“If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I
would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is
praying for me!” So said Robert Murray McCheyne, the Scottish preacher, pastor,
and poet.
This is the third (and last) post on why "God is for us." I said last time, God is
for us
by satisfying justice and declaring us "innocent!" As Paul put it in Romans 8:33, Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It
is God who justifies.
The next verse in Romans 8 takes the thought a step further:
but would it be possible not only to bring a charge against you, but actually to
condemn you? Should you worry about a future where, despite your faith in Christ now, your sins catch up to you and you end up in hell?
Scripture’s answer is to point
to Jesus. Yes, God is the one who
justifies
(v. 33). Justification stresses how justice is satisfied by Christ’s perfect obedience
and infinitely valuable death. But don’t think only of Good Friday. Remember
Resurrection Sunday.
Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus
is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of
God, who indeed is interceding for us (Romans 8:34).
