The Proof Is in the Passion

1^st Sunday In Lent

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church

Romans 8:31-39

What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³²He 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? ³³Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶As it is written:
   "For your sake we face death all day long;
      we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."

³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

A woman with tear-stained cheeks knocks on the door of the pastor’s study.  No sooner is she invited in then the sobbing picks up again.  “Pastor, I don’t feel like my husband loves me anymore.  We’ve been married for 18 years, and it seems like he’s fallen out of love with me.  He doesn’t pay attention to me the way he used to.  We never go out on dates like we did when we were first married.  He would always be doing the most thoughtful and romantic things totally out of the blue, but not anymore.  Even just the way he would look at me meant the world to me.  But none of that happens anymore.  Our marriage is so different from what it was, and honestly, I don’t know if he still wants to be married to me.”

Hearing someone else experience such emotions can tug at our hearts, possibly hitting home more for some than others.  A relationship that feels like it is on the brink of breakdown can be devastating… even more so if that relationship is our relationship with God.  Aren’t there times when each of us can identify with the wife in the pastor’s study, feeling like maybe God isn’t really all that interested in continuing his relationship with me?  During such times, we might be unable to get past one particular phrase the first verse in our Lesson from Romans this morning: “If God is for us…”  “Is he really?” we find ourselves asking.  “Can I really be sure that God is ‘for’ me?”  When we don’t feel particularly close to him, when it feels like prayers are falling on deaf ears, when things all around us feel like they are spinning out of control and he doesn’t seem to care, we might be tempted to doubt if God is for us.

If that is the case, dear friends, then I encourage you to look at this season of Lent in a different light.  Yes the season of Lent, more than any other in the church year, pays special attention to how God’s law paints us as sinners into a corner.  Yes, it throws back the curtains and sheds light on our secret and shameful sins.  Yes, it all-too-vividly portrays the ugliness of sin.

But Lent does something more: it shows us beyond the shadow of a doubt that God is for us.  When Paul posed the question, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” he pointed directly to the proof that serves as the focal point of Lent: “He… did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all.”  Is God for us?  He gave up his only Son – there’s your proof.  Is God for us?  Jesus willingly chose to suffer for you at the hands of those he easily could have crushed – there’s your proof.  Is God for us?  Jesus died in your place when he had done absolutely nothing deserving of death – there’s your proof.  The proof is in the Passion; if Jesus suffered and died for you, can you really ever question his love and devotion to you?  May it never be so again.

Instead, let Paul’s confidence be your own.  He knew what his Savior had done for him, and that did more to boost his confidence in God than anything else ever could.  You know what your Savior has done for you, and, as Paul goes on to state, that means you need fear no accusation, no condemnation, and no separation.

We have all been accused, either at home, at school, at work, or even at church.  It is no pleasant thing to be the one at whom the finger is pointed when a charge is made.  It doesn’t necessarily matter if the accusation is true or not, because once an accusation is made, immediately a person’s reputation is called into question.  That is what’s so damaging about being accused of anything.  Sometimes the accusations are justified, other times they are not, but rarely do they leave us without any scars.

When it comes to spewing out accusations, no one is better than Satan himself, whose very name means “The Accuser.”  He masterfully wields the world and our own sinful flesh to bring charge after charge against us.  The world will not let even a single infraction committed by a Christian go unnoticed.  Prominent Christian preachers and leaders make national headlines when the skeletons in their closets come tumbling out.  The world then responds by plastering the church as a huddle of hypocrites.  Such criticism trickles down to each of us personally as we each have experienced our own share of ridicule and harassment from the world.

Even still, the accusations the world lofts at us don’t cut us nearly as deep as those of our own sinful flesh.  Our own consciences bear witness against us, accusing us of such things that would put us to shame if others were to find out.  Our sinful flesh downplays forgiveness while emphasizing guilt.  It accuses in such a way as to try to convince us that while Christ’s sacrifice may well cover the sins of the world, it couldn’t even begin to cover my own deplorable sins.

Yet no matter how much the devil manipulates the world and our own flesh to accuse us, Paul confidently boasts that the devil has nothing on us.  He asks the question “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen” (v.33)?  The answer is “no one.”  Those whom God has chosen are no longer susceptible to any accusations hurled against them.  Satan can accuse and point his finger at us all he wants.  God says he has no case.  Those chosen by God cannot be accused by Satan because “It is God who justifies” (v.33).  God has made us righteous through Christ and declared us “not guilty.”  Satan can’t undo God’s declaration.  God assures us we are free from any accusation brought before him.

Paul then goes a step further and assures us that because God is for us we’re also free from any condemnation.  Paul, again knowing full well the answer, asks another question: “Who is he that condemns” (v.34)?  It stands to reason that if no possible charge or accusation can be brought against us, then neither can there be any judgment of condemnation.  While some would suggest that Paul is more or less repeating the previous thought, being accused is not really the same as being condemned, is it? For even when someone accuses you of a thing there is at the very least still a chance you will be found innocent, but when you are condemned such a sentence is final.

If I accuse you of speeding on your way to church, my accusation could turn out to be false if there was another individual in the car or a witness driving near you that could testify to the contrary.  The accusation wouldn’t stand.  However, if you were pulled over on the way to church by a policeman for speeding, you’d be condemned.  His radar tagged you going over the speed limit and condemned you.  There would be little room to appeal.  Neither is there any room to appeal before God when it comes to condemnation.

And the accuser Satan has all those passages which speak of hell and judgment and eternal damnation memorized like the back of his hand.  After repeatedly accusing us he likes to pull out those passages and remind us that the consequence of our sin is eternity without God.  He accuses and accuses and accuses in the hope that something will stick and we’ll eventually believe that our  celebration in heaven will be replaced with condemnation in hell.

Paul assures us that won’t happen because “Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us” (v.34).  Paul lays out three proofs that guarantee we won’t be condemned; Jesus died, he rose, and is even now at God’s side interceding for us!  God is indeed for us; he died for us, rose for us, and intercedes for us.  Such realities are all the evidence needed to keep us from being condemned.

But God, through the inspired pen of Paul, isn’t done yet.  Should the Christian’s heart still be heavy even after the fears of accusation and condemnation have been alleviated, there’s one more fear God wants to remove.  Paul wraps up his series of rhetorical questions by asking “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ” (v.35)?  For the third time the implied answer is “no one” and “nothing.”  To hammer the point home Paul goes so far as to make a list ruling out absolutely everything: trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, sword, death, life, angels, demons, present, future, any powers, height, depth, or anything else in all creation (v.35, 38, 39). When God embraces us with his love, it’s not just a one-armed cordial hug, “hello”;  rather, it’s the sort of big old bear hug that almost leaves you breathless because his grip is so tight.  And, there’s not one single thing in all of creation that can separate us from that love.

Paul states it another way to help us get the picture.  He says that the result of God’s love for us is that we are “more than conquerors” (v.37).  In other words, because God is for us we are super-conquerors.  God makes our every victory over Satan a lopsided blowout. His love leaves us with an undefeated record against Satan based solely on the merits of Christ.  In this respect God is like the most intimidating body guard the world has ever seen, and when the devil tries to ambush us with all his schemes and ploys, and sees God at our side, he knows he’s not going to get anywhere.  It’s not our own size or might that is so effective, but rather the all-powerful God right at our side.  With him beside us we are invincible.    

               

With God for us, who can accuse us?  No one.  Who can condemn us?  No one.  Who can separate us from his love?  No one.   Your sin cannot accuse, condemn, or separate you from God, because he is the one who justifies.  If anyone tries to convince you otherwise, remind them that God’s declaration simply cannot be overruled.  God is for us.  No one can stand against us. Amen.