Romans 8:31-34 (v34)

Let’s remember that is the inspirational highlight of this book.

In chapter 8 the Apostle Paul is swept along in a wave of spiritual exaltation that begins with

God’s provision of the Spirit for victory over the old nature,

breaks through the sufferings that mark our present existence, and

breaks through the sufferings that mark our present existence, and

peaks with a doxology that we’ll begin next week in vv35-39.

peaks with a doxology that we’ll begin next week in vv35-39.

We are not dealing here with mere theology.

As Paul wrote, his pen gave evidence that he was caught up in

an experience of profound worship and spiritual adoration.

Let’s read from v34-39.

Amen, this is God’s Word.

Our text is v34 which reads:

"Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is the one who died, but even more, has been raised; he also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us.” ()

We are going to look at two main points today:

1. The PRONOUNCEMENT. “Who is the one who condemns?” The word “condemns” means to pronounce guilty!

2. The PERFECTION. “Christ Jesus is the one who died, but even more, has been raised; he also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us.”

Let’s look first at this Pronouncement: “Who is the one who condemns?”

The verb ‘who condemn’ that Paul uses here means to pronounce a sentence upon a person after determination of guilt.

This is the amazing privilege for the believer isn’t it?

Imagine if you could fall from grace? Oh the security of the believer.

But what of the unbeliever? What of those who aren’t born again.

Oh that dreadful sentence and may we let this drive us to speak to the lost!

41 "“Then he will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels!” ()

They have the loss of God’ favor and saving presence and glory.

Oh to be made to depart from God, who made them at first after His image.

Depart from the Redeemer, whose grace was offered to them, but they slighted them.

To be forced away from the Holy Spirit who strove them to sanctify them, until they quenched all His activity.

Those disciples wept when Paul said, “You shall not see my face anymore” ().

But here the anguish will fill the hearts of the reprobate when God shall say to them,

You shall never see My face again, you are now cut off from all hope and the possibility of salvation for ever.

So having to depart away from the favorable presence of God and into where?

Into the “eternal fire prepared for the devil and His angels!”

Into fire. Not into purifying fire like the Lord graciously takes us through.

But tormenting fire, because hell is a place of torment. A state of torment and agony.

24 "‘Father Abraham!’ he called out, ‘Have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this flame!’” ()

25 "“ ‘Son,’ Abraham said, ‘remember that during your life you received your good things, just as Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.” ()

27 "“ ‘Father,’ he said, ‘then I beg you to send him to my father’s house—28 "because I have five brothers—to warn them, so they won’t also come to this place of torment.’” ()

And the duration. It’s an eternal flame! It had a beginning, but will never have an end.

God’s essential misery

The glory that sinners refuse is an everlasting glory so the agony that they incur is an eternal fire.

And their companions in the everlasting agony is the devil and his angels.

This highlights the greatness of the misery of the wicked.

The devil and his minions will be their everlasting companions.

Those who went along with the devil and toyed with sin and temptation in their hearts shall then remain forever in His company and his community.

As Christ with His blessed angels and saints make

one kingdom or family,

living together in perpetual blessedness;

so the devil and his angels, and the wicked, make

one society,

living together in perpetual misery.

This is the sentence of condemnation—

And some of us, as believers, we have such a hard time getting rid of that fear don’t we?

It’s because in our natural estate, we all know that we deserve eternal punishment!

This fear is born out of the nature of God, knowing that He is holy and just.

Which is why and the chapters like it are so precious to us!

So the question in v34 is who is going to condemn?

The answer to the question is No one, and for this very important reason:

Christ Jesus who died—more than that,

who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and

is also interceding for us.

So, if Christ be for us, then…how can we possibly be condemned?

Our hearts may condemn us:

20 "whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows all things. 21 "Dear friends, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have confidence before God” ()

Our hearts may condemn us but it’s Christ, not our hearts, that matters in the end.

How can this be?

The great conclusion to the suffering and death of Christ is this: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” ().

To be “in Christ” means to be in relationship to him by faith.

Faith in Christ unites us to Christ so that His death becomes our death and His perfection becomes our perfection.

Christ becomes our punishment (which we don’t have to bear) and

our perfection (which we cannot perform).

It’s the resurrection of Jesus assures all His future work on behalf of His people:

His authority and rule over everything in the universe ();

His priestly intercession on our behalf ();

His advocacy with God the Father ();

His protecting, comforting presence with us to the end of the age (); and this...

7 "and to give relief to you who are afflicted, along with us. This will take place at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his powerful angels, 8 "when he takes vengeance with flaming fire on those who don’t know God and on those who don’t obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” ()

So, the Pronouncement comes: “Who is the one who condemns?” And the Perfection of Christ is set forth:

“Christ Jesus is the one who died...”

His death removes the possibility of condemnation for those who are in Him.

“but even more...”

Notice that phrase. It’s inserted in between Christ death and His resurrection.

but even more, has been raised; he also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us.”

To be sure, the death of Christ was the is the means by which the sins of His people were blotted out.

This fact becomes established beyond any possibility of successful contradiction by the resurrection from the dead.

“has been raised He also is at the right hand of God...”

The right hand of God, the place of honor, power, and authority given to Him as a reward for His fully accomplished work as mediator.

he also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us.”

“and intercedes for us.”

It’s not possible that the Father should deny the intercessory prayers of the Son, who

so fully,

marvelously, and

gloriously accomplished the task assigned to Him ()?

Did not the Son himself say to the Father, “I know that You always hear Me...” ()

In , we read that when Jesus ascended into heaven, He sat down at the right hand of the Father (16:19).

In , we read that when Jesus ascended into heaven, He sat down at the right hand of the Father (16:19).

This interests me because when you look at the temple or the tabernacle, you find no place for the priest to sit.

There was a table to eat from, a lamp stand to see by, a laver to wash in, an alter to sacrifice on—

but there was no place to sit because the work of the Old Testament priest was never done.

It went on and on and on.

But when the Great High Priest Jesus Christ died and said, “It is finished” (), He meant it.

He went to the right hand of the Father and sat down.

When a person is tense and unsure of the outcome, he stands to his feet and paces. Jesus sits.

The only record of Him standing in heaven is when He stood to welcome Stephen, the first martyr, home (). "He said, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!””

So v34 is the solid ground for us to all stand on today.

v34 secures God’s honor because the death of Christ provides Him to truly demonstrate His justice and His grace.

v34 shows us that God’s law was satisfied.

5 "to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 "And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!”” ()

8 "Although he was the Son, he learned obedience from what he suffered. 9 "After he was perfected, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,” ()

This isn’t light stuff that Christ went through in bearing God’s wrath, as we observe the agony, bloody sweat, and the painful and shameful death.

So Christ honors God in His death and satisfies the law of God in His suffering death, thus:

Making Christ the only solid ground we have!

24 "“Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.” ()

v34 says that Christ “intercedes for us.”

Our assurance does not lie in looking back to a momentary decision we made for Christ,

but in looking forward to the certainty of God’s preserving grace,

based on the all-sufficient atonement of his Son’s death.

Jesus is still praying for us today () the way He did for Peter on earth.

31 "“Simon, Simon, look out. Satan has asked to sift you like wheat. 32 "But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And you, when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”” ()

Though Peter failed miserably, the prayer of Jesus preserved him from utter ruin.

He was brought to bitter weeping and restored to the joy and boldness of Pentecost.

So Jesus is interceding for us today that our faith in future grace might not fail.

What I want to do is walk you through 1 John for a moment to help those with sensitive conscience this morning.

Let’s get some help from the Lord. Turn to for a moment.

The second half of v19 speaks about having our hearts reassured before Him.

How can we receive the assurance that we are at peace in God’s presence so that we can rest in Christ and enjoy the Father?

1. Self-examination: "This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and will reassure our hearts before him” ()

This sentence refers to the love imperative that John has just given to his readers.

By way of application, we must ask ourselves:

Do we exhibit acts of love that would have been unnatural for us in our pre-conversion days?

This self-examination of our lives needs to be done with gracious realism.

The standard shouldn’t be perfection, but growth and progress.

The focus here is on the successes that the Holy Spirit has brought about in a person’s life, not the person’s failures.

2. Focus upon God: 20 "whenever our hearts condemn us; [look where we’re directed?] for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows all things.” ()

John provides a contrast between the heart/conscience and God.

On the one hand, the conscience is imperfect and selective.

One cannot “let conscience be your guide” because the conscience cannot always be trusted.

If provided with wrong information or no information at all, it will not process things correctly.

On the other hand, God’s love for us is greater than our moral failures

13 "For your faithful love for me is great, and you rescue my life from the depths of Sheol.” () (, ; , ; ).

(cf. ; , ; , ; ).

Because He is an all-knowing God, there are no surprises for Him.

When our implementation of His standards is defective,

His love and mercy are ever present to help us in our troubled mental state.

Think about the immense freedom of just believing and having the blessings of confidence.

Whether a person feels either condemnation or confidence expresses and determines what kind of relationship he will have with God the Father.

When there is no barrier with God, describes two benefits.

First, John tells us we have access to God 21 "Dear friends, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 "and receive whatever we ask from him because we keep his commands and do what is pleasing in his sight.” ()

We have the blessing of free and open communication that is characterized, first,

by a spirit of boldness, and, second,

by a rich inheritance.

Because Christ is our advocate (), this confidence allows us to approach God our Father and freely communicate with Him.

You and I would be a bit intimidated to approach the President of the United States of America.

But his child knows nothing of that anxiety that we’d have.

The child’s relationship to his father provides him the confidence to approach his father, despite his powerful position.

So we have free and open access to God.

Second, we have the blessing of fellowship. Listen for the phrase “remains in Him”. 23 "Now this is his command: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another as he commanded us. 24 "The one who keeps his commands remains in him, and he in him. And the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit he has given us.” ()

Once again, John focuses on the three aspects of confidence.

If we

Nebeker, G. L., & Thiesen, N. L. (2000). Consciences that Condemn: When Moral Thermostats Go on the Blink. The Journal of Biblical Counseling, Number 1, Fall 2000, 19, 30–31.

believe on His name, if we

love one another, and if we

obey His commandments,

then we can know our assurance and have confidence.

This confidence serves as an antidote for the accusing conscience.

The evidence that the Spirit is working within us is that belief, love, and obedience are produced.

So because of the finished work of Christ we have access and fellowship with God.

Christ is our hope.

Consider what was accomplished in the gospel:

[1.] Our sins were purged out. 3 "The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” ()

Just as God would not be appeased without a ransom, sacrifice or satisfaction,

[2.]

so sin could not be purged out without bearing the punishment.

Look what the atonement does to the conscience.

14 "how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works so that we can serve the living God?” ()

We’re set free from out sins as well.

5 "and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has set us free from our sins by his blood,” ()

[2.] Our sins were pardoned and we have justification. 7 "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace” ()

This is the great benefit that flows to us from the death of Christ. 43 "All the prophets testify about him that through his name everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins.”” ()

Oh my dear church family. What abundant cause we have to triumph and glory in Christ.

[4.]

You have his death as the ground of your comfort.

And His exaltation (resurrection and ascension), qualifies Christ to apply that comfort to your souls this morning.

Christ works in you by His merit and power.

If Christ didn’t die, we’d all still be in our sins and destined for eternal misery.

Well might we have born the wrath we deserved and had no means to help ourselves.

If it were not for the continual intercession for you by Christ, then the remaining sins if your life would still bring damnation.

If He didn’t reconcile you to God, you would have no access to God. He wouldn’t hear any request or desire from you.

If left to yourself to resist temptation, even the foulest sins, how quickly you would become as swine rolling in the mud.

Everything you are, you are by the grace of Christ, who from first to last, all glory must be given and ascribed to God in Christ.

So when the Pronouncement of guilt comes, set for the Perfections of Christ and let those perfections direct your faith, so that

you may be comforted.

Those in Christ are beyond the danger of condemnation.

Courson, J. (2003). Jon Courson’s Application Commentary (p. 945). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.