Romans 8:33

New International Version (NIV)

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

For meditation

Worry and fear are two powerful instruments in the enemy’s toolbox and he uses them very effectively against the ignorant believer. The two are natural emotions and so everyone experiences them sometimes. What defeats believers, however, is when we put ourselves in harm’s way by choosing to be uninformed about our Savior and what He has bequeathed to us in salvation. It is said that when you don’t know your authority, somebody will use it against you. That’s exactly what the enemy does with the ignorant believer.

Ignorance is a choice. We choose not to know about something when we don’t take steps to inform ourselves about it. We choose to be ignorant about Jesus and the riches of our inheritance in Him when we neglect the reading of our Bibles to know Him intimately. It’s like being excited about a will, but failing to examine the details of the inheritance. A smart neighbor could sell you your own property.

One of the richest nuggets in the Will our Lord Jesus Christ has left us is found in Romans 8:33-34. When carefully mined, it shatters every fear of condemnation and rejection of the believer before God. It assures us of our solid position and security in Christ. Check these out.

1. In Christ Jesus, God has given the believer right standing before Him. So, who can accuse those He has saved (Jn. 8:33)?
2. The One who judges the sinner has taken our place on the Cross and paid the penalty for our sins in full (Rm. 3:25; 5:8; 8:1). So, who can condemn us before God?
3. Our Advocate, Jesus Christ (1 Jn. 2:1), sits in the seat of honor and intercedes for us (Rm. 8:34). So, where is the condemnation?
4. Why then do we worry so much about the accusations of people? Why are we paralyzed by the fear of what they say about our security in Christ as if their claims could nullify the atonement (Rm. 3:25)?
5. Is the blood of Jesus so cheap to be wasted because of one sin a believer commits? Is God so untruthful (Jn. 3:16; 6:39-40)? Where is His faithfulness (2 Tim. 2:13)?

I pray you will be assured of God’s faithfulness to His Word and His grace that will carry you into His eternal presence. The enemy cannot deal with such attitude, because it neutralizes his trusted weapons of worry and fear.

So: May you keep short account with God (1 Jn. 1:9), trusting in Christ’s finished work for you; and may you be liberated from the fear of doom by the indwelling Holy Spirit to sing God’s praises in Christ.

Believe in the One who has said, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hands” (Jn. 10:28).

Shalom