Romans 8:33-35

Passage

Who will bring any charge against the chosen ones of God?  God is the one who justifies.  Who is the one who judges against?  Christ Jesus is the one who died – and even more was being raised up and is at the right hand of God – and who intercedes on our behalf.  Who will separate us from the love of God?  Will persecution or difficulty or harassment or famine or nakedness or peril or the sword?

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Now Paul reaches the pinnacle of his argument with respect to salvation.  Yesterday we saw with confidence that God is for us.  Now Paul asks who can judge against us.  If God provided His own Son so that we could be with Him, then who has the power to overcome that?  If God is the one who provides for our justification, then who can argue against that?  The very one who sits in the best place to judge us has provided the means through which we can escape judgment.  Nobody can say anything greater than God with respect to our salvation.

How often do you realize that your very soul rests in God’s hands?  How often does that realization impact the way you live on a day to day basis?  Do you live out the reality that God justifies you more than anyone else ever could condemn you?

Second Thought:

Paul reminds us that Christ is our intercessor.  Christ – God Himself – is the one who intercedes for us.  We don’t need other people to go between God and us.  We have Christ!  We have a direct line to the very throne of God.  Jesus Christ – who came, lived among us, taught among us, called us to be His, died for our sake, rose for our witness, and ascended to God – is our intercessor!

What does it mean to you to have Jesus Christ as your intercessor?  How can the knowledge that Jesus Christ is our spokesperson before God allow us to live in confidence?

Third Thought:

If God is the one who justifies us and Christ is the one who intercedes on our behalf, then what shall be able to separate us from God?  Can anything come between us if God is on our side and we should desire to be with Him?  No.  Of course not.  The only thing that can get between me and a God who desires to be with me is, well, me.  I am the only obstacle between me and a relationship with my God.

What obstacles do we put between us and God?  Are they really obstacles?  What does it mean to say that I am the only obstacle between me and God?

Passage for Tomorrow: Romans 8:36-39