Now we come into the home stretch of
the chapter. These last few verses, as MacArthur puts it, are “a crescendo of
questions and answers for the concerns his readers might still have. The result
is an almost poetic expression of praise for God's grace in bringing salvation
to completion for all who are chosen and believe—a hymn of security.”
The first question Paul asks is “What,
then, shall we say in response to these things?” What “things” is he referring
to? Well, in context of the rest of the chapter, he’s talking about anything
that might cause us to doubt our position in Christ and his love for us. When
we face bad things in this fallen world, from minor disappointments to
life-shattering tragedies and soul-crushing injustice, how shall we respond?
Like a good rabbi, Paul of course
answers the question with another question. Sometimes this can be really
annoying, but only when the answerer is dodging the question. Paul’s not doing
that here; nothing could be further than the truth. No one had suffered and
sacrificed for the Good News of Jesus more than he, and if anyone had an excuse
to doubt, it was him. And as a person who’d been walking so closely with
Christ, he was very well-aware of his own remaining sin and corruption with
which he had to struggle on a daily basis.
But here’s his answer to every
problem or doubt in life, both big and small: “If God is for us, who can be
against us?”
Think about it for a moment, please.
This is the God who created everything, who
spoke the sun, moon, planets, and stars into existence. He didn’t exert effort
into it: He spoke, and they were. This is the God before whom angels dare
not expose their faces in the full light of his presence. This is the God
before whom demons begged not to
send them into the Pit. And. . . this is the God who—in the Person of the
Son—defeated Satan, Hell, our sin, and death itself and walked out of his tomb
three days after he’d been placed there.
This is the God who is for you.
But we need to be careful of our
terminology here. What does it mean that God is “for” you?
Does that mean that he agrees with all your politics? Does it mean that he
smiles upon everything you do? Does it mean that he fights for you in every
battle you find yourself in?
No, but it does mean that he loves you with an everlasting love, that he has
chosen you, and that he will never let any real harm come to you. He always has
your best interests at heart in all his dealings with you, and any threat that
comes against you must get through him first.
I’m
reminded of what Abraham Lincoln said: “Sir, my concern is not whether God is
on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always
right.” That’s my main concern here as well. It’s nice to think that God fights
our battles for us. If he's fighting our battles for us, then obviously we
can’t lose. But we need to make sure that we are on our Father’s side. David was known as a man who
“[fought] the Lord’s battles,” instead of fighting for his own honor or
interests or to avenge his own wounded pride. His primary concern was the
Lord’s reputation and honor.
But
if we're on his side, then he's on ours, and there’s nothing that can really
stop us.
Can
Satan truly defeat us? How’s about all the demons of hell under the Devil’s
command? What about sickness, or financial disaster, or marital strife? Or even
death itself? All of them were defeated by the Magnificent One a long time ago.
That’s
a wonderful truth, and here’s another: We're forever united with Christ, and
his victories are ours. When he defeated all these foes, he defeated them on
our behalf. His victory is ours.
Let
those words roll through your mind right now, savor this truth like the finest
of foods: If God is for you, then who can prevail against you?
Father God, I thank you that in the
truest sense, you are always for me. You always have my very best interests at
heart, and as long as I stand behind my Papa, I have nothing to fear.
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