You take your Bibles and please turn along with me to Romans chapter eight. We'll be in verses 31 through 34 this morning of Romans chapter eight. We live in a world full of groanings. That's what Romans 8 in part has taught us. Because of the fall of man into sin and the curse that has come as a result, the creation all around us is groaning. Groaning, longing to be made new. To have the curse removed. Likewise, we learn that we as Christians groan as well. We groan within ourselves longing for the redemption of our bodies. Longing for the day when we will be made new, when we will be glorified and made like Christ. Longing for the day, groaning for the day when our lives will be painless, sinless, sorrowless, and deathless. But until that time we groan. We groan because life in this fallen world is filled with hardship, pain and disappointment. And in such a world of suffering and pain and groaning, we can sometimes be tempted to think that God doesn't care. That God isn't near. that God is distant from us and removed from us and unmoved by our sufferings and cries for help. We may even at times be tempted to think that God is against us, that God has set his hand against us, that God has turned his back on us. But for the Christian, Nothing could be further from the truth. Our text this morning teaches us and reminds us that in fact, God is for us. God is always and only ever for us. He is always for us. He is always on our side. He is always working all things together for our good. So I'm gonna read our passage this morning, which is intended to give us assurance, encouragement, that God is for us. I'm gonna read our passage this morning, and then to the end of it, I'm gonna say, this is the word of God, and I would ask you to respond by saying together, thanks be to God for his word. Romans chapter eight, beginning in verse 31. The Apostle Paul continues writing and says, what then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 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? 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 always intercedes for us. This is the word of God. Thanks be to God for his word. Let's pray together. Lord, we do thank you for your word. We thank you that it, reassures us that in times of trouble and hardship, you are still for us. You are always and only ever for us. You are working all things together for our good. You have promised and secured our future, which is glorious. Our future, which is Christ likeness. our future, which is sinless and painless and deathless. Thank you, Father, for the wonderful promises you have given to us. Chief among them is that you are for us. What good news that is for the Christian today, that regardless of what comes, regardless of the outcome of even the election on Tuesday, regardless of what happens in our lives in the coming weeks and months, you are and always will be and always have been for us. And all things are working together for our good. Help us this morning to take these things to heart, to believe them, to act on them, Lord, those spirits in our midst who are crushed and bowed down with care, lift them up today with the knowledge that you are for them, that you are with them. You're working all things for their good. I pray, Lord, that we would build our lives on this truth, that we would look to the future and smile knowing that we step into a future in which God is always for us. We ask this in Jesus name, amen. As we walk through this passage together this morning, we're gonna see together three irrefutable proofs that God is for us. You say, God is for me? Prove it. Well, the Lord has proven it. And he's proven it not in one way, but in multiple ways. And we're gonna see three of those proofs this morning in our text. Three proofs, irrefutable proofs that God is for us so that we can be assured that come what may, God is always on our side. God is always working together all things for our good. First of all, we see the irrefutable proof that God has delivered over his son for us. This proves that he is for us because he's delivered over his very own beloved son on our behalf. Verses 31 and 32, look with me. Romans 8.31, what then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 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? Paul has in the immediate context here, just shared with us the unbreakable chain of God's plan of redemption. How God has planned our salvation, our redemption from beginning to end and is executing that plan on our behalf. Look with me at Romans 8 28. We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brethren. And these whom he predestined, he also called, and these whom he called, he also justified, and these whom he justified, he also glorified. From beginning to end, salvation is of the Lord. Now in verse 31, Paul asked the rhetorical question, what shall we say to these things? Paul used the same kind of question back in chapter three in verse one and chapter four in verse one. What shall we say to these things? What shall we say in light of what we have just learned? What shall we say in view of the things we have just heard? In other words, what is the upshot of all of this? What is a key takeaway we can derive from all of this? That's the question Paul asks. And he asks it in light of these things. Now, what is these things referring to? Well, Paul could just be talking about that unbreakable chain of God's salvation and redemption in the previous verses that I just read. He could be referring to the many blessings of salvation that have come our way that he's listed for us in chapter eight. Probably he has in mind something even broader than that. Chapters five through eight have been referring to all the many blessings of salvation that have come to us in Jesus Christ. I've listed 38 different blessings that have come to us because of God's plan of salvation in Jesus Christ. I've listed that for you in our sermon notes page on the church app. You can check that out. That's just sort of for additional study if you want. Tracks all the blessings that have come to us in salvation in chapters five, six, seven, and eight of the book of Romans. But probably there's an even greater sense in which Paul has in mind everything that he said up to this point in this letter. In Romans 1 16, Paul began laying out for us the gospel of God. Romans 1 16 says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek. So that these things of verse 31 is probably referring to all that Paul has said so far in this book. What shall we say in light of the power of God unto salvation? What shall we say to these things? Answer, if God is for us, who is against us? What's the upshot of all this? If God is for us, then who is against us? This answer to Paul's question may be better translated as, since God is for us, who can be against us? The if here is not the if of possibility. As in maybe God is for us, maybe he's not. Maybe some days he is, maybe some days he isn't. That's not what Paul is communicating here. The if here is not the if of possibility. The if here is the if of certainty. It's an if-then statement. It's a since-then statement. If God is for us and we know for certain that he is, then who can be against us? Since God is most certainly for us, who can be against us? In light of these things, in light of verses 29 and 30 and God's unbreakable chain of redemption, in light of the many blessings of salvation that have come to us and revealed to us in Romans 5 through 8, and in light of all that we've learned about the gospel since even chapter 1, we can conclude and take away from all of this that God is for us. And since he's for us, who can be against us? Who is against us? Now, Paul here in saying who is against us is not denying that Christians will sometimes face opposition and sometimes severe opposition in this life. It's not to say the Christian doesn't have any enemies. Rather, it's a denial that opposition against us will be in any way successful. Nothing and no one can overturn God's good and perfect plans for us. Romans 8, 28. To be sure, Christians still have enemies. We've got lots of enemies. Satan is our enemy. The world is our enemy. Our own flesh is our enemy. Remember Romans 7. Who will rescue me from the death of this flesh? Jesus Christ will. To be sure, Christians still have enemies. And these enemies conspire to defeat and discourage us. But the upshot of all that Paul has said thus far in Romans is that none of our enemies will be able to prevail against us and against God's good plan for us. The psalmist understood this well. In Psalm 118, six, he says, the Lord is for me. Is there any better word to us today than that? The Lord is for me. The Lord is for me. He says, I will not fear. What can man do to me? Take your best shot. Listen, I've got the Lord on my side. I've got the Lord in my corner. I am not gonna be afraid because man can't touch me. Not in any eternal sense, not in any soul damning way. No, the Lord is for me, I will not fear. You find yourself living under the crushing weight of fear and anxiety, remember who is for you. Remember who is on your side. Remember who has promised to never leave you or never forsake you and to be with you to the end of the age. The Lord is for us. God is for us. He's on our side. He's in our corner. And he is always and only working all things together for our good. How do we know that's true? What proof can we possibly have that God is for us? Well, Paul gives us the first of these three proofs that God is for us in verse 32. 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? This is the proof. God has delivered over his own beloved son for us. Of course he's for us. God did not spare his own son. Jesus is the beloved son of God, the eternal son of God. And God the Father did not spare his own son, Jesus, whom he loves more than any other, but instead delivered him over for us all. Now the beginning of verse 32 has an intensive particle that doesn't really come through in English. The verse could be translated this way. He indeed did not spare his own son. He indeed did not spare his own son. This helps to show the greatness of God's love in giving over his son, the certainty of God's love in giving over his son. Verse 32 is similar to what Paul said back in Romans chapter five, verses eight and nine. God demonstrates his own love for us. God proves his own love for us. God puts on display his own love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, in our place, on our behalf. Much more than now having been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through him. We are saved from God's wrath because Jesus took God's wrath on our behalf. He satisfied God's wrath in his own body on the cross, bearing our sins and bearing our guilt and bearing God's wrath. Jesus is God's own son, the eternal son of God made incarnate. the eternal Son of God, whose relationship with the Father extends back beyond eternity past. Beyond our mind's ability to conceive, there has always been God in three persons. There has always been God the Father. There has always been God the Son. There has always been God the Spirit. And they have always and only ever related to one another in a in a Trinitarian relationship of love, infinite, perfect love. There was never a time when the Son of God was not the divine Son of God the Father. And there was only one such divine Son. And yet God handed over, delivered over His precious Son for us all. John 3.16 says, for God so loved the world. How much did God love the world? He so loved the world and demonstrated His love for the world that He gave His only begotten Son, His one and only, His truly beloved Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. God the Father delivered over his son Jesus unto death for us. Delivered over means that he handed him over. God the Father delivered over, handed over his own precious son into the hands of evil wicked men who crucified the Lord of glory. Acts 2.23 says that this man, Jesus, was delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God. And you nailed him to a cross and put him to death. The cross of Jesus was no sad coincidence. It didn't just happen. No, it was the result of God's predetermined plan to hand over his son on behalf of sinners. Isaiah 53, six says, all of us like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. The Lord has caused it to be. The Lord has made it happen. The Lord has handed over his son on our behalf. A 19th century British preacher, Octavius Winslow, said this. By the way, if you're looking for baby names, Octavius, that's a good one. Dinner's ready, Octavius. I like it. He said this. Who delivered up Jesus to die? Who delivered up Jesus to die? Not Judas for money. Not Pilate for fear, not the Jews for envy, but the Father for love. Who delivered over Jesus unto death? The Father did. Why? Because he's for you. that God the Father delivered over his son for us all means that God orchestrated all the necessary events surrounding the crucifixion. He did not spare Jesus from judgment and death in order that he might spare us from judgment and death. He delivered his son over to crucifixion and condemnation in order that he might deliver us from condemnation Jesus was delivered over to judgment and death for us all us all means all Christians Jew and Gentile male and female slave and free young and old rich and poor all Christians without exception are included in this Christian, you are included in this. God delivered over Jesus for you. So the first proof that God is for us is seen in the fact that God did not spare his own son, but delivered him over for us all. And Paul shares a wonderful corollary truth to this, a logical outworking from it. If God has already given us his own dearly loved son and handed him over for us all, how will he not also with him freely give us all things? It's an argument from the greater to the lesser. God's already given us the greater gift. Will he not also give us the lesser gifts too? Of course he will. If God has already given us that which is most of value to Him, how will He not also freely give us lesser gifts as well? If God has already given us His best, He will surely give us the rest. He'll give us whatever we need in whatever moment, in whatever situation. He'll give us whatever we need in order to be faithful to Him. He'll give us whatever we need in order to finish, in order to cross that finish line into glory. Why? Because He's for us. How is He for us? He's proven that He's for us in giving us His best and in giving us the rest. So the proof that God is for us is first seen in the fact that God has given us his best and will most certainly give us the rest. The second proof that God is for us today is seen in the proof that God has justified us, verse 33. Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies. Paul asks another rhetorical question here. Who will bring a charge against God's elect? Once again, the issue here is not that no one will make an accusation against a Christian. People make accusations against Christians all the time. The issue here is that no one will be able to bring a charge successfully against a Christian that results in their condemnation, that results in their eternal judgment. In other words, charges may be brought, but they won't stick. The charges will be found to be baseless and dismissed. To bring a charge is a judicial term of making an allegation of wrongdoing and guilt. Satan is called the accuser of the brethren in Revelation 12.10. And that's exactly what Satan does. His favorite thing is to accuse the brethren. That's what we see Satan doing in the book of Job, right? Satan accuses Job of simply serving God because God's made it so easy for Job to do so. And that if God will but turn up the heat of trial and difficulty, Job will curse God. Satan is the great accuser and he makes accusations about us all the time. But these accusations won't stick because what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. So whoever the accuser is, whether it's the devil or one of our enemies or even our own sins that accuse us in our conscience, these accusations will have no merit because of the perfect merit of Jesus Christ as the righteous sacrifice for sinners. No one can successfully bring a charge against God's elect. God's elect here are God's chosen, his chosen people, chosen before the foundation of the world, chosen according to God's gracious will. According to Romans 8, 28 and 29, God's elect are those whom God foreknew and predestined and called and justified and will one day glorify. No one is able to bring a charge against God's elect because God is the one who justifies them. To justify means here as it does elsewhere in the book to make right. To make right with God. It is to declare someone righteous in God's sight and that's what God has done for us. God is said to be the one who's done the justifying here. We don't justify ourselves. Our actions could never justify us. Our actions can only condemn us and make us all the more guilty. No, God is the one who justifies. God is the one who declares us righteous on the basis of his son's sacrifice. And because God has justified the Christian, no one can successfully bring charges against the Christian that will lead to their condemnation. That's why this chapter began Romans 8 verse 1 this way, therefore there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. How is there no condemnation? Because God is the one who's justified us. God acts here as our justifier, our vindicator. We who are saved, God is not our prosecutor. God is not our condemner. God is not our executioner. He is our justifier and our vindicator. And there is no higher court of appeal We are secure because God is the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Who can bring a charge against God's elect? Answer, no one, for God is the one who justifies. God has proven he is for us by giving us his son and by justifying us through his son, thus forever keeping us from all condemnation. Third proof. Finally, this morning, the proof that Christ Jesus is our all-sufficient Savior. Verse 34, Romans 8, 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? Paul asks yet another rhetorical question. This one very similar to the previous one. Who is the one who condemns the Christian? Answer, no one. Because of the total sufficiency of Jesus Christ is a sacrifice for sinners. And here Paul is gonna lay out four aspects of the sufficiency of Jesus Christ as our Savior. Yes, that's an outline within an outline. Look at the first aspect of the all sufficiency of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the one who died. The all-sufficiency of Christ as a Savior is seen in his death. Jesus was delivered over unto death for us. We already saw that this morning. Delivered over unto death by God the Father on our behalf. Jesus died and he died not for his own sins, for he was sinless. No, he died as a sinless substitute for sinners. Jesus died and was buried. His death was a death died for others. He's the all-sufficient Savior because of his unique death, dying in the place of others, dying as an atonement for sin. He's also the all-sufficient Savior because he didn't stay dead. He rose again. Jesus is he who was raised. On the third day, Jesus rose from the grave, victorious over sin, victorious over Satan, victorious over death, victorious over the grave. Romans 1.4, this letter opened up this way, that Jesus was declared the Son of God with power by resurrection from the dead. The resurrection declared Jesus Christ to be the true Son of God, God in the flesh. Romans 4.25 says Jesus was delivered over because of our transgression and he was raised because of our justification. The resurrection proved that God was satisfied with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on behalf of sinners. The resurrection sealed the deal on justification. The resurrection proved that God would indeed justify sinners on the basis of Christ's sacrifice. First Timothy 3.16 says, by common confession, great is the mystery of godliness. He, Jesus, was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the spirit through the resurrection, was seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, and taken up in glory. Jesus is our all-sufficient Savior because of the uniqueness of his death and because of his resurrection in power and glory. for justification. Jesus is also our all sufficient savior because he is the one who is presently at the right hand of God. After Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared to over 500 eyewitnesses. And then he ascended to heaven where he is today, seated at the right hand of God. The fact that Jesus is seated proves that his sacrifice was sufficient. He is no longer working to secure our salvation. He has secured it once for all through his sacrifice. And he is now seated, proving that the work is done. Jesus now sits at the right hand of God, the position of power, honor, and authority. Psalm 110.1 says, the Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. That's where Jesus is seated right now until God brings every enemy to heal. That Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, the seat of honor, power and authority ensures that the verdict justified will indeed be applied at the final judgment on our behalf. We are justified now and we will forever be justified because Jesus will see to it. Finally, Jesus is the all-sufficient Savior because of his death, because of his resurrection, because of his ascension to the right hand of the Father, and because of his active ministry on our behalf right now. Jesus is he who intercedes for us. You see, even if our own sins accuse us, Jesus intercedes on our behalf. God has promised to forgive us when we confess our sins. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, 1 John 1, 9. Jesus is seated at God's right hand, interceding on our behalf as our great high priest, our advocate, and our mediator. 1 John 2.1 says, my little children, I'm writing these things so that you may not sin. And if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. Jesus is our advocate. He's our intermediary. He is the one who goes before us and pleads our case and pleads his blood and pleads his scars and pleads his death and his resurrection on our behalf. Jesus seated at God's right hand actively intercedes on our behalf, ensuring that no accusation or charge can effectively be made against us. Jesus' intercession on our behalf ensures and guarantees that there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Beloved God is for us. And he has proven it irrefutably. by giving over his son Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for our sins. And how will he not also with him freely give us all things? He's proven that he is for us by justifying us forever, making us right with him. And he has proven that he is for us by giving us an all sufficient savior through Jesus Christ. who died for us, rose again in victory, ascended to the right hand of the Father, where he is now actively interceding on our behalf day and night. If you're here this morning and you're not sure you're a Christian, sadly, you can't be sure that God is for you. In fact, you can be sure he's against you. The Bible tells us that while we're in rebellion to God, we are the enemies of God. And that's a terrible place to be, but you don't have to stay there. God offers you forgiveness of sins and eternal life through faith in his son, Jesus Christ. If you will, but confess your sins, repent and trust in Jesus Christ today, the all sufficient savior can save you too. And you can know with confidence and assurance that God is indeed for you also. Christian, whatever happens in your life, whatever happens this next week, never forget that God is for you. He is completely and irreversibly for you. Life will be hard, challenges will come, opposition is inevitable. In this life, you will have tribulation, but take heart, take courage. I have overcome the world. Who will bring a charge against God's elect? Who is the one who condemns? Answer, no one. Because God is the one who justifies. Because Jesus is our all-sufficient Savior who died, rose again, ascended at the right hand of God, and is always actively interceding on our behalf. Beloved, God is for us. And if God is for us, who can be against us? Let's pray together. Thank you, Father, for these great and precious promises that are ours. because of your mercy and grace, and because of your son, Jesus Christ. We thank you for his death. We thank you for his resurrection. We thank you for his ascension. And we thank you for his ministry of intercession on our behalf. Lord, we thank you that you are for us. You are always for us. You'll always be for us. and you will ensure that we will cross the finish line. You've given us your best, you will give us the rest. Now, Lord, help us to believe that. Help us to look to the future with confidence and assurance, not confidence in this world, not confidence in a party, not confidence in a political system, but confidence in you. Assurance in your promise that you are for us and with us and you will complete the work you've begun in us. We thank you and pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.