Coping or Conquering

Scripture: Romans 8:31-39

As we come to the end of Romans 8, we’re faced with a barrage of questions.

The first question Paul asks moves from information to application for the believer: “What, then, shall we say in response to these things?”

Here’s some of those “things” he’s referring to:

• You have been justified by faith

• God’s love has been shed abroad in your heart

• There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus

• You are an heir of God and a fellow heir with Christ

• God will work all things out for His glory and your good

• He is conforming you to the image of His Son

• Your glorification is certain.

In the context here, Paul focused on how believers can endure hardship. His answer goes something like this: “The God who loved you so much that He sent His own Son to die for your sins, will give you what you need to conquer whatever crisis you go through.” No truth will transform your ability to be a conqueror in life than God’s gracious love for you.

Five questions are asked in this scripture and each answer comes with corresponding Promise God has for each question as an answer.

1. This first question/answer is found in verse 31: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” The meaning is not so much “if” but is rather “since” or “because.”

This is true whether you feel it or not. Since God is for us, what difference does it make who is against us? Others may intimidate us, but we have the Almighty on our side.

2 Kings 6:16: “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 1

John 4:4 says, “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

Psalm 118:6: “The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

This is not to suggest we have no opposition because we all have adversaries. The point is every opponent is puny compared to how big God is. If you’re a born-again believer, God is always for you, no matter what happens. God is bigger than any opponent you may be facing.

2. The second question/answer is posted in verse 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?”

The gift of the Father’s Son is the promise and pledge that He not only protects us – He also provides for us. Jesus died as our substitute, in our place, for our benefit. Romans 4:25 says, Jesus was “delivered up for our trespasses.”

This argument is from the greater to the lesser. Since God did not hesitate to give His greatest gift, certainly He will give us lesser gifts. If God would pay such a high price to save us, why would He abandon us?

2 Peter 1:3 is one of the great verses of scripture for sustaining our faith: “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.

3. The third question/answer is “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.” The word for “charge” is taken from the legal world and refers to an accusation which leads to an arrest.

Christian’s can feel attacked from many sources.

• From the Devil. He constantly brings every flaw, every sin, and every shortcoming up before God.

• From the world. Jesus said if we follow Him the world would hate you.”

• From a fellow Christian. Galatians 5:15 tells us Christians often “bite and devour” each other.

• From ourselves. Many of you hear the accusing anthem of guilt and shame playing in your mind on a daily basis.

If you know Jesus Christ through the new birth, none of these charges stick, because you have been justified before God. God has forgiven you and declared you to be righteous.

He took all the sin in your account and transferred it to the account of Jesus, and He took the spotless righteousness of His Son and transferred it to you. As a result, you are pure in position before Him.

4. The next question/answer is in verse 34. “Who then is the one to condemn? No one. 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.” Our sins deserve condemnation, but Christ now commends us.

Because of the price Jesus paid on the cross, the power He displayed at the tomb, the position He holds in Heaven, and the pleas He makes to the Father, no one can condemn the follower of Christ because we have an Advocate who is interceding for us. Whatever problem or struggle or fear or concern or addiction you are experiencing, hold on to the truth that Jesus Christ is praying for you!

Isaiah 54:17: “No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgement. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD and their vindication from me, declares the LORD.”

5. The final question/answer comes in v 35-36: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’”

The word “separate” means to place a wedge between, to divide asunder, or to sever. Absolutely nothing can get in the way of the Lord loving us with agape love. We will never be cut off from Christ, no matter what we go through.

We all face torment within and trouble without. None of this can separate us from the Saviour. Nothing can break the bond between us and God. Jeremiah 31:3: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” Hold on to the promise made by Jesus in John 10:28: “No one will snatch them out of my hand.”

During turbulent times, hold on to verses 38-39: “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Doesn't matter who Opposes You? God Protects You!

Doesn't matter Who Withholds from You? God Provides for You! Doesn’t matter Who Accuses You? God Purifies You! Doesn’t matter Who Condemns You? Jesus Prays for You! Doesn’t matter Who tries to Separate You? Jesus Preserves You!

You can do more than just cope...you can conquer!