The Logic of Invincible Grace Text: Romans 8:31-39
Introduction: The Great Courtroom
We come now to the summit of the book of Romans, and some would say, to the summit of the entire Bible. After laying out the grim reality of our sin, the glorious provision of justification by faith alone, and the powerful work of the Spirit in our sanctification, the apostle Paul brings it all to this magnificent, thunderous conclusion. He is not wrapping things up with a sentimental poem. He is a lawyer making his final, unanswerable argument to the jury. He is a logician slamming the Q.E.D. down on the table. He is a warrior planting the flag on the highest battlement of the captured citadel.
The modern Christian, particularly in the West, is often plagued by a kind of low-grade, spiritual anxiety. We are taught to look inward for assurance, to take our spiritual temperature every ten minutes, to measure the sincerity of our last prayer. We live our Christian lives looking over our shoulders, wondering if we have done enough, if we are good enough, if God is perhaps disappointed with us today. This is a miserable way to live, and it is a flat contradiction of the gospel Paul proclaims.
This passage is God's definitive answer to all our fears, all our doubts, and all the accusations that the world, the flesh, and the devil can possibly muster. Paul is taking us into the courtroom of heaven itself. He is calling all potential adversaries to the stand, one by one, and demanding that they make their case against God's elect. This is not a pep talk. It is a legal verdict. It is a statement of unassailable fact, grounded not in our fickle emotions, but in the objective work of God in Jesus Christ.
What Paul gives us here is the logic of invincible grace. He begins with a premise, "If God is for us," and then he drives that premise through every possible objection, demonstrating with irrefutable force that nothing, absolutely nothing, can stand against the people of God.
The Text
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who indeed did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; 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. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will affliction, or turmoil, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE COUNTED AS SHEEP FOR the SLAUGHTER.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 8:31-39 LSB)
The Unanswerable Premise (v. 31-32)
Paul begins with a rhetorical question that frames the entire argument.
"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?" (Romans 8:31)
This is the foundational truth. The great "if" is not an "if" of uncertainty, but an "if" of logical reality, as in, "If this is true, then that follows." Paul has spent eight chapters demonstrating that for the believer, God is most assuredly "for us." He is for us in His eternal election, for us in His justifying grace, for us in His adopting love, for us in His sanctifying Spirit. If this is our premise, and it is, then the conclusion is inescapable. Who can be against us?
Now, Paul is not being naive. He is not saying that Christians will have no enemies. We most certainly will. The world will be against us, the devil will be against us, and our own remaining sin will be against us. The question is not about the existence of opposition, but about its efficacy. If the omnipotent Creator of the universe is on our side, what can any finite creature possibly do to thwart His purpose for us? The opposition is real, but it is ultimately irrelevant. It is like a gnat trying to stop a freight train.
But how can we be sure of this premise? How do we know God is for us? Paul immediately provides the ultimate, objective proof.
"He who indeed did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:32)
This is the bedrock of our assurance. Paul is making an argument from the greater to the lesser. Look at what God has already done. He has given the greatest gift He could possibly give. He did not spare His own, His only, His beloved Son. He "delivered Him over," a phrase that echoes with the language of judicial punishment, for us all. If God was willing to do the hardest thing, to pay the highest price, to give the most precious gift in order to save us, is it logical to think He will then nickel and dime us on the lesser things? Will He save us from hell at infinite cost to Himself, only to abandon us when the rent is due or when persecution comes? The thought is absurd. The cross is the ultimate proof that God is for us. If He gave us the Son, He will certainly, along with Him, give us everything else we need for life and godliness.
The Divine Acquittal (v. 33-34)
Paul now moves from the general principle to a specific legal challenge. He imagines the scene in heaven's courtroom.
"Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;" (Romans 8:33)
The accuser steps forward. It might be Satan, the "accuser of the brethren." It might be our own conscience, keenly aware of our failings. It might be the world, pointing out our hypocrisies. A list of charges is read out, and every one of them is true. We are guilty as charged. But then the Judge of all the earth slams down His gavel. And what is His verdict? "Justified." He is the one who declares us righteous. The highest court in the universe has already issued the final verdict. Any other accusation from any other court is null and void. To bring a charge against God's elect is to appeal a verdict handed down by the Supreme Judge Himself. It is cosmic contempt of court.
But another challenger steps forward. This is the condemner.
"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." (Romans 8:34)
Who has the authority to condemn? Only the one who will judge the living and the dead, Jesus Christ. But what is this ultimate Judge doing? Paul gives us a four-fold, airtight defense. First, He died for us, meaning He served our sentence and paid our penalty in full. The law's demands are satisfied. Second, He was raised, which is God the Father's public declaration that the payment was accepted. The tomb is empty; the debt is cancelled. Third, He is at the right hand of God, the position of supreme power and authority. Our advocate is running the universe. And fourth, He also intercedes for us. Right now, at this very moment, our defense attorney, who is also the Judge's Son, is pleading His own perfect record on our behalf. With a defense like that, condemnation is an impossibility.
The Unbreakable Bond (v. 35-37)
Paul now moves from the legal realm to the experiential. It is one thing to know this is true in heaven, but what about here on earth, where things are messy and painful?
"Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will affliction, or turmoil, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" (Romans 8:35)
He lists a catalogue of genuine horrors. These are not inconveniences. This is the stuff of martyrdom. Can these things drive a wedge between us and the love of Christ? The modern, sentimental Christian might think that if God really loved us, He would protect us from such things. Paul argues the exact opposite. He quotes Psalm 44 to show that this kind of suffering is not an aberration; it is the family business.
"Just as it is written, 'FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE COUNTED AS SHEEP FOR the SLAUGHTER.'" (Romans 8:36)
This suffering is not a sign that God has abandoned us. It is a sign that we belong to Him. We are being treated the way the world treated our Master. This is part of the script. But it is not the end of the story.
"But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us." (Romans 8:37)
Notice, he does not say we conquer "in spite of" these things. He says we conquer "in" them. The Greek word is hypernikomen, from which we get words like hyper. It means to be more than a conqueror, to win a resounding, slam-dunk victory. How? Through Him who loved us. God takes the very weapons the enemy intends for our destruction, the affliction, the sword, the persecution, and He masterfully repurposes them as the instruments of our victory and His glory. The cross is the ultimate example. The enemy thought he had won, but he was actually orchestrating his own defeat.
The Final, Cosmic Declaration (v. 38-39)
Paul concludes with one of the most powerful and sweeping statements in all of literature. He puts his own personal conviction on the line.
"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)
He builds a series of pairs that encompass all of reality. Death cannot separate us; it only ushers us into His presence. Life, with all its troubles and temptations, cannot separate us. Angels, whether good or fallen, cannot do it. Rulers and powers, whether spiritual or political, are helpless. The present cannot do it, and the future cannot do it. The spatial dimensions of height and depth cannot hide us from His love.
And then, just in case he missed anything, he adds the ultimate catch-all clause: "nor any other created thing." This is the great Creator/creature distinction. If something is a created thing, it is by definition less powerful than the Creator. And our security rests in the love of the uncreated God. An infinite love cannot be broken by a finite power.
And where is this love located? It is not a free-floating cosmic benevolence. It is not a vague sentiment. It is "the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Our security is not found in the strength of our grip on God, but rather in the strength of His grip on us. And that grip is Jesus Christ Himself. To be separated from the love of God, you would first have to pry us out of the hands of Christ, and that is a task no created thing is able to perform.
Conclusion
So what shall we say to these things? We are to say that our security as Christians is absolute, objective, and unshakeable. It does not depend on our performance, but on Christ's performance. It is not grounded in our feelings, but in the facts of the gospel: God gave His Son, God justifies, and Christ intercedes.
Therefore, we are free. We are free from the fear of condemnation. We are free from the fear of man. We are free from the fear of suffering and death. We are free to live boldly, to risk everything for the cause of the gospel, knowing that the worst thing our enemies can do to us is send us home to the One who loves us with an unbreakable love.
This is not a license to sin. It is the power to stop sinning. It is the glorious liberty of the children of God. Because God is for us, nothing can successfully be against us. Because He did not spare His own Son, He will give us all things. Because He has justified us, no one can condemn us. And because His love has taken hold of us in Christ Jesus, nothing in all creation can ever let us go.