“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, WHO can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31)
- #1 “What, then, shall we say…”
“He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth” (Isa. 53:7). Our default should be to say nothing when we are being oppressed, and so be like our Lord. What is the use of defending yourself when you already have the Lord as your defender? We have nothing to justify but sometimes are called to testify, to witness to who Jesus is; In that moment, trust the Holy Spirit to give you the words, “…when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say (by the Holy Spirit) or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say…” (Matt. 10:19) - #2 “…in response to these things?”
What Paul is mainly writing about is what we will say to ourselves and each other about the suffering, especially that of persecution, that we will face in this life from unbelievers and the fallenness of the world. It is powerful to realize that we need to say nothing because we know that God is for us, he loves us, and he will be our defender. Whatever we face, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword…NO, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (Rom. 8:35, 37), it is irrelevant because we have Christ, and in Christ, we have everything. - #3 “If God is for us, who can be against us?”
We know that God is for us because He sent His one and only Son to die for us and redeem us from the sin and rebellion that once separated us from God. But now, because of Christ, none of “these things” can separate us from God, because He has proven that He is “for us.” Therefore, we have no true rivals. Let us be hated, it makes no difference for us who are loved by God. We can even return love for hate because God has raised us above the world and anything that it can do to us. Why? “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him MIGHT BE SAVED.” (John 3:16-17)
-Bill Stockham