God Is For His People

December 16th, 2024
by Dr. D. Lance Waldie

Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
God foreknew, predestined, called, justified, and glorified all of His adopted children (8:29-30). He is sovereign over His creation and the Judge over the same. Stepping back from his assessment of God, Paul asks, What shall we say to these things? (v. 31). What else can believers conclude now except that their salvation is one hundred percent the work of God, signed and sealed for eternity? This being the case, “If God is for us, who is against us?” Certainly Satan works against God’s people, but he is no match for God. No one and nothing is.

Now in Paul’s day the legalistic Judaizers caused Christians to question whether God truly loved them. They insisted that no one, Jew or Gentile, could be saved or maintain their salvation without strict adherence of the Mosaic law (e.g., circumcision, food prohibitions, etc.). Paul was cognizant of these false teachers, for he admonished the elders in Ephesus to “be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers… I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them” (Acts 20:28-30). Then, as now, the danger of false teachers, like the Judaizers, was that they promote the loss of salvation through failure to adhere to unbiblical, man-made practices.

Some fear losing their salvation by committing some heinous sin that might cause God to retract His free gift of grace. The Roman Catholic Church calls these sins “mortal sins,” and those who commit them can have no assurance of salvation. But this is absurd when one considers how depraved sinners are when God saves them. Why would God do less for Christians after He saves them than what He did prior to their salvation? Jesus said, “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2-3). That passage from the lips of Jesus Christ is a promise to believers of an eternal home without any exceptions. Paul asks likewise in Roman 8:32, “How will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” To “freely give” is to kindly grant something, and that something is forgiveness of sins—a pardon that reaches beyond anything believers can do anything to ever lose.

Some wonder if the devil can steal a believer’s salvation. After all, he is “the accuser” of the saints (Rev. 12:10), the one who accused Job of being a charlatan (Job 1:8-11). Job was put through severe trials, and although he indeed questioned God’s ways, God continually called him “My servant” (1:8; 42:7-8). In the NT, Satan attempted to steal Peter’s faith (Luke 22:31-32), but he failed there too because of Jesus’ intercession. So, Satan is powerless against God’s elect. Christ said as much of His sheep in John 10:28: “No one will snatch them out of my hand!”

Finally, Paul answered the question of whether Jesus might take back the believer’s salvation: “Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us” (v. 34). So, while the Spirit is praying for believers (8:26), the Son of God is also interceding, just like He did with Peter. If Jesus chose to take back the salvation He freely gave to believers, He would be divided against Himself, for believers are Christ’s brothers, and they are fellow heirs with Him as sons of God (8:14-17).

Food for Thought

God is for His people! Sure, we might question how He can love sinners like us who think and sometimes do the very things we know God hates. But God sees the finished product; He sees us in our glorified state. We as believers belong to Him, and He will never let us go.