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SELAH! Pause - reflect- just think of that!

Selah Alphabetical Index

Unanswerable Questions

“Who can be against us?”

This is the first of several unanswerable questions the apostle Paul asked in Romans 8:31-39.

To be very honest there are days when I don’t have to look very far over my shoulders to give you the answer.  The Apostle Paul suggests a most violent opposition:  tribulations, distress, persecutions, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, death, principalities, etc.

The devil himself, Satan, is a powerful enemy of every Christian. He is “a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). At times, like in the Garden of Eden, he calls God a liar, and at other times he is like an angel of light with beautiful wisdom. He would even deceive the elect if he were permitted.

However, “There is no one on par with God,” writes A. T. Robertson. Satan and his hosts of demons can never ultimately triumph over the believer in Jesus Christ. God has given us spiritual armor and He expects us to use it in our spiritual warfare (Eph. 6:10-17).

John Calvin correctly said, “There is no power under heaven or above it which can resist the armor of God.”

“If God is for us” does not suggest doubt. Since it is true "God is for us" we do not have to be concerned about all other opposition.

Since God is for us who can be against us? The world, the flesh and the devil are always plotting and scheming, but God has demonstrated that He is always for us. Since He is for us, nothing can possibly defeat His eternal purposes for our lives.

The Sovereign Creator God is for His redeemed children. He has proved His love for the sinner by sending His very best, His only begotten Son, to die for us on the cross.

Since God is for us, we can rest assured all things work together for our good.

Who can be against us when the Lord God is making “all things,” even that which is against us, to work for us (Romans 8:28)? Everything is working for us, and ultimately not against us.

It makes all the difference in a good day or a bad day when we realize that God is for us all the time. “There is no one on par with God.” No one. Since He is always for us, who can be against us?

Moreover, since He is for the believer who has been purchased by the blood of His Son, He always provides His very best for His children.

In Jeremiah 29:11, God told Jeremiah, "'For I know what I have planned for you,’ says the Lord. ‘I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope'" (Jeremiah 29:11, The NET Bible)

Does God want anything less for the person He has chosen to be conformed to the image of His Son? The Psalmist declares, “Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders which You have done, And Your thoughts toward us; There is none to compare with You. If I would declare and speak of them, They would be too numerous to count” (Psalm 40:5, NASB 1995). Again in Psalm 139:17, “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!” (Psalm 139:17, NASB 1995).

The emphasis of the last paragraph of Romans eight is the perseverance of the saints or security of the believer in Christ. “What shall separate us from the love of Christ?” (Romans 8:35). The whole point Paul is stressing is we are secure in the love of God in Christ Jesus.

“What then shall we say of these things? If God is for us, who is against us?” (v. 31). We can answer with the words of the Psalmist again, “The Lord is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me?” (Psalm 118:6, NASB 1995).

What is the worst thing that men can do to me? The world says, “Kill me.” Even that would only usher me into the very presence of the Father in heaven (Acts 7:56-60). To live is Christ and die is far better yet. The apostle Paul said, “We are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8, NASB 1995).

As for my lovely wife and daughters His favor alone is sufficient for every sorrow. His strong arms protect against the dark storms in life’s violent seas (Ps. 23:4; Ps. 56:11).

“If God is for us, who can be against us?” Who can stand against the LORD God? Nobody. Nothing. The LORD God reigns!

The LORD God will protect His investment. Next to His only begotten Son, we are the most precious possessions He has because we were purchased with His own blood.

Let us come boldly, yet humbly, declaring “defiantly, triumphantly, challenging any creature in heaven or earth or hell to answer” or deny the truth. But there is no answer for this and several others questions posed by Paul in this paragraph, for nobody and nothing can harm the redeemed people of God.

Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006