Romans 8:31-32

What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all--how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?

Paul asks great questions; and he gives great answers too. How will God, Who gave Himself for us (who is this “us”?), not also give us (who is this “us”?) all things? Those for whom Christ was given over to death on the cross will certainly be given all things. Paul, in this section, asks a series of questions meant to summarize the main arguments of the entirety of his letter to this point. And so when he asks in v31, “What shall we say?” he’s not simply referring to v28-30 as encouraging as they are; he’s not simply referring to chapter 8, as glorious as it is; he’s referring to the whole of his letter, everything that he’s said to this point.

Look at the next question in v31, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” By saying, “If,” Paul is not intending to raise doubt. It might be better translated for us as “Since God is for us, who could possibly be against us?” It’s a rhetorical question. It’s answering the predicament that Paul pointed to in Romans 1:18-32. God is against us, so how is God also for us? Paul has spent the first half of his letter to the Romans explaining how God is for us in Christ. And if God is for us in Christ, then what could it possibly matter if anybody else other than God was against us? Paul is not saying there is nobody against the Christian, that there is no opposition. He’s saying that there is no opposition worth considering, or worth concern, compared to God being for the Christian. If the enmity which once stood between you and God has been solved in Jesus Christ, then there is no enmity worth concern. The rhetorical question is designed to draw attention to the truth that Paul has already explained and bring it to bear upon the hearts of his audience, so that they gain security, comfort, and strength.

Now it’s hard for us to really accept the message of v31 with the rhetorical question. But Paul gives us v32 to reinforce the truth that he tried to evoke from the question in v31. And it’s another rhetorical question, but it’s amazing to consider the magnificent truth that stands within it. God loves us so much that he did not even spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all. According to the rhetorical question, God will also give us all things. Who is God giving all things to in v32? Those for whom Christ died. And we know that all people will not be given all things. If we deny that statement, then we become universalists. So here it is: Those for whom Christ was given will be given all things along with Christ. And it’s not everybody, but only those who believe.

But the real point of this verse is that God the Father acted as Priest in our salvation. He provided, offered, and delivered up the sacrifice of the spotless lamb, His own precious and eternally begotten Son, on behalf of all of His people. So, how much is God for us? We hear it from Paul rhetorically. John 3:16 says it simply: “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” The wrath of God struck in totality against Whom it had no right. The Bible says Judas delivered Him over (Mark 3:19), and Pilate delivered Him over (Mark 15:15), and Herod and the Jewish people and the Gentiles delivered Him over (Acts 4:27-28), and we delivered Him over (1 Corinthians 15:3; Galatians 1:4; 1 Peter 2:24). It even says Jesus delivered Himself over (John 10:17; 19:30). But Paul is saying the ultimate thing here in v32. In and behind and beneath and through all these human deliverings, God the Father was delivering His Son to death. Acts 2:23 “This Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.” Nothing greater has ever happened for sinners than God delivering His Son to death.