Romans 8:33 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.

NIV: Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.

NASB: Who will bring charges against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;

CSB: Who can bring an accusation against God's elect? God is the one who justifies.

NLT: Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one — for God himself has given us right standing with himself.

KJV: Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.

NKJV: Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.

Paul has established decisively in the previous verses that God is for all of us who are in Christ (Romans 3:23–26; John 3:16–18). He has not even withheld His own sinless Son from us. He has graciously given to us all things.

Now Paul asks who could possibly bring a charge against us—in the context of this passage, meaning the elect (Romans 8:29–30). This is Paul's first use of the word "elect" in Romans. In the previous verses, he detailed that God predestined those He foreknew to become like Jesus. In this sense, the elect are the chosen ones of God, all those who are children of God through faith in Christ.

Paul begins to use legal language here; the vocabulary of a courtroom or trial. He seems to imagine someone attempting to manipulate God into casting us out, by bringing an accusation before God about our sin. But who could effectively do such a thing? Scripture provides an immediate possibility: Satan is described in Revelation 12:10 as the accuser who stands before God night and day bringing accusations against "our brothers and sisters." He might very well accuse us of sin in order to convince God of our unworthiness to be in His family.

Perhaps the greatest accusations, though, come from our own hearts. The awareness of our sin taunts us, hinting that God could never forgive such things, could never love one who does them.

Paul is clear that all such accusations will fail. Why? God is the one who justifies us. God, the Creator and Ruler of the entire universe. He declares us righteous because of our faith in Christ, giving us credit for Jesus' righteousness and accepting Jesus' death as payment for our sin.

Paul insists that God will never say, "You've made a good point; I was wrong to justify that person." His decision stands since it is based on Christ's own sacrifice and righteousness, not on our ability to do what is right ourselves.

Romans 8:31-39 is one of the most encouraging and affirming passages in all of God's Word. Paul has established that God is for all of us who are in Christ; for those who have been saved by their faith. No charge or accusation made against us can stand, because God has provided for our justification and Christ is interceding for us. Paul makes two lists of all of the things in the universe that cannot separate us from God's love for us in Christ. Hard things will happen, indeed. Yet, none of them will cause our Father to stop loving us, nor are any of them signs that He has abandoned us. Our salvation is entirely, absolutely secure on account of His great love.

Romans 8 begins and ends with declarations of the Christian's absolute security before God. There is no condemnation for those in Christ, and nothing will ever be able to separate us from His love. Having believed the gospel, we now live in the Spirit of God. That allows us to call God Abba Father. We suffer with Christ, and we suffer along with all creation while we wait for God to reveal us as His sons. With the help of the Spirit, we are confident that God is for us and loves us in Christ.

In Romans 7, Paul revealed his frustration of trying to do good only to be thwarted by his sin. He begins Romans 8, though, with the triumphant statement that there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. We live in the Spirit, and we relate to God as a child does to a father. The Spirit helps us in this season of suffering along with all of creation while we wait for our adoption to be complete with the redemption of our bodies. We are confident, though, that God is for us and nothing can separate us from His love.

The book of Romans is the New Testament's longest, most structured, and most detailed description of Christian theology. Paul lays out the core of the gospel message: salvation by grace alone through faith alone. His intent is to explain the good news of Jesus Christ in accurate and clear terms. As part of this effort, Paul addresses the conflicts between law and grace, between Jews and Gentiles, and between sin and righteousness. As is common in his writing, Paul closes out his letter with a series of practical applications.