“If God is for us” (1)
[Romans 8:31-34]
Look at Romans 8:31 – “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Here, the conjunction “then” connects the word before and the word after. Here are some of the opinions of scholars regarding the word before: (1) Romans 3:21-8:30, (2) Romans 5:1-8:30, (3) Romans 8:1-30, (4) Romans 8:26-30. My opinion is that the conjunction “then” connects with Romans 8:29-30. Romans 8:29-30 describes the five stages of God's salvation. That is, (1) God foreknew (loved), (2) predestined (chosen), (3) called to believe Jesus, (4) justified, (5) glorified. The Apostle Paul said, “What, then, shall we say in response to this?” (v. 31) Here, in the English Bible, the singular “this” is used, but if we look at the original Greek, it is “these things” as a plural. And “these things” refer to the five stages of God’s salvation in Romans 8:29-30. In other words, “these things” refer to the things that God foreknew (loved), called, justified, and glorified those whom he predestined (chosen). ‘What shall we say’ about these five stages of God’s salvation means that we have nothing to say. The reason is because God has already accomplished these five stages of salvation, so we cannot say anything about God's work of salvation.
The Apostle Paul used the word “If” in Romans 8:31. The reason was not because he had any doubts, but rather that he had great assurance. The great assurance he had is that the God of salvation must accomplish the five steps of salvation. In other words, the Apostle Paul was 100% sure that God loved and called, justified, and glorified those whom he loved and predestined before the foundation of the world. So, he said in Ephesians 1:4 – “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him In love.” Also, the Apostle Paul used the past tense verbs when he spoke of the five stages of God's salvation in Romans 8:29-30 because he had great assurance of God's salvation. Although his body had not yet been glorified, he was getting old, and he had thorns in his body (2 Cor. 12:7). But he was sure that the God of salvation would surely glorify him because God called and justified him, whom the God of salvation had loved and predestined. The Apostle Paul is a Christian living between 'already' and 'not-yet' because God completed salvation 'already' at the first coming of Jesus, and God will complete salvation 'not-yet' at the second coming of Jesus. As a result, he was convinced that God's will of salvation was will surely be accomplished in this earth as it is already fulfilled in heaven in the future (at the time of Jesus' second coming). For reference, if we look at the prayer the Lord taught, “… May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Mt 6:10). The basis of the Apostle Paul's assurance of salvation is God who began the work of salvation in him. Look at Philippians 1:6 – “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” So, when the Apostle Paul wrote a letter to the Philippian church members, when he was caught between the living and the dead on this earth, it was far better for him to leave the world and be with Christ. Although that was his desire, he remained on in the flesh because it was more necessary for the Philippian church members’ sake, for their progress and joy in the faith (vv. 21-25). The Apostle Paul wanted Christ to be glorified in his body whether he lived or died (v. 20). The Apostle Paul said that although he had not yet been glorified, he was sure that he would be glorified. That was how he lived.
The Apostle Paul said in Romans 8:31, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Here, the modern Korean Bible translated it as ‘If God is on our side.’ God is for us. God is on our side. Therefore, the Apostle Paul was convinced that God is for us since He loved us, chose us, called us, justified and glorified us before the foundation of the world. Therefore, he confidently said, “who can be against us?” (v. 31). Indeed, evil forces oppose us, whom God loved, chosen, called, justified, and glorified before the foundation of the world. Those evil forces attack us from time to time. Satan sends his minions to attack us from time to time. He has been attacking us in many ways, through the temptations of the world, through ourselves, through sin, and so on. Look at Matthew 24:24 – “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.” The false Christs and the false prophets, the evil forces that are attacking us, even perform great signs and wonders to deceive the elect, if possible. In fact, Satan roams the earth to deceive, tempt, and attack us (Job 1:7). The devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Pet. 5:8). The devil is trying to devour us by going around every corner to deceive those whom God loved and chosen. However, since God is for us, even the devil and Satan cannot dare to resist us (Rom. 8:31).
Look at Zechariah 1:8 – “I saw at night, and behold, a man was riding on a red horse, and he was standing among the myrtle trees which were in the ravine, with red, sorrel and white horses behind him.” In Zechariah, which is called the Book of Revelation in the Old Testament, the vision the prophet Zechariah saw was a man riding on a red horse and standing among the myrtle trees in the ravine, and “a man” refers to his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. And he was standing. Look at Acts 7:55 – “But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” It is said that Stephen saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God before his martyrdom, but the Bible mainly shows Jesus Christ sitting at the right hand of God (Mk. 16:19; Lk. 22:69; Col 3:1; Heb. 1:3; 10:12; 12:2). The reason why Jesus did not sit at the right hand of God before Stephen died was because He was standing because His beloved Stephen was in trouble. In the vision the prophet Zechariah saw, he saw God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, standing for us, that is, to save us. In a vision the prophet Zechariah saw, behind the one and only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, was a red, brown and white horses (Zech. 1:8), and the riders on them were those whom the Lord had sent to patrol the earth (v. 10). God has sent these messengers (angels) to patrol the earth to watch over us. Therefore, no matter how much Satan tries to oppose us, God will surely save us and glorify us so that we can go to the kingdom of heaven and enjoy more glory because God loved us, predestined us, called us, justified us, and glorified us.
Therefore, we must live by faith with the assurance of salvation. Because the God of salvation loved us, chose us, called us, justified and glorified us before the foundation of the world, we must be confident that we will be glorified 100% and that we will go to heaven and live forever. And we should not be afraid. Look at Hebrews 13:6 – “So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’” Also, we must have sound judgement and be sober spirit, watch and pray. Look at 1 Peter 4:7 and 5:8 – “The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. … Be of sober spirit, be on the alert Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” We must be steadfast and unwavering and always put more effort into the work of the Lord. Look at 1 Corinthians 15:58 – “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” Therefore, when we stand before the Lord, we pray that the Lord will praise us, saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant, You were faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master” (Mt. 25:21).