Romans 8.34b-No One Can Condemn The Christian Because Christ Sits At The Right Hand Of God Interceding For Them
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday January 29, 2009
Romans: Romans 8:34b-No One Can Condemn The Christian Because Christ Sits At The Right Hand Of God Interceding For Them
Lesson # 285
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 8:31.
This evening we will complete our study Romans 8:34 and in this passage, Paul presents four reasons why no one can condemn the Christian for the sins he or she commits.
These four reasons further bring out the implications of Paul’s statement in Romans 8:31 that God is for the Christian, thus who can be against the Christian.
The four are in ascending order: (1) Christ’s death (2) His resurrection (3) His ascension and session (4) His intercessory prayer ministry.
Each reason presents a different aspect of Christ’s work on behalf of the Christian.
Christ’s spiritual death dealt with the Christian’s personal sins and His physical death dealt with the problem of the sin nature.
His resurrection provided evidence that God the Father had indeed accepted His sacrifice on the Cross as the propitiation of the sins of the entire human race-past, present and future.
Therefore, the Father could maintain His perfect integrity when He declared the sinner justified through faith in Jesus Christ.
Christ’s ascension and session at the right hand of the Father demonstrates the extent of the Father’s acceptance of His Son’s death on the Cross as the payment for sins in that Christ has been made supreme ruler over every creature.
Lastly, His intercessory prayer ministry at the right hand of the Father as the Christian’s advocate with the Father deals with problem of Satan making accusations against the Christian when the Christian sins.
Last night we studied Romans 8:34a, which presents the first two reasons, namely that Christ died and rose again for the Christian.
This evening, we will note Romans 8:34b, which presents the third and fourth reasons, namely, that Christ is interceding for the Christian at the Father’s right hand.
Let’s read this final paragraph and then concentrate on verse 34 for the rest of the morning.
Romans 8:31-39, “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 also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, 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 CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.’ 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 principalities, 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.”
Let’s now concentrate on 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.”
“At the right hand of God” is composed of the preposition en (e)n), “at” and the adjective dexios (deciov$) (dex-ee-os), “right hand” and the noun theos (qeov$), “of God.”
The adjective dexios is from the stem dek, “take.”
Its basic meaning is “right” in contrast to the left.
Thus, it can depict a “right hand, a right eye, a right turn, etc.”
In the Septuagint, the word is used to symbolize divine omnipotence in that the “right” hand or arm of the Lord delivers (Exodus 15:6, 12).
The Psalmist uses the imagery of God’s right hand to denote His saving power (Psalm 17:7 [LXX 16:7]; 20:6 [19:6]; 118:15ff. [117:15ff]), His protection (18:35 [17:35]) and His power to destroy the Psalmist’s enemies (Psalm 21:8 [20:8]; cf. 44:3 [43:3]; 45:4 [44:4]).
In the Old Testament the expression “to sit at the right hand” of someone suggests a sharing of royal authority and power.
Psalm 110:1, “The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.’”
The writers of the New Testament taught that the Father rewarded the Lord Jesus Christ in His impeccable human nature to sit at His right hand as a result of His obedience to His will in going to the cross to provide salvation for sinners through His spiritual and physical deaths.
This is called in theology, Christ’s “session.”
The “session” of Christ pertains to the glorification of our Lord’s humanity at the right hand of God the Father.
God the Father rewarded the resurrected impeccable human nature of Jesus Christ for His voluntary substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths on the cross by bestowing upon Him the sovereign rulership over all creation and every creature.
So God the Father promoted the incarnate Son of God to the highest ranking position of power and authority in the cosmos.
Jesus of Nazareth, who is the impeccable, resurrected, victorious Christ, the Messiah, and the Savior of the world, has been promoted by God the Father to sovereign ruler of all creation as a result of receiving the title of kurios, “Lord” as victor in the angelic conflict over Satan and the kingdom of darkness.
Philippians 2:5-11, “Everyone continue thinking this (according to humility) within yourselves, which was also in (the mind of) Christ Jesus, Who although existing from eternity past in the essence of God, He never regarded existing equally in essence with God an exploitable asset. On the contrary, He denied Himself of the independent function of His divine attributes by having assumed the essence of a slave when He was born in the likeness of men. In fact, although He was discovered in outward appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by having entered into obedience to the point of spiritual death even death on a Cross. For this very reason in fact God the Father has promoted Him to the highest-ranking position and has awarded to Him the rank, which is superior to every rank. In order that in the sphere of this rank possessed by Jesus every person must bow, celestials and terrestrials and sub-terrestrials. Also, every person must publicly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord for the glory of God the Father.”
The session of Christ is documented in the following passages: (1) Psalm 110:1 (2) Matt. 22:44 (3) Mark 12:36 (4) Mark 14:62 (5) Mark 16:19 (6) Luke 20:42 (7) Luke 22:69 (8) Acts 2:25, 33-34; 5:31; 7:55-56 (9) Romans 8:34 (10) Hebrews 1:3, 13; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2 (11) 1 Peter 3:22.
The impeccable victorious resurrected humanity of Christ in hypostatic union presently sits at the right hand of the Father as the believer’s advocate with the Father and Great High Priest.
Therefore, the session of Christ is directly related to His Great High Priesthood.
1 John 2:1, “My little children, I am providing information in writing at this particular time concerning these things for the benefit of all of you in order that all of you might not enter into committing an act of sin. Now, if anyone does enter into committing an act of sin, then we possess as an Advocate with the Father, Jesus who is the righteous Christ.”
“Advocate” is the noun parakletos, which refers to the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is the defense attorney for all believers by interceding for them when Satan accuses them before the Supreme Court of heaven when they sin.
Therefore, at the present time, Jesus Christ is not on planet earth bodily ruling the nations in Jerusalem rather He is seated at His Father’s right hand while the Father makes His enemies a footstool for His feet.
Psalm 110:1, “The LORD (God the Father) says to my Lord (God the Son): ‘Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.’”
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.”
“Intercedes” is the third person singular present active indicative form of the verb entunchano (e)ntugxavnw) (en-toong-khan-o).
In Romans 8:27, the verb is used of the Holy Spirit “interceding” on behalf of the saints.
It refers to the Holy Spirit speaking to the Father on behalf of Christians.
Romans 8:26-27, “Furthermore, in the same way, the Spirit, as an eternal spiritual truth, also assists with our weakness because we are totally uncertain as to what to pray for in accordance with that which is, as an eternal spiritual truth, absolutely essential but rather the Spirit Himself, as an eternal spiritual truth, intercedes on behalf of us with inexpressible groanings. That is, the one who, as an eternal spiritual truth, searches our hearts, knows perfectly and intimately what is eternally the Spirit’s mind-set because He always intercedes on behalf of the saints in accordance with God the Father’s will.”
In Romans 8:34 and Hebrews 7:25, the verb entunchano is used of Jesus Christ’s intercessory prayer ministry at the right hand of the Father on behalf of the Christian.
“For us” denotes that Christians benefit from the intercessory prayer ministry of Jesus Christ, which takes place at the right hand of the Father.
As we have noted many times in our studies of Romans chapter eight, God the Father receives prayer from three different sources in the church age: (1) God the Son (Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25): He intercedes for the believer at the right hand of God the Father. (2) God the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:15, 26-27; Gal. 4:6): He makes intercessory prayer to God the Father for us when we don’t know what to pray for. (3) Believer-Priest (Heb. 4:16): He makes intercessory prayer for others and personal petitions for himself.
At the moment of salvation, the believer appropriates for himself the Lord Jesus Christ’s great high priesthood, which is directly related to both His finished work on the cross and His present mediatorial work in heaven at the right hand of the Father.
His responsibility as our great high priesthood is two-fold: (1) Intercessory prayer for the believer (2) Defend the believer against the attacks of Satan.
Our Lord Jesus prayed not only for Himself, but also for others with intercessory prayers (John 17; Luke 23:34).
The Gospel of John, Chapter 17, also records our Lord’s prayer life, particularly His “Great High Priestly Prayer,” in which He made intercession for His disciples and for all believers throughout the church age.
His prayer was for them to be protected, sanctified, and unified, and for His Father to be glorified.
John 17, and our Lord’s Prayer, can be divided into three parts: (1) the Lord prayed for Himself (John 17:1-5), (2) the Lord prayed for His disciples (John 17:6-19), and (3) the Lord prayed for future believers (John 17:20-26).
Our Lord had seven requests in John 17: (1) preservation (v.11), (2) joy (v.13), (3) deliverance from evil (v.15), (4) sanctification (v.17), (5) unity (v.21), (6) fellowship (v.24), and (7) satisfaction (v.24).
John 17, “Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, ‘Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”