The Closing Argument of Romans 8: Facing Off Against Guilt and Suffering

As the apostle Paul concludes Romans 8, he offers a sort of closing argument in the trial of the Christian believer. The doubtful Christian has wondered, “Will I be able to persevere to the end?” Paul, with all the finality of Perry Mason revealing the real killer, has affirmed the believer’s acquittal, showing that God is for us and will give us the fullness of our salvation by carrying us on to completion (vv. 31–32).

But the prosecuting attorney, so to speak, has made some persuasive arguments in this case. The guilt of sin is nothing to laugh at, and the persistence of suffering would seem to show that we are on God’s bad side.

To these arguments Paul now applies his case in verses 33–36. God’s favor, he says, is not challenged by these realities. They are immaterial evidence, since the grace of God through Jesus Christ cancels guilt and belies suffering.

Accused but Not Condemned

Having already shown that since God is for believers, no one of any account can stand up against them, Paul then makes application to the question of our guilt before God’s law: “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?”

There are those who bring charges. Our own hearts accuse us, our friends sometimes oppose us, our enemies undermine us, and the Evil One—whom the Bible calls “the accuser of our brothers” (Rev. 12:10)—comes again and again to say, “You’re no Christian. Look at how you talk. Look at how you treat your spouse. Look how little you pray.” The accuser stands before the Father and says, “How can you possibly declare this one justified?”

Yet before God’s throne there is an attorney for the defense: “Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us” (v. 34). Jesus can hold up His wounded hands, put forward His wounded feet, reveal His wounded side, and say, “The sentence has already been served. I was made sin so that they might become righteous.” (See 2 Cor. 5:21.)

The case, then, is closed. God is the Judge; the Evil One is not. And the Judge has banged His gavel. The prosecutor can make whatever accusation he likes, but there is no double jeopardy. No one can raise again the charges God has dismissed on Christ’s account. “It is God who justifies,” so “who is to condemn?” No one!

Our Advocate with the Father

Importantly, the risen Lord Jesus today is not nowhere (nor everywhere) doing who knows what; He is somewhere, and He is doing something. Jesus, in His physical body, has ascended to “the right hand of God,” and there He “is interceding for us” (v. 34). In Jesus, we have the best lawyer possible—one who knows the Judge intimately, who is ever present at the bench for us, and who, indeed, has already dealt with our penalty by paying it Himself.

The book of Hebrews teaches us that the priests of the old covenant “were prevented by death from continuing in office.” Jesus, on the other hand, “holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.” And “consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (7:23–25). In His position as our Priest-Advocate, He is both able and willing to finish what He has begun.

We may do a little test in our minds: Consider the question “Why do you think you will go to heaven?” With what pronoun are you tempted to begin your answer? Is it “Because I…”? Or is it “Because He…”? When we look to ourselves, we will only find reason to doubt. But when we look to our faithful Advocate, we can rest assured. He has done it for us!

Retained for Us, Forever

Furthermore, we needn’t doubt the faithfulness of our Advocate. He is retained for us, forever. The self-doubting Christian should not be discouraged by suffering, because the Savior loves us with an unfailing love.

As Paul asks, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” we are to understand that none of the forces he names—“tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword” (v.35)—can ever do so. Indeed, far from being a sign of God’s abandonment, suffering may be a sign of our participation in Christ. It is for the Lord’s sake, Paul says (quoting Psalm 44), that we suffer.

Without a proper theology of suffering, we will be tempted to import what God promises for the then into the now. We will hear the promise that God will wipe away every tear from our eyes (Rev. 21:4) and wonder, “Why are my eyes still so full of tears?” Or else we will live in denial, pretending that all is well to reassure ourselves we are in God’s graces.

But we know that Christians really do suffer. There is no suggestion that the threats Paul names aren’t real, even expected. “Here,” Paul says, “are some of the enemies of our happiness. They can afflict you now for a little while, but they cannot separate you, ultimately.” The proper perspective on our sufferings, as he has already told us in verse 18, is to remember how glorious our eventual vindication will be: “The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

Paul knew tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and sword (2 Corinthians 11:16–29 ). Paul experienced intense opposition to his Gospel ministry. Yet he also knew the faithfulness of his Advocate—enough so that he could assure himself and every Christian that none of these sufferings or persecutions “will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (v. 39).

Holding, or Held?

There was a time not so long ago when parents could pile their small children into minivans and station wagons in all kinds of positions―some of them looking out of the back window like a dog, some of them sitting up in between the gear stick and the emergency brake, some of them hanging over the top—and drive off to wherever they were going. In contrast, today’s parents—perhaps wisely—can’t drive ten feet without securing their children in a five-point harness.

The picture we sometimes have of the Christian life like that old way of doing things: We think we’re on top of the station wagon, holding on for dear life as Dad propels the machine to Florida at seventy miles per hour. But this isn’t at all the case! Jesus Christ has buckled us in, with all the care of a mother for her infant. In the words of the old hymn, “He will hold me fast”—and He will carry us securely to our destination.

This article is the second in a three-part series examining Paul’s closing argument in Romans 8. You can read the first part here. Stay tuned to the Truth For Life blog for the third part, coming soon!  

This article was adapted from the sermon “Case Closed!” by Alistair Begg.