God For Us

What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

—Romans 8:31–34

It does keep getting better, doesn’t it!

The Apostle Paul began his gospel presentation with mankind in a very bad place:

Romans 1:18 — “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness…”

This is the place that the world stands before God. But in the gospel that Paul is presenting here in Romans, God has taken it upon Himself to give to unrighteous men His own righteousness freely. That is, it cost the unrighteous recipient nothing. It cost God infinitely, and He spared no cost, for He spared not His own Son. This is not cheap grace but infinitely precious and costly. But God has freely given it to be available (unto all) and granted (upon all) that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, for the saved, the one who has been justified and saved by grace through faith in the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ we learn how great an undertaking that God Almighty has undertaken on our behalf. God indeed is for us!

While we recognize the importance to remind the reader of the importance of being on God’s side, we also need to remember that once one is saved, God is on his side. God is for us when we are in Christ. All enemies can bring out their best warriors to try and conquer us, but God is on our side, so “bring it on”.

God gave His Son to reconcile the world to Himself (2 Corinthians 5:19), and when we believe the word of God, the gospel of our salvation, the transaction continues from reconciliation—taking everything out of the way that would make us unsavable—to that of justification: we are made the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21).

With God for us in this comprehensive work of salvation, whose failure will it be if the one who is once saved fails to remain saved? Who is the Saviour?

This is the most important question when discussing the possibility of a Christian losing his salvation. Who lost it? Certainly the Christian who did nothing to gain his salvation didn’t lose it. It was not his to lose. He greatly benefits from it, for it is freely given to him from God, but it is God that undertook the great work of salvation and it will be God who will see it through.

The apostle Paul starts by saying what God did in order to save us: He who spared not His own Son! We cannot speak of a higher price paid, not only for God to reconcile sinners to Himself, but also for the justification of believers. God made this great payment on our behalf and it is His work that will see it through to completion. He has given to us His own Son, and He will finish the job that He started.

The apostle goes on to ask the question: Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? There is no doubt that our flesh will condemn us, and Satan will surely try to destroy us. While understanding this to be true, think about the position that you have in Christ—God’s elect. This is the position that you have as a Christian, not the result of an arbitrary choice. God will have all men to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4), but only those in Christ actually will be saved. The sad truth for all those outside of Christ is not that any were elected to damnation and therefore “reprobate” and unsavable; but that God had done everything necessary for each one to be saved and the gift was rejected by many.

But as a Christian you are God’s elect. As such, it is as though God is hearing all the accusations thrown our way and after they are all thrown, God answers very simply: “I have justified. That which I declare righteous will not be declared unrighteous. There is nothing that you can do, no charge that you can throw that will undo what I have done.”

As a Christian, you have the righteousness of God by faith Jesus Christ and no accusation can or will stick. It is God that justifieth!

What about condemnation? Who has the ability or the right to condemn. The witness of the scripture is clear on this matter:

John 5:22 — “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son…”

Acts 17:31 —“Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.”

The Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, is the one who has been appointed as the judge. It is His right and responsibility to do so. Yet He is also the one that died for us, is risen again from the dead, and is seated at the right hand of God in heaven making intercession for us. It would be quite contrary to His mission for us to turn around and condemn us. Truly, we are often deserving of this very condemnation, but Christ died for our sins! We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace (Ephesians 1:7). If we can find a time when the riches of His grace run out, then we can find a time that we can be condemned. But we have already been told this great word at the beginning of the chapter:

Romans 8:1 — “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

How can we be sure of no condemnation? Because God has said it so and Christ’s very presence at God’s right hand is His intercession on our behalf. Now don’t get this wrong, as though God wants to condemn but Christ will not allow it and stands in His way. God is the one who orchestrated this complete salvation on our behalf. The Father and the Son are one. It is Christ’s presence at God’s right hand that allows God in righteousness to be “just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Romans 3:26).

This is why there is no condemnation and why we can be sure of no condemnation. God is on our side and Christ has taken all of our sins upon Himself and put them away.

How can we be sure that once one is saved he will never again become unsaved? Because God did the justifying. Christ did the work to make possible the justification, and salvation is His to keep. The question is not whether a sinner can lose his salvation, but whether God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord can lose our salvation. The answer to this is a resounding NO. If it was ours to lose, we would surely lose it. But rest in the fact that it is His to keep.

If you are not saved, you surely can be. Christ died for your sins and took away all that stands between you and God. All that you need to do is believe on Him, the one that justifies the ungodly, and you too can be a partaker in this great salvation, freely offered and freely given to all that come to God by Jesus Christ.

The gospel that saves is this:

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 — “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures…”

When you take God at His word and believe this wonderful good news about Christ you will be saved, and then you are kept by God’s power and Christ’s intercession.

If you are worried that you could or that you may have sinned your way out of salvation, stop. Live as the Christian that you are, secure in Christ. And stop worrying about whether you can sin your way out of your position in Christ and live as though you are God’s elect, because in Christ, you are God’s elect!