Romans 8:33-34 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect [when it is] God Who justifies [that is, Who puts us in right relation to Himself? Who shall come forward and accuse or impeach those whom God has chosen? Will God, Who acquits us?]
34 Who is there to condemn [us]? Will Christ Jesus (the Messiah), Who died, or rather Who was raised from the dead, Who is at the right hand of God actually pleading as He intercedes for us? Amplified Bible (AMP)
Yesterday we considered the prodigal son and how after he "came to himself", came to his senses of how he had fallen, turned and returned to his father and his father was willing to forgive him and accept him back "into the family".
In today's verses we see how Satan, the Accuser and his minions work. They would have us believe that we are all prodigals to some extent, and because of how we''ve sinned, how we've turned, stumble, fell, however you'd want to call it, that we are no good, that God would never take us back, forgive or restore us into His family. It couldn't be further from the truth. We will be celebrating Good Friday and Easter in the coming days, compelling evidence of how far God will go to bring us back into the fold or perhaps bring us there for the first time.
Derek Thomas in "How the Gospel Brings us All the Way Home" writes, "When Paul says, "who shall bring any charge against God's elect?" he does not intend to deny God's work of discipline in our lives. But the charge that Satan makes is more than that; he insinuates that our failures imply that we are no longer adopted children..... There is a subtlety here that may elude us: Satan is suggesting that unless we maintain a certain level of productivity, our status as adopted children is in jeopardy." He would have us believe that God loves us when our works and efforts are at a certain level, but doesn't love us when sin has a foot hold in our lives, and in order to remain in His love we have to meet certain criteria. Thankfully, today's verses remind us that it is God who justifies and puts us in right relationship with Himself, much like the father did in the prodigal son parable yesterday.
If we've wandered, Paul and Luke remind us that our Father will receive us back. Don't turn away, turn towards Him.
Romans 8:32-34
New Living Translation (NLT)
32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won't he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself.34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God's right hand, pleading for us.
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