If God is For Us…
What then shall we say to all these things? If God is for us, who can be [successful] against us? -Romans 8:31, Amplified Bible
When I was little, I was terrified that God would pass over me. Nothing my parents said would alleviate that fear until my Dad shared Romans 8:1, “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”. My chains fell off. I was free.
I have gone back to Romans 8, the greatest chapter in the greatest book of the Bible, many times since then for comfort and assurance. I meditated on Romans 8 today and noticed something.
In the famous questions of verse 31, Paul doesn’t ask, “who is against you?” If Paul asked that way the answers would be endless. I am sure you can think of people who are against you. Those who are secretly jealous are against you. Those who just don’t like you are against you. Sometimes it can feel like your own family or those you love the most are against you. You are against you many times. Evil, and it’s plotting, is certainly against you. If Paul asked, “who is against you?”...the answer wouldn’t be good news…but bad news.
But that isn’t the question Paul asks!
Paul asks, “If God is for us, who can be (successful) against us?”
Paul isn’t suggesting that in your own strength you can take on the world because the only way God is FOR you is when you are being conformed to the image of Christ! You know, deep in your spirit, when that is happening and when you are being unjustly attacked or opposed, so there is no need for me to qualify the ever present slippery slope...so instead I'll proclaim the promise loudly...
If you are in Christ, God is on your side! God is in your corner! Play it out practically and put your name in the blanks…
If God is for _____, who can be against _____?
To be successful against you, your enemies would have to WIN against God. That isn’t happening. That is why Isaiah 54:17 says “no weapon that is fashioned against you will succeed…you will refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment”.
If God is for you, who can be against you?
And if God is for you, that means the battle doesn't belong to you, that means you know how this story ends...
