God He is actually continually interceding for us – He is constantly pleading our case before the Father.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:35-39
God loves us and will always love us. There is nothing in Heaven or on the earth or under the earth that can make Him stop loving us, and nothing that can prevent His love from reaching out to us. We might spurn His love, but we cannot make it go away. Because He loves us, we are forgiven. Because He loves us, we are acquitted. Because He loves us, we are justified. Because He loves us, we are brought into right standing with Him. Because He loves us, we are blessed. Because He loves us, we are protected. Because He loves us, we are healed. Because He loves us, we are delivered. Because He loves us, we are free. Because He loves us, we are prosperous in every area of our lives.
Because God loves us, He redeemed us. Because God loves us, He is on our side. If you are a child of God then He is on your side. If you honor him with your life and all that is within you then He is on your side. If He is on your side then you don’t have to worry about a thing. Your enemy is His enemy and your enemy is no match for Him. Because He loves you, you are more than a conqueror. Because He is on your side, the devil does not stand a chance. If God is for you, who can be against you?