All Good Things For God's People

December 17th, 2024
by Dr. D. Lance Waldie

Romans 8:32-34 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; 34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

In Romans 8 Paul writes about the believer’s absolute, eternal security in Jesus Christ. There is no condemnation for them (8:1), they have been adopted into God’s family and call Him Abba/Father (15), they are fellow heirs with Christ (17), they have the Holy Spirit as a pledge of future redemption (9, 23), they are prayed for by the Spirit (26), and their future glorification is absolutely certain (30) based upon God’s foreknowledge of them (29). With all of this in mind, along with the knowledge that God is absolutely sovereign and omnipotent over His creation, who or what can prevail against those for whom God loves? Answer: no one!

God is the one who declares the guilty as righteous (3:24), and He sets them free from their sin and guilt when they trust in Christ. There is no higher court or judge, and this Judge did not “spare His own Son but delivered Him up…” In the background of this statement is the account of Abraham offering up his son Isaac on the altar in obedience to God’s command (Gen. 22). Of course God was only testing Abraham’s faith in this, for He kept Abraham from killing Isaac and commended his faith by saying, “You have not withheld your son” (Gen. 22:12). God then provided a substitute sacrifice in the form of a ram so that Isaac could live. But God, unlike Abraham, did not “spare” His own Son (Jesus) because His Son would take away the sin of the world and bring reconciliation between God and man. Therefore, Jesus had to endure the cross, doing so willingly to offer atonement for humanity’s sins. Though Abraham might have offered his son as a sacrifice, it would not have accomplished anything. A perfect sacrifice had to be offered for sin, so Jesus did that. It is no coincidence that Jesus descended from Isaac, for this was the fulfilled promise God gave to Abraham in Genesis 17:1-8 (cf. Gal. 3:16, 29).

Having given His “elect” (v. 33) the greatest of gift of Jesus Christ, God has deprived His people of no good thing. After giving the highest grace while man was still dead in his sins, how could He do any less for those He has declared righteous? King David wrote with great confidence: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; whom shall I dread?” (Ps. 27:1; cf. 46:1-3, 11). So, it is certain that no one can lose the very salvation that God has given to them in Christ Jesus. No one, ever.
Note Jesus’ fourfold activity on behalf of Christians in v. 34. First, He died for them. In so doing, He bore the full penalty for sin in His flesh. Second, He was also “raised” from the dead. Yes, Christ’s death made atonement for sins, but His resurrection proved that His victory was certain. As Paul said in Romans 4:25, Christ “was delivered up because of our transgressions, and was raised for our justification.” Third, Christ sits “at the right hand of God,” the ultimate high place. Since Christ “humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross… God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name” (Phil. 2:8-9). Finally, Christ “also intercedes for us.” Like the Holy Spirit (8:26), Jesus prays for His own, for “He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:25).

Food for Thought

When an athlete or team wins a championship fair and square, it can never be taken away from them. Likewise, Christ won the victory over sin and death. Those who trust in Him partake of it, and it can never be taken away from them. Christ’s prayers on their behalf attest to that.