³¹ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? ³³ Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is to condemn? 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. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

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

1) In what ways is God for us?
The idea of God being “for us” is a common theme that goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden and countless places all the way through Scripture. In Eden, God was “for” Adam and Eve by providing garments for them to wear, food, purpose in life, and most significantly, by promising that there would be a coming Redeemer to be their rescuer. Though God is all-powerful, He does not use His power against us, but rather to redeem and restore our relationship back to Him. See some other places where Scripture speaks of God being “for us”. 2 Kings 6:16 Psalm 118:6 1 John 4:4

2) What is included in “all things” that God will graciously give us?
To properly understand verses like this, it’s critical that we take the context into perspective. Paul has spent all of Romans up to this point detailing out the incredible, wide-spread love of the Father who gave of His Son in order to rescue us from sin. He is talking about life with Jesus and death apart from Him and pointing his audience forward towards an everlasting glory that exists in the future. At the end of chapter 8, Paul is bringing everything to a heightened intensity as he expounds that if God would not even hold back His own Son for our restoration back to Him, wouldn’t He use all means necessary to draw us to Himself?!

3) How can God claim to love us so much and still see that “we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered”?
The Bible never sugar-coats reality. Obviously, we live in a fallen world with sin and brokenness around us everywhere. Loved ones die, horrible diseases exist, wars happen, natural disasters devastate us, and relationships are difficult to navigate, and persecution for being a believer is to be expected. God is saying that all of these variables have nothing to do with the solidity of His passionate, all-consuming love for us. Yes, difficulties will always be a part of our life on earth, but His love is immutable and unchanging. His purpose in loving us is to draw us closer to Himself, even through adversity, not to remove us from the trials necessarily.  

1) In what ways is God for us?
Growing up, my idea of God was pretty low, I viewed Him pretty much like I perceived other men in my life: weak, unfaithful, unreliable, and easily tossed to and fro. So engrained was this idea of God that I was in my late 20’s before this this verse even made sense to me in the slightest. From my perspective, it didn’t matter that God was for me, there were still innumerable other powers that could be against me. Nothing could be farther from the truth! This God holds all power, all authority, and rather than use it against us, or be disengaged in our lives, He uses His powers for us. Yes, in this fallen world, bad things happen, but the power of a loving God works through those things to still bring good for us and our walk with Him. Romans 8:28

2) What is included in “all things” that God will graciously give us?
This glorious, gracious giving the Father does by sacrificing His Son for our sake, gives us confidence and hope in our everyday struggles and battles. Because the Father was willing to give up Jesus for our souls, then He will undoubtedly use His power and authority in the nitty gritty of our personal battles as well. He has proven the depths of His love, so we can know beyond all doubt that whatever storm we face, He will use all means to draw us close to Himself. What is meant here by “all things” is not the temporal material things of life such as cars, houses, or boats, but rather it is of the spiritual nature, i.e: our relationship to Himself. He will go to all means available to rescue us. Indeed, He has already done so!

3) How can God claim to love us so much and still see that “we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered”?
For every battle we face and every fiery trial we endure, we know with all confidence that Christ holds our ultimate victory. We are not overcome, no matter what happens, because His love for us holds us securely. His love is unshakeable. And because of that anchoring truth, we can have confidence in our everyday moments, both pleasurable and tumultuous. When relationships are peaceable and when they are full of strife, we have a rock solid love of Christ that will never shift and the sure certainty of a future hope that will never fade away!

Don’t miss today’s other Journey Study, Faithful Rescuer!
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We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources.  Just type in the verse you’re looking at and Boom! It’s right in front of you in English and Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament), which are the original languages the Bible was written in.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Find super awesome stuff like “origin”, “definition”, and even all the different ways that single word has been translated into English! If you want to be geeky, you can even click the word and hear its original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want to get more background on a word or phrasing or passage? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

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Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus.
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