Romans 8:31 - Meaning and Application

The apostle closes this beautiful message about believers’ privileges with holy triumph, speaking for all the saints. He has shown the mystery of God’s love to us in Christ, and the great blessings we receive through him. Now he asks, as an orator might, “What shall we say to these things?” What should we conclude from all this?

He speaks like a man overwhelmed by wonder. The more we learn of ordinary things, the less amazed we are by them. But the more we understand the gospel, the more deeply we are moved by it. If Paul did not know what to say here, no one should be surprised if we also feel overwhelmed. Yet what does he say? If Paul ever rode in a triumphal chariot on this side of heaven, it was here. With strong joy and rich language, he comforts himself and all God’s people by thinking on these privileges.

He gives a bold challenge to every enemy of the saints: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” The strength of that challenge is God himself being for us. That sums up all our privileges. It means God is not only at peace with us, but joined to us in covenant, so he is committed to our good. All his qualities are for us, all his promises are for us. Everything he is, has, and does works for his people. He does all things for them, even when it seems as if he is acting against them.

If this is true, then who can stand against us in any way that would finally harm us or block our happiness? No matter how great, strong, many, or cruel our enemies are, what can they do while God is for us? As long as we remain in his love, we can boldly defy all the powers of darkness. Satan may do his worst, but he is chained. The world may do its worst, but it is conquered. The rulers and powers are stripped, disarmed, and defeated through the cross of Christ. Who then dares fight against us while God himself fights for us? That is the conclusion drawn from these truths.

More specifically, we have ready supplies for every need (Romans 8:32). Who can be against us to strip us of our comfort? Who can cut off our streams while we have a fountain to go to? Look first at what God has already done for us, because our hope rests on that: “He did not spare his own Son.” When God set out to save us, the Father was willing to give up his Son. He did not think his Son too precious a gift for poor sinners. From this we know he loves us, because he did not hold back his Son, his own Son, his only Son, just as God said of Abraham in (Genesis 22:12).

If nothing less could save us, then rather than let us perish, the Father gave up his Son. He delivered him up for us all, that is, for all the elect, all whom he chose to save. He gave him not only for our benefit, but in our place, as a sacrifice of atonement, a payment that turns away sin’s judgment. When God took up this work, he did not spare his own Son. Though Christ was his own Son, yet when he was made sin for us, it pleased the Lord to crush him. God did not lessen that great debt one bit. He charged it fully to him. “Awake, O sword.” He did not spare his own Son who served him, so that he might spare us, even though we had done him so much harm.

From this we may expect what he will also do: “He will freely give us all things with him.” This means he will give us Christ himself, because all other gifts come with him. Christ is not only given for us, but also given to us. God went to such great expense to make this purchase that he surely will not refuse to apply it to us. He will freely give us all things, all that he sees we truly need, all good things, and nothing more should we demand, as (Psalm 34:10) says. Infinite wisdom will decide what is good and necessary for us.

“Freely give” means without reluctance, because he is ready to give and comes to us with his blessings. It also means without payment, without money and without price. How could we imagine that he would do the greater thing and refuse the lesser? If he gave so great a gift for us when we were enemies, will he deny us any good thing now that, through him, we are friends and children? This is how faith speaks against fear. He who has prepared a crown and a kingdom for us will surely give us enough for the road there. He who has planned for us the inheritance of sons when we come of age will not leave us without what we need now.

We also have an answer ready for every accusation and safety against every condemnation (Romans 8:33-34). Who can bring a charge against God’s chosen ones? Does the law accuse them? Do their own consciences accuse them? Is the devil, the accuser of the brothers and sisters, accusing them before God day and night? The answer to all such charges is this: “It is God who justifies.” People may justify themselves, like the Pharisees did, and still remain guilty. But if God justifies, that settles everything. He is the judge, the king, and the one offended. His judgment is true, and in time the whole world will agree with him. So we may call on all our accusers to bring their case, and it will all fall apart. It is the righteous and faithful God who justifies.

“Who is he that condemns?” Even if they cannot prove the charge, they may still try to condemn. But we have a plea that stops judgment, and no one can overturn it. “It is Christ who died.” By the merit of his death, he paid our debt. A surety’s payment is a valid answer to a debt claim. And Christ is a fully able and sufficient Savior.

“Yes, rather, who was raised to life.” This is even stronger encouragement, because his resurrection proves that divine justice was satisfied by his death. His rising again was his release from that judgment, a legal discharge. That is why Paul says, “Yes, rather.” If Christ had died and not risen, we would still be in our sins.

He is also at the right hand of God, which gives another strong proof that he has completed his work. It is a great comfort in the face of every accusation that we have a friend in court, and such a friend. Being at God’s right hand means he is always ready to help, and it also means he rules there, because all authority has been given to him. Our friend is himself the judge.

And he is there not ignoring us, nor forgetting us, but making intercession for us.

Christ is our representative there, our advocate, that is, our legal helper, before God. He answers every charge against us, makes our plea for us, presses our cause with power, appears on our behalf, and presents our requests. Is not that more than enough reason for comfort? What then shall we say to these things? What room is left for doubt or fear? Why should you be downcast, O my soul?

Some understand this accusation and condemnation as the kind Christ’s suffering people faced from men. The first Christians were accused of all sorts of evil things, such as heresy, rebellion, and sedition. Civil rulers condemned them for these charges. But Paul’s point is, no matter. As long as we stand right before God, it matters little how people judge us. Against every harsh judgment, false charge, and unjust sentence from men, we can answer with our justification before God through Christ Jesus, that is, our being declared right with God. That fully outweighs everything else (1 Corinthians 4:3-4).

We also have strong confidence that God will keep us in this blessed state until the end (Romans 8:35). Believers often fear that they may lose their hold on Christ, and that fear can trouble them deeply. But here is what can quiet those fears, and calm those storms, nothing can separate us from Christ’s love. Paul gives a bold challenge to all enemies of the saints to separate them from Christ’s love, if they can. Who shall do it? No one shall (Romans 8:35-37). God already showed his love by giving his own Son for us, and if he did not hold back then, can we imagine that anything else would break that love?

Look at the troubles Christ’s beloved people may face. They may be in deep distress, with no clear help in this world. They may suffer persecution from a hostile world that has always hated those Christ loves. They may be hungry, naked, exposed to danger, and even face the sword of the magistrate, ready to strike them down. Can a darker case be imagined? Paul supports this with a verse from Psalm 44:22, “For your sake we are killed all day long.” This shows that we should not think it strange, even when the trial is fiery and bloody. The saints of the Old Testament had the same lot, and so did the prophets before us. “Killed all day long” means they were always exposed to death and always expecting it. Every day, all day long, some of God’s people are still bleeding and dying under the rage of persecutors. They are counted as sheep for slaughter. Their enemies make as little of killing a Christian as of butchering a sheep. Sheep are killed not because they are harmful while alive, but because they are useful when dead. In the same way, persecutors kill Christians to satisfy their malice. They “eat up my people as they eat bread” (Psalm 14:4).

Yet none of these things can separate us from the love of Christ. Can they do it? Can they possibly do it? No, never. All these troubles are fully consistent with the strong and steady love of the Lord Jesus. They are neither a cause nor a sign that his love is fading. When Paul was whipped, beaten, imprisoned, and stoned, did Christ love him any less? Were his favors less frequent? Were his smiles withdrawn? Were his visits more distant? Not at all, the opposite. These troubles do separate us from other friends. When Paul stood before Nero, everyone deserted him, but the Lord stood by him (2 Timothy 4:16-17). Persecutors can take much from us, but they cannot take Christ’s love. They cannot stop his love-gifts, or block his visits. So, let them do their worst, they cannot make a true believer miserable.

And we do not, and will not, love him less for our sufferings either. This is because we do not think he loves us less. Love does not suspect evil. It does not draw harsh conclusions or make unkind guesses. It takes in good faith what comes from love. A true Christian loves Christ just as much, even when suffering for him, and does not think worse of Christ when losing everything for his sake.

So believers triumph in all this (Romans 8:37). “In all these things we are more than conquerors.” We are conquerors, even though we are “killed all day long.” That is a strange kind of victory, but it was Christ’s way too. He triumphed over rulers and powers through his cross. By faith and patience, this is a surer and nobler victory than by fire and sword. Even enemies have sometimes admitted defeat before the brave endurance of the martyrs, who overcame the strongest rulers by not loving their lives to the death (Revelation 12:11).

We are more than conquerors. In patiently bearing these trials, we do more than win. We triumph. Those are more than conquerors who conquer with little loss. Many victories cost dearly, but what do suffering saints really lose? They lose what gold loses in the furnace, only the dross, the waste. It is no great loss to lose what is not lasting, a body that is earthly and weak. They also conquer with great gain. Their spoils are rich indeed, glory, honor, peace, and a crown of righteousness that will never fade.

In this way, suffering saints have triumphed. They have not only avoided being separated from Christ’s love, they have been drawn into its deepest comforts and embraces. As afflictions increase, comforts increase even more (2 Corinthians 1:5). A person is more than a conqueror when pressed beyond measure and still stands. Those who embraced the stake and said, “Welcome the cross of Christ, welcome everlasting life,” those who dated their letters from prison, those who said, “In these flames I feel no more pain than if I were on a bed of down,” and those who answered before martyrdom, “Well and cheerful, and going to heaven,” and those who went smiling to the stake and singing in the flames, these were more than conquerors.

This victory comes only through Christ who loved us. His death takes away the sting from all these troubles. His Spirit gives strength, so believers can bear them with holy courage and steady endurance. He also brings special comforts and support. So we conquer, not by our own strength, but by the grace that is in Christ Jesus. We conquer because we share in Christ’s own victory.

He has overcome the world for us (John 16:33), both its good things and its bad things, so that we have only to press on to the victory and share in the spoil. In that sense, we are more than conquerors.

Paul then gives a clear and confident conclusion to the whole matter: “I am persuaded” (Romans 8:38, 39). This shows a full, strong, and warm confidence, growing out of his experience of God’s power and the sweetness of God’s love. He lists every thing that might seem able to separate Christ from believers, and says none of them can.

Neither death nor life can do it, neither the fear of death nor the comfort and pleasure of life. We will not be separated from Christ’s love in death or in life. Nor can angels, principalities, or powers do it. Good angels are called principalities and powers (Ephesians 1:21; Colossians 1:16), and so are evil powers (Ephesians 6:12; Colossians 2:15), but neither can separate us. The good angels are friendly servants of God, and the evil ones are held back as enemies.

Nor can things present or things to come separate us, neither present troubles nor the fear of troubles ahead. Time cannot separate us, and eternity cannot either. Present things and future things may divide us from each other, but they cannot divide us from Christ’s love, because his favor holds both together.

Nor can height or depth separate us, neither the heights of success and honor nor the depths of suffering and shame. Nothing in heaven above, no storm or tempest, and nothing on earth below, no rocks, seas, or dungeons, can do it. Nor can any other creature, anything that can be named or imagined. Nothing can cut off or weaken God’s love for us, or our love for God, except sin.

Notice that the love between God and true believers comes through Christ. He is the mediator, the one who brings both sides together, of our love. It is in him and through him that God can love us, and that we dare to love God. This is why that love stands firm. God rests in his love (Zephaniah 3:17), because Jesus Christ, in whom he loves us, is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Mr. Hugh Kennedy, a well-known Christian from Ayr, Scotland, when he was dying, asked for a Bible. But when he found he could no longer see, he said, “Turn me to Romans 8, and place my finger on these words, ‘I am persuaded that neither death nor life,’ and so on.” Then, when they told him his finger was on the words, he said no more, but said, “Now, God be with you, my children. I have had breakfast with you, and I shall sup with my Lord Jesus Christ tonight.” Then he died.